Saʿd ibn Munqidh al-Hamdānī, and al-Mukhtār marched on until he reached Shabath’s Alley. There he found Nufal ibn Masāhiq ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Makhramah with five thousand men. Ibn Muṭīʿ meanwhile came out of the palace at the head of his troops, having left Shabath ibn Ribʿī in charge. Ibn al-Ashter moved against the force accompanying Ibn Masāhiq, and a fierce engagement ensued between them [in it Rafāʿah ibn Shaddād—the commander of the Army of the Penitents whom he had brought—together with ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿd and a number of others were killed; after that Ibn al-Ashter prevailed and routed them].
(1) He seized the bridle of Ibn Masāhiq’s mount, reminded him of their kinship, and let him go—a favor Ibn Masāhiq never forgot. Al-Mukhtār then advanced with his army to al-Kanāsah and besieged Ibn Muṭīʿ in his palace for three days. With him were the town’s notables, save for ʿAmr ibn Ḥurayth, who kept to his house. When the situation grew desperate for Ibn Muṭīʿ and his companions, he consulted them, and Shabath ibn Ribʿī advised him to obtain a pledge of safety (amān) from al-Mukhtār for them all. He replied, “I would never do that so long as the Commander of the Believers is obeyed in the Ḥijāz and in Basra.” Shabath said, “My advice is that you slip away in disguise, reach your leader, and inform him of what has occurred and of the part we played in supporting him and in establishing (2) his rule.”
When night fell, Ibn Muṭīʿ stole away until he entered the house of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī. At daybreak the commanders obtained amān from Ibn al-Ashter, who granted it; they left the palace and came to al-Mukhtār, pledging allegiance to him. Al-Mukhtār then entered the palace and spent the night there. The next morning the city’s notables gathered in the mosque and at the palace gate. Al-Mukhtār came out to the mosque, ascended the pulpit, delivered an eloquent address, and then called the people to swear allegiance, saying (3):
“By Him who has made the sky a guarded canopy and the earth open pathways, you have not pledged yourselves to anything, after your pledge to ʿAlī, more rightly guided than this.”
He then stepped down, and the people came forward to pledge themselves to him upon the Book of Allah, the sunnah of His Messenger, and the pursuit of vengeance for al-Ḥusayn and the People of the House. A man told al-Mukhtār that Ibn Muṭīʿ was in the house of Abū Mūsā, but al-Mukhtār acted as though he did not hear. The man repeated it three times, and each time al-Mukhtār pretended not to hear, (4) so the man fell silent. When night came, al-Mukhtār sent Ibn Muṭīʿ one hundred thousand dirhams, saying, “Leave, for I have long known where you were.” The two had been friends before. Ibn Muṭīʿ then headed for Basra, unwilling to face Ibn al-Zubayr in defeat.
Al-Mukhtār now sought to endear himself to the people through good governance. He found nine million dirhams in the public treasury and lavished generous stipends on the troops who had fought alongside him. He appointed ʿAbd Allah ibn Kāmil al-Yashkurī (5) as head of the police and drew the Arab notables close, making them his regular companions. This upset the mawālī who had championed him. They said to Abū ʿAmrah Kaysān—the freedman of Ghazīnah who commanded al-Mukhtār’s guards—“By Allah, Abū Isḥāq has advanced the Arabs and left us behind.”
Abū ʿAmrah reported this to al-Mukhtār. He replied, “They are part of me and I am part of them,” and then he recited, “Indeed, We shall exact retribution from the criminals” (Sūrah al-Sajdah 32:22). Abū ʿAmrah then told the mawālī, “Rejoice, for he will kill them (6) and bring you close,” which pleased them, and they said no more.