1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn al-Hakam from Sayf ibn ‘Amirah from Hassan ibn Mehran who has said the following: “I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah , say, ’’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘Makkah is the sacred place of Allah and al-Madinah is the sacred place of the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause. Al-Kufah is my sacred place. Whoever of the tyrants may want to have it through eventful ways, Allah will crush his backbones.’ ”