Usurpation of the caliphate from him

[1] This is a hemistich from the couplet of the famous Arab poet Imriu’l-Qays al-Kindī. The second hemistich is: And let me know the story of what happened to the riding camels. The incident behind this couplet is that when the father of Imriu’l-Qays namely Ḥujr ibn al-Ḥārith was killed, he roamed about the various Arab tribes to avenge his father’s life with their help. In this connection he stayed with a man of Jadīlah (tribe) but finding himself unsafe left that place, and stayed with Khālid ibn Sadūs an-Nabhānī. In the meantime a man of Jadīlah named Bā‘ith ibn Ḥuwayṣ drove away some of his camels. Imriu’l-Qays complained of this matter to his host and he asked him to send with him his she-camels then he would get back his camels. Consequently Khālid went to those people and asked them to return the camels of his guest which they had robbed. They said that he was neither a guest nor under his protection. Thereupon Khālid swore that he was really his guest and showed them his she-camels that he had with him. They then agreed to return the camels. But actually instead of returning the camels they drove away the she-camels as well. One version is that they did return the camels to Khālid but instead of handling them over to Imriu’l-Qays he kept them for himself. When Imriu’1-Qays came to know this he composed a few couplets out of which this is one. It means ‘now you leave the story of these camels which were robbed but now let me know about the she-camels snatched from my hands.’ Amīr al-mu’minīn’s intention in quoting this verse as an illustration is that “Now that Mu‘āwiyah is at war, we should talk about it and should leave the discussion about the devastation engendered by those who had usurped my rights. That time has gone away. Now is the time for grappling with the mischiefs of the hour. So discuss the event of the moment and do not start untimely strain.” Amīr al-mu’minīn said this because the man had put the question to him at the time of the battle of Ṣiffīn, when the battle was raging and bloodshed was in full swing.