Yet, you were not satisfied with that until you took the arms of your cousin and established him as a sign (Alam) for the people, saying: 'Whomsoever I was his Master, then Ali is his Master; O Allah, befriend those who befriend him, and be the enemy of those who are his enemies.' Is this from you, or from Allah?"

The Messenger of Allah—Exalted is His Majesty—replied: "Nay, it is from Allah." The narrator said: Al-Fihri—may Allah curse him—stood up in anger and said: "O Allah, if Muhammad is a liar, then send down Your vengeance upon him swiftly and without delay, so that he may be a sign for those after him. Otherwise, send down Your vengeance swiftly upon me without delay, so that I may be a sign for those after me." Then he went to Al-Abtah, untethered his camel, and mounted its saddle. As he reached the center of the Al-Abtah plain, Allah struck him with a stone, which fell right in the middle of his head and exited through his rear, and he fell dead. Then Allah—Exalted and Sublime—revealed: "A solicitor solicited a punishment bound to happen; for the disbelievers, there is none to avert it" ¹ . This is what the People of the Outward (Ahl al-Zahir) have narrated by consensus.