Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah sanctify his soul—said:

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, Lord of the heavens and the earths, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, the Seal of the Prophets. May Allah Most High bless him and his family and grant him enduring peace until the Day of Judgment.

To proceed: I have written down what I can recall of the great gathering at the governor’s palace and the parade ground, attended by commanders, secretaries, scholars, the common poor, and others, concerning the “Batā’ihiyyah” on Saturday, the ninth of Jumādā al-Ūlā, in the year five (1). I have done so because of the keen interest in learning about it and people’s eagerness to know what happened. Those who were absent may hear only fragments of the incident,