Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Abu Maryam narrates that Shabath bin Rib’i and Ibn Kawa went from Kufa to Harura. Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered the people to go out with their weapons. The people came to the mosque until the mosque was filled with people. Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “You have done very badly by entering the mosque with weapons. All of you gather in the field and stay there until my command reaches you.” Abu Maryam says that then we went to the field and stayed there for some part of the day, then we received news that the people were returning. (2) Abu Maryam says that I went towards them to see them. Passing through their ranks, I reached Shabath bin Rib’i and Ibn Kawa; both were standing leaning on their mounts. With them were the messengers of Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), who were beseeching them in the name of Allah and saying, “Your hastening to cause discord before the coming of the next year is an act from which Allah may grant you refuge.” A man from the Khawarij went to one of Hazrat Ali’s (may Allah be pleased with him) messengers and killed his mount. That man recited “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un,” got down, and walked away with his saddle. Both of them were saying, “We only want to confront them,” and the messengers were beseeching them in the name of Allah. (3) They all stayed for a while and then went to Kufa. It was either the day of Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Fitr. Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had previously told us that a group would leave Islam; they would leave Islam as an arrow leaves the bow. Their sign is that among them will be a man with a paralyzed hand. The narrator says that I heard this from Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) many times. This was also heard by Nafi’, the man with the paralyzed hand. Until I saw that, having heard this so much, he became so upset that he even stopped eating. Nafi’ was with us in the mosque; he would pray during the day and spend the night in the mosque. I had given him a cap to wear. I met him the next day and asked him if he had gone out with those who went to Harura. He said, “I intended to go with them, but when I reached such-and-such tribe, I met some children who snatched my weapon. So I returned. A year later, the people of Nahrawan set out, and Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) also went towards them, but I did not go with them.” (4) My brother Abu Abdullah and his servant went out with Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Abu Abdullah told me that Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) went towards the Khawarij. When they reached the edge of Nahrawan, he sent a man to them who beseeched them in the name of Allah and invited them to return. Messengers kept coming and going until the Khawarij killed one of Hazrat Ali’s (may Allah be pleased with him) messengers. When Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) saw this situation, he fought them. When he had finished destroying them, he ordered his companions to search for the man with the paralyzed hand. The people searched for him, and one man said, “We did not find him alive.” Another said, “He is not among them.” Then a man came and gave glad tidings, “O Commander of the Faithful! By Allah, we have found him fallen beneath two slain men.” Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered, “Cut off his paralyzed hand and bring it to me.” When the hand was brought, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) raised it and said, “By Allah! I did not lie, nor was I lied to.”