When ʿAlī reached al-Raqqah he encamped at a place called al-Balīkh (1) on the bank of the Euphrates. A monk came down to him from his hermitage and said, “We possess a book that has been handed down from our forefathers, written by the disciples of Jesus son of Mary (may Allah have mercy on him). May I present it to you?” ʿAlī replied, “Yes.” The monk then read the book:
“In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful—He who has decreed what He has decreed, inscribed what He has inscribed, and written what He has written: that He will raise among the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves who will teach them the Book and wisdom, purify them, and guide them to the path of Allah. He is neither coarse nor harsh, nor boisterous (2) in the marketplaces; he does not repay evil with evil, but pardons and forgives. His community are the ḥammādūn (3)—those who praise Allah on every height and at every rise and descent, whose tongues are humbled with the tahlīl and the takbīr. Allah will aid him against all who oppose him. When Allah takes him in death, his community will differ, then unite, and will remain so for as long as Allah wills; then they will differ (4) again. After that, a man from his community will pass by the bank of this Euphrates. He will enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, judge with justice and never overturn a verdict. The world is to him lighter than ashes—or, it was said, dust—on a windy day, and death is to him easier than drinking water. He fears Allah in private and gives sincere counsel (5) openly, fearing no blame for Allah’s sake. Whoever among the people of these lands meets that Prophet and believes in him shall have My good pleasure and Paradise; and whoever meets that righteous servant, let him support him, for to be killed alongside him is martyrdom.”
The monk then said to ʿAlī, “I shall accompany you and never leave you until what befalls you befalls me.” ʿAlī wept and said, “Praise be to Allah who has not left me forgotten or neglected in His sight; praise be to Allah who has mentioned me in the books of the righteous.” The monk went with him, embraced Islam, and remained with ʿAlī until he was killed at Ṣiffīn. When (6) the people went out searching (7) for their dead, ʿAlī said, “Look for the monk.” They found him slain; when they found him, ʿAlī offered the funeral prayer over him, buried him, and sought forgiveness for him.
ʿAlī had sent ahead of him Ziyād ibn al-Naḍr al-Ḥārithī as an advance guard with eight thousand men, together with Shurayḥ ibn Hāniʾ leading four thousand; they travelled along a route in front of him that differed from his own. ʿAlī—may Allah ennoble his face—came and crossed the Tigris by the bridge of Manbij, while the two advance columns pressed on. News reached them that Muʿāwiyah had set out with the Syrians to confront the Commander of the Believers ʿAlī (8). They intended to meet him, but, fearing their small numbers in comparison to his, they left their route and sought to cross at ʿĀnah; the people of ʿĀnah prevented them, so they continued on, crossed at Hīt, and then re-joined ʿAlī—