Elegies for Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him)

Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar narrates from his shaykhs that Sayyidah Umm Habibah bint Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with her), the honoured wife of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), sent a messenger to Abdullah bin Abi Rabi'ah (the brother of Ayyash bin Abi Rabi'ah) to inform him of the martyrdom of Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), and she also sent him the shirt and garments that were stained with his blood. When the messenger reached him, he went out to the people, climbed the pulpit and informed them of the martyrdom. He spread the shirt out on the pulpit, and he wept and the people wept with him. Then he recited these verses: "News has come to me in which there is great grief for the people, and long weeping for the eyes; in it is the humiliation of life's comforts, and in it is the cutting off of noses from the root. It is the calamity and shock of the martyrdom of the Commander of the Faithful, at which the lofty mountains would almost move from their places. In Madinah a band gathered against him, of two factions: one a killer and the other a betrayer. I shall mourn Abu Amr with every Indian sword and gleaming weapon whose clash rings out among the mail-clad warriors. And sleep is now forbidden until the chests of this people are pierced with spears, and the thirst of the heart is quenched from the misguided people. As long as I live, I will not stay in this town trailing my garment while you lie slain." The narrator says: Then he set out with his companions to support Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), but when he drew near to Makkah he fell from his mount and died.

It is narrated from Imam al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him); he said: Among the verses of mourning composed for Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), I have not heard anything better than these verses of Ka'b bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): "So he withheld his hands and shut his door, and he was certain that Allah is not unaware. And he said to the people of his house: Do not kill them; may Allah pardon every man who did not fight. So you saw how Allah poured enmity and hatred among them after their close ties, and you saw how, after him, good turned its back on the people just as the swift winds turn their backs."