Note 536 — Chapter XXXIX · BATTLE OF SIFFIN. A.H. XXXVI., XXXVII. A.D. 657.

This curious saying, attributed to the Prophet (the same which alarmed Zobeir at the Battle of the Camel, see p. 363), is thus explained. When Mahomet first arrived in Medîna and began to build the Great Mosque there, his followers all put their shoulders to the work, and began to carry loads of stone, &c. upon their heads. Ammâr was laden with a double burden, and Mahomet, seeing him fatigued, began to blow off the dust from his head, saying kindly to him, ‘Ammâr! a cruel and unjust people will surely slay thee;’ meaning apparently that ‘the people will surely cause thy death by making thee carry such loads.’ Others attribute the saying to the similar occasion when Medîna was besieged, and the citizens dug the great Ditch, carrying away the loads of earth. Whatever the occasion, the saying was treasured up, and when the civil war broke out, was accepted, and ever after quoted by their enemies, as conclusive evidence that the Omeyyads were ‘the rebellious people’ foretold by Mahomet.

The idea had taken such hold of the Syrian army that Amru said he was thankful that Dzul Kelâa (the great Himyarite hero who fell fighting on Muâvia’s side) was slain before Ammâr’s death, as otherwise it might have staggered his constancy to the Syrian cause.

The saying itself, and the occasion on which Mahomet gave utterance to it, assume such importance from their bearing on the great dynastic controversy, that the Secretary of Wâckidy devotes several pages to the multitudinous traditions on the subject. The Alyites hold point-blank that ‘the truth must have been with Ammâr, and that it accompanied him on whichever side he fought.’ (Kâtíb Wâckidi, fol. 228–230.)

Mahomet is said, also, to have foretold to Ammâr that his last drink would be milk mingled with water; rather a safe prophecy, seeing that it was Ammâr’s favourite beverage.