BATTLE OF SIFFIN.
A.H. XXXVI., XXXVII. A.D. 657.
[Sidenote: Aly’s envoy returns with defiant message from Muâvia.
Shabân, A.H. XXXVI. January, A.D. 657.]
After Aly had established himself at Kûfa, there followed a short
interval of rest. The lieutenants and commanders, from their various
provinces, flocked into the new capital to do homage to the Caliph.
Towards one of these, named Jarîr, chief of the Beni Bajîla, Muâvia
was known to entertain friendly sentiments. Him, therefore, Aly
deputed to Damascus with a letter, wherein, after reciting the fact
of his election at Medîna to the Caliphate, and the discomfiture of
his enemies at Bussorah, he called on Muâvia to follow the example of
the empire, and, with the rest, to take also the oath of allegiance.
Like the former envoy, Jarîr was kept long in attendance. At last he
was dismissed with an oral message, that allegiance would be tendered
if punishment were meted out to the regicides, but on no other
possible condition. The envoy further reported to Aly, that Othmân’s
blood-stained garment still hung upon the pulpit of the Great Mosque,
and that a multitude of the Syrian warriors had sworn that they would
use no water to wash themselves withal, neither sleep in their beds,
till they had slain the murderers of the aged Caliph, and those that
sheltered them.[526] Ashtar accused Jarîr of playing into the hands of
Muâvia; and by having dallied for so long a time at his court, of thus
giving the Syrians leisure to mature their plans and become hardened
in their hostile attitude. Jarîr, disgusted at the imputation, retired
a neutral to Kirckesia, or, according to others, went over to Muâvia.
[Sidenote: Aly invades Northern Syria. Dzul Câda, A.H. XXXVI. April,
A.D. 657.]
Seeing that Muâvia was hopelessly alienated, Aly resolved no longer
to delay the attack upon Syria, and he proclaimed an expedition
accordingly. At first the people were slack in answering the call.
But after a time, the Caliph succeeded in gathering together from
Bussorah, Medâin, and Kûfa, an imposing force of 50,000 men. His plan
was to march first by Upper Mesopotamia, and so to invade Syria from
the north. A detachment was sent as an advance-guard up the western
bank of the Euphrates, but meeting with active opposition there, it
was forced to cross back again into Mesopotamia. Aly himself, with the
main body, marched across the plain of Dura to Medâin, and thence up
the Tigris. Then turning, short of Mosul, towards the west, he crossed
the great desert of Mesopotamia, and, outstripping his advanced column,
reached the Euphrates in its upper course at Ricca.[527] An unfriendly
population lined the banks of the river; and it was not without
sanguinary threats that Ashtar forced them to construct a bridge. The
army crossed near Ricca; and then marching some little distance along
the right bank, westward, in the direction of Aleppo, they met the
Syrian outposts at Sûr.[528]
[Sidenote: Muâvia, advancing, meets Aly, on field of Siffîn.]
On learning Aly’s preparations, Muâvia lost no time in marshalling
his forces, which greatly outnumbered the enemy, and, having no desert
to cross, were soon to the front. Amru was in command, having his two
sons, and his freedman Werdân, as lieutenants.[529] Aly, desirous of
averting bloodshed, had given orders that, as soon as his troops came
upon the enemy, they should halt, and, confining themselves to the
defensive, avoid precipitating hostilities before opportunity had been
given for friendly overture. The vanguards of the two armies spent the
first few days in skirmishing. Ashtar challenged the Syrian officer to
single combat; but the challenge was declined, and Ashtar told that,
having imbrued his hands in the blood of the late Caliph, he could
not claim the privileges of honourable warfare. When the main armies
came in sight of each other, Aly found Muâvia so encamped as to cut
him off from the river, and reduce his army to straits for water. He
therefore brought on an engagement, in which Muâvia was forced to
change his ground, and occupy the ill-starred field of Siffîn.[530a] Some
days of inaction followed; after which Aly sent three of his chief men
to demand that, for the good of the commonwealth, Muâvia should tender
his allegiance. No mention is made of any offer (though perhaps it
may be presumed) on the part of Aly to confirm Muâvia, in case of his
submission, in the government of Syria. A scene ensued of fruitless
recrimination. On the one hand, Muâvia demanded that the murderers
of Othmân should be brought to justice; on the other, the demand was
stigmatised as a mere cat’s-paw covering ambitious designs upon the
Caliphate. This was resented as a base calumny by Muâvia. ‘Begone,
ye lying scoundrels!’ he cried; ‘the sword shall decide between us;’
and, so saying, he drove them from his presence. Finding all attempts
at compromise to be useless, Aly marshalled his army into seven or
eight separate columns, each under a Bedouin chieftain of note. As
many separate columns were similarly formed on the Syrian side. And
every day one of these columns, taking the field in turn, was drawn
up against a corresponding column of the other army. [Sidenote:
Desultory fighting, Dzul Hijj, A.H. XXXVI. May, A.D. 657.] Desultory
fighting in this singular way was kept up throughout the month, there
being sometimes as many as two engagements in a single day. But the
contest could not up to this time have been very earnest or severe,
since little mention is made of sanguinary results.[530] On both sides
they feared, we are told, to bring the whole forces out into a common
battle, ‘lest the Moslems should be destroyed, root and branch,’ in the
internecine struggle.
