of Dhuʾl-Ḥijjah.

Abu Mikhnaf relates, on the authority of his teachers: No sooner had al-Mukhtār concluded his affair with the Cemetery of al-Sabīʿ and the people of al-Kanāsah than he waited only two days before sending Ibn al-Ashṭar toward the front to which he had assigned him to fight the Syrians. He set out on Saturday, when eight days of Dhuʾl-Ḥijjah in the year 66 AH remained. Al-Mukhtār went out with him, bidding him farewell before his companions, and the select members of al-Mukhtār’s entourage accompanied them, taking al-Mukhtār’s chair, mounted on a dapple-grey mule, so that they might seek victory by means of it against the enemy. They surrounded it, invoking Allah, crying out for help, seeking triumph and beseeching Him.

Al-Mukhtār then turned back after counselling him with three words: ‘O Ibn al-Ashṭar, fear Allah in private and in public, travel swiftly, and strike your enemy without delay.’ The bearers of the chair continued on with Ibn al-Ashṭar.

Ibn al-Ashṭar kept repeating, ‘O Allah, do not take us to task for what the foolish among us have done—the way of the Children of Israel, by Him in Whose hand is my soul, when they clung to their calf.’ When he and his companions had crossed the bridge, the bearers of the chair turned back.

Ibn Jarīr said (1): The story behind this chair was told to me by ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad ibn Shabbawayh (2). He said: My father related to me, saying: Sulaymān narrated to us; ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us, from Isḥāq ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥah; he said: Maʿbad ibn Khālid narrated to me; he said: Tufayl ibn Jaʿdah ibn Hubayrah narrated to me:

‘I once had no silver at all. While in that state I passed by the door of a neighbour of mine who owned a chair thickly coated with dirt. It occurred to me that I might make use of it (3), so I went back and sent word asking him to send me the chair, and he did so. I then went to al-Mukhtār and said, “I have been concealing something from you, but I now wish to mention it.”

He asked, “And what is it?”

I said, “A chair upon which Jaʿdah ibn Hubayrah used to sit, for he seemed to think it still bore a trace of knowledge.”

He exclaimed, “Glory be to Allah! And you kept this from me until today? Send for it (4)!”

So I brought it after it had been washed; it emerged as fresh, well-oiled wood. He thereupon ordered that I be given twelve thousand.

A herald then called out among the people, “The congregational prayer is about to begin.” Al-Mukhtār addressed the people, saying, “Nothing that occurred among the previous nations will fail to occur in this ummah in the same way. Among the Children of Israel there was the Ark (al-tābūt), and this is its counterpart.” He then ordered its coverings removed. The Sabaʾiyyah rose, raised their hands, and proclaimed “Allāhu akbar” three times.

Shabath ibn Ribʿī thereupon stood and reproached the people, almost declaring anyone who venerated this ‘Ark’ with such exaltation to be disbelievers. He recommended that it be smashed, taken out of the mosque, [and thrown onto the refuse-heap], and the people thanked Shabath ibn Ribʿī for that.

When word came that ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyād was advancing and al-Mukhtār dispatched Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashṭar, he sent the chair with him, borne on a dapple-grey mule. It was draped with [silk] cloths, seven on the right and seven on the left. When they confronted the Syrians, as will be detailed, defeated them, and killed Ibn Ziyād, their veneration for that chair increased until it reached the point of outright disbelief.

Tufayl ibn Jaʿdah said, “We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. I regretted what I had done, and the people began to talk about this chair; their censure of it multiplied, so it was hidden away and never seen again.”