إلى معاوية

[5] This prophecy of Amīr al-mu’minīn is about the battle of Ṣiffīn. Herein he has depicted the whole picture in very few words. Thus, on one side Mu‘āwiyah was bewildered on account of the attacks of the Iraqis and was thinking to run away, and on the other, his army was crying under the constant onslaught of death, and, eventually, when there was no way of escape, they raised the Qur’ān on spears and shouted for peace. By this device, the remaining persons saved their lives. “This prophecy” as Ibn Abi’l-Ḥadīd al-Mu‘tazilī says, “is either true prophetic keen eye of Amīr al-mu’minīn which is really a significant power, or it is an information through knowledge of the unknown (‘ilmu ’l-ghayb) which is too most significant and wonderful. However, both cases are in the state of extreme significance and wonderfulness.” Ibn Abi’l-Ḥadīd has further quoted the same prophecy from other letters of Amīr al-mu’minīn to Mu‘āwiyah. (Sharḥ Nahj al-balāghah, vol.15, pp.83-85) This prophecy cannot be attributed to imagination, guessing or the drawing of inference from events, nor can these details be ascertained by wit or far-reaching intelligence. Only he can disclose them whose source of information is either the Prophet’s own revelation-bearing tongue or Divine inspiration.