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LETTER 36To his brother 'Aqil ibn Abi Talib (1) in reply to his letter which contained a reference to the army Amir al-mu'minin had sent to some enemy.I had sent towards him a large army of Muslims. When he came to know of it he fled away and retreated repenting. They met him on the way when the sun was about to set. They grappled for a while like nothing. It was about an hour and then he rescued himself half-dead as he had almost been taken by the neck and only the last breath had remained in him. In this way he escaped in a panic. Leave the Quraysh in their rushing into misguidance their galloping in disunity and their leaping over destruction. They have joined together to fight me as they had joined to fight the Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) before me. I wish the Quraysh will get the reward of their treatment of me. For they disregarded my kinship and deprived me of the power due to me from the son of my mother (i.e. the Holy Prophet).
(1). When after arbitration Mu'awiyah started a campaign
of killing and devastation he sent a force of four thousand under ad-Dahhak ibn
Qays al-Fihri to attack Amir al-mu'minin's cities. When Amir al-mu'minin came to
know of his activities he roused the people of Kufah to put up a defence but
they began to offer lame excuses. At last Hujr ibn 'Adi al-Kindi rose with
a.force of four thousand men and chasing the enemy overtook him at Tadmur. The
two parties had only a few grappings when darkness came in and ad-Dahhak fled
away under its cover. This was the time when 'Aqil ibn Abi Talib had come to
Mecca for 'umrah. When he came to know that after attacking al-Hirah ad -Dahhak
had escaped alive and that the people of Kufah were afraid of war and all their
activities had come to a stop he sent a letter to Amir al-mu'minin through 'Abd
ar-Rahman ibn 'Ubayd al-Azdi offering his help. In reply to that Amir
al-mu'minin wrote this Ietter wherein He complains of the behaviour of the
people of Kufah and mentions the flight of ad-Dahhak.
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As for your enquiry about my opinion to fight till I die I am in favour of fighting those who regard fighting lawful. The crowd of men around me does not give me strength nor does their dispersal from me cause any loneliness. Surely do not consider the son of your father weak or afraid even though all people have forsaken him bow down submissively before injustice or hand over his reins into the hand of the puller or allow his back to be used by the rider to sit upon. But he is as the man of Banu Salim has said: If you enquire how I am then listen that I am enduring and strong against the vicissitudes of time. I do not allow myself to be grieved lest the foe feels joyed and the friend feels sorry. * * * * *LETTER 37To MuawiyahGlory be to Allah! How staunchly you cling to innovated passions and painful bewilderment along with ignoring the facts and rejecting strong reasons which are liked by Allah and serve as pleas for the people. As regards your prolonging the question of 'Uthman's (1) murder the position is that you helped 'Uthman when it was really your own help while you forsook him when he was in need of help; and that is an end to the matter.
(1). There is no question of denying that Mu'awiyah
claimed to help 'Uthman after he had been killed although when he was surrounded
and clamoured for his help by writing letter after letter Mu'awiyah never budged
an inch. However just to make a show he had sent a contingent towards Medina
under Yazid ibn Asad al-Qasri but had ordered it to remain in waiting in
the valley of Dhu Khushub near Medina. Eventually 'Uthman was murdered and he
went back with his contingent.
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