Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
35

SERMON 35

Amir al-mu'minin said after
Arbitration. (1)

All praise is due to
Allah even though time has brought (for us) crushing calamity and
great occurrence. And I stand witness that there is no god but
Allah the One, there is no partner for Him nor is there with Him
any god other than Himself, and that Muhammad is His slave and His
Prophet (May Allah's blessing and greeting be upon him and his
progeny).

So now, certainly the
disobedience of sympathetic counsellor who has knowledge as well
as experience brings about disappointment and result in
repentance. I had given you my orders about this arbitration and
put before you my hidden view, if Qasir's (2)
orders were fulfilled but you rejected it (my orders) like rough
opponents and disobedient insurgents till the counsellor himself
fell in doubt about his counsel and the flint (of his wit) ceased
to give flame. Consequently, mine and your position became as the
poet of Hawazin says:
I gave you my orders at
Munaraji'l-liwa but you did not see the good of my counsel till
the noon of next day (when it was too late).(3)

(1).
When the Syrians' spirit was broken by the bloody swords of the
Iraqis, and the incessant attacks of the night of al-Harir lowered
their morale and ended their aspirations Amr ibn al-As suggested
to Muawiyah the trick that the Qur'an should be raised on spears
and shouts urged forth to treat it as the arbitrator. Its effect
would be that some people would try to stop the war and others
would like to continue it. We would thus divide them and be able
to get the war postponed for another occasion. Consequently,
copies of the Qur'an were raised on spears. The result was that
some brainless persons raised hue and cry and created division and
disturbance in the army and the efforts of simple Muslims turned
slow after having been near victory. Without understanding
anything they began to shout that they should prefer the verdict
of the Qur'an over war.

When Amir al-mu'minin
saw the Qur'an being the instrument of their activities, he said:

"O' people do not
fall in this trap of deceit and trickery. They are putting up this
device only to escape the ignominy of defeat. I know the character
of each one of them. They are neither adherents of the Qur'an nor
have they any connection with the faith or religion. The very
purpose of our fighting has been that they should follow the
Qur'an and act on its injunctions. For Allah's sake do not fall in
their deceitful device. Go ahead with determination and courage
and stop only after vanquishing the dying foe." Nevertheless,
the deceitful instrument of wrong had worked. The people took to
disobedience and rebellion. Misar ibn Fadaki at-Tamimi and Zayd
ibn Husayn at-Ta'i each with twenty thousand men came forward and
said to Amir al-mu'minin, 'O' Ali, if you do not respond to the
call of the Qur'an we will deal with you in the same manner as we
did with Uthman. You end the battle at once and bow before the
verdict of the Qur'an. Amir al-mu'minin tried his best to make
them understand but Satan was standing before them in the garb of
the Qur'an. He did not allow them to do so, and they compelled
Amir al-mu'minin that he should send someone to call Malik ibn
al-Harith al-Ashtar from the battlefield. Being obliged, Amir
al-mu'minin sent Yazid ibn Hani to call Malik back. When Malik
heard this order he was bewildered and said, "Please tell him
this is not the occasion to leave the position. He may wait a bit
then I will come to his audience with the tidings of
victory." Hani conveyed this message on return but people
shouted that Amir al-mu'minin must have sent word to him secretly
to continue. Amir al-mu'minin said he never got any occasion to
send any secret message to him. Whatever he said was said before
them. People said he should be sent again and that if Malik
delayed his return Amir al-mu'minin should forsake his life. Amir
al-mu'minin again sent Yazid ibn Hani and sent word that rebellion
had occurred, he should return in whatever condition he was. So
Hani went and told Malik "You hold victory dear or the life
of Amir al-mu'minin. If his life is dear you should raise hands
off the battle and go to him." Leaving the chances of victory
Malik stood up and came to the audience of Amir al-mu'minin with
grief and disappointment. Chaos raged there. He rebuked the people
very much but matters had taken such a turn that could not be
corrected.

It was then settled
that either party should nominate an arbitrator so that they
should settle the (matter of) Caliphate according to the Qur'an.
From Muawiyah's side Amr ibn al-As was decided upon and from
Amir al mu'minin's side people proposed the name of Abu Musa
al-Ashari. Seeing this wrong selection Amir al-mu'minin said,
"Since you have not accepted my order about arbitration at
least now agree that do not make Abu Musa the arbitrator. He is
not a man of trust. Here is Abdullah ibn Abbas and here is Malik
al-Ashtar. Select one of them." But they did not at all
listen to him and stuck to his name. Amir al-mu'minin said,
"All right, do whatever you want. The day is not far when you
will cut your own hands through your misdeeds."

