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Collecting Information
403. Imām Ali (a.s.) – in his letter to his administrators: “In the Name of God, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful. From the servant of God, Ali the Commander of the Faithful to whomever of the administrators that reads my letter: Now, some men who have sworn allegiance to us have now escaped. We suspect that they have moved towards the cities of the Basra region. Ask about them from your townspeople and assign secret agents throughout your land over them. Then write to me whatever you find about them. Wassalām!”1
404. Waq‘at Siffin: “‘Ali (a.s.) mentioned that the next morning he would be setting out to fight against Mu`āwiya. The news reached Mu`āwiya and the people of Shām fell into a panic and were shattered by this [rumor]. Mu`āwiya ibn al-Âahhāk ibn Sufyān – the standard bearer of the Bani Salim tribe– was with Mu`āwiya while antagonizing him and the people of Shām and favoring the people of Iraq and Ali ibn Abu Tālib (a.s.). He used to write the news to `Abdullah ibn Tufayl al-`Amiri and he would then send them to Ali (a.s.).”2
405. Waq`at Siffin: “Ali (a.s.) sent a group to obstruct the source of the water to Mu`āwiya who then dispatched al-Âahhāk ibn Qays al-Fihri along with a group of soldiers towards them and dispersed the group sent by Ali (a.s.).
Ali’s (a.s.) secret agents came back and reported what had happened to him (a.s.), so Ali (a.s.) asked his companions: “What shall we do?”
A group said, do this and the other said do that; when he noticed their discrepancy, he ordered them [to be prepared] to launch an assault on Mu`āwiya. He led them to the battle (of Siffin) and the people of Shām were defeated.”3
1.. al-Ghārāt, vol. ۱, p. ۳۳۷, Bihār al-Anwār, vol. ۳۳, p. ۴۰۷, h. ۶۲۸.
2.. Waq`at Siffin, p. ۴۶۸.
3.. Waq`at Siffin, p. ۳۶۰, Bihār al-Anwār, vol. ۳۲, p. ۵۰۰, h. ۴۳۰, Sharh Nahj al-Balāghah, vol. ۸, p. ۳۹.
