When the Commander of the Faithful reached Siffin...

When the Commander of the Faithful reached Siffin, he noticed that Mu’awiya’s troops had chosen and camped in a flat ground next to the Sharia Euphrates and the Imam also ordered his troops to camp in a place. And when they went to the Euphrates to fetch water, they realized that Mu’awiya’s troops based on his directive had blocked the waterways and prevented them from taking water. Thus, they came to the Commander of the Faithful and informed him about the incident.

Imam sent Ṣa’ṣa’a ibn Sūhān to Mu’awiya to inform him that we have come here, we don’t like to start a battle with you before the establishment of proof, but it was you who sent a section of your army and started the battle with us. And now it is you who have become a barrier between our people and the water. Stop this act and let the people take the water and then let’s see where our work and yours will end.

Ṣa’ṣa’a conveyed this message and Mu’awiya turned towards his companions and asked them for their opinion. They responded: “They killed Uthman by thirst. Now we have to starve them to death…” Ṣa’ṣa’a got up and came to the Commander of the Faithful and narrated the incident to him.

Thereafter, there was an uproar in his army, and the commanders of the army, such as Mālik Ashtar and Ash’ath ibn Qais, decided to fight and free the Sharia Euphrates and they received the consent of the Imam for this mission. A tough battle broke out.

The Syrian forces, who did not have the strength to resist the fierce attacks of the Iraqi forces after suffering many casualties and losing several of their commanders and war heroes – all of whom were killed by Mālik Ashtar – vacated the battlefield and withdrew their forces from the Euphrates.

The month of Muharram of the thirty-seventh year of Hijrah came to an end and the crescent of the month of Safar appeared, and the two armies prepared for a fight, while the Commander of the Faithful decorated his army. It was the eve of Wednesday, the seventh day of the month of Safar in the year thirty-seven Hijrah when the two parties were preparing for a general attack.

The Commander of the Faithful ordered his troops to pray, recite the Qur’ān and pray for victory, and he himself came out of the tent that night and started preparing the troops. The seventh day of the month of Safar was great and difficult in the history of the Battle of Siffin, as the attacks and escapes from both sides were very important and decisive.