شَتّانَ ما يَومي عَاى كُوْرِها *** و يَوْمُ حَيَّانَ أخي جابِرِ
[3] Hayyãn ibn as-Samin al-Hanafi of Yamãmah was the chief of the tribe Banu Hanifah and the master of fort and army. Jãbir is the name of his younger brother while al-A‘sha whose real name was Maymun ibn Qays ibn Jandal enjoyed the position of being his bosom friend and led decent happy life through his bounty. In this verse he has compared his current life with the previous one that is the days when he roamed about in search of livelihood and those when he led a happy life in Hayyan’s company. Generally Amīr al-mu’minīn’s quoting of this verse has been taken to compare this troubled period with the peaceful days passed under the care and protection of the Prophet when he was free from all sorts of troubles and enjoyed mental peace. But taking into account the occasion for making this comparison and the subject matter of the verse it would not be far fetched if it is taken to indicate the difference between the unimportant position of those in power during the Prophet’s life time and the authority and power enjoyed by them after him, that is, at one time in the days of the Prophet no heed was paid to them because of `Ali’s personality but now the time had so changed that the same people were masters of the affairs of the Muslim world.
