A’BDULLAH B. O’MAR B. ALKHATTÂB GOES TO SYRIA, AND EXCHANGE OF LETTERS AND MESSAGES BETWEEN THE GREAT COMPANIONS AND MOA’WIAH B. ABU SOFIÂN.

It has been recorded before that, after A’bdullah B. O’mar had slain Hormyzân, who was living under the protection of the Bani Hâshem, O’thmân had paid the blood-ransom from the public treasury. When the couch of the Khalifate had become embellished by the person of [A’li,] the governor of the city of the Vicariate, A’bdullah, fearing retaliation, took refuge in Syria, where Moa’wiah, pleased with his arrival, took him to a private apartment, condoled with him for the loss of O’thmân, and desired to make him assent that A’li the Commander of the Faithful had been an accomplice in the martyrdom of Dhu-n-nûryn.* A’bdullah, however, replied: ‘How could A’li B. Abu Ttâleb, who is adorned with the decorations of high lineage, personal accomplishments, and Divine favours, distinguished and unique, be accused of faults, and by what reasonable or fictitious arguments can the mouth of blame be opened against him? Am I to consider him guilty of the blood of O’thmân to please a few chiefs?’ A’mru B. A´ass observed: ‘The original intention and the whole object [of the above allegation] is to persuade those who are near and far to blot out affection for A’li from their minds, and to imbue them with interest for Moa’wiah.’ Hearing these senti­ments, A’bdullah departed from the assembly; whereon Moa’wiah said to A’mru B. A´ass: ‘I swear by God that if it had not been for fear of the sword of A’li, no one would have seen this man in Syria, considering the way in which he extolled the qualities and perfections of the son of Abu Ttâleb in our presence.’ A’mru B. A´ass queried: ‘O Moa’wiah, deniest thou, perchance, the excellent character, the good qualities, and the beautiful genealogy of A’li? By Allah! A’li is such as A’bdullah has described him, and even more excellent. There is no doubt that we have been deceived by worldly aspersions, have deflected from the right path, and have abandoned the service of a blessed man, which is fraught with temporal and eternal happiness. We shall do penance for our acts when it will be of no avail; and it is an old saying, “Verily, thou repentest now, when repentance is of no use.”’ This conversation which had passed between Moa’wiah and A’mru B. A´ass was reported to A’bdullah, who, when the people had assembled, addressed them, according to a promise he had made to Moa’wiah. He mounted the pulpit, lauded God the Most High, uttered salutations to his lordship Muhammad the elect—u. w. bl.—spoke a few words of advice and admoni­tion, and then came down from the pulpit without having uttered a single word about his lordship O’thmân the Com­mander of the Faithful. Moa’wiah then asked: ‘Was fatigue or weakness the cause of thy silence in the matter of the treachery of A’li towards O’thmân, and of not keeping thy promise?’ A’bdullah replied: ‘I was ashamed before the majesty of the Lord Most High, and the pure, sacred spirit of his lordship the apostle of Allah, to speak a lie in the pulpit, and to accuse the Amir’s lordship [i.e., A’li] of an act which he was very far from committing, and to bear witness in such an assembly to what has never taken place. If I had uttered this falsehood, I and thyself would be reproved in this, and chastised in the next, world.’ Moa’wiah, being disgusted with these sentiments of A’bdullah, henceforth took no more notice of him. When a few days had elapsed in this manner, A’bdullah composed a piece of poetry about O’thmân, his having been killed by the sword of injustice, and this contained also the names of a number of men who had striven to encompass the death of O’thmân. The verses having been brought to the notice of Moa’wiah, he was pleased, called him, apologized to him, and held him in great esteem until he was killed in the battle of Ssafyn.

At this time Moa’wiah consulted A’mru B. A´ass whether it would not be advisable to write a letter to the inhabitants of Madinah, inviting them to follow him; but A’mru replied: ‘That would be of no use, because those people are divided into three factions, one of which boasts of its adherence to A’li B. Abu Ttâleb, and will for the sake of thy message not abandon that great beatitude, but will more intensely adhere to him and reject thee; the other faction consists of the friends of O’thmân, which is extremely weak and helpless, so that its love or enmity is of no account in the affairs of this world; and the third faction has chosen solitude, aiming only at security and tranquillity of mind; it has bidden farewell to A’li and to O’thmân, knows that neither love for Abu Bakr nor for A’li will improve its livelihood, and it will not be influenced by thy letter; as thou art, however, bent on writing one, send it, and if no profit results therefrom neither will loss ensue.’ After holding a consultation on the subject, Moa’wiah despatched a letter to the inhabitants of Madinah, the contents of which were as follows: ‘I was not in Madinah at the time when the people rebelled and assailed O’thmân, and possess no knowledge of the state of affairs then pre­vailing; but you must be aware that A’li B. Abu Ttâleb co-operated with the inimical faction in destroying the fabric of the Khalifate, and now the murderers of the Khalifah are his intimate friends. I am the legate of O’thmân, and mean to avenge his blood by requiring A’li to surrender his murderers, so that I may retaliate upon them without injuring A’li. I shall entrust the election of a Khalifah to a consultative assembly, as O’mar had sub­mitted it to one, it being a lawful ordinance. If A’li fails to send the murderers to me I shall wage war against him. After these preliminary remarks I invite those of you who loved O’thmân to come to Syria, and by no means to be tardy.’ When the people of Madinah received this letter of Moa’wiah they imagined that it had been written by the advice of A’mru B. A´ass, and they despatched the following reply: ‘Let it be known to A’mru B. A´ass and to Moa’wiah that they have committed a grievous mistake in seeking aid from a distance. What has the affair of the Khalifah to do with words and invitations like these? O Moa’wiah, thou art in reality an escaped convict; and, A’mru B. A´ass, thou art a traitor to the religion! Abstain henceforth from importuning us, and addressing such letters to us.’ When Moa’wiah had perused this answer, he said: ‘Con­sidering that A’bdullah B. O’mar B. Alkhattâb, and Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss, and Muhammad B. Moslamah the Anssâri, who were great companions of the apostle of Allah [have not been consulted by us], we have acted wrongly in writing a letter to the vagabonds of Madinah. It will now be proper to send a letter to each of those blessed men who have separated from A’li, and to request them to adhere to us.’ It is recorded in several traditions that A’bdullah B. O’mar Alkhattâb had instigated Moa’wiah to write to his brother and to those two honoured men a letter of invita­tion to follow him. When A’mru B. A´ass had heard of this intention, he said by way of advice: ‘Keep clear of this business, because when A´ayshah, Ttolhah and Zobeyr, who are superior to thee, invited their co-operation, they, being disinclined to assent, placed the hands of refusal upon this request, and their feet upon the skirts of retirement and separation, deeming it incumbent on themselves not to side with either of the two parties [i.e., of A´ayshah and of A’li].’ Moa’wiah desired to have with him a number of the companions of his lordship the apostle—u. w. bl.—but the majority of those blessed men had preferred to attach themselves to his sacred lordship A’li the Commander of the Faithful, so that not more than four of them had intercourse with Moa’wiah, namely, Abu Haryrah, and Abu Durdah, and Abu Asâmah Albâhy, and No’mân B. Bashar, the Anssâri.—Moa’wiah, disregarding the advice of A’mru B. A´ass, sent one letter to A’bdullah B. O’mar, another to Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss, and a third to Muhammad B. Mos­lamah, the contents of each of them being as follows: ‘Your lordships are requested to aid your Musalmân brothers in avenging the blood of O’thmân, and to join the camp, so as to become deserving of eternal reward.’ Oppo­sition to A’li the Commander of the Faithful having been attributed, in one of the letters, to the son of O’mar, and his approbation of the insinuation expected, A’bdullah B. O’mar wrote to Moa’wiah in reply: ‘Thy letters have arrived, and their contents have become known. I am astonished at thy inviting me to follow thee, to pay thee allegiance, and to wage war against the Mohâjer and Anssâr. It is known for certain that thy seeking to avenge the blood of O’thmân is nought but a pretext for accomplishing thy ambition to attain dignity [and become Khalifah]. If thou thinkest that I will abandon the side of A’li and will be commanded by thee, thou art grievously mistaken, and thy writing that we have chosen opposition to his lordship, and have retired to our houses, is another mistake. Allah forbid that I should ever oppose A’li and be at enmity with him. Be it known to thee, O Moa’wiah, that although I refrain from partaking in strife and war with Musalmâns, I am mentally with A’li; and if I give my aid to anyone, he is more worthy of it than thyself, his authority in Islâm being more great, and his dignity in the world more exalted than thine; his position with Allah the Most High is more secure, his worthiness to be Khalifah more patent, his striving to elevate the banners of the religion more evident, and his relationship to the prophet the closest of all. He excels all the companions of his lordship the apostle in virtues; he is his cousin and the husband of his daughter. He will be the best of youths in paradise, and his character is the purest. No one prospered who attacked him, and no one who opposed him enjoyed security. As I was unwilling to draw the sword against my own tribe, I remained sitting in my house, and as it is against my nature to fight Musalmâns, I closed my door. How can I, being more excellent than thyself, pay allegiance to thee? and my father as well as my mother are more noble than thy parents. I have now transformed my house into a chapel for worshipping God the Most High and Glorious, till I join the proximity of His mercy. Would that I could live in a place where I could witness neither the dissensions nor the treachery of my contemporaries!

‘The world being faithless, happy are the fawns of the desert
Who have made their resting place in solitude.’

It is recorded in some books that, at the end of his life, A’bdullah B. O’mar had said: ‘I have never regretted anything so much as my failing to do three acts, namely: to pay homage to A’li B. Abu Ttâleb, to wage war against his opponents, and to fast when the weather was hot.’—In the ‘Mostaqassa,’ a tradition of Abu Dhar Ghuffâry is reported to the effect that the apostle of Allah had said: ‘Who opposes the accession of A’li to the Khalifate is to be attacked by you, no matter who he may be; you must kill him.’—As to Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss, he wrote the following reply to Moa’wiah: ‘I have perused thy letter, and learnt to what a futile behaviour thou invitest me. Thou hast stated that O’thmân has been unjustly killed; be, however, aware that the Lord of both worlds is the wisest Judge, and the best Separator of truth from falsehood. I swear by God that I shall never wage war against A’li B. Abu Ttâleb. I do not assent to thy opposition to A’li, and I have, for fear of the disturbance which has arisen among the adherents of Islâm, preferred to retire and to sit alone in my house.’ Moa’wiah had, in his letter to Sa’d B. Abu Woqqâss, also written: ‘Ttolhah and Zobeyr, who were thy equals in genealogy, and like thee in Islâm, rose to avenge the blood of O’thmân, and A´ayshah co-operated with them, therefore thou must approve of what they approved of.’ Sa’d wrote in reply: ‘If Zobeyr and Ttolhah had not broken faith with A’li B. Abu Ttâleb, it would have been better for them, and if they had not waged war against him it would have been more becoming to their position: may God the Most High and Glorious pardon them, and may the most merciful Lord pass over what the mother of the faithful has done! Farewell.’ As to Muhammad B. Mos­lamah, his reply to Moa’wiah was this: ‘I am certain that thy purpose in undertaking this business was to attain supreme power, and not to wreak vengeance on those who had a hand in the murder of O’thmân. Be informed that I shall never prefer thy side to that of A’li, and that I shall not oppose him to please thee.’ Moa’wiah had, in his letter to Muhammad B. Moslamah, inserted the following accu­sation: ‘Thou hast thought proper to delay repelling the assailants at the time of the insurrection, and hast kept aloof till O’thmân perished ignominiously.’ Therefore Muhammad B. Moslamah wrote the following rejoinder: ‘Moa’wiah, when I perceived that disturbances were arising during the Khalifate of O’thmân, I was not able to quell them, and the authority of persons like myself being of no account, I broke my sword, sat down in a corner, and was joined by a number of the friends of the Mussttafa— u. w. bl.—because they also knew that their efforts would be of no avail in settling any affair of this kind; moreover, the prophet—u. w. bl.—had informed me of the catastrophe which would befall O’thmân, and this is the excuse for our remissness to succour him. It is wonderful that thou takest no blame upon thyself in this matter, since O’thmân had, at the time when he was greatly perplexed and closely besieged by the insurgents, sent courier after courier to Syria expecting thy aid, which thou hast delayed and failed to afford, in spite of thy ability to do so, because thy desire was to augment thy own power and authority. Thou hast utterly disregarded thy obligations towards him, and allowed his foes to vanquish him, that thou mightest realize thy own aspirations. Now thou desirest, under the pretext of avenging the blood of O’thmân, to place the crown of dominion upon thy head, and the ring of govern­ment on thy finger.’

When the answers of the honoured companions had reached Moa’wiah, he perused them, and A’mru B. A´ass blamed him; then he said: ‘The right was on thy side when thou hast advised me not to write any letters to them; now, however, we must make preparations for hostilities, because we cannot expect any help from those men.’ On this occasion, Moa’wiah ordered the population to assemble in the cathedral mosque of Damascus, and when it had congregated he mounted the pulpit, offered laudations to the Most High, salutations to his lordship the Mussttafa—u. w. bl.—and said: ‘It is evident to the denizens of the world that O’thmân has been unjustly slain, but God the Most High and Glorious will grant victory to his heir, as He said in His revelation: “Whosoever shall be slain unjustly we have given his heir power” [to demand satisfaction].* But I am the heir of O’thmân, and he, being the successor of O’mar, had vouchsafed to bestow on me the governorship of Syria, and had not removed me from my post. The people who agree with me are walking in the path of rectitude and right direction, and whoever opposes me is a transgressor and rebel. Those are insurgents who slew the Khalifah of the period, and, abandoning him, failed to succour him. At present A’li B. Abu Ttâleb, whom I hate more than anyone in the world, is sitting on the couch of the Khalifate, and making the murderers of O’thmân his intimate friends and courtiers. He has collected an army, is stirring up disturbances, and is marching to wage war against me. I cannot maintain order in the province of Syria without your being loyal and obedient to me. The people of E’râq are more brave in combat than the Syrians, but I am delighted that you are superior to them in patience and firmness. Now, take hold of the jugular vein of forbearance, “for Allah is with the patient.”’* On this occasion Abu-l-a´ur Salymy said: ‘Moa’wiah, I swear by God that thou canst never do to A’li what he will do to thee, and thou canst not excel in the battlefield like him. We shall, nevertheless, not abandon thee if thou refusest to fight; on the contrary, we incite thee to fight the murderers of O’thmân because our allegiance is still due to him. He was killed by the sword of injustice, thou art his heir and cousin, whilst A’li bore enmity to him, and failing to aid him to ward off his enemies, had abandoned his side. If thou wilt permit, we shall do our best in waging war.’ When Abu-l-a´ur had done speaking, Dhu-l-Kalâgh the Hemyarite said: ‘Moa’wiah, listen to my true words: Although O’thmân had bestowed on thee the governorship of Syria and had exalted thee, thou hast paid no attention to his words and hast afforded him no aid when he was in distress and asked for it. In this behaviour thy aim was that the people should stand in need of thee, have recourse to thee in their affairs, and knock at the door of thy high castle for the solution of their difficulties. Now thou hast attained thy object, and found what thou hast sought. Although thy failing to succour O’thmân was improper, it will now be proper to avenge his blood. Though perchance all the Arab tribes may oppose thee, we shall, with our relatives and confederates, gird our loins of service and exert ourselves to the utmost, until this affair is settled to thy heart’s content.’ After Dhu-l-Kalâgh another Hemyarite continued: ‘O ye people of Syria, there is no one among you who prefers the approbation of the Creator to the approbation of men, and would speak on this subject purely for gaining the approbation of Allah. There is no doubt that A’li B. Abu Ttâleb is—on account of his relationship to his lordship the refuge of the apostolate— u. w. bl.—on account of his character, his person, his noble exile, his daring in battle, and his heroic exploits which would take long to enumerate—the most deserving of the Khalifate and Emâmship. If he attains supremacy in this province the wishes of everyone will be fulfilled. I am not ashamed to utter these words, because they are perfectly true and proper, “for Allah is not ashamed of the truth.”’