Note 512 — Chapter XXXVII · BATTLE OF THE CAMEL. Jumad II., A.H. XXXVI. December, A.D. 656.

Abu Mûsa, Governor of Kûfa, abused Ammâr, the envoy of Aly, as a murderer. When urged by Hasan (whom on his arrival he embraced affectionately) to support his father in putting down the dissension that rent the people, Abu Mûsa replied that he had heard the Prophet say that ‘in the event of sedition, walking was better than riding, standing better than walking, and sitting better than either.’ He exhorted the citizens, therefore, to adopt this maxim, and, following the example of the Coreish, to sit still at home;—‘if they studied their eternal interests, they would do this; if only their temporal interests, they would go forth and fight.’ A tumult arose; the palace was sacked, and he was deposed.

Hasan, spite of his want of ambition, must have managed the business well, especially after the failure of the previous deputations, which consisted of such able men as Mohammed, son of Abu Bekr, the sons of Abbâs and Jafar, and Ashtar the arch-regicide.

The spiritless rôle assigned by tradition to Hasan is illustrated by a conversation which passed between him and his father at Dzu Câr. Hasan: ‘Thou hast ever neglected my advice, my father, and now thou wilt be deserted all round, and slain.’ Aly: ‘And thou never ceasest whining like a girl. What advice of thine have I not followed?’ Hasan replied that his father should have quitted Medîna before Othmân was slain; after the murder, he should not have accepted the Caliphate till the provinces had agreed in his nomination; and now that Talha and Zobeir had risen up, he should have stayed at home, and let them take the first offensive step. To the first point Aly answered that at the time he was himself besieged, and could not, even if he had so wished, escape from Medîna; that he had been regularly elected, and would fight it out to the end; that as for staying at home, he would have been like a hyæna, baited by enemies on all sides; and that if he did not look after his own interests, he saw no one else who would do so for him. The conversation may be fictitious, but it entirely accords with Hasan’s poor and unaspiring character.