ومن كلام له (عليه السلام) لمّا أنفذ عبدالله بن العباس (رحمه الله) إلى الزبير قبل وقوع الحرب يوم الجمل ليستفيئه إلى طاعته
When before the commencement of the Battle of Jamal Amīr al-mu’minīn sent ‘Abdullāh ibn al-‘Abbās to az-Zubayr ibn al- ‘Awwām with the purpose that he should advise him back to obedience, he said to him on that occasion:
لاتَلْقَيَنَّ طَلْحَةَ، فَإِنَّكَ إِنْ تَلْقَهُ تَجِدْهُ كَالثَّوْرِ عَاقِصاً قَرْنَهُ يَرْكَبُ الصَّعْبَئِ وَيَقُولُ: هُوَ الذَّلُولُ، وَلكِنِ القَ الزُّبَيْرَ، فَإِنَّهُ أَليَنُ عَرِيكَةً فَقُلْ لَهُ: يَقُولُ لَكَ ابْنُ خَالِكَ: عَرَفْتَني بَالحِجَازِ وَأَنْكَرْتَنِي بِالعِرَاقِ، فَمَا عَدَا مِمَّابَدَا
Do not meet Ṭalḥah (ibn ‘Ubaydillah). If you meet him you will find him like an unruly bull whose horns are turned towards its ears. He rides a ferocious riding beast and says it has been tamed. But you meet az-Zubayr because he is soft-tempered. Tell him that your maternal cousin says that, “(It looks as if) in the Hijāz you knew me (accepted me), but (on coming here to) Iraq you do not know me (do not accept me). So, what has dissuaded (you) from what was shown (by you previously)?!”
قال السيد الشريف: وهو (عليه السلام) أوّل من سمعت منه هذه الكلمة، أعني: «فَمَا عَدَا مِمَّا بَدَا».
As-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: The last sentence of this sermon “famā ‘adā mimmā badā” has been heard only from Amīr al-mu’minīn.
