—only to find that they had gone on ahead of him. ʿAlī said, “Is my vanguard coming up behind me?” They apologized for what had happened, and he accepted their excuse; after they had crossed⦗1⦘ the Euphrates he put them in the front ranks and sent them on toward Muʿāwiyah.

Abū al-Aʿwar ʿAmr ibn Sufyān al-Sulamī, leading the Syrian vanguard, met them, and the two forces halted facing one another. Ziyād ibn al-Naḍr, commander of the Iraqi vanguard, called⦗2⦘ on them to give the pledge of allegiance, but they made no reply. He therefore wrote to ʿAlī about the matter, whereupon ʿAlī dispatched al-Ashṭar al-Nakhaʿī as commander, with Ziyād on his right wing and Shurayḥ on his left. He instructed him not to begin the fighting until they attacked first, but rather to invite them to the pledge of allegiance again and again. If they refused, he was not to fight them until they fought him; he was neither to draw so near as one intent on war, nor to stay so far away as one who fears men, but to remain steadfast until ʿAlī himself arrived: “I am hurrying along behind you, God willing.” (So the two sides refrained from combat for the rest of that day, and toward sunset Abū al-Aʿwar al-Sulamī charged them.)

ʿAlī sent with al-Ashṭar a written decree appointing him commander of the vanguard, carried by al-Ḥārith ibn Juhmān al-Juʿfī. When al-Ashṭar reached the vanguard⦗3⦘ he carried out ʿAlī’s instructions. He and Muʿāwiyah’s vanguard, under Abū al-Aʿwar, faced one another; they disputed throughout the day, and late in the afternoon Abū al-Aʿwar attacked. The Iraqis held firm and remained steadfast for some time, after which the Syrians withdrew at nightfall.

At dawn the next day the two vanguards again took their positions and showed patience. Al-Ashṭar then charged, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mundhir al-Tanūkhī—one of the Syrian horsemen—was killed⦗4⦘ by an Iraqi named Ẓabyān ibn ʿAmārah al-Tamīmī. At that Abū al-Aʿwar and those with him attacked; they advanced on the Iraqis, and al-Ashṭar challenged Abū al-Aʿwar to single combat, but he refused, apparently judging him an unequal opponent—Allah knows best. When evening of the second day drew near the two sides disengaged⦗5⦘.

On the morning of the third day ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived with his armies, and Muʿāwiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) with his troops. The two hosts confronted one another and engaged in battle—Allah’s help is sought—and they remained in stalemate for a long while at a place called Ṣiffīn⦗6⦘. This occurred in the early days of Dhū al-Ḥijjah.

ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) then turned aside to look for a campsite for his army, but Muʿāwiyah had already reached the water first and encamped⦗7⦘ at the broadest and easiest landing-place. When ʿAlī arrived he set up camp⦗8⦘ some distance from the river. The forward riders of Iraq came to draw water, but the Syrians prevented them and fighting broke out over it. Muʿāwiyah had assigned⦗9⦘ Abū al-Aʿwar al-Sulamī to guard the only watering-place there was, so ʿAlī’s men began to suffer from severe thirst—