فَسَرَّحْتُ إِلَيْهِ جَيْشاً كَثِيفاً مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ،
I had sent towards him a large army of Muslims.
فَلَمَّا بَلَغَهُ ذلِكَ شَمَّرَ هَارباً،
When he came to know of it he fled away
وَنَكَصَ نَادِماً،
and retreated repenting.
فَلَحِقُوهُ بِبَعْضِ الطَّرِيقِ،
They met him on the way
وَقَدْ طَفَّلَتِ الشَّمْسُ لِلاْيَابِ،
when the sun was about to set.
فَاقْتَتَلُوا شَيْئاً كَلاَ وَلاَ،
They grappled for a while like nothing.
فَمَا كَانَ إِلاَّ كَمَوْقِفِ سَاعَة
It was about an hour
حَتَّى نَجَا جَرِيضاً
and then he rescued himself half-dead
بَعْدَمَا أُخِذَ مِنْهُ بِالْـمُخَنَّقِ،
as he had almost been taken by the neck
وَلَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْهُ غَيْرُ الرَّمَقِ،
and only the last breath had remained in him.
فَلَاْياً بِلَاْيٍ مَا نَجَا .
In this way, he escaped in a panic.
فَدَعْ عَنْكَ قُرَيشاً وَتَرْكَاضَهُمْ فِي الضَّلاَلِ،
Leave the Quraysh in their rushing into misguidance,
وَتَجْوَالَهُمْ فِي الشِّقَاقِ،
their galloping in disunity
وَجِمَاحَهُمْ فِي التِّيهِ،
and their leaping over destruction.
فَإِنَّهُمْ قَدْ أَجْمَعُوا عَلَى حَرْبِي كَإِجمَاعِهِمْ عَلَى حَرْبِ رَسوُلِ اللهِ (صلى الله عليه وآله) قَبْلِي،
They have joined together to fight me as they had joined to fight the Messenger of Allah (S) before me.
فَجَزَتْ قُرَيْشاً عَنِّي الْجَوَازِي!
I wish the Quraysh will get the reward of their treatment of me.
فَقَدْ قَطَعُوا رَحِمِي،
For they disregarded my kinship
وَسَلَبُونِي سُلْطَانَ ابْنِ أُمِّي.
and deprived me of the power due to me from the son of my mother (i.e. the Holy Prophet).
وَأَمَّا مَا سَأَلْتَ عَنْهُ مِنْ رَأيِي فِي الْقِتَالِ،
As for your enquiry about my opinion on fighting,
فَإِنَّ رَأْيِي قِتَالُ الْـمُحِلِّينَ حَتَّى أَلْقَى اللهَ،
I am in favour of fighting those who regard fighting as lawful until I die.
لاَ يَزِيدُنِي كَثْرَةُ النَّاسِ حَوْلِي عِزَّةً،
The abundance of men around me does not increase me in strength
وَلاَ تَفَرُّقُهُمْ عَنِّي وَحْشَةً،
nor does their dispersal from me cause any loneliness.
وَلاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ ابْنَ أَبِيكَ ـ وَلَوْ أَسْلَمَهُ النَّاسُ ـ مُتَضَرِّعاً مُتَخَشِّعاً،
Surely, do not consider the son of your father as being weak or afraid, even though all people have forsaken him,
وَلاَ مُقِرّاً لِلضَّيْمِ وَاهِناً،
or bowing down submissively before injustice
وَلاَ سَلِسَ الزِّمَامِ لِلْقَائِدِ،
or handing over his reins into the hand of the puller,
وَلاَ وَطِىءَ الظَّهْرِ لِلرَّاكِبِ المُقْتَعِدَ،
or allowing his back to be used by the rider to sit upon.
وَلكِنَّهُ كَمَا قَالَ أَخُو بَنِي سُلِيم:
But he is as the man of Banu Salim has said:
فَإِنْ تَسْأَلِينِي كَيْفَ أَنْتَ فَإِنَّنِي *
If you enquire how I am, then listen that I am
صَبُورٌ عَلَى رَيْبِ الزَّمَانِ صَلِيبُ
enduring and strong against the vicissitudes of time.
يَعِزُّ عَلَيَّ أَنْ تُرَى بِي كَآبَةٌ *
I do not allow myself to be grieved
فَيَشْمَتَ عَاد أَوْ يُسَاءَ حَبِيبُ
lest the foe feels joyful and the friend feels sorry.
1. When after arbitration Mu'awiyah started a campaign of killing and devastation, he sent a force of four thousand under ad-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri to attack Amir al-mu'minin's cities. When Amir al-mu'minin came to know of his activities he roused the people of Kufah to put up a defence, but they began to offer lame excuses. At last Hujr ibn 'Adi al-Kindi rose with a force of four thousand men and, chasing the enemy, overtook him at Tadmur. The two parties had only a few grapplings when darkness came in and ad-Dahhak fled away under its cover. This was the time when 'Aqil ibn Abi Talib had come to Mecca for 'umrah. When he came to know that after attacking al-Hirah, ad -Dahhak had escaped alive and that the people of Kufah were afraid of war and all their activities had come to a stop, he sent a letter to Amir al-mu'minin through 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Ubayd al-Azdi offering his help. In reply to that Amir al-mu'minin wrote this Ietter wherein He complains of the behaviour of the people of Kufah and mentions the flight of ad-Dahhak.
