Yazid endeavoured to dissuade them...

Yazid endeavoured to dissuade them, to get them to wait until he could prepare an army to join them48 . However, that would have com­promised their whole position. Their intention was to establish the Shi'a imamate or to die. They preferred to die rather than have 'Abd Allah b. Yazid's non‑Shi'a help. If they accepted it they would be merely helping one political faction, the supporters of Ibn al‑Zuabyr, against another, the Umayyad supporters. They spent three days of prayer at Nukhayla.

The Shi'a from Mada'in and al‑Basra had not yet arrived and some wanted to delay, but Sulayman in­sisted that they went on. He told them that there were two kinds of people: those who wanted the world and those who wanted heaven49 . In the morning 1,000 men were missing from his army. Sulayman merely said that it was better that such people should go. Early next morning they visited the grave of al‑Husayn. There they all wept and wished they had died with him.

They spent a day and night there and then set off. 'Abd Allah b. Awf b. al‑Ahmar then joined them50 . He had been one of the supporters of Hujr b. 'Adi51 . The force then moved on to Qarqisiyya where Zufar b. al‑Harith supplied them with provisions and told them where 'Ubayd Allah's army was. Zufar pointed out that they were militarily badly organised as they had nothing except cavalry when they ought to have had infantry as well, since both kinds of troops were necessary.

(A point which bears out al‑Mukhtar's criticism of Sulayman b. Surad, when he said that Sulayman b. Surad had no experience of wars.) Zufar then gave them some advice on troop formations and the best position to take up. Sulayman followed Sufar's advice as soon as they had left him52 . The two armies met at 'Ayn al‑Warda. The battle lasted for three days and the Shi'a forces fought with great resolution and determination against over­whelming odds.

On the first day the Shi'a forces were victorious and managed to drive the enemy back. On the second day, Shi'a losses began to tell but they still managed to hold their own. On the third and final day, their leaders fell one after another. First Sulayman b. Surad was killed, then the standard was taken up by Musayyib b. Najaba who was then killed. Then 'Abd al‑Rahman b. Sa'd b. Nufayl took over the leadership. At this stage three horsemen from Mada'in arrived, among them Si'r b.

Abi Si'r al‑Hanafi who was to become a prominent leader under al‑Mukhtar.