—according to the soundest view. He did, however, witness the Pledge of al-ʿAqabah and was counted among the foremost Companions. In Kufa he would act as ʿAli’s deputy whenever the latter left for battle. (1)

[Year 40 AH]
In this year the Commander of the Believers ʿAli ibn Abi Talib was killed, the details of which we shall relate, God willing.

Ibn Jarir said (2): Among the momentous happenings of this year was Muʿawiyah’s dispatch of Busr ibn Abi Artat with three thousand fighting men to the Hijaz. He narrated—on the authority of Ziyad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Bakkaʾi, from ʿAwana—who said:

After the arbitration of the two arbiters, Muʿawiyah sent Busr ibn Abi Artat—a man of Banu ʿAmir ibn Luʾayy—at the head of an army. They marched from Syria until they reached Medina, whose governor for ʿAli at the time was Abu Ayyub. Abu Ayyub fled from them and went to ʿAli in Kufa, while Busr entered Medina and no one fought him.

He mounted the city’s pulpit and called out: “O Dinar! O Najar! O Ruzayq! My shaykh, my shaykh—only yesterday I saw him here; where is he?”—meaning ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan.

He then said, “People of Medina, by Allah, had Muʿawiyah not instructed me otherwise, I would not have left in it a single male who has reached puberty without killing him.”

He took the pledge of allegiance from the people of Medina, then sent word to the Banu Salama, declaring, “By Allah, you have neither safety nor pledge with me until you bring me Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah”—that is, until he should pledge allegiance.

Jabir went in to Umm Salama and said, “What do you advise? I fear I will be killed, yet this is a misguided pledge.” She replied, “I think you should pledge, for I have ordered my son ʿUmar and my son-in-law ʿAbd Allah ibn Zamʿa—husband of my daughter Zaynab—to pledge.” Jabir then went to Busr and pledged allegiance.

Busr demolished several houses in Medina and then set off for Mecca. Abu Musa al-Ashʿari feared that Busr would kill him, but Busr said, “I would never do that to a Companion of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him,” and let him go. Earlier, Abu Musa had written to the people of Yemen that cavalry sent by Muʿawiyah would kill anyone who refused to accept the arbitration.

Busr then advanced to Yemen, whose governor for ʿAli was ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbbas. Ibn ʿAbbas fled to Kufa and joined ʿAli, appointing over Yemen ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Madan al-Harithi (3). When Busr entered Yemen he killed him and his son. He also captured the baggage of ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbbas, within which were two of his young sons, and slew them—ʿAbd al-Rahman and Qutham. [It is said that he even slaughtered them before their mother; her reason left her at the sight, and thereafter she would stand at the seasons of pilgrimage, bewildered and deranged, mourning her two sons.]

It is further reported that Busr killed a large number of ʿAli’s supporters during this campaign. This account is well known among the scholars of battles and biographies, though in my judgment its authenticity is doubtful; Allah, exalted is He, knows best.

When news of Busr reached ʿAli, he dispatched Jariyah ibn Qudamah with two thousand men, and Wahb ibn Masʿud with another two thousand. Jariyah advanced until he reached Najran, where he set it ablaze (4) and killed some of the supporters of ʿUthman. Busr and his men fled; Jariyah pursued them until he came to Mecca,

and he said to them, “Pledge allegiance.” They replied, “To whom should we pledge? The Commander of the Believers has perished—so to whom do we pledge?” He answered, “Pledge allegiance to the one to whom allegiance has been given…"