chapter 10

NOW, SURELY, WAS THE GOLDEN MOMENT FOR ALI, THE MOMENT he and his

supporters had waited for. After the stunning victory of
the Battle of the Camel, his position seemed unassailable.
Yet he must have sensed that the prize he had thought
rightfully his all along had begun to turn to dust from
the moment he ɹrst held it in his hand. He had been
Caliph for four months and would remain Caliph for
only another four and a half years.

As the early Islamic historians told the story of his
brief rule, it would achieve the epic dimensions of
classical tragedy. The story they told was that of a noble
leader brought low by his own nobility. Of a man of
integrity undone by his reluctance to compromise his
principles. Of a ruler betrayed as much by the
inconstancy of his supporters as by the malice of his
enemies. And all of it fated to be, for the tragic ɻaw was
there from the beginning.

Ali had gained the caliphate under tainted
circumstances. They were circumstances beyond his