Chapter 13(a) - Matters about which Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s), Recommended at the Time of War

“I heard Ali (a.s.), encourage people during three battle places. They were the battle of al- Jamal, Siffin and al-Nahrawan. He spoke to people and said, ‘Servants of Allah, you must maintain piety before Allah and cast down your eyes, lower your voices, reduce your speeches, settle your soul on walking in the arena of war to do your best. Face the enemy, make best use of your weapons, strive to win, close up on to the enemy, force your enemy to flee and stay steadfast. Speak of Allah very often, perhaps you succeed. You must not quarrel among yourselves lest you fail and will be humiliated. Exercise patience; Allah is with those who exercise patience.’”

“Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), in every battlefield we faced our enemies issued his commandments and said, ‘You must not fight the people before they attack you; you by the grace of Allah possess authority and good cause. Your allowing them to attack you first is another valid point in support of the good cause. When you defeat them you must not pursue the fleeing, you must not hurt the wounded and you must not expose anyone’s privacy.’”