Divorced the world thrice ...

It has been related that Mu'awiya asked Dirar ibn Damra to describe Ali to him. "Exempt me, O Commander of the faithful!" Dirar said. But Mu'awiya said, "I shall not exempt you!" He then replied:

Then I will say this. He was, may God be pleased with him, farsighted and of mighty strength. His words were decisive, and his judgement just. He liked coarse food and short clothes, felt estranged from the world and its beauty, and was intimate with night and its darkness. I bear witness that I once saw him when night had fallen, and the stars had risen, wakeful in his prayer niche, like a man that had been stung, restless as though wounded, weeping sorrowfully, holding his beard, and saying, "O world! Deceive other than myself! Is it for me that you beautify yourself? Is it for me that you manifest yourself? I have divorced you thrice; there can be no return, for your span is short, your worth insignificant, and your danger great! Ah! The scarcity of provision, the length of the way, and the estrangement of travelling!"

Mu'awiya wept raising his sleeve to his face to stem his tears as best as he could, and then said, "May God have mercy on Abu'l Hasan. He was, by God, truly so!"

There is evidence to indicate that Mu'awiya regretted opposing and warring with Ali, and others regretted it too, like Aisha and al-Zubayr, may God be pleased with them. Abdallah ibn Umar (married to the grand daughter of Ali r.a.) regretted his abstention from fighting alongside Ali r.a. "but the command of God was a destiny decreed" Quran 33:38. May God be pleased with every companion of the Messenger of God.


From Knowledge and Wisdom by Imam Al-Haddad