totals eleven men. There is disagreement concerning six of them as to whether he or someone else killed them, and he took part in killing three. This is the sum of what these truthful authorities reported (1).
[The Rāfidī’s statement concerning the Battle of Uhud—“when the people fled”—and the response to it]
(Section)
The Rāfidī (2) said: “At the Battle of Uhud, when everyone except Alī ibn Abī Tālib fled from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—a small group returned (3) to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The first of them were Āsim ibn Thābit, Abū Dujāna, and Sahl ibn Hunayf. Uthmān came three days later, and the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to him, ‘You certainly went far afield.’ The angels marveled at Alī’s conduct (4), and Gabriel said as he ascended to heaven:
‘No sword but Dhū al-Fiqār;
no champion but Alī.’
He killed most (5) of the polytheists in this battle, and victory in it was won at his hands. Qays ibn Sa‘d narrated, saying (6): ‘I heard Alī say, “I was struck