The theocratic Separatists were sorely troubled at the prospects of Islam. It was not that raids and robbery, dissension and strife, had been the order of the day. That they could bear, for bloodshed was more tolerable than apostasy. To the Khârejite, the cessation of war brought with it no peace of mind. A settled government was the ruin of his hopes. Aly having come to terms with Muâvia, there was no longer room to expect that the ungodly kingdoms of the earth would be overthrown, and the reign of righteousness established in their stead. Thus the theocratic party brooded over the blood that had been shed in vain upon the plain of Nehrwân and other fields of battle, and for the present abandoned themselves to despair. Many took refuge from the godless tyranny (as they called it) prevailing all around, in the sacred precincts of the Hejâz, where they might lament freely with one another over the miserable fate of Islam. As three of these thus mourned together, a gleam of hope suddenly shot across their path. ‘Our blood need not have been thus shed in vain; let each of us kill one of the three oppressors of the Faithful; Islam may yet again be free, and the reign of the Lord appear.’ It was one of the band of regicides that spoke; and so, as in the case of Othmân, but under another guise and urged by bolder hopes, the three again conspired against the State. The fatal resolve once taken, details were speedily arranged. Aly and Muâvia both must fall; and Amru also, not only as the godless Arbitrator, but also as the likeliest successor to the throne left vacant by the other two. Each was to dispose of his fellow, as he presided at the morning service, on the same Friday when, in the month of Ramadhân, the cathedral Mosques of Kûfa, Damascus, and Fostât would be thronged with fasting worshippers. They dipped their swords in a powerful poison; and separated from one another, swearing that they would either fulfil the task or perish in the attempt. [Sidenote: Amru escapes.]Amru escaped. He was sick that day, and the captain of his guard, presiding in the Mosque at prayers, fell a victim in his stead.[561] [Sidenote: Muâvia wounded, but recovers.]At Damascus, Muâvia was not so fortunate.[562] The blow fell upon him, and was near to being fatal. His physician declared that his life could be saved only by the cautery, or by a potent draught that would deprive him of the hope of further progeny. He shrank from the cautery, and chose the draught. The remedy was effectual, and he survived. [Sidenote: Aly attacked by assassins in the Mosque of Kûfa.]