About the greatness and the attributes of Alláh (1)
Praise be to Alláh who is proof of His existence through His creation, of His being external through the newness of His creation, and through their mutual similarities of the fact that nothing is similar to Him. Senses cannot touch Him and curtains cannot veil Him, because of the difference between the Maker and the made, the Limiter and the limited and the Sustainer and the sustained.
He is One but not by the first in counting, is Creator but not through activity or labour, is Hearer but not by means of any physical organ, is Looker but not by a stretching of eyelids, is Witness but not by nearness, is Distinct but not by measurement of distance, is Manifest but not by seeing and is Hidden but not by subtlety (of body). He is Distinct from things because He overpowers them and exercises might over them, while things are distinct from Him because of their subjugation to Him and their turning towards Him.
He who describes Him limits Him. He who limits Him numbers Him. He who numbers Him rejects His eternity. He who said "how" sought a description for Him. He who said "where" bounded him. He is the Knower even though there be nothing to be known. He is the Sustainer even though there be nothing to be sustained. He is the Powerful even though there be nothing to be overpowered.
A part of the same sermon about the Divine leaders (Imáms)
The riser has risen, the sparkler has sparkled, the appearer has appeared and the curved has been straightened. Alláh has replaced one people with another and one day with another. We awaited these changes as the famine-stricken await the rain. Certainly the Imáms are the vicegerents of Alláh over His creatures and they make the creatures know Alláh. No one will enter Paradise except he who knows them and knows Him, and no one will enter Hell except he who denies them and denies Him.
Alláh the Glorified, has distinguished you with Islám and has chosen you for it. This is because it is the name of safety and the collection of honour. Alláh the Glorified, chose its way and disclosed its pleas through open knowledge and secret maxims. Its (Qur'án)wonders are not exhausted and its delicacies do not end. It contains blossoming bounties and lamps of darkness. (The doors of) virtues cannot be opened save with its keys, nor can gloom be dispelled save with its lamps. Alláh has protected its inaccessible points (from enemies) and allowed grazing (to its followers) in its pastures. It contains cover (from the ailment of misguidance) for the seeker of cure and full support for the seeker of support.
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(1). The first part of this sermon consists of important issues concerning the science of knowledge about Alláh, wherein Amír al-mu'minín has thrown light on the matter that Alláh is from ever and His attributes are the same as He Himself. When we cast a glance at creation, we see that for every movement there is a mover, from which every man of ordinary wisdom is compelled to conclude that no effect can appear without a cause, so much so, that even an infant a few days old, when his body is touched, feels in the depth of his consciousness that someone has touched him. He indicates it by opening his eyes or turning and looking. How then can the creation of the world and the system of all creation be arranged without a Creator or Organiser?
Once it is necessary to believe in a Creator, then He should exist by Himself, because everything which has a beginning must have a centre of existence from which it should terminate. If that too needed a creator, there would be the question of whether this creator is also the creation of some other creator or exists by itself. Thus unless a Self-created Creator is believed in, who should be the cause of all causes, the mind will remain groping in the unending labyrinth of cause and effect, and never attain the idea of the last extremity of the series of creation. It would fall into the fallacy of circular arguing and would not reach any end.
If the creator were taken to have created himself, then there would be (one of the two positions, namely) either he should be non-existent or existent. If he were not existent, then it would not be possible for something non-existent to create any existent being. If he were existent before creating himself, there would be no sense in coming into being again. Therefore it is necessary to believe that the Creator should be a Being not dependent on any other creator for His own existence, and everything else should be dependent on Him. This dependence of the entire creation is a proof that the existence of the Source of all creation is from ever and eternal. And since all beings other than He are subject to change, are dependent on position and place and are similar to one another in qualities and properties, and since similarity leads to plurality whereas unity has no like save itself, therefore nothing can be like Him.
Even things called one cannot be reckoned after His Unity because He is One and Singular in every respect. He is free and pure from all those attributes which are found in body or matter because He is neither body, nor colour, nor shape, nor does He lie in any direction, nor is He bounded within some place or locality. Therefore, man cannot see or understand Him through his senses or feelings, because senses can know only those things which accord with the limitations of time, place and matter. To believe that He can be seen is to believe that He has body, but since He is not a body, and He does not exist through a body, and He does not lie in any direction or place, there is no question of His being seen. But His being unseen is not like that of subtle material bodies, due to whose delicacy the eye pierces through them and eyes remain unable to see them; as for example the wind in the vast firmament. But He is unseen by His very existence. Nevertheless, nothing is unseen for Him. He sees as well as hears, but is not dependent on instruments of seeing or hearing, because if He were in need of organs of the body for hearing and seeing He would be in need of external things for His perfection and would not be a perfect Being, whereas He should be perfect in all respects and no attribute of perfection should be apart from His Self.
To believe in attributes separately from His Self would mean that there would be a self and a few attributes and the compound of the self and the attributes would be Alláh. But a thing which is compounded is dependent on its parts and these parts must exist before their composition into the whole. When the parts exist from before, how can the whole be from ever and eternal because its existence is later than that of its parts. But Alláh had the attributes of knowledge, power and sustaining even when nothing was existent, because none of His attributes were created in Him from outside, but His attributes are His Self and His Self is His attributes. Consequently, His knowledge does not depend on the object of knowledge existing first and then His knowledge, because His Self is prior to things coming into existence. Nor is it necessary for His power that there should first exist the object to be over-powered and then alone He would be called Powerful, because Powerful is that who has power equally for doing or abandoning and as such the existence of the object to be over-powered is not necessary.
Similarly Sustainer means master. Just as He is the Master of the non-existent after its coming into existence, in the same way He has power to bring it into existence from non-existence, namely if He so wills He may bestow existence upon it.
*****
SERMON 152
About negligent persons and the characteristics of beasts, carnivores and women
He has been allowed time by Alláh. He is falling into error along with negligent persons and goes early in the morning with sinners, without any road to lead or any Imám to guide.
A part of the same sermon
At last when Alláh will make clear to them the reward for their sins, and take them out from the veils of their neglectfulness they will proceed to what they were running away from, and run away from what they were proceeding to. They will not benefit from the wants they will satisfy or the desires they would fulfil.
I warn you and myself from this position. A man should derive benefit from his own self. Certainly, prudent is he who hears and ponders over it, who sees and observes and who benefits from instructive material and then treads on clear paths wherein he avoids falling into hollows and straying into pitfalls, and does not assist those who misguide him by turning away from truthfulness, changing his words, or fearing truth.
O' my listener! Be cured from your intoxication, wake up from your slumber, decrease your hasty activity and ponder over what has come to you through the Holy Prophet, the Ummí (1) which is inevitable and inescapable. You should turn away from him who opposes him and leave him and leave whatever he has adopted for himself. Put off your vanity, drop your haughtiness and recall your grave because your way passes over it. You will be dealt with as you deal with others, you will reap what you sow, and what you send today will meet you tomorrow. So provide for your future and send (some good acts) for your day (of reckoning). Fear, fear, O' listener! Act, act, O' careless! No one will warn you like him who knows.
One of the firm decisions of Alláh in the Wise Reminder (Qur'án) upon which He bestows reward or gives punishment, and through which He likes or dislikes is that it will not benefit a man, even though he exerts himself and acts sincerely if he leaves this world to meet Alláh with one of these acts without repenting, namely that he believed in a partner with Alláh during his obligatory worship, or appeased his own anger by killing an individual, or spoke about acts committed by others, or sought fulfilment of his needs from people by introducing an innovation in his religion, or met people with a double face, or moved among them with a double tongue. Understand this because an illustration is a guide for its like.
Beasts are concerned with their bellies. Carnivores are concerned with assaulting others. Women are concerned with the adornments of this ignoble life and the creation of mischief herein (2). (On the other hand) believers are humble, believers are admonishers and believers are afraid (of Alláh).
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(1). The word "ummí" has been used in the Holy Qur'án
with reference to the Holy Prophet in chapter 7:157-158. For better understanding
of the word refer to the books of commentary on the Holy Qur'án.
(2). The intention is to say that the cause of all mischief and evil is the passion to satisfy bodily needs and the passion to subdue. If a human being is subjugated by the passion to satisfy bodily needs and considers filling the stomach as his aim there will be no difference between him and a beast, because a beast too has no aim except to fill its belly. But if he is over-powered by the passion to subdue others and takes to killing and devastation there will be no difference between him and a carnivorous beast, because the latter's aim is also tearing and devouring. If both the passions are at work in him then he is like a woman, because in a woman both these passions act side by side and because of this she is extremely eager of adornment and is active in fanning mischief and disturbance. However, a true believer will never agree to adopt these habits as his mode of behaviour, rather he keeps his passions suppressed so that he neither allows pride and vanity to approach near him nor does he fan mischief or disturbance for fear of Alláh.
Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has written that Amír al-mu'minín delivered this sermon at the time of marching towards Ba#rah, and since the trouble of Ba#rah was the result of a woman's instigation, Amír al-mu'minín has, after mentioning beasts and carnivore, held a woman also to possess such qualities. Thus the battle of Ba#rah was the result of these qualities, whereby thousands of persons were involved in death and destruction.
*****
SERMON 153
About the Ahlu'l-bayt (of the Holy Prophet) and their opposers
He who has an intelligent mind looks to his goal. He knows his low road as well as his high road. The caller has called. The shepherd has tended (his flocks). So respond to the caller and follow the shepherd.
They (the opposers)
have entered the oceans of disturbance and have taken to innovations instead
of the Sunnah (the Prophet's holy deeds, utterances and his unspoken approvals),
while the believers have sunk down, and the misguided and the liars are speaking.
We are the near ones, companions, treasure holders and doors (to the Sunnah).
Houses are not entered save through their doors. Whoever
enters them from other than the door is called a thief.
A part of the same sermon
The delicacies of the Qur'án are about them (Ahlu'l-bayt, the descendants of the Prophet) and they are the treasurers of Alláh. When they speak they speak the truth, but when they keep quiet no one can speak unless they speak. The forerunner should report correctly to his people, should retain his wits and should be one of the children (a man) of the next world, because he has come from there and would return to it.
The beginning of the action of one who sees with heart and acts with eyes it is to assess whether the action will go against him or for him. If it is for him he indulges in it, but if it is against him he keeps away from it. For, he who acts without knowledge is like one who treads without a path. Then his deviation from the path keeps him at a distance from his aim. And he who acts according to knowledge is like he who treads the clear path. Therefore, he who can see should see whether he should proceed or return.
You should also know that the outside (of every thing) has a similar inside. Of whatever the outside is good, its inside too is good, and whatever the outside is bad, its inside too is bad. The truthful Prophet (peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his progeny) has said that: "Alláh may love a man but hate his action, and may love the action but hate the man." You should also know that every action is like a vegetation, and a vegetation cannot do without water while waters are different. So where the water is good the plant is good and its fruits are sweet, whereas where the water is bad. the plant will also be bad and its fruits will be bitter.
*****
SERMON 154
About the wonderful creation of the bat
Praise be to Alláh who is such that it is not possible to describe the reality of knowledge about Him, since His greatness has restrained the intellects, and therefore they cannot find the way to approach the extremity of His realm. He is Alláh, the True, the Manifester of Truth. He is more True and more Manifest than eyes can see. Intellects cannot comprehend Him by fixing limits for Him since in that case to Him would be attributed shape. Imagination cannot catch Him by fixing quantities for Him for in that case to Him would be attributed body. He created creatures without any example, and without the advice of a counsel, or the assistance of a helper. His creation was completed by His command, and bowed to His obedience. It responded (to Him) and did not defy (Him). It obeyed and did not resist.
An example of His delicate production, wonderful creation and deep sagacity which He has shown us is found in these bats which keep hidden in the daylight although daylight reveals everything else, and are mobile in the night although the night shuts up every other living being; and how their eyes get dazzled and cannot make use of the light of the sun so as to be guided in their movements and so as to reach their known places through the direction provided by the sun.
Alláh has prevented them from moving in the brightness of the sun and confined them to their places of hiding instead of going out at the time of its shining. Consequently they keep their eyelids down in the day and treat night as a lamp and go with its help in search of their livelihood. The darkness of night does not obstruct their sight nor does the gloom of darkness prevent them from movement. As soon as the sun removes its veil and the light of morning appears, and the rays of its light enter upon the lizards in their holes, the bats pull down their eyelids on their eyes and live on what they had collected in the darkness of the night. Glorified is He who has made the night as day for them to seek livelihood and made the day for rest and stay.
He has given them wings of flesh with which, at the time of need they rise upwards for flying. They look like the ends of ears without feathers or bones. Of course, you can see the veins quite distinctly. They have two wings which are neither too thin so that they get turned in flying, nor too thick so that they prove heavy. When they fly, their young ones hold on to them and seek refuge with them, getting down when they get down and rising up when they rise. The young does not leave them till its limbs become strong, its wings can support it for rising up, and it begins to recognise its places of living and its interest. Glorified is He who creates everything without any previous sample by someone else.
*****
SERMON 155
About the malice borne by `Á'ishah; and warning the people of Ba#rah about what was to occur
Whoever can at this time keep himself clinging to Alláh should do so. If you follow me I shall certainly carry you, if Alláh so wills, on the path of Paradise, even though it may be full of severe hardship and of bitter taste.
As regards a certain woman (1), she is in the grip of womanly views, and malice is boiling in her bosom like the furnace of the blacksmith. If she were called upon to deal with others as she is dealing with me she would not have done it. (As for me), even hereafter she will be allowed her original respect, while the reckoning (of her misdeeds) is an obligation on Alláh.
A part of the same sermon
This path is the lightest course and the brightest lamp. Guidance towards virtuous actions is sought through faith while guidance towards faith is achieved through virtuous actions. Knowledge is made to prosper through faith, and death is feared because of knowledge. This world come to an end with death, while the next world is secured (by virtuous actions) in this world. For people there is no escape from resurrection. They are heading for this last end in its appointed course.
A part of the same sermon
They have got up from the resting places in their graves and have set off for the final objectives. Every house has its own people. They are not changed nor shifted from there. Commanding for good and refraining from evil are two characteristics of Alláh, the Glorified. They can neither bring death near nor lessen sustenance.
You should adhere to the Book of Alláh because it is the strong rope, a clear light, a benefiting cure, a quenching for thirst, protection for the adherent and deliverance for the attached. It does not curve so as to need straightening and does not deflect so as to be corrected. Frequency of its repetition and its falling on ears does not make it old. Whoever speaks according to it, speaks truth and whoever acts by it is forward (in action).
A man stood up and said: O' Amír al-mu'minín, tell us about this disturbance and whether you enquired about it from the Holy Prophet.
Thereupon Amír al-mu'minín said:
When Alláh, the Glorified sent down the verse:
Alif lám mím. What! Do people imagine that they will be let off on (their) saying: "We believe!" and they will not be tried? (Qur'án, 29:1-2)
I came to know that the disturbance would not befall us so long as the Prophet (peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his progeny) is among us. So I said, "O' Prophet of Alláh, what is this disturbance of which Alláh, the Sublime, has informed you?" and he replied, "O' `Alí, my people will create trouble after me." I said, "O' Prophet of Alláh, on the day of Uhud, when people had fallen martyrs and I was not among them, and this had been very annoying to me, did you not say to me, 'cheer up, as martyrdom is for you hereafter?' "The Prophet replied, "Yes it is so, but what about your enduring at present?" I said, "O' Prophet of Alláh, this is not an occasion for endurance, but rather an occasion for cheering up and gratefulness." Then he said:
"O' `Alí, people will fall into mischief through their wealth, will show obligation to Alláh on account of their faith, will expect His mercy, will feel safe from His anger and regard His unlawful matters as lawful by raising false doubts and by their misguiding desires. They will then hold lawful (the use of) wine by calling it barley water, a bribe by calling it a gift, and taking of usurious interest by calling it sale." I said, "O' Prophet of Alláh, how should I deal with them at the time, whether to hold them to have gone back in heresy or just in revolt." He said, "in revolt."
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(1). There is no denying the fact that `Á'ishah's behaviour towards Amír al-mu'minín was throughout inimical, and very often her heart's turbidity expressed itself on her face, and her hatred and dislike became quite apparent, so much so that if in connection with some affair Amír al-mu'minín's name came up a frown appeared on her forehead and she did not relish pronouncing it with her tongue. For example, when `Ubaydulláh ibn `Abdilláh ibn `Utbah mentioned to `Abdulláh ibn `Abbás the narration by `Á'ishah namely that "in his death-illness the Prophet, taking support on al-Fa_l ibn `Abbás and another person, came to her (`Á'ishah's) house," `Abdulláh ibn `Abbás said:
"Do you know who this 'other man' was?" He said, "No." Then he said, ' "`Alí ibn Abí ^álib, but she is averse to name him in a good context." (A<mad ibn \anbal, al-Musnad, vol. 6, pp. 34, 228; Ibn Sa`d, a>-^abaqát al-Kabír, vol. 2, part 2, p. 29; a>-^abarí, at-Táríkh, vol. 1, pp. 1800-1801; al-Baládhurí, Ansáb al-ashráf, vol. 1, pp. 544-545; al-Bayhaqí, as-Sunan al-kubrá, vol. 3, p. 396).
One cause for this hatred and malice was the presence of \a_rat Fá>imah (p.b.u.h.) whose wholesome dignity and esteem pricked her heart like a thorn. Her jealousy towards the other wives (of the Prophet) did not allow her to let the Prophet love the daughter of his other wife to such a degree that he should stand on her approach, seat her in his own place, declare her most honourable of all the women of the world and bear such love towards her children as to call them his own sons.
All these things pained her much and naturally her feelings on such an occasion were that if she had borne children they would have been the Prophet's sons and they would have been the pivot of the Prophet's affection instead of Imám \asan and Imám \usayn. But she was not gifted with any issue and she gratified her own desire to be a mother by adopting the surname Umm `Abdilláh (mother of the slave of Alláh) after her sister's son. In short all these things created the passion of hatred in her heart, as a result of which she off and on complained to the Prophet against \a_rat Fá>imah but could not succeed in diverting the Prophet's attention from her.
News about this mortification and estrangement also reached the ears of Abú Bakr. That would only perturb him as he too could do nothing, except that his verbal sympathies were with his daughter. At last the Prophet left this world and the reins of Government fell into his hands. Now was the opportunity for him to avenge as best as he could and to perpetrate whatever violence he had in mind. Consequently the first step he took was that, in order to deprive Ha_rat Fá>imah of inheritance, he denied the principle of inheritance in the case of the prophets and held that neither do the prophets inherit nor are they inherited from, but the property left by them escheats to the state. Fá>imah was so much affected that she gave up speaking to him and passed away from this world with these very feelings. `Á'ishah did not even take the trouble to express any sorrow at her tragic death. Thus Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has written:
"When Fá>imah expired, all the wives of the Prophet came to Baní Háshim in condolence except `Á'ishah. She did not come and showed herself sick and words from her reached `Alí which displayed her joy." (Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 9, p. 198).
As long as she bore so much malice against \a_rat Fá>imah, how could Fá>imah's spouse be spared similar enmity and malice. Particularly when such events also occurred which worked like a fan and roused her feeling of hatred, such as the incident of "Ifk" when Amír al-mu'minín said to the Prophet: "She is no better than the buckles of your shoe, leave her and divorce her away." On hearing this `Á'ishah must have felt miserable in her bed, and must have developed the severest feeling of hatred against him. There were also moments when distinction was conferred on Amír al-mu'minín in preference to Abú Bakr. For instance, in connection with the dispatch of the Qur'ánic verses on Bará'ah (innocence), the Prophet removed Abú Bakr from the job, recalled him and assigned it to Amír al-mu'minín saying that he had been commanded by Alláh to take it himself or send it through a member of his family. Similarly the Prophet closed all the doors opening into the mosque including that of Abú Bakr but allowed the door of Amír al-mu'minín's house to continue to open thereinto.
`Á'ishah could not relish Amír al-mu'minín's distinction over her father, and whenever there was any occasion for such distinction she did her best to undo it. When in his last days the Prophet ordered the contingent under Usámah ibn Zayd to march, and ordered Abú Bakr and `Umar also to go under his command, they received a message from the wives of the Prophet that his condition was serious and therefore the contingent should come back instead of proceeding further. This was because their far-reaching sight had realised that the only purpose in getting Medina vacated by the muhájirún and the an#ár could be that after the death of the Prophet no one should stand in Amír al-mu'minín's way and that he should get the caliphate without any trouble. On receipt of this message the contingent under Usámah came back. When the Prophet learnt this he again ordered Usámah to march with the contingent and even said, "Alláh may curse him who keeps away from the contingent," whereupon they again set off, but they were again called back till the Prophet's illness assumed serious proportions, but Usámah's contingent did not go out as it did not want to. After this Abú Bakr was sent word through Bilál that he should deputise the Prophet in leading the prayers in order to pave the way for his Caliphateship. Accordingly, keeping this in view he was first shown as the Prophet's caliph (deputy) in prayers and eventually was accepted as his caliph for all purposes. Thereafter matters were so contrived that Amír al-mu'minín could not get the Caliphate. However, after the reign of the third caliph circumstances took such a turn that people were obliged to swear allegiance at Amír al-mu'minín's hand. On this occasion `Á'ishah was present in Mecca. When she learnt about Amír al-mu'minín's caliphate her eyes began emitting flames, and rage and anger perturbed her mind, and her hatred for Amír al-mu'minín assumed such seriousness that she rose against him on the excuse of avenging blood of the same man (`Uthmán) whom she had herself proclaimed fit to be killed, and openly declared war as a result of which so much bloodshed occurred that the whole land of Ba#rah was smeared with the blood of those killed, and the door of disunity was opened for good. (Shar<, Ibn Abi'l-\adíd, vol. 9, pp. 190-200).
*****
SERMON 156
Urging people towards Piety (taqwa)
Praise be to Alláh who made praise the Key for His remembrance, a means for increase of His bounty and a guide for His Attributes and Dignity.
O' creatures of Alláh!
Time will deal with the survivors just as it dealt with those gone by. The
time that has passed will not return and whatever there is in it will not
stay for ever. Its later deeds are the same as the former ones. Its trouble
try to excel one another. Its banners follow each other. It is as though you
are attached to the last day which is driving you as rapidly as are driven
the she camels which are dry for seven months. He who busies himself with
things other than improvement of his own self becomes perplexed in darkness
and entangled in
ruination. His evil spirits immerse him deep in vices and make his bad actions
appear handsome. Paradise is the end of those who are forward (in good acts)
and Hell is the end of those who commit excesses.
Know O' creatures of Alláh! that piety is a strong house of protection while impiety is a weak house which does not protect its people, and does not give security to him who takes refuge therein. Know that the sting of sins is cut by piety and the final aim is achieved by conviction of belief.
O' creatures of Alláh! (fear) Alláh, (fear) Alláh, in the matter of your own selves, which are the most beloved and dear to you, because Alláh has clarified to you the way of truthfulness and lighted its paths. So (you may choose) either ever-present misfortune or eternal happiness. You should therefore provide in these mortal days for the eternal days. You have been informed of the provision, ordered to march and told to make haste in setting off. You are like staying riders who do not know when they would be ordered to march on. Beware, what will he, who has been created for the next world, do with this world? What will a person do with wealth which he would shortly be deprived of while only its ill effects and reckoning would be left behind for him?
O' creatures of Alláh! the good which Alláh has promised should not be abandoned and the evil from which He has refrained should not be coveted. O' creatures of Alláh! fear the day when actions will be reckoned; there will be much quaking and even children will get old.
Know, O' creatures of Alláh! that your own self is a guard over you; limbs are watchmen and truthful vigil-keepers who preserve (the record of) your actions and the numbers of your breaths. The gloom of the dark night cannot conceal you from them, nor can closed doors hide you from them. Surely tomorrow is close to today.
Today will depart with all that it has and tomorrow will come in its wake. It is as though every one of you has reached that place on earth where he would be alone, namely the location of his grave. So, what to say of the lonely house, the solitary place of staying and the solitary exile. It is as though the cry (of the Horn) has reached you, the Hour has overtaken you and you have come out (of your graves) for the passing of judgement. (The curtains of) falsehood have been removed from you and your excuses have become weak. The truth about you has been proved. All your matters have proceeded to their consequences. Therefore. you should (now) take counsel from examples, learn lessons from vicissitudes and take advantage of the warners.
*****
SERMON 157
About the Holy Prophet and the Holy Qur'án
Alláh deputed the Prophet at a time when there had been no prophets for some time. People had been in slumber for a long time and the twist of the rope had loosened. The Prophet came with (a Book containing) testification to what (books) were already there and also with a light to be followed. It is the Qur'án. If you ask it to speak it won't do so; but I will tell you about it. Know that it contains knowledge of what is to come about, stories of the past, cure for your ills and regulation for whatever faces you.
A part of the same sermon
About the autocracy of the Umayyads
At that time there will remain no house or tent but oppressors would inflict it with grief and inject sickness in it. On that day no one in the sky will listen to their excuse and no one on the earth will come to their help. You selected for the governance (caliphate) one who is not fit for it, and you raised him to a position which was not meant for him. Shortly Alláh will take revenge from every one who has oppressed, food for food and drink for drink, namely (they will be given) colocynth for eating, myrrh and aloes for drinking, and fear for an inner and the sword for an outer covering.
They are nothing but carrier-beasts laden with sins and camels laden with evil deeds. I swear and again swear that the Umayyads will have to spit out the caliphate as phlegm is spat and thereafter they will never taste it nor relish its flavour so long as day and night rotate.
*****
SERMON 158
Good behaviour with people and ignoring their faults
I lived as a good neighbour to you and tried my best to look after you, and I freed you from the snare of humbleness and the fetters of oppression through my gratefulness for the little good (from your side) and closed my eyes to your many misdeeds which my eyes had observed and my body had witnessed.
*****
SERMON 159
Praise of Alláh
Alláh's verdict is judicious and full of wisdom. His pleasure implies protection and mercy. He decides with knowledge and forgives with forbearance.
O' my Alláh! Praise be to Thee for what Thou takest and givest and for that from which Thou curest or with which Thou afflictest; praise which is the most acceptable to Thee, the most like by Thee and the most dignified before Thee; praise which fills all Thy creation and reaches where Thou desirest; praise which is not veiled from Thee and does not end, and whose continuity does not cease.
Greatness of Alláh
We do not know the reality of Thy greatness except that we know that thou art Ever-living and Self-subsisting by Whom all things subsist. Drowsiness or sleep do not overtake Thee, vision does not reach Thee and sight does not grasp Thee. Thou seest the eyes and countest the ages. Thou holdest (people as slaves) by foreheads and feet. We see Thy creation and wonder over it because of Thy might, and describe it as (a result of) Thy great authority; whereas what is hidden from us, of which our sight has fallen short, which our intelligence has not attained, and between which and ourselves curtains of the unknown have been cast, is far greater.
He who frees his heart (from all other engagements) and exerts his thinking in order to know how Thou established Thy throne, how Thou created Thy creatures, how Thou suspended the air in Thy skies and how Thou spread Thy earth on the waves of water, his eyes would return tired, his intelligence defeated, his ears eager and his thinking awander.
A part of the same sermon about hope and fear in Alláh.
