The companions of ‘Uthman were defeated, and they retreated. When ‘Uthman saw this, he resolved that the people should leave and go back to their houses, and so they left – as they had come – and no one was left there with him except his household. But people started to storm in on him by way of the door and the walls, and ‘Uthman went away to pray. And he opened surah Ta-ha – which could be recited quickly – and he recited it while the people were quickly moving in on him, and the door and the hut he was in were burning, although the people feared that the fire might reach the treasury. Then ‘Uthman got up from his prayer, and sat down with a copy of the Qur’an in his hands, and began to recite this verse: { Those to whom the people said: Indeed the people have gotten together against you all, so fear them; but it only increased their faith, and they said: Sufficient for us is Allah, a most excellent guardian } [Al-‘Imran 173]. And the first man to come upon him was a man known as The Black Death, who fiercely strangled him until he became unconscious and his breath began to falter in his throat. So he left him, thinking he had killed him. Then Ibn Abi Bakr came in, grabbed his beard, but regretted it, and left. Then another man with a sword came in, and struck him with it, and put his hand over him and cut it. It was said: He cut it off. It was also said: Indeed he cut it but did not cut it off. Then ‘Uthman spoke and said: I swear by Allah that was the first hand who wrote the Mufassal [short surahs of the Qur’an], and that was the first drop of its blood that has fallen upon this verse: { And Allah will be sufficient for you against them; He is the one who hears, the one who knows } [Al-baqara 137]. Then another man came, wielding his sword, but Na’ilah bint Al-Farafisa turned to him to stop him, and she grabbed the sword, but he snatched it away from her and cut off her fingers. Then indeed he turned to him, put the sword on his belly and leaned into him (may Allah be pleased with ‘Uthman and bring him delight).
And in another narration [Tarikh Al-Tabari]: Al-Ghafiqi ibn Harb came up to him after Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, and struck him with a piece of metal in his hand, then kicked the Qur’an that was with him with his foot. The Qur’an rolled around and came to rest between ‘Uthman’s hands (may Allah be pleased with him), and blood ran over it. Then Sudan ibn Humran came up with his sword, but Na’ilah resisted him, and he cut off her fingers. She turned to run away, and he hit her buttocks with his hand and said: Wow she really has big buttocks! Then he struck ‘Uthman and killed him. And a servant boy of ‘Uthman came and struck Sudan and killed him. And the boy also struck a man called Qutaira, and killed him.