في الذين اعتذروا وقت الجهاد

[1] After the battle of Nahrawān, Mu‘āwiyah sent aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays al-Fihrī with a force of four thousand towards Kūfah with the purpose that he should create disorder in this area, kill whomever he finds and keep busy in bloodshed and destructing so that Amīr al-mu’minīn should find no rest or peace of mind. He set off for the achievement of this aim, and shedding innocent blood and spreading destruction all round reached upto the place of ath-Tha‘labiyyah. Here he attacked a caravan of pilgrims (to Mecca) and looted all their wealth and belongings. Then at al-Qutqutanah he killed the nephew of ‘Abdullāh ibn Masud, the Holy Prophet's companion, namely ‘Amr ibn ‘Uways ibn Masud together with his followers. In this manner he created havoc and bloodshed all round. When Amīr al-mu’minīn came to know of this wreck and ruin he called his men to battle in order to put a stop to this vandalism, but people seemed to avoid war. Being disgusted with their lethargy and lack of enthusiasm he ascended the pulpit and delivered this sermon, wherein he has roused the men to feel shame and not to try to avoid war but to rise for the protection of their country like brave men without employing wrong and lame excuses. At last Ḥujr ibn ‘Adī al-Kindī rose with a force of four thousand for crushing the enemy and overtook him at Tadmur. Only a small encounter has taken place between the parties when night came on and he fled away with only nineteen killed on his side. In Amīr al-mu’minīn’s army also two persons fell as martyrs.