He claims according to his own thinking that he hopes from Alláh. By Alláh, the Great, he speaks a lie. The position is that his hope (in Alláh) does not appear through his action although the hope of every one who hopes is known through his action. Every hope is so, except the hope in Alláh, the Sublime, if it is impure; and every fear is established except the fear for Alláh if it is unreal.
He hopes big things from Alláh and small things from men but he gives to man (such consideration as) he does not give to Alláh. What is the matter with Alláh, glorified be His praise? He is accorded less (consideration) than what is given to His creatures. Do you ever fear to be false in your hope in Alláh? Or do you not regard Him the centre of your hope? Similarly, if a man fears man he gives him (such consideration) out of his fear which he does not give to Alláh. Thus, he has made his fear for men ready currency while his fear from the Creator is mere deferment or promise. This is the case of every one in whose eye this world appears big (and important) and in whose heart its position is great. He prefers it over Alláh, so he inclines towards it, and becomes its devotee.
The example of the Holy Prophet
Certainly, in the Prophet of Alláh (peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his progeny) was sufficient example for you and a proof concerning the vices of the world, its defects, the multitude of its disgraces and its evils, because its sides had been constrained for him, while its flanks had been spread for others; he was deprived of its milk and turned away from its adornments.
The example of Músá (Moses)
If you want, I will, as a second example, relate to you concerning Músá, the Interlocutor of Alláh (p.b.u.h.) when he said: O' Alláh! I need whatever good Thou mayest grant me (Qur'án, 28:24). By Alláh, he asked Him only for bread to eat because he was used to eating the herbs of the earth, and the greenness of the herbs could be seen from the delicate skin of his belly due to his thinness and paucity of his flesh.
The example of Dáwúd (David)
If you desire I can give you a third example of Dáwúd (p.b.u.h.). He is the holder of the Psalms and the reciter among the people of Paradise. He used to prepare baskets of date palm leaves with his own hands and would say to his companions: "Which of you will help me by purchasing it?" He used to eat barley bread (bought) out of its price.
The example of `Ísá (Jesus)
If you desire I will tell you about `Ísá (p.b.u.h.) son of Maryam (Mary). He used a stone for his pillow, put on coarse clothes and ate rough food. His condiment was hunger. His lamp at night was the moon. His shade during the winter was just the expanse of earth eastward and westward. His fruits and flowers were only what grows from the earth for the cattle. He had no wife to allure him, nor any son to give grief, nor wealth to deviate (his attention), nor greed to disgrace him. His two feet were his conveyance and his two hands his servant.
Following the example of the Holy Prophet
You should follow your Prophet, the pure, the chaste, may Alláh bless him and his descendants. In him is the example for the follower, and the consolation for the seeker of consolation. The most beloved person before Alláh is he who follows His Prophet and who treads in his footsteps. He took the least (share) from this world and did not take a full glance at it. Of all the people of the world he was the least satiated and the most empty of stomach. The world was offered to him but he refused to accept it. When he knew that Alláh, the Glorified, hated a thing, he too hated it; that Alláh held a thing low, he too held it low; that Alláh held a thing small, he too held it small. If we love what Alláh and His Prophet hate and hold great what Alláh and His prophet hold small that would be enough isolation from Alláh and transgression of His commands.
The Prophet used to eat on the ground, and sat like a slave. He repaired his shoe with his hand, and patched his clothes with his hand. He would ride an unsaddled ass and would seat someone behind him. If there was a curtain on his door with pictures on it he would say to one of his wives. "O' such-and-such, take it away out of my sight because if I look at it I recall the world and its allurements." Thus, he removed his heart from this world and destroyed its remembrance from his mind. He loved that its allurements should remain hidden from his eye so that he should not secure good dress from it, should not regard it a place of stay and should not hope to live in it. Consequently, he removed it from his mind, let it go away from his heart and kept it hidden from his eyes. In the same way he who hates a thing should hate to look at it or to hear about it.
Certainly there was in the Prophet of Alláh all that would apprise you of the evils of this world and its defects, namely that he remained hungry along with his chief companions, and despite his great nearness the allurements of the world remained remote from him. Now, one should see with one's intelligence whether Alláh honoured Mu<ammad (the peace and blessings of Alláh be upon him and his descendants) as a result of this or disgraced him. If he says that Alláh disgraced him, he certainly lies and perpetrates a great untruth. If he says Alláh honoured him, he should know that Alláh dishonoured the others when He extended the (benefits of the) world for him but held them away from him who was the nearest to Him of all men.
Therefore, one should follow His Prophet, tread in his footsteps and enter through his entrance. Otherwise he will not be safe from ruin. Certainly, Alláh made Mu<ammad (the peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants) a sign for the Day of Judgement. a conveyor of tidings for Paradise and a warner of retribution. He left this world hungry but entered upon the next world safe. He did not lay one stone upon another (to make a house) till he departed and responded to the call of Alláh. How great is Alláh's blessing in that He blessed us with the Prophet as a predecessor whom we follow and a leader behind whom we tread.
The example of himself
By Alláh, I have been putting patches in my shirts so much that now I feel shy of the patcher. Someone asked me whether I would not put it off, but I said, "Get away from me." Only in the morning do people (realised the advantage of and) speak highly of the night journey.
*****
SERMON 160
Deputation of the Holy Prophet
Alláh deputed the Prophet with a sparkling light, a clear argument, an open path and a guiding book. His tribe is the best tribe and his lineal tree the best lineal tree whose branches are in good proportion and fruits hanging (in plenty). His birth-place was Mecca, and the place of his immigration ^aybah (Medina), from where his name rose high and his voice spread far and wide.
Alláh sent him with a sufficing plea, a convincing discourse and a rectifying announcement. Through him Alláh disclosed the ways that had been forsaken, and destroyed the innovations that had been introduced. Through him He explained the detailed commands. Now, whoever adopts a religion other than Islam, his misery is definite, his stick (of support) will be cracked, his fate will be serious, his end will be long grief and distressing punishment.
Drawing lessons from this world
I trust in Alláh,
the trust of bending towards Him, and I seek His guidance for the way that
leads to His Paradise and takes to the place of His pleasure. I advise you,
O' creatures of Alláh, to exercise fear of Alláh and to obey
Him because it is salvation tomorrow and deliverance for ever. He warned (you
of chastisement) and did so thoroughly. He persuaded (you towards virtues)
and did so fully. He described this world, its cutting away from you, its
decay and its shifting. Therefore, keep aloof from its attractions, because
very little of it will accompany you. This house is the closest to the displeasure
of Alláh and the
remotest from the pleasure of Alláh.
So close your eyes, O' creatures of Alláh, from its worries and engagements, because you are sure about its separation and its changing conditions. Fear it like a sincere fearer and one who struggles hard, and take a lesson from what you have seen about the falling places of those before you, namely that their joints were made to vanish, their eyes and ears were destroyed, their honour and prestige disappeared and their pleasure and wealth came to an end. The nearness of their children changed into remoteness. The company of their spouses changed into separation with them. They do not boast over each other, nor do they beget children nor meet each other nor live as neighbours. Therefore, fear O' creature of Alláh, like the fear of one who has control over himself, who can check his passions and perceive with his wisdom. Surely, the matter is quite clear, the banner is standing, the course is level and the way is straight.
*****
SERMON 161
One of Amír al-mu'minín's companions (from Banú Asad) asked him: "How was it that your tribe (Quraysh) deprived you of this position (Caliphate) although you deserved it most." Then in reply he said:
O' brother of Banú Asad! Your girth is loose and you have put it on the wrong way. Nevertheless you enjoy in-law kinship and also the right to ask, and since you have asked, listen. As regards the oppression against us in this matter although we were the highest as regards descent and the strongest in relationship with the Messenger of Alláh. It was a selfish act over which the hearts of people became greedy, although some people did not care for it. The Arbiter is Alláh and to Him is the return on the Day of Judgement.
"Now leave this story of devastation about which there is hue and cry all round." (1)
Come and look at the son of Abú Sufyán (Mu`áwiyah). Time has made me laugh after weeping. No wonder, by Alláh; what is this affair which surpasses all wonder and which has increased wrongfulness. These people have tried to put out the flame of Alláh's light from His lamp and to close His fountain from its source. They mixed epidemic-producing water between me and themselves. If the trying hardships were removed from among us, I would take them on the course of truthfulness otherwise:
"... So let not thy self go (in vain) in grief for them; verily Alláh knoweth all that they do." (Qur'án, 35:8)
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(1). This is a hemistich from the couplet of the famous Arab poet Imriu'l-Qays
al-Kindí. The second hemistich is:
"And let me know the story of what happened to the riding camels."
The incident behind this couplet is that when the father of Imriu'l-Qays namely Hujr ibn al-\árith was killed, he roamed about the various Arab tribes to avenge his father's life with their help. In this connection he stayed with a man of Jadílah (tribe) but finding himself unsafe left that place, and stayed with Khálid ibn Sadús an-Nabhání. In the meantime a man of Jadílah named Bá`ith ibn \uway# drove away some of his camels. Imriu'l-Qays complained of this matter to his host and he asked him to send with him his she-camels then he would get back his camels.
Consequently, Khálid went to those people and asked them to return the camels of his guest which they had robbed. They said that he was neither a guest nor under his protection. Thereupon Khálid swore that he was really his guest and showed them his she-camels that he had with him. They then agreed to return the camels. But actually instead of returning the camels they drove away the she-camels as well. One version is that they did return the camels to Khálid but instead of handing them over to Imriu'l-Qays he kept them for himself. When Imriu'l-Qays came to know this he composed a few couplets out of which this is one. It means 'now you leave the story of these camels which were robbed but now let me know about the she-camels snatched from my hands.'
Amír al-mu'minín's intention in quoting this verse as an illustration is that "Now that Mu`áwiyah is at war, we should talk about and should leave the discussion about the devastation engendered by those who had usurped my rights. That time has gone away. Now is the time for grappling with the mischiefs of the hour. So discuss the event of the moment and do not start untimely strain." Amír al-mu'minín said this because the man had put the question to him at the time of the battle of @iffín, when the battle was raging and bloodshed was in full swing.
*****
SERMON 162
Attributes of Alláh
Praise be to Alláh, Creator of people; He has spread the earth. He makes streams to flow and vegetation to grow on high lands. His primality has no beginning, nor has His eternity any end. He is the First and from ever. He is the everlasting without limit. Foreheads bow before Him and lips declare His oneness. He determined the limits of things at the time of His creating them, keeping Himself away from any likeness.
Imagination cannot surmise Him within the limits of movements limbs or senses. It cannot be said about Him: "whence"; and no time limit can be attributed to Him by saying "till". He is apparent, but it cannot be said "from what". He is hidden, but it cannot be said "in what". He is not a body which can die, nor is He veiled so as to be enclosed therein. He is not near to things by way of touch, nor is He remote from them by way of separation.
The gazing of people's eyes is not hidden from Him, nor the repetition of words, nor the glimpse of hillocks, nor the tread of a footstep in the dark night or in the deep gloom, where the shining moon casts its light and the effulgent sun comes in its wake, through its setting and appearing again and again with the rotation of time and periods, by the approach of the advancing night or the passing away of the running day.
He precedes every extremity and limit, and every counting and numbering. He is far above what those whose regard is limited attribute to Him, such as the qualities of measure, having extremities, living in house and dwelling in abodes, because limits are meant for creation and are attributable only to other than Alláh.
Alláh, the Originator from naught
He did not create things from eternal matter nor after ever-existing examples, but He created whatever He created and then He fixed limits thereto, and He shaped whatever He shaped and gave the best shape thereto. Nothing can disobey Him, but the obedience of something is of no benefit to Him. His knowledge about those who died in the past is the same as His knowledge about the remaining survivors, and His knowledge about whatever there is in the high skies is like His knowledge of whatever there is in the low earth.
A part of the same sermon
About man's creation, and pointing towards the requirements of life.
O' creature who has been equitably created and who has been nurtured and looked after in the darkness of wombs with multiple curtains. You were originated from the essence of clay (Qur'án, 23:12) and placed in a still place for a known length (Qur'án, 77:21-22) and an ordained time. You used to move in the womb of your mother as an embryo, neither responding to a call nor hearing any voice.
Then you were taken out from your place of stay to a place you had not seen, and you were not acquainted with the means of awaiting its benefits, or with who guided you to eke out your sustenance from the udder of your mother, and, when your were in need, appraised you of the location of what you required or aimed at. Alas! Certainly he who is unable to understand the qualities of a being with shape and limbs is the more unable to understand the qualities of the Creator and the more remote from appreciating Him through the limitations of creatures.
*****
SERMON 163
When people went to Amír al-mu'minin in a deputation and complained to him through what they had to say against `Uthmán, and requested him to speak to him on their behalf and to admonish him for their sake, he went to see him and said: (1)
The people are behind me and they have made me an ambassador between you and themselves; but by Alláh, I do not know what to say to you. I know nothing (in this matter) which you do not know, nor can I lead you to any matter of which you are not aware. You certainly know what we know, we have not come to know anything before you which we could tell you; nor did we learn anything in secret which we should convey to you. You have seen as we have seen and you have heard as we have heard. You sat in the company of the Prophet of Alláh as we did. (Abú Bakr) Ibn Abí Qu<áfah and (`Umar) ibn al-Kha>>áb were no more responsible for acting righteously than you, since you are nearer than both of them to the Prophet of Alláh through kinship, and you also hold relationship to him by marriage which they do not hold.
Then (fear) Alláh, in your own self; for, by Alláh, you are not being shown anything as if you are blind or being apprised of anything as if you are ignorant. The ways are clear while the banners of faith are fixed. You should know that among the creatures of Alláh, the most distinguished person before Alláh is the just Imám who has been guided (by Alláh) and guides others. So, he stands by the recognised ways of the Prophet's behaviour and destroys unrecognised innovations. The (Prophet's) ways are clear and they have signs, while innovations are also clear and they too have signs. Certainly, the worst man before Alláh is the oppressive Imám who has gone astray and through whom others go astray. He destroys the the accepted sunnah and revives abandoned innovations. I heard the Messenger of Alláh saying: "On the Day of Judgement the oppressive Imám will be brought without anyone to support him or anyone to advance excuses on his behalf, and then he will be thrown into Hell where he will rotate as the hand-mill rotates, then (eventually) he will be confined to its hollow."
I swear to you by Alláh that you should not be that Imám of the people who will be killed because it has been said that, "An Imám of this people will be killed after which killing and fighting will be made open for them till the Day of Judgement, and he will confuse their matters and spread troubles over them. As a result, they will not discern truth from wrong. They will oscillate like waves and would be utterly misled." You should not behave as the carrying beast for Marwán so that he may drag you wherever he likes, despite (your) seniority of age and length of life.
Then `Uthmán said to Amír al-mu'minín: "Speak to the people to give me time until I redress their grievances." Amír al-mu'minín then said: "So far as Medina is concerned here is no question of time. As for remoter areas you can have the time needed for your order to reach there."
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(1). During the Caliphate of `Uthmán when the Muslims were weary of
the oppression of the Government and its officials collected in Medina to
complain to the senior companions of the Prophet, they came to Amír
al-mu'minín in a peaceful manner and requested him to see `Uthmán
and advise him not to trample on the Muslims' rights and to put an end to
the troubles which were proving the cause of the people's ruin, whereupon
Amír al-mu'minín went to him and uttered these words.
In order to make the bitterness of the admonition palatable Amír al-mu'minín adopted that way of speech in the beginning which would create a sense of responsibility in the addressee and direct him towards his obligations. Thus, by mentioning his companionship of the Prophet, his personal position, and his kinship to the Prophet as against the two previous Caliphs, his intention was to make him realise his duties; in any case, this was obviously not an occasion for eulogising him, so that its later portion can be disregarded and the whole speech be regarded as an eulogy of his attainments, because from its very beginning it is evident that whatever `Uthmán did, he did it wilfully, that nothing was done without his knowledge or his being informed, and that he could not be held unaccountable for it because of his being unaware of it. If the adoption of a line of action which made the whole Islamic world raise hue and cry in spite of his having being a companion of the Prophet, having heard his instructions, having seen his behaviour and having been acquainted with the commandments of Islam can be regarded as a distinction, then this taunt may also be regarded as praise. If that is not a distinction then this too cannot be called and eulogy. In fact, the words about which it is argued that they are in praise are enough to prove the seriousness of his crime, because a crime in ignorance and unawareness is not so serious as the weight given to the seriousness of the commission of a crime despite knowledge and awareness. Consequently a person who is unaware of the rise and fall of a road and stumbles in the dark night is excusable but a person who is aware of the rise and fall of the road and stumbled in broad day light is liable to be blamed. If on this occasion he is told that he has eyes and is also aware of the rise and fall of the way, it would not mean that his vastness of knowledge or the brightness of his eye-sight is being praised, but the intention would be that he did not notice the pitfalls despite his eyes, and did not walk properly, and that therefore for him, having or not having eyes is the same, and knowing or not knowing is equal.
In this connection great stress in laid on his being a son-in-law, namely that the Prophet married his two daughters Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthúm to him one after the other. Before taking this to be a distinction, the real nature of `Uthmán's son-in-lawship should be seen. History shows that in this matter `Uthmán did not enjoy the distinction of being the first, but before him Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthúm had been married to two sons of Abú Lahab namely `Utbah and `Utaybah, but despite their being sons-in-law, they have not been included among people of position of pre-prophethood period. How then can this be regarded as a source of position without any personal merit, when there is no authority about the importance of this relationship, nor was any importance attached to this matter in such a way that there might have been some competition between `Uthmán and some other important personality in this regard and that his selection for it might have given him prominence, or that these two girls might have been shown to possess an important position in history, tradition or biography as a result of which this relationship could be given special importance and regarded as a distinction for him? If the marriage of these two daughters with `Utbah and `Utaybah in the pre-prophethood period is held as lawful on the ground that marriage with unbelievers had not till then been made unlawful, then in `Uthmán's case also the condition for lawfulness was his acceptance of Islam, there is no doubt that he had pronounced the kalimah ash-shahádatayn (there is no god but Alláh and Mu<ammad is His Messenger) and had accepted Islam outwardly. As such this marriage can be held a proof of his outward Islam, but no other honour can be proved through it. Again, it is also not agreed that these two were the real daughters of the Messenger of Alláh, because there is one group which denies them to be his real daughters, and regards them as being the daughters of Khadijah's sister Hálah, or the daughters of her own previous husband. Thus, Abu'l-Qásim al-Kúfí (d. 352 A.H.) writes:
"When the Messenger of Alláh married Khadíjah, then some time thereafter Hálah died leaving two daughters, one named Zaynab and the other named Ruqayyah and both of them were brought up by the Prophet and Khadíjah and they maintained them, and it was the custom before Islam that a child was assigned to whoever brought him up." (al-lstigháthah, p. 69)
Ibn Hishám has written about the issues of \a_rat Khadíjah as follows:
"Before marriage with the Prophet she was married to Abí Hálah ibn Málik. She delivered for him Hind ibn Abí Hálah and Zaynab bint Abí Hálah. Before marriage with Abí Hálah she was married to `Utayyiq ibn `Ábid ibn `Abdilláh ibn `Amr ibn Makhzúm and she delivered for him `Abdulláh and a daughter." (as-Sírah an-nabawiyyah, vol. 4, p. 293)
This shows that of \a_rat Khadíjah had two daughters before being married to the Prophet and according to all appearance they would be called his daughters and those to whom they were married would be called his sons-in-law, but the position of this relationship would be the same as if those girls were his daughters. Therefore, before putting it forth as a matter for pride the real status of the daughters should be noted and a glance should be cast at `Uthmán's conduct. In this connection, al-Bukhárí and other narrators (of traditions) and historians record this tradition as follows:
Anas ibn Málik relates that: "We were present on the occasion of the burial of the Prophet's daughter Umm Kulthúm, while the Prophet was sitting beside her grave. I saw his eyes shedding tears. Then he said, 'Is there any one among you who has not committed a sin last night?' Abú ^al<ah (Zayd ibn Sahl al-An#árí) said, 'I', then the Prophet said, 'Then you get into the grave,' consequently he got down into the grave."
The commentators said about 'committed sin' that the Holy Prophet meant to say 'one who had not had sexual intercourse.' On this occasion the Holy Prophet unveiled the private life of `Uthmán and prevented him from getting down into the grave, although it was a prominent merit of the Prophet's character that he did not disgrace or belittle any one by making public his private life, and despite of knowledge of others' shortcomings, ignored them; but in this case the filth was such that it was deemed necessary to disgrace him before the whole crowd.
Since `Uthmán did not show any regard for the demise of his wife (Umm Kulthúm) nor was he moved or felt sorry (for this event), and paid no heed to the cutting off his relationship with the Holy Prophet (for being his son-in-law), he (`Uthmán) had sexual intercourse on the same night, therefore the Holy Prophet deprived him of this right and honour. (al-Bukhárí, a#-@a<í<, vol. 2, pp. 100-101, 114; A<mad ibn \anbal, al-Musnad, vol. 3, pp. 126, 228, 229, 270; al-\ákim, al-Mustadrak, vol. 4, p. 47; al-Bayhaqí, as-Sunan al-kubrá, vol. 4, p. 53; Ibn Sa`d, a>-^abaqát al-kabír, vol. 8, p. 26; as-Suhaylí, ar-Raw_ al-unuf, vol. 2, p. 107; Ibn \ajar, al-I#ábah, vol. 4, p. 489; Fat< al-bárí, vol. 3, p. 122; al-`Ayní, `Umdah al-qárí, vol. 4,p. 85; Ibn al-Athír, an-Niháyah, vol. 3, p. 276; Ibn Man~úr, Lisán al-`Arab, vol. 9, pp. 280-281; az-Zabídí, Táj al-`arús, vol. 6, p. 220).
*****
SERMON 164
Describing the wonderful creation of the peacock
About the wonderful creation of birds
Alláh has provided wonderful creations including the living, the lifeless, the stationary, and the moving. He has established such clear proofs for His delicate creative power and great might that minds bend down to Him in acknowledgement thereof and in submission to Him, and arguments about His Oneness strike our ears. He has created birds of various shapes which live in the burrows of the earth, in the openings of high passes and on the peaks of mountains.
They have different kinds of wings, and various characteristics. They are controlled by the rein of (Alláh's) authority. They flutter with their wings in the expanse of the vast firmament and the open atmosphere. He brought them into existence from non-existence in strange external shapes, and composed them with joints and bones covered with flesh. He prevented some of them from flying easily in the sky because of their heavy bodies and allowed them to use their wings only close to the ground. He has set them in different colours by his delicate might and exquisite creative power.
Among them are those which are tinted with one hue and there is no other hue except the one in which they have been dyed. There are others which are tinted with one colour, and they have a neck ring of a different colour than that with which they are tinted.
About the Peacock
The most amazing among them in its creation is the peacock, which Alláh has created in the most symmetrical dimensions, and arranged its hues in the best arrangement with wings whose ends are inter-leaved together and whose tail is long. When it moves to its female it spreads out its folded tail and raises it up so as to cast a shade over its head, as if it were the sail of a boat being pulled by the sailor. It feels proud of its colours and swaggers with its movements. It copulates like the cocks. It leaps (on the female) for fecundation like lustful energetic men at the time of fighting.
I am telling you all this from observation, unlike he who narrates on the basis of weak authority, as for example, the belief of some people that it fecundates the female by a tear which flows from its eyes and when it stops on the edges of the eyelids the female swallows it and lays its eggs thereby and not through fecundation by a male other than by means of this flowing tear. Even if they say this, it would be no amazing than (what they say about) the mutual feeding of the crows (for fecundation). You would imagine its feathers to be sticks made of silvers and the wonderful circles and sun-shaped feathers growing thereon to be of pure gold and pieces of green emerald. If you likened them to anything growing on land, you would say that it is a bouquet of flowers collected during every spring. If you likened them to cloths, they would be like printed apparels or amazing variegated cloths of Yemen. If you likened them to ornaments then they would be like gems of different colour with studded silver.
The peacock walks with vanity and pride, and throws open its tail and wings and laughs admiring the handsomeness of its dress and the hues of its necklace of gems. But when it casts its glance at its legs it cries loudly with a voice which indicates its call for help and displays its true grief, because its legs are thin like the legs of Indo-Persian cross-bred cocks. At the end of its shin there is a thin thorn and on the crown of its head there is a bunch of green variegated feathers. Its neck begins in the shape of a goblet and its stretch up to its belly is like the hair-dye of Yemen in colour or like silk cloth put on a polished mirror which looks as if it has been covered with a black veil, except that on account of its excessive lustre and extreme brightness it appears that a lush green colour has been mixed with it. Along the openings of its ears there is a line of shining bright daisy colour like the thin end of a pen. Whiteness shines on the black background. There is hardly a hue from which it has not taken a bit and improved it further by regular polish, lustre, silken brightness and brilliance. It is therefore like scattered blossoms which have not been seasoned by the rains of spring or the sun of the summer.
It also sheds its plumage and puts off its dress. They all fall away and grow again. They fall way from the feather stems like the falling of leaves from twigs, and then they begin to join together and grow till they return to the state that existed before their falling away. The new hues do not change from the previous ones, nor does any colour occur in other than its own place. If you carefully look at one hair from the hairs of its feather stems it would look like red rose, then emerald green and then golden yellow.
How can sharpness of intellect describe such a creation, or faculty of mind, or the utterances of describers manage to tell of it. Even its smallest parts have made it impossible for the imagination to pick them out or for tongues to describe them. Glorified is Alláh who has disabled intellects from describing the creation which He placed openly before the eyes and which they see bounded, shaped, arranged and coloured. He also disabled tongues from briefly describing its qualities and also from expanding in its praise.
The magnificence of the
Creator in
great and small creation
Glorified is Alláh who has assigned feet to small ants and gnats and also to those above them, the serpents and the elephants. He has made it obligatory upon Himself that no skeleton in which He infuses the spirit would move, but that death is its promised place and destruction its final end.
A part of the same sermon
Describing Paradise
If you cast your mind's eye at what is described to you about Paradise, your heart would begin to hate the delicacies of this world that have been displayed here, namely its desires and its pleasures, and the beauties of its scenes, and you would be lost in the rustling of the trees whose roots lie hidden in the mounds of musk on the banks of the rivers in Paradise and in the attraction of the bunches of fresh pearls in the twigs and branches of those trees, and in the appearance of different fruits from under the cover of their leaves. These fruits can be picked without difficulty as they come down at the desire of their pickers. Pure honey and fermented wine will be handed round to those who settle down in the courtyards of its palaces.
They are a people whom honour has always followed till they were made to settle in the house of eternal abode, and they obtained rest from the movement of journeying. O' listener! If you busy yourself in advancing towards these wonderful scenes which will rush towards you, then your heart will certainly die due to eagerness for them, and you will be prepared to seek the company of those in the graves straight away from my audience here and hasten towards them. Alláh may, by His mercy, include us and you too among those who strive with their hearts for the abodes of the virtuous.
Note explaining some
of the wonderful and obscure
portions of this sermon
As-Sayyid ar-Ra_í says: In Amír al-mu'minín's words "ya'urru bimaláqi<ihi", "al-arr" implies "copulation", e.g. when it is said "arra'r-rajulu al-mar'ata ya'urruhá", it means "He copulated with the woman."
