When the Commander of the Faithful received successive reports that Mu'awiyah's followers were gaining control over his cities, and when the governor of Yemen, 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abbas, and the army commander Sa'id ibn Namran were defeated by Busr ibn Abi Arta'ah and returned to him, he went to the pulpit, disheartened by his companions' slackness in jihad and their violation of his counsel, and said: This is the state of this Kufa, whose management is in my hands. O city of Kufa, if you remain in this state where storms blow through you, may Allah destroy you. Then he recited a poet's verse as an example: O 'Amr! By your good father, I have only received a little greasiness from this vessel (that remains after it is emptied). I have been informed that Busr has overrun Yemen. By Allah, I have begun to think that they will soon snatch the kingdom and wealth from you, because they are united on falsehood while you are scattered from the truth. You are disobedient to your Imam in the matter of truth, while they are obedient to their Imam even in falsehood. They fulfill the duty of trustworthiness with their companion (Mu'awiyah), while you do not hesitate to betray. They maintain security in their cities while you create disturbances. If I appoint one of you as trustee over even a wooden bowl, I fear he will break its handle and take it. O Allah, they have become weary of me and I of them. They have become weary of me and I of them. They have become tired of me and I of them. Give me good people in their place and give them some other bad ruler in my place. O Allah, melt their hearts (with Your wrath) as salt is dissolved in water. By Allah, I would love to have a thousand horsemen from Banu Firas ibn Ghanm instead of you—such that when you call them for help, horsemen would reach you who are like summer clouds in swiftness. Then he came down from the pulpit. The commentator notes that in this verse, the word armiyah is the plural of rami, meaning clouds, and hamim here means the hot season. The poet used the summer cloud because it moves quickly, while a cloud moves slowly when it is full of water, and clouds in the land of the Arabs generally rise in winter. The poet's intent is that when they are called for help, they advance quickly, as indicated by the first hemistich: 'If you call them, they will come to you.'