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CHAPTER XXXVII
BATTLE OF SIFFIN
36-37 A.H. / 657 A.D.
Mu'awiya's defiant reply to 'Ali, viii. 36 A.H. Jan., 657 AD.
AFTER 'Ali had established himself at Al-Kufa, 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; Mu'awiya was known to entertain friendly sentiments. Him, therefore, 'Ali deputed to Damascus with a letter wherein, after making mention of his election to the Caliphate, and the discomfiture of the enemy at Al-Basra, he called on Mu'awiya 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 'Othman'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 Mu'awiya thus hopelessly alienated, 'Ali, 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 259
western bank of the Euphrates, but meeting with opposition there, was forced to cross back again into Mesopotamia.
'Ali invades northern Syria, xi, 36 A.H. April, 657 A.D.
'Ali himself, with the main body, marched up the Tigris; then turning 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-Rakka An unfriendly population lined the banks; and it was not without sanguinary threats that Al-Ashtar forced them to construct a bridge. The army crossed near Ar-Rakka; and then marching some little distance along the right bank, in the direction of Aleppo, met the Syrian outposts.1
Mu'awiya meets 'Ali on the field of Siffin.
On learning of 'Ali's approach, Mu'awiya 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. 'Amr was in command, with his two sons as lieutenants. 'Ali, 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, having 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, 'Ali found Mu'awiya 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 Mu'awiya was forced to change his ground, and occupy the memorable field of Siffin.2 Some
1 When the people refused to throw a bridge of boats over the river at Ar-Rakka, a detachment moved further 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-Rakka. Ar-Rakka (Nicephorium) is at the junction of the Balikh with the Euphrates, near where the river, having approached Aleppo, trends thereafter eastward. The outposts met at Sur ar-Rum, now in ruins, a little to the west of Ar-Rakka. It lies near Thapsacus of the ancients on the line of Cyrus' march.
2 Siffin lay to the west of Ar-Rakka, half-way to Balis (one of Chesney's steamer stations), and about 100 miles from the coast; south-east of Aleppo, and north-east of Hims. 260