Al-Haytham ibn ʿAdī (1) relates in the book he composed on the Khārijites: Ibn ʿAbbās said, “Muḥammad ibn al-Muntašir al-Hamdānī narrated to me (2), on the authority of someone who witnessed Ṣiffīn and of several Khārijite leaders whose truthfulness is beyond suspicion (3), that ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir loathed the proposal and refused it. Concerning ʿAlī he uttered words I dislike to repeat; then he exclaimed, ‘Who will hasten to Allah before anyone seeks a judge other than Him?’ He charged, fought, and was killed—may Allah have mercy on him.

Among the Syrian notables who called for that truce that day was ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ. He addressed the Iraqis, urging conciliation, restraint, the cessation of fighting, and compliance with what the Qur’an commands, acting on Muʿāwiyah’s instruction (may Allah be pleased with him) (4). Of those who advised ʿAlī to accept and enter into the agreement was al-Ashʿath ibn Qays al-Kindī (may Allah be pleased with him).

Abū Mikhnaf (5) transmits through another chain that when ʿAlī sent word to al-Ashʿtar he said, ‘Tell him this is no time for you to dislodge me from my position; I hope that Allah will grant me victory, so do not press me.’ The messenger—Yazīd ibn Hāniʾ—returned to ʿAlī and reported al-Ashʿtar’s words to him (6), while al-Ashʿtar remained intent on fighting in order to seize the opportunity.

An uproar ensued and voices were raised. Those men said to ʿAlī, ‘By Allah, we can only think that you have ordered him to fight.’ He replied, ‘Did you see me whisper to the messenger (7)? Did I not send to him openly while you were listening?’ They said, ‘Then send for him to come to you; otherwise, by Allah, we shall leave you.’ So ʿAlī said to Zayd ibn Hāniʾ, ‘Woe to you! Tell him to come to me, for discord has broken out.’

When Yazīd ibn Hāniʾ returned and conveyed to al-Ashʿtar the Commander of the Faithful’s order that he withdraw from combat and come, al-Ashʿtar writhed (8) and exclaimed, ‘Woe to you! Do you not see the victory before us? Only a little remains!’ I said to him, ‘Which do you prefer: that you comply, or that the Commander of the Faithful be killed as ʿUthmān was killed? What benefit would your victory here bring you then?’ So al-Ashʿtar came to ʿAlī and abandoned the fighting, saying,

‘People of Iraq—people of humiliation and weakness (9)! Just when you had the enemy under your heel and they were certain that you would overpower them, they raised the copies of the Qur’an…’