Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
123

SERMON 123

To exhort his followers to
fight (1)

Put the armoured man
forward and keep the unarmoured one behind. Grit your teeth
because this will make the swords skip off the skull, and dodge on
the sides of the spears for it changes the direction of their
blades. Close the eyes because it strengthens the spirit and gives
peace to the heart. Kill the voices because this will keep off
spiritlessness .

Do not let your banner
bend down, nor leave it alone. Do not give it to anyone except the
brave and the defenders of honour among you because they alone
endure the befalling of troubles; they surround the banners and
encircle them on both sides, their rear and their front. They do
not separate from them lest they give them over (to the enemy).
They do not go ahead of them lest they leave them alone. Everyone
should deal with his adversary and also help his comrade by his
own life, and should not leave the adversary to his comrade lest
both his own adversary and his comrade join against him.

By Allah, even if you
run away from the sword of today you would not remain safe from
the sword of the next world. You are the foremost among the Arabs
and great figures. Certainly in running away there is the wrath of
Allah, unceasing disgrace and lasting shame. And certainly a
runner-away does not lengthen his life, nor does any thing come to
intervene between him and his day (of death). Who is there to go
towards Allah like the thirsty going to the water? Paradise lies
under the edges of spears. Today the reputations (about the valour
of warriors) will be tested.

By Allah! I am more
eager to meet them (in combat) than they are for (returning to)
their houses. O' my Allah! If they reject truth disperse their
group, divide their words (opinion) and destroy them on account of
their sins.

They will not budge
from their stand till the continuous striking of spears causes
piercings (of wounds) through which wind may pass, and the hitting
of swords cuts through the skull, cleaves bones and breaks
forearms and legs, till they are attacked by contingent after
contingent and assaulted by detachments which are followed by
reserves for support, till their cities are continuously assailed
by force after force, and till the horses trample even the extreme
ends of the lands, the tracks of their beast and their meadows.

as-Sayyid ar-Radi
says: "ad-daq" means trampling, e.g.,
"taduqqu'l-khuyulu bihawafiriha ardahum" (the horses
trample the ground with their hoofs). "nawahini ardihim"
means lands opposite each other, it is said, "manazilu bani
fulanin tatanaharu" meaning the 'houses of so-and-so are
opposite each other.'

(1).
Amir al-mu'minin delivered this Sermon on the occasion of the
battle of Siffin. This battle was fought in the year 37 A.H.
between Amir al-mu'minin and the Governor of Syria (ash-Sham),
Muawiyah, for the so-called avenging for the killing of Caliph
Uthman. But in reality it was nothing more than Muawiyah who had
been the Autonomous Governor of Syria from Caliph Umar's days not
wanting to lose that position by swearing allegiance to Amir
al-mu'minin but wanting to keep his authority intact by exploiting
the killing of Caliph Uthman, for later events proved that after
securing the government he did not take any practical step to
avenge Uthman's blood, and never spoke, not even through
omission, about the killers of Uthman.

Although from the
first day Amir al-mu'minin realised that war was inevitable, it
was still necessary to exhaust all pleas. Therefore when on Monday
the 12th Rajeb, 36 A.H. he returned to Kufah after the battle of
Jamal he sent Jarir ibn Abdallah al-Bajali with a letter to
Muawiyah at Damascus wherein he wrote that the muhajirun and the
ansar had sworn allegiance to him and that he too should first
swear him allegiance and thereafter place the case of Uthman's
killing before him so that he could pass verdict thereon according
to the Qur'an and Sunnah. But Muawiyah detained Jarir on several
pretexts and after consulting Amr ibn al-As staged a revolt on
the excuse of Uthman's killing, and with the help of important
persons of Syria convinced the ignorant people that the liability
for Uthman's life lay on Ali (p.b.u.h) and that he, with his
conduct had encouraged the besiegers and had given them
protection. Meanwhile he hung the blood-stained shirt of Uthman
and the amputated fingers of his wife Na'ilah bint al-Farafisah on
the pulpit in the Central Mosque of Damascus around which seventy
thousand Syrians cried and swore the pledge to avenge Uthman's
blood. When Muawiyah had roused the feelings of the Syrians to
such an extent that they were determined to lay down their lives
and be killed, he secured their allegiance on the cause of
avenging Uthman's blood and busied himself in equipping for the
battle. Thereafter, he showed all this to Jarir and then sent him
back mortified.

