the commander over the men. Accordingly, they advanced against them at the head of three thousand fighters, while the Khawārij numbered only about one hundred and ten. (1)

The two columns reached him while he was in Āmid. Ṣāliḥ took half of his force and moved against Khālid ibn Juʾ, sending Shabīb with the remainder against al-Ḥārith ibn Jaʿwanah. A fierce engagement raged until nightfall. When evening came, the two sides disengaged: roughly seventy of the Khawārij had been killed, and about thirty of Ibn Marwān’s men lay dead. Under cover of darkness the Khawārij slipped away, left al-Jazīrah, and entered the region of Mosul, continuing until they had crossed Daskarah. Al-Ḥajjāj then dispatched three thousand men under al-Ḥārith ibn ʿUmayrah, who pursued them until he caught up with them in the land of Mosul. (2)

Ṣāliḥ now had with him no more than ninety men. When battle was joined, he arranged his companions in three battalions: he himself led one; Shabīb held the right with another; and Suwayd ibn Sulaymān (3) held the left. Al-Ḥārith ibn ʿUmayrah charged them, Abū al-Rawāʿ al-Shākirī commanding his right wing and al-Zubayr ibn al-Arwaḥ al-Tamīmī his left. The Khawārij stood firm with remarkable tenacity, but Suwayd ibn Sulaymān’s line eventually broke. Their leader, Ṣāliḥ ibn Musarriḥ, was then killed, and Shabīb was unhorsed. The remaining Khawārij closed ranks around him, lifted him up, and carried him into a nearby fortress. Only seventy of them remained. Al-Ḥārith ibn ʿUmayrah surrounded the stronghold and ordered his men to set the gate ablaze, which they did. The soldiers then withdrew to their camp, waiting for the gate to burn down so they might overwhelm the Khawārij. Once they had settled in, the Khawārij burst out—mounted and on foot—and launched a night attack on al-Ḥārith ibn ʿUmayrah’s army, killing a great number. The troops fled headlong toward al-Madāʾin, while Shabīb and his companions seized everything in al-Ḥārith ibn ʿUmayrah’s camp. This was the first army that Shabīb routed. Ṣāliḥ ibn Musarriḥ was killed on Tuesday, thirteen nights remaining of Jumādā al-Ākhirah (4) of that very year.

During the same year Shabīb entered Kūfah with his wife Ghazālah. After Ṣāliḥ ibn Musarriḥ’s death a chain of events unfolded for Shabīb whose details are lengthy: the Khawārij gathered around him and pledged allegiance to him. Al-Ḥajjāj sent another army against him; they defeated him, but he soon routed them. He then marched and laid siege to al-Madāʾin but achieved nothing. From there he moved on, seized mounts belonging to al-Ḥajjāj at Kullawādhā, and planned a night raid on the people of al-Madāʾin, causing the garrison there to flee to Kūfah. When their broken remnants reached al-Ḥajjāj, he mobilised an army of four thousand men against Shabīb. They passed al-Madāʾin and continued their pursuit. Shabīb kept just ahead of them, advancing a little at a time so as to appear afraid; then, at every opportunity, he would wheel round on their vanguard, crush it, and plunder its baggage. He never faced a detachment without routing it. Al-Ḥajjāj pressed on relentlessly, sending further units, expeditions, and reinforcements, while Shabīb remained totally undaunted, even though those with him—