The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall/Chapter 37

by William Muir

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 western bank of the Euphrates, but meeting with opposition there, was forced to cross back again into Mesopotamia.ʿAlī invades Northern Syria, xi. 36 A.H.April, 657 A.D. ʿAlī himself, with the main body, marched up the Tigris; then tuning short of Mosul to the west, crossed the desert of Mesopotamia, and outstripping his advanced column, reached the Euphrates in its upper course at Ar-Raḳḳa. An unfriendly population lined the banks; and it was not ithout sanguinary threats that Al-Ashtar forced them to construct a bridge. The army crossed near Ar-Raḳḳa; and then marching some little distance along the right bank, in the direction of Aleppo, met the Syrian outposts.^[1]

Muʿāwiya meets ʿAlī on the field of Ṣiffīn.On learning of ʿAlī's approach, Muʿāwiya lost no time in marshalling his forces, which greatly outnumbered the enemy, and, having no desert or river to cross, were soon to the front. ʿAmr was in command, with his two sons as lieutenants. ʿAlī, 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 was given for friendly overture. The vanguards spent the first few days in skirmishing. Al-Ashtar challenged the Syrian officer to single combat; but he was told that, havinh 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, ʿAlī found Muʿāwiya 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 Muʿāwiya was forced to change his ground, and occupy the memorable field of Ṣiffīn.^[2] Some days of inaction followed; after which ʿAlī sent three chiefs to demand that, for the good of the commonwealth, Muʿāwiya should tender his allegiance. A scene ensued of fruitless recrimination. Muʿāwiya demanded that the murderers of ʿOthmān should be brought to justice; while the demand was stigmatised as a mere cat’s-paw covering ambitious designs upon the Caliphate. This was resented as a base calumny by Muʿāwiya. "Begone, ye lying scoundrels!" he cried ; "the sword shall decide between us." So saying, he drove them from his presence. Finding all attempt at compromise vain, ʿAlī marshalled his army into eight separate columns, each under a Bedawi chieftain of note. As many separate columns were similarly formed on the Syrian side.Desultory fighting, xii. 36 A.H.
May, 657 A.D. Every day one of these columns, taking the field in turn, was drawn up against a column of the other army. Desultory fighting in this singular way was kept up throughout the month, there being sometimes as many as two engagements in a day. But the contest was hardly yet begun in earnest. On either side they feared to bring on a common battle, "lest the Muslims should be destroyed, root and branch, in the internecine struggle."

Truce during first month of 37 A.H.
June, 657 A.D.The new year opened on combatants, wearied by such indecisive strife and inclined to thoughts of peace, and so a truce was called, to last throughout the month. The interval was spent in deputations, but they proved as fruitless as those which had gone before. ʿAlī, under the influence of the heated Bedawīn around him, was hardly now disposed even to blame the attack on ʿOthmān. When pressed on this point by the Syrian delegates, he avoided a direct reply. "I will not say," was the evasive answer, "that he was wrongly attacked, nor will I say that the attack was justified."Fruitless negotiations. "Then," answered the Syrians, "we shall fight against thee, and against every one else who refuseth to say that ʿOthmān was not wrongfully put to death;" and with these words took their final leave. On his side, Muʿāwiya declared to the messengers of ʿAlī that nothing short of the punishment of the regicides would induce him to quit the field. "What?" exclaimed some one; "wouldest thou put ʿAmmār to death?" "And why not?" answered Muʿāwiya; "wherefore should the son of the bondwoman not suffer for having slain the freedman of ʿOthmān?"^[3] "Impossible," they cried; "where will ye stop? It were easier to bale out the floods of the Euphrates."

