left Madinah and halted at a watering place called Sirār (1), where he set up camp, determined to lead the campaign against Iraq in person. He appointed ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib to govern Madinah in his absence and took ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān together with a number of the eminent Companions along with him.
He then convened a council to consult the Companions about his intention. The crier announced, “The congregational prayer is about to begin,” and he had already sent for ʿAlī (2), who arrived from Madinah. After consulting them, all of them agreed (3) on proceeding to Iraq, except for ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, who said to him, “I fear that if you are defeated, the Muslims in every region of the earth will be weakened. In my view you should send someone in your stead and return to Madinah.” ʿUmar and the people were moved by this, and they deemed Ibn ʿAwf’s opinion the sound one. (4)
ʿUmar asked, “Whom do you think we should send to Iraq?”
He replied, “I have found him.”
ʿUmar said, “And who is that?”
He answered, “The lion—with his prey between his claws (5)—Saʿd ibn Mālik al-Zuhrī.”
ʿUmar approved his suggestion, sent for Saʿd, appointed him commander over Iraq, and gave him the following counsel:
“O Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, do not let it deceive you before Allah that people say, ‘The maternal uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and one of his Companions.’ Allah does not wipe out an evil deed with another evil deed; He wipes out evil with good. Between Allah and anyone there is no lineage except through obedience to Him. The noble and the lowly are the same in the sight of Allah: He is their Lord and they are His servants. People surpass one another by the well-being they are granted, and they attain what is with Allah through obedience. Therefore look to the course you saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ follow from the day he was sent until he left us, and hold fast to it, for that is the way. This is my admonition to you; if you abandon it and turn away from it, your deeds will be rendered void (6) and you will be among the losers.”
When the moment came for him to depart, ʿUmar said to him:
“You are about to face a grave matter, so patience—patience with whatever befalls and confronts you—so that the fear of Allah may be firmly joined (7) to you. Know that the fear of Allah is gathered into two things: obedience to Him and avoidance of disobedience to Him. Whoever obeys Him does so by detesting (8) this world and loving the Hereafter; whoever disobeys Him does so by loving this world and detesting the Hereafter.
“Hearts possess realities that Allah fashions anew; some are hidden and some manifest. As for what is manifest, it is that a man’s praise and blame in matters of truth should be the same (9); as for what is hidden, it is recognized when wisdom issues from his heart upon his tongue and through the love people have for him. Of that love of people, none…"