CHAPTER XXXIX
DECISION OF THE UMPIRES
37 A.H. 658 A.D.
Interregnum.Thr interval passed uneasily. Muʿāwiya ruled in Syria; ʿAlī, over the rest of the Muslim world. Neither, for the moment, interfered with the other. The Empire was for the moment in suspense.
Umpires meet,
viii. 37 A.H.
Feb., 658 A.D.Within the time appointed, ʿAmr appeared at Dūma, half way across the desert, and, shortly after, Abu Mūsa, each followed, as agreed upon, by a retinue of 400 horse. Thither also flocked multitudes from Al-ʿIrāḳ and Syria, from Mecca also and from Medīna. With intense interest they watched the strange proceeding, which was to decide the future of Islām. The leading chiefs, too, of Ḳoreish were there; some with the distant hope that the choice might haply fall on one of them.
Their conferenceThe umpires met in a pavilion pitched for the occasion; and there a private conference was held between the two alone. The account preserved is brief and uncertain. Abu Mūsa, pressed by his astute colleague, admitted that the assassination of ʿOthmān was a wicked and unjustifiable act. "Then why," rejoined ʿAmr, "wilt thou not take Muʿāwiya, the avenger of the Caliph's blood, for his successor?" "If it were a mere question of blood-feud or kinsmanship," said Abu Mūsa, "then ʿOthmān's sons would have the nearer claim. But succession to the throne must be determined by the chief Companions' vote." ʿAmr then proposed his own son. "A just and good man," replied Abu Mūsa, "but one whom thou hast already made to take sides in the civil war; and above all things we must beware of kindling mutiny again amongst the Arab tribes." A similar objection shut out ʿAbdallah son
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