[by killing him] (1) or ordering his killing. Rather, he was killed by a group of corrupters in the land drawn from the tribal rabble and fomenters of strife. Ali—may Allah be pleased with him—would constantly swear:

“I did not kill Uthman, nor did I collude in his killing.”

He would also say:

“O Allah, curse Uthman’s killers on land and sea, on plain and mountain.”

The most that can be said is that they did not render him the full (2) measure of support due to him, and that there was some degree of lethargy and failure to help him, allowing those corrupters to gain the upper hand. They had their own interpretations regarding this, and they never imagined that matters would reach the point they did. Had they known, they would have blocked the means leading to it and cut off the source (3) of the strife.

For this reason, Allah Most High says:

“Beware of a trial that will not afflict only the wrongdoers among you.”

[Surat al-Anfāl: 25]

A wrongdoer commits wrongdoing, and the people are then subjected to a trial that afflicts even those who did not (4) commit wrongdoing; such a person is then unable (5) to repel it. This is unlike the case in which the wrongdoer is restrained from the outset, for then the cause of the trial would be removed.

The second (6)—and this is the second of the lines of response, the first having begun on the preceding page—is that these Rāfidīs are utterly self-contradictory and mendacious. For it is well known (7):

1—The people reached consensus on pledging allegiance to Uthman, whereas they did not reach consensus (8) on killing him. All of them throughout the lands pledged allegiance to him. If apparent consensus may be adduced as proof, then the pledge of allegiance to him must (9) have been rightful, since consensus was reached upon it. But if it is not