ومن كتاب له (عليه السلام) إلى عمرو بن العاص
To ‘Amr ibn al-‘Āṣ
فَإِنَّكَ قَدْ جَعَلْتَ دِينَكَ تَبْعاً لِدُنْيَا امْرِئٍ ظَاهِرٍ غَيُّهُ، مَهْتُوكٍ سِتْرُهُ، يَشِينُ الْكَرِيمَ بِمَجْلِسِهِ، وَيُسَفِّهُ الْحَلِيمَ بِخِلْطَتِهِ، فَاتَّبَعْتَ أَثَرَهُ، وَطَلَبْتَ فَضْلَهُ، اتِّبَاعَ الْكَلْبِ لِلضِّرْغَامِ، يَلُوذُ إلَى مَخَالِبِهِ [يَلُوذُ بِمَخَالِبِهِ]، وَيَنْتَظِرُ مَا يُلْقَى إِلَيْهِ مِنْ فَضْلِ فَرِيسَتِهِ، فَأَذْهَبْتَ دُنْيَاكَ وَآخِرَتَكَ! وَلَوْ بِالْحَقِّ أَخَذْتَ أَدْرَكْتَ مَا طَلَبْتَ، فَإِنْ يُمَكِّنِّي اللهُ مِنْكَ وَمِنِ ابْنِ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ أَجْزِكُمَا بِمَا قَدَّمْتُمَا، وَإِنْ تُعْجِزَا وَتَبْقَيَا فَمَا أَمَامَكُمَا شَرٌ لَكُمَا، وَالسَّلَامُ.
You have surely made your religion subservient to the worldly seekings of a man whose misguidance is not a concealed affair and whose veil has been torn away. He mars an honourable man with his company and befools those who keep his society. You are following in his footsteps and seeking his favours like the dog that follows the lion looking at his paws and waiting for whatever remnants of his prey fall down to him. In this way, you have ruined your world as well as the next life, although if you had stuck to the right, you would have got what you were after. If Allāh grants me power over you and Ibn Abī Sufyān (Mu‘āwiyah), I shall award you both recompense of what you have done, but if you escape and survive then hereafter there is only evil for you both; and that is an end to the matter.