[Sidenote: Truce during final month of A.H. XXXVII. June, A.D. 657.]
A new year, the 37th of the Hegira, opened on the combatants, wearied
by this endless and indecisive strife, and inclined to thoughts of
peace. A truce was called, to last throughout Moharram, the first
month of the year. The interval was spent in deputations; but these
proved as fruitless as those which had gone before. Aly, influenced
by the anti-Omeyyad faction around him, was not disposed even now to
admit the injustice of Othmân’s having been put to death. When pressed
upon the point by the Syrian envoys, he declined to commit himself.
[Sidenote: Fruitless negotiations.]‘I will not say,’ was his evasive
answer, ‘that he was wrongfully attacked, nor will I say that the
attack was justified.’ ‘Then,’ answered the Syrians, ‘we shall fight
against thee, and fight likewise against everyone else who refuseth to
say that thy predecessor was not wrongfully put to death;’ and with
these words they took their final leave. On his side, Muâvia declared
to the messengers of Aly that nothing short of the punishment of the
regicides would induce him to quit the field. ‘What?’ exclaimed some
one; ‘wouldest thou put Ammâr to death?’ ‘And why not?’ answered
Muâvia; ‘wherefore should the son of the bond-woman not suffer for
having slain the freedman of Othmân?’[531] ‘Impossible,’ they cried;
‘where will ye stop? It were easier to bale out the floods of the
Euphrates.’
[Sidenote: Renewal of hostilities, Safar, A.H. XXXVII. July, A.D. 657.]
So passed away the first month of the year. At the beginning of the
second, Aly, seeing things unchanged, commenced hostilities afresh.
He caused proclamation to be made along Muâvia’s front, recalling
the Syrians from rebellion to their proper allegiance. But it only
made them rally with the more enthusiasm around Muâvia; and a great
company took an oath, girding themselves in token with their turbans,
that they would defend him to the death. The warfare was, however,
carried on at the first in the same indecisive style as before. Six
leaders on Aly’s side took, in daily turn, the command against as
many captains on the other side.[532] But though still desultory,
the conflict was becoming severer and more embittered. Many single
combats were fought. One of Aly’s sons went forth on the challenge
of a son of Omar, but was recalled by his father.[533] And so eight
or nine days passed, one differing little from the other, till the
beginning of the second week, when Aly made up his mind to bring on
a general, and, as he hoped, decisive battle. The night was spent
by his followers in preparation, and (as the Abbasside historians
relate) in recitation from the Scripture, and in prayer. Thus, ten
days after the renewal of hostilities, both armies were drawn out in
their entire array. [Sidenote: Battle of Siffîn. 11 and 12 Safar; July
29 and 30.]They fought the whole day, but the shades of evening fell,
and none had got the better. The following morning, the combat was
renewed, and with greater vigour. Aly posted himself in the centre
with the flower of his troops from Medîna; the wings were composed
separately, one of the warriors from Bussorah, the other of those
from Kûfa. Muâvia had a pavilion pitched upon the field; and there,
surrounded by five compacted lines of his sworn body-guard, watched
the day. Amru, with a great weight of horse, bore down upon the Kûfa
wing. Before the shock it gave way; and Aly, with his sons, was exposed
to imminent peril, as well from the thick shower of arrows, as from a
close encounter. Reproaching the men of Kûfa for their cowardice, the
Caliph fought sword in hand, and with his ancient bravery withstood the
charge. Ashtar, at the head of three hundred _Readers_[534]--the
‘Ghâzies’ of the day--led forward the other wing, which fell with
fury upon Muâvia’s ‘turbaned’ body-guard. Four of its five ranks were
already cut to pieces, when Muâvia, alarmed, bethought himself of
flight, and had even called for his horse, when certain martial lines
came to his lips, and he held his ground. Amru stood by him, ‘Courage
to-day,’ he cried; ‘to-morrow victory.’ The fifth rank repelled the
danger, and both sides again fought on equal terms. Feats of desperate
bravery were displayed by both armies. Many men of rank were slain.
