Biography of Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan

25 - Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan Sakhr ibn Harb al-Umawi * (may Allah be pleased with him)

ibn Umayyah ibn Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy ibn Kilab; Commander of the Believers, king of Islam, Abu Abd ar-Rahman al-Qurashi, al-Umawi, al-Makki.

His mother: she is Hind bint 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah ibn Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy.

The Islam of Mu'awiyah and the office of scribe

It has been said: he embraced Islam before his father, at the time of the umrah of makeup (al-qada), and he remained fearing to join the Prophet, peace be upon him, because of his father; but his Islam only became manifest on the day of the Conquest.

He reported from the Prophet, peace be upon him; and he wrote for him a few times.

And he also reported from his sister, the Mother of the Believers Umm Habibah; and from Abu Bakr, and Umar.

Those who reported from him: Ibn Abbas, and Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, and Abu Salih as-Samman, and Abu Idris al-Khawlani, and Abu Salamah ibn Abd ar-Rahman, and 'Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, and Sa'id al-Maqburi, and Khalid ibn Ma'dan, and Hammam ibn Munabbih, and Abdallah ibn 'Amir the reciter (al-Muqri), and al-Qasim Abu Abd ar-Rahman, and 'Umayr ibn Hani, and 'Ubadah ibn Nusayy, and Salim ibn Abdallah, and Muhammad ibn Sirin, and the father of 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb, and people besides them.

And among the Companions, those who also reported from him: Jarir ibn Abdallah, and Abu Sa'id, and an-Nu'man ibn Bashir, and Ibn az-Zubayr.

The description of Mu'awiyah

Ibn Abi ad-Dunya mentioned, and others:

that Mu'awiyah was tall, fair of complexion, handsome; when he laughed, his upper lip turned back, and he used dye.

Sa'id ibn Abd al-'Aziz reported, from Abu Abd ar-Rabb:

I saw Mu'awiyah dye himself yellow, as if his beard were gold.

I say: that was fitting in that time; and today, if it were done, it would be thought strange.

And Abd al-Jabbar ibn Umar reported, from az-Zuhri, from Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, from Ibrahim ibn Abdallah ibn Qariz:

he heard Mu'awiyah on the pulpit of al-Madinah say: where are your jurists, O people of al-Madinah? I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, forbid this lock.

Then he placed it on his head; and I never saw, on a bride or on any other, anything more beautiful than it on Mu'awiyah.

And from Aban ibn Uthman: Mu'awiyah, then a young boy, was walking with his mother Hind; he stumbled, and she said: get up, may Allah not raise you.

And a Bedouin was watching, and said: why do you say that to him? By Allah, I surely think he will dominate his people.

She said: may Allah not raise him, if he only dominates his people.

Aslam, the freed slave of Umar, said: Mu'awiyah came to us, being the fairest of people and the handsomest of them.

Ibn Ishaq: from his father:

I saw Mu'awiyah at al-Abtah, with white hair and white beard, as if he were stricken with hemiplegia.

Mus'ab az-Zubayri said: Mu'awiyah said: I embraced Islam in the year of the affair (al-qadiyya).

Ibn Sa'd: Muhammad ibn Umar told us, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Sabrah told me, from Umar ibn Abdallah al-Ansi:

Mu'awiyah said: that was the year of al-Hudaybiyah; they had prevented the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, from reaching the House, and they had written the agreement between them; Islam settled in my heart, and I spoke of it to my mother; she said: beware of contradicting your father.

So I concealed my Islam; and by Allah, the Messenger of Allah departed from al-Hudaybiyah while I believed in him; and he entered Makkah in the year of the umrah of makeup, and I was a Muslim.

And Abu Sufyan learned of my Islam; one day he said to me: but your brother is better than you, and he is of my religion.

I said: I had not turned my soul toward good; and I made my Islam manifest on the day of the Conquest; the Prophet, peace be upon him, received me with favor, and I wrote for him.

Then al-Waqidi said: he took part with him at Hudayn; he gave him from the spoils one hundred (heads of) camels, and forty uqiyya.

I say: al-Waqidi does not retain what he says; if Mu'awiyah was, as he transmitted, early in Islam, why would the Prophet, peace be upon him, bind him to himself by gifts? And had he given to him, he would not have said, when he preached to Fatimah bint Qays: as for Mu'awiyah, he is a wretch who has no wealth.

And al-Mufaddal al-Ghalabi transmitted, from Abu al-Hasan al-Kufi, who said: Zayd ibn Thabit was the scribe of the revelation, and Mu'awiyah was scribe for what was between the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the Arabs.

'Amr ibn Murrah: from Abdallah ibn al-Harith, from Zuhayr ibn al-Aqmar, from Abdallah ibn 'Amr, who said:

Mu'awiyah wrote for the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.

Abu 'Awanah: from Abu Hamzah, from Ibn Abbas, who said:

I was playing with the boys; the Prophet, peace be upon him, called me and said: call me Mu'awiyah.

And he wrote the revelation.

Ahmad reported it in his Musnad.

And al-Hakim added to it: Ali ibn Hamshadh told us, Hisham ibn Ali told us, Musa ibn Isma'il told us, Abu 'Awanah told us, who said: I called him.

It was said to him: he is eating.

So I came and said: O Messenger of Allah, he is eating.

He said: go, and call him.

I came to him a second time; it was said: he is eating.

I came to the Messenger of Allah and informed him.

He said on the third: may Allah not fill his belly.

He said: and he was never filled afterwards.

At-Tayalisi reported it: Abu 'Awanah and Hushaym told us; and in it is: may Allah not fill his belly.

Someone of the partisans explained it, saying: may Allah not fill his belly, so that he may not be of those who will hunger on the day of Resurrection, for the report narrated from him is that he said: the man most long filled in this lowly world will be the man most long hungry on the day of Resurrection.

I say: this is what is authentic, and the interpretation is fragile; more plausible is his word, may prayer and salvation be upon him: O Allah, whoever of this community I have wronged or insulted, make of that for him a mercy; or as he said.

And Mu'awiyah was counted among the good eaters.

A group: from Mu'awiyah ibn Salih, from Yunus ibn Sayf, from al-Harith ibn Ziyad, from Abu Ruhm as-Sama'i, from al-'Irbad:

he heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, calling to the suhur in the month of Ramadan: come to the blessed meal.

Then I heard him say: O Allah, teach Mu'awiyah the writing and the reckoning, and protect him from the punishment.

Ibn Mahdi, and Asad as-Sunnah, and Abu Salih reported it; and Bishr ibn as-Sari, from him.

And this, in the Juz' of Ibn 'Arafa, is problematic: al-'Irbad and Abu Ruhm have fallen from it.

And this hadith has a strong witness.

Abu Muhrij: Sa'id ibn Abd al-'Aziz told us, from Rabi'ah ibn Yazid, from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi 'Umayrah al-Muzani, who was among the Companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him:

the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to Mu'awiyah: O Allah, teach him the writing and the reckoning, and protect him from the punishment.

Abu Hilal Muhammad ibn Salim: Jabalah ibn 'Atiyyah told us, from a man, from Maslamah ibn Mukhallad:

he said to 'Amr ibn al-'As, while Mu'awiyah was eating: this cousin of yours is a true glutton; yet I say that having heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say: O Allah, teach him the writing, establish him in the land, and protect him from the punishment.

There is in it an unknown man (majhul).

