In reply to Mu'awiyah, and it is one ot his most elegant writings

o Him (alone) do I turn. (Qur'an, 11: 88) You have mentioned that for me and for my followers you have only the sword. This makes even a weeping person laugh. Did you ever see the descendants of 'Abd al-Muttalib running away from battle, or being frightened by swords? "Wait a little till Hamal5joins the battle" shortly, then he whom you are seeking will seek you and he whom you think to be far away will approach near you. I am (shortly) speeding towards you with a force of Muhajirun and Ansar and those who follow them in virtue. Their number will be great and their dust will spread all round. They will be wearing their shrouds and their most coveted desire is to meet Allah. They will be accompanied by the descendants of those who took part in the battle of Badr, and they will have Hashimite swords whose cut you have already seen in the case of your brother, maternal uncle, your grandfather and your kinsmen. Nor are they far distant from the unjust ones. (Qur'an, 11: 83) In Abu Umamah's letter, Mu'awiyah had mentioned the deputation of the Prophet and his ascension to the position of revelation and wrote in such a manner as though it was a matter not known to or not understood by Amir al-mu'minin and that he was in need of being informed and told of it. This is just like a stranger who may draw the map of a house for the guidance of those who dwell in it and apprise them of things already known to them. That is why Amir al-mu'minin has compared him to the man who carried dates to Hajar which was itself noted for abundant growth of dates. This is a proverb employed when someone beings to tell a person matters which he already knows better. The basis of this proverb is that a man of Hajar, which is a town near Bahrain (Persian Gulf), went to Basrah to sell goods and make purchases. After finishing the sale, he looked about the market to make his purchases and found nothing cheaper than dates. He therefore decided to purchase dates, and when he reached Hajar with his load of dates their plenty and cheapness there did not leave him any alternative but to store them so as to sell them later when their price had risen. The price however continued to fall day by day till all of them became rotten leaving to him nothing except their stones. In short, after referring to the Prophet's ascension to prohphethood Mu'awiyah recounted the distinction and merits of the three Caliphs according to his view and wrote: The most distinguished among the companions and the highest ranking in the view of the Muslims was the first Caliph who collected all the Muslims under one voice, removed their disunity and fought those who were forsaking Islam. After him is the second Caliph who won victories, founded cities and humiliated the unbelievers. Then comes the third Caliph who was the victim of oppression. He propagated religion and spread the word of Allah far and wide. (Siffin, al-Minqari, pp. 86-87; al-'Iqd al-farid, vol. 4, pp. 334-335; Sharh Nahjul Balaghah al-balaghah, vol. 15, p. 186)Mu'awiyah's purpose behind in bringing up these pointless warblings was to injur Amir al-mu'minin's feelings and to rouse his temper so as to make him produce such words through his tongue or pen which would so disparage the caliphs that he would instigate the people of Syria and Iraq against him by exploiting them. In fact, he had already set it in the minds of these people that Amir al-mu'minin had instigated the people against 'Uthman, had got Talhah and az-Zubayr killed, had turned 'A'ishah out from her house and had shed the blood of thousands of Muslims. Being unaware of the real facts they were convinced of these beseless allegations, yet to strengthen the opposition, he thought it advisable to make them believe that Amir al-mu'minin did not recognize the achievements of the three caliphs and bore enmity and malice towards them, and to produce Amir al-mu'minin's writing in evidence, and also to use it for rousing the people of Iraq, because their majority was much impressed with the environment created by the caliphs and with their greatness. But Amir al-mu'minin guessed his intention and gave him such a reply which put a knot in his tongue and which he could not dare show to anyone. So, Amir al-mu'minin exposed his lowness by referring to his enmity towards Islam and his accepting subjugation under force, and advised him to keep within his bounds, and warned him against fixing grades of distinction among those muhajirun who were in any case superior to him in so far as they had been the preceders in hijrah (immigration from Mecca). Whereas since Mu'awiyah himself was only one of those whose life had been spared (on the day of fall of Mecca), he had not the remotest connection with the muhajirun. Consequently, in the matter under discussion Amir al-mu'minin has put Mu'awiyah's position as that of a false arrow among real arrows. This is a proverb which is employed when a man boasts over persons with whom he has no connection. As regards his statement that so - and - so is greater in distinction, Amir al-mu'minin has, by using the word "you think", shown that it is his personal opinion which has not the remotest connection with fact, because this word is used when a false or unreal statement is made. After refuting this claim of being the most distinguished, Amir al-mu'minin has referred to these qualities and distinctions of Banu Hashim which show conspicuously the high degree of their attainments. Thus, the people who took part in jihad with the Prophet and secured martyrdom attained high positions but the distinction that fell to Hamzah by virtue of his high performance was not secured by anyone else. The Prophet gave him the title of Master of the Martyrs and said his funeral prayer fourteen times whereby the number of takbir (Allahu akbar) r