Hadith No: 4
Ibn Abi al-Hadid - Sharh Nahj al-Balagha (Commentary on Nahj al-Balagha)
Volume: (8) - Page Number: (60/61)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... Nasr said: Amr ibn Shumar narrated to us from al-Nakha'i
from Ibn Abbas, who said: Amr ibn al-As made a pass at Ali (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) one day during the days of Siffin, thinking that he could provoke him into a moment of carelessness and capitalize on it. Ali (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) charged at him, and when he was about to engage with him, Amr drove himself off his horse, lifted his robe, and spread his legs, exposing his nakedness. Ali (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) turned his face away from him, and Amr fell to the ground, getting up, his face covered in dust, fleeing on his feet while clinging to his ranks. The people of Iraq said: O Commander of the Faithful, has the man escaped? He replied, Do you know who he is? They said, No. He said, It is Amr ibn al-As; he encountered me in his nakedness, and I turned my face away from him. Amr then returned to Muawiya and said, What did you do, O Abu Abd Allah? He replied, Ali met me and threw me down.
Amr said, I thank God for your nakedness, and by God, I truly think that if you had known him, you would not have confronted him. Muawiya commented on this:
"Alas for God's moments of indiscretion from Amr, who blames me for not confronting him boldly!
He faced Abu Hasan Ali and returned, the one who wails, with nothing but shameful defeat.
If he had not exposed his nakedness, it would have soared to the skies, his life at the mercy of any falcon's claws.
And if death has missed him, *the people of Hijaz have made up for it."
Amr became angry and said: How great is your veneration for Ali, Abu Turab, in this matter! Am I not just a man who was confronted by his cousin and thrown down? Do you think the heavens would shed tears of blood over that? He replied: No, but it is a sign of humiliation for you."