646 - ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Maymuni informed me that he said to Abu ‘Abd Allah: "Some of my brothers and I are surprised at your inclusion of ‘Ali in the Caliphate." He said to me: "What am I to do, and what should I say, given that ‘Ali—may Allah have mercy on him—used to say, 'I am the Commander of the Believers,' and he was addressed as, 'O Commander of the Believers'? He led the people in Hajj, and there were the seasons of pilgrimage, those legal rulings, the leading of the people in prayer, and the various judicial executions and sentencing—are these to be abandoned?" I said: "Then what do you do and what do you say regarding the fighting of Talhah and al-Zubayr—may Allah have mercy on them both—against him, and those bloodsheds?" He said: "What have we to do with Talhah and al-Zubayr and the mentioning of that?" Then he repeated to me more than once: "What have we to do with the fighting of these people and what took place of that bloodshed?" And he mentioned his Hajj and his governance as well. ‘Abd al-Malik said: "This was the last [position] upon which he parted from me in the year twenty-seven, while we were sitting."