Page:Muhammad Diyab al-Itlidi - Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalîfahs - Alice Frere - 1873.djvu/131

102

ʾAmmâr-ibn-Yasîr, surnamed el-Asad, was one of the first to profess el-Islám, and was held in high esteem among the Associates of the Prophet. It is said that, being taken prisoner and condemned to be burnt on account of his religion by the idolatrous Mekkans, a miracle was wrought on his behalf by Muhammad, who, passing by the place of execution, stretched out his hand and commanded the fire "to become for him a refreshment, as it had been to Abraham in the furnace of Nimrod." ʾAmmâr attached himself to ʾAly's faction, and fell in the engagement which took place between ʾAly and Muʾâwiyah at Siffîn, a tract of