Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

make him a sign and a lesson today.” Hence a female Bukhtī camel 1 emerged
from the house of the family of so and so, penetrated the crowd leaving
them scattered, took him under its feet and continuously trampled upon
him till he died. 2
On the other hand, after the return of ʿAlī I and his army from Ṣiffīn, the signs
of criticism against him began to emerge in some circles out of annoyance at some
of the things that had happened. Thereafter they began to openly revile ʿAlī I,
impugn him and even accorded openly hating him religious status. As a result he
was compelled to narrate the following ḥadīth of Nabī H to them:
والذي فلق الحبة وبرأ النسمة إنه لعهد النبي المي صلى الله عليه وسلم إلي أن ل يحبني إل مؤمن ول
يبغضني إل منافق
By the one who has split the seed and created the soul, Nabī H had
forewarned me that only a believer will love me and only a hypocrite will
hate me. 3
What is strange though is that these people were initially from his partisans,
but thereafter rebelled against him. Hence he debated with them at first, and
thereafter sent Ibn ʿAbbās L to debate with them which resulted in some of
them retracting. 4 But some of them still remained upon their ideas and eventually
the Battle of Nahrawān 5 ensued wherein ʿAlī I emerged victorious.
1 A female Khurāsānī camel, known for its hugeness and having two humps. This word was Arabicised.
See: Mashāriq al-Anwār 1/79; Lisān al-ʿArab 2/9.
2 Tārīkh Dimashq 20/346; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 8/77. Ibn Abī Shaybah has likewise documented
this narration from Muṣʿab ibn Saʿd from his father in his Muṣannaf: chapter of merits: sub-chapter
regarding what is narrated regarding Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ I: ḥadīth no. 32149; and so has al-
Ṭabarānī narrated it in his al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr from ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd from his father with a similar
wording: 1/140.
3 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: chapter of Īmān: subchapter regarding love for the Anṣār and ʿAlī M being from
Īmān and its signs, and hatred for them being a sign of hypocrisy: ḥadīth no. 78.
4 Al-Badʾ wa al-Tārīkh 5/222; al-Muntaẓam 5/124; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 6/216, 7/280.
5 Al-Nahrawān a town between Baghdād and Wāsiṭ, to the east; its upper boundary is adjacent to
Baghdād. The famous battle took place there in 38 A.H. See: Tārīkh Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ p. 197; Muʿjam
mā Ustuʿjim 4/1336; Muʿjam al-Buldān 5/325.
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