When Amir al-mu'minin
learnt of these matters through Jarir ibn Abdallah al-Bajali he
was forced to rise against Muawiyah, and ordered Malik ibn Habib
al-Yarbui to mobilise the forces in the valley of An-Nukhaylah.
Consequently, people from the suburbs of Kufah began arriving
there in large numbers, till they exceeded eighty thousand. First
of all, Amir al-mu'minin sent a vanguard contingent, eight
thousand strong, under Ziyad ibn an-Nadr al-Harithi and another of
four thousand strong under Shurayh ibn Hani al-Harithi towards
Syria. After the departure of this vanguard contingent he himself
set out for Syria at the head of the remaining army on Wednesday
the 5th of Shawwal. When he was out of the boundary of Kufah he
offered zuhr (noon) prayer and after staying at Dayr Abi Musa,
Nahr (river) Nars, Qubbat Qubbin, Babil, Dayr Kab, Karbala',
Sabat, Bahurasini, al-Anbar and al-Jazirah arrived at ar-Riqqah.
The people of this place were in favour of Uthman, and at this
very place Simak ibn Makhtamah al-Asadi was putting up with his
eight hundred men. These people had left Kufah to join Muawiyah
after deserting Amir al-mu'minin; when they had seen Amir
al-mu'minin's force they had dismantled the bridge over the River
Euphrates so that Amir al-mu'minin's army should not cross over to
the other side of the River. But at the threatening of Malik ibn
al-Harith al-Ashtar an-Nakhai they were frightened, and after
consultations among themselves they put the bridge together again
and Amir al-mu'minin passed over it with his army. When he
alighted on the other side of the River he saw that Ziyad and
Shurayh were also putting up there along with their men since both
of them had adopted the land route. When, on reaching here, they
found that Muawiyah was advancing with his armies towards the
Euphrates and thinking that they would not be able to face him,
they stopped there waiting for Amir al-mu'minin. When they had
given the reason for their stopping there, Amir al-mu'minin
accepted their plea and sent them forward. When they reached Sur
ar-Rum they found that Abu al-Awar as-Sulami was camping there
with his army. Both of them informed Amir al-mu'minin of this,
whereupon he despatched Ma1ik ibn al-Harith al-Ashtar an-Nakhai
in their wake as the Officer in Command and cautioned him not to
initiate the fighting but to try to counsel them and apprise them
of the correct position as far as possible. In this way, on
reaching there Malik al-Ashtar encamped a little distance away.
Fighting could have commenced any moment, but he did not interfere
with the other side nor did he take any step by which fighting
could have been commenced. But Abu al-Awar suddenly attacked them
at night, whereupon they took their swords out of the sheaths and
prepared to repulse them. Clashes between the two sides went on
for sometime but in the end, taking benefit of the darkness of
night Abu al-Awar fled away. Since fighting had already
commenced, soon after the appearance of dawn an Iraqi commander,
Hashim ibn Utbah al-Mirqal az-Zuhri, took his position in the
battlefield. From the other side also a contingent came to face
him, and the flames of fighting rose high. At last Malik al-Ashtar
challenged Abu al-Awar to fight him, but he did not dare to face
him, and towards the evening Malik al-Ashtar went onwards with his
men. The next day Amir al-mu'minin reached there with his force
and set off for Siffin with the vanguard contingent and other
forces. Muawiyah had already reached there and had set up his
bases. He had also placed a guard on the Euphrates and had
occupied it. On reaching there Amir al-mu'minin sent him word to
remove the guard from Euphrates, but he refused, whereupon the
Iraqis took out their swords and in a courageous attack captured
the Euphrates. When this stage was over Amir al-mu'minin sent
Bashir ibn Amr al-Ansari, Said ibn Qays al-Hamdani and Shabath
ibn Ribi at-Tamimi to Muawiyah to apprise him of the
consequences of war and to make him agree to settlement and
allegiance. But his reply was that they could not by any means let
Uthman's blood remain neglected, and that now the sword alone
would arbitrate between them. Consequently in the month of
Dhi'l-hijjah 36 A.H. both the parties decided on war and warriors
from each side came out into the field to face their adversary.
Those who entered the battlefield from Amir al-mu'minin's side
were: Hujr ibn Adi al-Kindi, Shabath ibn Ribi at-Tamimi, Khalid
ibn al-Muammar, Ziyad ibn an-Nadr al-Harithi, Ziyad ibn Khasafah
at-Taymi, Said ibn Qays al-Hamdani, Qays ibn Sad al-Ansari and
Malik ibn al-Harith al-Ashtar an-Nakhai while from the Syrians
there were, Abd ar-Rahman ibn Khalid ibn Walid al-Makhzuni, Abu
al-Awar as-Sulami, Habib ibn Maslamah al-Fihri, Abdallah ibn
Dhi'l-Kala al-Himyari, Ubaydallah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab,
Shurahbil ibn Simt al-Kindi, and Hamzah ibn Malik al-Hamdani. When
the month of Dhi'l-hijjah came to end the fighting had to be
stopped for Muharram, but from the first of Safar fighting was
resumed and both parties arrayed themselves opposite each other,
equipped with swords, spears and other weapons. On Amir
al-mu'minin's side Malik al-Ashtar was in command of the horsemen
and Ammar ibn Yasir of the foot soldiers of Kufah while Sahl ibn
Hunayf al-Ansari was in command of the horsemen and Qays ibn Sad
of the foot soldiers of Basrah. The banner of the army was given
to Hashim ibn Utbah. In the army of the Syrians on the right hand
contingent Ibn Dhi'l-Kala was in command, while on the left hand
contingent Habib ibn Maslamah, on horsemen Amr ibn al-As and on
foot soldiers ad-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri were in command.

On the first day Malik
ibn al-Ashtar entered the battle-field with his men, and from the
other side Habib ibn Maslamah came out with his men to face him
and from both sides a fierce battle ensued. Throughout the day
swords clashed with swords and spears with spears.

Next day, Hashim ibn
Utbah came out with Ali's army and from the other side Abu
al-Awar with his footmen came to face him. When the two armies
approached near to each other, horsemen fell upon horsemen and
footmen upon footmen and continued attacking each other. and they
endured with great patience and steadfastness.

On the third day,
Ammar ibn Yasir and Ziyad ibn an-Nadr came out with horsemen and
foot soldiers and from the other side Amr ibn al-As came forward
with a big force. Ziyad attacked the horsemen of the opposite side
and Malik al-Ashtar attacked the foot soldiers so furiously that
the enemy's men lost ground and, failing to offer resistance,
returned to their camps.

On the fourth day
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah appeared on the battle-field with his
men. From the other side Ubaydallah ibn Umar came forward with
the Syrian army and both the armies had a serious encounter.

On the fifth day
Abdallah ibn Abbas came forward and from the other side al-Walid
ibn Uqba ibn Abi Muayt came to face him. Abdallah ibn Abbas
carried the assaults with great steadfastness and courage and gave
such a brave fight that the enemy left the field in retreat.

On the sixth day Qays
ibn Sad al-Ansari came forward with the army and to face him Ibn
Dhi'l-Kala came out with his contingent, and such a severe
fighting ensued that at every step bodies were seen falling and
blood flowing like streams. At last the darkness of the night
separated the two armies.

On the seventh day
Malik al-Ashtar came out and to face him, Habib ibn Maslamah came
forward with his men, and fighting raged till zuhr (noon).

