Praise be to Allah to Whom is the return of all creation and the end of all matters. We render Him praise for the greatness of His generosity, the clarity of His proofs, the increase of His bounty and His favours - praise which may fulfil His right, repay His thanks, take (us) near His reward and be productive of increase in His kindness. We seek His help like one who is hopeful of His bounty, desirous of His benefit, and confident of His warding off (calamities), who acknowledges His gifts and is obedient to Him in word and deed. We believe in Him like him who reposes hope in Him with conviction, inclines to Him as a believer, humbles himself before Him obediently, believes in His oneness exclusively, regards Him great, acknowledging His dignity, and seeks refuge with Him with inclination and exertion.
Allah the Glorified has not been born so that someone could be (His) partner in glory. Nor has He begotten anyone so as to be inherited from after dying. Time and period have not preceded Him. Increase and decrease do not occur to Him. But He has manifested Himself to our understanding through our having observed His strong control and firm decree. 
He has made the stars in the skies by way of signs by which travellers wandering the various routes of the earth may be guided. The gloom of the dark curtains of the night does not prevent the flame of their light, nor do the veils of blackish nights have the power to turn back the light of the moon when it spreads in the skies. Glory be to Allah from Whom neither the blackness of dark dusk or of gloomy night (falling) in the low parts of the earth or on high dim mountains is hidden, nor the thundering of clouds on the horizons of the skies, nor the sparking of lightning in the clouds, nor the falling of leaves blown away from their falling places by the winds of hurricanes or by downpour from the sky. He knows where the drops fall and where they stay, where the grubs leave their trails or where they drag themselves, what livelihood would suffice the mosquitoes and what a female bears in its womb.
Praise be to Allah Who exists from before the coming into existence of the seat, the throne, the sky, the earth, the jinn or human being. He cannot be perceived by imagination nor measured by understanding. He who begs from Him does not divert Him (from others), nor does giving away cause Him diminution. He does not see by means of an eye, nor can He be confined to a place. He cannot be said to have companions. He does not create with (the help of) limbs. He cannot be perceived by senses. He cannot be compared with people.
It is He who spoke to Musa clearly and showed him His great signs without the use of bodily parts, the organ of speech or the uvula. O you who exert yourself in describing Allah, if you are serious then (first try to) describe Gabriel, Michael or the host of angels who are close (to Allah) in the receptacles of sublimity; but their heads are bent downwards and their wits are perplexed as to how to assign limits (of definition) to the Highest Creator. This is because those things can only be perceived through qualities which have shape and parts and which succumb to death after reaching the end of their times. There is no god but He. He has lighted every darkness with His effulgence and has darkened every light with the darkness (of death).
I advise you, creatures of Allah, to practise fear of Allah Who gave you good clothing and bestowed an abundance of sustenance on you. If there was anyone who could secure a ladder to everlasting life or a way to avoid death it was Sulayman ibn Dawud (p. b. u. h. ) who was given control over the domain of the jinn and men along with prophethood and great position (before Allah), but when he finished what was his due in food (of this world) and exhausted his (fixed) time the bow of destruction shot him with arrow of death. His houses became vacant and his habitations became empty. Another group of people inherited them. Certainly, the by-gone centuries have a lesson for you.
Where are the Amalekites1 and the sons of Amalekites? Where are the Pharaohs?2 Where are the people of the cities of ar-Rass3 who killed the prophets, destroyed the traditions of the divine messengers and revived the traditions of the despots? Where are those who advanced with armies, defeated thousands, mobilised forces and populated cities?
He will be wearing the armour of wisdom, which he will have secured with all its conditions, such as full attention towards it, its (complete) knowledge and exclusive devotion to it. For him it is like a thing which he had lost and which he was then seeking, or a need which he was trying to fulfil. If Islam is in trouble he will feel forlorn like a traveller and like a (tired) camel beating the end of its tail and with its neck flattened on the ground. He is the last of Allah's proofs and one of the vicegerents of His prophets.
Then Amir al-mu'minin continued:
O people! I have divulged to you advice which the prophets used to preach before their peoples, and I have conveyed to you what the vicegerents (of the prophets) conveyed to those coming after them. I tried to train you with my whip but you could not be straightened. I drove you with admonition but you did not acquire proper behaviour. May Allah deal with you! Do you expect an Imam other than me to take you on the (right) path, and show you the correct way?
Beware, the things in this world which were forward have become things of the past, and those of which were behind are going ahead. The virtuous people of Allah have made up their minds to leave and they have purchased, with a little perishable (pleasure) of this world, a lot of such (reward) in the next world that will remain. What loss did our brothers whose blood was shed in Siffin suffer by not being alive today? Only that they are not suffering choking on swallowings and not drinking turbid water. By Allah, surely they have met Allah and He has bestowed upon them their rewards and He has lodged them in safe houses after their (having suffered) fear.
Then Amir al-mu'minin wiped his hand over his auspicious, honoured beard and wept for a long time, then he continued:
Oh my brothers who recited the Qur'an and strengthened it, thought over their obligation and fulfilled it, revived the sunnah and destroyed innovation! When they were called to jihad they responded and trusted in their leader then followed him.
Then Amir al-mu'minin shouted at the top of his voice:
Al-jihad, al-jihad (fighting, fighting), O creatures of Allah! By Allah, I am mobilising the army today. He who desires to proceed towards Allah should come forward.
(2) Ibn al-'Athir, al-Nihayah, II, 145, 198.
After the death of the Holy Prophet, `Ammar was one of the closest adherents and best supporters of Amir al-mu'minin during the reign of the first three Caliphs. During the caliphate of `Uthman when the Muslim protested (to `Uthman) against his policy on the distribution of the Public Treasury (Baytu'l-mal) `Uthman said in a public assembly that, 'the money which as in the treasury was sacred and belonged to Allah, and that he (as being the successor of the Prophet) had the right to dispose of them as he thought fit. 'He (`Uthman) threatened and cursed all who presumed to censure or murmur at what he said. Upon this, `Ammar ibn Yasir boldly declared his disapprobation and began to charge him with his inveterate propensity to ignore the interests of the general public; accused him with reviving the heathenish customs abolished by the Prophet. Whereupon `Uthman commanded him to be beaten and immediately some of the Umayyads, the kindred of the Caliph fell upon the venerable `Ammar, and the Caliph himself kicking him with his shoes (on his feet) on `Ammar's testicles, and afflicted him with hernia. `Ammar became unconscious for three days, and he was taken care of by Umm al-mu'minin Umm Salamah in her own house. (al-Baladhuri, Ansab al-ashraf, vol. 5, pp. 48,54,88; Ibn Abi'l-Hadid, vol. 3, pp. 47-52; al-lmamah wa's-siyasah, vol. 1, pp. 35-36; al-`Iqd al-farid, vol. 4, p. 307; at-Tabaqat, vol. 3, Part 1, p. 185; Tarikh al-khamis, vol. 2, p. 271)
When Amir al-mu'minin became Caliph, `Ammar was one of his most sincere supporters. He participated fully in all social, political and military activities during this period, especially in the first battle (the battle of Jamal) and the second one (the battle of Siffin).
However, `Ammar was martyred on 9th Safar 37 A.H. in the battle of Siffin when a he was over ninety years of age. On the day `Ammar ibn Yasir achieved martyrdom, he turned his face to the sky and said:
O My God! Surely Thou art aware that if I know that Thy wish is that I should plunge myself into this River (the Euphrates) and be drowned, I will do it. O My God! Surely Thou knowest that if I knew that Thou would be pleased if I put my scimitar on my chest (to hit my heart) and pressed it so hard that it came out of my back, I would do it. O My God! I do not think there is anything more pleasant to Thee than fighting against this sinful group, and if I knew that any action were more pleasant to Thee I would do it.
Abu `Abd ar-Rahman as-Sulami narrates:
"We were present with Amir al-mu'minin at Siffin where I saw `Ammar ibn Yasir was not turning his face towards any side, nor valleys (wadis [of the land] ) of Siffin but the companions of the Holy Prophet were following him as if he was a sign for them. Then I heard `Ammar say to Hashim ibn 'Utbah (al-Mirqal): 'O Hashim! Rush into enemy's ranks, paradise is under the sword!
Today I meet my beloved one, Muhammad and his party'.
"Then he said: 'By Allah, if they put us to flight (and pursue us) to the date-palms of Hajar (a town in Bahrain, Persian Gulf [i.e., if they pursue us along all the Arabian desert] nevertheless) we know surely that we are right and they are wrong.'
