CHAPTER XXXVII
BATTLE OF ṢIFFĪN
36–37 A.H. 657 A.D.
Muʿāwiy'a defiant reply to ʿAlī, viii. 36 A.H.
Jan., 657 A.D.After ʿAlī had established himself at Al-Kūfa, there followed a short interval of rest. The lieutenants and commanders, from far and near, flocked to the new capital to do homage to the Caliph. Towards one of these, a Bedawi chief, Muʿāwiya was known to entertain friendly sentiments. Him, therefore, ʿAlī deputed to Damascus with a letter, wherein, after making mention of his election to the Caliphate, and the discomfiture of the enemy at Al-Baṣra, he called on Muʿāwiya to follow the example of the Empire, and take the oath of allegiance. As on a former occasion, the envoy was kept long in waiting. At last he was dismissed with an oral promise that submission would be tendered if punishment were meted out to the regicides, but on no other condition. With this reply the envoy further reported that ʿOthmān's blood-stained garment still hung upon the pulpit of the Mosque, and that a multitude of Syrian warriors had sworn "that they would use no water to wash themselves withal, neither sleep upon their beds, till they had slain the murderers of the aged Caliph, and all those that sheltered them."
Seeing Muʿāwiya thus hopelessly alienated, ʿAlī, resolved no longer to delay, proclaimed an expedition against Syria. At first the people were slack in answering the call. But after a time he succeeded in gathering together an imposing force of 50,000 men. His plan was to march through Upper Mesopotamia, and so invade Syria from the north. A detachment was sent as an advance-guard along the
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