On Aly’s side fell Hâshim, the hero of Câdesîya. Of even greater
moment was the death of Ammâr, now over ninety years, and one of the
leading regicides. As he saw Hâshim fall, he exclaimed to his fellows:
‘O Paradise! how close thou couchest beneath the arrow’s point and
the falchion’s flash! O Hâshim! even now I see heaven opened, and
black-eyed maidens, all bridally attired, clasping thee in their fond
embrace!’[535] So, singing, and refreshing himself with his favourite
draught of milk and water, the aged warrior, fired again with the
ardour of youth, rushed into the enemy’s ranks, and met the envied
fate. It had long been in everyone’s mouth both in town and camp, that
Mahomet had once said to him: ‘By a godless and rebellious race, O
Ammâr, thou shalt one day be slain;’ in other words (so the saying was
interpreted), Ammâr would be killed fighting on the side of right. Thus
his death, as it were, condemned the cause of the ranks against whom he
fought; and so it spread dismay in Muâvia’s host. When Amru heard of
it, he answered readily: ‘And who is it that hath killed Ammâr, but
Aly the “rebellious,” that brought him hither?’ The clever repartee
ran through the Syrian host, and did much at once to efface the evil
omen.[536]
[Sidenote: Battle still rages on morning of third day, 13 Safar, July
31.]
The fighting this day was in real earnest, and the carnage on both
sides great. Darkness failed to separate the combatants; and, like
Câdesîya, that night was called a second ‘Night of Clangour.’ The
morning broke on the two armies still in conflict. With emptied
quivers they now fought hand to hand. Ashtar, the regicide, resolved
on victory at whatever cost, continued to push the attack with
unflinching bravery and persistence. Muâvia, disheartened, began to
speak to Amru of proposing to Aly a judicial combat, Goliath-like,
with a champion on either side. ‘Then go forth thyself, and challenge
Aly,’ said Amru. ‘Not so,’ answered Muâvia; ‘I will not do that, for
Aly ever slayeth his man, and then _thou_ shouldest succeed me.’ Amru,
indeed, well knew that this was not in Muâvia’s line; and it was no
time for continuing grim pleasantry like this. [Sidenote: Hostilities
suspended for arbitration by Corân.] All at once Amru bethought him of
a stratagem. ‘Raise aloft the sacred leaves of the Corân,’ he cried;
‘if any refuse to abide thereby, it will sow discord amongst them;
if they accept, it will be a reprieve from cruel slaughter.’ Muâvia
caught at the words. And so forthwith they fixed the sacred scrolls on
the points of their lances, and raising them aloft, called out along
the line of battle: ‘The law of the Lord! The law of the Lord! Let
it decide between us!’ No sooner heard, than the men of Kûfa leaped
forward, re-echoing the cry: ‘The law of the Lord, that shall decide
between us!’ As all were shouting thus with one accord, Aly stepped
forth and expostulated with them: ‘It was the device,’ he cried,
‘of evil men; afraid of defeat, they sought their end by guile, and
cloaked rebellion under love of the Word.’ It was all in vain. To every
argument they answered (and the ‘Readers’ loudest of all): ‘We are
called to the Book, and we cannot decline it.’ At last, in open mutiny,
they threatened the unfortunate Caliph, that, unless he agreed, they
would all desert him, drive him over to the enemy, or serve him as they
had served Othmân. Seeing that further opposition would be futile, Aly
said: ‘Stay wild and treasonable words. Obey and fight. But if ye will
rebel, do as ye list.’ ‘We will not fight,’ they cried; ‘recall Ashtar
from the field.’ Ashtar, thus summoned, at the first refused. ‘We are
gaining a great victory,’ he said, ‘I will not come;’ and he turned
to fight again. But the tumult increased, and Aly sent a second time
to say: ‘Of what avail is victory when treason rageth? Wouldst thou
have the Caliph murdered, or delivered over to the enemy?’ Ashtar, on
hearing this, unwillingly returned, and a fierce altercation ensued
between him and the angry soldiery. ‘Ye were fighting,’ he said, ‘but
yesterday for the Lord, and the choicest among you lost their lives.