And its equivalent is found in the mursal of az-Zuhri, and the mursal of 'Urwah ibn Ruwaym, and those of Harith ibn Uthman.

Marwan ibn Muhammad: Sa'id ibn Abd al-'Aziz told us, Rabi'ah ibn Yazid told me: I heard Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi 'Umayrah:

I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say to Mu'awiyah: O Allah, make him a guided guide, and guide by him.

At-Tirmidhi judged it good (hasan).

Safwan ibn Salih: al-Walid and Marwan ibn Muhammad told us; Sa'id told us its equivalent.

And Abu Zur'ah an-Nasri and Abbas at-Tarqufi said: Abu Muhrij told us, Sa'id told us its equivalent; and in it is: I heard the Messenger of Allah.

Ahmad ibn al-Mu'alla: Mahmud told us, Umar ibn Abd al-Wahid told us, from Sa'id, from Rabi'ah:

that a group of the people of Syria was doing ribat at Amid, and that 'Umayr ibn Sa'd was governor of Homs; Uthman removed him and appointed Mu'awiyah; this reached the people of Homs, and it was grievous for them.

Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi 'Umayrah al-Muzani said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say to Mu'awiyah: O Allah, make him a guided guide, and guide by him.

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud: Mahmud ibn Khalid told us, al-Walid and Umar ibn Abd al-Wahid told us, from Sa'id, from Rabi'ah ibn Yazid, from Abu Idris, from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi 'Umayrah:

I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say to Mu'awiyah: O Allah, make him a guided guide, and guide by him.

'Amr ibn Waqid: from Yunus ibn Hilbas, from Abu Idris, who said:

when Umar removed 'Umayr ibn Sa'd from Homs and appointed Mu'awiyah, the people spoke of it; 'Umayr said:

mention Mu'awiyah only in good, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say: O Allah, guide by him.

Reported by adh-Dhuhli, from an-Nufayli, from him.

Hisham ibn 'Ammar: Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Walid ibn Sulayman told us; I heard my father say:

Umar appointed Mu'awiyah; they said: and you appoint him, the one with the long tooth?

He said: you blame me, and I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say: O Allah, make him a guided guide, and guide by him.

This one is interrupted (munqati').

Muhammad ibn Shu'ayb: Marwan ibn Janah told us, from Yunus ibn Maysarah:

the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, sought counsel from Abu Bakr and Umar concerning a matter; they said: Allah and His Messenger know best.

He said: deliberate with me.

Then he said: call Mu'awiyah.

He said: let him be present at your affairs, and take him as witness of your affairs, for he is strong and trustworthy.

Nu'aym ibn Hammad reported it, from Ibn Shu'ayb; and he linked it to Abdallah ibn Busr.

Abu Muhrij and Ibn 'Ayidh: from Sadaqah ibn Khalid, from Wahshi ibn Harb ibn Wahshi, from his father, from his grandfather, who said:

the Prophet, peace be upon him, took Mu'awiyah up behind him and said: what is this touching me, coming from you?

He said: my belly, O Messenger of Allah.

He said: O Allah, fill it with knowledge.

And Abu Muhrij added to it: and clemency.

Salih Jazarah said: no attention is paid to Wahshi nor to his father.

Baqiyyah: from Bahir ibn Sa'd, from Khalid ibn Ma'dan, from Jubayr ibn Nufayr:

the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was traveling and a group was with him; they mentioned Syria, and a man said: how could we reach Syria when the Romans are there?

He said: and Mu'awiyah was among the people, with a staff in his hand; he struck the shoulder of Mu'awiyah with it and said: Allah will suffice you by means of this one.

This one is mursal, strong.

These are close hadiths (muqariba).

Ibn 'Asakir reported, in the biography entry, hadiths without foundation and false, and he made much of them at length.

Many people followed Mu'awiyah, loved him, exaggerated about him and preferred him; either he had won them over by generosity, clemency and gifts, or they were born in Syria in love of him, and their children grew up there upon that.

Among them are a small group of Companions, and a great number of Successors and men of merit; they fought with him the people of al-'Iraq, and they grew up in hatred of the Alids (nasb); we seek refuge with Allah against passion.

Just as the army of Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and his subjects, with the exception of the Kharijites among them, grew up in love of him, in standing with him, in hatred of whoever fought him and in disavowal of them; and a part of them exaggerated in tashayyu'.

How then will be the state of one who grew up in a clime where he sees almost only people who exaggerate in love and commit excess in hatred? And from where would equity and moderation come to him?

So we praise Allah for preservation: He made us be in a time when the truth has been purified and clarified on both sides; we have known the position of each of the two parties, we have seen clearly, forgiven, asked forgiveness, loved with measure, shown mercy to the rebels through an acceptable interpretation, and sought refuge by this word of Allah: {our Lord, put not in our hearts rancor against those who have believed} (Surah al-Hashr, verse 10).

We are also pleased with the one who kept apart from the two parties, such as Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, and Ibn Umar, and Muhammad ibn Maslamah, and Sa'id ibn Zayd, and others.

And we disavow the rebellious Kharijites who fought Ali and declared both parties unbelievers.

The Kharijites are the dogs of Hell, they have passed through the religion; yet we do not rule for them eternity in Hell, as we rule it for the worshippers of idols and of the cross.

Among the fabricated lies (mukhtalaqa):

from 'Awthilah, marfu' (going back to the Prophet): Mu'awiyah nearly was sent as a prophet, through his clemency and his trustworthiness over the word of my Lord.

from Uthman, going back to the Prophet: rejoice, O Mu'awiyah; you have become trustworthy over the news of heaven.

from Abu Musa: the revelation descended upon him; when it had been lifted from him, he looked for Mu'awiyah; when the latter had written it, he wanted to say the Verse of the Throne; he said: may Allah forgive you, O Mu'awiyah, what has passed until the day of Resurrection.

from Murri al-Hurani, from a man:

Jibril descended and said: O Muhammad, you have no right to remove the one Allah has chosen for the writing of His revelation; keep him, he is trustworthy.

from Sa'd, going back to the Prophet: Mu'awiyah will be resurrected clothed in a robe of light.

from Anas: Jibril descended with a golden pen and said:

O Muhammad, the Most High says: I have guided this pen from above my Throne toward Mu'awiyah; order him to write with it the Verse of the Throne, to shape it and write it in beautiful lines..., and he mentioned a long account.

And from Ibn Abbas, who said:

when the Verse of the Throne was revealed, he called Mu'awiyah, but the latter found no pen; and it is that Allah ordered Jibril to take the pens of his inkwell; the latter rose to come with a pen.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: take the pen from your ear.

So he took the pen from his ear; it was a golden pen; he wrote with it: there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

from Aisha, going back to the Prophet: it is as if I see the two locks of Mu'awiyah, two boys playing in Paradise.

from Ali, who said: I will rid my neck of what I owe Mu'awiyah: the Prophet of Allah took him as secretary while I was sitting; I knew that this came not from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, but from Allah.

from Jabir, going back to the Prophet: the trustees (al-oumana) with Allah are seven: the Pen, and Jibril, and I, and Mu'awiyah, and the Tablet, and Israfil, and Mikail.

from Zayd ibn Thabit: the Prophet, peace be upon him, visited Umm Habibah, and Mu'awiyah was sleeping on her lap.

He said: do you love him?

She said: yes.

He said: Allah loves him more intensely than you love him; it is as if I see him on the doorposts of Paradise.

from Ja'far: quinces were offered to the Prophet, peace be upon him; he gave three of them to Mu'awiyah and said: take them to Paradise.

