By God...

By God, if he decided and wanted it, he could take possession of all these fields and gardens!" Al-Ashtar answered: "I swear to God that even if he decides to take possession of them, he is not capable of it." Sa'id ibn al-'As became angry at these words and said to those present: "The fields and gardens of Sawad under any circumstances belong to the Quraysh." (Meaning the Umayyads and such tribes as Taym and 'Adi who were in Mecca and not to the Ansar who were originally from Yemen, to which group Malik al-Ashtar and most inhabitants of Kufah belonged.) Al-Ashtar answered sharply: "Do you wish to make for yourself and your relatives a fief of the fruits of our wars and what God has granted us?

I swear to God that if anyone covets the lands and fields of that region, we will pound him so heavily as to be a lesson to him."126 Then al-Ashtar rushed upon the chief of the police, but he was checked by those present.

Sa'id ibn al-'As wrote an account of this incident to 'Uthman and stated: "So long as al-Ashtar and his friends, who are called the Qaris of Kufah and are nothing but ignorant and stupid people, remain in this city, I cannot keep control of anything." 'Uthman wrote back: "Send them to ash-Sham.' Thus these Kufah Qaris, 124. The word "Qari" (which now means a reciter of the Qur'an) had a wider meaning in the culture of those days.

It meant a person who had memorized the Qur'an and was familiar with its interpretation and acted as a religious guide for the people. Consequently ho ad a great influence on their thoughts and beliefs. as-Sawad was the villages and farms situated in Iraq which were conquered in 'Umar's time, and because of its numerous trees and cultivated fields it was called Sawad (meaning "black" with greenness).

It stretches from Mosul to Abadan in length and from al-'Adhib in al-Qadisiyah to Halwan in breadth. But Jabal was the region between Isfahan and Zanjan, Qazvin, Hamadan (Achmethan), Dinawar, Qarmasin and Rayy. (Mu'jam al-buldan) Ansab al-ashraf 5/40. namely these Quranic interpreters who had quarreled with Sa'id, left Kufah and settled in Damascus in ash-Sham.

Mu'awiyah with his particular cunningness Considered it necessary at first to show a welcome to these exiled Qaris, and thus he treated them kindly and respectfully.