Unable to gain entry to the city initially, Abū Tāhir called upon the right of all Muslims to enter the city and gave his oath that he came in peace. Once inside the city walls the Qarmatian army set about massacring the pilgrims, taunting them with verses of the Koran as they did so.[3] The bodies of the pilgrims were left to rot in the streets or thrown down the Well of Zamzam.