Renewal of hostilities,
ii. 37 A.H.}
July, 657 A.D.So passed the month; and ʿAlī seeing things. still unchanged, commenced hostilities afresh. He caused proclamation to be made along Muʿāwiya's front, summoning the Syrians to allegiance. But it only made them rally more closely round Muʿāwiya; and a company, girding themselves with their turbans in token of the vow, swore that they would defend him to the death. The warfare thus resumed, daily becoming severer and more embittered, ʿAlī at last made up his mind to bring on a general and decisive battle. Thus, ten days after the renewal of hostilities, both armies drawn out in entire array, fought till the shades of evening fell, neither having got the better. Battle of Ṣiffīn,
11, 12, ii. 37 A.H.
July 29, 30 657 A.D.The following morning, the combat was renewed with greater vigour. ʿAlī posted himself in the centre with the flower of his troops from Medīna; the wings were formed, one of warriors from Al-Baṣra, the other of those from Al-Kūfa. Muʿāwiya had a pavilion pitched upon the field; and there, surrounded by five lines of his sworn bodyguard, watched the day. ʿAmr, with a great weight of horse, bore down upon the Al-Kūfa wing, which gave way; and ʿAlī was exposed to imminent peril, both from thick showers of arrows and from close encounter. Reproaching the men of Al-Kūfa for their cowardice, the Caliph fought bravely, his unwieldy figure notwithstanding, sword in hand, and manfully withstood the charge. Al-Ashtar, at the head of three hundred Readers,^[4] led forward the other wing, which fell with fury on Muʿāwiya's "turbaned" bodyguard. Four of its five ranks were cut to pieces, and Muʿāwiya, bethinking himself of flight, had already called for his horse, when a martial couplet flashed on his mind, and he held his ground. ʿAmr 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, and heavy was the carnage. On ʿAlī's side fell Hāshim, the hero of Al-Ḳādisīya. Of even greater moment was the death of ʿAmmār, now over ninety years, and one of the leading regicides. As he saw Hāshim fall, he exclaimed, "Paradise! how close thou art beneath the arrow's barb and falchion’s flash! O Hāshim! even now I see heaven opened, and black-eyed maidens bridally attired, clasping thee in their embrace!" So, singing, and refreshing himself with his favourite draught of milk and water, the aged warrior, fired with the ardour of youth, rushed into the enemy's ranks and met the envied fate. Moḥammad had once been heard to say to him:—"By a godless and rebellious race, O ʿAmmār, thou shalt one day be slain": in other words, that ʿAmmār would be killed fighting on the side of right. Thus his death, as it were, condemned the ranks against whom he fought, and spread dismay in Muʿāwiya's host. But ʿAmr answered readily: "And who is it that hath killed ʿAmmār, but ʿAlī and the 'rebellious race' that have brought him hither?" The clever repartee ran through the Syrian host, and did much to efface the evil omen.

Battle still rages on third day,
13 Ṣafar,
July 31, 657 A.D.The fighting this day was in real earnest; darkness failed to separate the combatants; and like Al-Ḳādisīya, that night was called a second Night of Clangour. The morning broke on the two armies still in conflict. With emptied quivers they fought hand to hand. Al-Ashtar, the regicide, resolved on victory at whatever cost, continued to push the attack with unflinching bravery and persistence. Muʿāwiya, disheartened, began to speak of a judicial combat with a champion on either side. "Then go forth thyself, and challenge ʿAlī," said ʿAmr. "Not so," answered Muʿāwiya, "I will not do that, for ʿAlī ever slayeth his man, and then thou shouldest succeed me." ʿAmr, indeed, well knew that this was not Muʿāwiya's line, who himself, like his antagonist, was now of an unwieldy mien. It was no time for continuing grim pleasantry like this; and so ʿAmr bethought him of a stratagem. "Raise the leaves of the Ḳorʾān," he cried; "if any refuse to abide thereby, it will sow discord amongst them; if they accept the hallowed symbol it will be a reprieve from cruel slaughter." Muʿāwiya caught at the words. And so forthwith they fixed the sacred leaves on the points of their lances, and raising them aloft, called out along the line of battle:Hostilities suspended for arbitration by Ḳorʾān. "The law of the Lord! the law of the Lord! Let that decide betwixt us!" No sooner heard, than the men of Al-Kūfa leapt forward, re-echoing the cry: "The law of the Lord, that shall decide between us!" As all were shouting thus with one accord, ʿAlī stepped forth and expostulated with them: "It is the device," he cried, "of evil men; afraid of defeat, they seek their end by guile, and cloak 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 desert him, drive him over to the enemy, or serve him as they had served ʿOthmān. Seeing opposition futile, ʿAlī 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 Al-Ashtar from the field." Al-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 ʿAlī 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?" Al-Ashtar 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 therefore gone to hell?" "Nay," they answered, "yesterday we fought for the Lord; and to-day, for the same Lord we stay the fight." On this Al-Ashtar upbraided them as "traitors, cowards, hypocrites, and villains." In return, they reviled him, and struck his charger with their whips. ʿAlī interposed. The tumult was stayed. And Al-Ashʿath, chief of the Beni Kinda, was sent to ask Muʿāwiya "what his meaning in raising the Ḳorʾān 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 their verdict shall be binding." ʿAlī's army shouted assent. The unfortunate Caliph was forced to the still deeper humiliation of appointing as his arbiter one who had deserted him. The soldiery cried out for Abu Mūsa—the temporising governor of Al-Kūfa who had been deposed for want of active loyalty. "This man," answered ʿAlī, "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 Al-ʿAbbās, the Prophet's uncle; choose him as your umpire." "As well name thyself," they answered rudely. "Then take Al-Ashtar." "What!" said the Bedawi chiefs in the same rough imperious strain, "the man that hath set the world on fire! None for us but Abu Mūsa." It was a bitter choice for ʿAlī, but he had no alternative. The Syrian arbiter was ʿAmr, for whose deep and crafty ways the other was no match. He presented himself in the Caliph's camp, and the agreement was put in writing.Deed of arbitration,
13 ii. 37 A.H.
July 31, 657 A.D. As dictated from ʿAlī'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 ʿAmr (like Ḳoreish to the Prophet at Al-Ḥodeibiya^[5]); "ʿAlī is your commander, but he is not ours." Again the helpless Caliph had to give way, and the names of the contracting parties were written down simply as between "ʿAlī and Muʿāwiya." The document bound them "to follow the judgment of the Ḳorʾān; and, where the Ḳorʾān was silent, the acknowledged precedents of Islām." To the umpires, the guarantee of both ʿAlī and Muʿāwiya 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 to judge righteously, and thus, so far as in them lay, to 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 Al-Kūfa and Damascus. Meanwhile hostilities should be suspended. The writing having been duly executed and signed, was numerously witnessed by leading chiefs on either side. Al-Ashtar alone refused: "Never should I acknowledge this to be mine own right hand," he said, "if it did but touch a deed like this."

