Ali ibn Abi Talib's expeditions to Yemen (twice)

Ibn Ishaq closes his list of expeditions with the words: "And the expedition of Ali ibn Abi Talib to Yemen; he undertook it twice." ¹ He gives no detail here. What he relates of it elsewhere in the book is read in the complaint of Ali's troops after Yemen and the mission of Khalid to Banu al-Harith ibn Ka'b, after which Ali came to collect the alms. ²

Ibn Hisham says, quoting Abu Amr al-Madani: the Prophet sent Ali to Yemen and sent Khalid ibn al-Walid with another force, and said: "If you meet, the commander is Ali ibn Abi Talib." ^{1 2} He then notes that Ibn Ishaq mentioned Khalid's dispatch in his narrative but did not include it in the count of expeditions and raids, so "the count in his words should be thirty-nine." ² See the disagreement over the number of campaigns and the list of raids.

• "He undertook it twice", without detail or date in Ibn Ishaq. ¹
• The saying "If you meet, the commander is Ali", attributed to Abu Amr al-Madani, has no chain of transmission. ²