Muslim ibn Aqeel is reported to have entered Kufa on either the 5th or the 25th of Shawwal 60 A.H.
Excerpt from 'Maqtal al-Husayn':
But in the morning he informed Ibn Ziyad of where Muslim had been hiding. Ibn Ziyad dispatched al-Ash’ath accompanied by seventy men who belonged to the Qays tribe in order to arrest him. Upon hearing the horses' hoofs ploughing the ground, Muslim realized that he was being pursued, so he hurried to finish a supplication that he was reciting following the morning prayers. Then he put on his battle gear and said to his hostess Taw’a:
'You have carried out your share of righteousness, and you have secured your share of the intercession of the Messenger of Allah (S). Yesterday, I saw my uncle the Commander of the Faithful (‘a) in a vision telling me that I was going to join him the next day.'
He came out to face them raising his unsheathed sword as they assaulted the house, succeeding in repelling their attack. They repeated their attack, and again he repelled them as he recited these poetic verses:
It is only death; so, do whatever you devise,
For you shall no doubt meet your demise;
So I shall be patient about the Command
Of Allah, His Glory is Grand!
Allah's decree is always done
In His creation; this is well known.
He killed as many as forty-one of their men, and he was so strong that he would take hold of one man then hurl him on the rooftop.
Ibn al-Ash’ath sent a messenger to Ibn Ziyad requesting re-enforcements. The messenger came back to him carrying the latter's blame of his incompetence. He, therefore, sent him this message:
'Do you think that you sent me to one of Kufa's shopkeepers or to a Nabatean from Hira?! Rather, you sent me to one of the swords of [Prophet] Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdullah (S)!' Ibn Ziyad then assisted him with additional soldiers.
Fighting intensified. Muslim and Bakir Ibn Hamran al-Ahmari exchanged blows. Bakir struck Muslim on the mouth, cutting his upper lip, wounding the lower one and breaking two of his lower teeth. Muslim fiercely struck him with one blow on his head and another on his shoulder muscle, almost splitting his stomach, killing him instantly.
Then they attacked him from the house's rooftop, hurling rocks at him. They kept burning reed bales then throwing them at him. He attacked them in the alley as he quoted the following rajaz verses composed by Hamran Ibn Malik:
I swore not to be killed except as a free man,
Though I found death something repelling;
Every man will one day face evil,
And what is cold will be mingled with what is hot.
The soul's ray returned, so it did settle,
I fear only being charged with lying or being tempted.
His wounds were numerous; he bled extensively, so he supported his body on the side of the house. It was then that they assaulted him with arrows and stones. 'Why do you hurl stones at me,' he asked them, 'as non-believers are stoned, the member of the household of the pure Prophet (S) that I am?
Do you not have any respect for the Messenger of Allah (S) with regard to one of his own descendants?' Ibn al-Ash’ath said to him, 'Please do not get yourself killed while you are under my protection.' Muslim asked him, 'Shall I then be captured so long as I have some strength in me? No, by Allah! This shall never be.'
Then he attacked Ibn al-Ash’ath who fled away before him. They attacked Aqil from all directions. Thirst had taken its toll on him. A man stabbed him from the back, so he fell on the ground and was arrested.