each of them in a tongue different from the others, and Ibn al-Zubayr would speak to every one of them in his own language. Whenever you looked at him in worldly matters you would say, “Here is a man who has never sought Allah—nor the abode of the Hereafter—for so much as the blink of an eye”; yet whenever you considered him with respect to the Hereafter you would say, “Here is a man who has never sought this world for even the blink of an eye.” (1)

Al-Thawri narrated from al-Aʿmash, from Abū ḍ-Ḍuḥā (2): “I saw so much musk on the head of Ibn al-Zubayr that, had it been mine, it would have been capital.” (3)

Ibn al-Mubārak narrated from Maʿmar, from Ibn Ṭāwūs, from his father, who said: Ibn al-Zubayr entered upon his wife—the daughter of al-Ḥasan—and found three rolls of bedding there. He said, “This one is for me, this one is for the daughter of al-Ḥasan, and this one is for Shayṭān—so take it away.” (4)

Al-Thawri also narrated from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bashīr, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masāwir: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās reproaching Ibn al-Zubayr for miserliness and saying: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “He is not a believer who spends the night full while his neighbour beside him is hungry.” (5)

Imam Aḥmad (6) said: Ismāʿīl ibn Abān al-Warraq narrated to us; Yaʿqūb narrated to us, from Jaʿfar ibn Abī al-Mughīra, from Ibn Abzā, from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān. He related that when ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr was under siege he said to him, “I have swift camels prepared for you; would you like to move to Makkah so that whoever wishes to visit you can come to you there?” He replied, “No! I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘A ram from Quraysh whose name is ʿAbd Allāh will violate it, bearing sins equivalent to those of the people.’”

This ḥadīth is extremely munkar, and its chain is weak. The Yaʿqūb in the isnād is al-Qummī, who inclined toward Shiʿism; a report transmitted by him alone is not acceptable. Even if it were sound, it would not refer to ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, for he possessed laudable qualities and undertook the caliphate purely for Allah—may He be Exalted. After the death of Muʿāwiyah ibn Yazīd he was unquestionably the imām, and he was more rightly guided than Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam, who contested with him [after the people had already united behind him], the pledge of allegiance having reached him throughout the regions and his authority having been firmly established. Allah knows best.

Imam Aḥmad (7) also said: Abū al-Naḍr Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim narrated to us; Isḥāq ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr narrated: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr came to ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr while he was sitting in the Ḥijr and said, “Ibn al-Zubayr, beware of committing sacrilege in the Sanctuary of Allah, for I testify that I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘Its sanctity will be violated, and it will be violated by a man from Quraysh who…’”