وَمِنۡ خُطۡبَةٍ لَهُ عَلَيۡهِ السَّلَامُ
From one of his sermons
خَطَبَهَا عِنۡدَ عِلۡمِهِ بِغَزۡوَةِ النُّعۡمَانِ بۡنِ بَشِيرٍ صَاحِبِ مُعَاوِيَةَ لِعَيۡنِ التَّمۡرِ
وَفِيهَا يُبۡدِي عُذۡرَهُ وَيَسۡتَنۡهِضُ النَّاسَ لِنُصۡرَتِهِ
مُنِيتُ بِمَنۡ لَا يُطِيعُ إِذَا أَمَرۡتُ، وَلَا يُجِيبُ إِذَا دَعَوۡتُ، لَا أَبَا لَكُمۡ! مَا تَنۡتَظِرُونَ بِنَصۡرِكُمۡ رَبَّكُمۡ؟ أَمَا دِينٌ يَجۡمَعُكُمۡ، وَلَا حَمِيَّةَ تُحۡمِشُكُمۡ؟!
I am faced with men who do not obey when I order, and do not respond when I call them. May you have no father! (Woe to you!) What are you waiting for to rise for the cause of Allah? Does not faith join you together, or sense of shame rouse you?
أَقُومُ فِيكُمۡ مُسۡتَصۡرِخاً، وَأُنَادِيكُمۡ مُتَغَوِّثاً، فَلَا تَسۡمَعُونَ لِي قَوۡلًا، وَلَا تُطِيعُونَ لِي أَمۡراً، حَتَّى تَكَشَّفَ الۡأُمُورُ عَنۡ عَوَاقِبِ الۡمَسَاءَةِ، فَمَا يُدۡرَكُ بِكُمۡ ثَارٌ، وَلَا يُبۡلَغُ بِكُمۡ مَرَامٌ، دَعَوۡتُكُمۡ إِلَى نَصۡرِ إِخۡوَانِكُمۡ فَجَرۡجَرۡتُمۡ جَرۡجَرَةَ الۡجَمَلِ الۡأَسَرِّ، وَتَثَاقَلۡتُمۡ تَثَاقُلَ النِّضۡوِ الۡأَدۡبَرِ، ثُمَّ خَرَجَ إِلَيَّ مِنۡكُمۡ جُنَيۡدٌ مُتَذَائِبٌ ضَعِيفٌ، ﴿كَأَنَّمَا يُسَاقُونَ إِلَى ٱلۡمَوۡتِ وَهُمۡ يَنظُرُونَ﴾.
I stand among you shouting, and I am calling you for help, but you do not listen to my words and do not obey my orders, till circumstance show out their evil consequences. No blood can be avenged through you, and no purpose can be achieved with you. I called you for help of your brethren, but you made noises like the camel having pain in stomach, and became loose like the camel with a thin back. Then a wavering, weak contingent came to me from amongst you, “as if they are being led to death and they are only watching.” [1] (Qurʾān, 8:6)
[قَالَ السَّيِّدُ الشَّرِيفُ:] أَقُولُ، قَوۡلُهُ عَلَيۡهِ السَّلَامُ: «مُتَذَائِبٌ» أَيۡ مُضۡطَرِبٌ، مِنۡ قَوۡلِهِمۡ: تَذَاءَبَتِ الرِّيحُ، أَيۡ اضۡطَرَبَ هُبُوبُهَا، وَمِنۡهُ سُمِّيَ الذِّئۡبُ ذِئۡبًا، لِاضۡطِرَابِ مِشۡيَتِهِ.
as-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: Amīr al-Muʾminīn’s word “mutadhāʾib” means “muḍṭarib” (i.e. moved or troubled), as they say “tadhāʾabat ar-rīḥ” (i.e. the winds blow in troubled manner). Similarly the wolf is called “dhiʾb” because of its trouble movement.
Notes:
[1] Muʿāwiyah sent a contingent of two thousand soldiers under an-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr to assault ʿAyn at-Tamr. This place was a defence base of Amīr al-Muʾminīn near Kūfah, whose incharge was Mālik ibn Kaʿb al-Arḥabī. Although there were a thousand combatants under him, but at the moment only hundred men were present there. When Mālik noticed the offensive force advancing, he wrote to Amīr al-Muʾminīn for help. When Amīr al-Muʾminīn received the message, he asked the people for help, but only three hundred men got ready, as a result of which Amīr al-Muʾminīn was much disgusted and delivered this sermon in their admonition.
When Amīr al-Muʾminīn reached his house after delivering the sermon, ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim aṭ-Ṭāʾī came and said, “O Amīr al-Muʾminīn, a thousand men of Banū Ṭayy are under me. If you say, I shall send them off.” Amīr al-Muʾminīn said, “It does not look nice that people of one tribe only should meet the enemy. You prepare your force in the Valley of an-Nukhaylah.” Accordingly, he went there and called people to jihād; when, besides Banū Ṭayy, one thousand other combatants also assembled. They were still preparing to set off when word reached from Mālik ibn Kaʿb that there was no need for help as he had repulsed the enemy.
The reason of this was that Mālik had sent off ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥawlah al-Azdī hastily to Qaraẓah ibn Kaʿb al-Anṣārī and Mikhnaf ibn Sulaym al-Azdī, so that if there was delay in the arrival of support from Kūfah, he could get help from here in time. ʿAbd Allāh went to both, but got no help from Qaraẓah. However, Mikhnaf ibn Sulaym got ready fifty persons under ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Mikhnaf, and they reached there near evening. Up to that time, the two thousand men of the enemy had not been able to subdue the hundred men of Mālik. When an-Nuʿmān saw these fifty men, he thought that their forces had started coming in, so he fled away from the battlefield. Even in their retreat, Mālik attacked them from rear and killed three of their men.
[1] Muʿāwiyah sent a contingent of two thousand soldiers under an-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr to assault ʿAyn at-Tamr. This place was a defence base of Amīr al-Muʾminīn near Kūfah, whose incharge was Mālik ibn Kaʿb al-Arḥabī. Although there were a thousand combatants under him, but at the moment only hundred men were present there. When Mālik noticed the offensive force advancing, he wrote to Amīr al-Muʾminīn for help. When Amīr al-Muʾminīn received the message, he asked the people for help, but only three hundred men got ready, as a result of which Amīr al-Muʾminīn was much disgusted and delivered this sermon in their admonition.
When Amīr al-Muʾminīn reached his house after delivering the sermon, ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim aṭ-Ṭāʾī came and said, “O Amīr al-Muʾminīn, a thousand men of Banū Ṭayy are under me. If you say, I shall send them off.” Amīr al-Muʾminīn said, “It does not look nice that people of one tribe only should meet the enemy. You prepare your force in the Valley of an-Nukhaylah.” Accordingly, he went there and called people to jihād; when, besides Banū Ṭayy, one thousand other combatants also assembled. They were still preparing to set off when word reached from Mālik ibn Kaʿb that there was no need for help as he had repulsed the enemy.
The reason of this was that Mālik had sent off ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥawlah al-Azdī hastily to Qaraẓah ibn Kaʿb al-Anṣārī and Mikhnaf ibn Sulaym al-Azdī, so that if there was delay in the arrival of support from Kūfah, he could get help from here in time. ʿAbd Allāh went to both, but got no help from Qaraẓah. However, Mikhnaf ibn Sulaym got ready fifty persons under ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Mikhnaf, and they reached there near evening. Up to that time, the two thousand men of the enemy had not been able to subdue the hundred men of Mālik. When an-Nuʿmān saw these fifty men, he thought that their forces had started coming in, so he fled away from the battlefield. Even in their retreat, Mālik attacked them from rear and killed three of their men.
