Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 13827 — from his father: When Sayyiduna

Hisham bin Urwah narrated from his father: When Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) died, Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was slow to obey Yazid bin Mu'awiyah and openly reviled him. This reached Yazid, and he swore that he would be brought to him only in chains, or else he would send (an army) against him. It was said to Ibn al-Zubayr: "Shall we not make you chains of silver which you can wear under your clothes, so that his oath is fulfilled? Reconciliation is better for you." He said: "By Allah, I will not fulfil his oath." Then he recited this verse:
I do not yield to anything other than the truth that I ask for, until the stone softens before the molar of the one who chews. Then he said: "By Allah, a blow of the sword with honour is dearer to me than a blow of the whip with humiliation." Then he called people to himself and openly declared his opposition to Yazid bin Mu'awiyah. So Yazid bin Mu'awiyah sent Muslim bin Uqbah al-Murri against him with the army of the people of Syria, ordered him to fight the people of Madinah, and (told him) that when he had finished with that, he should march to Makkah. The narrator said: So Muslim bin Uqbah entered Madinah, and on that day the remaining Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) fled from him. He wrought havoc in it and went to excess in killing, then left it. On the way (to Makkah) he died, and he appointed Husayn bin Numayr al-Kindi as his successor, saying to him: "O son of a donkey's saddle-cloth, beware of the tricks of Quraysh; deal with them only through deception, then pick them off." So Husayn went on until he reached Makkah and fought Ibn al-Zubayr there for several days. Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) had pitched a tent in the mosque, in which women gave water to the wounded and treated them, fed the hungry and hid the wounded with them. Husayn said: "A lion keeps coming out at us from that tent as though coming out of its den. Who will rid me of him?" A man from the people of Syria said: "I will." So when night fell, he placed a candle on the tip of his spear, spurred his horse, then struck the tent with the spear, and it went up in flames. On that day the Ka'bah was draped with fine carpets, and its top was red, so the wind carried the flames to the Ka'bah until it burned. On that day the two horns of the ram with which Ishaq (peace be upon him) was ransomed also burned in it. The narrator said: News of the death of Yazid bin Mu'awiyah reached Husayn bin Numayr, and Husayn bin Numayr fled. When Yazid bin Mu'awiyah died, Marwan bin al-Hakam called people to himself, and the people of Hims, Jordan and Palestine responded to him. Ibn al-Zubayr sent al-Dahhak bin Qays al-Fihri against him with a hundred thousand men, and the two armies met at Marj Rahit, while Marwan on that day had five thousand men of Banu Umayyah, their clients and their followers from the people of Syria. Marwan said to a slave of his called Kaddah: "Charge whichever flank you wish." He said: "How can I charge these when they are so many?" He said: "These people have been coerced or hired. Charge them, may you have no mother! The sharp stone will suffice you; they will suffice you against themselves. These are nothing but slaves of the dinar and the dirham." So he charged them and routed them; al-Dahhak bin Qays was killed and the army broke apart. About this Zufar bin al-Harith said:
By my life, the battle of Rahit has left, for Marwan's sake, slain men scattered among us
I bare my weapon, may you have no father; indeed I see that war only grows longer
Pasture may grow on dung-strewn ground, yet the grudges of hearts remain just as they were. And about it he also said:
Is it just that Bahdal and Ibn Bahdal should live, while Ibn al-Zubayr is killed?
You have lied, by the House of Allah, you will not kill him, and the radiant day of victory has not yet come
And the Mashrafi swords have not yet shown among you a gleam like the light of the sun when it rises high. The narrator said: Then Marwan died, and Abd al-Malik called people to himself and stood up (to claim it), and the people of Syria responded to him. He delivered a sermon from the pulpit and said: "Which of you will take on Ibn al-Zubayr?" Al-Hajjaj said: "I, O Commander of the Believers." He silenced him; then he repeated it and silenced him again. Then he said: "I, O Commander of the Believers, for I saw in a dream that I stripped off his cloak and put it on." So he gave him command of an army to Makkah, until he reached it against Ibn al-Zubayr and they fought there. Ibn al-Zubayr said to the people of Makkah: "Guard these two mountains, for you will remain in good and in honour as long as they do not gain control of them." The narrator said: It was not long before al-Hajjaj and those with him gained control of Abu Qubays and set up the catapult on it, and he kept bombarding with it Ibn al-Zubayr and his companions who were in the mosque. On the morning on which Ibn al-Zubayr was killed, Ibn al-Zubayr went in to his mother Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both). She was a hundred years old at that time; not one of her teeth had fallen out and her eyesight had not weakened. She said to her son: "O Abdullah, what have you done in your war?" He said: "They have reached such-and-such a place." The narrator said: Ibn al-Zubayr laughed and said: "In death there is indeed rest." She said: "My son, perhaps you wish it for me. I would not like to die until I have seen one of your two outcomes: either you rule and my eyes are delighted by it, or you are killed and I seek my reward from Allah for you." The narrator said: Then he bade her farewell, and she said to him: "My son, beware of giving up any part of your religion for fear of being killed." He left her and entered the mosque, and two door-leaves had been placed over the Black Stone to shield it from the catapult. Someone came to Ibn al-Zubayr while he was sitting by the Stone and said to him: "Shall we not open the Ka'bah for you so that you can go up into it?" Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) looked at him and then said to him: "You protect your brother from everything except from himself," meaning from his appointed death, "and does the Ka'bah have a sanctity that this place does not have? By Allah, if they found you clinging to the coverings of the Ka'bah, they would kill you." It was said to him: "Will you not speak to them about a truce?" He said: "Is this the time for a truce? By Allah, if they found you inside it, they would slaughter you all." Then he recited these verses:
I do not buy life at the price of disgrace, nor do I climb a ladder out of fear of death
I do not avert my eyes from the arrow of death; it will not turn aside, it meets death whichever direction it aims. Then he turned to the family of al-Zubayr, exhorting them, and said: "Let each of you hold his sword as he holds his face; let him not turn his sword upside down and then defend himself with his hand to the utmost. By Allah, I have never met an advancing army except in the foremost rank, and I have never felt the pain of a wound except when medicine was applied to me." The narrator said: While they were in that state, some men entered upon them through the gate of Banu Jumah. He asked: "Who are these?" It was said: "The people of Hims." So he charged at them, and Sufyan was with him. The first to meet him was al-Aswad; he struck him with his sword so hard that he cut off his leg. Al-Aswad said: "Ouch, O son of an adulteress!" Ibn al-Zubayr said: "Be gone, O son of Ham! Is Asma' an adulteress?" Then he drove them out of the mosque and turned back, and saw that some men had entered through the gate of Banu Sahm. He asked: "Who are these?" It was said: "The people of Jordan." So he charged at them while saying:
I have never known a raid like a flood, whose dust does not clear even by nightfall. So he drove them out of the mosque, and saw that some men had entered through the gate of Banu Makhzum, so he charged at them while saying:
Had my opponent been only one, I would have been enough for him. The narrator said: On the roof of the mosque were some of his helpers who were throwing bricks and other things at his enemy. He charged at them (the enemy), and a brick struck him on the parting of his hair and split his head open. He stood upright and began to say:
We are not those whose wounds bleed on our heels in retreat; rather, the blood drips upon our feet as we face forward. The narrator said: Then he fell, and two of his freed slaves bent over him, saying:
The slave protects his master and shields him. The narrator said: Then (men) were sent to him, and his head was cut off.