Ali and his troops set up a defensive encampment between Taif and Mecca , but he was defeated in the first attack. Blamed and scorned by his irate father in Mecca, he retired to Jeddah. As the Saudi forces prepared to advance up on Mecca the unfortunate incident at Taif was by no means a palliative to their terror.
The unpopularity of King Husain after years of highhanded tyranny and misrule gave no hope of rallying the people while he remaind at the head of the state. Accordingly, he was asked to abdicate in favor of his son Ali,at the first he indignantly refused, but the leaders of the people were firm.Under heavy guard he boarded ship from Jeddah in October 5,1924, with his family and luggage, which included, according to legend, large numbers of boxes filling with gold pieces. He moved to Aqabe, but after a time the British transferred him to Cyprus to spend the last years of his life.