Imran ibn Hittan: The Poet Who Praised Ali's Assassin — and His Chain in Sahih al-Bukhari

A Sword at Dawn, a Poem in Basra

Ramadan, 40 AH. The dawn prayer in the mosque of Kufa. As Ali ibn Abi Talib — cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, fourth caliph of Sunni Islam, first Imam of Shia Islam — comes out for the prayer, Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam strikes his head with a poisoned sword. Two days later, Ali dies.

Decades pass. In Basra, a respected Tabi'i — a transmitter of hadith from Aisha, the Mother of the Believers — composes verses about that sword-blow. He does not mourn it. He calls it "a blow from a pious man."