In his words "ka'annahu qal`u dáriyyin `anajahu nútiyyuhu", "al-qal`" means the sail of a boat. "dári" means belonging to Dárín which is a small town on the coast from where scents are bought. And "`anajahu" means "turned it". It is said "`anajtun'n-náqata - like na#artu - a`najuhá `anjan". "When you turn the she-camel." And "an-nútí" means sailor. His words "_affatay jufúnihi" means edges of the eyelids, since "a_-_affatán" means the two edges. His words "wa filadhu'z-zabarjadi": "al-filadh" is the plural of "al-fildhah" it means piece. His words "ka bá'isi'l-lu'lu'i'r-ra>ibi". "al-kibásah" means bunch of dates. "al-`asálíj" means twigs. Its singular is "`uslúj".
*****
SERMON 165
Advice for observing
courtesy and kindness
and keeping in and out of the same
The young among you should follow the elders while the elders should be kind to the young. Do not be like those rude people of the pre-lslamic (al-jáhiliyyah) period who did not exert themselves in religion nor use their intellects in the matter of Alláh. They (1) are like the breaking of eggs in the nest of a dangerous bird, because their breaking looks bad, but keeping them intact would mean the production of dangerous young ones.
A part of the same sermon
About the autocracy and oppression of the Umayyads and their fate
They will divide after their unity and scatter away from their centre. Some of them will stick to the branches, and bending down as the branches bend, until Alláh, the Sublime, will collect them together for the day that will be worst for the Umayyads just as the scattered bits of clouds collect together in the autumn. Alláh will create affection among them. Then He will make them into a strong mass like the mass of clouds. Then he will open doors for them to flow out from their starting place like the flood of the two gardens (of Saba') from which neither high rocks remained safe nor small hillocks, and its flow could be repulsed neither by strong mountains nor by high lands. Alláh will scatter them in the low lands of valleys and then He will make them flow like streams throughout the earth, and through them He will arrange the taking of rights of one people by another people and make one people to stay in the houses of another people. By Alláh, all their position and esteem will dissolve as fat dissolves on the fire.
The cause of tyranny
O' people! If you had not evaded support of the truth and had not felt weakness from crushing wrong then he who was not your match would not have aimed at you and he who overpowered you would not have overpowered you. But you roamed about the deserts (of disobedience) like Banú Isrá'íl (Children of Israel). I swear by my life that after me your tribulations will increase several times, because you will have abandoned the truth behind your backs, severed your connection with your near ones and established relations with remote ones. Know that if you had followed him who was calling you (to guidance) he would have made you tread the ways of the Prophet, then you would have been spared the difficulties of misguidance, and you would have thrown away the crushing burden from your necks.
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(1). The implication
is that the outer Islam of these people required that they should not be molested,
but the consequence of sparing them in this way was that they would create
mischief and rebellion.
*****
SERMON 166
At the beginning of his Caliphate.
Fulfilment of rights and obligations, and advice to fear Alláh in all matters.
Alláh, the Glorified, has sent down a guiding Book wherein He has explained virtue and vice. You should adopt the course of virtue whereby you will have guidance, and keep aloof from the direction of vice so that you remain on the right way. (Mind) the obligations (mind) the obligations. Fulfil them for Alláh and they will take you to Paradise. Surely, Alláh has made unlawful the things which are not unknown and made lawful the things which are without defect. He has declared paying regard to Muslims as the highest of all regards. He has placed the rights of Muslims in the same grade (of importance) as devotion (to Himself and His oneness). Therefore, a Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand every (other) Muslim is safe save in the matter of truth. It is not, therefore, lawful to molest a Muslim except when it is obligatory.
Hasten towards the most common matter which is peculiar to every one; and that is death. Certainly, people (who have already gone) are ahead of you while the hour (Day of Judgement) is driving you from behind. Remain light, in order that you may overtake them. Your backs are being awaited for the sake of the fronts. Fear Alláh in the matter of His creatures and His cities because you will be questioned even about lands and beasts. Obey Alláh and do not disobey Him. When you see virtue adopt it, and when you see vice avoid it.
*****
SERMON 167
After swearing of allegiance
to Amír al-mu'minín, some
people from among the companions of the Prophet said to him, "You should
punish the people who assaulted
`Uthmán," whereupon he said:
O' my brothers! I am not ignorant of what you know, but how do I have the power for it while those who assaulted him are in the height of their power. They have superiority over us, not we over them. They are now in the position that even your slaves have risen with them and Bedouin Arabs too have joined them. They are now among you and are harming you as they like. Do you see any way to be able to do what you aim at?
This demand is certainly that of the pre-Islamic (al-jáhiliyyah) period and these people have support behind them. When the matter is taken up, people will have different views about it. One group will think as you do, but another will not think as you think, and there will be still another group who will be neither this way nor that way. Be patient till people quieten down and hearts settle in their places so that rights can be achieved for people easily. Rest assured from me, and see what is given to you by me. Do not do anything which shatters your power, weakens your strength and engenders feebleness and disgrace. I shall control this affair as far as possible, but if I find it necessary the last treatment will, of course, be branding with a hot iron (through fighting).
*****
SERMON 168
When the people of Jamal
set off for
Ba#rah Amír al-mu'minín said:
There is no doubt that Alláh sent down the Prophet as a guide with an eloquent Book and a standing command. No one will be ruined by it except one who ruins himself. Certainly, only doubtful innovations cause ruin except those from which Alláh may protect. In Alláh's authority lies the safety of your affairs. Therefore, render Him such obedience as is neither blameworthy nor insincere. By Alláh, you must do so, otherwise Alláh will take away from you the power of Islam, and will never thereafter return it to you till it reverts to others.
Certainly, these people are in agreement in disliking my authority. I will carry on till I perceive disunity among you; because if, in spite of the unsoundness of their view, they succeed, the whole organisation of the Muslims will be shattered. They are hankering after this world out of jealousy against him on whom Alláh has bestowed it. So they intend reverting the matters on their backs (pre-Islamic period), while on us it is obligatory, for your sake, to abide by the Book of Alláh (Qur'án), the Sublime, and the conduct of the Prophet of Alláh, to stand by His rights and the revival of his sunnah.
*****
SERMON 169
When Amír al-mu'minín approached Ba#rah an Arab met him and spoke to him, as he had been sent to him by a group of people of Ba#rah to enquire from him on their behalf position vis-à-vis the people of Jamal. Amír al-mu'minín explained to him his position with respect to them, from which he was convinced that Amír al-mu'minín was in the right. Then Amír al-mu'minín asked him to swear allegiance, but he replied "I am just a message carrier of a people and shall not do anything until I get back to them." Upon this Amír al-mu'minín said to him:
If those at your back
send you as a forerunner to search out a rain-fed area for them, and you return
to them and apprise them of greenery and water but they disagree with you
and go towards dry and barren land, what would you do then? He said: I would
leave them and go towards greenery and water. Amír al-mu'minín
then said: So then
extend your hand.
This man related that: By Alláh, by such a clear argument I could not refrain from swearing allegiance to Amír al-mu'minín.
This man was know as Kulayb al-Jarmí.
SERMON 170
When Amír al-mu'minín decided to fight the enemy face to face
at @iffín he said:
O' my Alláh! Sustainer of the high sky and the suspended firmament which Thou hast made a shelter for the night and the day, an orbit for the sun and the moon and a path for the rotating stars, and for populating it Thou hast created a group of Thy angels who do not get weary of worshipping Thee. O' Sustainer of this earth which Thou hast made an abode for people and a place for the movement of insects and beasts and countless other creatures seen and unseen. O' Sustainer of strong mountains which Thou hast made as pegs for the earth and (a means of) support for people. If Thou givest us victory over our enemy, save us from excesses and keep us on the straight path of truth. But if Thou givest them victory over us, then grant us martyrdom and save us from mischief.
Where are those who protect honour, and those self-respecting persons who defend respectable persons in the time of hardship? Shame is behind you while Paradise is in front of you.
*****
SERMON 171
About the Consultative Committee and the Battle of Jamal
Praise be to Alláh from whose view one sky does not conceal another sky nor one earth another earth.
A part of the same sermon
About the Consultative Committee after the death of `Umar ibn al-Kha>>áb
Someone (1) said to me, "O' son of Abí ^álib, you are eager for the caliphate." Then I told him:
"Rather, you are, by Alláh, more greedy, although more remote, while I am more suited as well as nearer. I have demanded it as my right, while you are intervening between me and it, and you are turning my face from it." When I knocked at his ears with arguments among the crowd of those present he was startled as if he was stunned not knowing what reply to give me about it.
O' my Alláh! I seek Thy succour against the Quraysh and those who are assisting them, because they are denying me (the rights of) kinship, have lowered my high position, and are united in opposing me in the matter (of the caliphate) which is my right, and then they said, "Know that the rightful thing is that you have it and also that you may leave it." (2)
A part of the same sermon
Describing the people of Jamal
They (^al<ah, az-Zubayr and their supporters) came out dragging the wife of the Messenger of Alláh (the peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants) just as a maidslave is dragged for sale. They took her to Ba#rah where those two (^al<ah and az-Zubayr) put their own women in their houses but exposed the wife of the Messenger of Alláh to themselves and to others in the army in which there was not a single individual who had not offered me his obedience and sworn to me allegiance quite obediently, without any compulsion.
Here in Ba#rah they approached my governor and treasurers of the public treasury and its other inhabitants. They killed some of them in captivity and others by treachery. By Alláh, even if they had wilfully killed only one individual from among the Muslims without any fault, it would have been lawful for me to kill the whole of this army because they were present in it but did not disagree with it nor prevented it by tongue or hand, not to say that they killed from among the Muslims a number equal to that with which they had marched on them.
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(1). On the occasion of the Consultative Committee Sa`d ibn Abí Waqqás repeated to Amír al-mu'minín what Caliph `Umar had said in his last hours namely that "O' `Alí, you are very greedy for the position of caliphate," and `Alí replied that, "He who demands his own right cannot be called greedy; rather greedy is he who prevents the securing of the right and tries to grab it despite being unfit for it."
There is no doubt that Amír al-mu'minín considered the Caliphate to be his right, and demanded his right. The demand for a right does not dispel a right so that it may be put forth as an excuse for not assigning him the caliphate, and the demand may be held as a mark of greed. Even if it was greed, who was not involved in this greed? Was not the pull between the muhájirún and the an#ár the mutual struggle between the members of the Consultative Committee and the mischief mongering of ^al<ah and az-Zubayr the product of this very greed. If Amír al-mu'minín had been greedy for this position, he would have stood for it, closing his eyes to the consequences and results, when `Abbás (uncle of the Prophet) and Abú Sufyán pressed him for (accepting) allegiance, and when, after the third Caliph people thronged to him for (swearing) allegiance, he should have accepted their offer without paying any attention to the deteriorated conditions. But at no time did Amír al-mu'minín take any step which could prove that he wanted the Caliphate for the sake of caliphate, but rather his demand for the caliphate was only with the object that its features should not be altered and the religion should not become the victim of others' desires, not that he should enjoy the pleasures of life which could be attributed to greed.
(2). Explaining the meaning, Ibn Abi'l-\adíd writes that Amír al-mu'minín's intention was to say:
They (the Quraysh and those who are assisting them) were not only content to keep me away from my right over the caliphate which they have usurped (from me), but rather claimed that it was their right whether to give it to me or prevent me from the same; and that I have no right to argue with them.
Furthermore, the intention (of Amír al-mu'minín) is that:
If they had not said that it is right to keep away from the caliphate, it would have been easy to endure it because this would have, at least, showed their admitting my right although they were not prepared to concede it. (Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 9, p. 306)
*****
SERMON 172
On eligibility for the Caliphate
The Prophet is the trustee of Alláh's revelation, the Last of His Prophets. the giver of tidings of His mercy and the warner for His chastisement.
O' people. the most rightful of all persons for this matter (namely the caliphate) is he who is most competent among them to maintain it, and he who knows best Alláh's commands about it. If any mischief is created by a mischief-monger, he will be called upon to repent. If he refuses. he will be fought. By my life, (1) if the question of Imámah was not to be decided unless all the people were present, then there would be no such case. But those who agreed about it imposed the decision on those who were absent, so much so that he who was present could not dissent and the one who was absent could not choose (any one else). Know that I shall fight two persons - one who claims what is not his and the other who ignores what is obligatory upon him.
The need for sagacity in fighting against Muslims
O' creatures of Alláh! I advise you to have fear of Alláh because it is the best advice to be mutually given by persons, and the best of all things before Alláh. The door of war has been opened between you and the other Muslims. And this banner will be borne only by him who is a man of sight, of endurance and of knowledge of the position of rightfulness. Therefore, you should go ahead with what you are ordered and desist from what you are refrained. Do not make haste in any matter till you have clarified it. For in the case of every matter which you dislike we have a right to change it.
The behaviour of this world with its adherents
Know that this world which you have started to covet and in which you are interested, and which sometimes enrages you and sometimes pleases you is not your (permanent) abode, nor the place of your stay for which you might have been created, nor one to which you have been invited. Know that it will not last for you nor will you live along with it. If anything out of this world deceives you (into attraction), its evils warn you too. You should give up (the objects of) its deceits in favour of (the objects of) its warning and (the objects of) its attractions in favour of (the objects of) its terrors. And while here in it, advance towards that house to which you have been called, and turn away your hearts from the world. None of you should cry like a maid slave over anything which she has been deprived of. Seek the perfection of Alláh's bounty over you by endurance in obedience to Alláh and in guarding what He has asked you to guard, namely His Book.
Know that the loss of anything of this world will not harm you, if you have guarded the principles of your religion. Know also that after the loss of your religion nothing of this world for which you have cared will benefit you. May Alláh carry our hearts and your hearts towards the right and may He grant us and you endurance.
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(1). When the people collected in the Saqífah of Banú Sá`idah in connection with the election, even those who were not present there were made to follow the decision taken there, and the principle was adopted that those present at the election had no right to reconsider the matter or to break the allegiance and those not present could do nothing but acquiesce in the agreed decision. But when the people of Medina swore allegiance at the hands of Amír al-mu'minín, the Governor of Syria (Mu`áwiyah) refused to follow suit on the ground that since he was not present on the occasion he was not bound to abide by it, whereupon Amír al-mu'minín gave a reply in this sermon on the basis of these accepted and agreed principles and conditions which had been established among these people and had become incontrovertible namely that: "When the people of Medina and the an#ár and the muhájirún have sworn allegiance on my hand, Mu`áwiyah had no right to keep aloof from it on the ground that he was not present on the occasions nor were ^al<ah and az-Zubayr entitled to break the pledge after swearing allegiance."
On this occasion, Amír al-mu'minín did not argue on the strength of any saying of the Prophet which would serve as his final say about the caliphate, because the grounds for refusal in his case was in respect of the modus operandi of the principle of election. Therefore, in keeping with the requirements of the situation a reply based on the agreed principles of the adversary could alone quieten him. Even if he had argued on the strength of the Prophet's command it would have been subjected to various interpretations and the matter would have been prolonged instead of being settled. Again Amír al-mu'minín had seen that soon after the death of the Prophet all his sayings and commands had been set aside. Therefore, how after the lapse of a long time, could one be expected to accept it when habit had been established to follow one's free will against the Prophet's sayings.
*****
SERMON 173
About ^al<ah ibn `Ubaydilláh
Delivered when he received the news that ^al<ah and az-Zubayr had already left for Ba#rah to fight against him.
As for me, I would never be frightened of fighting or be made to fear striking because I am satisfied with Alláh's promise of support to me. By Alláh, ^al<ah has hastened with drawn sword to avenge `Uthmán's blood for fear lest the demand for `Uthmán's blood be made against himself, because the people's idea in this matter is about him, and, in fact, he was the most anxious among them for his killing. Therefore, he has tried to create misunderstanding by collecting forces in order to confuse the matter and to create doubt.
By Alláh. he did not act in either of three ways about `Uthmán. If the son of `Affán (`Uthmán) was in the wrong, as ^al<ah believed, it is necessary for him to support those who killed (1) him or to keep away from his supporters. If `Uthmán was the victim of oppression. then ^al<ah should have been among those who were keeping (the assaulters) away from him or were advancing pleas on his behalf. If he was in doubt about these two alternatives, then it was incumbent upon him to leave him (`Uthmán) and retire aside and leave the men with him (to deal with him as they wished). But he adopted none of these three ways, and came out with a thing in which there is no good, and his excuses are not acceptable.
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(1). It means that if ^al<ah considered `Uthmán an oppressor, then after his assassination, instead of getting ready to avenge his blood, he should have supported his killers and justified their action. It is not the intention that in the case of `Uthmán being in the wrong ^al<ah should have supported the attackers because he was already supporting and encouraging them.
*****
SERMON 174
Warning to neglectful people, and about the vastness of his own knowledge
O' people who are (negligent of Alláh but) not neglected (by Alláh), and those who miss (doing good acts) but are to be caught. How is it that I see you becoming removed from Alláh and becoming interested in others? You are like the camel whom the grazer drives to a disease-stricken pasture and a disastrous watering place. They are like beasts who are fed in order to be slaughtered, but they do not know what is intended for them. When they are treated well they think that day to be their whole life, and eating their full to be their aim.
By Alláh, if I wish, I can tell every one of you from where he has
come, where he has to go and all his affairs, but I fear lest you abandon
the Messenger of Alláh - peace and blessing of Alláh be upon
him and his progeny - in my favour. I shall certainly convey these things
to the selected ones who will remain safe from that fear. By Alláh,
Who deputed the Prophet with Right and distinguished him over creation. I
do not speak save the truth. He (the Prophet) informed me of all this and
also about the death of every one who dies, the salvation of every one who
is granted salvation, and the consequences of this matter (the caliphate).
He left nothing (that could) pass into my head without putting it in my ear
and telling me about it. (1)
O' people ! By Alláh, I do not impel you to any obedience unless I practise it before you and do not restrain you from any disobedience unless I desist from it before you.
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(1). Those who drink from the springs of revelation and divine inspiration see things hidden behind the curtains of the unknown and the events which will occur in the future in the same way as objects can be seen with the eyes, and this does not conflict with the saying of Alláh that:
Say: "None (either) in the heavens or in the earth knoweth the unseen save Alláh..." (Qur'án, 27:65)
because this verse contains the negation of personal knowledge of the unknown, but not the negation of knowledge which is required by the prophets and holy persons through divine inspiration, by virtue of which they make prophesies about the future and unveil many events and happenings. Several verses of the Qur'án support this view such as:
When the Prophet confided unto one of his wives a matter, but when she divulged it (unto others) and Alláh apprised him thereof, he made known a part of it and avoided a part; so when he informed her of it, said she: "Who informed thee of this?" He said: "Informed me, the All-knowing, the All-aware." (Qur'án, 66:3)
These are of the tidings of the unseen which We reveal unto thee (O' Our Prophet Mu<ammad )...(Qur'án, 11:49)
Therefore, it is incorrect to argue in support of the view that if it is said that the prophets and holy persons possess knowledge of the unknown it would imply duality in the divine attributes. It would have implied duality if it were said that someone other than Alláh has personal knowledge of the unknown. When it is not so and the knowledge possessed by the Prophets and Imáms is that given by Alláh it has no connection with duality. If duality should mean what is alleged, what would be the position of `Ísá's (Jesus's) assertion related in the Qur'án namely:
. . . Out of clay will I make for you like the figure of a bird, and I will breathe into it, and it shall become a flying bird by Alláh's permission; and I shall heal the blind and the leper and will rise the dead to life by Alláh 's permission; and I will declare to you what ye eat and what ye store up in your houses. . . (Qur'án, 3:49)
If it is believed that `Ísá (Jesus) could create and bestow life with Alláh's permission does it mean that he was Alláh's partner in the attributes of creation and revival? If this is not so then how can it be held that if Alláh gives someone the knowledge of the unknown it implies that he has been taken to be His partner in His attributes, and how can one extol one's belief in the oneness of Alláh by holding that the knowledge of the unknown implies duality.
No one can deny the fact that some people either see in dreams certain things which have yet to occur in the future, or that things can be read through interpretation of the dream, while during a dream neither do the senses function nor do the powers of understanding and comprehension co-operate. Therefore, if some events become known to some people in wakefulness why should there be amazement over it and what are the grounds for rejecting it, when it stands to reason that things possible in dreams are also possible in wakefulness. Thus, Ibn Maytham al-Bahrání has written that it is possible to achieve all this, because in a dream the spirit becomes free from looking after the body and is removed from bodily connections; as a result of this it perceives such hidden realities which could not be seen because of the obstruction of the body. In the same way those perfect beings who pay no heed to bodily matters, and turn with all the attention of spirit and heart towards the centre of knowledge can see those realities and secrets which the ordinary eyes are unable to discern. Therefore, keeping in view the spiritual greatness of Ahlu'l-bayt (members of the Prophet's family) it should not appear strange that they were aware of events which were going to occur in future. Ibn Khaldún has written:
"When thaumaturgic feats are performed by others what do you think about those who were distinguished in knowledge and honesty and were a mirror of the Prophet's traits, while the consideration Alláh had for their noble root (namely the Prophet) is a proof of the high performances of his chaste off-shoots (Ahlu'l-bayt). Consequently many events about knowledge of the unknown are related about Ahlu'l-bayt which are not related about others.." (al-Muqaddamah, p. 23).
In this way there is no cause for wonder over Amír al-mu'minín's claim since he was brought up by the Prophet and was a pupil of Alláh's school. Of course, those whose knowledge does not extend beyond the limits of physical objectivity and whose means of learning are confined to the bodily senses refuse to believe in the knowledge about the paths of divine cognisance and reality. If this kind of claim were unique and were heard only from over Amír al-mu'minín then minds could have wavered and temperaments could have hesitated in accepting it, but if the Qur'án records even such a claim of `Ísá (Jesus) that - "I can tell you what you eat or drink or store in your houses," then why should there be hesitation over Amír al-mu'minín's claim, when it is agreed that Amír al-mu'minín had succeeded to all the attainments and distinctions of the Prophet and it cannot be contended that the Prophet did not know what `Ísá (Jesus) knew. Thus, if the successor of the Prophet advances such a claim, why should it be rejected, particularly as this vastness of knowledge of Amír al-mu'minín is the best evidence and proof for the Prophet's knowledge and perfection and a living miracle of his truthfulness.
In this connection, it is amazing that even having knowledge of events Amír al-mu'minín did not, through any of his words or deeds, indicate that he knew them. Thus, commenting of the extraordinary importance of this claim, as-Sayyid Ibn ^áwús writes:
"An amazing aspect of this claim is that despite the fact that Amír al-mu'minín was aware of conditions and events, yet he observed such conduct by way of his words and deeds that one who saw him could not believe that he knew the secrets and unknown acts of others, because the wise agree that if a person knows what event is likely to take place or what step his comrade is going to take, or if the hidden secrets of people are known to him, then the effects of such knowledge would appear through his movements and the expressions of his face. But the man who, in spite of knowing everything, behaves in a way as though he is unaware and knows nothing, then his personality is a miracle and a combination of contradictions."
At this stage, the question arises as to why Amír al-mu'minín did not act upon the dictates of his secret knowledge. The reply to this is that the commands of the sharí`ah are based on apparent conditions. Otherwise secret knowledge is a kind of miracle and power which Alláh grants to His prophets and Imáms. Although the prophets and Imáms possess this power always, they cannot make use of it at any time unless and until by the permission of Alláh and on the proper occasion. For example, the verse quoted above about `Ísá (Jesus) which tells that he had the power to give life, to heal the blind and declare what one ate and stored in his house, etc., he (Jesus) did not used to practise this power on every thing or every corpse or everyone who met him. He used to practise this power only by the permission of Alláh and on the proper occasion.
If prophets and other divines acted on the basis of their secret knowledge it would have meant serious dislocation and disturbance in the affairs of the people. For example, if a prophet or divine, on the basis of his secret knowledge, punishes a condemnable man by killing him, there would be great commotion and agitation among those who see it on the ground that he killed an innocent man. That is why Alláh has not permitted the basing of conclusions on secret knowledge save in a few special cases, and has enjoined the following of observable factors. Thus, despite his being aware of the hypocrisy of some of the hypocrites, the Prophet extended to them the treatment that should be extended to a Muslim.
Now, there can be no scope for the objection that if Amír al-mu'minín knew secret matters then why did he not act according to them because it has been shown that he was not obliged to act according to the requirements of his secret knowledge. Of course, where conditions so required he did disclose some matters for the purposes of preaching, admonishing, giving good tidings (of reward) or warning (against punishment), so that future events could be fore-closed. For example, Imám Ja`far a#-@ádiq (p.b.u.h.) informed Ya<yá ibn Zayd that if he went out he would be killed. Ibn Khaldún writes in this connection:
"It has been authentically related from Imám Ja`far a#-@ádiq that he used to apprise some of his relations of the events to befall them. For example, he warned his cousin Ya<yá ibn Zayd of being killed but he disobeyed him and went out and was killed in Júzaján." (al-Muqaddamah, p. 233).
Nevertheless, where there was apprehension that minds would get worried it was not at all disclosed. That is why in this sermon Amír al-mu'minín avoided more details, in view of the fear that people would begin to regard him higher than the Prophet. Despite all this people did go astray about `Ísá (Jesus), and in the same way about Amír al-mu'minín also they began to say all sorts of things and were misled into resorting to exaggeration.
*****
SERMON 175
Preaching
(O ' creatures!) Seek benefit from the sayings of Alláh, be admonished of Alláh and accept the advice of Alláh because Alláh has left no excuse for you by providing clear guidance, has put before you the plea and clarified for you what acts He likes and what acts He hates, so that you may follow the one and avoid the other. The Prophet of Alláh used to say. "Paradise is surrounded by unpleasant things while Hell is surrounded by desires."
You should know that every obedience to Alláh is unpleasant in appearance while every disobedience to Alláh has the appearance of enjoyment. Alláh may have mercy on the person who kept aloof from his desire and uprooted the appetite of his heart, because this heart has far-reaching aims and it goes on pursuing disobedience through desires.
You should know, O' creatures of Alláh, that a believer should be distrustful of his heart every morning and evening. He should always blame it (for shortcomings) and ask it to add to (its good acts). You should behave like those who have gone before you and the precedents in front of you. They left this world like a traveller and covered it as distance is covered.
The greatness of the Holy Qur'án
And know that this Qur'án is an adviser who never deceives, a leader who never misleads and a narrator who never speaks a lie. No one will sit beside this Qur'án but that when he rises he will achieve one addition or one diminution - addition in his guidance or elimination in his (spiritual) blindness. You should also know that no one will need anything after (guidance from) the Qur'án and no one will be free from want before (guidance from) the Qur'án. Therefore, seek cure from it for your ailments and seek its assistance in your distresses. It contains a cure for the biggest diseases, namely unbelief, hypocrisy, revolt and misguidance. Pray to Alláh through it and turn to Alláh with its love. Do not ask the people through it. There is nothing like it through which the people should turn to Alláh, the Sublime.
