It is recorded in some chronicles that on the twenty-sixth day of the hostilities at Ssafyn, both parties were fighting before sunrise. A’mmâr B. Yâser having decided to take part in the conflict, his lordship the refuge of Vicarship dissuaded him, but he said: ‘O Amir, I prefer to take refuge with God than to become a sinner.’ Then he advanced towards the enemy and made several attacks, whereon Hâreth, the brother of Dhu-l-kalâgh the Hemyarite, encountered and fought with him, but A’mmâr finished him with one blow; having, however, been overpowered by heat and thirst, he asked for water, and a bowl of dziâh was given him, which is milk to which water has been added, because it was very heavy [i.e., rich with fat]. A’mmâr looked into the bowl, uttered the Takbyr, drank some milk, and gave the following explanation with his blessed mouth: ‘The apostle has given me this information: “O A’mmâr, thy slayer will belong to a rebellious faction, and the place of thy killing will be between Jebrâil and Mikâil. The sign of thy killing will be that when thou askest for wa?? they will bring thee a goblet of dziâh.” Thus I know for certain that this is the last day of my life.’
Some chroniclers have a tradition that one day A’mmâr B. Yâser raised his head whilst the fight and battle were raging, and said: ‘O God, if I knew that Thou wouldst approve of my throwing myself into this river of the Euphrates and perishing, I would do so.’ On another occasion he said: ‘O God, if I knew that Thou wouldst be pleased by my placing my sword against my abdomen, and leaning heavily against it till it came out at my back, I would do so.’ He also said at another time: ‘I do not know of anything more likely to gain Thy approbation than my waging war against this faction.’ After he had said these words, he addressed his friends as follows: ‘We have on three occasions fought with enemies and idolaters in the service of the apostle—u. w. bl.—under these banners which you now see in the army of Moa’wiah, and now we must attack the possessors of these standards. Let it not remain hidden from you that I shall be killed this day; when I turn my face from this perishable to the eternal mansion, you are to delegate my affairs to the Divine grace, and to be of good cheer, because A’li the Amir of the true believers, who is our chief, will on the day of the resurrection wage war against the wicked to protect the good.’ After A’mmâr had uttered these sentiments, and others resembling them, he whipped his horse, entered the battle-ground, fought valiantly, and made successive attacks, reciting verses in the rajaz measure, till a company of dark-hearted Syrians surrounded him; and one of them, who was nicknamed Abu-l-a´aryah, inflicted a wound on him in the abdomen which pained him so that he returned to his line and asked for water. A goblet of water and milk having been brought, A’mmâr looked into it, pronounced the Takbyr, and said: ‘The apostle of Allah has spoken the truth.’ Being asked for the meaning of these words, he replied: ‘The apostle of Allah has informed me that the last nourishment I shall take in this world will be milk.’ Then, taking the bowl in his hand, he drank, and surrendering his life to the Creator, departed to the eternal world. A’li the Amir of the Faithful, having been apprised of what had taken place, approached the pillow of A’mmâr, and, taking his head on his blessed knee, said:
‘O death, who art aiming at me,
Return; thou hast destroyed all my friends.’
He also said: ‘“We belong to Allah, and unto Him we shall return.”* Whoever bemoans the death of A’mmâr is not a Musalmân. May God the Most High vouchsafe mercy to A’mmâr on the day when he will be resuscitated from dust, and questioned about whatever good or evil he has done! I have seen three men in the service of the apostle of God, and A’mmâr was the fourth; and if I have seen five, A’mmâr was one of them. A’mmâr is not worthy to enter paradise immediately, but when he has acquired the merit to enter it, let the gardens of Eden be prepared to receive him, because he was slain at a time the right was on his side, the apostle of Allah—o. w. bl.—having said: “The truth accompanies A’mmâr wherever he goes.”’ After that the Amir of the Faithful added: ‘He who has killed and insulted A’mmâr will be punished in hell-fire.’ Then he stepped forth with his blessed feet, held funeral prayers over A’mmâr, and buried him with his own hands—the mercy of Allah be on him.
It is recorded in some chronicles that on the day A’mmâr was slain a person said to Moa’wiah: ‘An individual of the troops of A’li, bearing such and such marks, has been killed to-day.’ Moa’wiah replied: ‘That man was A’mmâr Yâser; whoever brings his head to me I shall give him a bag of dirhems.’ After awhile, Wolyd B. O’tbah and Abu-l-jûn Sakûny presented themselves to Moa’wiah, bringing the head of A’mmâr, but each of them pretended to have killed him single-handed. Moa’wiah said: ‘Go to A’mru B. A´ass and he will decide between you.’ They then went to A’mru, who asked Wolyd whether he had slain A’mmâr, and he replied: ‘I have attacked and killed A’mmâ??’ A’mru replied: ‘Thou hast not killed him.’ Then he asked Sakûny: ‘Inform me how he has been killed.’ Sakûny said: ‘When we fought with each other a thrust of mine took effect on him. As he fell from his horse, he said: “He will not be saved whose repentance and abasement takes place in the presence of Jebrâil and Mikâil.” Saying these words, he looked to the right and left, but I severed his head from his body.’ A’mru said: ‘This is wickedness! Receive the news of punishment.’ Sakûny said: ‘If we are killed, woe to us, and if we kill, woe to us.’ And throwing away the bag, he added: ‘We belong to Allah, and unto Him we shall return.’—It is related in some traditions that when A’mmâr Yâser was killed, A’mru B. A´ass said to Moa’wiah: ‘Hast thou not heard his lordship the apostle —u. w. bl.—say that A’mmâr would be killed by a seditious faction?’ Moa’wiah replied: ‘In reality our people have not killed him, but the man has killed him who brought him to the war, namely, A’li.’ A’bdullah B. A’mru A´ass, who happened to be present during that conversation, said: ‘If such be the case, his lordship the apostle—u. w. bl.— had killed Hamzah.’* It is narrated in the history of Tabari that, on account of this clenching remark, Moa’wiah was displeased, and refrained for three days from speaking to A’bdullah. In most of the books on the religious campaigns, however, it is narrated that A’li the Commander of the Faithful had himself made the above remark when he heard of the reply of Moa’wiah, but Allah the Most High knows best [the true facts].