Al-Waqidi said: “This took place in Safar of that same year.
Al-Waqidi also said: When Muhammad (ibn Abi Bakr) was killed, ‘Ali sent al-Ashtar al-Nakha‘i to Egypt, but he died on the way—Allah knows best.
He added: The affair of Adhruh likewise occurred in Sha‘ban of this year.
‘Amr ibn al-‘As then wrote to Mu‘awiyah, informing him of what had happened: that Allah had granted him the conquest of Egypt and that its people had returned to obedience and compliance (unity, and the covenant that had been laid upon them).
Hisham ibn (Muhammad) al-Kalbi claims that Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfah ibn ‘Utbah was captured [in this year] after the death of Muhammad (ibn Abi Bakr)—he had been among those who incited the killing of ‘Uthman. ‘Amr (ibn al-‘As) sent him to Mu‘awiyah and did not rush to execute him because he was Mu‘awiyah’s cousin on his mother’s side. Mu‘awiyah imprisoned him in Palestine, but he escaped from the prison [and, they say, Mu‘awiyah kept his distance from him]. A man [of Khath‘am] named (ʿAbd Allah ibn) ‘Amr ibn Zilam pursued him in the region of al-Balqa’. Muhammad hid in a cave; a herd of wild asses came seeking shelter there, but when they saw him they bolted. A group of harvesters nearby were struck by the animals’ sudden flight, went to the cave, and found him inside. They called the pursuers, whereupon ʿAbd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn Zilam (1), fearing that they might return him to Mu‘awiyah who would then pardon him, struck off his head [on the spot]. Such is the report of Ibn al-Kalbi (2). Al-Waqidi and others, however, state that (Muhammad) ibn Abi Hudhayfah was killed in the year 36 AH, as we have already mentioned—Allah knows best.
Ibrahim ibn al-Husayn ibn Dayzil said in his book: “ʿAbd Allah ibn Salih related to us, saying: Ibn Luhay‘ah told me, on the authority of Yazid ibn Abi Habib, that ‘Amr ibn al-‘As declared the property of a certain Copt from among the Copts of Egypt lawful to seize, because it had been firmly established with him that the man was revealing the Muslims’ vulnerabilities to the Byzantines—writing to them about it. He therefore extracted from him a little over fifty (3) irdabbs (4) of gold dinars.” Abu Salih said: “An irdabb equals six wibahs, and a wibah is the same as a qafiz. We examined the wibah and found it to equal thirty-nine thousand dinars.” I say: On that basis, the amount taken from (5) that Copt would have been close to thirteen million dinars.
Abu Mikhnaf, with his chain of transmission (6), said: When the news reached ʿAli ibn Abi Talib of the killing of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, of what had happened (in Egypt), of ʿAmr’s seizure of that province, and of the people’s rallying (7) to him and to Mu‘awiyah, he rose and addressed the people, urging them to strive in jihad, to be steadfast, and to march against their enemies (from among the Syrians and the Egyptians), and he appointed for them a rendezvous at al-Jurʿah between Kufah and al-Hirah. When