THE MEETING OF THE TWO PARTIES AT DAUMATU-J-JANDAL AND THE CONTENTIONS BETWEEN ABU MÛSA ASHA’RY AND A’MRU A´ASS.

When both parties, namely, the adherents of vanity and the partisans of truth, had arrived in Daumatu-j-jandal, A’mru A´ass met Abu Mûsa Asha’ry, and exalting him above himself, said: ‘O brother, the time of separation has become protracted; may God the Most High and Glorious vouchsafe a blessing on the affair which is the cause of dissension.’ A’mru A´ass paid him daily visits showed him great respect, sat opposite to him on his two knees discussing matters with him, and when Abu Mûsa rode out he took hold of his stirrup; when he rose A’mru placed his sandals before him, and strove to show him respect also in other ways, telling him likewise that in the prerogative of precedence in Islâm, as well as in the theoretical and practical knowledge of it, no one of his contemporaries equalled him. He used so many tricks and deceptions that he beguiled and placed him under obligations to himself. When the [assigned] period had elapsed without the two judges having enounced a decision, the people having become wearied and distressed, said to Abu Mûsa and to A’mru A´ass: ‘This affair has been pro­tracted to a great length, whereas you have up to this time not said a word concerning the affair of the Khalifate, and given no judgment. We fear that dissensions will be revived, and that we shall again revert to hostilities.’ The two judges endeavoured to quiet the people, and A’mru said privately to Abu Mûsa: ‘Thou hast before me attended upon the apostle of Allah and tasted the sweet as well as the bitter vicissitudes of the times. Be aware that I shall not act contrary to what thou deemest right.’ Abu Mûsa replied: ‘O A’mru, something has passed through my mind which is right, and will meet with the approbation of the lord of majesty—whose glory be extolled. It is such that if thou assentest thereto it will become the occasion of thy deliverance [from embarrassment].’ A’mru asked: ‘What is it?’ Abu Mûsa replied: ‘A’bdullah the son of O’mar is a man adorned with piety and innocence; he has selected retirement and loneliness, he sits in a corner, has in these times abstained from hostilities, and has defiled his hands with the blood of no one. How would it be if we were to place into the grasp of his power the solving and tying, the administering and governing of the whole nation?’ A’mru asked: ‘What sayest thou about Moa’­wiah?’ Abu Mûsa replied: ‘Moa’wiah is not worthy of the Khalifate.’ A’mru queried: ‘Knowest thou that O’th­man has been unjustly slain?’ Having received an affir­mative reply, A’mru continued: ‘Moa’wiah is the heir of O’thmân, so that if thou assentest to his Khalifate and the people blame thee on this account thou must excuse thyself and say: “I have found Moa’wiah to be the heir of O’th­mân, and God the Most High says in the glorious Qurân: ‘And whoever shall be slain unjustly, We have given his heir power [to demand satisfaction].’”* He is, moreover, the brother of Habybah the mother of the faithful,* and has other prerogatives also.’ Abu Mûsa replied: ‘Fear God, and be aware that if the nobility of any man would render him worthy of the Khalifate, the people would assent to the appointment of one of the sons of Abrahah B. Ssabbâh, the Hemyarite, because the nobles and digni­taries of the [Arab] world were under their command; but how can the nobility of Moa’wiah be compared with that of A’li Murtadza? Moreover, the expression “Amir of the Faithful” is more befitting to A’li, O’mar, and O’thmân, than to Moa’wiah. Thou hast been under their command as well as all the Arabs of the world. If thou agreest with me, we shall appoint the son of O’mar to the Khalifate, thus reviving the ordinance of O’mar B. Alkhattâb.’ A’mru rejoined: ‘My own son A’bdullah is likewise endowed with virtue and piety, enjoying likewise precedence in the exile [with the prophet]. Why shouldst thou not assent to his being appointed Khalifah?’ Abu Mûsa replied: ‘Thou speakest the truth, but the skirts of innocence have been defiled by these hostilities. Come, let us establish Ttayyib, the son of Ttayyib, on the couch of the Khalifate, and deliver the people from this misery and calamity.’ A’mru replied: ‘He is not worthy of this post, because no one is deserving to be Khalifah who takes with one hand and gives with the other.’ Abu Mûsa continued: ‘O A’mru, after the people of Islâm had become wearied of warring and fighting they have appointed us two to be judges, do not therefore again precipitate them into the vortex of destruction, but propose something that will pacify the nation.’ A’mru said: ‘The exigencies of the time require that we should remove A’li—u. w. p.—and Moa’wiah from the government, and delegate the appointment of a Khalifah to a consultative assembly, that a man worthy of the dignity may be elected.’ Abu Mûsa approved of this suggestion; but when he had returned to his domicile, the son of A’bbas took him aside, and exclaimed: ‘I swear by God, Abu Mûsa, I am of opinion that A’mru A´ass has beguiled thee. Now I tell thee, by way of request, that after both of you have agreed in anything, thou art not to forestall him in speak­ing [further on the subject], because he is a treacherous man, and after thou hast assented he will again offer such opposition to thee as will raise a disturbance that no one will be able to quell.’ Abu Mûsa replied: ‘We have agreed in a matter in which we shall not oppose each other.’