I say: but Ja'far was killed a martyr before Mu'awiyah came, a Muslim.

And from Hudhayfah, going back to the Prophet: Mu'awiyah will be resurrected clothed in a cloak of the light of faith.

from Abu Sa'id, going back to the Prophet: Mu'awiyah will come out of his grave clothed in a cloak of brocade (sundus) inlaid with pearls and rubies.

from Ali: Jibril descended and said: take Mu'awiyah as secretary, he is trustworthy.

Abu Hurayrah, going back to the Prophet: the trustees are three: I, and Jibril, and Mu'awiyah.

And from 'Awthilah: its equivalent.

Abu Hurayrah: the Prophet, peace be upon him, held out an arrow to Mu'awiyah and said: take it until you return it to me in Paradise.

Anas, going back to the Prophet: I will lose no one from sight other than Mu'awiyah; I do not see him for seventy years; when then he returns upon a camel of musk, I will say: where have you been?

and he will say: in a garden beneath the Throne...; the hadith is long.

and from Ibn 'Abbad: Jibril descended and said: O Muhammad, take Mu'awiyah as secretary, he is trustworthy.

Ibn Umar, going back to the Prophet: O Mu'awiyah; you are of me and I am of you; you will jostle with me at the gate of Paradise.

These hadiths are manifestly fabricated, and Allah knows best.

And there are reported, in the merits of Mu'awiyah, weak things that can be tolerated, among them:

Fudayl ibn Marzuq: from a man, from Anas, going back to the Prophet: let my companions come, and my allies by marriage.

Ahmad, in his Musnad: Rawh told us, Abu Umayyah 'Amr ibn Yahya ibn Sa'id told us, my grandfather told us:

Mu'awiyah took the basin (idawa) and poured water over the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him; the latter raised his head toward him and said: O Mu'awiyah; if you are entrusted with an affair, fear Allah and be equitable.

I never ceased thinking that I would be tested by an office, because of the word of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, until I was tested.

And there are for it close routes:

Yahya ibn Abi Za'idah: from Isma'il ibn Ibrahim ibn Mujahir, from Abd al-Malik ibn 'Umayr:

Mu'awiyah said: by Allah, nothing carried me to the caliphate except the word of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to me: O Mu'awiyah; if you rule, act well.

Ibn Mujahir is weak, and the report is mursal.

Al-Asamm: my father told me; I heard Ibn Rahuyah say:

Nothing has been established from the Prophet, peace be upon him, concerning the merit of Mu'awiyah.

Ibn Fudayl: Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad told us, from Sulayman ibn 'Amr ibn al-Ahwas, from Abu Barzah:

we were with the Prophet, peace be upon him; he heard a voice singing and said: look what that is.

I climbed and looked: it was Mu'awiyah and 'Amr ibn al-'As singing; I came to inform him, and he said: O Allah, plunge the two of them into discord with a plunging, and roll them into the Fire with a rolling.

This one is among what has been criticized concerning Yazid.

Ibn Lahi'ah: from Yunus, from Ibn Shihab:

Umar arrived at al-Jabiya; he left over Syria two emirs: Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, and Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan.

Then Yazid died; Umar announced his death to Abu Sufyan; he said: and whom have you appointed in his place?

He said: Mu'awiyah.

He said: and your prayer, O Commander of the Believers, is a bond of kinship.

The governorship of Syria under Umar and Uthman

And Khalifah said: then Umar gathered all of Syria for Mu'awiyah, and Uthman confirmed him.

I say: let it suffice you that Umar, then Uthman, appointed him governor of a clime, which is a frontier post (thaghr), and he held it firmly, administered it in the most complete manner, and satisfied the people by his generosity and his clemency, although some of them suffered from it once; and thus he became a king.

And although other Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, are far better than he, more eminent and more upright, this man reigned and governed the world by the perfection of his intelligence, the abundance of his clemency, the breadth of his soul, the strength of his cunning and of his judgment.

He had lapses and affairs, and Allah is He who appoints the meeting.

He was loved by his subjects.

He exercised the governorship of Syria twenty years, and the caliphate twenty years, and no one slandered him during his reign; rather the nations obeyed him, and he judged over the Arabs and the non-Arabs; and his kingdom extended over the Two Sanctuaries, and Egypt, and Syria, and Iraq, and Khurasan, and Persia, and the Jazirah, and Yemen, and the Maghrib, and beyond that.

from Isma'il ibn Umayyah: Umar designated Mu'awiyah alone for Syria and granted him eighty dinars a month.

And what is preserved (al-mahfuz) is that Uthman is the one who designated Mu'awiyah alone for Syria.

And from a man, who said: when Umar arrived in Syria, Mu'awiyah received him with an immense procession and pomp; when he drew near to him, he said: are you the master of this great procession?

He said: yes.

He said: with what has reached me of you, the long standing of those in need at your door?

He said: yes.

He said: and why do you do that?

He said: we are in a land where the spies of the enemy are many; we must display of the power of authority what frightens them; if you forbid me, I stop.

He said: O Mu'awiyah! I ask you about nothing but that you leave me as before the winding motions of the venomous serpent: if what you have said is true, it is the opinion of a man of discernment; and if it is false, it is the cunning of a crafty man.

He said: then permit me.

He said: I neither command you nor forbid you.

It is said: O Commander of the Believers! How beautiful is the answer he gave to what you confronted him with.

He said: for the beauty of his thrusts and his parries, we have left him the stature that we have left him.

And this story reached me by two chains, from al-'Utbi, in its equivalent.

Muslim ibn Jundub: from Aslam, the freed slave of Umar, who said:

Mu'awiyah arrived, being the fairest of people and the handsomest of them; he set out with Umar on pilgrimage, and Umar looked at him with admiration, placed his finger on his back, then raised it in the manner of a saddle, and said: well done, well done; we shall then be the best of men if there are gathered for us the best of this lowly world and of the Hereafter.

He said: O Commander of the Believers! I shall tell you: we are in a land of baths and of the countryside.

Umar said: I shall tell you: there is in you only your delighting in the most delicate of food, and your bathing until the sun strikes your back, and the people in need behind the door.

He said: when we arrived at Dhu Tuwa, Mu'awiyah brought out a garment (hullah) and put it on; Umar smelled its perfume and said:

one of you sets out on pilgrimage with dishevelled hair (tafila), until he arrives at the greatest sanctuary of Allah, then takes out his two garments as though they had been in perfume, and puts them on.

He said: I only put them on to enter with them upon my tribe; by Allah, this criticism has reached me here and in Syria, and Allah knows that I have known modesty in that.

And Mu'awiyah took off the two garments and put on the two garments of his ihram.

Al-Mada'ini said: when Umar looked at Mu'awiyah, he said: this is the Kisra of the Arabs.

Ibn Abi Dhi'b: from al-Maqburi; Umar said: do you marvel at the perspicacity of Heraclius and Kisra, and neglect Mu'awiyah?

'Amr ibn Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Umawi: from his grandfather, who said:

Mu'awiyah entered upon Umar wearing a green garment; the Companions looked at it.

He said: Umar fell upon him with his whip (dirrah); it was said: Allah, Allah, O Commander of the Believers! For what, for what?

He did not address him with a word until his return.

They said: why did you strike him, when there is none in your people like him?