After the nomination
of arbitrators when the deed of agreement was being written, then
with Ali ibn Abi Talib (p.b.u.h.) the word Amir al-mu'minin was
also written. Amr ibn al-As said, "This should be rubbed
off. If we regarded him Amir al-mu'minin why should this battle
have been fought?" At first Amir al-mu'minin refused to rub
it off but when they did not in any way agree, he rubbed it off
and said, "This incident is just similar to the one at
al-Hudaybiyah when the unbelievers stuck on the point that the
words 'Prophet of Allah' with the name of the Prophet should be
removed and the Prophet did remove it." On this Amr ibn
al-As got angry and said, "Do you treat us as
unbelievers?" Amir al-mu'minin said, "On what day have
you had anything to do with believers and when have you been their
supporters?" However, after this settlement, the people
dispersed, and after mutual consultation these two arbitrators
decided that by removing both Ali and Muawiyah from the
Caliphate the people should be accorded the power to choose
whomever they desired. When time came to its announcement there
was a meeting at Dumatu'l-Jandal, a place between Iraq and Syria,
and then two arbitrators also reached there to announce the
judgement on the fate of the Muslims. Acting cunningly Amr ibn
al-As said to Abu Musa, "I regard it ill manner to precede
you. You are older in years and age so first you make the
announcement." Abu Musa succumbed to his flattery and came
out proudly and stood before the gathering. Addressing them he
said, "O' Muslims we have jointly settled that Ali ibn Abi
Talib and Muawiyah should be removed and the right to choose a
Caliph be accorded to the Muslims. They should choose whomever
they like." Saying this he sat down. Now the turn was for
Amr ibn al-As and he said, "O' Muslims you have heard that
Abu Musa removed Ali ibn Abi Talib. I also agree with it. As for
Muawiyah, there is no question of removing him. Therefore I place
him in his position." No sooner that he said this there were
cries all round. Abu Musa cried hoarse that it was a trick, a
deceit and told Amr ibn al-As that, "You have played a
trick, and your example is that of a dog on which if you load
something he would gasp, or leave him he would gasp." Amr
ibn al-As said, "Your example is like the ass on whom books
are loaded." However Amr ibn al-As's trick was effective
and Muawiyah's shaking feet were again stabilised. This was the
short sketch of the Arbitration whose basis was laid in the Qur'an
and sunnah. But was it a verdict of the Qur'an or the result of
those deceitful contrivances which people of this world employ to
retain their authority? Could these pages of history be made a
torch-guide for the future and the Qur'an and sunnah be not used
as a means of securing authority or as an instrument of worldly
benefits.

When Amir al-mu'minin
got the news of this lamentable result of arbitration, he climbed
on the pulpit and delivered this sermon every word of which
savours of his grief and sorrow and at the same time it throws
light on soundness of his thinking, correctness of his opinion and
foresighted sagacity.

(2).
This is a proverb which is used on an occasion where the advice of
a counsellor is rejected and afterwards it is repented. The fact
of it was that the ruler of al-Hirah namely Jadhimah al-Abrash
killed the ruler of al-Jazirah named Amr ibn Zarib whereafter his
daughter az-Zabba' was made the ruler of al-Jazirah. Soon after
accession to the throne she thought out this plan to avenge her
father's blood, that she sent a message to Jadhimah that she could
not alone carry on the affairs of the state and that if he could
become her patron by accepting her as his wife she would be
grateful. Jadhimah was more than puffed up at this proposal, and
prepared himself to set off for al-Jazirah with a thousand
horsemen. His slave Qasir advised him much that this was just a
deceit and trick and that he should not place himself in this
danger; but his wit had been so blinded that he could not think
over why az-Zabba' should select the Murderer of her father for
her life companionship. Anyhow, he set off and when he reached the
border of al-Jazirah although az-Zabba's army was present for his
reception but she neither gave any special reception nor offered
any warm welcome. Seeing this state Qasir was again suspicious and
he advised Jadhimah to get back, but nearness to the goal had
further fanned his passion. He paid no heed and stepping further
entered the city. Soon on arrival there he was killed. When Qasir
saw this he said, "Had the advice of Qasir been
followed." From that time this proverb gained currency.

(3).
The poet of Hawazin implies Durayd ibn as-Simmah. He wrote this
couplet after the death of his brother Abdullah ibn as-Simmah.
Its facts are that Abdullah along with his brother led an attack
of two groups of Banu Jusham and Bani Nasr who were both from
Hawazin, and drove away many camels. On return when they intended
to rest at Munaraji'l-liwa, Durayd said it was not advisable to
stay there lest the enemy attacks from behind, but Abdullah did
not agree and stayed there. The result was that as soon as dawn
appeared the enemy attacked and killed Abdullah on the spot.
Durayd also received wounds but he slipped away alive, and after
this he wrote a few couplets out of which one couplet is this
wherein he has referred to the destruction resulting from his
advice having been rejected.