Know that it is an interceder and its intercession will be accepted. It is a speaker who is testified. For whoever the Qur'án intercedes on the Day of Judgement, its intercession for him would be accepted. He about whom the Qur'án speaks ill on the Day of Judgement shall testify to it. On the Day of Judgement an announcer will announce, "Beware. every sower of a crop is in distress except the sowers of the Qur'án." Therefore, you should be among the sowers of the Qur'án and its followers. Make it your guide towards Alláh. Seek its advice for yourselves, do not trust your views against it. and regard your desires in the matter of the Qur'án as deceitful.
About the believers and their good deeds; and the hypocrites and their bad deeds
Action! action! Then (look at) the end; the end, and (remain) steadfast; steadfast. Thereafter (exercise) endurance, endurance, and piety, piety. You have an objective. Proceed towards your objective. You have a sign. Take guidance from your sign. Islam has an objective. Proceed towards its objective. Proceed towards Alláh's by fulfilling His rights which He has enjoined upon you. He has clearly stated His demands for you. I am a witness for you and shall plead excuses on your behalf on the Day of Judgement.
Beware! what had been ordained has occurred and that which had been destined has come into play. I am speaking to you with the promise and pleas of Alláh.
Alláh the Sublime, has said:
Verily, those who say: Our Lord is Alláh! and persevere aright, the angels descend upon them (saying): "Fear Ye not, nor be grieved, and receive the glad tidings of the Garden which Ye were promised." (Qur'án, 41:30)
You have said. "Our Lord is Alláh." Then keep steadfast to His Book, to the way of His command and to the virtuous course of His worship. Thereafter do not go out of it, do not introduce innovations in it, and do not turn away from it, because those who go away from this course will be cut off from (the mercy of) Alláh on the Day of Judgement.
Beware from destroying your manners and changing them, maintaining one tongue. A man should control his tongue because the tongue is obstinate with its master. By Alláh, I do not find that fear of Alláh benefits a man who practises it unless he controls his tongue. Certainly the tongue of a believer is at the back of his heart while the heart of a hypocrite is at the back of his tongue; because, when a believer intends to say anything, he thinks it over in his mind. If it is good he discloses it, but if it is bad he lets it remain concealed. While a hypocrite speaks whatever comes to his tongue, without knowing what is in his favour and what goes against him.
The Prophet of Alláh - peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants - said: "The belief of a person cannot be firm unless his heart is firm, and his heart cannot be firm unless his tongue is firm." So whoever of you can manage to meet Alláh, the Sublime, in such a position that his hands are unsmeared with the blood of Muslims and their property and his tongue is safe from exposing them, he should do so.
Following the sunnah and refraining from innovation
Know, O' creatures of Alláh, that a believer should regard lawful this year what he regarded lawful in the previous year, and should consider unlawful this year what he considered unlawful in the previous year. Certainly people's innovation cannot make lawful for you what has been declared unlawful; rather, lawful is that which Alláh has made lawful and unlawful is that which Alláh has made unlawful. You have already tested the matters and tried them; you have been preached by those before you. Illustrations have been drawn for you and you have been called to clear fact. Only a deaf man can remain deaf to all this, and only a blind man can remain blind to all this.
He whom Alláh does not allow benefit from trials and experience cannot benefit from preaching. He will be faced with losses from in front, so that he will approve what is bad and disapprove what is good. People are of two categories - the follower of the sharí`ah (religious laws), and the follower of the innovations to whom Alláh has not given any testimony by way of sunnah or the light of any plea.
Guidance from the Holy Qur'án
Alláh the Glorified, has not counselled anyone on the lines of this Qur'án, for it is the strong rope of Alláh and His trustworthy means. It contains the blossoming of the heart and springs of knowledge. For the heart there is no other gloss than the Qur'án although those who remembered it have passed away while those who forgot or pretended to have forgotten it have remained. If you see any good give your support to it, but if you see evil evade it, because the Messenger of Alláh used to say: "O' son of Adam, do good and evade evil; by doing so you will be treading correctly."
Categories of oppression
Know that injustice is of three kinds - one, the injustice that will not be forgiven, another, that will not be left unquestioned, and another that will be forgiven without being questioned. The injustice that will not be forgiven is duality of Alláh. Alláh has said: Verily Alláh forgiveth not that (anything) be associated with Him ... (Qur'án, 4:48,116). The injustice that will be forgiven is the injustice a man does to himself by committing small sins; and the injustice that will not be left unquestioned is the injustice of men against other men. The retribution in such a case is severe. It is not wounding with knives, nor striking with whips, but it is so severe that all these things are small against it. You should therefore avoid change in the matter of Alláh's religion for your unity in respect of a right which you dislike is better than your scattering away in respect of a wrong that you like. Certainly, Alláh the Glorified has not given any person, whether among the dead or among those who survive, any good from separation.
O' people, blessed is the man whose own shortcomings keep him away from (looking into) the shortcomings of others, and also blessed is the man who is confined to his house, eats his meal, buries himself in obeying his Alláh. and weeps over his sins, so that he is engaged in himself and people are in safety from him.
*****
SERMON 176
About the two arbiters (after the battle of @iffín)
Your party had decided to select two persons, and so we took their pledge that they would act according to the Qur'án and would not commit excess, that their tongues should be with it and that their hearts should follow it. But they deviated from it, abandoned what was right although they had it before their eyes. Wrong-doing was their desire, and going astray was their behaviour. Although we had settled with them to decide with justice. to act according to the light and without the interference of their evil views and wrong judgement. Now that they have abandoned the course of right and have come out with just the opposite of what was settled, we have strong ground (to reject their verdict).
*****
SERMON 177
Praise of Alláh, transience of this world, and causes of the decline of Alláh's blessings. (Delivered at the beginning of his caliphate after the killing of `Uthmán)
One condition does not prevent Him from (getting into) another condition, time does not change Him, place does not locate him and the tongue does not describe Him. The number of drops of water, of stars in the sky, or of currents of winds in the air are not unknown to Him, nor the movements of ants on rocks, or the resting place of grubs in the dark night. He knows the places where leaves fall, and the secret movements of the pupils of the eyes.
I stand witness that there is no god but Alláh, Who has no parallel, Who is not doubted, Whose religion is not denied and Whose creativeness is not questioned. My witnessing is like that of a man whose intention is free, whose conscience is clear, whose belief is pure and whose loads (of good actions) are heavy. I also stand witness that Mu<ammad - the peace and blessings of Alláh be upon him and his progeny - is His slave and His Messenger, chosen from His creations, selected for detailing His realities, picked for His selected honours and chosen for His esteemed messages. Through him the signs of guidance have been lighted and the gloom of blindness (misguidance) has been dispelled.
O' people, surely this world deceives him who longs for it and who is attracted towards it. It does not behave niggardly with him who aspires for it and overpowers him who overpowers it. By Alláh, no people are deprived of the lively pleasures of life after enjoying them, except as a result of sins committed by them, because certainly Alláh is not unjust to His creatures. Even then, when calamities descend upon people and pleasures depart from them, they turn towards Alláh with true intention and the feeling in their hearts that He will return them everything that has fled from them and cure all their ills.
I fear about you lest you fall into ignorance (that prevailed before the appearance of the Prophet). In the past there were certain matters in which you were deflected, and in my view you were not worthy of admiration; but if your previous position could be returned to you then you would become virtuous. I can only strive; but if I were to speak I would (only) say may Alláh forgive your past actions.
*****
SERMON 178
Dhi`lib al-Yamání asked Amír al-mu'minín whether he had seen Alláh, when he replied, "Do I worship one whom I have not seen?" Then he enquired, "How have you seen Him?" Then Amír al-mu'minín replied:
Eyes do not see Him face to face, but hearts perceive Him through the realities of belief. He is near to things but not (physically) contiguous. He is far from them but not (physically) separate. He is a speaker, but not with reflection. He intends, but not with preparation. He moulds, but not with (the assistance of) limbs. He is subtle but cannot be attributed with being concealed. He is great but cannot be attributed with haughtiness. He sees but cannot be attributed with the sense (of sight). He is Merciful but cannot be attributed with weakness of heart. Faces feel low before His greatness and hearts tremble out of fear of Him.
*****
SERMON 179
Condemning his disobedient men
I praise Alláh for whatever matter He ordained and whatever action He destines and for my trial with you, O' group of people who do not obey when I order and do not respond when I call you. If you are at ease you engage in (conceited) conversation, but if you are faced with battle you show weakness. If people agree on one Imám you taunt each other. If you are faced with an arduous matter you turn away from it. May others have no father (woe to your enemy!) what are you waiting for in the matter of your assistance and for fighting for your rights? For you there is either death or disgrace. By Alláh, if my day (of death) comes. and it is sure to come, it will cause separation between me and you although I am sick of your company and feel lonely with you.
May Alláh deal with you! Is there no religion which may unite you nor sense of shamefulness that may sharpen you? Is it not strange that Mu`áwiyah calls out to some rude low people and they follow him without any support or grant, but when I call you, although you are the successors of Islam and the (worthy) survivors of the people, with support and distributed grants you scatter away from me and oppose me? Truly, there is nothing between me to you which I like and you also like it, or with which I am angry and you may also unite against it. What I love most is death. I have taught you the Qur'án, clarified to you arguments, apprised you of what you were ignorant and made you swallow what you were spitting out. Even a blind man would have been able to see, and he who was sleeping would have been awakened. How ignorant of Alláh is their leader Mu`áwiyah and their instructor Ibn an-Nábighah. (1)
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(1). "an-Nábighah" is the surname of Layla bint \armalah
al-`Anaziyyah, mother of `Amr ibn al-`Á#. The reason for attributing
him to his mother is her common reputation in the matter. When Arwá
bint al-\árith ibn `Abd al-Mu>>alib went to Mu`áwiyah,
during the conversation, when `Amr ibn al-`Á# intervened, she said
to him: "O' son of an-Nábighah, you too dare speak, although your
mother was known publicly and was a singer of Mecca. That is why five persons
claimed you (as a son), and when she was asked she admitted that five people
had visited her and that you should be regarded as the son of him you resembled
most. You must have resembled al-`Á# ibn Wá'il and therefore
you came to be known as his son."
These five persons were (1) al-`Á# ibn Wa'il, (2) Abú Lahab, (3) Umayyah ibn Khalaf, (4) Hishám ibn al-Mughirah, and (5) Abú Sufyan ibn \arb. (Ibn `Abd Rabbih, al-`lqd al-faríd, vol. 2, p. 120; Ibn ^ayfúr, Balághát an-nisá', p. 27; Ibn \ijjah, Thamarát al-awráq, vol. 1, p. 132; @afwat, Jamharat khu>ab al-`Arab, vol. 2, p.363; Ibn Abi'l-\adíd, vol. 6, pp. 283-285, 291; al-\alabí, as-Sírah vol. 1, p. 46).
*****
SERMON 180
Amír al-mu'minín sent one of his men to bring him news about a group of the army of Kúfah who had decided to join the Khárijites but were afraid of him. (1) When the man came back Amír al-mu'minín said to him: "Are they satisfied and staying or feeling weak and going astray?" The man replied, "They have gone away, O' Amír al-mu'minín."
Then Amír al-mu'minín said:
May Alláh's mercy remain away from them as in the case of Thamúd. Know that when the spears are hurled towards them and the swords are struck at their heads they will repent of their doings. Surely today Satan has scattered them and tomorrow he will disclaim any connection with them, and will leave them. Their departing from guidance, returning to misguidance and blindness, turning away from truth and falling into wrong is enough (for their chastisement).
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(1). A man of the tribe Banú Nájiyah named al-Khirrít ibn Ráshid an-Nájí was on Amír al-mu'minín's side in the battle of @iffín, but after Arbitration he became rebellious, and, coming to Amír al-mu'minín with thirty persons, said: "By Alláh, I Will no more obey your command, nor offer prayers behind you, and shall leave you tomorrow." Whereupon Amír al-mu'minín said: "You should first take into account the grounds underlying this Arbitration and discuss it with me. If you are satisfied, you do as you will." He said he would come the next day to discuss the matter. Amír al-mu'minín then cautioned him, "Look, on going from here do not get mislead by others and do not adopt any other course. If you have the will to understand, I will get you out of this wrong path and put you on the course of guidance." After this conversation he went away, but his countenance indicated he was bent on revolt, and would not see reason by any means. And so it happened. He stuck to his point and on reaching his place he said to his tribesmen, "When we are determined to abandon Amír al-mu'minín there is no use going to him. We should do what we have decided to do." On this occasion `Abdulláh ibn Qu`ayn al Azdí also went to them to enquire, but when he came to know the position he asked Mudrik ibn ar-Rayyán an-Nájí to speak to him and to apprise him of the ruinous consequence of this rebellion, whereupon Mudrik assured him that this man would not be allowed to take any step. Consequently, `Abdulláh came back satisfied and related the whole matter before Amír al-mu'minín on returning the next day. Amír al-mu'minín said, "Let us see what happens when he comes. " But when the appointed hour passed and he did not turn up Amír al-mu'minín asked `Abdulláh to go and see what the matter was and what was the cause for the delay. On reaching there `Abdulláh found that all of them had left. When he returned to Amír al-mu'minín he spoke as in this sermon.
The fate that befell al-Khirrít ibn Ráshid an-Nájí has been stated under Sermon 44.
*****
SERMON 181
It has been related by Nawf al-Bikálí that Amír al-mu'minín `Alí (p.b.u.h.) delivered this sermon at Kúfah standing on a stone which Ja`dah ibn Hubayrah al-Makhzúmí had placed for him. Amír al-mu'minín had a woollen apparel on his body, the belt of his sword was made of leaves, and the sandals on his feet too were of palm leaves. His forehead had a hardened spot like that a camel (on its knee, due to many and long prostrations). About Alláh's attributes, His creatures and His being above physical limitations
Praise be to Alláh 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 charity 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.
Alláh 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. Among the proofs of His creation is the creation of the skies which are fastened without pillars and stand without support. He called them and they responded obediently and humbly without being lazy or loathsome. If they had not acknowledged His Godhead and obeyed Him He would not have made them the place for His throne, the abode of His angels and the destination for the rising up of the pure utterances and the righteous deeds of the creatures.
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 Alláh 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 Alláh 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 thought of after the people.
It is He who spoke to Músá 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 Alláh if you are serious then (first try to) describe Gabriel, Michael or the host of angels who are close (to Alláh) 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).
An account of past peoples
and about
learning from them
I advise you, creatures of Alláh, to practise fear of Alláh 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 Sulaymán ibn Dáwúd (p. b. u. h. ) who was given control over the domain of the jinn and men along with prophethood and great position (before Alláh), 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 Amalekites (1) and the sons of Amalekites? Where are the Pharaohs? (2) Where are the people of the cities of ar-Rass (3) 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?
A part of the same sermon about the Imám al-Mahdí
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 Alláh's proofs and one of the vicegerents of His prophets.
Then Amír al-mu'minín continued:
On the method of his
ruling, and grief over
the martyrdom of his companions
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 Alláh deal with you! Do you want an Imám 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 Alláh 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 @iffín suffer by not being alive today? Only that they are not suffering choking on swallowings and not drinking turbid water. By Alláh, surely they have met Alláh and He has bestowed upon them their rewards and He has lodged them in safe houses after their (having suffered) fear.
Where are my brethren who took the (right) path and trod in rightness. Where is `Ammár? (4) Where is Ibn at-Tayyihán? (5) Where is Dhu'sh-Shahádatayn? (6) And where are others like them (7) from among their comrades who had pledged themselves to death and whose (severed) heads were taken to the wicked enemy.
Then Amír al-mu'minín wiped his hand over his auspicious, honoured beard and wept for a long time, then he continued:
Oh! my brothers. who recited the Qur'án and strengthened it, thought over their obligation and fulfilled it, revived the sunnah and destroyed innovation. When they were called to jihád they responded and trusted in their leader then followed him.
Then Amír al-mu'minín shouted at the top of his voice:
al-jihád, al-jihád (fighting, fighting), O' creatures of Alláh! By Alláh, I am mobilising the army today. He who desires to proceed towards Alláh should come forward.
Nawf says: Then Amír al-mu'minín put \usayn (p.b.u.h.) over (a force of) ten thousand, Qays ibn Sa`d (mercy of Alláh be upon him) over ten thousand, Abú Ayyúb al-An#árí over ten thousand, and others over different numbers, intending to return to @iffín, but Friday did not appear again and the accursed Ibn Muljam (may Alláh curse him) killed him. Consequently, the armies came back and were left like sheep who had lost their shepherd while wolves were snatching them away from all sides.
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(1). History shows that very often the ruin and destruction of peoples has been due to their oppression and open wickedness and profligacy. Consequently, communities which had extended their sway over all the corners of the populated world and had flown their flags in the East and West of the globe disappeared from the surface of the earth like a wrong word, on disclosure of their vicious actions and evil doings.
Amalekites: ancient nomadic tribe, or collection of tribes, described in the Old Testament as relentless enemies of Israel, even though they were closely related to Ephraim, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their name derives from Amalek, who is celebrated in Arabian tradition but cannot be identified. The district over which they ranged was south of Judah and probably extended into northern Arabia. The Amalekites harassed the Hebrews during their exodus out of Egypt and attacked them at Rephidim (near Mt. Sinai), where they were defeated by Joshua. They also filled out the ranks of the nomadic raiders defeated by Gideon and were condemned to annihilation by Samuel. The Amelekites, whose final defeat occurred in the time of Hezekiah, were the object of a perpetual curse. (The New Encyclopaedia Britannica [Micropaedia], vol. 1, p. 288, ed. 1973-1974; also see [for further reference] The Encyclopaedia Americana, [International Edition] vol. 1, p. 651, ed. 1975).
(2). Pharaoh: Hebrew
form of the Egyptian per-`o ("the great house"), signifying the
royal palace, an epithet applied in the New Kingdom and after, as a title
of respect, to the Egyptian king himself. In the 22nd dynasty the title was
added to the king's personal name. In official documents the full titulary
of the Egyptian king contained five names. The first and oldest identified
him as the incarnation of the falcon god, Horus; it was often written inside
a square called serekh, depicting the facade of the archaic palace. The second
name, "two ladies", placed him under the protection of Nekhbet and
Buto, the vulture and uraeus (snake) goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt; the
third, "golden Horus", signified perhaps originally "Horus
victorious over his enemies." The last two names, written within a ring
or cartouche, are generally referred to as the praenomen and nomen, and were
the ones most commonly used; the praenomen and nomen, and were the ones most
commonly used; the praenomen, preceded by the hieroglyph meaning "King
of Upper and Lower Egypt," usually contained a reference to the king's
Unique relationship with the sun god, Re, while the fifth, or nomen, was preceded
by the hieroglyph for "Son of Re," or by that for "Lord of
the two lands." The last name was given him at birth, the rest at his
coronation. (The New Encyclopaedia Britannica [Micropaedia], vol. Vll, p.
927, ed. 1973-1974; also see [for further reference] The Encyclopaedia Americana,
[International Edition], vol. 21, p.
707, ed. 1975).
Among the Pharaohs was the Pharaoh of the days of Prophet Músá. His pride, egotism, insolence and haughtiness were such that by making the claim "I am your sublime God" he deemed himself to be holding sway over all other powers of the world, and was under the misunderstanding that no power could wrest the realm and government from his hands. The Qur'án has narrated his claim of "I and no one else" in the following words:
And proclaimed Pharaoh unto his people, "O' my people! is not the kingdom of Egypt mine? And these rivers flow below me; What! behold ye not? (43:51)
But when his empire came near the end it was destroyed in a few moments. Neither his position and servants could come in the way of its destruction nor could the vastness of his realm prevent it. Rather, the waves of the very streams which he was extremely proud to possess, wrapped him in and dispatched his spirit to Hell throwing the body on the bank to serve as a lesson for the whole of creation.
(3). The people of the cities of ar-Rass: In the same way the people of ar-Rass were killed and destroyed for disregarding the preaching and call of a prophet, and for revolt and disobedience. About them the Qur'án says:
And the (tribes of) `Ád and Thamúd and the inhabitants of ar-Rass, and generations between them, in great number. And unto each of them We did give examples and every one (of them) We did destroy with utter extermination. (25:38,39)
Belied (also) those before them the people of Noah and the dwellers of ar-Rass and Thamúd; And `Ád and Pharaoh, and the brethren of Lot; And the dwellers of the Wood and the people of Tubba`; all belied the apostles, so was proved true My promise (of the doom) (50:12-14)
(4). `Ammár ibn Yásir ibn `Ámir al-`Ansí al-Mad<<ijí al Makhzúmí (a confederate of Banú Makhzúm) was one of the earliest converts to Islam, and the first Muslim to build a mosque in his own house in which he used to worship Alláh (a>-Tabaqát, vol. 3, Part 1, p. 178; Usd al-ghábah, vol. 4, p. 46; Ibn Kathír, at-Táríkh, vol. 7, p. 311).
`Ammár accepted Islam along with his father Yásir and his mother Sumayyah. They suffered great tortures by the Quraysh, due to their conversion to Islam, to such an extent that `Ammár lost his parents; and they were the first martyrs man and woman in Islam.
`Ammár was among those who immigrated to Abyssinia, and the earliest immigrants (muhájirún) to Medina. He was present in the battle of Badr and all other battles as well as places of assembly by the Muslims during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet; and he showed his might and favour in all Islamic struggles in the best way.
Many traditions are narrated from the Holy Prophet about `Ammár regarding his virtues, outstanding traits and his glorious deeds, such as the tradition which `Á'ishah and other have narrated that the Holy Prophet himself had said that `Ammár was filled with faith from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. (Ibn Májah, as-Sunan, vol. 1, p. 65; Abu Nu`aym, \ilyah al-Awliyá', vol. 1, p. 139; al-Haytamí, Majma` az-zawá'id, vol. 9, p. 295; al-Istí`áb, vol. 3, p. 1137; al-I#ábah, vol. 2, p. 512)
In another tradition the Holy Prophet said about `Ammár:
`Ammár is with the truth and the truth is with `Ammár. He turns wherever the truth turns. `Ammár is as near to me as an eye is near to the nose. Alas! a rebellious group will kill him. (a>-^abaqát, vol. 3, part 1, p. 187; al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, p. 392; Ibn Hishám, as-Sírah, vol. 2, p. 143; Ibn Kathír, at-Tárikh, vol. 7, pp. 268-270)
Also in the decisive and widely known tradition which al-Bukhárí (in Sa<í<, vol. 8, pp. 185-186), at-Tirmidhí (in al-Jámi` a#-@a<í<, vol. 5, p. 669); A<mad ibn \anbal (in al-Musnad, vol. 2, pp. 161,164,206; vol. 3, pp.5, 22, 28, 91; vol. 4, pp.197, 199, vol. 5 pp.215, 306, 307; vol. 6, pp.289, 300, 311, 315), and all the narrators of Islamic traditions and historians transmitted through twenty-five Companions that the Holy Prophet said about `Ammár:
Alas! a rebellious group which swerves from the truth will murder `Ammár. `Ammár will be calling them towards Paradise and they will be calling him towards Hell. His killer and those who strip him of arms and clothing will be in Hell.
Ibn \ajar al-`Asqalání (in Tahdhíb at-tahdhíb, vol. 7, p. 409; al-l#ábah, vol. 2, p.512) and as-Suyú>í (in al-Kha#á'is al-kubrá, vol. 2, p. 140) say: "The narration of this (above mentioned) tradition is mutawátir (i.e. narrated successively by so many people that no doubt can be entertained about its authenticity)."
Ibn `Abd al-Barr (in al-Istí`áb, vol. 3, p. 1140) says:
The narration followed uninterrupted succession from the Holy Prophet, that he said: "A rebellious group will murder `Ammár," and this is a prophecy of the Prophet's secret knowledge and the sign of his prophethood. This tradition is among the most authentic and the most rightly ascribed traditions.
After the death of the Holy Prophet, `Ammár was one of the closest adherents and best supporters of Amír al-mu'minín during the reign of the first three Caliphs. During the caliphate of `Uthmán when the Muslim protested (to `Uthmán) against his policy on the distribution of the Public Treasury (Baytu'l-mál) `Uthmán said in a public assembly that, 'the money which as in the treasury was sacred and belonged to Alláh, and that he (as being the successor of the Prophet) had the right to dispose of them as he thought fit. 'He (`Uthmán) threatened and cursed all who presumed to censure or murmur at what he said. Upon this, `Ammár ibn Yásir 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 `Uthmán commanded him to be beaten and immediately some of the Umayyads, the kindred of the Caliph fell upon the venerable `Ammár, and the Caliph himself kicking him with his shoes (on his feet) on `Ammár's testicles, and afflicted him with hernia. `Ammár became unconscious for three days, and he was taken care of by Umm al-mu'minín Umm Salamah in her own house. (al-Baládhurí, Ansáb al-ashráf, vol. 5, pp. 48,54,88; Ibn Abi'l-\adíd, vol. 3, pp. 47-52; al-lmámah wa's-siyásah, vol. 1, pp. 35-36; al-`Iqd al-faríd, vol. 4, p. 307; a>-^abaqát, vol. 3, Part 1, p. 185; Táríkh al-khamís, vol. 2, p. 271)
When Amír al-mu'minín became Caliph, `Ammár 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 @iffín).
However, `Ammár was martyred on 9th @afar 37 A.H. in the battle of @iffín when a he was over ninety years of age. On the day `Ammár ibn Yásir achieved martyrdom, he turned his face to the sky and said:
O' my Alláh! 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 Alláh! 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 Alláh! I do not think there is anything more pleasant to Thee than fighting with this sinful group, and if knew that any action were more pleasant to Thee I would do it.
Abú `Abd ar-Ra<mán as-Sulami narrates:
"We were present with Amír al-mu'minín at @iffín where I saw `Ammár ibn Yásir was not turning his face towards any side, nor valleys (wádis [of the land] ) of @iffín but the companions of the Holy Prophet were following him as if he was a sign for them. Then I heard `Ammár say to Háshim ibn 'Utbah (al-Mirqál): 'O' Háshim! rush into enemy's ranks, paradise is under sword!
Today I meet beloved one, Mu<ammad and his party'.
"Then he said: 'By Alláh, if they put us to flight (and pursue us) to the date-palms of \ajar (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 (Ammár) continued (addressing the enemies):
We struck you to (believe in) its (Holy Qur'án) 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 `Ammár 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 Abú al-Ghádiyah al-Juharí (al-Fazárí) 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 `Ammár looked at the tumbler he said: "The Messenger of Alláh had said the right thing." People asked him what he meant by these words. He said "The Messenger of Alláh 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 Alláh, the Almighty. When Amír al-mu'minín came to know of his death, he came to `Ammár's side, put his (`Ammár'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 Yásir, and is not be afflicted by this grievous misfortune does not have true faith.
May Alláh show His mercy to `Ammár the day he embraced Islam, may Alláh show His mercy to `Ammár the day he was killed, and may Alláh show His mercy to `Ammár the day he is raised to life.
Certainly, I found `Ammár (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 `Ammár, but that he gained his claim to it (a number of times). May Paradise give enjoyment to `Ammár.
Certainly, it was said (by the Holy Prophet) "Surely, `Ammár is with the truth and the truth is with `Ammár. He turns wherever the truth turns. His killer will be in hell."
