and a grave disturbance broke out inside the mosque. ʿAbd Allah ibn Yazīd al-Khatmī therefore stepped down from the pulpit, and they tried to provoke a clash between the two governors, but their ploy failed. The Shiʿah who followed Sulaymān ibn Surad then appeared openly with their weapons, laying bare their intent to rise against the townsfolk. They mounted with Sulaymān ibn Surad and set off toward al-Jazīrah; what befell them we shall relate in its proper place.

As for al-Mukhtār ibn Abī ʿUbayd al-Thaqafī—the impostor—he had been loathsome to the Shiʿah ever since the day he reviled al-Ḥusayn while the latter was heading to Syria with the Iraqis. Mukhtār withdrew to al-Madāʾin and advised his uncle—who was the city’s governor—to seize al-Ḥusayn and send him to Muʿāwiyah, hoping thereby to gain everlasting favor with him. His uncle refused, and because of this the Shiʿah came to detest Mukhtār.

When the affair of Muslim ibn ʿAqīl occurred and Ibn Ziyād killed him, Mukhtār was in Kūfah. Ibn Ziyād heard that Mukhtār was declaring, “I shall certainly rise to aid Muslim and avenge him.” He summoned him, struck his eye with a rod he was holding—splitting it open—and ordered him imprisoned. When Mukhtār’s sister learned of his imprisonment she wept and was deeply distressed; she was married to ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. Ibn ʿUmar wrote to Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah, interceding for Mukhtār’s release.

Yazīd sent word to Ibn Ziyād: “The moment this letter reaches you, release al-Mukhtār ibn Abī ʿUbayd from prison.” Ibn Ziyād could do nothing else; he released him and said, “If I find you in Kūfah after three days, I will strike off your head.”

Mukhtār departed for the Ḥijāz, proclaiming, “By Allah, I will sever the fingers of ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyād, and I will kill for al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī a number of men equal to those slain for the blood of Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā (John the Baptist).”

When ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr’s authority in Mecca became firmly established, Mukhtār pledged allegiance to him and was counted among his leading commanders. During the siege that al-Ḥuṣayn ibn Numayr laid to him with the Syrian forces, Mukhtār fought fiercely on Ibn al-Zubayr’s behalf. Yet when the news of Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah’s death reached him and Iraq fell into turmoil, he grew resentful toward Ibn al-Zubayr, left the Ḥijāz, and headed for Kūfah, entering it on a Friday while the people were preparing for the prayer.

He passed by every assembly, greeting them and saying, “Rejoice in victory and triumph over the enemy!” He entered the mosque, prayed beside a pillar until the call to prayer was announced, joined the congregational prayer, then continued praying until the ʿAṣr prayer was performed; afterwards he left. The people greeted him, gathered round him, and honored him. He began calling to the imamate of the Mahdī Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah, proclaiming his support for Ahl al-Bayt and asserting that he had come only to uphold their banner, raise their standard aloft, and exact their vengeance. Addressing the Shiʿah who had gathered around Sulaymān ibn Surad—for he feared they might hasten to march out with him—he set about discouraging them and winning them over, saying:

“I have come to you on behalf of the guardian of the affair, the mine of virtue, the trusted legatee, the Imam al-Mahdī, with a mission that brings healing, lifts the veil, slays the enemies, and perfects blessings. As for Sulaymān ibn Surad—may Allah have mercy on us and on him—he is nothing but an ignorant hothead, a tattered, worn-out waterskin (1) with no experience of affairs and no knowledge of warfare. All he wants is to lead you out so that he may get himself—and you—killed. I, however, act upon a vision that has been shown to me and a command that has been made clear.”