The next day Abu Mûsa Asha’ry, having gone to the cathedral mosque with all the people, invited A’mru to mount the pulpit and to explain to the congregation what both had agreed upon; A’mru, however, replied: ‘Allah forbid! Thou art more aged and superior to myself. I shall not precede thee.’ Then Abu Mûsa ascended the pulpit at the request of his accommodating friend, offered praises to God the Most High, salutations to His prophet —u. w. bl.—to his family, and said: ‘The welfare of the people and the regulation of affairs require us to exonerate the Lord A’li and Moa’wiah from the burden of the government and the Khalifate, and to delegate this affair to a consultative assembly, that one worthy of that important office may be elected for our own welfare.’ Then, taking off his ring from his finger, he added: ‘As I have removed this ring from my finger, so I remove A’li—u. w. p. —and Moa’wiah from the Khalifate.’ Then he came down from the pulpit, and A’mru A´ass, mounting it, said: ‘This man has removed his own friend from the Khalifate, as the people have [now] seen, and I have appointed my friend, namely Moa’wiah, to be Khalifah, because he is the heir of O’thmân, is desirous to avenge his blood, and is the person most worthy to sit in the place of the Khalifah who has been unjustly slain.’ These words produced an uproar in the assembly, and Abu Mûsa insulted A’mru, saying: ‘May God the Most High withhold His grace from thee; for thou hast been treacherous, hast spoken a lie, and hast committed a sin, because we have made no such agreement. Thou art like an ass who, if he be loaded with books, will hang out his tongue, and if he be left alone will also hang it out.’ A’mru retorted: ‘Thou contradictest thyself, and thou art the donkey loaded with books.’ A’bdu-r-rahman B. Abu Bakr then said: ‘O Abu Mûsa, would that thou hadst rather died than pronounced such a decision!’ A’bdullah B. A’bbâs interrupted: ‘It is not the fault of Abu Mûsa, but the crime of the man who has imputed this matter to him.’ Then Sharyh B. Hâny struck A’mru A´ass on the head with his whip, but the people crowded around him and consoled him. Sharyh, however, was ever afterwards repent­ing that he had not struck him with his sword. Some of those present in the assembly then shouted: ‘There is no judge but Allah. What connection of Abu Mûsa and of A’mru A´ass is there with the decision of God?’ Some of the people of E’râq then desired to wreak vengeance, and, drawing their swords, intended to begin the contest at the foot of the pulpit. A’dy B. Hâtim Ttây, however, opposed them, saying: ‘To fight without the permission of the Emâm of the period is not allowed.’ This remark displeased the people of the Hejâz, but specially the Bani Hâshem, who then recited the verses composed by A’bbâs B. A’bdu-l-muttalleb when homage was paid to Abu Bakr, and these are as follows:

‘I know not why the Khalifate departed
From Hâshem, and then from Abu-l-Hasan.* Was he not the first of the prosperous tribe,
The best acquainted with revelation and tradition,
Not the nearest relative of the prophet,
Not the help of Jebrâil in washing and shrouding him?
Who except him possesses all these qualities
Of high degree among the people of the prophet?’

It is related that some Qurân-readers who were present in that assembly lengthened the tongue of reproach towards Abu Mûsa, saying: ‘A’li the Commander of the true believers knew thy folly, and therefore disliked thy being appointed judge.’ Then a number of the partisans of the Shâh and receptacle of the Vicariate desired to attack Abu Mûsa. He fled for his life in the company of A’mru A´ass and Abu-l-a´ur and their followers to Damascus, where they saluted Moa’wiah as Khalifah. A’bdullah B. A’bbâs, how­ever, with Sharyh B. Hâny and their adherents, made haste to wait upon A’li the Commander of the Faithful, and informed him of the state of affairs.—It is related in the ‘Mostaqassa’ that when the people had returned from the locality of the decision [i.e., Daumatu-j-jandal] and had waited on A’li—o. w. p.—they mounted pulpits and cursed Moa’wiah, and A’mru A´ass, and Abu-l-a´ur, and Habyb B. Muslim Qahary, and Dzohâk B. Qays, and Wolyd B. O’tbah, and Abu Mûsa Asha’ry. When this information reached Moa’wiah he ordered A’li the Commander of the Faithful— u. w. p.—the Emâm Hasan, the Emâm Husain, the son of A’bbâs, and Mâlek Ashtar to be cursed.