He said: I have seen and heard from him only good; but I saw him, and pointed at him with my hand, and I wished to diminish a part of it.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: Qaysariyyah was conquered in the year nineteen, and its emir was Mu'awiyah.

Yazid ibn Abidah said: Mu'awiyah carried out the campaign of Cyprus in the year twenty-five.

And az-Zuhri said: Uthman removed 'Umayr ibn Sa'd and gathered Syria for Mu'awiyah.

And from az-Zuhri, who said: Mu'awiyah did not have Syria for himself alone until after the investiture of Uthman.

Sa'id ibn Abd al-'Aziz: from Isma'il ibn Ubaydallah, from Qays ibn al-Harith, from as-Sunabihi, from Abu al-Darda, who said:

I have never seen a prayer more like that of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, than that of your emir here, meaning Mu'awiyah.

And Waki': from al-A'mash, from Abu Salih, who said: the chant leader (al-hadi) was singing about Uthman:

"the emir after him is Ali ... and in az-Zubayr a pleasing offspring"

then Ka'b said: but it is the possessor of the dun mule, meaning Mu'awiyah.

This reached Mu'awiyah; he came and said: O Abu Ishaq! You say that while here are Ali, az-Zubayr and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him?

He said: you are his master.

Al-Waqidi said: when Uthman was killed, Na'ilah bint al-Farafisah, his wife, sent to Mu'awiyah a letter about what had happened, and sent his bloodstained shirt; Mu'awiyah read the letter, circulated the shirt among the armies of Syria, and incited them thereby to avenge his blood.

Mu'awiyah and Ali: Siffin and the arbitration

Ibn Abbas said to Ali: write to Mu'awiyah; confirm him over Syria, and dangle hope: that he leave you his life and his territory; when the people have pledged allegiance to you, you may confirm him or remove him.

He said: he will not be satisfied until I give him the pact of Allah and His pledge never to remove him.

This reached Mu'awiyah; he said: by Allah, I will not bind myself to him for anything, and I will not pledge allegiance to him.

And he proclaimed in Syria that az-Zubayr was going to come toward you, and that we would pledge allegiance to him.

When the news of his murder reached him, he felt compassion for him; Ali sent Jarir to Mu'awiyah; the latter spoke with him, and Ali was magnified, but Mu'awiyah refused to pledge allegiance; Jarir was sent back, and Ali resolved to march on Siffin.

Mu'awiyah sent Abu Muslim al-Khawlani to Ali with demands, and so that he hand over to him the murderers of Uthman; Ali refused; Abu Muslim returned; letters were exchanged between them, each of the two aimed at the other, and they clashed on the seven remaining days of Muharram, year seven.

At the beginning of Safar the war blazed; many people were killed; they grew weary; the people of Syria raised the Qurans and said: we call you to the Book of Allah, and to judgment according to what it contains; and that was a stratagem of 'Amr ibn al-'As; they concluded a peace and wrote between themselves a document to meet at Adhruh and institute two arbitrators.

He said: no agreement took place; Ali returned to al-Kufah, amid the deception of some of his companions and the division.

The Kharijites came out of it; they disapproved of his arbitration and said: judgment belongs to Allah alone.

And Mu'awiyah returned with union and consensus; the people of Syria pledged allegiance to him over the caliphate in Dhu al-Qa'dah, year thirty-eight.

He sent raiding parties that killed whoever obeyed Ali or had helped in the murder of Uthman; he sent Busr ibn Abi Artat to the Hijaz and to Yemen to parade the people; he killed in Yemen Abd ar-Rahman and 'Uqthamah, sons of Ubaydallah ibn Abbas; then Ali was killed a martyr in Ramadan, year forty.

The caliphate of Mu'awiyah

Hasan ibn Ali concluded peace with Mu'awiyah and pledged allegiance to him; the year was named the year of the community (jama'i'a); Mu'awiyah appointed over al-Kufah al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah, and over al-Basrah Abdallah ibn 'Amir ibn Kurayz, and over al-Madinah his brother 'Utbah, then Marwan, and over Egypt 'Amr ibn al-'As; and he performed the pilgrimage with the people in year fifty.

And the one charged with his judgments in Syria was Fadalah ibn 'Ubayd.

Then he performed the umrah in year fifty-six, in Rajab; and there were between him and Husayn, and Ibn Umar, and Ibn az-Zubayr, and Ibn Abi Bakr, words concerning the fidelity of the pledge for Yazid.

Then he said: I shall pronounce a word: do not answer me, otherwise I kill you. He delivered a sermon and made it appear that they had pledged allegiance; they kept silent, did not disapprove, and he departed on that.

And Ziyad claimed to be his brother; he appointed him over al-Kufah after al-Mughirah; he wrote to him about Hujr ibn 'Adi and his companions; he sent them to him, and he killed them at Marj 'Adhra'.

Then he joined al-Kufah and al-Basrah to Ziyad; the latter died; he appointed over the two his son Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad.

from Abd al-Majid ibn Suhayl, from Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah, from Ibn Abbas, who said:

Uthman appointed me for the pilgrimage; upon my return, Ali had received the allegiance; he said to me: go to Syria, I have entrusted it to you.

I said: this is not sound judgment: Mu'awiyah is an Umayyad, cousin of Uthman and his governor in Syria; I do not feel safe that he cut my throat because of Uthman, or at the very least imprison me.

Ali said: and why?

I said: because of the kinship between you and me, and because whoever fought you has fought me; but write to him, grant him grace and promise him.

Ali refused and said: no, by Allah, that will never happen.

Mujalid: from ash-Sha'bi, who said:

Umm Habibah sent word to the relatives of Uthman: send me the garments of Uthman in which he was killed.

They sent his bloodstained shirt, and the lock torn from his beard; she called an-Nu'man ibn Bashir and sent him to Mu'awiyah; Mu'awiyah mounted the pulpit, spread out the shirt, gathered the people, and called for avenging his blood.

The people of Syria rose and said: he is your cousin, you are his protector, and we are the ones who will avenge his blood with you.

Ibn Shawdhab: from Mattar al-Warraq, from Zahdam al-Jarmi, who said:

we were in the night conversation (samir) of Ibn Abbas; he said: when what happened to this man happened, meaning Uthman, I said to Ali: withdraw from the people; if you were in a hole, they would search for you until they brought you out of it.

He disobeyed me; and by Allah, Mu'awiyah will reign over you; and that is because Allah says: {and whoever is killed unjustly, We have given power to his heir; let him not commit excess in the killing, he will be aided} (Surah al-Isra, verse 33).

Yunus: from Ibn Shihab, who said:

when the defeat of the day of the Camel and the triumph of Ali reached Mu'awiyah, he called the people of Syria to fight with him against the Shura, and to avenge the blood of Uthman; they pledged allegiance to him over that, emirs, not caliph.

And in the Kitab Siffin of Yahya ibn Sulayman al-Ju'fi, by his chain:

Mu'awiyah said to Jarir al-Bajali when he came to him as emissary, after a long conversation: write to Ali that he leave me Syria, and I shall pledge allegiance to him as long as I live.

He wrote that to Ali; his letter was divulged; al-Walid ibn 'Uqbah wrote to him:

"Mu'awiyah, Syria is your Syria: hold it firm ... toward your Syria, do not let the serpents enter"

"protect it with the swords and the spears ... and be not of soft and broken arms"

"for Ali awaits your answer ... offer him a war that whitens the forelocks"

Then al-Ju'fi said: Ya'la ibn 'Ubayd told me, from his father, who said:

Abu Muslim al-Khawlani and some people came to Mu'awiyah and said: do you contest with Ali, or are you like him?