On the eighth day Amir
al-mu'minin himself came out with the army and made such an
assault that the entire battlefield quaked, and piercing through
the ranks and warding off shots of arrows and spears he came and
stood between both the lines. Then he challenged Muawiyah,
whereupon the latter, along with Amr ibn al-As, came a bit
closer. Then Amir al-mu'minin said to him: "Come out and face
me. Let whoever kills the other be the ruler." Whereupon Amr
ibn al-As said to Muawiyah: "Ali is right. Gather up a
little courage and face him. Muawiyah replied: "l am not
prepared to waste my life ar your taunting." Saying this he
went back. When Amir al-mu'minin saw him retreating he smiled and
himself too returned. The daring with which Amir al-mu'minin led
the attacks in Siffin can only be called a miraculous feat. Thus,
whenever he came out challenging in the battlefield, the enemy
lines were dispersed into utter disarray and confusion, and even
courageous combatants hesitated to appear against him. That is why
on a few occasions he came onto the battlefield in changed dress
so that the enemy should not recognise him and someone should be
prepared to engage with him personally. Once Arar ibn Ad'ham came
from the other side to engage with al-Abbas ibn Rabiah al-Harith
ibn Abd al-Muttalib. They remained engaged but neither could
defeat the other, until al-Abbas chanced to see that a link of
his adversary's armour was loose. With a swift stroke he entangled
the point of his sword in it, and then with a quick jerk he cut
through a few more links. Then with true aim he gave such a blow
that his sword went straight into his bosom. Seeing this, people
raised the call of takbir. Muawiyah was startled at this noise
and on coming to know that Arar ibn Ad'ham had been slain he was
much disturbed and shouted if there was anyone to take revenge for
Arar ibn Ad'ham and kill al-Abbas, whereupon some tired
swordsmen of the tribe of Lakhm came out challenging al-Abbas.
Al-Abbas said he would come after taking his Chief's permission.
Saying al-Abbas came to Amir al-mu'minin to seek permission. Amir
al-mu'minin detained him, put on al-Abbas's dress. and riding on
al-Abbas's horse entered the battlefield. Taking him to be
al-Abbas, the Lakhms said: "So you have got your Chief's
permission." In reply Amir al-mu'minin recited the following
verse:

Permission (to fight)
is given unto those upon whom war is made for they have been
oppressed, and verily, to help them, Allah is Most Potent.
(Qur'an, 22:39)

Now one man came out
from the other side shouting like an elephant, ran amok and
assaulted Amir al-mu'minin, but he avoided the blow and then gave
such a clean cut with his sword to the other's back that he was
split into two. People thought the blow had gone without avail,
but when his horse jumped his two separate parts fell on the
ground. After him another man came out but he too was finished in
the twinkling of an eye. Then Amir al-mu'minin challenged others
but from the strokes of his sword the enemy came to know that it
was Amir al-mu'minin in the dress of al-Abbas and so none dared
come to face him.

On the ninth day the
right wing was under the command of Abdullah ibn Budayl and the
left wing under that of Abdullah ibn al-Abbas. In the centre was
Amir al-mu'minin himself. On the other side Habib ibn Maslamah
commanded the Syrian army. When both the lines had come face to
face with each other, the valiant soldiers drew out their swords
and pounced upon one another like ferocious lions, and fighting
raged on all sides. The banner of the right wing Amir
al-mu'minin's army was revolving in the hands of Banu Hamdan.
Whenever anyone of them fell, martyred, someone else would pick up
the banner. First of all Kurayb ibn Shurayh raised the banner, on
his fall Shurahbil ibn Shurayh took it up, then Marthad ibn
Shurayh, then Hubayrah ibn Shurayh then Yarim ibn Shurayh, then
Sumayr ibn Shurayh and after the killing of all these six brothers
the banner was taken up by Sufyan, then Abd, then Kurayb, the
three sons of Zayd, who all fell martyred. After that the banner
was lifted by two brothers (sons) of Bashir namely Umayr and
al-Harith and when they too fell martyred, Wahb ibn Kurayb took up
the banner. On this day the enemy's greater attention was on the
right wing and its assaults were so fierce that the men lost
ground and began to retreat from the battlefield. Only three
hundred men remained with the Officer in Command Abdullah ibn
Budayl. On seeing this Amir al-mu'minin asked Malik al-Ashtar to
call them back and challenge them as to where they were fleeing.
"If the days of life are over they cannot avoid death by
running away." Now the defeat of the right wing could not be
without effect on the left wing, so Amir al-mu'minin turned to the
left wing and advanced forward, forcing through the enemy lines,
whereupon a slave of Banu Umayyah named Ahmar said to him,
"Allah may make me die if I fail to slay you today." On
hearing this Amir al-mu'minin's slave Kaysan leapt over him but
was killed by him. When Amir al-mu'minin saw this he caught him by
the skirt of his armour and, picking him up, threw him down so
forcefully that all his joints were smashed, whereupon Imam Hasan
(p.b.u.h.) and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah came forward and
despatched him to Hell. Meanwhile, after having been called to
Malik al-Ashtar and his having made them feel ashamed, the
retreaters came back and again assaulted so steadfastly that
pushing back the enemy they reached the place where Abdullah ibn
Budayl was surrounded by the enemy. When he saw his own men he
picked up courage and leapt towards Muawiyah's tent with drawn
sword. Malik al-Ashtar tried to stop him but he couldn't, and,
killing seven Syrians, he reached the tent of Muawiyah. When
Muawiyah noticed him close by he ordered him to be stoned, as a
result of which he was overpowered and the Syrians crowded over
him and killed him. When Malik al-Ashtar saw this he proceeded
forward with the combatants of Banu Hamdan and Banu Madh'hij for
an attack on Muawiyah, and began dispersing the contingent on
guard around him. When, out of the five circles of his guards only
one remained to be dispersed, Muawiyah put his foot in the
stirrup of his horse in order to run away, but on someone's
encouragement again stopped. On another side of the battlefield a
tumult was raging from one end to the other by the swords of
Ammar ibn Yasir and Hashim ibn Utbah. From whatever side Ammar
passed, the companions (of the Holy Prophet) flocked around him
and then made such a joint assault that destruction spread
throughout the enemy lines. When Muawiyah saw them advancing he
threw his fresh forces towards them. But he continued displaying
the excellence of his bravery under the storm of swords and
spears. At last Abu al-Adiyah al-Juhani hit him with a spear from
which he could not balance himself and then Ibn Hawiy (Jawn
as-Saksiki) came forward and slew him. Ammar ibn Yasir's death
caused tumult in Muawiyah's ranks because about him they had
heard the Holy Prophet (PBUH) having said: " Ammar will be
killed at the hands of a rebellious party." Thus before he
fell as martyr Dhu'l-Kala had said to Amr ibn al-As: "I
see Ammar on Ali's side; are we that rebellious party?"
Amr ibn al-As had assured him that eventually Ammar would join
them, but when he killed fighting on Ali's side the rebellious
party stood exposed and no scope was left for any other
interpretation. Nevertheless Muawiyah started telling the Syrians
that: "We did not kill Ammar, but Ali did it because he
brought him to the battlefield." When Amir al-mu'minin heard
this cunning sentence he remarked: "In that case the Holy
Prophet (PBUH) killed Hamzah as he had brought him to the
battlefield of Uhud." Hashim ibn Utbah also fell in this
conflict. He was killed by al-Harith ibn Mundhir at-Tanukhi. After
him the banner of the contingent was taken over by his son
Abdullah.

