drive the Syrians away from the water until they seized it by force. Thereafter the two armies agreed that all should be allowed to draw from the river⦗1⦘, no one preventing another. ʿAlī then remained for two days without writing to Muʿāwiyah, nor did Muʿāwiyah write to him.

After that ʿAlī summoned Bashīr ibn ʿAmr al-Anṣārī, Saʿīd ibn Qays al-Hamadānī, and Shabath ibn Ribʿī al-Sahmī and said, “Go to that man, invite him to obedience and unity, and listen to what he says to you.” When they entered upon Muʿāwiyah⦗2⦘, Bashīr ibn ʿAmr addressed him: “O Muʿāwiyah! This world is slipping away from you and you are returning to the Hereafter. By Allah, He will call you to account for your deeds and repay you for what your hands have wrought. I beseech you before Allah: do not break up the ranks of this ummah, and do not shed⦗3⦘ its blood.”

Muʿāwiyah replied, “Why did you not give that counsel to your own leader?⦗4⦘”

Bashīr answered, “My leader is the one most entitled among all people to command, by virtue of his merit, his faith, his precedence, and his kinship (to the Prophet). He summons you to pledge allegiance to him; that will be safer for you in this world and better for you in the Hereafter⦗5⦘.”

Muʿāwiyah said, “And ʿUthmān’s blood is to go unavenged? By Allah, I will never agree to that.”

Saʿīd ibn Qays al-Hamadānī then wished to speak, but Shabath ibn Ribʿī forestalled him and spoke first, using harsh and discourteous words toward Muʿāwiyah. Muʿāwiyah rebuked and censured him for presumptuously addressing one older and more eminent than himself, and for speaking⦗6⦘ about matters of which he had no knowledge. He then ordered that they be removed from his presence, and he remained resolved⦗7⦘ to press for vengeance for the blood of ʿUthmān, who had been wrongfully slain.

When the emissaries reported to ʿAlī what they had said and what reply they had received, war broke out between the two sides. ʿAlī ordered the advance units and the commanders to move forward⦗8⦘, appointing over every contingent a commander.

Among his field commanders were al-Ashtar al-Nakhaʿī—the foremost of all who went out to fight—Ḥujr ibn ʿAdī, Shabath ibn Ribʿī, Khālid ibn al-Muʿammar⦗9⦘, Ziyād ibn al-Naḍr, Ziyād ibn Khaṣafah⦗10⦘, Saʿīd ibn Qays⦗11⦘, Maʿqil ibn Qays, and Qays ibn Saʿd.

Likewise, Muʿāwiyah would each day send out a commander for the fighting⦗12⦘; among them were ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khālid ibn al-Walīd, Abū al-Aʿwar al-Sulamī, Ḥabīb ibn Muslim, Dhū al-Kalāʿ al-Ḥimyarī, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, Sharḥabīl ibn al-Simṭ, and Ḥamzah ibn Mālik al-Hamadānī. On some days the armies fought twice, and all this took place throughout the entire month of Dhū al-Ḥijjah.