In these circumstances and with this type of the army it was...

In these circumstances and with this type of the army it was really due to Amir al-mu'minin's political ability and competence of military control and administration that he carried the war up to this stage, and if Mu`awiyah had not adopted this trick there could have been no doubt in Amir al-mu'minin's victory because the military power of the Syrian forces had been exhausted and defeat was hovering over its head.

In this connection, Ibn Abi'l-Hadid writes: Malik al-Ashtar had reached Mu`awiyah and grabbed him by the neck. The entire might of the Syrians had been smashed. Only so much movement was discernible in them as remains in the tail of a lizard which is killed, but the tail continues hopping right and left. (Sharh Nahjul Balaghah, vol. 11, pp.30-31) Previous…