He said: no, by Allah; I know well that he is better than I and more entitled to command than I; but do you not know that Uthman was killed unjustly, and that I am his cousin and the one who avenges his blood? Go to him, tell him, that he hand over to me the murderers of Uthman, and I shall submit to him.

They came to Ali, spoke to him, but he did not hand them over to them.

'Amr ibn Shumayr: from Jabir al-Ju'fi, from ash-Sha'bi (or from Abu Ja'far), who said:

when the affair of Mu'awiyah appeared, Ali called a man and ordered him to walk toward Damascus, to tie his mount at the door of the mosque, and to enter in travelling garb; he did so, for Ali had recommended it.

The people of Syria questioned him; he said: I come from al-'Iraq.

They said: and what is behind you?

He said: I left Ali who has raised troops against you, and who has mobilized the people of al-'Iraq.

This reached Mu'awiyah; he sent Abu al-A'war to verify his affair; the latter came, informed, and it was cried: the prayer is assembled!

The mosque filled; Mu'awiyah mounted, bore witness (tachahhada), then said: Ali has raised troops against you; what is the opinion?

The people struck their chins upon their chests, and no one raised toward him his eyes; then Dhu al-Kala' al-Himyari stood up and said: yours the opinion, and ours the execution.

Mu'awiyah came down; it was cried: whoever absents himself from the camp after three (days) has made lawful his own blood.

Ali's emissary was sent back until he rejoined him; he informed him; Ali ordered, and it was cried: the prayer is assembled!

The people gathered; he mounted the pulpit and said: my emissary has arrived and informed me that Mu'awiyah has raised troops against you; what is the opinion?

The people of the mosque began to speak confusedly, saying: the opinion is such, the opinion is such.

Ali did not understand, given the multitude of those speaking; he came down, saying: to Allah we belong, and to Him we return; the son of the liver-devourer has prevailed.

Al-A'mash: from one who saw Ali on the day of Siffin clap his hands, bite them, and say:

what an astonishing thing! He is disobeyed, and Mu'awiyah is obeyed!

Abu Hatim al-Sijistani: from Abu 'Ubaydah, who said:

Mu'awiyah said: I had already put my foot in the stirrup, and I was pondering, on the day of Siffin, flight; but nothing prevented me from it except the word of the son of al-Itnabah:

"my modesty refused for me, and my splendour refused ... and taking praise at the price of gain"

"and that I be forced to what my soul loathes ... and that I strike the forelock of the hero in flight"

"and my word, whenever it heats and stirs: ... stay in your place, be praised or rest"

Al-Awza'i said: a man asked al-Hasan al-Basri about Ali and Uthman; he said:

this one had a priority, and this one a priority; this one had a kinship, and this one a kinship; this one was tested, and this one was preserved.

He asked him about Ali and Mu'awiyah; he said: this one had a kinship and this one a kinship; this one had a priority and this one had none; and they were both tested.

I say: there were killed between the two parties about sixty thousand (men).

And it has been said: seventy thousand.

And 'Ammar was killed with Ali; the word of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, became clear to the people: the rebellious band will kill him.

Al-Fasawi: Hajjaj ibn Abi Mani' told me, my grandfather told me, from az-Zuhri, from Anas, who said:

three men of al-'Iraq bound themselves by a pact to kill Mu'awiyah, 'Amr ibn al-'As and Habib ibn Maslamah.

The attack with the poisoned dagger

They advanced after the pledge of allegiance of Mu'awiyah to the caliphate until they arrived at al-Iliya; they prayed at dawn in the mosque; when Mu'awiyah came out for the dawn prayer, he said Allahu akbar; when he prostrated, one of them stretched himself over the back of the guard prostrating between him and Mu'awiyah, until he stabbed him in the lower part of his belly.

Mu'awiyah withdrew and said: complete your prayer.

The man was arrested; the physician said: if the dagger is not poisoned, there is nothing to fear for you.

The physician prepared his remedies, licked the dagger, found it not poisoned; he said Allahu akbar, and those who were near him said Allahu akbar.

And it has been said: it is not the Commander of the Believers, there is no gravity.

I say: this time is not the one in which he was wounded when Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was killed; that one cleaved his alyya (the lower intestine), and he was made to drink remedies that delivered him from the poison, but his offspring was cut off.

Ayyub ibn Jabir: from Abu Ishaq, from al-Aswad:

The sayings of Mu'awiyah and the testimonies about him

I said to Aisha: do you not marvel at a man of the freed slaves who disputes the caliphate with the companions of Muhammad?

She said: and what is there to marvel at? It is the power of Allah; the righteous and the wicked come to it; Pharaoh ruled over Egypt four hundred years.

Zayd ibn Abi az-Zarqa': from Ja'far ibn Burqan, from Yazid ibn al-Asamm,

who said: Ali said: my dead and the dead of Mu'awiyah are in Paradise.

Sadaqah ibn Khalid: from Zayd ibn Waqid, from his father, from their elders:

when Mu'awiyah received the allegiance, and there reached him the fighting of Ali against the people of an-Nahrawan, he wrote to the notables of those who were with him, such as al-Ash'ath, made them promises and gave to them, until they inclined toward Mu'awiyah and became heavy about setting out with Ali; he would then say: so his word is not heeded.

And Mu'awiyah used to say: I fought Ali after Siffin without army and without equipment.

Shu'bah: Muhammad ibn 'Ubaydallah ath-Thaqafi informed us; he heard Abu Salih say:

I saw Ali place the Quran on his head, until I heard the paper crackle; he said:

O Allah, I asked them about what it contains and they deprived me of it; O Allah, I grew weary of them and they grew weary of me, I hated them and they hated me; they drove me to act against my nature; so replace them, for my sake, with worse than they, and replace me, for their sake, with better than they, and make their hearts like salt dissolved in water.

Mujalid: from ash-Sha'bi, from al-Harith, from Ali, who said:

do not hate the command of Mu'awiyah; if you lost it, you would see heads stumbling far from their shoulders.

When the Commander of the Believers Ali was killed, the people of al-'Iraq pledged allegiance to his son Hasan, and prepared to march on Syria in battalions like the mountains; Hasan was a lord, of great rank, who saw the preservation of blood, hated discords, and saw from the Iraqis what he hated.

Jarir ibn Hazim said: the people of al-Kufah pledged allegiance to Hasan after his father, and loved him more than his father.

And Ibn Shawdhab said: Hasan marched aiming for Syria; Mu'awiyah came with the people of Syria; they met; Hasan hated the fighting and pledged allegiance to Mu'awiyah on condition that the latter leave him the pledge of the caliphate after him; the companions of Hasan said to him: O shame of the believers!

He used to say: shame is better than the Fire.

And from 'Awanah ibn al-Hakam, who said:

Hasan marched until he camped at al-Mada'in; he sent Qays ibn Sa'd forward as vanguard with twelve thousand men; while Hasan was at al-Mada'in, a crier cried: Qays has been killed!

The people fell into disorder, the rabble pillaged the tent of Hasan to the point of tearing the carpet from under him; a Kharijite of the Banu Asad stabbed him with a dagger; the Kharijite was killed; Hasan went down to the White Palace and wrote to Mu'awiyah about peace.

