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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Nahjul Balagha Part 1, The Sermons Sermon 128: O Ahnaf!.... About important future events in Basrah ومن كلام له (عليه السلام) وهو ممّا كان يخبر به عن الملاحم بالبصرة O Ahnaf! It is as though I see him advancing with an army which has neither dust nor noise, nor rustling of reins, nor neighing of horses. They are trampling the ground with their feet as if they are the feet of ostriches.

Then Amir al -mu'minin said: Woe to you (the people of Basrah’s) inhabited streets and decorated houses which possess wings like the wings of vultures and trunks like the trunks of elephants; they are the people from among whom if one is killed he is not mourned and if one is lost he is not searched for. I turn this world over on its face, value it only according to its (low) value, and look at it with an eye suitable to it.

A part of the same sermon referring to the Turks (Mongols) منه: ويومئ به إلى وصف الاتراك I [^2] can see a people whose faces are like shields covered with rough-scraped skins. They dress themselves in silken and woollen clothes and hold dear excellent horses.

One of his companions said to him: O Amir al-mu'minin, you have been given knowledge of hidden things.