from it any evident consequence—neither praise nor blame. Allah knows best. * Moreover, al-Ashʿath ibn Qays died in the year 40 AH, though it is also said that he died in 41 AH. This is why he was not mentioned in connection with the peace settlement between Muʿāwiyah and al-Hasan ibn ʿAlī in the year known as the Year of Unity, namely 41 AH (1). Al-Ashʿath was the father-in-law (2) of al-Hasan ibn ʿAlī; had he still been alive, he would have been mentioned in that connection. Since he died approximately ten years before al-Hasan, how could he have been the one who instructed his daughter to poison al-Hasan? (3)
Allah—Glorified and Exalted—is best aware * (4) of the reality of the matter, and He will judge between His servants concerning that over which they used to differ. If anything of that kind did occur, it falls under the category of their fighting (5) one another [as previously discussed, and of Muslims fighting one another] (6) on the basis of an interpretation, insulting one another on the basis of an interpretation, and declaring one another unbelievers on the basis of an interpretation. This is a momentous subject, and whoever does not know what is truly required concerning it will otherwise (7) go astray.
(1) *Ahad wa-arbaʿīn* (the masculine form of “forty-one”): thus in B. All other manuscripts read *ihdā wa-arbaʿīn* (the feminine form).
(2) *Hamā* (the accusative form of “father-in-law”): thus in B, and this is correct. All other manuscripts read *hamū* (the nominative form).
(3) Al-Ashʿath ibn Qays ibn Maʿdī Karib al-Kindī, Abū Muhammad, was a Companion. In 10 AH, he came to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—as part of a delegation of seventy riders from Kinda. He was one of Kinda’s kings. He embraced Islam and participated in the Battle of Yarmūk, where one of his eyes was injured. During the caliphate of Abū Bakr al-Siddīq—may Allah be pleased with him—he refused to pay zakat, so military action was taken against him and he surrendered. Abū Bakr released him and gave him his sister, Umm Farwa, in marriage. He then settled in Medina and took part in the military campaigns, including the wars in Iraq. He was with ʿAlī at Siffīn and accompanied him at the Battle of Nahrawān. He subsequently returned to Kufa, where he died in 40 AH. Al-Bukhārī and Muslim included nine hadiths narrated by him. See his biography in *al-Isāba*, 1/66; *al-Aʿlām*, 1/333–334.
(4) The passage between the two asterisks is omitted in W.
(5) N, M, and W: “killing.”
(6) The passage between square brackets is omitted in N, M, and R.
(7) “Otherwise” is omitted in B.