Ibn al-Zubayr and his brother Musʿab were eulogized in many fine and eloquent dirges. Among them are the following lines in which ʿAmr ibn Maʿmar (1) al-Dhahli laments them:
By your life, you left the people with no need unmet,
Nor did you ever wear the cloak of guidance only to waver.
That morning when Musʿab summoned me, I answered his call,
Saying to him, “Welcome, a thousand welcomes.”
Your father was the Messenger’s devoted disciple and his sword;
By Allah’s grace you spring from the noblest stock among us.
And there stands your brother, guided by his own radiance,
Calling us in Mecca to a summons rich in reward.
Never was I two-faced—one, pallid, toward Musʿab,
And another for Ibn Marwān when his desire was stirred.
You were a man I served with honest counsel,
Never preferring Ibn Marwān to him nor currying his favor
With anything that would offend Musʿab’s eye;
Rather, for Allah’s sake I advised Musʿab faithfully
Until the shafts of fortune struck him—
By Allah, how keen, how true that arrow was!
If time has carried Musʿab off
And left ʿAbd Allah a mangled corpse,
Every soul must taste a draught of death,
Though he strive in fear to sidestep it. (2)
Al-Ṭabarānī relates, on the authority of ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, that his father told him: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the blood drawn by cupping and told him to pour it away, but he drank it. When he returned, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked, “What did you do with the blood, ʿAbd Allah?” I replied, “I put it in a place where I thought it would be hidden from the people.” He said, “Perhaps you drank it?” I answered, “Yes.” He said, “Who told you to drink the blood? Woe to you from the people, and woe to the people from you.” (3)
On another occasion Salmān al-Fārisī entered upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and found ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr standing in the vestibule with a basin from which he was drinking. Salmān went in, and Ibn al-Zubayr followed him. The Prophet asked, “Have you finished?” He replied, “Yes.” Salmān asked, “What is this, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “I gave him the wash-water from my cupping to pour away.” Salmān exclaimed, “By the One Who sent you with the truth, he has drunk it!” The Prophet asked, “Did you drink it?” He answered, “Yes.” He asked, “Why?” He said, “I wanted the blood of the Messenger of Allah to be inside me.” The Prophet placed his hand on Ibn al-Zubayr’s head and said, “Woe to you from the people, and woe to the people from you; the Fire shall not touch you except in token of an oath.” (3)
Later, when Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah sent Ibn al-Zubayr a golden shackle together with a silver chain and collar, vowing, “You shall come to me wearing them,” people urged Ibn al-Zubayr, “Fulfil the pledge of the Commander of the Faithful.” He replied:
I will not bend save to the truth I seek,
Till the grinder’s tooth can soften solid stone!
Then he said, “By Allah, a single stroke of the sword in honor is dearer to me than a lash’s stroke in humiliation.” He thereupon sought allegiance for himself and openly broke with Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah.