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Mu'awiyah was
deeply averse to the stay of the Prophet's great
companions in ash-Sham.
The clashes
of Mu'awiyah were not confined to such men as
Abu Dharr. This ungodly man Mu'awiyah, who was
the heir of paganism with all its peculiarities
came into conflict with anyone who had even slightly
discovered the truth of Islam. Consequently he
quarreled violently with the Kufah memorizers
and interpreters of the Qur'an, who had been exiled
to Sham.
al-BaLadhurj, the great historian, writes in his
reliable book of Ansab al-ashraf: When 'Uthman
dismissed al-Walid from the governorship of Kufah
and replaced him by Sa'id ibn al-'As, he ordered
the latter to treat the people of that city leniently
and try not to confront them as al-Walid had done.
So Sa'id kept the company of the dignitaries and
Quranic interpreters of the city and they got
together every night, and discussed various matters.(124)
One day in this gathering the talk led to the
subject of Sawad and al-Jabal (125). Those present
preferred the flourishing state and greenness
of Sawad to Jabal, and claimed that in the fields
and gardens of Sawad all kinds of crops could
be found, in addition to date palms. The city's
chief of police said: "I wish these lands
belonged to the Emir so that you could own better
fields and gardens."
Malik al-Ashtar answered: "If your wish is
for the Emir, wish him to obtain better fields
and gardens than ours. Do not wish him to obtain
property. Let us keep ours!"
That man said: "What harm does that wish
do to you that has angered you? By God, if he
decided and wanted it, he could take possession
of all these fields and gardens!"
al-Ashtar answered: "I swear to God that
even if he decides to take possession of them,
he is not capable of it."
Sa'id ibn al-'As became angry at these words and
said to those present: "The fields and gardens
of Sawad under any
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