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Continued from part I ….

Acknowledging the announcement ofGhadeer

27. On the day of Ghadeer when the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) ascended the pulpit and informed the people about Allah’s order, none of the caravans had reached their homes

28. He (s.a.w.a.) placed the hand of Ali (a.s.) in his own hand and informed the people about the order of Allah

 

29. O people! Do I not have more authority over you than you have over yourselves; and don’t I have the authority of Wilayat over you? All answered: Yes O Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.), you do as you please.

 

30. Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), by the command of Allah, handed over the caliphate to Ali (a.s.) and mentioned that he can delegate caliphate to whomsoever he wishes.

 

31. He (s.a.w.a.) said: Of whomsoever I am a Master, this Ali is also his Master.

 

32. Then he (s.a.w.a.) prayed: Befriend his friends and keep the enemies of the brother of your Prophet as his enemies.

 

33. O people! Do not ever break the oath that you have taken for my family, because the one who breaks this allegiance will not be able to reach to me on the Day of Resurrection.

 

34. On seeing that this allegiance has become very strong and could not be altered, your chiefs (Abu Bakr and Umar) congratulated Ali (a.s.), through the words ‘bakhin bakhin’ (congratulations).

 

35. Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) said: Ali is your Master, protecting him is your duty and behave with him as you behaved with me

 

     Amr b. Aas considered himself and Muawiyah as dwellers of hell

 

36. We, on account of our deeds will go to the lowest degree of hell

 

37. The blood of Usman will not give us relief on the Day of Resurrection, but it will be a Day of Embarrassment for us.

 

38. On the Day of Resurrection, Ali (a.s.) through the medium of Allah and His Messenger (s.a.w.a.) will be in a position of great respect and honor and we will be his enemies

 

39. Allah will take into accounting all the misdeeds and we will be at the receiving end far from truth and will be with falsehood

 

40. The hidden truth will be unveiled and there will be no excuse on that Day. Woe unto us, what will happen to us on that Day?

 

41. O son of Hinda (Muawiyah)! Beware about the promise you made me and you did not act accordingly, by this you have sold your paradise

 

42. In order to gain some materialistic benefit of the world you have left numerous bounties of paradise and forfeited the hereafter

 

43. You have gathered people around you and caliphate is ready for you, what is the use of such a caliphate that has come to you through others?

 

44. You are likened to a hunter who has thrown a net to deceive people and keeps thirsty people away from water

 

Accepting defeat at Siffeen

 

45. Have you forgotten the dreadful night of ‘Lailah al-Hareer’ in the war of Siffeen

 

46. On that day, due to fear of brave and courageous men you had become very weak and akin to an ostrich you even soiled your pants

 

47. When you saw your weak army, you were frightened as if a hungry lion is ready to destroy you

 

48. You were engulfed in a lot of difficulty to such an extent that a vast place seemed small to you

 

49. You called out to me – ‘O Amr where is the escape from powerful warriors?’

 

50. ‘There is no other way out. You must work out another strategy against their strikes. Make a way out as my heart is very uneasy.’

 

51. When your caliphate was not yet established, you had promised to give me half of whatever you achieved in victory

 

52. I also hurried to help you and unclothed myself and exposed myself in front of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.)

 

53. Due to his modesty he covered his face and did not kill me. This is such a plan which you could have never thought of on your own

 

54. But you shivered like a moth out of fear of the brave and courageous men

 

55. But when you established your government and took over the reins in your hand;

 

56. You bestowed others with wealth and property but did not give me a single penny

 

57. You gave the rulership of Egypt to Abdul Malik and did injustice to me

 

58. Though you desire the government of Egypt but now its reins are in my hand, hence you must now realize that the hen who ate stones, has escaped from the clutches of the vulture and the reins of the government are slipping from your hands

 

59. Either forget about the government of Egypt and excuse me from paying the tribute of Egypt or be prepared to fight me as I will wage a war against you and strike fear inside you

 

60. I am waiting for you with a well-equipped army

 

61. I will destroy your ego completely and those people/ children who have become orphans because of you I will make them aware about you and also make them rise against you

 

    Amr b. Aas ticks off Muawiyah – you are not Ameerul Momineen

 

62. You are far from being eligible to govern the people

 

63. Neither you nor your forefathers have any right to caliphate

 

64. O Muawiyah! Can there be any similarity between you and Ali (a.s.)? Ali (a.s.) is like a sharp sword and you are like a blunt rusted one

 

65. Ali (a.s.) is a shining star of the sky. There can be no comparison between you and him. You are nothing but dust.

 

66. If you have succeeded in governing and attained your desire, it is only because of my efforts

 

Conclusion

There can be an independent essay on each of these 66 verses. In this letter Amr b. Aas has exposed all the scheming and plotting

done by Muawiyah with his help against Ali (a.s.). It is unfortunate that many Muslims despite knowing the reality are silent on the matter.

 

References

This poem has been mentioned in the following books:

1. Its two phrases have been independently published and are also present in the library of Egypt. The books in the library run into many volumes and are listed for reference. The two phrases can be accessed in vol 4, pg 314 of the list.

 

2. Ibne Abil Hadeed has mentioned some of the phrases in Sharh-e-Nahjul Balaghah in vol 2, pg 544. He has come across them in the book of Abu Zakariyya Yahya b. AliKhateeb Tabrezi (exp. 502 AH) 
   3. Shaikh Muhammed Azhari in the commentary on ‘Mughni al-Labeeb’ vol 1, pg 82 has narrated the entire poem from ‘Tarikh Ishaaq’.

    

   4. Zanuzi has narrated the entire poem in ‘Riyaz al-Jannah’ part 2

   The adversaries can never hide the truth, no matter how much they try. ‘They desire to put out the light of Allah with their mouths but Allah will perfect His light, though the unbelievers may be averse’. (Surah Saff (61): 8). Soon there will come a time when the successor of Ali b. Abi Talib (a.s.), the 12th Imam – Imam Mahdi (a.t.f.s.) reappears and take to task those who hid the virtues of Ali b. Abi Talib (a.s.).