Then Amír al-mu'minín stepped forward and offered funeral prayers for him, and then with his own hands, he buried him with his clothes.
`Ammár's death caused a good deal of commotion in the ranks of Mu`áwiyah 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 Amír al-mu'minín for a right cause. These people were aware of the saying of the Holy Prophet that `Ammár would be killed by a group who would be on the wrong side. When they observed that `Ammár had been killed by Mu`áwiyah's army, they became convinced that they were on the wrong side and that Amír al-mu'minín was definitely on the right. This agitation thus caused among the leaders as well as the rank and file of Mu`áwiyah's army, was quelled by him with the argument that it was Amír al-mu'minín who brought `Ammár to the battlefield and therefore it was he who was responsible for his death. When Mu`áwiyah's argument was mentioned before Amír al-mu'minín he said it was as though the Prophet was responsible for killing \amzah as he brought him to the battle of U<ud. (a>-^abarí, at-Tárikh, vol. 1, pp. 3316-3322; vol. 3, pp. 2314-2319; Ibn Sa`d, a>-^abaqát, vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 176-189; Ibn al-Athír, al-Kámil, vol. 3, pp. 308-312; Ibn Kathír, at-Táríkh, vol. 7, pp, 267-272; al-Minqarí, @iffín, pp. 320-345; Ibn `Abd al-Barr, al-Istí'áb, vol . 3, pp. 1135- 1140; vol. 4, p. 1725; Ibn al-Athír, Usd al-ghábah, vol. 4, pp. 43-47; vol. 5, p. 267; Ibn Abi'l-\ádíd, Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 5, pp. 252-258; vol. 8, pp. 10-28; vol. 10, pp. 102-107, al-\ákim, al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, pp. 384-394; Ibn `Abd Rabbih, al-`Iqd al-faríd, vol. 4, pp. 340-343; al-Mas`údí, Murúj adh-dhahab, vol. 2, pp. 381-382, al-Haytamí, Majma` az-zawá'id, vol. 7, pp. 238-244; vol. 9, pp. 291-298; al-Baládhurí, Ansáb al-ashráf (Biography of Amír al-mu'minín), pp. 310-319.
(5). Abu'l-Haytham (Málik) ibn at-Tayyihán al-An#árí was one of the twelve chiefs (naqíb [of an#ár]) who attended the fair and met at al-`Aqabah -- in the first `Aqabah and among those who attended in the second `Aqabah -- where he gave the Holy Prophet the 'pledge of Islam'. He was present in the battle of Badr and all other battles as well as places of assembly by the Muslims during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet. He was also among the sincere supporters of Amír al-mu'minín and he attended the battle of Jamal as well as @iffín where he was martyred. (al-Istí`áb, vol. 4, p. 1773; @iffín, p. 365; Usd al-ghábah, vol. 4, p. 274; vol. 5, p. 318; al-I#ábah, vol. 3, p. 341; vol. 4, pp. 312-313; Ibn Abi'l-\adíd, vol. 10, pp. 107-108; Ansáb al-ashráf, p. 319).
(6). Khuzaymah ibn Thábit al-An#árí. He is known as Dhu'sh-Sháhadatayn because the Holy Prophet considered his evidence equivalent to the evidence of two witnesses He was present in the battle of Badr, and other battles as well as in the places of assembly of the Muslims during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet. He is counted among the earliest of those who showed their adherence to Amír al-mu'minín and he was also present in the battle of Jamal and @iffín. `Abd ar-Ra<mán ibn Abí Laylá narrated that he saw a man in the battle of @iffín fighting the enemy valiantly and when he protested against his action, the man said:
I am Khuzaymah ibn Thábit al-An#árí, I have heard the Holy Prophet saying "Fight, fight, by the side of `Alí." (al-Kha>íb al-Baghdádí, Muwa__ih awhám al-jam` wa't-tafríq, vol. 1, p. 277).
Khuzaymah was martyred in the battle of @iffín soon after the martyrdom of `Ammár ibn Yásir.
Sayf ibn `Umar al-Usayydí (the well known liar) has fabricated another Khuzaymah, and claimed that the one who was martyred in the battle of @iffín was this one and not the one with the surname of 'Dhu'sh-Shahádatayn'. a>-Tabarí has quoted this fabricated story from Sayf either intentionally or otherwise, and through him this story has affected some other historians who quoted from a>-^abarí or relied on him. (For further reference, see al-`Askarí, Khamsún wa miah #a<ábí mukhtalaq [one hundred and fifty fabricated companions], vol. 2, pp. 175-189).
After having denied this story Ibn Abi'l-\adíd adds (in Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 10, pp. 109-110) that:
Furthermore, what is the need for those who to defend Amír al-mu'minín to make a boast of abundance with Khuzaymah, Abu'l-Haytham, `Ammár and others. If people treat this man (Amír al-mu'minín) with justice and look at him with healthy eyes they will certainly realise that should he be alone (on one side) and the people all together (on the other side) fighting him, he will be in the truth and all the rest will be in the wrong. (a>-^abaqát, vol. 3, Part 1, pp. 185,188; al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, pp. 385, 397; Usd al-ghábah, vol. 2, p. 114; vol. 4, p. 47; al-lstí`áb, vol. 2, p. 448; at-^abarí, vol. 3, pp.2316, 2319, 2401; al-Kámil, vol. 3, p. 325; @iffín, pp. 363, 398; Ansáb al-ashráf, pp. 313-314).
(7). Among the people who were present in the battle of Jamal on the side of Amír al-muminín there were one hundred and thirty Badries (those who participated in the battle of Badr with the Holy Prophet) and seven hundred of those who were present in the 'pledge of ar-Ri_wán' (Bay`atu'r-Ri_wán) which took place under a tree. (adh-Dhahabí, Táríkh al-lslám, vol. 2, p. 171; Khalífah ibn Khayyá>, at-Táríkh vol. 1, p. 164). Those who were killed in the battle of Jamal from the side of Amír al-muminín numbered some five hundred (some said that the number of martyrs were more than that). But on the side of the people of Jamal twenty thousand were killed. (al-`lqd al-faríd, vol. 4, p. 326).
Among those who were present in the battle of @iffín on the side of Amír al-mu'minín, there were eighty Badries and eight hundred of those who gave the Holy Prophet the 'pledge of ar-Ri_wán.' (al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, p. 104 al-Istí`á'b, vol. 3, p. 1138; al-I#ábah, vol. 2, p. 389; at-Táríkh, al-Ya`qúbí, vol. 2, p. 188).
On the side of Mu`áwiyah forty-five thousand were killed, and on the side of Amír al-muminín twenty-five thousand. Among these martyrs (of Amír al-mu'minín) there were twenty-five or twenty-six Badries and sixty-three or three hundred and three of the people of the 'pledge of ar-Ri_wán'. (@iffín, p. 558; al-Istí`áb, vol. 2, p. 389, Ansáb al-ashráf, p. 322; Ibn Abi'l-\adíd, vol. 10, p. 104; Abu'l-Fida' vol. 1, p. 175, Ibn al-Wardí, at-Táríkh, vol. 1, p. 240; Ibn Kathír, vol. 7, p. 275; Táríkh al-khamís, vol. 2, p. 277)
Besides the distinguished and eminent companions of Amír al-mu'minín like `Ammár, Dhu'sh-Shahádatayn and Ibn al-Tayyihán, who lay martyred in @iffín were:--
i. Háshim ibn `Utbah ibn Abí Waqqá# al-Mirqál was killed on the same day when `Ammár was martyred. He was the bearer of the standard of Amír al-mu'minín's army on that day.
ii. Abdulláh ibn Budayl ibn al-Warqá' al-Khuzá`í was sometimes the right wing Commander of Amír al-muminín's army and sometimes the infantry Commander.
*****
SERMON 182
Praise of Alláh for His bounties
Praise be to Alláh Who is recognised without being seen and Who creates without trouble. He created the creation with His Might, and receives the devotion of rulers by virtue of His dignity. He exercises superiority over great men through His generosity. It is He who made His creation to populate the world and sent towards the jinn and human beings His messengers to unveil it for them, to warn them of its harm, to present to them its examples, to show them its defects and to place before them a whole collection of matters containing lessons about the changings of health and sickness in this world, its lawful things and unlawful things and all that Alláh has ordained for the obedient and the disobedient, namely, Paradise and Hell and honour and disgrace. I extend my praise to His Being as He desires His creation to praise Him. He has fixed for everything a measure, for every measure a time limit, and for every time limit a document.
A part of the same sermon
About the greatness and importance of the Holy Qur'án
The Qur'án orders as well as refrains, remains silent and also speaks. It is the proof of Alláh before His creation. He has taken from them a pledge (to act) upon it. He has perfected its effulgence, and completed through it His religion. He let the Prophet leave this world when he had conveyed to the people all His commands of guidance through the Qur'án. You should therefore regard Alláh great as he has held Himself great, because He has not concealed anything of His religion from you, nor has He left out anything which He likes or which He dislikes, but He made for it a clear emblem (of guidance) and a definite sign which either refrains from it or calls towards it. His pleasure is the same for all time to come.
You should know that He will not be pleased with you for anything for which He was displeased with those before you, and He will not be displeased with you for anything for which He was pleased with those before you. You are treading on a clear path, and are speaking the same as the people before you had spoken. Alláh is enough for your needs in this world. He has persuaded you to remain thankful, and has made it obligatory on you to mention Him with your tongues.
Warning against punishment on the Day of Judgement
He has advised you to exercise fear and has made it the highest point of His pleasure and all that He requires from His creatures. You should therefore fear Alláh, who is such that you are as though just in front of Him, and your forelocks are in His grip, and your change of position is in His control. If you conceal a matter, He will know of it. If you disclose a matter, He will record it. For this He has appointed honoured guards (angels) who do not omit any rightful matter nor include anything incorrect. You should know that whoever fears Alláh, He would make for him a way to get out of troubles and (grant him) a light (to help him) out of darkness. He will ever keep him in whatever condition) he wishes, and will make him stay in a position of honour near Himself, in the house which He has made for Himself. The shade of this house is His house is His throne, its light is His effulgence, its visitors are His angels and its companions are His prophets.
Therefore, hasten towards the place of return and go ahead of (your) deaths (by collecting provision for the next world). Shortly, the expectations of the people will be cut short and death will overtake them while the door of repentance will be closed for them. You are still in a place to which those who were before you have been wishing to return. In this world, which is not your house, you are just a traveller in motion. You have been given the call to leave from here, and you have been ordered to collect provision while you are here. You should know that this thin skin cannot tolerate the Fire (of Hell). So, have pity on yourselves because you have already tried it in the tribulations of the world.
Have you ever seen the crying of a person who has been pricked with a thorn or who bleeds due to stumbling or whom hot sand has burnt? How would he feel when he is between two frying pans of Hell with stones all round with Satan as his companion? Do you know that when Málik (the guard-in-charge of Hell) is angry with the fire, its parts begin to clash with each other (in rage), and, when he scolds it, it leaps between the doors of Hell crying on account of his scolding.
O' you old and big whom old age has made hoary, how will you feel when rings of fire will touch the bones of your neck, and handcuffs hold so hard that they eat away the flesh of the forearms? (Fear) Alláh ! Alláh! O' crowd of men, while you are in good health before sickness (grips you) and you are in ease before straitness (overtakes you). You should try for the release of your necks before their mortgage is foreclosed, your eyes, thin down bellies, use your feet, spend your money, take your bodies and spend them over yourselves, and do not be niggardly about them, because Alláh the Glorified, has said:
... if you help (in the way) of Alláh, He will(also) help you, and will set firm your feet. (Qur'án, 47:7)
and He, the Sublime. has said:
Who is he who would loan unto Alláh a goodly loan? so that He may double it for him, and for him shall be a noble recompense. (Qur'án, 57:11)
He does not seek your
support because of any weakness, nor does He demand a loan from you because
of shortage. He seeks your help, although He possesses all the armies of the
skies and the earth and He is strong and wise. He seeks a loan from you, although
He owns the treasures of the skies and the earth and He is rich and praiseworthy.
(Rather) He intends to try you as to which of you performs good acts. You
should therefore be quick in performance of (good) acts so that your way be
with His neighbours in His abode; He made His Prophet's companions of these
neighbours and made the angels to visit them. He has honoured their ears so
that the sound of Hell fire may never reach
them, and He has afforded protection to their bodies from weariness and fatigue.
. . . that is the grace of Alláh, He bestoweth it upon whomsoever He willeth; and Alláh is the Lord of Mighty Grace. (Qur'án, 57:21)
I say you are hearing. I seek Alláh's help for myself and yourselves. He is enough for me and He is the best dispenser.
*****
SERMON 183
One of the Khárijites
al-Burj ibn Mus'hir a>-^á'í raised the
slogan, "Command behoves only Alláh" in such a way that
Amír al-mu'minín heard it. On hearing it he said:
Keep quite, may Alláh make you ugly, O' you with broken tooth. Certainly, by Alláh, when truth became manifest even then your personality was weak and your voice was lose. But when wrong began to shout loudly you again sprouted up like the horns of a kid.
*****
SERMON 184
Praise of Alláh and His wonderful creatures
Praise be to Alláh. He is such that senses cannot perceive Him, place cannot contain Him, eyes cannot see Him and veils cannot cover Him. He proves His eternity by the coming into existence of His creation, and (also) by originating His creation (He proves) His existence, and by their (mutual) similarity He proves that there is nothing similar to Him. He is true in His promise. He is too high to be unjust to His creatures. He stands by equity among His creation and practices justice over them in His commands. He provides evidence through the creation of things of His being from ever, through their marks of incapability of His power, and through their powerlessness against death of His eternity.
He is One, but not by counting. He is everlasting without, any limit. He is existent without any support. Minds admit of Him without (any activity of the) senses. Things which can be seen stand witness to Him without confronting Him. Imagination cannot encompass Him. He manifests Himself to the imagination with his help for the imagination, and refuses to be imagined by the imagination. He has made imagination the arbiter (in this matter). He is not big in the sense that volume is vast and so His body is also big. Nor is He great in the sense that His limits should extend to the utmost and so His frame be extensive. But He is big in position and great in authority.
About the Holy Prophet
I stand witness that Mu<ammad is His slave, His chosen Prophet and His responsible trustee -- may Alláh bless him and his descendants. Alláh sent him with undeniable proofs, a clear success and open paths. So he conveyed the message declaring the truth with it. He led the people on the (correct) highway, established signs of guidance and minarets of light, and made Islam's ropes strong and its knots firm.
A part of the same sermon
About the creation of animal species
Had they pondered over the greatness of His power and the vastness of His bounty they would have returned to the right path and feared the punishment of the Fire; but hearts are sick and eyes are impure. Do they not see the small things He has created, how He strengthened their system and opened for them hearing and sight and made for them bones and skins? Look at the ant with its small body and delicate form. It can hardly be seen in the corner of the eye, nor by the perception of the imagination - how it moves on the earth and leaps at its livelihood. It carries the grain to its hole and deposits it in its place of stay. It collects during the summer for its winter, and during strength for the period of its weakness. Its livelihood is guaranteed, and it is fed according to fitness. Alláh, the Kind, does not forget it and (Alláh the Giver) does not deprive it, even though it may be in dry stone or fixed rocks.
If you have thought about its digestive tracts in its high and low parts, the carapace of its belly, and its eyes and its ears in its head you would be amazed at its creation and you would feel difficulty in describing it. Exalted is He who made it stand on its legs and erected it on its pillars (of limbs). No other originator took part with Him in its origination and no one having power assisted Him in its creation. If you tread on the paths of your imagination and reach its extremity it will not lead you anywhere except that the Originator of the ant is the same as He who is the Originator of the date-palm, because everything has (the same) delicacy and detail, and every living being has little difference.
The Creation of the Universe
In His creation, the big, the delicate, the heavy, the light, the strong, the weak are all equal.(1) So is the sky, the air, the winds and the water. Therefore, you look at the sun, moon, vegetation, plants, water, stone, the difference of this night and day, the springing of the streams, the large number of the mountains, the height of their peaks, the diversity of languages and the variety of tongues. Then woe be to him who disbelieves in the Ordainer and denies the Ruler. They believe that they are like grass for which there is no cultivator nor any maker for their diverse shapes. They have not relied on any argument for what they assert, nor on any research for what they have heard. Can there be any construction without a Constructor, or any offence without an offender.
The wonderful creation of the locust
If you wish you can tell about the locust (as well). Alláh gave it two red eves, lighted for them two moon -- like pupils, made for it small ears, opened for it a suitable mouth and gave it keen sense, gave it two teeth to cut with and two sickle-like feet to grip with. The farmers are afraid of it in the matter of crops since they cannot drive it away even though they may join together. The locust attacks the fields and satisfies its desires (of hunger) from them although its body is not equal to a thin finger.
About the Glory of Alláh
Glorified is Alláh before Whom every one in the skies or the earth bows in prostration willingly or unwillingly, submits to Him by placing his cheeks and face (in the dust), drops before Him (in obedience) peacefully and humbly, and hands over to Him full control in fear and apprehension.
The birds are bound
by His commands. He knows the number of their feathers and their breaths.
He has made their feet to stand on water and on land. He has ordained their
livelihoods. He knows their species: this is the crow, this is the eagle,
this is the pigeon and this is the ostrich. He called out every bird with
its name (while creating it) and provided it with its livelihood. He created
heavy clouds and produced from them heavy rain and spread it on various lands.
He drenched the earth after its dryness and grew vegetation from it after
its barrenness.
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(1). The meaning is that if the smallest thing in creation is examined it will be found to contain all that which is found in the biggest creatures, and each will exhibit the same reflection of natures, workmanship and performance, and the ratio of each to Alláh's might and power will be the same, whether it be as small as an ant or as big as a date palm. Is it not that making a small thing is easy for Him while the making of a big thing is difficult for Him, because the diversity of colour, volume and quantity is just based on the dictates of His sagacity and expediency, but as regards creation itself there is no difference among them. Therefore, this uniformity of creation is a proof of the oneness and unity of the Creator.
*****
SERMON 185
About the Oneness of Alláh. This sermon contains principles
of knowledge which no other sermon contains
He who assigns to Him (different) conditions does not believe in His oneness, nor does he who likens Him grasp His reality. He who illustrates Him does not signify Him. He who points at Him and imagines Him does not mean Him. Everything that is known through itself has been created, and everything that exists by virtue of other things is the effect (of a cause). He works but not with the help of instruments. He fixes measures but not with the activity of thinking. He is rich but not by acquisition.
Times do not keep company with Him, and implements do not help Him. His Being precedes times. His Existence precedes non-existence and His eternity precedes beginning. By His creating the senses it is known that He has no senses. By the contraries in various matters it is known that He has no contrary, and by the similarity between things it is known that there is nothing similar to Him. He has made light the contrary of darkness, brightness that of gloom, dryness that of moisture and heat that of cold. He produces affection among inimical things.
He fuses together diverse things, brings near remote things and separates things which are joined together. He is not confined by limits, nor counted by numbers. Material parts can surround things of their own kind, and organs can point out things similar to themselves. The word(1) "mundhu" (i.e. since) disproves their eternity, the word "qad" (that denotes nearness of time of occurrence), disproves their being from ever and the word "lawlá" (if it were not) keep them remote from perfection.
Through them the Creator manifests Himself to the intelligence, and through them He is guarded from the sight of the eyes.
Stillness and motion
do not occur in Him, and how can that thing occur in Him which He has Himself
made to occur, and how can a thing revert to Him which He first created, and
how can a thing appear in Him which He first brought to appearance. If it
had not been so, His Self would have become subject to diversity, His Being
would have become divisible (into parts), and His reality would have been
prevented from being deemed Eternal. If there was a front to Him there would
have been a rear also for Him . He would need completing only if shortage
befell Him. In that case signs of the created would appear in Him, and He
would become a sign (leading to other objects) instead of
signs leading to Him. Through the might of His abstention (from affectedness)
He is far above being affected by things which effect others.
He is that which does not change or vanish. The process of setting does not behove Him. He has not begotten any one lest He be regarded as having been born. He has not been begotten otherwise He would be contained within limits. He is too High to have sons. He is too purified to contact women. Imagination cannot reach Him so as to assign Him quantity. Understanding cannot think of Him so as to give him shape. Senses do not perceive Him so as to feel Him. Hands cannot touch Him so as to rub against Him. He does not change into any condition. He does not pass from one state to another. Nights and days do not turn Him old. Light and darkness do not alter Him.
It cannot be said that He has a limit or extremity, or end or termination; nor do things control Him so as to raise Him or lower Him, nor does anything carry Him so as to bend Him or keep Him erect. He is not inside things nor outside them. He conveys news, but not with the tongue or voice. He listens, but not with the holes of the ears or the organs of hearing. He says, but does not utter words. He remembers, but does not memorise. He determines, but not by exercising His mind. He loves and approves without any sentimentality (of heart). He hates and feels angry without any painstaking. When He intends to create someone He says "Be" and there he is, but not through a voice that strikes (the ears) is that call heard. His speech is an act of His creation. His like never existed before this. If had been eternal it would have been the second god.
It cannot be said that He came into being after He had not been in existence because in that case the attributes of the created things would be assigned to Him and there would remain no difference between them and Him, and He would have no distinction over them. Thus, the Creator and the created would become equal and the initiator and the initiated would be on the same level. He created (the whole of) creation without any example made by someone else, and He did not secure the assistance of any one out of His creation for creating it.
He created the earth and suspended it without being busy, retained it without support, made it stand without legs, raised it without pillars, protected it against bendings and curvings and defended it against crumbling and splitting (into parts). He fixed mountains on it like stumps, solidified its rocks, caused its streams to flow and opened wide its valleys. Whatever He made did not suffer from any flow, and whatever He strengthened did not show any weakness.
He manifests Himself over the earth with His authority and greatness. He is aware of its inside through his knowledge and understanding. He has power over every thing in the earth by virtue of His sublimity and dignity. Nothing from the earth that he may ask for defies Him, nor does it oppose Him so as to overpower Him. No swift-footed creature can run away from Him so as to surpass Him. He is not needy towards any possessing person so that he should feed Him. All things bow to Him and are humble before His greatness. They cannot flee away from His authority to someone else in order to escape His benefit or His harm. There is no parallel for Him who may match Him and no one like Him so as to equal Him.
He will destroy the earth after its existence, till all that exists on it will become non-existent. But the extinction of the world after its creation is no stranger than its first formation and invention. How could it be? Even if all the animals of the earth, whether birds or beasts, stabled cattle or pasturing ones, of different origins and species, dull people and sagacious men -- all jointly try to create (even) a mosquito they are not able to bring it into being and do not understand what is the way to its creation. Their wits are bewildered and wandering. Their powers fall short and fail, and return disappointed and tired, knowing that they are defeated and admitting their inability to produce it, also realising that they are too weak (even) to destroy it.
Surely, after the extinction of the world, Alláh the Glorified will remain alone with nothing else beside Him. He will be, after its extinction, as He was before its production: without time or place or moment or period. At this moment, period and time will not exist, and years and hours will disappear. There will be nothing except Alláh, the One, the All-powerful. To Him is the return of all matters. Its initial creation was not in its power; and the prevention of its extinction was (also) not in its power. If it had the power to prevent it, it would have existed for ever. When He made anything of the world, the making of it did not cause Him any difficulty, and the creation of anything which He created and formed did not fatigue Him. He did not create it to heighten His authority nor for fear of loss or harm, nor to seek its help against an overwhelming foe, nor to guard against any avenging opponent with its help, nor for the extension of His domain by its help, nor for boasting (over largeness of His possession) against a partner, nor because He felt lonely and desired to seek its company.
Then after its creation He will destroy it, but not because any worry has overcome Him in its upkeep and administration, nor for any pleasure that will accrue to Him, nor for the cumbrousness of anything over Him. The length of its life does not weary Him so as to induce Him to its quick destruction. But Alláh, the Glorified, has maintained it with His kindness, kept it intact with His command and perfected it with His power. Then after its destruction, He will resuscitate it, but not for any need of His own towards it, nor to seek the assistance of any of its things against it, nor to change over from the condition of loneliness to that of company, nor from the condition of ignorance and blindness to that of knowledge and search, nor from paucity and need towards needlessness and plenty, nor from disgrace and lowliness towards honour and prestige.
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(1). The meaning is that the sense for which the words "mundhu"
, "qad" and "lawlá" have been formed is opposed
to the attributes of "Ever", "Eternal" and "Perfect".
Therefore, their application to anything would prove that they have come into
existence from non-existence and are imperfect. For example, "mundhu"
is used to denote time as is "qad wujida mundu kadhá" (this
thing is found since so-and-so). Here a time limit has been stated, and anything
for which a limit of time can be described cannot exist from ever or for ever.
The word "qad" shows (indicating the present perfect tense) the
immediate past. This sense also can apply to a thing which is limited in time.
The word "lawlá" is used to denote the negation of something
in another thing, as "má a<sanahu wa akmalahu lawlá
annahu kadhá" (how handsome and perfect it would be if it were
so-and-so). Therefore, the thing for which this word is used would be in need
of others in handsomeness and perfection, and would remain deficient by itself.
*****
SERMON 186
Regarding the vicissitudes
of time
(The mischiefs that are to occur and the
absence of lawful ways of livelihood)
May my father and my mother be sacrificed for those few whose names are well-known
in the sky and not known on the earth. Beware, you should expect what is to
befall you such as adversity in your affairs, severance of relations and the
rising up of inferior people. This will happen when the blow of a sword will
be easier for a believer than to secure one Dirham lawfully. This will happen
(1) when the reward of the beggar is more than that of the giver. This will
be when you are intoxicated, not by drinking, but with wealth and plenty,
you are swearing without compulsion and are speaking lies without compulsion.
This will be when troubles hurt you as the saddle hurts the hump of the camel.
How long will these tribulations be and how distant the
hope (for deliverance from them)?
O' people, throw away the reins of the horses who carry on their backs the weight of your hands (i.e. sins), do not cut away from your chief (Imám) otherwise you will blame yourself for your own doings. Do not jump in the fire which is in flames in front of you; keep away from its courses and leave the middle way for it. Because, by my life, the believer will die in its flames, and others will remain safe in it.
I am among you like a lamp in the darkness. Whoever enters by it will be lit from it. So listen O' men, preserve it and remain attentive with the ears of your hearts so that you may understand.
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(1). In that period the reward of the beggar who takes will be higher than that of the giver because the ways of earning livelihood of the rich will be unlawful, and whatever he will donate of it, its purpose will be showing himself, hypocrisy and seeking fame, for which he will not be entitled to any reward, while the poor who take it by force of their poverty and helplessness, and to spend it in the right manner, will deserve more reward and recompense.
The commentator, Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has written another meaning of it also, namely if the beggar does not take the wealth from the rich and it remains with him he will spend it on unlawful matters and enjoyments, and since his taking it from him prevents him from using it in unlawful manner; therefore, for this prevention of evil, the beggar will deserve more reward and recompense. (Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 13, p. 97)
*****
SERMON 187
Alláh's favours
I advise you, O' people, to fear Alláh and to praise Him profusely for His favours to you and His reward for you and His obligations on you. See how He chose you for favours and dealt with you with mercy. You sinned openly; He kept you covered. You behaved in a way to incur His punishment, but He gave you more time.
