and that he be burned afterward.

Al-Mukhtār then sent for Ḥakīm ibn Fuḍayl (1) al-Sanabasī—who had stripped al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib on the day Ḥusayn was killed. He was arrested, and his relatives went to ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim, who mounted his horse to plead for him with al-Mukhtār. Fearing that ʿAdī might reach al-Mukhtār first and secure his pardon, those who had seized Ḥakīm killed him before he could be brought in. ʿAdī entered and interceded, and al-Mukhtār accepted the plea; but when the captors returned, having already slain him, ʿAdī cursed them, rose angrily against them, and acknowledged the favor he now owed al-Mukhtār.

Al-Mukhtār also dispatched men after Yazīd ibn Ruqād (2), who had killed ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn ʿAqīl. When the search party surrounded his house he came out and fought them; they shot him with arrows and pelted him with stones until he fell, then burned him while life still lingered in him.

Next al-Mukhtār sought Sinān ibn Anas, who claimed to have killed Ḥusayn. They learned that he had fled to Basra or the Jazīra, so his house was demolished. The same was done to everyone from that group who fled to Basra or the Jazīra: their houses were torn down. (3) Among those who escaped to Muṣʿab was Muḥammad ibn al-Ashʿath ibn Qays; al-Mukhtār ordered his house razed and the site used to rebuild the house of Ḥujr ibn ʿAdī, which Ziyād had earlier destroyed.

The killing of ʿUmar ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, commander of the forces that slew Ḥusayn

Al-Wāqidī (4) relates that Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (may Allah be pleased with him) was once sitting when a servant came to him, blood running down his heels. Saʿd asked, “Who did this to you?” He replied, “Your son ʿUmar.” Saʿd then said, “O Allah, kill him and let his blood flow.” Saʿd’s supplications were answered.

When al-Mukhtār gained control of Kufa, ʿUmar ibn Saʿd sought the protection of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿda ibn Hubayra, a kinsman of ʿAlī and a friend of al-Mukhtār. He went to al-Mukhtār and obtained for ʿUmar a pledge of safety guaranteeing his life, family, and property so long as he obeyed orders and remained in his home and in the city, committing no offense. What al-Mukhtār meant was that he should not even go out to relieve himself.

When ʿUmar heard that al-Mukhtār intended to kill him, he left his house by night, heading for Basra. (5) One of his retainers pointed out al-Mukhtār’s condition, and he replied, “What transgression could be greater than this?” The man asked, “Will you abandon your house and your goods?” So he went back.

At daybreak he sent his son Ḥafṣ to al-Mukhtār with the message, “My father asks whether you still stand by your pledge of safety.” (Some say that Ḥafṣ himself went to al-Mukhtār to verify this and al-Mukhtār told him, “Sit down”; others say that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿda was sent with the same question.) (6) Al-Mukhtār said to him, “Sit down.” When he had sat, al-Mukhtār ordered the commander of his guard, “Go and bring me his head.” The man went, killed ʿUmar, and returned with his head.