Regarding Talhah ibn Ubayd Allah, he said: Never have I been intimidated or frightened by war and conflict. I remain assured of my Lord's unbreakable promise of support. By Allah, he drew his sword under the pretense of avenging Uthman's blood only because he feared he would be the one called to account for that blood, for most people believe this of him, and in truth no one among the killers was thirstier for that blood than he was. With the armies he has gathered supposedly to seek redress for the killing, he aimed only to confuse people so that the truth would be muddled and they would waver in doubt. By Allah, in Uthman's affair, he did not act in accordance with a single one of three possibilities. If, as he claimed, Ibn Affan was an oppressor, he should have sided with his killers or separated from their supporters. If he considered him oppressed, he should have aligned with those who tried to prevent the murder or publicly justified Uthman's innocence. And if he was in doubt, he should have withdrawn and let the matter rest in the people's hands. But he did none of these; instead, he has advanced upon the basis of something wholly unsound and for which there is no valid excuse.