“Say only what is good. They are merely a people who claimed that we had committed aggression against them, while we claimed that they had committed aggression against us, and so we fought them.”

Abū Jafar was then told that Alī had taken their weapons. He said:

“He could well have done without that.”

Muhammad ibn Nasr said:

Muhammad ibn Yahyā related to us: Ahmad ibn Khālid related to us: Muhammad ibn Rāshid related to us, from Makhūl, who reported that Alī’s companions asked him about those among Muāwiyah’s forces who had been killed:

“What were they?”

He replied:

“They were believers (1).”

Ahmad ibn Khālid likewise said: Abd al-Azīz ibn Abī Salamah related to us, from Abd al-Wāhid ibn Abī Awn, who said:

Alī passed by those slain at Siffīn while leaning (2) on al-Ashtar, and there lay Hābis al-Yamānī among the dead. Al-Ashtar said:

“Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return! Here is Hābis al-Yamānī among them, O Commander of the Believers, bearing Muāwiyah’s insignia. By Allah, I knew him (3) to be a believer.”

Alī said:

“And now he is a believer.”

He said:

Hābis was a man from Yemen, devoted to worship and diligent devotion.

Muhammad ibn Yahyā said:

Muhammad ibn Ubayd related to us: Mukhtār ibn Nāfi related to us, from Abū Matar, who said:

Alī said, “When will the most wretched man in this community rise up?”

He was asked, “Who is this community’s most wretched man?”

He replied, “The one who will kill me.”

Ibn Muljam then struck him with his sword, and the blow landed on the head of Alī—may Allah be pleased with him. The Muslims were about to kill Ibn Muljam, but Alī said:

“Do not kill the man. If I recover, retaliation applies to the wound; and if I die, then kill him.”

The man said, “You will die.”

Alī asked, “How do you know?”

He replied, “My sword had been poisoned (4).”