In disparagement of those who shrink from fighting
I am faced with men who do not obey when I order and do not respond when I call them. May you have no father1 (Woe to you!) What are you waiting for to rise in the cause of Allah? Does not faith join you together, or sense of shame rouse you? I stand among you shouting and I am calling you for help, but you do not listen to my word, and do not obey my orders, till circumstances show their bad consequences. No blood can be avenged through you and no purpose can be achieved with you. I called you to help your brethren but (instead) you made noises like the camel having pain in the stomach, and became loose like the camel with a thin back. Then a wavering weak contingent came to me from among you: A as if they are being led to death and they are only watching.1 (Holy Qur’an, 8:6)
Sayyid ar-Radhi says the following: Amir al-Mu’minin’s word A mutadha’ib means A mudtarib (i.e. moved or troubled), as they say A tadha’ abat ar-rih (i.e. The winds blow in troubled manner). Similarly the wolf is called A dhi’b because of its troubled movement.
1. Mu’awiyah sent a contingent of two thousand soldiers under an-Nu’man ibn Bashir to assault A Aynu’t-Tamr. This place was a defence base of Amir al-Mu’minin near Kufa in which Malik ibn Ka’b al-Arhabi was in charge. Although there were a thousand combatants under him, at that moment, only a hundred men were present. When Malik noticed the offensive force advancing, he wrote to Amir al-Mu’minin for help. When Amir al-Mu’minin received the message he asked the people for his help but only three hundred men got ready. As a result Amir al-Mu’minin was much disgusted and delivered this sermon in their admonition. When Amir al-Mu’minin reached his house after delivering Thesermon, A Adi ibn Hatim at-Ta’i came and said, A O Amir a-Mu’minin a thousand men of Banu Tayyi’ are under me. If you say I shall send them off. Amir al-Mu’minin said, A It does not look good that people of only one tribe should meet the enemy. You prepare your force in the Valley of an-Nukhayla. Accordingly, he went there and called people to jihad, where, besides Banu Tay, one thousand other combatants also assembled. They were still preparing to set off when word reached from Malik ibn Ka’b that there was no need for help as he had repulsed the enemy.
Thereason for this was that Malik had hastily sent A Abdullah ibn Hawalah al-Azdi off to Qarazah ibn Ka’b al-Ansari and Mikhnaf ibn Sulaym al-Azdi, so that if there was delay in the arrival of support from Kufa he could get help from here in time. A Abdullah went to both, but got no help from Qarazah. However, Mikhnaf ibn Sulaym had gotten fifty persons ready under A Abd ar-Rahman ibn Mikhnaf and they arrived near evening. Until that time, the two thousand men (of the enemy) had not been able to subdue the hundred men of Malik. When an-Nu’man saw these fifty men he thought that their forces had started coming in so he fled from the battlefield. Even in their retreat, Malik attacked them from rear and killed three of their men.
