Talha, who had taken an active part in inistigating those...

Talha, who had taken an active part in inistigating those who had besieged Osman's dwelling and his associate Zubeir had some people of Basra and Kufa to support their pretensions, but the majority of the general public of Medina, who enjoyed the exclusive right of electing a Caliph, considered quite a different person to be best fitted for the office. He was a man admired by his friends and foes alike for his courage, eloquence, magnanimity, piety, nobility, and his near kinship to the Prophet.

This was Ali, the cousin of the Prophet and the father of the Prophet's posterity from his beloved daughter Fatima. He was considered as the rightful successor to the Caliphate; and the people, now wishing to be governed by the Prophet's heir, desired to see Ali elevated to his Legitimate Dignity.

Talha and Zubeir, cautioned by the mood of the moment, held their peace and thought it prudent to dissemble their feelings so far as to take the oath of allegiance to Ali with a steadfast resolve, however, of breaking it as soon as a favourable…