6) When the two armies faced each other...

6.When the two armies faced each other, Ali promulgated the following ordinance to his troops just as he had done before the battle of Basra (the battle of the Camel): “O Muslims! wait for your enemy to open hostilities, and defend yourselves only when he attacks you. If anyone of the enemy wishes to escape from the battle and to save his life, let him do so.

If God gives you victory, do not plunder the camp of the enemy; do not mutilate the bodies of the dead nor rob them of their armor and weapons, and do not molest their women. Above all things, remember God at all times.” Ali redeployed his forces. He gave command of the right wing to Abdullah ibn Abbas, and of the left wing to Malik ibn Ashter, while he himself commanded the center. With him were the companions and the friends of Muhammad, the Apostle of God, among them Ammar ibn Yasir.

Presently, the Syrians attacked, and Ali signaled his forces to repel them. The battle of Siffin had begun. Ammar ibn Yasir was past 70 at this time but the flame of faith in God, and the love of His Messenger, Muhammad, burned fiercely inside his breast, and he fought like young men. To add the dramatic touch to the battle, he carried the same weapons with which he had fought, many years earlier, in the company of Muhammad Mustafa, against the polytheists of Makkah in Badr.

The enemy Ammar met in Siffin, was disguised as a Muslim but he could not hoodwink him (Ammar). Ammar's penetrating eyes recognized the face behind the mask. He must have been intensely amused to meet the old enemy, after a lapse of many years, in a new encounter. For him the battle of Siffin was redolent of the battle of Badr. Once again he was fighting, on the side of Muhammad and his vicegerent, Ali, against their enemies.

As he struck the Syrians, he kept saying: “We are fighting against you today over the interpretation of Qur’an just as in the times of our Prophet, we fought against you over its revelation.” Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal in his Musnad, and Hakim in his Mustadrak, have reported on the authority of Abu Saeed al-Khudri, a companion, that the Apostle of God said to Ali: “O Ali!

just as I am fighting against the idolaters over the revelation of Qur’an, some day you will fight over its interpretation.” Ammar paused for a few moments to address his comrades-in-arms, and said to them: “My friends! attack the enemy. There is no time to linger and to hesitate.

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