Darmiyah: I would request you to excuse me from answering this question.

Darmiyah: I would request you to excuse me from answering this question. Mu`awiya: No; that cannot be. You must give me a reply. Darmiyah: If you insist on having a reply, then hear what I say. I loved Ali because he was a just ruler and gave every person what was his due. And I was against you because you contended with a person who was more deserving than yourself to be ruler, and you desired a thing which you did not deserve.

I obeyed Ali because the Prophet had appointed him as our Amir and ruler. He loved the poor and the needy and respected the true believers. And I despised you because you shed the blood of the Muslims without a just cause, give unjust judgements and decide matters arbitrarily. Mu`awiya: Is it on this account that your belly is swollen, your breast is protruding and your buttocks have grown so fat. Darmiyah: I swear by God that these things are said proverbially about your mother and not about me.

Mu`awiya: Just wait. I have said something good. When the belly of a woman is big she gives birth to a healthy child. When her breast is big she can suckle her child properly. And when her buttocks are fat she looks beautiful while sitting. Well, tell me: Did you ever see Ali? Darmiyah: Yes, by God, I saw him. Mu`awiya: How did you find him?

Darmiyah: I swear by God that I saw him in such a condition that sovereignty had not made him proud like you and the office of the caliphate had not made him proud like you. Mu`awiya: Did you hear him talk? Darmiyah: Yes, by God I did, with his words he used to remove the darkness of the hearts and brighten them in the same manner in which gilding brightens a utensil. Mu`awiya: That is true. Now tell me what can I do for you? Darmiyah told him of her requirement.

Thereupon Mu`awiya asked her: “If I meet your need will you treat me at par with Ali?” Darmiyah retorted: “You stand no comparison with him”. Mu`awiya met her need and said: “By God, if Ali had been alive he would not have given you so much wealth”. Darmiyah replied: “You are right. He never gave even a penny out of the property of the Muslims to any one unless he was entitled to it”. (Balaghat al-Nisa, p.72 and `Iqd-al-Farid, vol.1, p.216).

Once Adi son of Hatim came to see Mu`awiya during the period of his rule. Mu`awiya asked him ironically: What has happened to `Tarafat?' [^2] Adi replied: “They were killed supporting Ali. Mu`awiya said: “Ali has not been just to you. Your sons were killed but his own sons remained alive”.