Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 2 of 2

124 The Battles of the Camel and Szffeen, and the issue of arbitration
come to stab and plague them."426 Conquest was slow for 'Amr ibn
al-'.&, so az-Zubayr said: "I will offer myself for the sake of Allah,
hoping that Allah may grant victory thereby to the Muslims." He set
up a ladder against the wall of the fortress, on the side of the
marketplace of al-Hank, then he climbed up. He told them that
when they heard his takbeer, they should all respond. It was not long
before az-Zubayr was at the top of the fortress, shouting takbeer and
wielding his sword. The people began to climb up the ladder until
'Am told them not to, for fear that the ladder might break. When the
Byzantines saw that the Arabs had captured the fortress, they
withdrew. The fortress of Babylon opened its gates to the Muslims,
thus ending a decisive battle in the conquest of Egypt. The rare
courage of az-Zubayr was the direct cause of the Muslims' victov
over ~uqaw~is.~~"
1.8.8. The protective jealousy of
az-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwgrn (4)
It was narrated that Asma' hint Abi Bakr as-Siddeeq (%) said:
"When I got married to az-Zubayr, he owned nothing in this world
apart from a camel for carrying water and a horse. I used to feed his
horse, bring water, prepare his saddle and make dough, but I was not
good at b ~ g Some . women of the An& who were my neighbours
used to bake my bread for me, and they were good women. I used to
bring the dates from some land which the Messenger of Allah (@J
had given to az-Zubayr, carrying them on my head. The land was
two-thirds of a farsakh (approximately three miles) away. One day, I
was corning with the dates on my head, and I met the Messenger of
Allah (@) -, with a group of the An&. He called me and made his
camel kneel down so that I could ride behind him. But I felt too shy to
go with the men, and I remembered az-Zubayr and how jealous he
was, for he was the most jealous of men. The Messenger of Allah
(g) realised that I felt too shy, so he went on his way. I came to az-