And ash-Sha'bi and Abu Ishaq reported an account similar to this one.

He suffered from that blow for months, and he was healed.

Hilal ibn Khabbab said: Hasan ibn Ali said:

O people of al-Kufah! Had my soul become disgusted with you for only three things, it would have been disgusted: your killing of my father, your blow into my thigh, and your plundering of my property.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said about Hasan: this son of mine is a lord, and Allah will reconcile by him two great factions of Muslims.

Then Mu'awiyah accepted the peace and rejoiced in it; he and Hasan entered al-Kufah on horseback; Mu'awiyah took the caliphate at the end of Rabi' al-Akhir; the year was named the year of the community (jama'i'a), for their agreement upon one imam; that is year forty-one.

And Ibn Ishaq said: Mu'awiyah received the allegiance over the caliphate in Rabi' al-Awwal, year forty-one, when he entered al-Kufah.

And Abu Ma'shar said: Hasan pledged allegiance to him at Adhruh, in Jumada al-Ula, and that is the year of the community.

Al-Mada'ini said: Mu'awiyah came toward al-'Iraq with sixty thousand men and left as deputy over Syria ad-Dhahhak ibn Qays; when Hasan learned that Mu'awiyah had crossed the bridge of Manbij, he formed for Qays ibn Sa'd twelve thousand men and marched toward Maskin; Mu'awiyah came toward al-Ukhunuyyah in ten days, with the avengers who exhorted and urged on the people of Syria.

They camped facing the army of Qays; Busr ibn Abi Artat came to them; there were between them skirmishes, then they separated into camps.

Az-Zuhri said: Mu'awiyah governed two years without departing from the practice of Umar, then he deviated.

Al-A'mash: from 'Amr ibn Murrah, from Sa'id ibn Suwayd, who said:

Mu'awiyah led for us the Friday prayer at an-Nukhaylah in mid-morning; then he delivered a sermon and said: we did not fight so that you fast, nor so that you pray, nor so that you perform the pilgrimage or the alms; I knew that you do that; but we fought you in order to command over you; Allah has given it to me, and you detest it.

As-Sari ibn Isma'il: from ash-Sha'bi; Sufyan ibn al-Layl told me: I said to al-Hasan, when he returned to al-Madinah coming from al-Kufah: O humiliator of the believers!

He said: do not say that; I heard my father say: the days and the nights will not pass before Mu'awiyah reigns; I knew that the decree of Allah was being fulfilled, and I hated the fighting.

As-Sari: a concordant report (tawatur).

Shu'ayb: from az-Zuhri, from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad:

when Mu'awiyah came to al-Madinah on pilgrimage, he visited Aisha; only Dihkwan, his freed slave, was present at their conversation; she said to him: do you feel safe that I do not hide from you a man who will kill you over your cousin Muhammad?

He said: you have spoken truly.

Then she exhorted him, and urged him to follow (the Sunnah); when he went out, he leaned upon Dihkwan and said:

by Allah, I have not heard an orator, other than the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, more eloquent than Aisha.

Muhammad ibn Sa'd: Khalid ibn Makhlad told us, Sulayman ibn Bilal told us, Alqamah ibn Abi Alqamah told me, from his mother, who said:

Mu'awiyah arrived and sent word to Aisha: send me the shirt (anbidjaniyya) of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and his hair.

She sent it with me for me to carry it, until she had entered upon him; he took the shirt and put it on; he called for water, washed the hair, drank it, and poured some of it upon his skin.

Abu Bakr al-Hudhali: from ash-Sha'bi, who said:

when Mu'awiyah came to al-Madinah in the year of the community, Quraysh met him and said: praise be to Allah who has made your victory mighty, and raised your affair!

He kept silent until he entered al-Madinah, mounted the pulpit, praised Allah, and said: as for what follows, I, by Allah, have taken charge of your affair by ruling over you, and I know better than you that you do not rejoice in my government and do not love it; I am aware of what is in your souls; but I have seized you with this sword in a seizure; I wanted to act according to the practice of Abu Bakr and Umar, but I did not find my soul capable of that, and I found it turning away from that more strongly than from the practice of Umar; and I tried to bring it to the ways of Uthman, but it refused me; and where are their like? Far be it that anyone reach their merit; but I have followed a way in which there is for me a profit, and for you the equivalent, and in which each finds a savoury portion and an exquisite portion, so long as the conduct remains upright; if you do not find me your best, I am your most useful; by Allah, I shall not raise the sword against one who has no sword; and as for what happened before, which you know, I have put it behind my ear; and if you do not find me raising all your rights, be content with a part, for it is not an eggshell that opened without a chick; and the torrent, when it comes in a wave, even a rare one, is useful; beware of discord, and do not concern yourselves with it, for it spoils the subsistence, darkens the benefit, and makes extermination inherited; I ask forgiveness of Allah for myself and for you.

Then he came down.

al-Qa'iba: the shell; and al-qoub: the chick; it is said qabat al-bayda: when it cracked open over the chick.

Muhammad ibn Bashir al-'Abdi: Mujalid told us, from Abu al-Waddak, from Abu Sa'id, going back to the Prophet: when you see so-and-so preaching on my pulpit, kill him.

Reported by Jandal ibn Waliq, from Muhammad ibn Bashir; he said in place of so-and-so: Mu'awiyah.

And al-Walid ibn al-Qasim corroborated it, from Mujalid.

And Hammad, and a group, said: from Ali ibn Zayd, from Abu Nadrah, from Abu Sa'id, going back to the Prophet: when you see Mu'awiyah on my pulpit, kill him.

Al-Hakam ibn Dhuhayr (blameworthy): from 'Asim, from Zirr, from Abdallah, going back to the Prophet, its equivalent.

And it comes from al-Hasan in mursal form.

And it is reported by an obscure chain, from Jabir, going back to the Prophet: when you see Mu'awiyah preaching on my pulpit, accept him, he is trustworthy, sound.

This is a lie.

And it is said: it is Mu'awiyah ibn Tabukh, the hypocrite.

Sa'id ibn Abd al-'Aziz said: when Uthman was killed and the division occurred, the people had no military campaign until they had agreed upon Mu'awiyah; he campaigned with them several times.

Then he sent his son on campaign with a group of Companions, by land and by sea, until he had them cross the Gulf; they fought the people of Constantinople at its gate, then they returned.

Al-Layth: from Bukayr, from Busr ibn Sa'id, that Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas said:

I have not seen, after Uthman, one who judges more equitably than the master of this door, meaning Mu'awiyah.

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Maryam: from Thabit, the freed slave of Sufyan; I heard Mu'awiyah say:

I am not your best, and among you there is one who is better than I: Ibn Umar, and Abdallah ibn 'Amr, and others besides them; but it may be that I am your firmest in the march against your enemy, your most generous toward you in governance, and your finest in character.

'Aqil, and Ma'mar: from az-Zuhri; 'Urwah told me that al-Miswar ibn Makhramah informed him: that he visited Mu'awiyah and accomplished his need; then Mu'awiyah took him aside and said: O Miswar! What has become of your criticism against the imams?

He said: leave us that, and act well.

He said: no, by Allah; you will speak to me of your own accord about what you reproach me with.

Miswar said: I left nothing that I reproached him with without laying it before him.

He said: do not absolve yourself of sin; will you count for us, O Miswar, what we obtained of reform in the affair of the common good, the good deed being multiplied ten times; or will you count the sins while leaving out the benefit?

He said: only the sins are mentioned.

Mu'awiyah said: we acknowledge to Allah every sin we have committed; do you, O Miswar, have sins in your secret that you fear will ruin you if they are not forgiven?

He said: yes.

He said: Allah will not make you, in the hope of forgiveness, more entitled than I; by Allah, I have not bound myself to reform more than what you obtain; but, by Allah, I am not given to choose between two matters, between Allah and other than Him, without my choosing Allah over everything other than Him; and I am upon a religion in which the deed is accepted, in which one is requited for good deeds, and in which one is requited for sins, except that Allah pardons them.

He said: he refuted me.

'Urwah said: I never heard al-Miswar mention Mu'awiyah without praying for him.

'Amr ibn Waqid: Yunus ibn Maysarah told us: I heard Mu'awiyah say on the pulpit of Damascus:

give the alms, and let none of you say: I am in destitution; the alms of the destitute are more eminent than the alms of the rich.

Ash-Shafi'i: Abd al-Majid informed us, from Ibn Jurayj; 'Utbah ibn Muhammad informed me, Kurayb, the freed slave of Ibn Abbas, informed me:

that he saw Mu'awiyah pray the isha, then perform the witr of a single rak'ah without adding to it; he informed Ibn Abbas; he said: he did well, O my son; there is not among us anyone more learned than Mu'awiyah; it is one, or five, or seven, or more.

Abu al-Yaman: Ibn Abi Maryam told us, from 'Atiyyah ibn Qays, who said:

Mu'awiyah delivered a sermon to us and said: there is in the bayt al-mal of your money a surplus beyond what is given to you; I am the one who shares it among you.

Hisham ibn 'Ammar: 'Amr ibn Waqid told us, from Yunus ibn Hilbas, who said:

I saw Mu'awiyah in the souk of Damascus on a mule; behind him a page riding pillion; he wore a shirt with a patched collar.

Abu Bakr ibn 'Ayyash said: from Abu Ishaq, who said: Mu'awiyah was such, and we have not seen after him his like.

Ibn 'Uyaynah: Ibn Abi Khalid told us, from ash-Sha'bi; I heard Mu'awiyah say:

had Ali not done what he did, and were he in a cave, the people would go to him until they brought him out of it.

Al-'Awwam ibn Hawshab: from Jabalah ibn Suhaym, from Ibn Umar, who said: I have not seen anyone darker than Mu'awiyah.

I say: and not Umar?

He said: Umar was better than he, and Mu'awiyah was darker than he.

And it is reported from Abu Ya'qub, from Ibn Umar, its equivalent.

And Ibn Ishaq reported, from Nafi', from Ibn Umar, its like; his wording: I never saw anyone, after the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, darker than Mu'awiyah.

I say: was he darker than Abu Bakr?

He said: Abu Bakr was better than he, and Mu'awiyah was darker.

I say: was he darker than Umar?..., and the hadith is long.

Ma'mar: from Hammam ibn Munabbih; I heard Ibn Abbas say:

I have not seen a man more fashioned for kingship than Mu'awiyah; the people came to him as toward the confines of a wide valley; he was neither of the tight, nor of the narrow, nor of the brutal, nor of the quick to anger, meaning Ibn az-Zubayr.

Ayyub: from Abu Qilabah:

Ka'b ibn Malik said: none will possess this community as Mu'awiyah possessed it.

Mujalid: from ash-Sha'bi, from Qabisah ibn Jabir; he said:

I frequented Mu'awiyah, and I have not seen a man of heavier clemency, of slower foolishness, and of more distant patience than he.

And it is reported from Mu'awiyah: he said: I fear that there is a sin heavier than my clemency.

Mujalid: from ash-Sha'bi, who said: a man spoke harshly to Mu'awiyah and said: beware of power: its anger is the anger of a child, and its grip is the grip of a lion.

Al-Asma'i: Ibn 'Awn told me; the man would say to Mu'awiyah: by Allah, you will stand upright with us, O Mu'awiyah, or we will set you upright.

He said: with what?

They said: with the sticks.

He said: then I shall stand upright.

From Ibn Abbas, who said: I knew by what Mu'awiyah prevailed over the people: when they flew, he fell, and when they fell, he flew.

Mujalid: from ash-Sha'bi, from Ziyad ibn Abih, who said:

Mu'awiyah never got the better of me in anything except one thing: I had appointed so-and-so, and he had ruined the kharaj; I feared to punish him, and he fled from me to Mu'awiyah.

I wrote to him: here is an education come amiss from my side.

He wrote to me: it is not fitting that we make for the people one single policy: that we both be indulgent, and the people would play in disobedience; nor both severe, and we would drive the people to perdition; but let you be to harshness and ferocity, and let me be to gentleness and familiarity.

Abu Muhrij: from Sa'id ibn Abd al-'Aziz, who said:

Mu'awiyah judged in favor of Aisha eighteen thousand dinars.

And 'Urwah said: Mu'awiyah once sent to Aisha one hundred thousand; and by Allah, she did not pass the evening without having distributed them.

Husayn ibn Waqid: from Ibn Buraydah:

Hasan ibn Ali entered upon Mu'awiyah; he said: I shall give you a gift that none before me has given.

He gave him four hundred thousand.

Jarir: from al-Mughirah, who said:

Hasan and Ibn Ja'far sent to Mu'awiyah to ask him; he gave to each of the two one hundred thousand; this reached Ali; he said to them: have you no shame? A man whose faults are torn open morning and evening, and you ask him for money?

They said: it is that you deprived us of it, and he gave to us generously.

Abu Hilal: from Qatadah:

Mu'awiyah said: what a marvel is Hasan! He drank a gruel of honey with the water of Ruma, and paid its full price.

Then he said to Ibn Abbas: may Allah not make you wretched, and do not grieve over Hasan.

He said: as for what Allah has left me, O Commander of the Believers, Allah will not make me wretched and will not grieve me.

He said: he gave him a million, in counted dirhams and in dinars on the spot.

He said: share it among your family.

Al-'Utbi reported, who said:

it was said to Mu'awiyah: has the white hair pressed upon you?

He said: how otherwise? And I shall not lose a man of the Arabs who stands at my head and casts at me a word that obliges me to answer; if I succeed, I am not praised; and if I err, the news of it spreads afar.

Malik said: Mu'awiyah said: I dyed my white hair for a long time.

He used to say: and he went out to his oratory, and his cloak was carried because of old age.

A man entered upon him, and he was weeping; he said: what makes you weep?

He said: this is what you wished for me.

Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Abi Yazid: from Mujalid, from ash-Sha'bi, who said:

when the paralysis (laqwa) struck Mu'awiyah, he wept; Marwan said to him: what makes you weep?

He said: I reflect on what I was heedless of; my age has grown old, my bone has weakened, my tears have abounded, and they have aimed at my beauty and what appears of me; were it not for my love of Yazid, I would have seen my right way.

Hisham ibn 'Ammar: Abd al-Mu'min ibn Mihlhal told us, a man told me, who said:

Mu'awiyah performed the pilgrimage; he looked into the well of 'Adiyyah, at al-Abwa', and the paralysis struck him; he entered his residence in Makkah, loosened his ihram, and performed the umrah with a black turban on the side not afflicted.

Then he called the people, praised Allah, glorified Him, then said: O people! The son of Adam is exposed to trial: either tried to be rewarded, or punished for a sin, or rehabilitated to be warned; I make no excuse of any of the three: if I am tried, the righteous were tried before me; if I am punished, the guilty were punished before me, and I do not feel safe from being of them; and if a limb of mine falls ill, I do not count my sound ones; and if the matter rested with my soul, I would have with my Lord no more than what He has given me; I am the son of sixty-two; may Allah have mercy on him who asks for me preservation; and by Allah, if a part of your kin has been angered against me, I have been devoted to your common good.

The people cried out, invoking for him, and he wept.

al-Mughirah: from ash-Sha'bi, who said:

the first to deliver a sermon seated was Mu'awiyah, when he grew fat.

Abu al-Malih: from Maymun ibn Mihran, who said:

the first to sit on the pulpit and ask permission of the people was Mu'awiyah; they gave him permission.

And from 'Ubadah ibn Nusayy: Mu'awiyah delivered a sermon to us at as-Sinnabra and said:

three hundred of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, took part with me at Siffin; only I remain of them.

Its chain is weak (layyin).

Yusuf ibn 'Abdah: I heard Ibn Sirin say:

a hemorrhoid (qirra) seized Mu'awiyah; he had light garments made that were thrown over him; he was not long before being wounded by it; when they were lifted, he asked that they be put back on him; he said:

may Allah make you ugly, O abode! I dwelt in you twenty years as emir, and twenty years as caliph, and I have come to what I see.

Az-Zubayr ibn Bakkar said: Mu'awiyah was the first to institute the diwan for the seal, and to ordain the Nawruz and the Mahrajan, and to take alcoves (maqasir) in the mosque, and the first to kill a Muslim slowly (sabr), and the first to have guards at his head, and the first to whom the knees of the condemned were bound before him, and the first to take eunuch servants in Islam, and the first to make the pulpit reach fifteen steps; and he said: I am the first of the kings.

I say: yes.

Safinah indeed reported from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, who said: the caliphate after me will last thirty years, then there will be a kingship (mulk).

The caliphate of the prophethood ended at thirty years, and Mu'awiyah ruled; he exaggerated in show and pomp, and it is rare that a power reach his rank; ah, had he not designated his son Yazid for the affair, and left the community to choose for itself.

Ali ibn 'Asim: from Ibn Jurayj, from al-Hasan ibn Muslim, from Tawus, from Ibn Abbas, who said:

when Mu'awiyah was in the agony of death, he said: I was with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, on as-Safa; a pair of tongs (michqas) was brought to me, I took some of his hair, and it was in such and such a place; when I die, take then this hair, and place it in my mouth and my nostrils.

And it is reported by a chain, from Maymun ibn Mihran, its equivalent.

Muhammad ibn Musaffa: Baqiyyah told us, from Bahir, from Khalid ibn Ma'dan, who said:

al-Miqdad ibn Ma'dikarib, and 'Amr ibn al-Aswad, and a man of the Banu Asad who kept his company, came as a delegation to Mu'awiyah.

Mu'awiyah said to al-Miqdad: Hasan has died.

He made the istirja' (to Allah we belong), and said: do you find that a trial?

He said: and why not? The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, had taken him in his lap and said: this one is of me, and Husayn is of Ali.

He said to the Asadi: what do you say, you?

He said: an ember that has gone out.

al-Miqdad said: I adjure you by Allah! Did you hear the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, forbid the wearing of gold and silk, and the skins of wild beasts and riding upon them?

He said: yes.

He said: by Allah, I saw all of that in your house.

Mu'awiyah said: I knew I would not escape you.

Its chain is strong.

And Mu'awiyah: among the best of kings, whose justice prevailed over his injustice; and he is not free of lapses; may Allah pardon him.

Al-Mada'ini: from Abu 'Ubaydallah, from 'Ubadah ibn Nusayy, who said:

Mu'awiyah delivered a sermon and said: I am of a harvest already reaped; my command over you has grown long to the point that I grew weary of you and you grew weary of me; after me will not come one better than I, just as the one before me was better than I; O Allah, I have loved meeting You, so love meeting me.

Al-Waqidi: Ibn Abi Sabrah told us, from Marwan ibn Abi Sa'id ibn al-Mu'alla, who said:

Mu'awiyah said to Yazid in giving him his counsel: fear Allah; I have made firm the affair for you, and I have ruled what I ruled; if that is a good, I am the most fortunate by it; if it is otherwise, I am wretched by it; be gentle with the people; beware of the hard brow of men of honor, and of pride over them.

And it has been said: Mu'awiyah said to Yazid:

what I fear most is a thing I did for your affair; I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, one day trim his nails and take of his hair; I gathered that; when I die, place it in my mouth and my nose.

Abd al-A'la ibn Maymun ibn Mihran: from his father:

that Mu'awiyah gave his counsel, and said:

I washed the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him; he took off his shirt and clothed me in it; I set it aside and hid a clipping of nails; when I die, dress me in the shirt upon my skin, and make of the clipping a powder in my eye; Allah perhaps will have mercy on me by its blessing.

Humayd ibn Hilal: from Abu Burdah; he said:

I entered upon Mu'awiyah when his wound struck him; he said: come, O son of my brother, and look.

I looked; it had gone through.

Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala' said: when Mu'awiyah was in the agony of death, it was said to him: will you not make a recommendation?

He said: O Allah, lighten the misstep, pardon the fall, and surpass by Your clemency the ignorance of him who hopes in none but You, for behind You there is no way.

And he said:

"it is death; no refuge from death, by Him ... whom we dread, after death, what is sharper and more terrible"

Abu Muhrij said: ad-Dhahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri prayed over Mu'awiyah, and he was buried between the al-Jabiya gate and the as-Saghir gate, according to what has reached me.

Abu 'Ubaydah said: from Abu Ya'qub ath-Thaqafi, from Abd al-Malik ibn 'Umayr, who said:

The death of Mu'awiyah

When Mu'awiyah became heavy (in the agony of death), he said: fill my eyes with ithmid (antimony), and oil my head generously.

They did, and oiled his face; then he was prepared, seated, and propped up.

Then he said: let the people draw near, and let them greet me standing.

The man would enter; it was said to him: he is occupied with what he has to do, and he is the soundest of people.

When they went out, Mu'awiyah said:

"and my endurance before the two mockers, I show them ... that before the vicissitudes of time I do not lament"

"and when death sinks in its claws ... you find every amulet of no effect"

Isma'il ibn Abi Khalid: from Qays, who said:

Mu'awiyah stretched out his two hands like two palm fronds of the palm tree, and said: is the lowly world anything but what we have tasted and tried? By Allah, I would wish to have been buried among you only three (days), then to join Allah.

They said: toward the forgiveness of Allah and His good pleasure.

He said: toward what Allah wills; Allah has known that I have not turned away (to other than Him); and if Allah wills to change, He changes.

And from 'Amr ibn Maymun, who said: Mu'awiyah died, and his son Yazid was at Hawwarin.

Abu Muhrij: Khalid ibn Yazid told us, Sa'id ibn Hurayth told me, who said:

Mu'awiyah died; the people hurried to the mosque; I came; when the day rose, they were weeping in the green esplanade (al-khadra), and his son Yazid was in the badiya (desert); he was the designated heir, and he was with his maternal uncles the Banu Kalb; he arrived in their garb; we received him, and he was on a Bactrian (bukhti) with a zal (water conduit).

He was saying: he had neither turban, nor sword; he was of great body, fat; he walked toward