from a female servant of ʿAmmar, who said:

“ʿAmmar fell ill with a sickness so severe that it kept him from sleep and he lost consciousness. When he came to, we were weeping around him. He asked, ‘Why are you crying? Are you afraid I will die in my bed? My beloved ﷺ told me that the rebellious faction will kill me, and that the last blood I shed in this world will be mixed with a sip of milk.’”

Ahmad (1) said: Ibn Abi ʿAdi narrated to us, from Dawud, from Abu Nadrah, from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered us to build the mosque, so we began carrying one brick at a time, while ʿAmmar was carrying two bricks at a time until dust covered his head. My companions later informed me—though I did not hear it directly from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—that he was brushing the dust from his head and saying, “Woe to you, son of Sumayyah! The rebellious faction will kill you.”

Ahmad alone transmitted this report. The addition that the Rāfiḍis (2) insert after the words “the rebellious faction”—namely, “By Allah, my intercession will never reach them on the Day of Resurrection”—is a fabrication and a calumny against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Authentic hadiths from him, peace and blessings be upon him, establish that he called both parties Muslim, as we shall soon mention, Allah willing.

Ibn Jarir (3) said—relating that when ʿAmmar was killed, ʿAli said to [the tribes of] Rabiʿah and Hamdan, “You are my shield and my spear.” Roughly twelve thousand men answered his call. ʿAli rode out ahead of them on his mule and charged, and they charged with him in a single rush. No line of the Syrians remained intact; they cut down everyone they reached until they came upon Muʿawiyah, while ʿAli was fighting and reciting (4):

I strike them yet I see not Muʿawiyah—
bulging-eyed, broad-girthed.

He continued: ʿAli then challenged Muʿawiyah to single combat, and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs urged him to go out. Muʿawiyah replied, “You know that no one has ever met him in single combat without being killed, but you covet authority after me.” ʿAli next pushed his son Muḥammad forward with a large band of men; they fought fiercely. ʿAli followed with another contingent and charged. A great many from both sides were killed in that place—Allah alone knows their number—and many Iraqis also fell; hands, wrists, and heads were severed from shoulders—may Allah be pleased with them.

When the time for Maghrib came he led the people in prayer only by signaling, and did likewise for ʿIshāʾ. The fighting lasted the entire night, one of the worst nights ever witnessed among Muslims, and it was called “the Night of the Howl.” It was the night before Friday: spears splintered, arrows were spent, and the combatants turned to their swords. ʿAli—may Allah be pleased with him—was urging the tribes on, advancing, commanding patience and steadfastness (5) while he stood at the very front in the heart of the army. On the right wing was al-Ashtar al-Nakhaʿi, who assumed command after ʿAbd Allah ibn Budayl was killed on Thursday evening, the eve of Friday (6); on the left wing was Ibn ʿAbbas. Fighting raged on every side, and when ʿAmmar was killed the Iraqis realized