Condition of persons facing death
I also advise you to remember death and to lessen your heedlessness towards it. Why should you be heedless of Him Who is not heedless of you? Why expect from him (i.e., the angel of death) who will not give you time? The dead whom you have been watching suffice as preachers. They were carried to their graves, not riding themselves, and were placed in them but not of their own accord. It seems as if they never lived in this world and as if the next world had always been their abode. They have made lonely the place where they were living, and are now living where they used to feel lonely. They remained busy about what they had to leave, and did not care for where they were to go. Now they cannot remove themselves from evil, nor add to their virtues They were attached to the world and it deceived them. They trusted it and it overturned them.
Transience of this world
May Alláh have pity on you. You should therefore hasten towards (the preparation of) houses which you have been commanded to populate, and towards which you have been called and invited. Seek the completion of Alláh's favours on you by exercising endurance in His obedience and abstention from His disobedience, because tomorrow is close to today. How fast are the hours of the day, how fast are the days in the month, how fast are the months in the years and how fast the years in a life.
*****
SERMON 188
Steadfast and transient belief
One belief is that which is firm and steadfast in hearts, and one is that which remains temporarily in the heart and the breast up to a certain time. If you were to acquit (yourself) before any person, you should wait till death approaches him, for that is the time limit for being acquitted.
And immigration stands as its original position. Alláh has no need towards him who secretly accepts belief or him who openly does so. Immigration will not apply to any one unless he recognises the proof (of Alláh) on the earth. Whoever recognises him and acknowledges him would be a muhájir (immigrant). Isti_`áf (i.e. freedom from the obligation of immigration) does not apply to him whom the proof (of Alláh) reaches and he hears it and his heart preserves it.(1)
The challenge "Ask
me before you miss me"
and prophecy about the Umayyads
Certainly, our case is difficult and complicated. No one can bear it except a believer whose heart Alláh has tried with belief. Our traditions will not be preserved except by trustworthy hearts and (men of) solid understanding. O' people! ask me before you miss me, because certainly I am acquainted with the passages of the sky more than the passages of the earth,(2) and before that mischief springs upon its feet which would trample even the nosestring and destroy the wits of the people.
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(1). This is the interpretation of the word "muhájir" and "musta_`af" as mentioned in the Holy Qur'án:
Verily those whom the angels take away (at death) while they are unjust to their (own) selves (in sin), they (the angels) shall ask (the sinning souls): "In what state were ye?" They shall reply, "Weakened (musta_`af - and oppressed)were we in the land;" They (angels) will say "Was not the land of Alláh vast (enough)for you to immigrate therein?" So these (are those) whose refuge shall be Hell; and what a bad resort it is. Except the (really) weakened ones from among the men and the women and the children, who have not in their power the means (to escape from the unbelievers) and nor do they find the (right) way. So these, may be, Alláh will pardon them; and Alláh is the Clement, the Oft-forgiving. (4:97-99)
The meaning of Amír al-mu'minín here is that hijrah (immigration) was not only obligatory during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet, but it is a permanent obligation. This immigration is even now obligatory for attaining the proof of Alláh and the true religion. Therefore, if one has attained the proof of Alláh and believed in it, even if he is in midst of the unbelievers of his locality, he is not duty bound to immigrate.
The "musta_`af" (weakened) is one who is living among the unbelievers and is far from being informed of the proofs of Alláh, and at the same time he is unable to immigrate in order to attain the proofs of Alláh.
(2). Some people have explained this saying of Amír al-mu'minín to mean that by the passages of the earth he means matters of the world and by passages of the sky matters of religious law and that Amír al-mu'minín intends to say that he knows the matters of religious law and commandments more than the worldly matters. Thus, Ibn Maytham al-Ba<rání writes (in Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 4, pp. 200-201):
It is related from al-`Allámah al-Wabarí, that he said that Amír al-mu'minín's intention is to say that the scope of his religious knowledge is larger than his knowledge about matters of the world.
But taking the context into account, this explanation cannot be held to be correct because this sentence (which is the subject of explanation) has been used as the cause of the sentence "Ask me before you miss me", and after it, is the prophesy about revolt. In between these two the occurrence of the sentence that "I know religious matters more than worldly matters", makes the whole utterance quite uncounted, because Amír al-mu'minín's challenge to ask whatever one likes is not confined to matters of religious law only so this sentence could be held as its cause. Then, after that, the prophesy of the rising up of the revolt has nothing to do with matters of religious law, so that it could be put forth as a proof of more knowledge of religious matters. To ignore the clear import of the words and to interpret them in a way which does not suit the occasion, does not exhibit a correct spirit, when from the context also the same meaning accrues which the words openly convey. Thus, it is to give a warning about the Umayyad's mischief that Amír al-mu'minín uttered the words: "'Ask me whatever you like'; because I know the paths and courses of divine destiny more than the passages of the earth. So, even if you ask me about matters which are recorded in the 'preserved tablet' and concern divine destiny I can tell you, and a serious mischief is to rise against me in those matters in which you should have doubt, because my eyes are more acquainted with those ethereal lines which concern the occurrence of events and mischiefs than, with what I know about live appearing on the earth. The occurrence of this mischief is as certain as an object seen with eyes. You should therefore ask me its details and the way to keep safe from it, so that you may be able to manage your defence when the times comes." This meaning is supported by the successive sayings of Amír al-mu'minín which he uttered in connection with the unknown, and to which the future testified. Thus, Ibn Abi'l \adíd comments on this claim of Amír al-mu'minín as follows:
Amír al-mu'minín's
claim is also supported by his sayings about future events which he uttered
not once or a hundred times but continuously and successively, from which
there remains no doubt that whatever he spoke was on the basis of knowledge
and certainly and not in the way of chance. (Shar< Nahj al-balághah,
vol. 13, p. 106)
In connection with this saying of Amír al-mu'minín it has already been shown and explained (in Sermon 92, Foot-note No. 2) that no one else dared advance such a claim, and those who made such a claim had to face only disgrace and humility. About the prophecies made by Amír al-mu'minín see Ibn Abi'l-\adíd, Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 7, pp. 47-51; al-Qá_í Núru'l-Láh al-Mar`ashí, I<qáq al-<aqq (New ed.), vol. 8, pp. 87-182.
*****
SERMON 189
Importance of fear of
Alláh, desolateless of the grave,
and about the death of the lover of Ahlu'l-bayt being
like that of a martyr
I praise Him out of gratefulness for His reward, and I seek His assistance in fulfilling His rights. He has a strong army. His dignity is grand. I stand witness that Mu<ammad - peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his progeny - is His slave and His Prophet. He called (people) to His obedience and overpowered His enemies by fighting for the sake of His religion. People's joining together to falsify him and their attempt to extinguish His light did not prevent him from it.
You should therefore exercise fear of Alláh because it has a rope whose twist is strong and its pinnacle is lofty and invulnerable. Hasten toward death in its pangs (by doing good acts) and be prepared for it before its approach, because the ultimate end is the Day of Judgement. This is enough preaching for one who understands and enough of a lesson for one who does not know. What idea do you have, before reaching that end, of the narrowness of grave, the hardship of loneliness, fear of the passage towards the next world, the pangs of fear, the shifting of ribs here and there (due to narrowing of the grave), the deafness of ears, the darkness of the grave, fear of the promised punishment, the closing of the receptacle of the grave and the laying of stones?
Therefore, (fear) Alláh, (fear) Alláh, O' creatures of Alláh, because the world is behaving with you in the usual way and you and the Day of Judgement are in the same rope (close to each other). As though it has come with its signs, has approached with its pleas and has made you stand in its way; and as though it has come forward with all its quakings and has settled down with its chest on the ground while the world has parted from its people and has turned them out of its lap. It was like a day that has passed or a month that has gone by. Its new things have become old and the fat ones have become thin.
They are in a narrow place, in very complicated affairs and in a fire whose pain is sharp, cries are loud, flames are rising, sound is trembling, burning is severe, abatement is remote; its fuel is burning, its threats are fearful, its hollows are hidden, its sides are dark, its vessels are aflame, and everything about it is abominable.
And shall be conveyed those who feared (the wrath of) their Lord, in companies unto the garden. . . (Qur'án. 39:73)
They are safe from chastisement, away from punishment, and kept aloof from fire. Their abode will be peaceful and they will be pleased with their longing and their place of stay. These are the people whose acts in this world were chaste, their eyes were tearful, their nights in this world were like days because of fearing and seeking forgiveness, and their days were like nights because of feeling of loneliness and separation. Therefore, Alláh made Paradise the place of their (eventual) return and a reward in recompense.... They were most eligible and suitable for it;... (Qur'án, 48:26) in the eternal domain and everlasting favours.
Therefore, O' creatures of Alláh, pay regard to all that by being regardful of which one will succeed and by ignoring which one will incur loss, and hasten towards your death by means of your (good) acts, because you are bound by what you have done in the past and you have to your credit only what (good acts) you have sent forward. (Behave in such a way) as though the feared event (death) has come upon you, so that you cannot return (to do good acts) nor can you be cleared of evil acts. Alláh may prompt us and you for His obedience and obedience of His Prophet, and forgive us and you by His great mercy.
Stick to the earth, keep patient in trials, do not move your hands and swords after the liking of your tongues, and do not make haste in matters in which Alláh has not asked for haste because any one of you who dies in his bed while he had knowledge of the rights of Alláh and the rights of His Prophet and members of the Prophet's house, will die as martyr. His reward is incumbent on Alláh. He is also eligible to the recompense of what good acts he has intended to do, since his intention takes the place of drawing his sword. Certainly, for every thing there is a time and a limit.
*****
SERMON 190
Praise of Alláh
Praise be to Alláh Whose praise is wide-spread, Whose army is over-powering and Whose dignity is grand. I praise Him for His successive favours and His great gifts. His forbearance is high so that He forgives and is just in whatever He decides. He knows what is going on and what has already passed. He crafted all creation by His knowledge and produced it by His intelligence without limitation, without learning, without following the example of any intelligent producer, without committing any mistake and without the availability of any group (for help); I stand witness that Muhammad - the peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants - is His slave and His messenger whom He deputed (at a time) when people were collecting in the abyss and moving in bewilderment. The reins of destruction were dragging them, and the locks of malice lay fixed on their hearts.
Advice about fear of
Alláh and an account
of this world and its people
I advise you, O' creature of Alláh, that you should have fear of Alláh because it is a right of Alláh over you and it creates your right over Alláh, and that you should seek Alláh's help in it, and its help in (meeting) Alláh. Certainly, for today fear of Alláh is a protection and a shield, and for tomorrow (the Day of Judgement) it is the road to Paradise. Its way is clear and he who treads it is the gainer. Whoever holds it, guards it. It has presented itself to the people who have already passed and to those coming from behind, because they will need it tomorrow (on the Day of Judgement) when Alláh will revive His creation again, take back what He has given and take account of what He has bestowed. How few will be those who accept it and practise it as it ought to be practised. They will be very few in number, and they are the people who correspond to the description given by Alláh, the Glorified, when He says:
... And very few of My creatures are grateful! (Qur'án. 34:13)
Therefore, hasten with your ears towards it and intensify your efforts for it. Make it a substitute for all your past (short-comings) to take their place as a successor, and make it your supporter against every opponent. Turn your sleep into wakefulness by its help, and pass your days with it. Make it the equipment of your hearts, wash your sins with it, treat your ailments with it and hasten towards your death with it. Take a lesson from him who neglects it, so that others who follow it should not take a lesson from you (i.e., from your neglecting it). Beware, therefore; you should take care of it and should take care of yourselves through it.
Keep away from this world and proceed towards the next world infatuatedly. Do not regard humble he whom fear Alláh has given a high position, and do not accord a high position to him whom this world has given a high position. Do not keep your eyes on the shining clouds of the world, do not listen to him who speaks of it, do not respond to him who calls towards it, do not seek light from its glare, and do not die in its precious things, because its brightness is deceitful, its words are false, its wealth is liable to be looted, and its precious thing are to be taken away.
Beware, this world attracts and then turns away. It is stubborn, refusing to go ahead. It speaks lies and misappropriates. It disowns and is ungrateful. It is malicious and abandons (its lovers). It attracts but causes trouble. Its condition is changing, its step shaking, its honour disgrace, its seriousness jest, and its height lowliness. It is a place of plunder and pillage, and ruin and destruction. Its people are ready with their feet to drive, to overtake and to depart. Its routes are bewildering, its exits are baffling, and its schemes end in disappointment. Consequently, strongholds betray them, houses throw them out and cunning fails them.
Some of them are like hocked camel, some like butchered meat, some like severed limbs, some like spilt blood, some are biting their hands (in pain) some are rubbing their palms (in remorse), some are holding their cheeks on their hands (in anxiety), some are cursing their own views and some are retreating from their determination. But the time for action has gone away and the hour of calamity has approached, while (there was no longer) the time to escape (Qur'án, 38:3). Alas! Alas! what has been lost is lost! what has gone is gone! The world has passed in its usual manner.
So wept not on them the heavens and the earth nor were they respited. (Qur'án, 44:29)
*****
SERMON 191
Known as "al-Khu>bah
al-Qá#i`ah"
(Sermon of Disparagement)
(It comprises disparagement of Satan [Iblís] for his vanity and his
refusing to prostrate before Adam [pbuh], and his being the first to display
bigotry and to act through vanity; it comprises a warning to people treading
in Satan's path)
Praise be to Alláh who wears the apparel of Honour and Dignity and
has chosen them for Himself instead of for His creation. He has made them
inaccessible and unlawful for others. He has selected them for His own great
self, and has hurled a curse on him who contests with Him concerning them.
Alláh's trial and the vanity of Iblís
Then He put His angels on trial concerning these attributes in order to distinguish those who are modest from those who are vain. Therefore, Alláh, who is aware of whatever is hidden in the hearts and whatever lies behind the unseen said:
. . . "Verily I am about to create man from clay," And when I have completed and have breathed into him of My spirit, then fall ye prostrating in obeisance unto him. And did fall prostrating in obeisance the angels all together, Save lblís;... (Qur'án. 38:71-74)
His vanity stood in his way. Consequently, he felt proud over Adam by virtue of his creation and boasted over him on account of his origin. Thus, this enemy of Alláh is the leader of those who boast, and the fore-runner of the vain. It is he who laid the foundation of factionalism, quarreled with Alláh about the robe of greatness, put on the dress of haughtiness and took off the covering of humility. Do you not see how Alláh made him low on account of his vanity and humiliated him for his feigning to be high? He discarded him in this world and provided for him burning fire in the next world.
If Alláh had
wanted to create Adam from a light whose glare would have dazzled the eyes,
whose handsomeness would have amazed the wits and whose smell would have caught
the breath, He could have done so; and if He had done so, people would have
bowed to him in humility and the trial of the angels through him would have
become easier. But Alláh, the Glorified, tries His creatures by means
of those things whose real nature they do not know in order to distinguish
(good and bad) for them through the trial, and to remove vanity from them
and keep them and keep them aloof from pride and self-admiration.
You should take a lesson from what Alláh did with Satan; namely He nullified his great acts and extensive efforts on account of the vanity of one moment, although Satan had worshipped Alláh for six thousand years - whether by the reckoning of this world or of the next world is not known. Who now can remain safe from Alláh after Satan by committing a similar disobedience? None at all. Alláh, the Glorified, cannot let a human being enter Paradise if he does the same thing for which Alláh turned out from it an angel. His command for the inhabitants in the sky and of the earth is the same. There is no friendship between Alláh and any individual out of His creation so as to give him license for an undesirable thing which He has held unlawful for all the worlds.
Warning against Satan
Therefore, you should fear lest Satan infects you with his disease, or leads you astray through his call, or marches on you with his horsemen and footmen, because, by my life, he has put the arrow in the bow for you, has stretched the bow strongly, and has aimed at you from a nearby position, and:
He (Satan) said: "My Lord! because Thou hast left me to stray, certainly will I adorn unto them the path of error, and certainly will I cause them all to go astray." (Qur'án, 15:39)
Although he (Satan)
had said so only by guessing about the unknown future and by wrong conjecturing,
yet the sons of vanity, the brothers of haughtiness and the horsemen of pride
and intolerance proved him to be true, so much so that when disobedient persons
from among you bowed before him, and his greed about you gained
strength; and what was a hidden secret turned into a clear fact, he spread
his full control over you and marched with his forces towards you.
Then they pushed you into the hollows of disgrace, threw you into the whirlpools of slaughter, and trampled you, wounding you by striking your eyes with spears, cutting your throats, tearing your nostrils, breaking your limbs and taking you in ropes of control towards the fire already prepared. In this way he became more harmful to your religion and a greater kindler of flames (of mischief) about your worldly matters than the enemies against whom you showed open opposition and against whom you marched your forces.
You should therefore spend all your force against him, and all your efforts against him, because, by Alláh, he boasted over your (i.e., Adam's) origin, questioned your position and spoke lightly of your lineage. He advanced on you with his army, and brought his footmen towards your path. They are chasing you from every place, and they are hitting you at every finger joint. You are not able to defend by any means, nor can you repulse them by any determination. You are in the thick of disgrace, the ring of straitness, the field of death and the way of distress.
You should therefore put out the fires of haughtiness and the flames of intolerance that are hidden in your hearts. This vanity can exist in a Muslim only by the machinations of Satan, his haughtiness, mischief and whisperings. Make up your mind to have humility over your heads, to trample self-pride under your feet and to cast off vanity from your necks. Adopt humility as the weapon between you and your enemy, Satan and his forces. He certainly has, from every people, fighters, helpers, footmen and horsemen. Do not be like him who feigned superiority over the son of his own mother without any distinction given to him by Alláh except the feeling of envy which his feeling of greatness created in him and the fire of anger that vanity kindled in his heart. Satan blew into his nose his own vanity, after which Alláh gave him remorse and made him responsible for the sins of all killers up to the Day of Judgement.
Caution against vanity and boasting about ignorance
Beware! you strove hard in revolting and created mischief on the earth in open opposition to Alláh and in challenging the believers over fighting. (You should fear) Alláh! Alláh! in feeling proud of your vanity and boasting over ignorance, because this is the root of enmity and the design of Satan wherewith he has been deceiving past people and bygone ages, with the result that they fell into the gloom of his ignorance and the hollows of his misguidance, submitting to his driving and accepting his leadership. In this matter the hearts of all the people were similar, and centuries passed by, one after the other, in just the same way, and there was vanity with which chests were tightened.
Caution against obeying haughty leaders and elders
Beware! beware of obeying your leaders and elders who felt proud of their achievements and boasted about their lineage. They hurled the (liability for) things on Alláh and quarrelled with Alláh in what He did with them, contesting His decree and disputing His favours. Certainly, they are the main foundation of obstinacy, the chief pillars of mischief and the swords of pre-Islamic boasting over fore-fathers. Therefore, fear Alláh, do not become antagonistic to His favours on you, nor jealous of His bounty over you (1) and do not obey the claimants (of Islam) whose dirty water you drink along with your clean one, whose ailments you mix with your healthiness and whose wrongs you allow to enter into your rightful matters.
They are the foundation of vice and the linings of disobedience. Satan has made them carriers of misguidance and the soldiers with whom he attacks men. They are interpreters through whom he speaks in order to steal away your wits, enter into your eyes and blow into your ears. In this way he makes you the victim of his arrows, the treading ground of his footsteps and source of strength for his hands. Take instruction from how he brought Alláh's wrath, violence, chastisement and punishment on those who were vain among the past people. Take admonition from their lying on their cheeks and falling on their sides, and seek Alláh's protection from the dangers of vanity, as you seek His protection from calamities.
The humbleness of the Holy Prophet
Certainly. if Alláh
were to allow anyone to indulge in pride He would have allowed it to his selected
prophets and vicegerents. But Alláh, the Sublime, disliked vanity for
them and liked humbleness for them. Therefore, they laid their cheeks on the
ground, smeared their faces with dust, bent themselves down for the believers
and remained
humble people. Alláh tried them with hunger, afflicted them with difficulty,
tested them with fear, and upset them with troubles. Therefore, do not regard
wealth and progeny the criterion for Alláh's pleasure and displeasure,
as you are not aware of the chances of mischief and trials during richness
and power as Alláh, the Glorified, the Sublime, has said:
What! Think they that what We aid them with of wealth and children, We are hastening unto them the good things? Nay! they (only) perceive not. (Qur'án, 23:55-56)
Certainly, Alláh the Glorified, tries His creatures who are vain about themselves through His beloved persons who are humble in their eyes.
When Músá son of `Imrán went to Pharaoh along with his brother Hárún (Aaron) wearing (coarse) shirts of wool and holding sticks in their hands, they guaranteed him retention of his country and continuity of his honour if he submitted; but he said: "Do you not wonder at these two men guaranteeing me the continuity of my honour and the retention of my country although you see their poverty and lowliness. Otherwise, why do they not have gold bangles on their wrists?" He said so feeling proud of his gold and collected possessions, and considering wool and its cloth as nothing.
When Alláh, the Glorified, deputed His prophets, if He had wished to open for them treasures and mines of gold and (surround them with) planted gardens and to collect around them birds of the skies and beasts of the earth, He could have done so. If He had done so then there would have been no trial, nor recompense and no tidings (about the affairs of the next world). Those who accepted (His message) could not be given the recompense falling due after trial and the believers could not deserve the reward for good acts, and all these words (2) would not have retained their meanings. But Alláh, the Glorified, makes His Prophets firm in their determination and gives them weakness of appearance as seen from the eyes, along with contentment that fills the hearts and eyes resulting from care-freeness, and with want that pains the eyes and ears.
If the prophets possessed authority that could not be assaulted, or honour that could not be damaged or domain towards which the necks of people would turn and the saddles of mounts could be set, it would have been very easy for people to seek lessons and quite difficult to feel vanity. They would have then accepted belief out of fear felt by them or inclination attracting them, and the intention of them all would have been the same, although their actions would have been different. Therefore, Alláh, the Glorified decided that people should follow His prophets, acknowledge His books, remain humble before His face, obey His command and accept His obedience with sincerity in which there should not be an iota of anything else; and as the trial and tribulation would be stiffer the reward and recompense too should be larger.
The Holy Ka`bah
Do you not see that Alláh, the Glorified, has tried all the people among those who came before, beginning with Adam, upto the last ones in this world with stones which yield neither benefit nor harm, which neither see nor hear. He made those stones into His sacred house which He made a standby for the people. He placed it in the most rugged stony part of the earth and on a highland with least soil thereon, among the most narrow valleys between rough mountains. soft sandy plains, springs of scanty water and scattered habitants, where neither camels nor horses nor cows and sheep can prosper.
Then He commanded Adam and his sons to turn their attention towards it. In this way it became the centre of their journey in seeking pastures and the rendezvous for meeting of their carrier-beasts, so that human spirits hasten towards it from distant waterless deserts, deep and low lying valleys and scattered islands in the seas. They shake their shoulders in humbleness, recite the slogan of having reached His audience, march with swift feet, and have dishevelled hair and dusted faces. They throw their pieces of cloth on their backs, they have marred the beauty of their faces by leaving the hair uncut as a matter of great test, severe tribulation, open trial, and extreme refining. Alláh has made it a means to His mercy and an approach to His Paradise.
If Alláh, the
Glorified, had placed His sacred House and His great signs among plantations,
streams, soft and level plains, plenty of trees, an abundance of fruits, a
thick population, close habitats, golden wheat, lush gardens, green land,
watered plains, thriving orchards and crowded streets, the amount of recompense
would have decreased
because of the lightness of the trial. If the foundation on which the House
is borne and the stones with which it has been raised had been of green emerald
and red rubies, and there had been brightness and effulgence, then this would
have lessened the action of doubts in the breasts, would have dismissed the
effect of Satan's activity from the
hearts, and would have stopped the surging of misgivings in people. But Alláh
tries His creatures by means of different troubles, wants them to render worship
through hardships and involves them in distresses, all in order to extract
out vanity from their hearts, to settle down humbleness in their spirits and
to make all this an open door for His favours and an easy means for His forgiveness
(for their sins).
Caution against rebellion and oppressiveness
(Fear) Alláh!
Alláh! from the immediate consequence of rebellion (to accrue in this
world), and the eventual consequence of weighty oppressiveness (to accrue
in the next world), and from the evil result of vanity, because it is the
great trap of Satan and his big deceit which enters the hearts of the people
like a fatal poison. It never goes waste,
nor misses anyone - neither the learned because of his knowledge, nor the
destitute (3) in his rags. This is the thing against which Alláh has
protected His creatures who are believers by means of prayers, and alms-giving,
and suffering the hardship of fasting in the days in which it has been made
obligatory, in order to give their limbs peacefulness, to cast fear in their
eyes, to make their spirits humble, to give their hearts humility and to remove
haughtiness from them. All this is achieved through the covering of their
delicate cheeks with dust in humility, prostrating their main limbs on the
ground in humbleness, and retracting of their bellies so as to reach to their
backs due to fasting by way of lowliness (before Alláh), besides giving
all sorts of products of the earth to the needy and the destitute by way of
alms.
Look what there is in these acts by way of curbing the appearance of pride and suppressing the traces of vanity. I cast my glance and noticed that no one in the world, except you, feels vanity for anything without a cause which may appeal to the ignorant, or a reason which may cling to the minds of the foolish, because you feel vanity for something for which no reason is discernible, nor any ground.
As for Satan, he felt proud over Adam because of his origin and taunted at him about his creation, since he said "I am of fire while you are of clay." In the same way the rich among the prosperous communities have been feeling vanity because of their riches, as (Alláh) said:
And said they: "We are more (than you) in wealth and in children, and we shall not be chastised." (Qur'án, 34:35)
Enthusiasm for attractive manners, respectable position, and taking lessons from the past
In case you cannot avoid vanity, your vanity should be for good qualities, praiseworthy acts, and admirable matters with which the dignified and noble chiefs of the Arab families distinguished themselves, as attractive manners, high thinking, respectable position and good performances. You too should show vanity in praiseworthy habits like the protection of the neighbour, the fulfilment of agreements, obedience to the virtuous, opposition to the haughty, extending generosity to others, abstention from rebellion, keeping aloof from blood-shed, doing justice to people, suppressing anger and avoiding trouble on the earth. You should also fear what calamities befell peoples before you on account of their evil deeds and detestable actions. Remember, during good or bad circumstances, what happened to them, and be cautious that you do not become like them.
After you have thought
over both the conditions of these people, attach yourself to everything with
which their position became honourable, on account of which enemies remained
away from them through which safety spread over them, by reason of which riches
bowed before them and as a result of which distinction connected itself
with their rope. These things were abstention from division, sticking to unity,
calling each other to it and advising each other about it. You avoid everything
which broke their backbone and weakened their power, such as malice in the
heart, hatred in the chest, turning away (from each other's help) and withholding
the hand from one another's assistance.
Think about the condition of people from among the believers who passed before you. What distresses and trials they were in! Were they not the most over-burdened among all the people and in the most straitened circumstances in the whole world? The Pharaohs took them as slaves. They inflicted on them the worst punishments and bitter sufferings. They continuously remained in this state of ruinous disgrace and severe subjugation. They found no method for escape and no way for protection. Till when Alláh, the Glorified, noticed that they were enduring troubles in His love and bearing distresses out of fear for Him, He provided escape from the distress of trials. So, He changed their disgrace into honour and fear into safety. Consequently, they became ruling kings and conspicuous leaders. and Alláh's favours over them reached limits to which their own wishes had not reached.
