A literary history of Persia

AND MU'AWIYA 219raise aloft on their lances leaves of the Qur'dn,and cry, "TheLaw of God ! The Law of God ! Let that arbitrate between"us !In vain did 4 AIi warn his followers against this device,and urge them to follow up their advantage ;the fanaticalpuritans who formed the backbone of his army refused to fightagainst men who appealed to the Qur'an ; a truce was called ;arbitration was accepted by both parties ;and even here 'Allwas forced to accept as his representativethe feeble andirresolute Abu Musi al-Ash'ari, whom he had but latelydismissed for his lukewarmness from the government ofKiifa, while Mu'awiya's cause was committed to the wilyand resourceful 'Amr ibnu'l-'As, who, by another discreditabletrick, 1 succeeded in getting'All set aside andciahiieifcaMph, Mu'awiya declared Caliph. This took place atDawmatu'l-Jandal (a place in the Syrian desertjust south of the thirtieth degree of latitude, and about equidistantfrom Damascus and Basra), in February, A.D. 658.On the disappointment and disgust of 'All and his followersit is needless to dwell. A daily commination service, whereinMu'awiya and his allies were solemnly anathe-Ah's position.J...matised by name, was instituted in the mosquesof 'Irdq,which provincestill remained more or less faithfulto 'All ;and Mu'awiya returned the compliment at Damascus,where the cursing of 'All, his sons and adherents, remained inforce till it was abolished by 'Umar II, almost the only Godfearingruler of the whole Umayyad dynasty. Nor did 'Alihe began to prepare for anotherrest content with mere curses ;campaign against his when rival, other grave events nearerhome demanded his attention.'All's followers included, besides personal friends and retainers,political schemers, and the factious and unsteady^^orc^ in-habitants of Basra and Kufa, two parties, diametricallyopposed in their Views, which represented1See Muir's Caliphate, pp. 280-282 ;al-Fakhri (ed. Ahlwardt), pp.111-114.