When such fearless
warriors were gone Amir al-mu'minin said to the warriors from the
tribes of Hamdan and Rabiah: "To me you are like armour and
spear. Get up and teach these rebels a lesson. "
Consequently, twelve thousand combatants of the tribes of Rabiah
and Hamdan stood up, swords in hand. The banner was taken up by
Hudayn ibn al-Mundhir. Entering the lines of the enemy, they used
their swords in such a way that heads began to drop, bodies fell
in huge heaps and on every side streams of blood flowed. And the
assaults of these swordsmen knew no stopping till the day began to
end with all its devastation and the gloom of eve set in, ushering
in that fearful night which is known in history as the night of
al-Harir, wherein the clashing of weapons, the hoofs of horses and
the hue and cry of the Syrians created such notice that even
voices reaching the ears could not be heard. On Amir al-mu'minin's
side, his wrong-crushing slogans raised waves of courage and
valour, and on the enemy's side they shook the hearts in their
bosoms. The battle was at its zenith. The quivers of the bowmen
had become empty. The stalks of the spears had been broken. Hand
to hand fighting went on with swords only and dead bodies
collected in heaps, till by morning the number of killed had
exceeded thirty thousand.

On the tenth day Amir
al-mu'minin's men showed the same morale. On the right wing Malik
al-Ashtar held the command and on the left wing Abdullah ibn
al-Abbas.

Assaults went on like
the assaults of new soldiers. Signs of defeat appeared on the
Syrians, and they were about to leave the battlefield and run
away, when five hundred

Qur'ans were raised on
spears changing the entire face of the battle. Moving swords
stopped, the weapon of deceit was successful, and the way was
clear for wrong to hold its sway.

In this battle
forty-five thousand Syrians were killed while twenty-five thousand
Iraqis fell as martyrs. (Kitab Siffin by Nasr ibn Muzahim
al-Minqari [d. 212 A.H.] and at-Tarikh at-Tabari, vol. 1, pp.
3256-3349).