"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."
React to this quote
More by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
See allResonant Thoughts
"With... small-town life... there are hundreds of thousands... who are not content. The more intelligent young people... flee to the cities... and... stay there, seldom returning even for holidays. The…"
"When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise. His whole behavior is so shocking. It's inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell an…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"Liberty dies where there is agreement without thought or argument."
— Martin Firrell"O, if we could tear aside the vail, and see for but one hour what it signifies to be a soul in the power of…"
— Horace Bushnell"Nothing will ever die so long as it knows what to do under the circumstances, in other words so long as it …"
— Samuel Butler (novelist)"Dinocrates, I appreciate your design as excellent in composition, and I am delighted with it, but I apprehe…"
— Alexander the Great"I said that the oceans were sick but they're not going to die. There is no death possible in the oceans — t…"
— Jacques-Yves Cousteau"When trade is at stake, it is your last entrenchment; you must defend it, or perish...Sir, Spain knows the …"
— William Pitt