"Then he (Ammar) continued (addressing the enemies):
We struck you to (believe in) its (Holy Qur'an) revelation; And today we strike you to (believe in) its interpretation; Such strike as to remove heads from their resting places; And to make the friend forget his sincere friend; Until the truth returns to its (right) path.'"
The narrator says: "I did not see the Holy Prophet's companions killed at any time as many as they were killed on this day."
Then `Ammar spurred his horse, entered the battlefield and began fighting. He persistently chased the enemy, made attack after attack, and raised challenging slogans till at last a group of mean-spirited Syrians surrounded him on all sides, and a man named Abu al-Ghadiyah al-Juhari (al-Fazari) inflicted such a wound upon him that he could not bear it, and returned to his camp. He asked for water. A tumbler of milk was brought to him. When `Ammar looked at the tumbler he said: "The Messenger of Allah had said the right thing." People asked him what he meant by these words. He said "The Messenger of Allah informed me that the last sustenance for me in this world would be milk." Then he took that tumbler of milk in his hands, drank the milk and surrendered his life to Allah, the Almighty. When Amir al-mu'minin came to know of his death, he came to `Ammar's side, put his (`Ammar's) head on his own lap, and recited the following elegy to mourn his death:
Surely any Muslim who is not distressed at the murder of the son of Yasir, and is not be afflicted by this grievous misfortune does not have true faith.
May Allah show His mercy to `Ammar the day he embraced Islam, may Allah show His mercy to `Ammar the day he was killed, and may Allah show His mercy to `Ammar the day he is raised to life.
Certainly, I found `Ammar (on such level) that three companions of the Holy Prophet could not be named unless he was the fourth, and four of them could not be mentioned unless he was the fifth.
There was none among the Holy Prophet's companions who doubted that not only was Paradise once or twice compulsorily bestowed upon `Ammar, but that he gained his claim to it (a number of times). May Paradise give enjoyment to `Ammar.
Certainly, it was said (by the Holy Prophet) "Surely, `Ammar is with the truth and the truth is with `Ammar. He turns wherever the truth turns. His killer will be in hell."
Then Amir al-mu'minin stepped forward and offered funeral prayers for him, and then with his own hands, he buried him with his clothes.
`Ammar's death caused a good deal of commotion in the ranks of Mu`awiyah too, because there were a large number of prominent people fighting from his side under the impression created in their minds that he was fighting Amir al-mu'minin for a right cause. These people were aware of the saying of the Holy Prophet that `Ammar would be killed by a group who would be on the wrong side. When they observed that `Ammar had been killed by Mu`awiyah's army, they became convinced that they were on the wrong side and that Amir al-mu'minin was definitely on the right. This agitation thus caused among the leaders as well as the rank and file of Mu`awiyah's army, was quelled by him with the argument that it was Amir al-mu'minin who brought `Ammar to the battlefield and therefore it was he who was responsible for his death. When Mu`awiyah's argument was mentioned before Amir al-mu'minin he said it was as though the Prophet was responsible for killing Hamzah as he brought him to the battle of Uhud. (at-Tabari, at-Tarikh, vol. 1, pp. 3316-3322; vol. 3, pp. 2314-2319; Ibn Sa`d, at-Tabaqat, vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 176-189; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 3, pp. 308-312; Ibn Kathir, at-Tarikh, vol. 7, pp, 267-272; al-Minqari, Siffin, pp. 320-345; Ibn `Abd al-Barr, al-Isti'ab, vol . 3, pp. 1135- 1140; vol. 4, p. 1725; Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-ghabah, vol. 4, pp. 43-47; vol. 5, p. 267; Ibn Abi'l-Hadid, Sharh Nahjul Balaghah, vol. 5, pp. 252-258; vol. 8, pp. 10-28; vol. 10, pp. 102-107, al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, pp. 384-394; Ibn `Abd Rabbih, al-`Iqd al-farid, vol. 4, pp. 340-343; al-Mas`udi, Muruj adh-dhahab, vol. 2, pp. 381-382, al-Haytami, Majma` az-zawa'id, vol. 7, pp. 238-244; vol. 9, pp. 291-298; al-Baladhuri, Ansab al-ashraf (Biography of Amir al-mu'minin), pp. 310-319. 