number of takbīrs, for whenever he killed a man, he performed a takbīr. That is what he manifested in the killing of the Khawarij.

It is related from Abu al-Aswad who said: I was traveling with Amir Al-Muminin — Exalted Glory — at the time of dawn, and the army was surrounding him. Suddenly, two men came out of the thicket. When he saw them, he hastened to them and said: 'Travel on, for you have reached your wish.' They said: 'And what is our wish?' He said: 'This is the party of Allah, and that is the party of Satan.' They said to him: 'Perhaps you are the leader over this army?' He — Exalted Glory — said: 'I am he.' They asked: 'Are you the assistant to the Messenger of Allah — Exalted Glory —?' He said: 'I am he.' One of them said: 'As for me, I have read in the scrolls of Abraham that there shall come at the end of time a Prophet called the Paraclete (al-Faraqlīṭ), who will purify the earth from doubt, break the idols, and destroy the statues; the Lord who is in his army will be like his assistant.'

From him — Exalted Glory — he said to his companions when failure and anguish appeared from them: "Not ten of you shall be killed, and not ten of them shall escape." The matter was as he stated.

Were I to mention the signs and miracles he manifested, the discourse would grow long, but I mentioned what is agreed upon and I summarized. The idolater said to him: "Mention to me what he manifested of the heavenly signs." He [the Muslim] said: "They have agreed that he returned the sun twenty-one times in twenty-one locations." The idolater prostrated and said to him: "O you! None returns the sun but its Creator, and this is a great sign that none is capable of but the Creator — Exalted Glory —." He said: "Among them is that he split the moon. Among them is the descent of the star into his chamber until the valleys of Medina were illuminated by its light; the people were dazed and left their houses, terrified by its greatness."

Among them is what Abu Dharr — may he be honored — related: I came to the house of Fidda and asked her about my master — Exalted Glory —. She said: "He ascended to heaven to decree and execute." I