When Ashras saw that it was difficult to save their lives...

When Ashras saw that it was difficult to save their lives through the tactics of hide and seek, he shouted his instructions, “Those who wish to give their lives in the way of Allah, and they should come out in the open and fight with the enemy!” At this call thirty men came out and fighting with great bravery they were martyred! Now there was none to stop the atrocities of the Syrians.

They looted each and every house, snatched jewelry from the women and gathered whatever they could lay their hands on. When Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) knew about the events, he wrote an angry note to Kumayl ibn Ziyad and warned him against leaving the city unprotected without the unit of the guards. H gave a sermon from the pulpit and invited the people to do Jihad and go in pursuit of the enemy. But there was hardly any response from the gathering.

When he saw them quiet and in a mood of avoiding the battle, he stood up angrily and decided to go alone and pursue the enemy. Now the people felt ashamed and they went behind the Imam (a.s). When they reached the valley of al-Nukhaylah, they said, “O Amir al-Mu’minin! You may go back! We are sufficient to deal with the enemy.” When their insistence increased, he went back to al-Kūfah and under the command of Sa`id ibn Qays a contingent of 8,000 troops went in hot pursuit of the Syrians.

When this army reached `Anah via Euphrates, Sa`id sent Hani’ ibn al-Khattab al-Hamdani to reconnoiter for the enemy troops. He went until the limits of Qannisrin but Sufyan’s contingent had gone far ahead and there was no sense in further pursuit. When Sa`id ibn Qays returned to al-Kūfah, the Imam (a.s) gave a sermon about the importance of jihad and exhorted those who were reluctant to battle with the enemy. On this Jundub ibn `Afif al-Azdi stood up and said, “O Amir al-Mu’minin!

I can speak on my behalf and on behalf of my nephew, `Abd al-Rahman ibn `Abdullah! Whatever command you give us, we shall abide by it implicitly!” The Imam (a.s) said, “What I want cannot be done by only two persons!” The Imam (a.s) wanted to punish the people who played havoc at Hit and al-Anbar in such a way that they should not have courage to make incursions into the Iraqi borders in the future. After the return of Sa`id, the Imam (a.s) kept quiet for some time.

And again he gave a sermon to the people of al-Kūfah, “O People! You are much more in numbers than the Ansar of al-Madinah! They gave shelter and protection to the Prophet (a.s) and the Muhajirūn.