Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalifahs/How Saudah the daughter of 'Ammarah obtained redress from Muawiyah

by Muhammad Diyab al-Atlidi

HOW SAUDAH DAUGHTER OF ʾAMMÂRAH
OBTAINED REDRESS FROM MUʾÂWIYAH.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFATORY NOTE.

ʾAmmâr-ibn-Yasîr, surnamed el-Asad, was one of the first to profess el-Islám, and was held in high esteem among the Associates of the Prophet. It is said that, being taken prisoner and condemned to be burnt on account of his religion by the idolatrous Mekkans, a miracle was wrought on his behalf by Muhammad, who, passing by the place of execution, stretched out his hand and commanded the fire "to become for him a refreshment, as it had been to Abraham in the furnace of Nimrod."^[1] ʾAmmâr attached himself to ʾAly's faction, and fell in the engagement which took place between ʾAly and Muʾâwiyah at Siffîn, a tract of land situated on the Syrian side of the Euphrates, A.H. 37, aged 93 years. A mosque containing the tombs of ʾAmmâr and the other Associates who fell in this action, was erected at Siffîn.

ESH-SHIʾABY relates that Saudah, daughter of ʾAmmârah-ibn-el-Asad, demanded an audience of Muʾâwiyah-ibn-Abu-Sufyân, who granted it, but said to her as soon as she entered his presence, "O daughter of el-Asad! wert not thou the reciter of this poem?

Gird thee like thy sire, O son of ʾAmmârah!
On the day of battle when warriors meet.
ʾAly, Husein, and their people support,
But look upon Hind and her son with contempt.^[2]
The Imâm is of kin to the prophet Muhammad,
The Standard of Truth, and Steeple of Faith!
Be in front of the banners! Lead on in advance!
Cleave thro' with the sharp-cutting sword and the lance!"

"Yes, O Muʾâwiyah!" she replied. "But one should be held excused who only did as I did for the sake of right."

"But what moved thee to it?" he asked. And upon her answering, "Love for ʾAly, and following after truth," he exclaimed, "By Allâh! thou dost not appear to have received much favour from ʾAly." Whereupon she cried, "God be my witness before thee, O Muʾâwiyah! Do not recall days gone by."

"Go to!" said Muʾâwiyah, "I suffered nothing at the hands of thy brother, for it was impossible for such as thou, or one in his position, to harm me."

"Thou speakest truly, O Muʾâwiyah," she replied; "yet was my brother's estate neither mean nor blush-worthy. And, by Allâh! he resembles that saying of el-Khansâ,

Sakhrâ is a beacon to the leaders of caravans,
As were he a mountain crowned with fire.^[3]

And I crave pardon, O Muʾâwiyah, if I have done anything requiring forgiveness."

“Verily I have granted it," he said. "And now what is it thou dost want?"

"O Muʾâwiyah!" she cried, "surely thou hast risen as a ruler over men, and as a governor to give them laws. And thou must answer to God concerning our affairs, and what He has imposed upon you with regard to our rights. Yet thou dost continually appoint over us one who deceives thee, and who commits violence in the name of the Sultân. And he mows us down like as the harvest is mown, and causes his roller to pass over us even as cardamums are rolled, and he subjects us to degradation, and lays violent hands upon our cattle. This is the son of ʾUrtah! He came down upon us, slew my men and seized my goods; and, but for Obedience' sake, in good truth there is amongst us both strength and power. Now, if thou wilt depose him, we will show thee our gratitude; but if thou maintainest him in his post, verily thou shalt know what we are."

"Dost thou mean to threaten me by these words?" asked Muʾâwiyah. "I am minded to bind thee upon the pack of a vicious camel, and send thee to him that he may do what he pleases with thee!"

At this she cast down her eyes and wept, and recited, saying:

May Allâh save the soul of him who is entombed,
For with him has justice been laid in the grave.
He allied himself with right, accepting nought in its stead;
And with right and with religion one has he grown.

"Whom dost thou mean by that?" asked Muʾâwiyah.

She replied, "The Commander of the Faithful, ʾAly, son of Abu-Tâlib [may God make gracious his countenance]."

"And wherefore dost thou praise him?" he asked.

"I brought before ʾAly," she replied, "a man whom he had made ruler over us; and betwixt whom and us there was no more difference than between the lean and the fat (of meat). And I found ʾAly standing praying. But when he saw me he ceased from his devotions, and asked gently and kindly, 'What dost thou want?' And when I told him, he wept. And he cried, 'O Allâh! be witness between me and them! I do not govern thy creatures tyrannously, nor rule over them contrary to thy law.' Then he drew from his pocket a piece of leather, shaped like the side of a travelling bag; and he wrote thereon, 'In the name of God the Most Merciful, the Compassionate. ^[4]*Verily an admonition from your Lord has been brought unto you. Be faithful in measure and in weight, and deprive no man of his due, and sow not the seeds of wickedness upon the earth. Obedience to God will bring its reward to you if ye be true believers, but I am not your keeper.* When thou hast read this my epistle thou shalt hold what is in thine hand until one shall appear who will take over charge from thee. Farewell.'—So I took the letter from him, and brought it to the governor, and he obeyed and acted according to what was written therein."

Then said Muʾâwiyah to his scribes, "Write, ordering the restoration of her goods, and compensation for what she has suffered." And when she asked, "Will that be for myself alone, or for me and my people?" he replied, "Certainly for thee alone."

"Then," she exclaimed, "if justice is not for every one, and if I am not to be like the rest of my people, by Allâh! it is an abomination and a disgrace!"

Then said Muʾâwiyah, "Write for her what she wants, both for herself and for her people."

 

1. It is evident that Muhammad was indebted to the Jews for many of the stories and traditions contained in the Kurân. The following is a condensed account of the tale alluded to in the above note, as given by the Commentators on the Kurân. The Kaʾabah was given to Abraham by God as a place of religious worship; so one day when the Chaldeans were abroad in the fields celebrating a great festival, Abraham broke all the idols then set up in the Kaʾabah, except the biggest of them, round the neck of which he hung his axe, that the people might lay the blame upon the idol. When Terah (Abraham's father) returned, finding that he could not insist upon the impossibility of Abraham's story without confessing the impotence of his gods, he fell into a violent passion, and carried him for punishment to Nimrod. By order of the latter, a large space was enclosed at el-Kuthah, and filled with wood, which, being set on fire, burnt so fiercely that none dared venture near it. Then they bound Abraham, and putting him into an engine (invented some say by the devil), shot him into the midst of the fire, from which he was preserved by the angel Gabriel, the fire burning only the cords with which he was bound. They add, that the fire having miraculously lost its heat in respect to Abraham, became an odoriferous air, while the pile changed to a pleasant meadow. But otherwise the fire raged so furiously that some maintain about two thousand of the idolaters to have been consumed by it.
2. Muʾâwiyah himself and his mother.
3. That is, that his hospitality attracted strangers to him from all quarters.

   el-Khansâ was a celebrated poetess of the tribe of Sulaim. Sakhrâ was her brother, in whose praise she composed many poems. She professed el-Islám in the early days of Muhammadism, and was much esteemed by the Prophet.

4. * to * Quotation from the Kurân, Sur. vi., V. 153.