The Kufans' Complaint against Sa'd and the Succession of Governors

شكوى أهل الكوفة سعداً وتعاقب الولاة

Kufa

In al-Baladhuri via Jabir ibn Samura: the Kufans maligned Sa'd to Umar claiming he prayed poorly; Sa'd answered he led them the Messenger's prayer unabridged — lingering in the first two, light in the last — and Umar's mosque-by-mosque inquiry praised him everywhere until a man of Banu Abs called Abu Sa'da testified he neither divided equally nor judged justly; Sa'd's counter-prayer for a liar befell him, Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr later seeing him in the alleys saying 'an old man tried — Sa'd's prayer struck me'. Amr ibn Ma'dikarib testified for Sa'd with 'a gnat's gathering and a goodly mother's tenderness', gave Umar his famous appraisals of war and weapons — the spear 'your brother though he may betray', arrows 'death's messengers', mail 'a burden for horseman and weariness for footman yet a strong fortress', and for the sword 'there your mother bewailed you' met by Umar's 'nay, your mother bewailed you' — whereupon 'the fever drove me to you'. Umar deposed Sa'd for Ammar ibn Yasir, whom they then called weak and unknowledgeable — deposed after a year and nine months — and Umar cried 'who will excuse me from the Kufans? Appoint the strong they make him a sinner, the weak they slight him', finally giving it to al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba on his pledge not to return to his former accusation, which he held till Umar's death; Uthman then appointed Sa'd, replaced him with al-Walid ibn Uqba — Sa'd greeting him 'either you measured after me or I grew senile after you' — then with Sa'id ibn al-As.