He said, "I would rather be a minister than a prince." They insisted, so he accepted. They pledged allegiance to him, and it is said they pledged allegiance to him in his house. The first to pledge allegiance was Talha bin Abdullah, whose hand was paralyzed from the Battle of Uhud. Habib bin Dhu'ayb said, "The first to pledge allegiance is with a crippled hand. This is a good omen for this matter." Al-Zubayr also pledged allegiance. It is said that they said to him, "We pledge allegiance to you, and if we love it, we will pledge allegiance to you." They said, "No, we pledge allegiance to you." It is also said that they said, "We pledged allegiance out of fear for our lives." Then they fled to Mecca after Ali pledged allegiance. Abu Bakr and Umar also pledged allegiance. Ali said to him, "Pledge allegiance," but he said, "Not until the people pledge allegiance. By God, I have no problem with you." And so did Abdullah bin Tamr. The Ansar pledged allegiance, except for a few. Among them were Hassan bin Thabit, Ka'b bin Ujra, and Zayd bin Thabit. Uthman was appointed over the charities and other matters. Similarly, Sa'd bin Zayd, Abdullah bin Salam, Suhayb bin Sinan, Usama bin Zayd, Qudama bin Maz'un, and Al-Mughira bin Shu'ba did not pledge allegiance to Ali. These were the ones who refused to pledge allegiance to Ali. As for Marwan bin Al-Hakam, he and his sons went to Mu'awiyah in Sham, as previously mentioned.

The killing of Ali bin Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him. Three Kharijites gathered, including Abd al-Rahman bin Muljam al-Muradi, Tamim bin Bakr, and Abu al-Barak bin Abdullah al-Qaymi, and it is said his name was al-Hajjaj. They mentioned their brethren from the apostates who were killed in Nahrawan and said, "If we kill the leaders of misguidance, we will rid the land of them." Ibn Muljam said, "I will suffice you with myself." They agreed that none of them would betray his companion to whom he was assigned. They took poisoned swords and agreed to meet on the seventeenth night of Ramadan of this year, meaning the year 37 AH. One of them met his companion, who was named Wardan. The other was Shabeeb from Ashja'. They agreed to attack Ali. He went out to the dawn prayer, and Shabeeb struck him, and his sword fell into the gap. Shabeeb fled into the crowd, and Ibn Muljam struck him on the forehead. As for Wardan, he fled. Ibn Muljam was captured and brought bound before Ali. He said, "I advise you to fear God, and do not seek the world, nor be attached to anything."