ʿAlī and Muʿāwiya retire.And so the armies buried their dead, and quitted the memorable but indecisive battlefield. ʿAlī retired to Al-Kūfa, and Muʿāwiya, his point for the present gained, to Damascus. As ʿAlī entered Al-Kūfa, 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 alone hard by, an hundred and four score lie buried at Ṣiffīn. There is not a house but the women are weeping in it for their dead."

Discord at Kūfa.The slaughter, indeed, had been great on both sides. And what gave point to ʿAlī's loss was that the truce was but a hollow thing, with no hope in it of lasting peace or satisfaction. The Arab faction, to whose insolent demands he had yielded, was more estranged than ever. When the men of Al-Kūfa murmured at the compromise, ʿAlī could but reply 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. Muʿāwiya alone had gained.^[6]

1. When the people refused to throw a bridge of boats over the river at Ar-Raḳḳa, a detachment moved farther up, intending to cross by the standing bridge at Manbij; but meanwhile Al-Ashtar, threatening the inhabitants with the sword, forced them to construct a bridge at Ar-Raḳḳa. Ar-Raḳḳa (Nicephorium) is at the junction of the Balīkh with the Euphrates, near where the river, having approached Aleppo, trends thereafter eastward. The outposts met at Sūr ar-Rūm, now in ruins, a little to the west of Ar-Raḳḳa. It lies near Thapsacus of the ancients, on the line of Cyrus' march.
2. Ṣiffīn lay to the west of Ar-Raḳḳa, half-way to Bālis (one of Chesney's steamer stations), and about 100 miles from the coast; south-east of Aleppo, and north-east of Ḥimṣ.
3. ʿOthmān's freedman was one of his followers slain at Medīna in the final onslaught of the conspirators. The life of ʿAmmār, son of the bondwoman Sumeiya, was forfeit for this lesser crime, much more for the assassination of the Caliph. Such was Muʿāwiya's argument.
4. Readers or Reciters of the Korʾān, those, namely, who, having it by heart (Ḥāfiz), were able to repeat it from beginning to end. They were the most fanatical part of the Muslim forces, answering as they did closely to the Ghazies of our day.
5. Life of Moḥammad, p. 359.
6. The accounts of this battle are all by persons who favoured the cause of ʿAlī. Each author exalts the deeds of his own tribe. The one thing that comes out clearly is the heroism of Al-Ashtar.—Wellhausen, Arabisches Reich, p. 51 ff.