When before the commencement of the Battle of Jamal Imam sent ibn `Abbas to Zubair with the purpose that he should advise him back to obedience, he said to him on that occasion:
Do not meet Talha. If you meet him you will find him like an unruly bull whose horns are turned towards its ears. He rides a ferocious riding beast and says it has been tamed. But you meet Zubair because he is soft-tempered. Tell him that your maternal cousin says that, "It looks as if in the Hijaz you knew me, but on coming here to Iraq you have turned into a complete stranger. After all, what is the cause for all this?
