Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Muhammad bin Sirin narrates that Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, sent Qais bin Sa’d as the governor of Egypt. Hazrat Muawiyah and Amr bin Al-Aas, may Allah be pleased with them, wrote him a letter in which they addressed him with harsh words. So, he replied to them with a letter in gentle words, in which he drew them close and made them hopeful about himself. When his letter reached them, they sent Qais a letter with gentle words, in which they wrote his virtues and enticed him towards themselves in that letter. So, Qais replied to their first letter, in which he used harsh words for them and did not leave any point unanswered. Seeing this, both of them said to each other: “By Allah! We cannot overpower Qais bin Sa’d, but let us write a letter to Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and devise a plan regarding Qais.” It is said that they sent their first letter to Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him. When the letter reached, the people of Kufa said to Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him: “Qais bin Sa’d is an enemy of Allah, remove him.” Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Woe to you! By Allah, I know better than you, this is just a characteristic of Qais bin Sa’d.” But the people of Kufa kept insisting on the removal of Qais bin Sa’d. Reluctantly, Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, removed him and sent Muhammad bin Abi Bakr as governor in his place. When Muhammad bin Abi Bakr reached Qais bin Sa’d, Qais said: “Listen to me carefully! If Hazrat Muawiyah writes you a letter of this content, then reply with these words, and when he does such and such, then act in this way, and beware! Do not oppose my command. By Allah! It is as if I am seeing you, if you oppose my command, you will be killed and then burned in the belly of a donkey.” The narrator says: “Later, this is exactly what happened to him.”