ومن كلام له (عليه السلام)
[يصف أصحاب رسول الله]
[وذلك يوم صفين حين أمر الناس بالصلح]
وَلَقَدْ كُنَّا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللهِ(صلى الله عليه وآله)، نَقْتُلُ
آبَاءَنا وَأَبْنَاءَنَا وَإخْوَانَنا وَأَعْمَامَنَا، مَا يَزِيدُنَا ذلِكَ إلاَّ
إِيمَاناً وَتَسْلِيماً، وَمُضِيّاً عَلَى اللَّقَمِ ،
وَصَبْراً عَلى مَضَضِ الاْلَمِ ، وَجِدّاً عَلى جِهَادِ
الْعَدُوِّ، وَلَقَدْ كَانَ الرَّجُلُ مِنَّا وَالاْخَرُ مِنْ عَدُوِّنا
يَتَصَاوَلاَنِ تَصَاوُلَ الْفَحْلَيْنِ، يَتَخَالَسَانِ
أَنْفُسَهُمَا ، أيُّهُمَا يَسْقِي صَاحِبَهُ كَأْسَ
المَنُونِ، فَمَرَّةً لَنَا مِنْ عَدُوِّنَا، ومَرَّةً لِعَدُوِّنا مِنَّا،
فَلَمَّا رَأَى اللهُ صِدْقَنَا أَنْزَلَ بِعَدُوِّنَا الْكَبْتَ
، وَأَنْزَلَ عَلَيْنَا النَّصرَ، حَتَّى اسْتَقَرَّ الاِْسْلاَمُ مُلْقِياً
جِرَانَهُ وَمُتَبَوِّئاً أَوْطَانَهُ، وَلَعَمْرِي لَوْ
كُنَّا نَأْتِي مَا أَتَيْتُمْ، مَا قَامَ لِلدِّينِ عَمُودٌ، وَلاَ اخْضَرَّ
لِلاِيمَانِ عُودٌ، وَأَيْمُ اللهِ لَتَحْتَلِبُنَّهَا
دَماً، وَلَتُتْبِعُنَّهَا نَدَماً!
SERMON 55
About steadiness in the battlefield
In the company of the Prophet of Allah (PBUH) we
used to fight our parents, sons, brothers and uncles, and this continued us in our faith,
in submission, in our following the right path, in endurance over the pangs of pain and in
our fight against the enemy.
A man from our side and one from the enemy would pounce upon
each other like energetic men contesting as to who would kill the other; sometime our man
got over his adversary and some-time the enemy's man got over ours.
When Allah had observed our truth He sent ignominy
to our foe and sent His succour to us till Islam got established (like the camel) with
neck on the ground and resting in its place. By my life, if we had also behaved like you,
no pillar of (our) religion could have been raised, nor the tree of faith could have borne
leaves. By Allah, certainly you will now milk our blood (instead of milk) and eventually
you will face shame. (1)
(1).
When Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr had been killed Mu`awiyah sent `Abdullah ibn `Amir al-Hadrami
to Basrah to exhort the people of Basrah for avenging `Uthman's blood because the natural
inclination of most of the inhabitants of Basrah and particularly of Banu Tamim was
towards `Uthman. Consequently, he stayed with Banu Tamim. This was the time when `Abdullah
ibn `Abbas, the governor of Basrah had gone to Kufah for condolence about Muhammad ibn Abi
Bakr, leaving Ziyad ibn `Ubayd (Abih) as his substitute. When the atmosphere in Basrah
began to deteriorate Ziyad informed Amir al-mu'minin of all the facts. Amir al-mu'minin
tried to get Banu Tamim of Kufah ready but they kept complete silence and gave no reply.
When Amir al-mu'minin saw this weakness and shamelessness on their part he gave this
speech namely that "During the days of the Prophet (PBUH) we did not see whether
those killed at our hands were our kith and kin, but whoever collided with Right, we were
prepared to collide with him. If we too had acted carelessly or been guilty of inaction
like you then neither religion could have taken root nor could Islam prosper. "The
result of this shaking was that A`yan ibn Dabi`ah al-Mujashi`i prepared himself but on
reaching Basrah he was killed by the swords of the enemy. Thereafter, Amir al-mu'minin
sent off Jariyah ibn Qudamah as-Sa`di with fifty men of Bani Tamim. First he tried his
best to canvass his own tribe but instead of following the right path they stooped down to
abusing and fighting. Then Jariyah called Ziyad and the tribe of Azd for his help. Soon on
their arrival (`Abdullah) Ibn al-Hadrami also came out with his men. Swords were used from
both sides for some time but eventually Ibn al-Hadrami fled away with seventy persons and
took refuge in the house of Sabil as-Sa`di. When Jariyah saw no other way he got this
house set on fire. When fire rose into flames they came out in search of safety but could
not succeed in running away. Some of them were crushed to death under the wall while
others were killed.
Forward to Sermon 56.
Back to Sermon 54.