He carried it to al-Mukhtār and threw it down in front of him. Al-Mukhtār said, “May Allah bring you glad tidings; this is a good omen.” Ibrāhīm then asked al-Mukhtār for permission to move out that very night. Al-Mukhtār ordered that fires be lit and that the rallying cry of his followers be proclaimed: yā manṣūr, amit (Advance, Victorious One, strike!) and yā lathārāt al-Ḥusayn (O avengers of Ḥusayn!).

He rose, donned his coat of mail and weapons, and recited:
“Fair Bayḍā’, lovely by the ruins,
bright-cheeked, heavy-hipped, knows well
that on the day of alarm I am a dauntless champion.” (1)

Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashter went out ahead of him, deliberately seeking out the commanders posted around the city and driving them from their stations one by one, repeating al-Mukhtār’s slogan as he advanced. Al-Mukhtār sent Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī, who likewise called out the slogan, yā lathārāt al-Ḥusayn, and people flocked to him from every direction.

Shabath ibn Ribʿī came; he and al-Mukhtār fought in front of al-Mukhtār’s house, besieging him until Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashter arrived and drove Shabath away. Shabath then returned to Ibn Muṭīʿ and advised him to gather the commanders around himself and take the field in person, for al-Mukhtār’s cause had grown strong and formidable. Shīʿites from every distant valley converged upon al-Mukhtār, and by mid-night nearly four thousand men had assembled around him. At dawn he arrayed his army, led them in the morning prayer, and in it he recited: “By those who tear out the souls violently” (al-Nāziʿāt, 79) and in the second rakʿah “He frowned and turned away” (ʿAbasa, 80).

One of those present said, “Never have I heard an imām whose speech was more eloquent than his.” (2)

Ibn Muṭīʿ had readied an army of three thousand under Shabath ibn Ribʿī and another four thousand under Rāshid ibn Iyās ibn Muḍārib. Al-Mukhtār sent Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashter with six hundred cavalry and six hundred infantry [against Rāshid ibn Iyās], and he dispatched Naʿīm ibn Hubayrah with three hundred cavalry and six hundred infantry (3) against Shabath ibn Ribʿī.

Ibrāhīm routed Rāshid ibn Iyās’s force, killed Rāshid himself, and sent word of the victory to al-Mukhtār. Naʿīm ibn Hubayrah meanwhile encountered Shabath ibn Ribʿī; Shabath defeated and killed him, then surrounded al-Mukhtār and laid siege to him.

Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashter hastened toward al-Mukhtār, but Ḥassān ibn Fāʾid al-ʿAbsī, leading about two thousand cavalry on Ibn Muṭīʿ’s behalf, intercepted him. They fought for a time; Ibrāhīm routed him and then pressed on [toward al-Mukhtār]. He found that Shabath ibn Ribʿī had already besieged al-Mukhtār and his troops. Ibrāhīm pursued them until he drove them off and forced them to retreat, then reached al-Mukhtār. They withdrew from that spot to another position outside Kūfah.

Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashter said to al-Mukhtār, “Let us head for the governor’s palace; nothing stands between us and it.” They set down their burdens, seated the frail elders and those unfit for battle there, appointed Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī over them, and al-Mukhtār sent Ibrāhīm ahead. He drew up his forces as before and marched toward the palace.

Ibn Muṭīʿ dispatched ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥajjāj with two thousand men; al-Mukhtār sent Yazīd ibn Anas against him, while he and Ibrāhīm advanced until they entered Kūfah through the Kanāsah Gate. Ibn Muṭīʿ then sent Shimr ibn Dhī al-Jawshan—the very man who had killed al-Ḥusayn—with another two thousand, so al-Mukhtār sent Saʿd ibn