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Family of al-Zubayr, if you give yourselves up willingly for me, we shall be people of a distinuished house among the Arabs. We shall have been extirpated for the Sake of God, but no calamity will have afflicated us. And now, O family of al-Zubayr, let sword blows not frighten you. Whenever I have been present at a battle field, I have been carried away wounded from among the slain; and I have found the treatment of sword wounds to be worse than the pain of the sword's blow. Guard your swords as you guard faces. I know of no man who ever broke his sword and saved his life. If a man loses his sword, he is a defenseless as a woman. Pay no attention to the glittering swords; let each man engage his adversary. Let no question about me distract you, and do not say, Where is Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr? But if anyone asks about me, I am in the front ranks. (en) |
