وَمِنۡ كَلَامٍ لَهُ عَلَيۡهِ السَّلَامُ
From one of his statements
كَلَّمَ بِهِ الۡخَوَارِجَ
Addressing the Khārijites, Amīr al-Muʾminīn said:
حِينَ اعۡتَزَلُوا الۡحُكُومَةَ وَتَنَادَوۡا: أَنۡ لَا حُكۡمَ إِلَّا لِلّٰهِ
أَصَابَكُمۡ حَاصِبٌ، وَلَا بَقِيَ مِنۡكُمۡ آبِرٌ [في بعض النسخ: آثِرٌ]، أَبَعۡدَ إِيمَانِي بِاللهِ وَجِهَادِي مَعَ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلّٰى اللّٰهُ عَلَيۡهِ وَآلِهِ أَشۡهَدُ عَلَى نَفۡسِي بِالۡكُفۡرِ! لَقَدۡ ضَلَلۡتُ إِذًا وَمَآ أَنَا۠ مِنَ ٱلۡمُهۡتَدِينَ! فَأُوبُوا شَرَّ مَآبٍ، وَارۡجِعُوا عَلَى أَثَرِ الۡأَعۡقَابِ، أَمَا إِنَّكُمۡ سَتَلۡقَوۡنَ بَعۡدِي ذُلًّا شَامِلًا، وَسَيۡفاً قَاطِعاً، وَأَثَرَةً يَتَّخِذُهَا الظَّالِمُونَ فِيكُمۡ سُنَّةً.
Storm may overtake you while there may be none to prick you (for reforms). Shall I be witness to my becoming heretic after acceptance of faith and fighting in the company of the Prophet?! “In that case I shall be misguided and I shall not be on the right path.” (Qurʾān, 6:56). So you should return to your evil places, and get back on the traces of your heels. Beware! Certainly, you will meet, after me, overwhelming disgrace and sharp sword and tradition that will be adopted by the oppressors as a norm towards you. [1]
[قال الشريف]: قَوۡلُهُ عَلَيۡهِ السَّلَامُ: «وَلَا بَقِيَ مِنۡكُمۡ آبِرٌ» يُرۡوَى [وزاد في بعض النسخ: عَلَىٰ ثَلَاثَةِ أَوۡجُهٍ: أَحَدُهَا أَنۡ يَكُونَ كَمَا ذَكَرۡنَاهُ: «آبِرٌ»] بِالرَّاءِ [في بعض النسخ: بِالۡبَاءِ وَالرَّاءِ]، مِنۡ قَوۡلِهِمۡ: «رَجُلٌ آبِرٌ»؛ لِلَّذِي يَأۡبُرُ النَّخۡلَ، أَيۡ: يُصۡلِحُهُ. وَيُرۡوَى: «آثِرٌ»، يُرَادُ بِهِ [في بعض النسخ: وَهُوَ]: الَّذِي يَأۡثُرُ الۡحَدِيثَ، أَيۡ: يَرۡوِيهِ وَيَحۡكِيهِ [في بعض النسخ: يَحۡكِيهِ وَيَرۡوِيهِ]، وَهُوَ أَصَحُّ الۡوُجُوهِ عِنۡدِي، كَأَنَّهُ عَلَيۡهِ السَّلَامُ قَالَ: «لَا بَقِيَ مِنۡكُمۡ مُخۡبِرٌ»! وَيُرۡوَى: «آبِزٌ» بِالزَّايِ مُعۡجَمَةً وَهُوَ: الۡوَاثِبُ، وَالۡهَالِكُ أَيۡضًا يُقَالُ لَهُ: «آبِزٌ».
as-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: In the words “walā baqiya minkum ābirun” used by Amīr al-Muʾminīn, the “ābir” has been related with “bāʾ” and “rāʾ”, and it has been taken from the Arab saying “rajulun ābirun”, which means the man who prunes the date-palm trees and improves them. In one version the word is “āthir”, and its meaning is “relator of news.” In my view, this is more appropriate, as though Amīr al-Muʾminīn intends to say that there should remain none to carry news. In one version the word appears as “ābiz”, with “zāy”, which means one who leaps. One who dies is also called “ābiz.”
Notes:
[1] History corroborates that after Amīr al-Muʾminīn, the Khārijites had to face all sorts of ignominy and disgrace, and wherever they raised their heads for creating trouble they were met with swords and spears. Thus Ziyād ibn Abīhi, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād, al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf, Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr, and al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufrah left no stone unturned in annihilating them from the surface of the globe; particularly, al-Muhallab chased them for nineteen years, routed them thoroughly and rested only after completing their destruction.
aṭ-Ṭabarī writes that when ten thousand Khārijites collected in Sillā wa Sillibrā (the name of a mountain in Ahwāz), then al-Muhallab faced them so steadfastly that he killed seven thousand Khārijites, while the remaining three thousand fled towards Kirmān for life. But when the Governor of Persia, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, noticed their rebellious activities, he surrounded them in Sābūr and killed a good number of them there and then. Those who remained again fled to Iṣfahān and Kirmān. From there they again formed a contingent and advanced towards Kūfah via Baṣrah. al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Rabīʿah al-Makhzūmī and ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Mikhnaf al-Azdī stood up with six thousand combatants to stop their advance, and turned them out of Iraq’s boundaries. In this way, successive encounters completely trampled their military power and, turning them out of cities, compelled them to roam about in the deserts. Afterwards also, when they rose in the form of groups, they were crushed. (at-Tārīkh, vol. 2, pp. 580—591; Ibn al-Athīr, vol. 4, pp. 196—206).
[1] History corroborates that after Amīr al-Muʾminīn, the Khārijites had to face all sorts of ignominy and disgrace, and wherever they raised their heads for creating trouble they were met with swords and spears. Thus Ziyād ibn Abīhi, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād, al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf, Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr, and al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufrah left no stone unturned in annihilating them from the surface of the globe; particularly, al-Muhallab chased them for nineteen years, routed them thoroughly and rested only after completing their destruction.
aṭ-Ṭabarī writes that when ten thousand Khārijites collected in Sillā wa Sillibrā (the name of a mountain in Ahwāz), then al-Muhallab faced them so steadfastly that he killed seven thousand Khārijites, while the remaining three thousand fled towards Kirmān for life. But when the Governor of Persia, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, noticed their rebellious activities, he surrounded them in Sābūr and killed a good number of them there and then. Those who remained again fled to Iṣfahān and Kirmān. From there they again formed a contingent and advanced towards Kūfah via Baṣrah. al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Rabīʿah al-Makhzūmī and ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Mikhnaf al-Azdī stood up with six thousand combatants to stop their advance, and turned them out of Iraq’s boundaries. In this way, successive encounters completely trampled their military power and, turning them out of cities, compelled them to roam about in the deserts. Afterwards also, when they rose in the form of groups, they were crushed. (at-Tārīkh, vol. 2, pp. 580—591; Ibn al-Athīr, vol. 4, pp. 196—206).
