Hadith 59

(The book) ‘Al Amaali’ of the sheykh Al Tusi – Al-Husayn Bin Ali Al Tammar, from Muhammad Bin Al Qasim Al Anbari, from his father, from Ali Bin Al-Hassan Al Araby, from Ali Bin Amrous, from Hisham Bin Al Sa’ib, from his father who said, ‘One day Muawiya addressed the people in the Masjid of Damascus, and in the congregation on that day there were scholar of Quraysh from the delegations, and speakers of Rabie, and their circles, and the chiefs of Al-Yemen and their kings. Muawiya said, ‘Allah-azwj the Exalted Honoured His-azwj caliphs and obligated the Paradise for them and Saved them from the Fire! Then He-azwj Made me to be from them and Made the people of Syria to be my helpers, the impeders from the Prohibitions of Allah-azwj, the assisters with the victories of Allah-azwj, the Helped against the enemies of Allah-azwj! ’
He (the narrator) said, ‘And among the congregation, from the people of Al-Iraq, there were Al-Ahnaf Bin Qays, and Sa’saa Bin Sowhan. Al-Ahnaf said to Sa’saa, ‘Will you suffice me, or shall I stand up to him? ’ Sa’saa said to Al-Ahnaf, ‘But I shall suffice you’. Then Sa’saa stood up and said, ‘O son of Abu Sufyan! You have spoken and have delivered, and you were not deficient below what you wanted, and how can what you said happen to be (true), and you have overcome upon us forcibly, and ruled us coercively, and suppressed us without right, and seized with the means of merits upon us. As for the people of Al-Syria applauding you, so I have not seen anyone more obedient to a Created being and more disobeying to the Creator, than them. A group from them have sold their religion and their bodies for the wealth. So, if you were to give them, they would be protective upon you and help you, and if you were to prevent them, they would sit back from you and reject you’. Muawiya said, ‘Be quiet, son of Sowhan! By Allah-azwj! Had it not been for me swallowing the gulp of rage at all as it is superior to forbearing and more praise-worthy than benevolence particularly in refraining from the likes of you, and the probability to impede you, you would not have returned to your words’. So, Sa’saa sat down. Muawiya prosed (a couplet) saying, ‘I accepted their ignorance by leniency and honouring, and the leniency from having power is superior to the benevolence’’. [92]