of the community and through their own consultation. My colleague and I have agreed upon one course: to depose both ʿAlī and Muʿāwiyah. The ummah should be released from this question so that it may become a matter of shūrā among them, and they can appoint whomever they wish. Accordingly, I hereby depose ʿAlī and Muʿāwiyah; entrust your affairs to whomever you deem fit.” He then stepped back.
ʿAmr stepped forward, praised Allah and extolled Him, and then said, “This man has spoken the words you have heard and has deposed his leader. As for me, I depose his leader and confirm mine—Muʿāwiyah—for he was the guardian of ʿUthmān, the one who seeks retribution for his blood, and the person most entitled to his office.”
Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ exclaimed, “Woe to you, Abū Mūsā! How helpless you are against ʿAmr and his tricks.” Abū Mūsā replied, “What could I do? He bound me to an agreement and then abandoned it.” Ibn ʿAbbās said, “You are not at fault; the fault lies with the one who put you forward.” Abū Mūsā responded, “May Allah have mercy on you—he betrayed me. What can I do?”
Abū Mūsā then said to ʿAmr, “Your likeness is that of a dog: drive it away and it still pants; leave it alone and it still pants.” ʿAmr retorted, “Your likeness is that of a donkey laden with books.” Ibn ʿUmar remarked, “What has this ummah come to—one man who cares not what he does and another who is weak?”
Al-Masʿūdī relates in Murūj al-Dhahab that the meeting of the two arbiters took place at Dūmat al-Jandal in Ramadan of the year 38 AH. ʿAmr said to Abū Mūsā, “Speak.” He replied, “Rather, you speak.” ʿAmr said, “I will not. All the prerogatives are yours and they are all your due.”
Abū Mūsā praised Allah, extolled Him, and then said, “Come, ʿAmr, to a matter by which Allah will unite the ummah.” ʿAmr produced a document and said to his scribe—a young servant of his—“Write.” He added, “Speech has a beginning and an end; if we dispute over the words, we shall never reach the end before the beginning is forgotten. So write what we dictate.”
The scribe replied, “Do not write anything one of you orders until you have sought the assent of the other. When he assents, write.” So he wrote: “This is what So-and-so have agreed upon…”