A.D. 656]
REBELS SEIZE AL-BAṢRA
245
A.H. 36.
to Ṭalḥa and Az-Zubeir conjointly. To avoid appearance of rivalry, prayers were conducted alternately by a son of each. Little active sympathy was evoked by the usurpers, Ṭalḥa proclaimed an expedition against ʿAlī. But no one responded to the call, and his spirits fell. Thus some weeks passed uneasily, till the City was aroused by the announcement that ʿAlī with an army was in full march upon it.
