We return to the rest of the hadith: Sayyiduna Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) had pitched a tent in the mosque, in which women would give water to the wounded, dress their wounds and feed the hungry, and the wounded would take refuge there. Al-Husayn bin Numayr said: "A lion keeps coming out of that tent and attacking us, as though it were coming out of its den. Who will rid me of him?" A man from the people of Syria said: "I will." When night fell, he placed a candle on the tip of his spear, then spurred his horse and struck the tent with the spear, and it burst into flames. In those days the Ka'bah was covered with cloth coverings, and on top of it were Yemeni sheets. The wind blew the flames onto the Ka'bah until it too was burned, and on that day the horns of the ram that was given as a ransom in place of Sayyiduna Ishaq (peace be upon him) were also burned. The narrator says: Then the news of the death of Yazid bin Mu'awiyah reached al-Husayn bin Numayr, and he fled. When Yazid bin Mu'awiyah died, Marwan bin al-Hakam called people to his own caliphate, and the people of Hims, Jordan and Palestine responded to him. Sayyiduna Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) sent al-Dahhak bin Qays al-Fihri against him with an army of one hundred thousand. They met at Marj Rahit, and on that day Marwan was with a force of five thousand, including Banu Umayyah, their freed slaves and their followers from the people of Syria. Marwan said to a slave of his named Kurah: "Attack whichever side you wish." He said: "How can we attack them when their numbers are so great?" Marwan said: "These people are either coerced or hired. Attack them, may good come to you! One full blow of yours will be enough, and they will scatter by themselves, for these are slaves of the dinar and the dirham." So he attacked and defeated them. Al-Dahhak bin Qays was killed and the army was scattered. About this Zufar bin al-Harith says: "By my life! The event of Marj Rahit has left for Marwan the slain and the captives. I keep wielding my weapons, may good come to you; at the time of war my intensity only increases. Sometimes grass grows even on soil full of refuse, but the rancour of the hearts remains." And about this he also says: "Is it right that Bahdal and his son should live, while Ibn al-Zubayr is killed? You have lied, by the Lord of the Ka'bah! You cannot kill him until that bright and radiant day comes, and until the gleam of the Mashrafi swords spreads among you like the light of the sun." The narrator says: Then Marwan died, and Abd al-Malik bin Marwan took over the caliphate, and the people of Syria accepted him. He delivered a sermon from the pulpit and said: "Who is ready for Ibn al-Zubayr?" Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf said: "I am, O Commander of the Believers." Abd al-Malik silenced him. He said the same again, and again he silenced him. The third time he said again: "O Commander of the Believers, I am ready for him, for I saw in a dream as though I had pulled off his cloak and put it on myself." So Abd al-Malik prepared a banner for him and sent him with an army to Makkah, until he reached Makkah and fought Ibn al-Zubayr. Ibn al-Zubayr said to the people of Makkah: "Guard these two mountains; as long as the enemy does not overpower them, you will remain in honour and well-being." The narrator says: Not much time had passed before al-Hajjaj and his companions took control of the mountain of Abu Qubays and set up a catapult there, and with it he began bombarding Ibn al-Zubayr and his companions in the mosque with stones. On the morning on which Sayyiduna Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was martyred, he went to his mother, Sayyidah Asma bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both). She was a hundred years old at that time, yet not a single tooth of hers had fallen out, nor had any defect come to her sight or hearing. She asked her son: "O Abdullah, what has become of your fighting?" He said: "The enemy has reached such-and-such a place." Then Ibn al-Zubayr laughed and said: "In death there is rest." She said: "O my son, perhaps you are wishing death for me? I do not want to die until your affair reaches one of its two ends: either you become ruler, so that my eyes are cooled by it, or you are martyred, so that I hope for reward from Allah." Then he bade his mother farewell, and she said: "O my son, beware of compromising on any matter of your religion out of fear of being killed." He left her and came into the mosque, and he had placed door-panels over the Black Stone so as to protect it from the stones of the catapult. A man came to Ibn al-Zubayr while he was sitting near Zamzam and said: "Shall we not open the door of the Ka'bah for you so that you can climb up into it?" Abdullah looked at him and said: "You protect your brother from everything except from his own self. Does the Ka'bah have any sanctity that this place does not have? By Allah, if they found you hanging on to the curtains of the Ka'bah, they would kill you." He was asked: "Will you not speak of peace?" He said: "Is this the time for peace? By Allah, if they found you even inside the Ka'bah, they would slaughter you all." Then he recited these verses: "I am not one to buy life at the price of disgrace, nor to climb a ladder to hide somewhere out of fear of death. I am facing an arrow that will not turn aside; it is bound to meet death wherever it is aimed." Then he turned to the family of al-Zubayr and admonished them: "Let each of you guard his sword just as he guards his face. Let him not lower his sword and start defending himself with his hand like a woman. By Allah, whenever I faced an army, I did so in the front line, and I have never felt the pain of any wound as much as the pain of the medicine." The narrator says: While they were in this state, some people entered from the gate of Banu Jumah, among whom was a black man. He asked: "Who are these?" He was told: "The people of Hims." He attacked them along with his seventy companions, and the first to face him was that black man. He struck him with his sword such a blow that he cut off his leg. The black man said: "Alas! O son of an adulteress!" Ibn al-Zubayr said to him: "Be gone, O descendant of Ham! Is Asma an adulteress?" Then he drove them out of the mosque and turned back, and saw that some people had entered from the gate of Banu Sahm. He asked: "Who are these?" He was told: "The people of Jordan." He attacked them, saying: "I am not used to a raid like a flood whose dust does not settle until night." The narrator says: He drove them out of the mosque too. Then he came back and saw that some people were entering from the gate of Banu Makhzum. He attacked them, saying: "If my opponent were just one, I would be enough for him." On the roof of the mosque were some of his helpers who were throwing bricks and other things at the enemy. He attacked the enemy, and a brick struck him right in the middle of his head and split his head open. He remained standing and recited this verse: "Our heels are not stained with blood; rather, the blood drips onto our feet." The narrator says: Then he fell, and two of his slaves bent over him, saying: "The slave protects his master and protects himself." Then they advanced upon him and his blessed head was severed from his body, may Allah be pleased with him.

Maslamah bin Abdullah bin Urwah bin al-Zubayr narrates from his father that he said: Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent word to al-Husayn bin Numayr that he should come out to the field with him for single combat (mubarazah). Al-Husayn replied: It is not cowardice that prevents me from facing you, but I do not know whose will be the victory. If you win, then I will have left those behind me to ruin (without help); and if I win, then I will have erred in my planning (because it is against good policy for the commander to fight himself); and if I am victorious (it would still be the same).

It is narrated from Mujahid that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said to me: Watch out for the place where Ibn al-Zubayr is, and do not take me past it. (Mujahid says:) But the servant forgot, and suddenly the gaze of Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) fell upon Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) hanging on the cross. He said three times: "May Allah forgive you." Then he said: By Allah, as far as I know, you were one who fasted much, stood in prayer at night and treated relatives kindly (upheld the ties of kinship). By Allah, I hope that, despite the slips that occurred from you, Allah will never punish you after this. Then he turned towards me and said: I heard Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) say that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever does an evil deed is recompensed for it in this very world."

It is narrated from Imam al-Sha'bi that Abd al-Malik bin Marwan sent the blessed head of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) to Ibn Khazim in Khurasan, and he shrouded it and offered the funeral prayer over it. Imam al-Sha'bi said: He erred, because the funeral prayer is not offered over the head alone.

It is narrated from Ibn Abi Najih that when Sayyiduna Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) was martyred, his treasures kept being transferred to Abd al-Malik bin Marwan for three years.

It is narrated from Abu Nawfal bin Abi Aqrab al-Urayji that al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf crucified Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) on the mountain pass (Aqabah) of Madinah so that the people of Quraysh could see it. When people passed by there, they would not stop, until Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) passed by, and he stopped and said three times: "Peace be upon you, O Abu Hubayb." Then he said three times: "I had forbidden you from this." Then he said: "By Allah, you were one who fasted much, stood in prayer at night and upheld the ties of kinship." The narrator says: When al-Hajjaj was informed that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) had stood there, he had his blessed body taken down from there and thrown into the graveyard of the Jews. Then he sent word to Sayyidah Asma bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) that she should come to him, and she had lost her sight. She refused to come. So al-Hajjaj sent word: "You will certainly come, or else I will send someone who will drag you by your braids." She said: "By Allah, I will never come to you until you send someone who drags me to you by my braids." When his messenger went and told him this, he said: "O boy, bring me my leather sandals." He put on the sandals and, full of rage, came to her and said: "Have you seen what Allah has done to the enemy of Allah?" She replied: "I saw that you ruined his world and he ruined your Hereafter. As for your taunting him by calling him (the son of) 'Dhat al-Nitaqayn' (the one with the two waistbands), yes! I had just two waistbands: one with which I used to cover the food of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to protect it from ants, and the other, which women cannot do without. And I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'In the tribe of Thaqif there will be a great liar and a destroyer (a bloodthirsty tyrant).' As for the liar, we have seen him; and as for the destroyer, that is you." The narrator says: On hearing this, al-Hajjaj left from there. The reports are authentically established that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) heard hadiths from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and, at the age of eight, used to come and go in his (peace and blessings be upon him) presence. I will mention those accounts of his which indicate this, for the hadiths narrated in his Musnad from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) number seventy-odd.

Amir bin Abdullah bin al-Zubayr narrates from his father that he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he (peace and blessings be upon him) was being cupped (having hijamah). When he (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished, he said: "O Abdullah, take this blood away and pour it out in a place where no one can see you." When I had left the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I went for that blood and drank it. When I came back, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "O Abdullah, what did you do?" I said: I have hidden it in a place where I think it will remain concealed from the people. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Perhaps you drank it?" I said: Yes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "And who told you to drink blood? There is ruin (trial) for the people because of you, and ruin for you because of the people."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both): I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever recites the Qur'an, whether from memory or by looking at it, will be given a tree in Paradise such that if a crow were to hatch a chick beneath one of its leaves, and that chick then began to fly, it would grow old before it covered the distance of that leaf."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both); he said: I pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) twice in a single day. This hadith has an authentic chain (sahih al-isnad), but the two Shaykhs did not record it. And at the beginning of this chapter I have mentioned his pledge of allegiance at the age of eight, and that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled at (his boldness) and expressed wonder.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he was asked: Which of the two sons of al-Zubayr (Abdullah and Mus'ab) was braver? He said: Each of them was brave; both of them advanced towards death while seeing it with their own eyes.