This volume of al-Ṭabarī's history deals with the traumatic breakup of the Muslim community following the assassination of the Caliph 'Uthman. It begins with

Volume I of the thirty-eight volume translation of Ṭabarī's great History begins with the creation of the world and ends with the time of Noah and the Flood.

Volume XXI of the History of al-Ṭabarī (from the second part of 66/685 to 73/693) covers the resolution of "the Second Civil War." This conflict, which has b