6. He said: Abul Qasim Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Qawlawyh - may Allah bless him with mercy, reported from his father, from Sa’d ibn Abdillah, from Ahmad ibn Alawiyyah, from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Thaqafi, who reported from Muhammad ibn Amru al-Razi, who reported from al-Husayn ibn al-Mubarak, who reported from al-Hasan ibn Salimah, who said: When Amirul Mu’mineen, peace be upon him, covered the trail of Talha, al-Zubair and Ayesha, from Makkah to al-Basrah, he announced a congregational prayer. When the people assembled, he praised Allah, and glorified His Name. Then he said: "Surely, when Allah, Most High, summoned back His Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, we said: ’We are the inmates of his household, his blood relatives, his heirs and his executors. We are the worthiest among the whole creation for his affairs, and we would not dispute his Truth and authority.’ While we thought that way, a group of hypocrites rose to usurp our Prophet’s authority from us and give it into the control of others. By Allah, because of that, our eyes wept and our hearts lamented; and our throats choked with grief. And I swear by the name of Allah, had we not feared that the Muslims would be divided, taking them back to infidelity and apostasy, we would have done our best to change that situation. Those rulers were given the control of the affairs and when they passed on, Allah returned the affairs unto me. And among those who swore loyalty to me, these two men, Talha and al-Zubair also swore, but then they proceeded to al-Basrah to create a friction among your peoples and to bring upon you your misfortune. O Allah, punish them both for deceiving this Ummah, and for the evil intentions they nurse for the public." Then Abul Haitham ibn al-Tayyihan - may Allah bless him with mercy, stood up and said: "O Amirul Mu’mineen, the Quraish are jealous of you for two reasons: either their eminent members are jealous of you, competing for excellouce or wishing to have an elevated position; or the wicked ones who are jealous, and so Allah has made their deeds fail, and their burdens heavy. They were not happy to remain as your equals, as they chose to precede you; and thus, they missed their goal and fell off in the race. You were indeed worthier than any Quraish; you were the Prophet’s assistant as long as he lived; and you settled all his liabilities after his death. By Allah, their insolence is against themselves! We are your helpers and supporters; so give us your orders". Then he recited the following couplets: "The people have rebelled against you, plotted against you and imputed against you ugly things, But the fact is that you have no faults, not even equal to a gnat’s wing, nor equal to its tenth; They saw you blessed with bounties from Allah, and found you a brave master, crushing the horns of a butting ram; They saw you a leader under whom all seek refuge, and they found you a strong rein that tames a capricious horse! They found you a governor, in whose authority Imamah is combined, and a Hashamite who controls the wide valley of Makkah. They are jealous of what has come to you from Allah! And thereby have inflicted upon their own hearts deep wounds! There are people there who are vessels of intense hatred against the Truth, niggardly because of their wretchedness, Some of them concealing it behind the veils, others insistently displaying the enmity. ’O Successor of the Prophet, our relation with the Truth is like the delight and joy at the break of dawn; So punish the Aws and a clan from al-Khazraj with the thrust of the spear in war, and with confrontation; There is none among us who is not a helper in the way Allah, on the path of guidance and success." Then Amirul Mu’mineen prayed for his reward. After that, people stood up, each speaking the way Abul Haitham spoke.