even though those with him numbered only one hundred and sixty cavalrymen—and that is truly astonishing. He then took a different route until he reached Kūfah itself, intending to lay it under siege. The entire garrison marched out to the Sabkhah plain to engage him, but when this reached Shabīb he gave it no thought. Instead, the townspeople panicked, grew fearful, scattered, and were on the verge of hurrying back into Kūfah to fortify themselves against him. They were told, however, that Suwayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was on their heels and had almost overtaken them, while Shabīb was settled in al-Madāʾin, lodged in a monastery, entirely free of alarm or fear.
He had already ordered food and roast meat to be prepared. Someone said to him, “The troops have arrived—look to your safety!” Yet he did not so much as turn toward him or attach any weight to the words. Instead he told the dehqān who was cooking for him, “Season it well, roast it thoroughly, and hurry it up.” When it was ready he ate, then performed a complete ablution, and next led his companions in prayer [a full prayer, unhurried and tranquil]. After that he put on his coat of mail, belted on two swords, took up an iron club, and said, “Saddle the mule for me.” He mounted it, whereupon his brother Muṣād said, “Will you ride a mule today when the enemy have surrounded you on every side?” He replied, “No! Every affair has a guardian until its appointed term.”
He then rode out, opened the gate of the monastery in which he was staying, and proclaimed:
anā Abū al-Mudallah
lā ḥukma illā li-llāh (Judgment belongs to Allah alone).
He advanced upon the commander of the nearest detachment and felled him with the iron club—the man was Saʿīd ibn al-Mujālid. Then he charged the second, larger force, struck down its commander, and the soldiers fled before him, seeking refuge in Kūfah. Shabīb proceeded toward Kūfah by way of the lower Euphrates and killed a number of men there. Al-Ḥajjāj fled from Kūfah to Basra, appointing ʿUrwah ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah as his deputy over the city.
When Shabīb approached Kūfah, intent on entering it, the dehqāns informed ʿUrwah ibn al-Mughīrah, who wrote to al-Ḥajjāj. Al-Ḥajjāj immediately left Basra for Kūfah at a forced march. Shabīb, too, hastened toward the city, but al-Ḥajjāj arrived first and entered in the late afternoon (1). Shabīb reached the Marbid at sunset. Late in the night he entered Kūfah, made straight for the governor’s palace, and struck its gate with his iron club; the blow left a mark that was pointed out thereafter, people saying, “This is Shabīb’s stroke.” He then moved through the city lanes, targeting the tribal quarters, and killed several leading men and notables of Kūfah. Among them were Abū Sulaym—the father of Layth ibn Abī Sulaym—ʿAdī ibn ʿAmr, and Azhar ibn ʿAbd Allah al-ʿĀmirī, along with many others. Shabīb’s wife Ghazālah (2), famed for her bravery, was with him; she entered the Great Mosque of Kūfah, sat upon its pulpit, and began vilifying the Banū Marwān (3).
Al-Ḥajjāj cried out to the people, “yā khayl Allāh irkabī!” (O cavalry of Allah, mount up!). Shabīb thereupon left Kūfah [for the field of thrust and blow]. Al-Ḥajjāj dispatched six thousand fighters in pursuit; they followed after him [while he rode ahead of them, dozing and nodding his head], and time and again Shabīb would wheel around and attack them, killing a great many of al-Ḥajjāj’s troops. He also slew several commanders, among them Zāʾidah ibn Qudāmah—whom Shabīb killed, and who was a cousin of al-Mukhtār. Al-Ḥajjāj therefore appointed in his stead ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn—