About steadiness in the battle field
In the company of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. and His Household) of Allah we used to fight our parents, sons, brothers and uncles. This continued us in our faith, in submission, in our following the right path, in endurance over the pangs of pain and in our fight against the enemy. A man from our side and one from the enemy would pounce upon each other like energetic men contesting as to who would kill the other; sometimes our man gets over his adversary and sometimes the enemy’s man gets over ours.
When Allah had observed our truth He sent ignominy to our foe and sent His succor to us till Islam was established (like the camel) with its neck on the ground and resting in its place. By my life, if we had also behaved like you, no pillar of (our) religion could have been raised, nor the tree of faith could have borne leaves. By Allah, certainly you will now milk our blood (instead of milk) and eventually you will face shame.1
1. After Muhammed ibn Abu Bakr had been killed, Mu’awiyah sent A Abdullah ibn A Amir al-Hadrami to Basra to exhort the people of Basra to avenge A Othman’s blood because the natural inclination of most of the inhabitants of Basra and particularly Banu Tamim was towards A Othman. Consequently, he stayed with Banu Tamim. This was the time when A Abdullah ibn A Abbas, the governor of Basra had gone to Kufa for condolence about Muhammed ibn Abu Bakr, leaving Ziyad ibn A Ubayd (Abih) as his substitute. When the atmosphere in Basra began to deteriorate, Ziyad informed Amir al-Mu’minin of all the facts. Amir al-Mu’minin tried to get Banu Tamim of Kufa ready but they kept complete silence and gave no reply. When Amir al-Mu’minin saw this weakness and shamelessness on their part he said, A During the days of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. and His Household) we did not see whether those killed at our hands were our kith and kin, but whoever collided with Right, we were prepared to collide with him. If we too had acted carelessly or been guilty of inaction like you then neither religion could have taken root nor could Islam prosper. The result of this shaking was that A’yan ibn Dabi’ah al-Mujashi’i prepared himself but on reaching Basra he was killed by the swords of the enemy. Thereafter, Amir al-Mu’minin sent off Jariyah ibn Qudamah as-Sa`di with fifty men of Banu Tamim. First he tried his best to canvass his own tribe but instead of following the right path they stooped to abusing and fighting. Then Jariyah called Ziyad and the tribe of Azd for his help. Soon upon their arrival ( A Abdullah) ibn al-Hadrami also came out with his men. Swords were used from both sides for some time but eventually ibn al-Hadrami fled with seventy persons and took refuge in the house of Sabil as-Sa`di. When Jariyah saw no other way he set the house on fire. When the flames arose, they came out in search of safety but could not succeed in running away. Some of them were crushed to death under the wall while others were killed.
