Al Anfāl

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا لَقِيتُمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا زَحْفًا فَلَا تُوَلُّوهُمُ الْأَدْبَارَ

15 . “O’ you who have Faith! when you meet those who disbelieve (to attack) in battle, then do not turn your backs to them.”

The Arabic word /zahf/ means: ‘to crawl, creep’ and ‘to drug on the ground. Since the movement and advance of a large army from the distance seems that it crawls and proceeds, it is called such. The abundance of the forces of the enemy cannot be taken is an allowance to flee from the battle-field. The verse says:

Imam Rida (as), upon the philosophy of the banning of escape (from the battle-field), in a tradition has said:

“Flight is the weakness of religion, contempt of the leader of the Truth, encouraging the enemy, and wiping out the school of law.” ¹

Among the advantages that Ali-ibn-Abitalib (as) had, and to which as an example he himself sometimes referred, was the very matter of flight from the battle-field. He has said:

“Verily I have never fled from (the abundance of enemy in) any battle (although I have participated in many battle-fields), and none combated me save that I satiated the earth from his blood.”