section_path: Caliphate/Final years
section_name: Final years
paragraph_text: Final years
  
  Following the Battle of Nahrawan, Ali could not muster enough support for a second Syria campaign. Perhaps his soldiers were demoralized, or perhaps they were recalled by their tribal leaders, many of whom had been bribed and swayed by Mu'awiya. By contrast, Ali did not grant any financial favors to tribal chiefs as a matter of principle. At any rate, the secession of so many of the qurra and the coolness of the tribal leaders weakened Ali. Ali consequently lost Egypt to Mu'awiya in 658. Mu'awiya also began dispatching military detachments, which targeted civilians along the Euphrates river, near Kufa, and most successfully, in the Hejaz and Yemen. Ali could not mount a timely response to these assaults. He eventually found sufficient support for a second Syria offensive, set to commence in late winter 661. His success was in part due to the public outrage over Syrian raids. However, plans for a second campaign were abandoned after the assassination of Ali.