Look, how they were when their groups were united, their views were unanimous, their hearts were moderate, their hands used to help one another, their swords were intended for assisting one another, their eyes were sharp and their aims were the same. Did they not become masters of the corners of the earth and rulers over the neck of all the worlds? Thereafter, also see what happened to them towards the end when division overtook them, unity became fractured, and differences arose between their words and their hearts. They divided into various groups and were scattered fighting among themselves. Then Alláh took away from them the apparel of His honour and deprived them of the prosperity produced by His favours. Only their stories have remained among you for the guidance of those who may learn the lesson from them.
You should take a lesson from the fate of the progeny of Ismael, the children of Isaac and the children of Israel. How similar are their affairs and how akin are their examples. In connection with the details of their division and disunity, think of the days when Kisrás of Persia and the Caesars of Rome had become their masters. (4) They turned them out from the pastures of their lands the rivers of Iraq and the fertility of the world, towards thorny forests, the passages of (hot) winds and hardships in livelihood. In this way they turned them into just herders of camels. Their houses were the worst in the world and their places of stay were the most drought-stricken. There was not one voice towards which they could turn for protection, nor any shade of affection on whose strength they could repose trust.
Their condition was full of distress. Their hands were scattered. Their majority was divided. They were in great anguish and under layers of ignorance. They buried their daughters alive, worshipped idols, disregarded kinship and practised robbery.
Now, look at the various
favours of Alláh upon them, that He deputed towards them a prophet
who got them to pledge their obedience to him and made them unite at his call.
(Look) how (Alláh's) bounty spread the wings of its favours over them
and flowed for them streams of its blessing, and the whole community became
wrapped in
blissful prosperity. Consequently, they were submerged under its bounty and
enjoyed its lush life. Their affairs were settled under the protection of
a powerful ruler, and circumstances offered them overpowering honour, and
all things became easy for them under the auspices of a strong country. They
became rulers over the world and kings in the (various) parts of the earth.
They became masters of those who were formerly their masters, and began issuing
commands over those who used to command them. They were so strong that neither
did their spears need testing nor did their weapons have any flaw.
Condemning his people
Beware! You have shaken your hands loose from the rope of obedience, and broken the divine fort around you by (resorting to) pre-Islamic rules. Certainly, it is a great blessing of Alláh, the Glorified, that He has engendered among them unity through the cord of affection in whose shade they walk and take shelter. This is a blessing whose value no one in the whole world realises, because it is more valuable than any price and higher than any wealth.
You should know that
you have again reverted to the position of the Bedouin Arabs after immigration
(to Islam), and have become different parties after having been once united.
You do not possess anything of Islam except its name, and know nothing of
belief save its show. You say, "The Fire yes. but no shameful position,"
as if you would throw down Islam on its face in order to defame its honour
and break its pledge (for brotherhood) which Alláh gave you as a sacred
trust on His earth and (a source of) peace among the people. Be sure that
if you incline towards anything other than Islam. the unbelievers will fight
you. Then there will be neither Gabriel nor Michael, neither
muhájirún nor an#ár to help you, but only the clashing
of swords, till Alláh settles the matter for you.
Certainly, there are examples before you of Alláh's wrath, punishment, days of tribulations and happenings. Therefore, do not disregard His promises, ignoring His punishment, making light His wrath and not expecting His violence, because Alláh, the Glorified, did not curse the past ages except because they had left off asking others to do good acts and refraining them from bad acts. In fact Alláh cursed the foolish for committing sins and the wise because they gave up refraining others from evils. Beware! You have broken the shackles of Islam, have transgressed its limits, and have destroyed its commands.
Amír al-mu'minín's high position and wonderful deeds in Islam
Beware! surely Alláh has commanded me to fight those who revolt, or who break the pledge, or create trouble on the earth. As regards pledge-breakers, I have fought them, as regards deviators from truth, I have waged holy war against them, and as regards those who have gone out of the faith, I have put them in (serious) disgrace (5). As for Satan of the pit, (6) he too has been dealt with by me through the loud cry with which the scream of his heart and shaking of his chest was also heard. Only a small portion of the rebels has remained. If Alláh allows me one more chance over them I will annihilate them except a few remnants that may remain scattered in the suburb of the cities.
Even in my boyhood I had lowered the chest of (the famous men) of Arabia, and broken the horn points (i.e., defeated the chiefs) of the tribes of Rabí`ah and Mu_ar. Certainly, you know my position of close kinship and special relationship with the Prophet of Alláh - peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants. When I was only a child he took charge of me. He used to press me to his chest and lay me beside him in his bed, bring his body close to mine and make me smell his smell. He used to chew something and then feed me with it. He found no lie in my speaking, nor weakness in any act.
From the time of his weaning, Alláh had put a mighty angel with him to take him along the path of high character and good behaviour through day and night, while I used to follow him like a young camel following in the footprints of its mother. Every day he would show me in the form of a banner some of his high traits and commanded me to follow it. Every year he used to go in seclusion to the hill of \irá', where I saw him but no one else saw him. In those days Islam did not exist in any house except that of the Prophet of Alláh - peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants - and Khadíjah, while I was the third after these two. I used to see and watch the effulgence of divine revelation and message, and breathed the scent of Prophethood.
When the revelation descended on the Prophet of Alláh - peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants - I heard the moan of Satan. I said, "O' Prophet of Alláh, what is this moan?" and he replied, "This is Satan who has lost all hope of being worshipped. O' `Alí, you see all that I see and you hear all that I hear, except that you are not a Prophet, but you are a vicegerent and you are surely on (the path of) virtue."
I was with him when a party of the Quraysh came to him and said to him, "O' Mu<ammad, you have made a big claim which none of your fore-fathers or those of your family have made. We ask you one thing; if you give us an answer to it and show it to us, we will believe that you are a prophet and a messenger, but if you cannot do it, we will know that you are a sorcerer and a liar."
The Messenger of Alláh
said: "What do you ask for?" They said: "Ask this tree to move
for us, even with its roots, and stop before you." The Prophet said,
"Verily, Alláh has power over everything. If Alláh does
it for you, will you then believe and stand witness to the truth?" They
said "Yes". Then he said, "I shall show you whatever you want,
but I know that you won't bend towards virtue, and there are among you those
who will be thrown into the pit, and those who will form parties (against
me)." Then the Holy Prophet said: "O' tree, if you do believe in
Alláh and the Day of Judgement, and know that I am the Prophet of Alláh,
come up with your roots and stand before me with the permission of Alláh."
By Him who deputed the Prophet with truth, the tree did remove itself with
its root and came with a great humming sound and a flapping like the flapping
of the wings of birds, till it stopped before the Messenger of Alláh
while some of its twigs came down onto my shoulders, and I was on the right
side of the Holy
Prophet.
When the people saw this they said by way of pride and vanity. "Now you order half of it to come to you and the other half of it remain (in its place)." The Holy Prophet ordered the tree to do the same. Then half of the tree advanced towards him in an amazing manner and with greater humming. It was about to touch the Prophet of Alláh. Then they said, disbelieving and revolting, "Ask this half to get back to its other half and be as it was." The Prophet ordered it and it returned. Then I said, "O' Prophet of Alláh, I am the first to believe in you and to acknowledge that the tree did what it did just now with the command of Alláh, the Sublime, in testimony to your Prophethood and to heighten your word. Upon this all the people shouted, "Rather a sorcerer, a liar; it is wonderful sorcery, he is very adept in it. Only a man like this (pointing to me) can stand testimony to you in your affairs."
Certainly, I belong to the group of people who care not for the reproach of anybody in matters concerning Alláh. Their countenance is the countenance of the truthful and their speech is the speech of the virtuous. They are wakeful during the nights (in devotion to Alláh), and over beacons (of guidance) in the day. They hold fast to the rope of the Qur'án. revive the traditions of Alláh and of His Prophet. They do not boast nor indulge in self conceit, nor misappropriate, nor create mischief. Their hearts are in Paradise while their bodies are busy in (good) acts.
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(1). The intention is that "you should not create conditions by which you may be deprived of Alláh's favours, like the jealous who aims at harming him of whom he is jealous."
(2). The intention is to say that if belief is accepted under force of awe and fear and worship is offered under the influence of power and authority then neither will it be belief in the true sense nor worship in real spirit. This is because belief is the name of inner testimony and heart-felt conviction. The conviction produced by force and compulsion can be only verbal but not heart-felt. Similarly, worship is the name of open acknowledgement of one's position of servitude. Worship which is devoid of the feeling of servitude or the sense of devotion and which is performed only in view of authority or fear cannot be real worship. Therefore, such belief and such worship would not present their correct connotation.
(3). The reason for specifying the learned and the poor is that the learned has the light of learning to lead him, which the destitution of the poor may deny to him. In spite of this, both the learned and the poor fall into his deceit.
Then how can the ignorant save himself from his clutches, and how can the rich who has all the means to get into wrong ways, defend himself against him.
Nay! Verily man is wont to rebel!
As the deemeth himself needless!
(4). If a glance is cast at the rise and fall and events and happenings of the past people this fact will shine like daylight that the rise and fall of communities is not the result of luck or change, but that, to a great extent, it is affected by their acts and deeds. And of whatever type those deeds are, their results and consequences are in accord with them. Consequently, the stories and events of past people openly reflect that the result of oppression and evil deeds has always been ruin and destruction, while the consequence of virtuous action and peaceful living was always good luck and success. Since time and people make no difference, if the same conditions appear again and the same actions are repeated the same results must accrue which had appeared in the earlier set of circumstances, because the accrual of the results of good or bad actions is sure and certain like the properties and effects of everything. It this were not so it would not be possible to kindle hope in the minds of the oppressed and the afflicted by presenting to them past events and their effects, nor could the oppressors and tyrants be warned of the ill-effects of their deeds, on the ground that it was not necessary that the same would accrue now as had accrued earlier. But it is the universality of causality which makes past events the object of a lesson for posterity. Consequently, it was for this purpose that Amír al-mu'minín provoked thinking and consideration and mentioned the various events of Banú Ismá`íl, Banú Is<áq and Banú Isrá'íl and their affliction at the hands of the kings of Persia and Rome.
The progeny of Ismael, the elder son of Ibráhím (Abraham), is called Banú Ismá`íl while the progeny of his younger son Issac is called Banú Is<áq which later continued to divide into various off-shoots and acquired different names. Their original abode was at Canaan in Palestine, where Ibráhím had settled after the immigration from the plains of the Euphrates and the Tigris. His son Ismá`íl had settled in the \ijáz, where Ibráhím had left him and his mother Hájar (Hagar). Ismá`íl married as-Sayyidah bint Mu_á_ a woman of the tribe of Jurhum which also inhabited this very area. His progeny sprang from her and spread throughout the world. The other son of Ibráhím namely Is<áq remained in Canaan. His son was Ya`qúb (Jacob/lsrael) who married Liya the daughter of his mother's brother and after her death married his other daughter.
Both of them bore him progeny which is known as Banú Isrá'íl. One of his sons was Yúsuf (Joseph), who reached the neighbouring country, Egypt, through an accident, and, after suffering slavery and imprisonment, eventually became the ruler and occupier of the throne.
After this change, he
sent for all his relations and kith and kin and in this way Egypt became the
abode of Banú Isrá'íl. For some time they lived there
in peace and safety, and led a life of respect and esteem, but by and by the
locals began to view them with disdain and hatred and made them the target
of all sorts of tyrannies, so much so
that they used to kill their children and retained their women as slave-maids,
as a result of which their determination and courage was trampled and their
spirit of freedom was completely subdued. At last, conditions changed and
the period of their troubles came to an end, after four hundred years of the
shackles of slavery; when Alláh sent Músá to deliver
them from the oppression of the Pharaoh. Músá set off with them
to leave Egypt, but in order to destroy the Pharaoh, Alláh turned them
towards the Nile where there was all flood in front, and on the rear the huge
forces of the Pharaoh. This bewildered them much, but Alláh commanded
Músá to enter the river without fear. Thus, when he went forward,
there appeared in the river not only one but several courses to pass through
and Músá crossed to the other side of the river along with Banú
Isrá'íl. Pharaoh was closely following. When he saw them passing
he too advanced with his arm but when they reached the middle of the stream
the still water began moving and, engulfing Pharaoh and his army in its waves,
finished them. About them the Qur'án says:
And (remember ye) when We delivered you from Pharaoh's people who afflicted you with grievous torment, slaying your sons and by letting your women alive, and in that was a great trial from your Lord. (2:49)
However, when, after leaving the boundaries of Egypt, they entered their motherland
Palestine, they
established their own state and began to live in freedom, and Alláh
changed their lowliness and disgrace into the greatness and sublimity of rule
and power. In this connection, Alláh says:
And made We inheritors the people who were deemed weak (to inherit) the eastern parts of the earth and the western parts of it, which we had blessed therein (with fertility) and the good word of thy Lord was fulfilled in the children of Israel for what they did endure; and destroyed We, what Pharaoh and his people had wrought, and what shade they did make. (Qur'án, 7:137)
On occupying the throne of rule and regaining prosperity and peacefulness, Banú Isrá'íl forgot all the ignominies and disgraces of the period of slavery, and instead of being thankful to Alláh for the favours granted by Him they took to rebellion and revolt. Consequently, they shamelessly indulged in vices and misconduct and partook in mischiefs and evil deeds to the maximum, made lawful things unlawful and unlawful things lawful by false excuses and disobeyed the prophets who tried to preach and correct them under the command of Alláh, and even killed them. The natural consequence of their vicious activities was that they were caught in punishment for their deeds. Consequently, Nebuchadnezzar, who was ruling in Babylon (Iraq) in 600 B.C., rose to march against Syria and Palestine and killed seventy thousand Banú Isrá'íl with his blood-thirsty swords, devastated their towns, drove away the survivors with him like sheep and goats and threw them in the abyss of ignominy by turning them into slaves.
Although after this ruination there seemed no way for them to regain position and power, yet nature gave them still another chance to recover. When Nebuchadnezzar died and power came in the hands of Belshazzar he started all sorts of oppression on the people. Being disgusted with this, they sent word to the ruler of Persia that they were tired of enduring the oppression of their ruler and that he should rescue them from him, and free them from the oppression of Belshazzar. Cyrus the Great, who was a just and upright ruler, rose up in response to this request and, with the co-operation of the local population, overturned the government, as a consequence of which the yoke of slavery on Banú Isrá'íl's necks was also removed, and they were allowed to return to Palestine.
Thus, after seventy years of subjugation they again set foot in their homeland and took over the reins of government. If they had taken their lesson from the past events they would not have committed the same evils as a consequence of which they had to suffer slavery; but the mental constitution of this community was such that whenever they achieved prosperity and freedom from care they lost themselves in the intoxication of riches and in the enjoyment of pleasure, mocked the laws of religion, derided the prophets and even killing them did not mean anything serious to them. Thus, when their ruler Herod at the request of his sweetheart, beheaded the Prophet Ya<yá (John) and presented his head to her, none of them raised any voice against this brutality or was affected by it in any manner. This was the state of their unruliness and fierceness when `Ísá made his appearance. He stopped them from evil deeds and exhorted them to adopt good habits, but they opposed him too and gave him troubles of various sorts, so much so that they tried to end his life. However, Alláh foiled all their devices and made `Ísá safe against their approach.
When their disobedience reached this stage and their capacity to accept guidance was completely wiped out, fate decided to ruin them and made full arrangements for their annihilation and destruction. The ruler of Roma (Byzantia) Vespasianus sent his son Titus to attack Syria, he laid siege round Jerusalem, demolished the houses and broke down the walls of the Synagogue as a result of which thousand of Banú Isrá'íl left their houses and became scattered abroad, while thousands died of hunger; and those who remained were put to sword. Most of them settled in \ijáz, but because of their rejecting Prophet Mu<ammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) their unity was so disturbed that they could never again converge on any one centre of honour and could never regain a life of prestige and dignity in place of disgrace and ignominy.
In the same way the ruler of Persia made serious attacks on Arabia and subjugated the inhabitants of those places. Thus, Shápúr ibn Hurmuz, at the age of sixteen, took with him four thousand combatants and attacked Arabs who resided within the boundaries of Persia and then advanced towards Ba<rayn, Qa>íf and Hajar and ruined Banú Tamím, Banú Bakr ibn Wá'il and Banú `Abd al-Qays and cut through the shoulders of seventy thousand Arabs, after which his nickname became "Dhu'l-Aktáf" (the shoulderer). He forced the Arabs that they should live in tents built of hair, should grow long hair on their heads, should not wear white clothes and should ride unsaddled horses. Then he settled twelve thousand people of I#fahán and other cities of Persia in the area between Iraq and Syria.
In this way he drove the inhabitants of those places from fertile lands to waterless forests which had neither any of the conveniences of life nor means of livelihood, and for long these people remained the victims of other's oppression due to their own disunity and division. At last, Alláh deputed the Prophet and raised them out of disgrace to the highest pinnacle of progress and sublimity.
(5). Amír al-mu'minín, Abú Ayyúb al-An#árí, Jábir ibn `Abdulláh al-An#árí, `Abdulláh ibn Mas`úd, `Ammár ibn Yásir, Abú Sa`íd al-Khudrí and `Abdulláh ibn `Abbás narrated that the Holy Prophet commanded `Alí ibn Abí ^álib to fight those who are pledge-breakers (nákithín), deviators from truth (qási>ín) and those who have left the faith (máriqín). (al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, p. 139; al-Istí`áb, vol. 3, p. 1117; Usd al-ghábah, vol. 3, pp. 32-33; ad-Durr al-manthúr, vol. 6, p. 18; al-Kha#a'i# al-kubrá, vol. 2, p. 138; Majma` az-zawá'id, vol. 5, p. 186; vol. 6, p. 235; vol. 7, p. 238; Kanz al-`ummál, vol. 6, pp. 72, 82, 88, 155, 215, 319, 391, 392; Táríkh Baghdád, vol. 8, p. 340; vol. 13, pp. 186-187; al-Táríkh, Ibn `Asákir, vol. 5, p. 41; at-Táríkh, Ibn Kathír, vol. 7 pp. 304-306; ar-Riyá_ an-na_arah, vol. 2, p. 240; Shar< al-mawáhib al-ladunniyyah, vol. 3, pp. 316-317; Muwa__a< al-awhám, vol. 1, p. 386).
Ibn Abi'l-\adíd says: "It has been proved (by right ascription) from the Holy Prophet that he said to `Alí (p.b.u.h.):
You will fight after me those who are pledge-breakers, deviators from truth and those who have gone out of the faith.
"The pledge-breakers were the people of Jamal, because they broke their allegiance with him. The deviators from truth were the people of Syria (ash-Shám) at @iffín. Those who have gone out of the faith were the Khárijites at an-Nahrawán. Regarding these three groups, Alláh says (about the first one):
Verily, those who swear their fealty unto thee do but swear fealty unto Alláh; the hand of Alláh is above their hands; so whosoever violateth his oath, doth violate it only to the hurt of his (own) self;... (Qur'án, 48:10)
(About the second group) Alláh says:
And as for the deviators, they shall be for the hell, a fuel. (Qur'án, 72:15)
Concerning the third group, Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has referred to the following tradition (<adíth) that al-Bukhárí (in a#-@a<í<, vol. 4, pp. 166-167, 243), Muslim (in a#-@a<í<, vol. 3, pp. 109-117), at-Tirmidhí (in al-Jámi` a#-@a<í<, vol. 4, p. 481), Ibn Májah (in as-Sunan, vol. I, pp. 59-62), an-Nasá'í (in as-Sunan, vol. 3, pp. 65-66), Málik ibn Anas (in al-Muwa>>a', pp. 204-205), ad-Dár'qu>ní (in as-Sunan, vol. 3, pp.131-132), ad-Dárimí (in as-Suman, vol. 2, p. 133), Abú Dáwúd (in as-Sunan, vol. 4, pp. 241-246), al-\ákim (in al-Mustadrak, vol. 2, pp. 145-154; vol. 4, p. 531), A<mad ibn \anbal (in al-Musnad, vol. 1, pp. 88, 140, 147; vol. 3, pp. 56, 65) and al-Bay<aqí (in as-Sunan al-kubrá', vol. 8, pp. 170-171) have narrated through a group of the companions of the Holy Prophet that he said about Dhu'l-Khuwaysirah (the surname for Dhu'th-Thudayyah \urqú# ibn Zuhayr at-Tamímí, the chief of the Khárijites):
From this very person's posterity there will arise people who will recite the Qur'án, but it will not go beyond their throat, they will kill their followers of Islam and will spare the idol-worshippers. They will glance through the teaching of Islam as hurriedly as the arrow passes through its prey. If I were to ever find them I would kill them like `Ád.
Then Ibn Abi'l-\adíd continues:
This is the sign for his (Holy Prophet's) prophethood and his prophecy of the secret knowledge. (Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 13, p.183)
(6). By "Satan of the pit" the reference is to Dhu'th-Thudayyah (whose full name already mentioned in footnote no. 5) who was killed in Nahrawán by the stroke of lightning from the sky, and there was no need to kill him by sword. The Holy Prophet had foretold his death. Therefore, after the annihilation of the Khárijites at Nahrawan, Amír al-mu'minín came out in search, but could not find his body anywhere. In the meantime, ar-Rayyán ibn @abirah saw forty to fifty bodies in a pit on the bank of the canal. When they were taken out the body of Dhu'th-Thudayyah was also found among them. He was called Dhu'th-Thudayyah because of a mass of flesh on his shoulder. When Amír al-mu'minín saw his body he said, "Alláh is Great, neither I spoke lie nor was I told wrong." (Ibn Abi'l-\adíd, vol. 13, pp. 183-184; a>-^abarí, vol 1, pp. 3383-3384; Ibn al-Athír vol. 3, p. 348)
*****
SERMON 192
It is related that a companion of Amír al-mu'minín called Hammám (1) who was a man devoted to worship said to him, "O' Amír al-mu'minín, describe to me the pious man in such a way as though I see them." Amír al-mu'minín avoided the reply and said, "O' Hammám, fear Alláh and perform good acts because 'Verily, Alláh is with those who guard (themselves against evil), and those who do good (to others)'" (Qur'án, 16:128). Hammám was not satisfied with this and pushed him to speak. Thereupon, Amír al-mu'minín praised Alláh and extolled Him and sought His blessings on the Holy Prophet and then spoke:
Now then, Alláh the Glorified, the Sublime, created (the things of) creation. He created them without any need for their obedience or being safe from their sinning, because the sin of anyone who sins does not harm Him nor does the obedience of anyone who obeys Him benefit Him. He has distributed among them their livelihood, and has assigned them their positions in the world.
Thus, the God-fearing, in it are the people of distinction. Their speech is to the point, their dress is moderate and their gait is humble. They keep their eyes closed to what Alláh has made unlawful for them, and they put their ears to that knowledge which is beneficial to them. They remain in the time of trials as though they remain in comfort. If there had not been fixed periods (of life) ordained for each, their spirits would not have remained in their bodies even for the twinkling of an eye because of (their) eagerness for the reward and fear of chastisement. The greatness of the Creator is seated in their heart, and, so, everything else appears small in their eyes. Thus to them Paradise is as though they see it and are enjoying its favours. To them, Hell is also as if they see it and are suffering punishment in it.
Their hearts are grieved, they are protected against evils, their bodies are thin, their needs are scanty, and their souls are chaste. They endured (hardship) for a short while, and in consequence they secured comfort for a long time. It is a beneficial transaction that Alláh made easy for them. The world aimed at them, but they did not aim at it. It captured them, but they freed themselves from it by a ransom.
During a night they are upstanding on their feet reading portions of the Qur'án and reciting it in a well-measured way, creating through it grief for themselves and seeking by it the cure for their ailments. If they come across a verse creating eagerness (for Paradise) they pursue it avidly, and their spirits turn towards it eagerly, and they feel as if it is in front of them. And when they come across a verse which contains fear (of Hell) they bend the ears of their hearts towards it, and feel as though the sound of Hell and its cries are reaching their ears. They bend themselves from their backs, prostrate themselves on their foreheads, their palms, their knees and their toes, and beseech Alláh, the Sublime, for their deliverance. During the day they are enduring, learned, virtuous and God-fearing. Fear (of Alláh) has made them thin like arrows. If any one looks at them he believes they are sick, although they are not sick, and he says that they have gone mad. In fact, great concern (i.e., fear) has made them mad.
They are not satisfied with their meagre good acts, and do not regard their major acts as great. They always blame themselves and are afraid of their deeds. When anyone of them is spoken of highly, he says: "I know myself better than others, and my Lord knows me better than I know. O' Alláh do not deal with me according to what they say, and make me better than they think of me and forgive me (those shortcomings) which they do not know."
The peculiarity of anyone
of them is that you will see that he has strength in religion, determination
along with leniency, faith with conviction, eagerness in (seeking) knowledge
in forbearance, moderation in riches, devotion in worship, gracefulness in
starvation, endurance in hardship, desire for the lawful, pleasure in guidance
and
hatred from greed. He performs virtuous deeds but still feels afraid. In the
evening he is anxious to offer thanks (to Alláh). In the morning his
anxiety is to remember (Alláh). He passes the night in fear and rises
in the morning in joy - fear lest night is passed in forgetfulness, and joy
over the favour and mercy received by him. If his self refuses to endure a
thing which it does not like he does not grant its request towards what it
likes. The coolness of his eye lies in what is to last for ever, while from
the things (of this world) that will not last he keeps aloof. He transfuses
knowledge with forbearance, and speech with action.
You will see his hopes simple, his shortcomings few, his heart fearing, his spirit contented, his meal small and simple, his religion safe, his desires dead and his anger suppressed. Good alone is expected from him. Evil from him is not to be feared. Even if he is found among those who forget (Alláh) he is counted among those who remember (Him), but if he is among the rememberers he is not counted among the forgetful. He forgives him who is unjust to him, and he gives to him who deprives him. He behaves well with him who behaves ill with him.
Indecent speech is far from him, his utterance is lenient, his evils are non-existent his virtues are ever present, his good is ahead and mischief has turned its face (from him). He is dignified during calamities, patient in distresses, and thankful during ease. He does not commit excess over him whom he hates, and does not commit sin for the sake of him whom he loves. He admits truth before evidence is brought against him. He does not misappropriate what is placed in his custody, and does not forget what he is required to remember. He does not call others bad names, he does not cause harm to his neighbour, he does not feel happy at others misfortunes, he does not enter into wrong and does not go out of right.
If he is silent his silence does not grieve him, if he laughs he does not raise his voice, and if he is wronged he endures till Alláh takes revenge on his behalf. His own self is in distress because of him, while the people are in ease from him. He puts himself in hardship for the sake of his next life, and makes people feel safe from himself. His keeping away from others is by way of asceticism and purification, and his nearness to those to whom he is near is by way of leniency and mercifulness. His keeping away is not by way of vanity or feeling of greatness, nor his nearness by way of deceit and cheating.
