Ah! who hath seen my two little ones—
Darlings that lay hidden, as it were pearls within the fold of their shell?
As they were grandchildren of Abbâs, the Caliph’s uncle, the incident naturally occupies a conspicuous position in Abbasside tradition. Ackîl, Aly’s brother, deserts.Aly cursed Bosor, praying that he might lose his intellect, and in answer to the prayer (so it is said) he became a hopeless, drivelling lunatic.
[560] The defection of Ackîl is not mentioned in the Persian Tabari. But the circumstance is not one of a kind likely to have been invented, or (as being opposed to the credit of the Prophet’s family) perpetuated by tradition under Abbasside influence, if it had not been founded on fact. On the occasion, Aly gave vent to his grief in these lines, illustrating the proverb of Solomon, ‘A brother is born for adversity’:
He is not a brother who quitteth thee in the dark and louring day;
But rather he that abideth with thee then,
Rejoicing in thy success, and weeping in thy misfortune.
Some traditions make the retirement of Abdallah from Bussorah to have occurred after Aly’s death. But the fact, as stated above, is not likely to have been fabricated. Besides, the narrative is given in great detail and consistency. Abdallah received the summons of Aly to render an account of his government, with wrath and scorn, and retired from Bussorah, carrying his great riches with him. He was pursued by the citizens of Bussorah; but after some fighting, in which the rival tribes took part, he managed to get off to Mecca without further molestation.
[561] The assassin thought at first that he had accomplished his object; but, when taken before Amru, and seeing how the people made their obeisance to him, he discovered his mistake. ‘Tyrant!’ he exclaimed, ‘it was for thee the blow was intended.’ ‘Thou intendedst me,’ replied Amru, with characteristic brevity; ‘but the Lord intended thee!’ and the culprit was led away to execution. Like many of Amru’s sayings, the words became a proverb.
[562] Muâvia was stabbed in the groin. Some say that the culprit was put to death. Others say, that one hand and the opposite foot (the punishment of a robber according to the Corân) were cut off, and that he was sent to Bussorah. There having begotten a son, Ziâd put him to death, saying, ‘Thou hast begotten a son thyself, and hast made the Caliph impotent; thou shalt die.’ Muâvia said, that having already Yezîd for his heir, he did not care for further offspring. I give the story as I find it.