Excerpt from 'The Life of Ali Ibn Abi Talib':
[Battle of Siffin]
Having seen the imminent defeat of his army, Mu’awiyah ran towards ‘Amr ibn Al-’As and sought his advice. ‘Amr thus suggested, 'Your men will not be able to face Ali’s men nor are you like him; he is fighting for something and you are fighting for something else. You want to survive this battle, but it does not matter for him if he loses his life for achieving his goal.
The people of Iraq will fight lest you overcome them, but the people of Syria are not fearful if Ali overcomes you. However, you must face them with a matter that will create discrepancy among them whether they accept or refuse it. You must call them to the Book of Allah to be the arbitrator among them and you. If you do it, you will attain your aim. In fact, I have already had this idea in my mind, but I postponed it to the time of urgency.'
This wicked idea was received by Mu’awiyah gladly; therefore, he ordered his soldiers to raise copies of the Holy Quran before the soldiers of Imam Ali (‘a). As a result, about five hundred copies were raised on the spearheads and the people of Syria shouted in one voice,
'O people of Iraq, this Book of Allah must be the arbitrator between you and us. Who will protect the borders of Syria if its people will be killed in this battle? And who will protect the borders of Iraq if its people will be killed? Who will then protect the Muslims against the Romans, the Turks, and the atheists?'
This trick worked with the soldiers of Imam Ali (‘a) who were turned upside and down. However, the Imam (‘a) had nothing to say but to express his deep grief. He did not stop bewaring his soldiers of the tricks of Mu’awiyah, but he received no response.
About twenty thousand soldiers, headed by Mis’ar ibn Fadaki, Zayd ibn Husayn, and other famous personalities, came to the Imam (‘a) and called him by name, saying, 'O Ali, respond to the call of these people and accept the Book of Allah as the arbitrator. If you do it not, we will surely kill you in the same was as we did with ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan.'
Grief-stricken, the Imam (‘a) answered,
'Behold! I was the first to call for the Book of Allah and the first to respond to it. I am neither allowed nor permitted according to my faith to refuse any invitation to the Book of Allah. I have fought against these people only because I wanted them to submit to the judgment of the Quran, after they had disobeyed the order of Allah, broken their covenants to Him, and abandoned His Book. Now, I tell you that these people are playing trickery on you and they have nothing to do with the acting upon the Quran.'
Unfortunately, the Imam’s soldiers did not respond to him; rather, they raised their voices in is face, demanding him to respond to Mu’awiyah’s troops and threatening him with death.