It was clear to the most eminent citizens of the Hijaz that Shareef Husain must go. A deputation urged him to abdicate in favor of his son. Whatever Ibn Saud's intentions, the presence of the self-proclaimed Caliph would serve only to aggravate the situation. Bowing to the inevitable, Husain set sail from Aqabah for Cyprus. He was never to return to the Hijaz.
Husain's son, Ali was immediately proclaimed King. To Ali fell the thankless task of waiting for whatever fate Ibn Saud planned for the city of Jeddah. As leader of the army which had fled Taif, rather than face the ferocity of Ibn Saud's Ikhwan warriors, it was a task he cannot have relished.