Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (3/136)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

“The commander after him is ʿAlī …
and in al-Zubayr there is a worthy, God-pleasing successor.”

Kaʿb replied, “No; it is the rider of the grey mule”—meaning Muʿāwiyah.

When this reached Muʿāwiyah, he came to him and said, “Abū Isḥāq! You say such a thing while ʿAlī, al-Zubayr and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ are here?!”

He answered, “You are the man (1).”

Al-Wāqidī said: When ʿUthmān was killed, his wife Nāʾilah bint al-Farāfiṣah sent Muʿāwiyah a letter describing what had happened and forwarded his blood-stained shirt. Muʿāwiyah read the letter, and the shirt was paraded among the Syrian troops; he roused them to seek retribution for his blood.

Ibn ʿAbbās said to ʿAlī, “Write to Muʿāwiyah, confirm him over Syria, and give him hope (2); that will spare you dealing with him and his province. Once the people have pledged allegiance to you, you may either let him remain or dismiss him.”

He replied, “He will not be satisfied unless I give him Allah’s covenant and binding pledge that I shall not remove him.”

When this reached Muʿāwiyah, he said, “By Allah, I will hold no office for him, nor will I pledge allegiance to him.”

In Syria he publicly announced, “Al-Zubayr is coming to you, and we shall pledge allegiance to him.”

When news of al-Zubayr’s death reached him, he asked Allah to have mercy on him. ʿAlī then sent Jarīr to Muʿāwiyah; Jarīr spoke with him and extolled ʿAlī, but he refused to pledge allegiance. Jarīr returned, and Muʿāwiyah resolved to march toward Ṣiffīn.

Muʿāwiyah dispatched Abū Muslim al-Khawlānī to ʿAlī with several demands, foremost among them that he hand over ʿUthmān’s killers. ʿAlī refused, Abū Muslim came back, and letters passed between the two camps. Each prepared to face the other until they met with seven days left of Muḥarram, in the year 37 AH (3).

At the beginning of Ṣafar the fighting erupted (4); countless men were slain, the armies grew weary, and the Syrians raised copies of the Quran, saying, “We summon you to the Book of Allah and to judgement by what it contains,” and it was

(1) Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, vol. 8, p. 127. (2) In the printed edition the phrase is corrupted to “wa at‘amahu” (“and feed him”). (3) That is, thirty-seven; see al-Tabari, vol. 5, p. 6 ff.; Ibn al-Athir, vol. 3, pp. 289, 326; Ibn Kathir, vol. 7, pp. 258, 278. (4) The printed edition erroneously reads “nashibat”.}

إِنَّ الأَمِيْرَ بَعْدَهُ عَلِيُّ ... وَفِي الزُّبَيْرِ خَلَفٌ رَضِيُّ فَقَالَ كَعْبٌ: بَلْ هُوَ صَاحِبُ البَغْلَةِ الشَّهْبَاءِ -يَعْنِي: مُعَاوِيَةَ -. فَبَلَغَ ذَلِكَ مُعَاوِيَةَ، فَأَتَاهُ، فَقَالَ: يَا أَبَا إِسْحَاقَ! تَقُوْلُ هَذَا وَهَا هُنَا عَلِيٌّ وَالزُّبَيْرُ وَأَصْحَابُ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ؟! قَالَ: أَنْتَ صَاحِبُهَا (١) . قَالَ الوَاقِدِيُّ: لَمَّا قُتِلَ عُثْمَانُ، بَعَثَتْ نَائِلَةُ بِنْتُ الفَرَافِصَةِ امْرَأَتُهُ إِلَى مُعَاوِيَةَ كِتَاباً بِمَا جَرَى، وَبَعَثَتْ بِقَمِيْصِهِ بِالدَّمِ، فَقَرَأَ مُعَاوِيَةُ الكِتَابَ، وَطِيْفَ بِالقَمِيْصِ فِي أَجْنَادِ الشَّامِ، وَحَرَّضَهُمْ عَلَى الطَّلَبِ بِدَمِهِ. فَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ لِعَلِيٍّ: اكْتُبْ إِلَى مُعَاوِيَةَ، فَأَقِرَّهُ عَلَى الشَّامِ، وَأَطْمِعْهُ (٢) يَكْفِكَ نَفْسَهُ وَنَاحِيَتَهُ، فَإِذَا بَايَعَ لَكَ النَّاسُ، أَقْرَرْتَهُ أَوْ عَزَلْتَهُ. قَالَ: إِنَّهُ لاَ يَرْضَى حَتَّى أُعْطِيَهُ عَهْدَ اللهِ وَمِيْثَاقَهُ أَنْ لاَ أَعْزِلَهُ. وَبَلَغَ مُعَاوِيَةَ، فَقَالَ: وَاللهِ لاَ أَلِي لَهُ شَيْئاً، وَلاَ أُبَايِعُهُ. وَأَظْهَرَ بِالشَّامِ أَنَّ الزُّبَيْرَ قَادِمٌ عَلَيْكُم وَنُبَايِعُهُ. فَلَمَّا بَلَغَهُ مَقْتَلُهُ، تَرَحَّمَ عَلَيْهِ، وَبَعَثَ عَلِيٌّ جَرِيْراً إِلَى مُعَاوِيَةَ، فَكَلَّمَهُ، وَعَظَّمَ عَلِيّاً، فَأَبَى أَنْ يُبَايِعَ، فَرُدَّ جَرِيْرٌ، وَأَجْمَعَ عَلَى المَسِيْرِ إِلَى صِفِّيْنَ. فَبَعَثَ مُعَاوِيَةُ أَبَا مُسْلِمٍ الخَوْلاَنِيَّ إِلَى عَلِيٍّ بِأَشْيَاءَ يَطْلُبُهَا مِنْهُ، وَأَنْ يَدْفَعَ إِلَيْهِ قَتَلَةَ عُثْمَانَ، فَأَبَى، وَرَجَعَ أَبُو مُسْلِمٍ، وَجَرَتْ بَيْنَهُمَا رَسَائِلُ، وَقَصَدَ كُلٌّ مِنْهُمَا الآخَرَ، فَالْتَقَوْا لِسَبْعٍ بَقِيْنَ مِنَ المُحَرَّمِ، سَنَةَ سَبْعٍ (٣) . وَفِي أَوَّلِ صَفَرٍ شَبَّتِ (٤) الحَرْبُ، وَقُتِلَ خَلْقٌ، وَضَجِرُوا، فَرَفَعَ أَهْلُ الشَّامِ المَصَاحِفَ، وَقَالُوا: نَدْعُوْكُم إِلَى كِتَابِ اللهِ، وَالحُكْمِ بِمَا فِيْهِ، وَكَانَ

(١) " البداية " ٨ / ١٢٧. (٢) تحرفت في المطبوع إلى " وأطعمه ". (٣) أي: سبع وثلاثين انظر " الطبري " ٥ / ٦ وما بعدها، وابن الأثير ٣ / ٢٨٩، ٣٢٦. وابن كثير ٧ / ٢٥٨، ٢٧٨. (٤) تحرف في المطبوع إلى " نشبت ".