What is it but that ye now acknowledge yourselves in the wrong,
and the Martyrs gone to hell?’ ‘Nay,’ they answered; ‘it is not so.
Yesterday we fought for the Lord; to-day, also for the Lord, we stay
the fight.’ On this, Ashtar upbraided them as ‘traitors, cowards,
hypocrites, and villains.’ In return, they reviled him, and struck
his charger with their whips. Aly interposed. The tumult was stayed.
And Asháth, chief of the Beni Kinda, was sent to ask Muâvia ‘what his
precise meaning in raising the Corân aloft might be.’ ‘It is this,’
he sent answer back, ‘that we should return, both you and we, to the
will of the Lord, as set forth in the Book. Each side shall name an
Umpire, and the verdict shall be binding.’ Aly’s army shouted assent.
The unfortunate Caliph was forced to the still deeper humiliation of
appointing as his arbiter a person who had deserted him. The soldiery
cried out for Abu Mûsa, the temporising Governor of Kûfa who had been
deposed for want of active loyalty. ‘This man,’ answered Aly, ‘did but
lately leave us and flee; and not till after several months I pardoned
him. Neither hath he now been fighting with us. Here is a worthy
representative, the son of Abbâs, the Prophet’s uncle; choose him as
your Umpire.’ ‘As well name thyself,’ they answered rudely. ‘Then take
Ashtar.’ ‘What!’ said the Bedouin chiefs in the same rough imperious
strain, ‘the man that hath set the world on fire! None for us but Abu
Mûsa.’ It was a bitter choice for Aly, but he had no alternative.
The Syrian arbiter was Amru, for whose deep and crafty ways Abu Mûsa
was no match.[537] He presented himself in the Caliph’s camp, and
the agreement was put in writing. [Sidenote: Deed of arbitration, 13
Safar, A.H. XXXVII. July 31, A.D. 665.] As dictated from Aly’s side,
it ran thus: ‘_In the name of the Lord Most Merciful!_ This is what
hath been agreed upon between the Commander of the Faithful, and ----’
‘Stay!’ cried Amru (like the Coreish to the Prophet at Hodeibia); ‘Aly
is your Commander, but he is not ours.’ Again the helpless Caliph
had to give way, and the names were written down of the contracting
parties as simply ‘Aly and Muâvia.’[538] The document went on to say
that both sides bound themselves by the judgment of the Corân; and,
where the Corân was silent, by the acknowledged precedents of Islam. To
the Umpires, the guarantee of both Aly and Muâvia was given of safety
for themselves and for their families; and the promise of the people
that their judgment should be followed. On their part, the Umpires
swore that they would judge righteously, so as to stay hostilities
and reconcile the Faithful. The decision was to be delivered after
six months, or later if the Umpires saw cause for delay, and at some
neutral spot midway between Kûfa and Damascus. Meanwhile hostilities
should be mutually suspended.[539] The writing, having been duly
executed and signed, was numerously witnessed by leading chiefs on
either side. Ashtar alone refused: ‘Never again,’ he said, ‘should I
acknowledge this to be mine own right hand, were it to touch a deed the
like of this.’
[Sidenote: Aly returns to Kûfa, and Muâvia to Damascus.]
And so the armies, having buried their dead, quitted this memorable but
undecisive battle-field. Aly retired to Kûfa; and Muâvia, his point for
the present gained, to Damascus. As Aly entered Kûfa, he heard wailing
on every side. A chief man, whom he bade to pacify the mourners,
answered: ‘O Caliph, it is not as if but two or three had been slain;
of this clan hard by, alone, an hundred and fourscore lie buried at
Siffîn. There is not a house but the women are weeping in it for their
dead.’
[Sidenote: Discord at Kûfa.]
The slaughter, indeed, had been great on both sides.[540] And what gave
point to Aly’s loss was that the truce was but a hollow thing, with no
hope in it of lasting peace or reconciliation. The Arab faction, to
whose insolent demands Aly had yielded, was more estranged than ever.
When the men of Kûfa murmured at the compromise, all that he could
reply was this: that the mutinous soldiery had extorted the agreement
from him; and that having pledged his faith, he could not now withdraw.
He had thrown in his lot with traitors and regicides, and was now
reaping the bitter fruit. Muâvia alone had gained.