يَابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ،
O Ibn al-’Abbas!
مَا يُرِيدُ عُثْـمَانُ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَجَعَلَنِي جَمَلاً
‘Uthman just wants to treat me like the water-drawing camel
نَاضِحاً بِالْغَرْبِ أَقْبِلْ وَأَدْبِرْ!
so that I may go forward and backward with the bucket.
بَعَثَ إِلَيَّ أَنْ أَخْرُجَ،
Once he sent me word that I should go out
ثُمَّ بَعَثَ إِليَّ أَنْ أَقْدُمَ،
then sent me word that I should come back.
ثُمَّ هُوَ الاْنَ يَبْعَثُ إِلَيَّ أَنْ أَخْرُجَ!
Now, again he sends me word that I should go out.
وَاللهِ لَقَدْ دَفَعْتُ عَنْهُ حَتَّى خَشِيتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ آثِماً.
By Allah, I continued protecting him till I feared lest I become a sinner.
Alternative Sources for Sermon 239: Ibn Qutaybah, al-'Imamah, I, 34; al-Mubarrad, al-Kamil, I, 11; Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih, al-’Iqd, IV, 309.
