Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/266

 656] never be. Muʿāwiya would surely behead me or cast me into prison because of ʿOthmān's death, and my being kin to thee. Hearken, and make terms with him ere it be too late." But ʿAlī turned a deaf ear.

Acting on this wayward impulse, ʿAlī sent men of his own to replace existing governors throughout the Empire. In most places these met with but a sorry reception. At Al-Baṣra, indeed, Ibn ʿĀmir, unwilling to provoke hostilities, retired to Mecca, and his successor, ʿOthmān ibn Ḥoneif, entered unopposed; but the faction which clung to the memory of the late Caliph was as strong there as that which favoured ʿAlī, while a third party waited the out-turn of events at Medīna. In Egypt it was much the same. Ḳeis, appointed to the command, was a wise and able ruler; but he only succeeded in crossing the frontier by feigning attachment to the cause of ʿOthmān; while a strong and aggressive faction throughout the country, swore that they would not submit until the regicides were brought to justice. In the Yemen, the new Governor obtained possession, but only after his predecessor had carried off to Mecca all the treasure. The two officers nominated to Al-Kūfa and Syria met with so rough a reception, that they were glad to escape with their lives back to Medīna.

Dispirited by these events, ʿAlī took counsel with Ṭalḥa and Az-Zubeir. The sedition he had apprehended was already kindled, and would spread like wild-fire, catching whatever might come in its way. "Then," replied they, "let us depart, that we may do thee service in the field." "Wait," answered ʿAlī; "the cautery must be the last resort." So he resolved in the first instance to address letters to Muʿāwiya, and also to Abu Mūsa at Al-Kūfa, demanding their allegiance. Abu Mūsa replied in loyal terms, but withal, bade the Caliph beware of the disaffection which in Al-Kūfa was rife around him. With Syria, communication was utterly cut off; weeks elapsed, and there was no reply. In truth, a strange scene meanwhile was being enacted there.

Muʿāwiya had no sooner received the emblems of ʿOthmān's murder,—the gory shirt and Nāʾila's mangled joint up at fingers,—than he hung them on the pulpit of the Damascus mosque. There suspended, they remained a spectacle