Cut off their heads and their hands, and let them write in their blood, and then hang their bodies on date-palms.
A letter from 'Uthman to the governor, of Egypt

Now let us see what was the strange letter of which the Egyptians spoke as a definite evidence of the caliph's revelation of his promise and his obstinacy, and how it came into their hands.
If you remember, the first time that 'Uthman was besieged by the Egyptians, he showed a desire to make peace with them through 'Ali's mediation, and repented his past deeds. The Egyptians, too, on their part promised not to molest him on condition that he should be just to them and remove 'Abd Allah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh and replaced by Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr as governor of Egypt and dispatched a number of Emigrants and Ansar there to investigate the Egyptians' complaints of the dismissed governor.
The Egyptians accompanied these supervisors of 'Uthman's reform project to Egypt and when they reached Ilah(207) or a few miles near it, they noticed a rider behind them proceeding in the same direction. They inquired as to his identity and destination. The rider who was a black man, introduced himself as 'Uthman's slave, and èaid he was carrying a verbal message for 'Abd Allah ibn Sa'd, governor of Egypt.
Some of the Egyptians thought it advisable to search him in case 'Uthman had issued an order contrary to expectation to 'Abd Allah. When they found nothing in his baggage they decided to leave him alone. But Kinanah ibn Bishr said: "By God! I won't let you act so carelessly until I search inside his water-skin." They said: "God be praised! Could it be possible that he has got something there?" He answered: "People's cunning takes different forms, and one is not secure from slyness and deceit."
Then he untied the water-skin and poured down the contents and suddenly a bottle fell out in which there was a lead pipe inside which there was a letter containing the following points: