When Amir al-Mu’minin showed his intention to fight the
Kharijites he was told they had crossed the bridge of Nahrawan and gone over to the other side. Amir al-Mu’minin said:
Their falling place is on this side of the river. By Allah, not even ten of them will survive while from your side not even ten will be killed.1
Sayyid ar-Radhi says the following: In this sermon A nutfa implies the River Euphrates, and for water this is the nicest expression even though water may be much.
1. This prophecy cannot be attributed to wit and far- sightedness. Far-sighted eyes may forecast victory or defeat and preconceive the outcome of war but to tell about the actual figures of the killed on either side is beyond their capacity. This can be done only by one who can unveil the unknown future and see the coming scene with his eyes and who sees the sketches yet to appear on the , p. of the future with the help of the light of knowledge possessed by him as Imam. Consequently, events occurred according to what this inheritor of Prophet’s knowledge had said, and from among the Kharijites all except nine persons were killed. Two of them fled to A Uman, two to Sajistan, two to Kirman and two to Jazira while one escaped to Tall Mawzan. Of Amir al-Mu’minin’s party only eight men fell as martyrs.
