SERMON 169
When Amir al-mu'minin approached
Basrah an Arab met him and spoke to him, as he had been sent to him by a group of people
of Basrah to enquire from him on their behalf position vis-à-vis the people of Jamal.
Amir al-mu'minin explained to him his position with respect to them, from which he was
convinced that Amir al-mu'minin was in the right. Then Amir al-mu'minin asked him to swear
allegiance, but he replied "I am just a message carrier of a people and shall not do
anything until I get back to them." Upon this Amir al-mu'minin said to him:
If those at your back send you as a forerunner to
search out a rain-fed area for them, and you return to them and apprise them of greenery
and water but they disagree with you and go towards dry and barren land, what would you do
then? He said: I would leave them and go towards greenery and water. Amir al-mu'minin then
said: So then extend your hand.
This man related that: By Allah, by such a clear
argument I could not refrain from swearing allegiance to Amir al-mu'minin.
This man was know as Kulayb al-Jarmi.
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