It is related that Hammám passed into a deep swoon and then expired. Then Amír al-mu'minín said:
Verily, by Alláh I had this fear about him. Then he added: Effective advices produce such effects on receptive minds.
Someone (2) said to him: O' Amír al-mu'minín, how is it you do not receive such an effect?
Amír al-mu'minín replied: Woe to you. For death there is a fixed hour which cannot be exceeded, and a cause which does not change. Now look, never repeat such talk which Satan had put on your tongue.
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(1). According to Ibn Abi'l-\adíd this is Hammám ibn Shuray< but al-`Allámah al-Majlisí says that apparently this is Hammám ibn `Ubádah.
(2). This man was `Abdulláh ibn al-Kawwá' who was in the fore-front of the Khárijite movement and was a great opponent of Amír al-mu'minín.
*****
SERMON 193
In description of hypocrites
We praise Alláh
for the succour He has given us in carrying out His obedience and in preventing
us from disobedience, and we ask Him to complete His favours (to us) and to
make us hold on to His rope. We stand witness that Mu<ammad is His slave
and His Messenger. He entered every hardship in search of Alláh's pleasure
and
endured for its sake every grief. His near relations changed themselves for
him and those who were remote from him (in relationship) united against him.
The Arabs let loose the reins (of their horses to quicken their march) against
him, and struck the bellies of their carriers to (rouse them) in fighting
against him, so much so that enemies came to
his threshold from the remotest places and most distant areas.
I advise you, O' creatures of Alláh, to fear Alláh and I warn you of the hypocrites, because they are themselves misguided and misguide others, and they have slipped and make others slip too. They change into many colours, and adopt various ways. They support you with all sorts of supports, and lay in waiting for you at every lookout. Their hearts are diseased while their faces are clean. They walk stealthily and tread like the approach of sickness (over the body). Their words speak of cure, but their acts are like incurable diseases. They are jealous of ease, intensify distress, and destroy hopes. Their victims are found lying down on every path, while they have means to approach every heart and they have (false) tears for every grief.
They eulogise each other and expect reward from each other. When they ask something they insist on it, if they reprove (any one) they disgrace (him), and if they pass verdict they commit excess. They have adopted for every truth a wrong way, for every erect thing a bender, for every living being a killer, for every (closed) door a key and for every night a lamp. They covet, but with despair, in order to maintain with it their markets, and to popularise their handsome merchandise. When they speak they create doubts. When they describe they exaggerate. First they offer easy paths but (afterwards) they make them narrow. In short, they are the party of Satan and the stings of fire.
Satan hath gained hold on them, so he maketh them forget the remembrance of Alláh; they are Satan's Party; Beware! verily, the party of Satan are the losers. (Qur'án, 58:19)
*****
SERMON 194
Alláh's praise, advice about fear of Alláh and details about the Day of Judgement
Praise be to Alláh who has displayed such effects of His authority and the glory of His sublimity through the wonders of His might that they dazzle the pupils of the eyes and prevent the minds from appreciating the reality of His attributes. I stand witness that there is no god but Alláh by virtue of belief, certainty, sincerity and conviction. I also stand witness that Mu<ammad is His slave and His Prophet whom He deputed when the signs of guidance were obliterated and the ways of religion were desolate. So, he threw open the truth, gave advice to the people, guided them towards righteousness and ordered them to be moderate. May Alláh bless him and his descendants.
Know, O' creatures of Alláh, that He has not created you for nought and has not left you free. He knows the extent of His favours over you and the quantity of His bounty towards you. Therefore, ask Him for success and for the attainment of aims. Beg before Him and seek His generosity. No curtain hides you from Him, nor is any door closed before you against Him. He is at every place, in every moment and every instance. He is with every man and jinn. Giving does not create any breach in Him. Gifting does not cause Him diminution. A beggar cannot exhaust Him and paying (to others) cannot take Him to the end.
One person cannot turn His attention from another, one voice does not detract Him from another voice, and one grant of favour does not prevent Him from refusing another favour. Anger does not prevent Him from mercy, mercy does not prevent Him from punishing; His concealment does not hide His manifestness and His manifestness does not prevent Him from concealment. He is near and at the same time distant. He is high and at the same time low. He is manifest and also concealed. He is concealed yet well-known. He lends but is not lent anything. He has not created (the things of) creation after devising, nor did He take their assistance on account of fatigue.
I advise you, O' creatures of Alláh, to have fear of Alláh, for it is the rein and the mainstay (of religion). Hold fast to its salient points, keep hold of its realities. It will take you to abodes of easiness, places of comfort, fortresses of safety and houses of honour on the Day (of Judgement) when eyes will be wide open, (Qur'án, 14:42), when there will be darkness all round, when small groups of camels pregnant for ten months will be allowed free grazing, and when the Horn will be blown, then every living being will die, every voice will become dumb the high mountains and hard rocks will crumble (to pieces) so that their hard stones will turn into moving sand and their bases will become level. (On that day) there will be no interceder to intercede and no relation to ward off (trouble), and no excuse will be of avail.
*****
SERMON 195
The condition of the world at the time of the proclamation of prophethood,
the transience of this world and the state of its inhabitants.
Alláh deputed the Prophet when no sign of guidance existed, no beacon was giving light and no passage was clear.
I advise you, O' creatures of Alláh, to have fear of Alláh, and I warn you of this world which is a house from which departure is inevitable and a place of discomfort. He who lives in it has to depart, and he who stays here has to leave it. It is drifting with its people like a boat whom severe winds dash (here and there) in the deep sea. Some of them get drowned and die, while some of them escape on the surface of the waves, where winds push them with their currents and carry them towards their dangers. So, whatever is drowned cannot be restored, and whatever escapes is on the way to destruction.
O' creatures of Alláh, you should know now that you have to perform (good) acts, because (at present) your tongues are free, your bodies are healthy, your limbs have movement, the area of your coming and going is vast and the course of your running is wide; before the loss of opportunity or the approach of death. Take death's approach as an accomplished fact and do not think it will come (hereafter).
*****
SERMON 196
Amír al-mu'minín's attachment to the Holy Prophet. The performance of his funeral rites.
Those companions of Mu<ammad - the peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants - who were the custodians (of divine messages) know that I never disobeyed Alláh or His Messenger (1) - the peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants - at all, and by virtue of the courage (2) with which Alláh honoured me I supported him with my life on occasions when even the brave turned away and feet remained behind (instead of proceeding forward).
When the Prophet - the
peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants - died
his head was on my chest, and his (last) breath blew over my palms and I passed
it over my face. I performed his (funeral) ablution, may Alláh bless
him and his descendants, and the angels helped me. The house and the courtyard
were full of them.
One party of them was descending and the other was ascending. My ears continually
caught their humming voice, as they invoked Alláh's blessing on him,
till we buried him in his grave. Thus, who can have greater rights with him
than I during his life or after his death? Therefore depend on your intelligence
and make your intentions pure in fighting your enemy, because I swear by Him
who is such that there is no god but He, that I am on the path of truth and
that they (the enemy) are on the misleading path of wrong. You hear what I
say; and I seek Alláh's forgiveness for myself and for you.
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(1). Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has written (in Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 10, pp. 180-183) that Amír al-mu'minín's saying that he never disobeyed the commands of the Prophet is a sort of taunt to those who felt no hesitation in rejecting the Prophet's commands and sometimes even checked him. For example, when, at the time of the peace of al-\udaybiyah, the Prophet was agreeable to negotiate peace with the unbelievers among the Quraysh, one of the companions became so enraged that he expressed doubts about the prophethood of the Prophet whereupon Abú Bakr had to say:
Woe be to you! Keep clinging to him. He is certainly Alláh's Messenger and He will not ruin him.
The introduction to the oath, 'inna', and the word of emphasis 'lam' which are used here to create conviction about the prophethood shows that the addressee had gone farther than mere doubt, because these words of emphasis are employed only when the stage of denial has been reached. However, if belief required absence of doubt, the presence of doubt must imply defect in the belief, as Alláh says:
The believers are only those who believe in Alláh and His Messenger, they doubt not thereafter,... (Qur'án, 49:15)
Similarly, when the Prophet intended to say the funeral prayers of Ubayy ibn Salúl the same companion said to him, "How do you intend to seek forgiveness for this Chief of hypocrites?" And he even drew away the Prophet by catching the skirt (of his shirt). Then the Prophet had to say, "No act of mine is beside the command of Alláh". In the same way the Prophet's command to accompany the force of Usámah ibn Zayd was ignored. The greatest of all these insolences was displayed in connection with the Prophet's intention to write down his advice as to when such a blame was laid against the Prophet which proves an absence of belief in the commands of the sharí`ah, and creates a doubt about each command as to whether it is based on divine revelation or (Alláh may forbid) just the result of mental disorder.
(2). Who can deny that the ever-successful lion of Alláh, `Alí ibn Abí ^álib (p.b.u.h.) shielded the Prophet on every critical occasion and performed the duty of protecting him by dint of the courage and valour gifted to him by Alláh. The first occasion of risking his life was when the unbelievers from the Quraysh decided finally to kill the Prophet and `Alí slept on his bed surrounded by enemies and under the direct peril of swords, whereby the enemies were not able to succeed in their aims. Then, in those battles where the enemies used to attack the Prophet together and where the feet of even the reputed heroes could not stand firm, Amír al-mu'minín remained steadfast with the banner (of Islam) in his hand. `Abd al-Barr and al-\ákim writes about it:
Ibn `Abbás says that `Alí had four qualities which no one else possessed. Firstly, he was the first among Arabs and non-Arabs to have said prayers with the Messenger of Alláh. Secondly, he always had the banner of Islam in his hand in every battle. Thirdly, when people ran away from the Prophet, `Alí remained with him; and fourthly it was he who gave the Prophet his funeral ablution and laid him in his grave. (al-Istí`áb, vol. 3, p. 1090; al-Mustadrak `alá a#-#a<í<ayn vol. 3, p. 111)
A study of the holy wars of Islam fought in the Prophet's days leaves no doubt that, except for the battle of Tabúk in which Amír al-mu'minín did not partake, all other battles bear testimony to his fine performance and all the successes are due to his valour. Thus, in the battle of Badr seventy unbelievers were killed, half of whom were killed by `Alí's sword. In the battle of U<ud, when victory changed into defeat as a result of the Muslims engaging themselves in the collection of booty, and they fled away under the sudden attack of the enemy, Amír al-mu'minín remained steadfast, taking jihad to be a religious obligation, and displayed such conspicuous performance in support and defence of the Prophet that the Prophet too acknowledged it and also the Angel. Again, in the battle of the Trench (al-Khandaq), the Prophet was accompanied by three thousand combatants, but none dared face `Amr ibn `Abdawadd. At last, Amír al-mu'minín killed him and saved the Muslims from ignominy. In the battle of \unayn, the Muslims were proud of their number because they were ten thousand while the unbelievers were only four thousand, but here too they leapt onto the booty, as a consequence of which the unbelievers gained the opportunity, and pounced upon them. Bewildered with this sudden attack the Muslims fled away as the Holy Qur'án says:
Most certainly did Alláh help you in many (battle) fields, and on the day of \unayn, when made you vain your great number, but they availed you nothing, and was straitened the earth against you with all its extensiveness, then ye turned back in retreat. (9:25)
On this occasion also, Amír al-mu'minín was steady like a rock, and eventually, with Alláh's support, victory was achieved.
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SERMON 197
Alláh's attribute of Omniscience
Alláh knows the cries of the beasts in the forest, the sins of the people in seclusion, the movements of the fishes in the deep seas and the rising of the water by tempestuous winds. I stand witness that Mu<ammad is the choice of Alláh, the conveyor of His revelation and the messenger of His mercy.
Advantages of fear of Alláh
Now then, I advise you to fear Alláh, Who created you for the first time; towards Him is your return, with Him lies the success of your aims, at Him terminate (all) your desires, towards Him runs your path of right and He is the aim of your fears (for seeking protection). Certainly, fear of Alláh is the medicine for your hearts, sight for the blindness of your spirits, the cure for the ailments of your bodies, the rectifier of the evils of your breasts, the purifier of the pollution of your minds, the light of the darkness of your eyes, the consolation for the fear of your heart and the brightness for the gloom of your ignorance.
Therefore, make obedience
to Alláh the way of your life and not only your outside covering, make
it your inner habit instead of only outer routine, subtle enough to enter
through your ribs (up to the heart), the guide for all your affairs, the watering
place for your getting down (on the Day of Judgement), the interceder for
the achievement
of your aims, asylum for the day of your fear, the lamp of the interior of
your graves, company for your long loneliness, and deliverance from the troubles
of your abodes. Certainly, obedience to Alláh is a protection against
encircling calamities. expected dangers and the flames of burning fires.
Therefore, whoever entertains fear of Alláh, troubles remain away from him after having been near, affairs become sweet after their bitterness, waves (of troubles) recede from him after having crowded over him, difficulties become easy for him after occurring, generosity rains fast over him after there had been famine, mercy bends over him after it had been loath, the favours (of Alláh) spring forth on him after they had been dried, and blessing descends over him in showers after being scanty. So, fear Alláh Who benefits you with His good advice, preaches to you through His Messenger, and obliges you with His favours. Devote yourselves to His worship, and acquit yourselves of the obligation of obeying Him.
About Islam
This Islam is the religion
which Alláh has chosen for Himself, developed it before His eyes, preferred
it as the best among His creations, established its pillars on His love. He
has disgraced other religions by giving honour to it. He has humiliated all
communities before its sublimity; He has humbled its enemies with His kindness
and
made its opponents lonely by according it His support. He has smashed the
pillars of misguidance with its columns. He has quenched the thirst of the
thirsty from its cisterns, and filled the cisterns through those who draw
its water.
He made Islam such that its constituent parts cannot break, its links cannot separate, its construction cannot fall, its columns cannot decay, its plant cannot be uprooted, its time does not end, its laws do not expire, its twigs cannot be cut, its parts do not become narrow, its ease does not change into difficulty, its clarity is not affected by gloom, its straightness does not acquire curvature, its wood has no crookedness, its vast paths have no narrowness, its lamp knows no putting off and its sweetness has no bitterness.
It consists of columns
whose bases Alláh has fixed in truthfulness and whose foundation He
has strengthened, and of sources whose streams are ever full of water and
of lamps, whose flames are full of light, and of beacons with whose help travellers
get guidance, and of signs through which a way is found to its highways and
of watering places which provide water to those who come to them. Alláh
has placed in Islam the height of His pleasure, the pinnacle of His pillars
and the prominence of His obedience. Before Alláh, therefore, its columns
are strong, its construction is lofty, its proofs are bright, its fires are
aflame, its authority is strong, its beacons are high and its
destruction is difficult. You should therefore honour it, follow it, fulfil
its obligations and accord the position due to it.
About the Holy Prophet
Then, Alláh, the Glorified, deputed Mu<ammad - the peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants - with truth at a time when the destruction of the world was near and the next life was at hand, when its brightness was turning into gloom after shining, it had become troublesome for its inhabitants, its surface had become rough, and its decay had approached near. This was during the exhaustion of its life at the approach of signs (of its decay), the ruin of its inhabitants, the breaking of its links, the dispersal of its affairs, the decay of its signs, the divulging of its secret matters and the shortening of its length. Alláh made him responsible for conveying His message and (a means of) honour for his people, a period of bloom for the men of his days, a source of dignity for the supporters and an honour for his helpers.
About the Holy Qur'án
Then, Alláh sent to him the Book as a light whose flames cannot be extinguished, a lamp whose gleam does not die, a sea whose depth cannot be sounded, a way whose direction does not mislead, a ray whose light does not darken, a separator (of good from evil) whose arguments do not weaken, a clarifier whose foundations cannot be dismantled, a cure which leaves no apprehension for disease, an honour whose supporters are not defeated, and a truth whose helpers are not abandoned. Therefore, it is the mine of belief and its centre, the source of knowledge and its oceans, the plantation of justice and its pools, the foundation stone of Islam and its construction, the valleys of truth and its plains, an ocean which those who draw water cannot empty, springs which those who draw water cannot dry up, a watering place which those who come to take water cannot exhaust, a staging place in moving towards which travellers do not get lost, signs which no treader fails to see and a highland which those who approach it cannot surpass it.
Alláh has made it a quencher of the thirst of the learned, a bloom for the hearts of religious jurists, a highway for the ways of the righteous, a cure after which there is no ailment, an effulgence with which there is no darkness, a rope whose grip is strong, a stronghold whose top is invulnerable, an honour for him who loves it, a peace for him who enters it, a guidance for him who follows it, an excuse for him who adopts it, an argument for him who argues with it, a witness for him who quarrels with it, a success for him who argues with it, a carrier of burden for him who seeks the way, a shield for him who arms himself (against misguidance), a knowledge for him who listens carefully, worthy story for him who relates it and a final verdict of him who passes judgements.
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SERMON 198
Containing advice given
by Amír al-mu'minín to his companions
About Prayer
Pledge yourself with prayer and remain steady on it; offer prayer as much as possible and seek nearness (of Alláh) through it, because it is, (imposed) upon the believers as (a) timed ordinance (Qur'án 4:103). Have you not heard the reply of the people of Hell when they were asked: What hath brought you into the hell? They shall say: We were not of those who offered the regular prayers (to Alláh)! (Qur'án, 74:42-43). Certainly, prayer drops out sins like the dropping of leaves (of trees), and removes them as ropes are removed from the necks of cattle. The Messenger of Alláh - the peace and blessing of Alláh he upon him and his descendants - likened it to a hot bath situated at the door of a person who bathes in it five times a day. Will then any dirt remain on him?
Its obligation is recognised by those believers whom neither the adornment of property nor the coolness of the eyes produced by children can turn away from it. Alláh, the Glorified, says:
Men whom neither merchandise nor any sale diverteth from the remembrance of Alláh and constancy in prayer and paying the poor-rate; ... (Qur'án. 24:37)
Even after receiving assurance of Paradise, the Messenger of Alláh - peace and blessing of Alláh be upon him and his descendants - used to exert himself for prayers because of Alláh, the Glorified's command.
And enjoin prayer on thy followers, and adhere thou steadily unto it, ... (Qur'án, 20:132).
Then the Holy Prophet used to enjoin his followers to prayer and exert himself for it.
About the Islamic Tax (zakát)
Then, Islamic tax has been laid down along with prayer as a sacrifice (to be offered) by the people of Islam. Whoever pays it by way of purifying his spirit, it serves as a purifier for him and a protection and shield against fire (of Hell). No one therefore (who pays it) should feel attached to it afterwards, nor should feel grieved over it. Whoever pays it without the intention of purifying his heart expects through it more than its due. He is certainly ignorant of the sunnah, he is allowed no reward for it, his action goes to waste and his repentance is excessive.
Fulfilment of Trust
Then, as regards fulfilment of trust, whoever does not pay attention to it will be disappointed. It was placed before the strong skies, vast earths and high mountains but none of them was found to be stronger. vaster, or higher than it. If anything could be unapproachable because of height, vastness, power or strength they would have been unapproachable, but they felt afraid of the evil consequences (of failure in fulfilling a trust) and noticed what a weaker being did not realise it, and this was man.
. . . Verily he was (proved) unjust, ignorant. (Qur'án, 33:72)
Surely, Alláh, the Glorified, the Sublime, nothing is hidden from Him of whatever people do in their nights or days. He knows all the details, and His knowledge covers them. Your limbs are a witness, the organs of your body constitute an army (against yourself), your inner self serves Him as eyes (to watch your sins), and your loneliness is open to Him.
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SERMON 199
Treason and treachery of Mu`áwiyah and the fate of those guilty of treason
By Alláh, (1) Mu`áwiyah is not more cunning than I am, but he deceives and commits evil deeds. Had I not been hateful of deceit I would have been the most cunning of all men. But (the fact is that) every deceit is a sin and every sin is disobedience (of Alláh), and every deceitful person will have a banner by which he will be recognised on the Day of Judgement. By Alláh, I cannot be made forgetful by strategy, nor can I be overpowered by hardships.
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(1). People who are ignorant of religion and ethics free from the shackles of religious law and unaware of the conception of punishment and reward find no paucity of excuses and means for the achievement of their objects. They can find ways of success at every stage; but when the dictates of humanity, or Islam, or the limitations imposed by ethics and religious law act as impediments, the chances of devising and finding means become narrow, and the possibility of action becomes restricted. Mu`áwiyah's influence and control was the result of these devices and ways in following which he knew no impediment nor any obstacle of what is lawful or unlawful, nor did fear of the Day of Judgement prevent him from acting fearlessly. As al-`Allámah ar-Rághib al-I#fahání while taking account of his characters writes:
"His aim always was to achieve his object whether lawful or unlawful. He did not care for religion nor did he ever think of divine chastisement. Thus, in order to maintain his power he resorted to mis-statements and concoctions, practised all sorts of deceits and contrivances. When he saw that success was not possible without entangling Amír al-mu'minín in war he roused ^al<ah and az-Zubayr against him. When success could not be achieved by this means he instigated the Syrians and brought about the civil war of @iffín. And when his rebellious position had become known by the killing of `Ammár, he at once duped the people by saying that `Alí was responsible for killing him as he had brought him into the battlefield; and on another occasion he interpreted the words 'rebellious party' occurring in the saying of the Prophet to mean 'avenging party' intending to prove that `Ammár would be killed by the group that would seek revenge of `Uthmán's blood, although the next portion of this saying namely 'he will call them towards Paradise while they will call him to Hell,' does not leave any scope for interpretation. When there was no hope of victory even by these cunning means, he contrived to raise the Qur'án on spears, although in his view neither the Qur'án nor its commandments carried any weight. If he had really aimed at a decision by the Qur'án, he should have put this demand before the commencement of the battle, and when it became known to him that the decision had been secured by `Amr ibn al-`Á# by deceiving Abú Músá al-Ash`arí, and that it did not have even a remote connection with the Qur'án, he should not have accepted it and should have punished `Amr ibn al-`Á# for this cunning, or at least should have warned and rebuked him. But on the contrary, his performance was much appreciated and in reward he was made the Governor of Egypt."
In contrast to this Amír al-mu'minín's conduct was a high specimen of religious law and ethics. He kept in view the requirements of truth and righteousness even in adverse circumstances and did not allow his chaste life to be tarnished by the views of deceit and contrivance. If he wished he could face cunning by cunning, and Mu`áwiyah's shameful activities could have been answered by similar activities. For example, when he put a guard on the Euphrates and stopped the supply of its water (to Amír al-mu'minín's men), then the supply of water could have been cut from them also on the grounds that since they had occupied the Euphrates it was lawful to retaliate, and in this way they could be overpowered by weakening their fighting power. But Amír al-mu'minín could never tarnish his hands with such an inhuman act which was not permitted by any law or code of ethics, although common people regard such acts against the enemy as lawful and call this duplicity of character for achievement of success, a stroke of policy and administrative ability. But Amír al-mu'minín could never think of strengthening his power by fraud or duplicity of behaviour on any occasion. Thus when people advised him to retain the officers of the days of `Uthmán in their position and to befriend ^al<ah and az-Zubayr by assigning them governorship of Kúfah and Ba#rah, and make use of Mu`áwiyah's ability in administration by giving him the government of Syria, Amír al-mu'minín rejected the advice and preferred the commandments of religious law over worldly expediency, and openly declared about Mu`áwiyah as follows:
If I allow Mu`áwiyah to retain what he already has I would be one "who taketh those who lead (people) astray, as helpers" (Qur'án, 18:51). Those who look at apparent successes do not care to find out by what means the success has been achieved. They support anyone whom they see succeeding by means of cunning ways and deceitful means and begin to regard him an administrator, intelligent, a politician, intellectually brilliant and so on, while he who does not deploy cunning and fraudulent methods owing to his adherence to Islamic commandments and divine instructions and prefers failure to success secured through wrong methods is regarded as ignorant of politics and weak in foresight. They do not feel it necessary to think what difficulties and impediments exist in the way of a person who adheres to principles and laws which prevent him from proceeding forward even after approaching near success."
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SERMON 200
One should not be afraid of the scarcity of those who tread on the right path
O' people, do not wonder at the small number of those who follow the right path, because people throng only round the table (of this world) whose edibles are few but whose hunger is insatiable.
O' people, certainly, what gathers people together (in categories) is (their) agreement (to good or bad) and (their) disagreement, for only one individual killed the camel of Thamúd (1) but Alláh held all of them in punishment because all of them joined him by their acquiescing in their consenting to it. Thus, Alláh, the Glorified. has said:
Then they hamstrung her, and turned (themselves) regretful. (Qur'án, 26:157).
Then their land declined by sinking (into the earth) as the spike of a plough pierces unploughed weak land. O' people, he who treads the clear path (of guidance) reaches the spring of water, and whoever abandons it strays into waterless desert.
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(1). Thamúd, in ancient Arabia, a tribe or group of tribes, seems to have been prominent from about the 4th Century B.C. to the first half of the 7th Century A.D. Their place of stay and homeland was at a place lying on the way between the \ijáz and Syria called the Valley of al-Qurá and bore this name because it consisted of several townships. Alláh deputed for their guidance and directions the Prophet @áli< who preached to them as Alláh relates in his story:
And unto (the people of) Thamúd (We did send) their brother @áli<, he said: "O' my people! worship ye Alláh (alone). Ye have no god other than Him; indeed came unto you a clear proof from your Lord; this is the She-camel of Alláh (which) unto you is a sign, so leave it (free) to pasture in Alláh's earth and touch her not with any harm, or ye shall be seized with a painful chastisement. And remember when He made you successors after the (people) `Ád and settled you in the earth, ye build mansions on its plain and hew the mountains into dwellings. So remember ye the bounties of Alláh, and see ye not evil in the earth, making mischief." Said the chiefs of those who were puffed up with pride among his people to those who were reckoned weak, to those who believed from among them; "Know ye that @áli< is sent by his Lord?" Said they: "Verily, in what he hath been sent with, we are believers." Said those who were puffed up with pride; "Verily we, in that which ye believe are disbelievers." They hamstrung the She-camel and rebelled against the command of their Lord, and they said: "O' @áli<! bring us what thou didst, threaten us with, if thou art of the apostles." Then seized them (unawares) the earthquake, so became they in their dwellings, motionless (dead). Then he turned away from them and said: "O' my people! Indeed I did deliver unto you the message of my Lord, and did admonish you, but ye love not the admonishers." (Qur'án, 7:73-79).
(The people of) Thamúd belied the warners, and said they: "What! a single man, from among us! and we to follow him? Verily then we shall be astray and in distress. It is that (the duty of) reminding hath been bestowed on him (alone), of all the (people) among us? Nay! he is a great liar, an insolent one!" "Soon they shall know on the morrow, (as to) who is the liar, the insolent one! (O' Our Apostle @áli<!) verily We are going to send the She-camel as a trial for them; so watch them and be patient. And (thou O' @áli<!) make them aware (beforehand) that the water is (to be) divided between them; and every drinking share shall be witnessed (on it)." But they called their companions, then he pursued (her) and hamstrung (her). How (great) was My chastisement and My warning? Verily sent We upon them a single (violent) blast, and they were (all) like the dry stubble used by a fencer in a fence. (Qur'án, 54:23-31).
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