* When Moa’wiah heard these words he ordered him to be taken and to be hanged by the neck; as, however, several interceded for him, this man was not punished; afterwards, however, he found an opportunity and escaped to Kûfah, where he narrated the transactions of this assembly of Moa’wiah to his sacred lordship A’li the Commander of the Faithful. It is related that Moa’wiah again addressed that assembly as follows: ‘I desire you to tell me why A’li B. Abu Ttâleb is more worthy and deserving than myself, and in what virtue he excels me? The apostle—u. w. bl.—had appointed me to register the legal alms; my sister is enrolled among the number of the pure spouses of his lordship; I was a lieutenant and governor during the reigns of O’mar and O’thmân in Syria; my father is Abu Sofiân B. Harb, and my mother Hind is the daughter of O’tbah B. Rabya’h. If the notables of Erâq and of the Hejâz have paid allegiance to A’li, the people of Syria have paid it to me, and there is not much difference between him and me. If two men strive for one thing, it will belong to him who vanquishes.’ When he had terminated this speech he wrote a letter to the following effect and sent it to Kûfah: ‘But after [the preliminary greeting], O A’li, if thy behaviour had been like that of the preceding Khalifahs, and if thy life had been in conformity with theirs, I would have followed and not opposed thee, but the wrong thou hast done to O’thmân impeded me from paying homage to thee. As the chiefs of the Hejâz had in former times adhered to sincerity and truth in the affairs of the Khalifate and the government, the keys of regulating the administration remained per­manently and worthily under their authority; as they have, however, now swerved from the right way and are walking on the path of intrigue and folly, the important duty of assuming supremacy has devolved on the chiefs of Syria, so that they are engaged in administering the ordinances of the religion and strengthening the edifice of the [sacred] law of the prince of apostles. The argument which thou hast brought forward against Ttolhah and Zobeyr thou canst not use against me, because those two men had paid allegiance to thee; but the case was the contrary with me, although no adherent of Islâm can deny thy knowledge of, and thy consanguinity with, the apostle of Allah, and this is all I have to say.’ When his lordship A’li the Com­mander of the Faithful had perused this letter, he sent the following reply: ‘But after [the preliminary salutation, I state that] I have received the letter of a man who has gone astray in the desert of aberration, and is drowned in the ocean of lust! He has neither a guide to show him the way, nor a leader who might rescue him from the sea of lust. His passions have beguiled him, he has responded to them, and the hand of greediness has sewn up his eyes, in spite of the wrong which is on his, and the right which is on our side. O Moa’wiah, thou hast written that the wrong I had committed in the times of O’thmân hindered thee from paying me allegiance; but this allegation is unjust, because when that catastrophe occurred I had no work nor occupation, and possessed neither a male nor a female camel, but I was one of the Mohâjer [i.e., exiles], and acting in all circumstances with them. It is patent to all adherents of Islâm that those meek, truthful, and kind men would never embroil themselves in an affair portend­ing aberration and tending to extremities. As to the dis­tinction which thou hast made between thy case and that of Ttolhah and Zobeyr, it is futile, because when those who had been present at Bedr, the Mohâjer and the Anssâr have paid allegiance to a man [i.e., to me], it becomes incumbent on all men to do so. Thou acknowledgest my relationship to the apostle of Allah, but if thou hadst been able thou wouldst have robbed me of that noble privilege.’ After these letters several more passed between A’li the Commander of the Faithful and Moa’wiah, but to avoid prolixity only two more of them are here subjoined: