What Amír al-mu'minín said on the occasion of the burial of
Sayyidatu'n-nisá' (Supreme lady) Fá>imah (p.b.u.h.) while
addressing the Holy Prophet at his grave.
O' Prophet of Alláh, peace be upon you from me and from your daughter who has come to you and who has hastened to meet you. O' Prophet of Alláh, my patience about your chosen (daughter) has been exhausted, and my power of endurance has weakened, except that I have ground for consolation in having endured the great hardship and heart-rending event of your separation. I laid you down in your grave when your last breath had passed (when your head was) between my neck and chest.
... Verily we are Alláh's and verily unto Him shall we return. (Qur'án 2:156)
Now. the trust has been returned and what had been given has been taken back. As to my grief, it knows no bounds, and as to my nights. they will remain sleepless till Alláh chooses for me the house in which you are now residing.
Certainly, your daughter would apprise you of the joining together of your (1) ummah (people) for oppressing her. You ask her in detail and get all the news about the position. This has happened when a long time had not elapsed and your remembrance had not disappeared. My salám (salutation) be on you both, the salám of a grief stricken not a disgusted or hateful person; for if I go away it is not because I am weary (of you), and if I stay it is not due to lack of belief in what Alláh has promised the endurers.
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(1). The treatment meted out to the daughter of the Prophet after his death
was extremely painful and sad. Although Sayyidatu'n-nisá' Fá>imah
(p.b.u.h.) did not live in this world more than a few months after the death
of the Prophet yet even this short period has a long tale of grief and woe
(about her). In this connection, the first scene that strikes the eyes is
that arrangements for the funeral rites of the Prophet had not yet been made
when the contest for power started in the Saqífah of Banú Sa`ídah.
Naturally, their leaving the body of the Prophet (without burial) must have
injured Sayyidatu'n-nisá' Fá>imah's grief-stricken heart
when she saw that those who had claimed love and attachment (with the Prophet)
during his life became so engrossed in their machinations for power that instead
of consoling his only daughter they did not even know when the Prophet was
given a funeral ablution and when he was buried, and the way they condoled
her was that they crowded at her house with material to set fire to it and
tried to secure allegiance by force with all the display of oppression, compulsion
and violence. All these excesses were with a view to so obliterate the prestigious
position of this house that it might not regain its lost prestige on any occasion.
With this aim in view, in order to crush her economic position, her claim
for (the estate of) Fadak was turned down by dubbing it as false, the effect
of which was that Sayyidatu'n-nisá' Fá>imah (p.b.u.h.) made
the dying will that none of them should attend her funeral.
*****
SERMON 202
Transience of this world, and importance of
collecting provisions for the next life.
O' people, certainly this world is a passage while the next world is a place of permanent abode. So, take from the passage (all that you can) for the permanent abode. Do not tear away your curtain before Him Who is aware of your secrets. Take away from this world your hearts before your bodies go out of it, because herein you have been put on trial, and you have been created for the other world. When a man dies people ask what (property) he has left while the angels ask what (good actions) he has sent forward. May Alláh bless you; send forward something, it will be a loan for you, and do not leave everything behind, for that would be a burden on you.
*****
SERMON 203
What Amír al-mu'minín said generally to his
companions
warning them about the dangers of the Day of Judgement.
May Alláh have mercy on you! Provide yourselves for the journey because the call for departure has been announced. Regard your stay in the world as very short, and return (to Alláh) with the best provision that is with you, because surely, in front of you lies a valley, difficult to climb, and places of stay full of fear and dangers. You have to reach there and stay in them. And know that the eyes of death are approaching towards you. It is as though you are (already) in its talons and it has struck itself against you. Difficult affairs and distressing dangers have crushed you into it. You should therefore cut away all the attachments of this world and assist yourselves with the provision of Alláh's fear.
as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í says: A part of this saying has been quoted before through another narration.
SERMON 204
After swearing allegiance to Amír al-mu'minín,
^al<ah and
az-Zubayr complained to him that he had not consulted them
or sought their assistance in the affairs (of state).
Amír al-mu'minín replied:11:15 AM
Both of you frown over a small matter and leave aside big ones. Can you tell me of anything wherein you have a right of which I have deprived you or a share which was due to you and which I have held away from you, or any Muslim who has laid any claim before me and I have been unable to decide it or been ignorant of it, or committed a mistake about it?
By Alláh, I had no liking for the caliphate nor any interest in government, but you yourselves invited me to it and prepared me for it. When the caliphate came to me, I kept the Book of Alláh in my view and all that Alláh had put therein for us, and all that according to which He has commanded us to take decisions; and I followed it, and also acted on whatever the Prophet - may Alláh bless him and his descendants - had laid down as his sunnah. In this matter I did not need your advice or the advice of anyone else, nor has there been any order of which I was ignorant so that I ought to have consulted you or my Muslim brethren. If it were so I would not have turned away from you or from others.
As regards your reference to the question of equality (in distribution of shares from the Muslim common fund), this is a matter in which I have not taken a decision by my own opinion, nor have I done it by my caprice. But I found, and you too (must have) found, that whatever the Prophet - may Alláh bless him and his descendants - brought had been finalised. Therefore, I felt no need to turn towards you about a share which had been determined by Alláh and in which His verdict has been passed. By Alláh, in this matter, therefore, you two or anyone else can have no favour from me. May Alláh keep our hearts and your hearts in righteousness, and may He grant us and you endurance.
Then Amír al-mu'minín added: May Alláh have mercy on the person who, when he sees the truth, supports it, when he sees the wrong, rejects it, and who helps the truth against him who is on the wrong.
SERMON 205
During the battle of @iffín Amír al-mu'minín heard
some of his men abusing the Syrians, then he said:
I dislike you starting to abuse them, but if you describe their deeds and recount their situations that would be a better mode of speaking and a more convincing way of arguing. Instead of abusing them you should say, "O' Alláh! save our blood and their blood, produce reconciliation between us and them, and lead them out of their misguidance so that he who is ignorant of the truth may know it, and he who inclines towards rebellion and revolt may turn away from it."
SERMON 206
In the battle of @iffín Amír al-mu'minín
saw Imám al-\asan
proceeding rapidly to fight, then he said:
Hold back this young man on my behalf, lest he causes my ruin, because I am loath to send these two (meaning al-\asan and al-\usayn) towards death, lest the descending line of the Prophet - may Alláh bless him and his descendants - is cut away by their death.
as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í says: Amír al-mu'minín's words "amlikú `anní hádha'l- ghulám" (i.e. "Hold back this young man on my behalf") represents the highest and the most eloquent form of expression.
*****
SERMON 207
When Amír al-mu'minín's companions expressed
displeasure
about his attitude concerning Arbitration, (1) he said:
O' people, matters between me and you went as I wished till war exhausted you. By Alláh, it has overtaken some of you and left others, and has completely weakened your enemy. Till yesterday I was giving orders but today I am being given orders, and till yesterday I was dissuading people (from wrong acts) but today I am being dissuaded. You have now shown liking to live in this world, and it is not for me to bring you to what you dislike.
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(1). When the surviving forces of the Syrians lost ground
and were ready to run away from the field Mu`áwiyah changed the whole
phase of the battle by using the Qur'án as his instrument of strategy,
and succeeded in creating such a division among the Iraqis that, despite Amír
al-mu'minín's efforts at counselling, they were not prepared to take
any forward step, but insisted on stopping the war, whereupon Amír
al-mu'minín too had to agree to arbitration. Among these people some
had actually been duped and believed that they were being asked to abide by
the Qur'án but there were others who had become weary of the long period
of war and had lost courage. Then people got a good opportunity to stop the
war, and so they cried hoarse for its postponement. There were others who
had accompanied Amír al-mu'minín because of his temporal authority
but did not support him by heart, nor did they aim at victory for him. There
were some people who had expectations with Mu`áwiyah, and had started
attaching hopes to him for this, while there were some who were, from the
very beginning, in league with him. In these circumstances and with this type
of the army it was really due to Amír al-mu'minín's political
ability and competence of military control and administration that he carried
the war up to this stage, and if Mu`áwiyah had not adopted this trick
there could have been no doubt in Amír al-mu'minín's victory
because the military power of the Syrian forces had been exhausted and defeat
was hovering over its head. In this connection, Ibn Abi'l-\adíd writes:
Málik al-Ashtar had reached Mu`áwiyah and grabbed him by the
neck. The entire might of the Syrians had been smashed. Only so much movement
was discernible in them as remains in the tail of a lizard which is killed,
but the tail continues hopping right and left. (Shar< Nahj al-balághah,
vol. 11, pp.30-31)
*****
SERMON 208
Amír al-mu'minín went to enquire about the health
of his
companion al-`Alá' ibn Ziyád al-\árithí and when
he noticed the
vastness of his house he said:
What will you do with this vast house in this world, although you need this
house more in the next world. If you want to take it to the next world you
could entertain in it guests and be regardful of kinship and discharge all
(your) obligations according to their accrual. In this way you will be able
to take it to the next world.
Then al-`Alá' said to him: O' Amír al-mu'minín, I want to complain to you about my brother `Á#im ibn Ziyád.
Amír al-mu'minín enquired: What is the matter with him?
al-`Alá' said: He has put on a woollen coat and cut himself away from the world.
Amír al-mu'minín said: Present him to me.
When he came Amír al-mu'minín said: O' enemy of yourself. Certainly, the evil (Satan) has misguided you. Do you feel no pity for your wife and your children? Do you believe that if you use those things which Alláh has made lawful for you, He will dislike you? You are too unimportant for Alláh to do so.
He said: O' Amír al-mu'minín, you also put on coarse dress and eat rough food.
Then he replied: Woe be to you, I am not like you. Certainly, Alláh, the Sublime, has made it obligatory on true leaders that they should maintain themselves at the level of low people so that the poor do not cry over their poverty. (1)
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(1). From ancient days asceticism and the abandonment of worldly attachments has been regarded as a means of purification of the spirit and important for the character. Consequently, those who wished to lead a life of abstemiousness and meditation used to go out of the cities and towns to stay in forests and caves in the mountains and stay there concentrating on Alláh according to their own conception. They would eat only if a casual traveller or the inhabitant of nearby dwellings gave them anything to eat, otherwise they remained contented with the fruits of wild trees and the water of the streams, and thus they passed their life. This way of worship commenced in a way that was forced by the oppression and hardships of rulers. Certain people left their houses and, in order to avoid their grip, hid themselves in some wilderness or cave in a mountain, engaging themselves in worship of and devotion to Alláh. Later on, this forced asceticism acquired a voluntary form and people began to retire to caves and hollows of their own volition. Thus it became an accepted way that whoever aimed at spiritual development retired to some corner after severing himself from all worldly ties. This method remained in vogue for centuries and even now some traces of this way of worship are found among the Buddhists and the Christians.
The moderate views of Islam do not, however, accord with the monastic life, because for attaining spiritual development it does not advocate the abandonment of worldly enjoyments and successes, nor does it view with approbation that a Muslim should leave his house and fellow men and busy himself in formal worship, hiding in some corner. The conception of worship in Islam is not confined to a few particular rites, but it regards the earning of one's livelihood through lawful means, mutual sympathy and good behaviour, and co-operation and assistance also to be important constituents of worship. If an individual ignores worldly rights and obligations and does not fulfil his responsibility towards his wife and children, nor occupies himself in efforts to earn a livelihood, but all the time stays in meditation, he ruins his life and does not fulfil the purpose of living. If this were Alláh's aim, what would have the need for creating and populating the world when there was already a category of creatures who were all the time engaged in worshipping and adoration.
Nature has made man to stand on the cross-roads at which the midway is the centre of guidance. If he deviates from this point of moderateness even a bit, this way or that way, there is shear misguidance for him. That midway is that he should neither bend towards this world to such an extent as to ignore the next life, devoting himself entirely to this one, nor should he abstain from this world so as not to have any connection with anything of it, confining himself to some corner leaving everything else. Since Alláh has created man in this world he should follow the code of life for living in this world, and should partake of the comforts and pleasures bestowed by Alláh within moderate limits. The eating and using of things made lawful by Alláh is not against Alláh's worship, but rather Alláh has created these things for the very purpose that they should be taken advantage of. That is why those who were the chosen of Alláh lived in this world with others and ate and drank like others. They did not feel the need to turn their faces away from the people of the world, and to adopt the wilderness or the caves of mountains as their abodes, or to live in distant spots. On the other hand they remembered Alláh, remained disentangled from worldly affairs, and did not forget death despite the pleasures and comforts of life.
The life of asceticism sometimes produces such evils as ruin the next life also as well as this one, and such an individual proves to be the true picture of "the looser in this life as well as the next." When natural impulses are not satisfied in the lawful and legal way the mind turns into a centre of evil-ideas and becomes incapable of performing worship with peace and concentration; and sometimes passions so overcome the ascetic that breaking all moral fetters, he devotes himself completely to their satisfaction and consequently falls in an abyss of ruin for which it is impossible to extract himself. That is why religious law accords a greater position to the worship performed by a family man than that by a non-family man, because the former can exercise mental peace and concentration in the worship and rituals.
Individuals who put on the cloak of Sufism and make a loud show of their spiritual greatness are cut off from the path of Islam and are ignorant of its wide teachings. They have been misled by Satan and, relying on their self-formed conceptions, tread wrongful paths. Eventually their misguidance becomes so serious that they begin to regard their leaders as having attained such a level that their word is as the word of Alláh and their act is as the act of Alláh. Sometimes they regard themselves beyond all the bounds and limitations of religious law and consider every evil act to be lawful for them. This deviation from faith and irreligiousness is named Sufism (complete devotion to Alláh). Its unlawful principles are called "a>->aríqah" (ways of achieving communion with Alláh) and the followers of this cult are known as Sufis. First of all Abú Háshim al-Kúfí and Shámí adopted this nickname. He was of Umayyad descent and a fatalist (believing that man is bound to act as pre-ordained by Alláh). The reason for giving him this name was that, in order to make a show of his asceticism and fear for Alláh, he put on a woollen cloak. Later on this nickname became common and various grounds were put forth as the basis of this name. For example, one ground is that 'Sufi' has three letters, "#ád", "wáw" and "fá'". "#ád" stands for "#abr" (endurance), "#idq" (truthfulness) and "#afá" (purity of heart); "wáw" stands for "wudd" (love), "wird" (repeating Alláh's name) and "wafá'" (faithfulness to Alláh), and "fá'" stands for "fard" (unity), "faqr" (destitution) and "fana'" (death or absorption in Alláh's Self). The second view is that it has been derived from "a#-@uffah", which was a platform near the Prophet's mosque which had a covering of date-palm leaves. Those who stayed there were called A#<ábu'@uffah (people of the platform). The third view is that the name of the progenitor of an Arab tribe was @úfah, and this tribe performed the duties of serving the pilgrims and the Ka`bah, and it is with reference to their connection with this tribe that these people were called Sufis. This group is divided among various sects but the basic sects are seven only.
1) al-Wa<datiyyah (unitarian): This sect believes in the oneness of all existence. Its belief is that everything of this world is Alláh, so much so that they assign to even polluted things the same godly position. They liken Alláh with the river and the waves rising in it, and argue that the waves which sometimes rise and sometimes fall have no separate existence other than the river, but their existence is exactly the existence of the river. Therefore, nothing can be separated from its own existence.
2) al-Itti<ádiyyah (the unitists): They believe that they have united with Alláh and Alláh has united with them. They liken Alláh with fire and themselves with iron that lies in the fire and acquires its form and property.
3) al-\ulúliyyah (the formists): Their belief is that Alláh takes the form of those who claim to know Him and the perfect ones, and their bodies are places of His stay. In this way, they are seemingly men but really Alláh.
4) al-Wá#iliyyah (the combiners): This sect considers itself to have combined with Alláh. Their belief is that the laws of the sharí`ah are a means of development of human personality and character, and that when the human self combines with Alláh it no more needs perfection or development. Consequently, for the "wá#ilín", worship and ritual become useless, because they hold that when truth and reality is achieved sharí`ah remains of no avail. Therefore, they can do anything and they cannot be questioned.
5) az-Zarráqiyyah (the revellers): This sect regards vocal and instrumental music as worship, and earns the pleasures of this world through a show of asceticism and begging from door to door. They are ever engaged in relating concocted stories of miraculous performances of their leaders to over-awe the common people.
6) al-`Ushsháqiyyah (the lovers): The theory of this sect is that apparency is the means to reality, meaning that carnal love is the means to achieve love of Alláh. That is, in order to reach the stage of Alláh's love it is necessary to have love with some human beauty. But the love which they regard as love for Alláh is just the product of mental disorder through which the lover inclines to one individual with all his attention and his final aim is to have access to the beloved. This love can lead to the way of evil and vice, but it has no connection with the love of Alláh.
A Persian couplet says:
The truth of the fact is that carnal love is like a jinn and a jinn cannot give you guidance.
7) at-Talqíniyyah (the encounterers): According to this sect, the reading of religious sciences and books of scholarship is thoroughly unlawful. Rather, the position that is achieved by an hour of spiritual effort of the Sufis cannot be achieved by seventy years of reading books.
According to Shí`ah `Ulamá' all these sects are on the wrong path and out of the fold of Islam. In this connection, numerous sayings of the Imáms are related. In this sermon also Amír al-mu'minín has regarded the severance of `Á#im ibn Ziyád from this world as the mischief of Satan, and he forcefully dissuaded him from adopting that course. (For further study, see Shar< Nahj al-balághah, al-\ajj Mirzá \abibu'lláh al-Khú'í, vol. 13, pp. 132-417; vol. 14, pp. 2-22).
*****
SERMON 209
Someone (1) asked Amír al-mu'minín about concocted
traditions
and contradictory sayings of the Prophet current among the
people, whereupon he said:
Certainly what is current among the people is both right and wrong, true and false, repealing and repealed, general and particular, definite and indefinite, exact and surmised. Even during the Prophet's days false sayings had been attributed to him, so much so that he had to say during his sermon that, "Whoever attributes falsehoods to me makes his abode in Hell." Those who relate traditions are of four categories, (2) no more.
First: The lying hypocrites
The hypocrite is a person who makes a show of faith and adopts the appearance of a Muslim; he does not hesitate in sinning nor does he keep aloof from vice; he wilfully attributes false things against the Messenger of Alláh - may Alláh bless him and his descendants. If people knew that he was a hypocrite and a liar, they would not accept anything from him and would not confirm what he says.
Rather they say that he is the companion of the Prophet, has met him, heard (his sayings) from him and acquired (knowledge) from him. They therefore accept what he says. Alláh too had warned you well about the hypocrites and described them fully to you. They have continued after the Holy Prophet. They gained positions with the leaders of misguidance and callers towards Hell through falsehoods and slanderings. So, they put them in high posts and made them officers over the heads of the people, and amassed wealth through them. People are always with the rulers and after this world, except those to whom Alláh affords protection. This is the first of the four categories.
Second: Those who are mistaken
Then there is the individual who heard (a saying) from the Holy Prophet but did not memorise it as it was, but surmised it. He does not lie wilfully. Now, he carries the saying with him and relates it, acts upon it and claims that: "I heard it from the Messenger of Alláh." If the Muslims come to know that he has committed a mistake in it, they will not accept it from him, and if he himself knows that he is on the wrong he will give it up.
Third: Those who are ignorant
The third man is he who heard the Prophet ordering to do a thing and later the Prophet refrained the people from doing it, but this man did not know it, or he heard the Prophet refraining people from a thing and later he allowed it, but this man did not know it. In this way he retained in his mind what had been repealed, and did not retain the repealing tradition. If he knew that it had been repealed he would reject it, or if the Muslims knew, when they heard it from him, that it had been repealed they would reject it.
Fourth: Those who memorise truthfully
The last, namely the fourth man, is he who does not speak a lie against Alláh or against His Prophet. He hates falsehood out of fear for Alláh and respect for the Messenger of Alláh, and does not commit mistakes, but retains (in his mind) exactly what he heard (from the Prophet), and he relates it as he heard it without adding anything or omitting anything. He heard the repealing tradition, he retained it and acted upon it, and he heard the repealed tradition and rejected it. He also understands the particular and the general, and he knows the definite and indefinite, and gives everything its due position.
The sayings of the Prophet used to be of two types. One was particular and the other common. Sometimes a man would hear him but he would not know what Alláh, the Glorified, meant by it or what the Messenger of Alláh meant by it. In this way the listener carries it and memorises it without knowing its meaning and its real intention, or what was its reason. Among the companions of the Messenger of Alláh all were not in the habit of putting him questions and ask him the meanings, indeed they always wished that some Bedouin or stranger might come and ask him (peace be upon him) so that they would also listen. Whenever any such thing came before me, I asked him about its meaning and preserved it. These are the reasons and grounds of differences among the people in their traditions.
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(1). This was Sulaym ibn Qays al-Hilálí who was one of the relaters of traditions through Amír al-mu'minín.
(2). In this sermon Amír al-mu'minín has divided the traditionists into four categories.
The first category is that of a man concocts a tradition and attributes it to the Prophet. Traditions were in fact falsified and attributed to him, and this process continued, with the result that numerous novel traditions came into being. This is a fact which cannot be denied but if anyone does deny it his basis would be not knowledge or sagacity by oratory or argumentative necessity. Thus, once, `Alamu'l-hudá (Ensign of Guidance) as-Sayyid al-Murta_á had a chance of meeting the Sunni `ulamá' (scholars) in confrontation and on this occasion as-Sayyid al-Murta_á proved by historical facts that the traditions related about the merits of the great companions are concocted and counterfeit. On this, the (Sunni) `ulamá' argued that it was impossible that someone should dare speak a lie against the Prophet and prepare a tradition himself and attribute it to him. as-Sayyid al-Murta_á said there is a tradition of the Prophet that:
A lot of false things will be attributed to me after my death and whoever speaks a lie against me would be preparing his abode in Hell. (al-Bukhárí, vol.1, p.38; vol.2, p.102; vol.4, p.207; vol.8, p.54; Muslim, vol.8, p.229; Abú Dáwúd, vol.3, pp.319-320; at-Tirmidhí, vol.4, p.524; vol.5, pp.35-36, 40, 199, 634; Ibn Májah, vol.1, pp.13-15)
If you regard this tradition as true then you should agree that false things have been attributed to the Prophet, but if you regard it false, this would prove our point. However, these were people whose hearts were full of hypocrisy and who used to prepare traditions of their own accord in order to create mischief and dispersion in religion and to misguide Muslims of weak convictions. They remained mixed with them as they used to do during the lifetime of the Prophet; and just as they remained busy in activities of mischief and destruction in those days, in the same way, even after the Prophet, they were not unmindful of deforming the teachings of Islam and metamorphosing its features. Rather, in the days of the Prophet they were always afraid lest he unveiled them and put them to shame, but after the Prophet their hypocritical activities increased and they attributed false things to the Prophet without demur for their own personal ends, and those who heard them believed in them because of their status as companions of the Prophet, thinking that whatever they said was correct and whatever they gave out was true. Afterwards also, the belief that all the companions are correct put a stopper on their tongues, as a result of which they were taken to be above criticism, questioning, discussion and censure. Besides, their conspicuous performance had made them prominent in the eyes of the government, and also because of this it needed courage and daring to speak against them. This is proved by Amír al-mu'minín's words:
These people gained positions with the leaders of misguidance and callers towards Hell, through falsehood and slanderings. So, they put them in high posts and made them officers over the heads of the people.
Along with the destruction of Islam, the hypocrites also aimed at amassing wealth, and they were doing so freely by claiming to be Muslims, because of which they did not want to remove the veil of Islam (from their faces) and to come out openly, but they wanted to continue their Satanic activities under the garb of Islam and engaged themselves in its basic destruction and spreading of division and dispersal by concocting traditions. In this connection, Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has written:
When they were left free they too left many things. When people observed silence about them they also observed silence about Islam, but they continued their underground activities such as the fabrication of falsehoods to which Amír al-mu'minín has alluded, because a lot of untrue matters had been mixed with the traditions by the group of people of wrong beliefs, while some of them also aimed at extolling some particular party with whom they had other worldly aims as well.
On the expiry of this period, when Mu`áwiyah took
over the leadership of religion and occupied the throne of temporal authority,
he opened an official department for the fabrication of false traditions,
and ordered his officers to fabricate and popularise traditions in disparagement
of the Ahlu'l-bayt (the Household of the Holy Prophet) and in extolment of
`Uthmán and the Umayyads, and announced rewards and grants of land
for this work. Consequently, a lot of traditions about self-made distinctions
gained entry in the books of traditions. Thus, Abu'l-\asan al-Madá'iní
has
written in his book Kitáb al-a<dáth and Ibn Abi'l-\adíd
has quoted it, namely:
Mu`áwiyah wrote to his officers that they should take special care of those who were adherents of `Uthmán, his well-wishers and lovers and to award high positions, precedence and honour to those who related traditions about his merits and distinctions, and to convey to him whatever is so related by any person, along with his name, the name of his father and the name of his tribe. They did accordingly and heaped up traditions about the merits and distinctions of `Uthmán because Mu`áwiyah used to award them rewards, clothes, grants and lands.
When the fabricated traditions about the merits of `Uthmán had been spread throughout the realm, with the idea that the position of the earlier Caliphs should not remain low, Mu`áwiyah wrote to his officers:
As soon as you receive this order of mine you should call upon the people to prepare traditions about the distinctions of the companions and other caliphs also, and take care that if any Muslim relates any tradition about Abú Turáb (`Alí) you should prepare a similar tradition about the companions to contradict it because this gives me great pleasure and cools my eyes, and it weakens the position of Abu Turáb and his partymen. and is more severe to them than the merits and distinctions of `Uthmán.
When his letters were read to the people, a large number of such traditions were related extolling the companions that are all fabricated with no truth at all. (Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 11, pp. 43-47)
In this connection Abú `Abdilláh Ibráhím ibn Mu<ammad ibn `Arafah known as Nif>awayh (244/858-323/935) who was one of the prominent scholars and traditionists has written, and Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has quoted him, that:
Most of the false traditions about the merits of the companions were fabricated during the days of Mu`áwiyah in order to gain position in his audience because his view was that in this way he could disgrace Banú Háshim and render them low. (ibid.)
After that, fabrication of traditions became a habit, the world seekers made it a means of securing position with kings and nobles and to amass wealth. For example, Ghiyáth ibn Ibráhím an-Nakha`í (2nd cent. A.H.) fabricated a tradition about the flight of pigeons, in order to please al-Mahdí ibn al-Man#úr (the `Abbásid Caliph) and to secure position near him. (Táríkh Baghdád, vol.12, pp.323-327; Mízán al-i`tidál, vol.3) pp.337-338; Lisán al-mízán, vol.4, p.422). Abu Sa`íd al-Madá'iní and others made it a means of livelihood. The limit was reached when the al-Karrámiyyah and some of the al-Muta#awwifah gave the ruling that the fabrication of traditions for the prevention of sin or for persuasion towards obedience was lawful. Consequently, in connection with persuading and dissuading, traditions were fabricated quite freely, and this was not regarded against the religious law or morality. Rather, this work was generally done by those who bore the appearance of asceticism or fear of Alláh and who passed their nights in praying and days in filling their registers with false traditions. An idea about the number of these fabricated traditions can be had from the fact that out of six hundred thousand traditions al-Bukhárí selected only two thousand seven hundred and sixty-one traditions, (Táríkh Baghdád, vol.2, p.8; al-Irshád as-sárí, vol.1, p.28; @ifatu'#-#afwah, vol.4, p.143). Muslim thought fit for selection only four thousand out of three hundred thousand (Táríkh Baghdád, vol.13, p.101; al-Munta~am, vol.5, p.32; ^abaqát al-<uffá~, vol.2, pp.151,157; Wafayát al-a`yán, vol.5, p.194). Abú Dáwúd took four thousand and eight hundred out of five hundred thousand (Táríkh Baghdád, vol.9, p.57; ^abaqát al-<uffá~, vol.2, p.154; al-Munta~am, vol.5, p.97; Wafayát al-a`yán, vol.2, p.404), and A<mad ibn \anbal took thirty thousand out of nearly on million traditions (Táríkh Baghdád, vol.4, p.419-420; ^abaqát al-<uffá~, vol.2, p.17; Wafayát al-a`yán, vol.1, p.64; Tahdhíb at-tahdhíb, vol.1, p. 74). But when this selection is studied some traditions which come across can, in no circumstances, be attributed to the Prophet. The result is that a group of considerable number has cropped up among Muslims who, in view of these (so-called) authoritative collections and true traditions, completely reject the evidentiary value of the traditions, (For further reference see al-Ghadír, vol.5, pp. 208-378).
The second category of relaters of traditions are those who, without appreciating the occasion or context, related whatever they could recollect, right or wrong. Thus, in al-Bukhárí (vol.2, pp.100-102; vol.5, p.98); Muslim (vol.3, pp. 41-45); at-Tirmidhí (vol.3, pp. 327-329); an-Nasá'í (vol.4, p.18); Ibn Májah (vol.1, pp.508-509); Málik ibn Anas (al-Muwa>>a' vol.1, p.234); ash-Sháfi`í (Ikhtiláf'l-<adíth, on the side lines of "al-Umm", vol.7, p.266); Abú Dáwúd (vol.3, p.194); A<mad ibn \anbal (vol.1, pp.41,42) and al-Bayhaqí (vol.4, pp.72-74) in the chapter entitled 'weeping over the dead' it is stated that when Caliph `Umar was wounded @uhayb came weeping to him, then `Umar said:
O' @uhayb, you weep over me, while the Prophet had said that the dead person is punished if his people weep over him.
When after the death of Caliph `Umar this was mentioned to `Á'ishah, she said: "May Alláh have mercy on `Umar. The Messenger of Alláh did not say that weeping of relations causes punishment on the dead. but he said that the punishment of an unbeliever increases if his people weep over him." After this `Á'ishah said that according to the Holy Qur'án no person has to bear the burden of another, so how could the burden of those who weep be put on the dead. After this the following verse was quoted by `Á'ishah:
. . . And no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; . . . (Qur'án, 6:164; 17:15; 35:18; 39:7; 53:38).
The wife of the Holy Prophet `Á'ishah relates that once the Prophet passed by a Jewish woman over whom her people were weeping. The Prophet then remarked, "Her people are weeping over her but she is undergoing punishment in the grave."
The third category of the relaters of traditions is of those who heard some repealed traditions from the Prophet but could not get any chance to hear the repealing traditions which he could relate to others. An example of a repealing tradition is the saying of the Prophet which also contains a reference to the repealed tradition, namely: "I had disallowed you to visit graves, but now you can visit them." (Muslim, vol.3, p.65; at-Tirmidhí, vol.3, p.370; Abú Dáwúd, vol.3, pp. 218, 332; an-Nasá'í, vol.4, p. 89; Ibn Májah, vol.1, pp. 500-501; Málik ibn Anas, vol.2, p. 485; A<mad ibn \anbal, vol.1, pp.145, 452; vol.3, pp.38, 63, 66, 237, 350; vol.5, pp. 350, 355, 356, 357, 359, 361; al-\ákim, al-Mustadrak, vol.1, pp. 374-376; and al-Bayhaqí, vol.4, pp. 76-77). Herein the permission to visit graves has repealed the previous restriction on it. Now, those who heard only the repealed tradition continued acting according to it.
The fourth category of relaters of traditions is of those who were fully aware of the principles of justice, possessed intelligence and sagacity, knew the occasion when a tradition was first uttered (by the Prophet) and were also acquainted with the repealing and the repealed traditions, the particular and the general, and the timely and the absolute. They avoided falsehood and fabrication. Whatever they heard remained preserved in their memory, and they conveyed it with exactness to others. It is they whose traditions are the precious possession of Islam, free from fraud and counterfeit and worthy of being trusted and acted upon. That collection of traditions which has been conveyed through trustworthy bosoms like that of Amír al-mu'minín and has remained free from cutting, curtailing, alteration or change particularly present Islam in its true form. The position of Amír al-mu'minín in Islamic knowledge has been most certainly proved through the following traditions narrated from the Holy Prophet such as:
Amír al-mu'minín, Jábir ibn `Abdulláh, Ibn `Abbás and `Abdulláh ibn `Umar have narrated from the Holy Prophet that he said:
I am the city of knowledge and `Alí is its door. He who wants to acquire (my) knowledge should come through its door. (al-Mustadrak, vol.3, pp. 126-127; al-Isti`áb, vol.3, p.1102; Usd al-ghábah, vol.4, p.22; Táríkh Baghdád, vol.2, p.377; vol.4, p.348; vol.7, p.172; vol.11, pp. 48-50; Tadhkirah al-<uffá~; vol.4, p.28; Majmá` az-zawá'id, vol.9, p.114; Tahdhíb at-tahdhíb, vol.6, p.320; vol.7, p.337; Lisán al-mízán, vol.2, pp.122-123; Táríkh al-khulafá', p.170; Kanz al-`ummál, vol.6, pp.152,156,401; `Umdah al-qárí, vol.7, p.631; Shar< al-mawáhib al-ladunniyyah, vol.3, p.143).
Amír al-mu'minín and Ibn `Abbás have also narrated from the Holy Prophet that:
I am the store-house of wisdom and `Alí is its door. He who wants to acquire wisdom should come through its door. (\ilyah al-awliyá', vol.1, p.64; Ma#ábí< as-sunnah, vol.2, p.275; Táríkh Baghdád, vol.11, p.204; Kanz al-`ummál, vol.6, p.401; ar-Riyá_ an-na_irah, vol.2, p.193).
If only people could take the Prophet's blessings through these sources of knowledge. But it is a tragic chapter of history that although traditions are accepted through the Khárijites and enemies of the Prophet's family, whenever the series of relaters includes the name of any individual from among the Prophet's family there is hesitation in accepting the tradition.
*****
SERMON 210
The greatness of Alláh and the creation of the Universe
It is through the strength of Alláh's greatness and His subtle power of innovation that He made solid dry earth out of the water of the fathomless, compact and dashing ocean. Then He made from it layers and separated them into seven skies after they had been joined together. So, they became stationary at His command and stopped at the limit fixed by Him. He so made the earth that it is born by deep blue, surrounded and suspended water which is obedient to His command and has submitted to His awe while its flow has stopped due to fear of Him.
He also created high hills, rocks of stones and lofty mountains. He put them in their positions and made them remain stationary. Their peaks rose into the air while their roots remained in the water. In this way He raised the mountains above the plains and fixed their foundations in the vast expanse wherever they stood. He made their peaks high and made their bodies lofty. He made them like pillars for the earth and fixed them in it like pegs. Consequently, the earth became stationary; otherwise it might bend with its inhabitants or sink inwards with its burden, or shift from its positions.
Therefore, glorified is He who stopped it after the flowing of its waters and solidified it after the watery state of its sides. In this way He made it a cradle for His creatures and spread it for them in the form of a floor over the deep ocean which is stationary and does not move and is fixed and does not flow. Severe winds move it here and there and clouds draw up water from it.
Verily in this there is a lesson unto him who feareth (Alláh) (Qur'án, 79:26)
*****
SERMON 211
About those who give up supporting right
O' my Alláh! whoever listens to our utterance which is just and which seeks the prosperity of religion and the worldly life and does not seek mischief, but rejects it after listening, then he certainly turns away from Thy support and desists from strengthening Thy religion. We make Thee a witness over him and Thou art the greatest of all witnesses, and we make all those who inhabit Thy earth and Thy skies witness over him. Thereafter, Thou alone can make us needless of his support and question him for his sin.
*****
SERMON 212
The Sublimity of Alláh and a eulogy of the Prophet
Praise be to Alláh who is above all similarity to the creatures, is above the words of describers, who displays the wonders of His management for the on-lookers, is hidden from the imagination of thinkers by virtue of the greatness of His glory, has knowledge without acquiring it, adding to it or drawing it (from someone), and Who is the ordainer of all matters without reflecting or thinking. He is such that gloom does not concern Him, nor does He seek light from brightness, night does not overtake Him nor does the day pass over Him (so as to affect Him in any manner). His comprehension (of things) is not through eyes and His knowledge is not dependent on being informed.
A part of the same sermon about the Prophet
Alláh deputised the Prophet with light, and accorded him the highest precedence in selection. Through him Alláh united those who were divided, overpowered the powerful, overcame difficulties and levelled rugged ground, and thus removed misguidance from right and left.
*****
SERMON 213
The Prophet's nobility of descent
I stand witness that He is just and does justice, He is the arbiter Who decides (between right and wrong). I also stand witness that Mu<ammad is His slave. His Messenger and the Chief of His creatures. Whenever Alláh divided the line of descent, He put him in the better one, and therefore, no evil-doer ever shared with him nor was any vicious person his partner.
Beware! surely Alláh, the Glorified, has provided for virtue those who are suited to it, for truth pillars (that support it), and for obedience protection (against deviation). In every matter of obedience you will find Alláh, the Glorified's succour that will speak through tongues and accord firmness to hearts. It has sufficiency for those who seek sufficiency, and a cure for those who seek cure.
The characteristics of the virtuous whose guidance must be followed
Know that, certainly, those creatures of Alláh who preserve His knowledge offer protection to those things which He desires to be protected and make His springs flow (for the benefit of others). They contact each other with friendliness and meet each other with affection. They drink water from cups that quench the thirst and return from the watering places fully satiated. Misgiving does not affect them and backbiting does not gain ground with them. In this way Alláh has tied their nature with good manners. Because of this they love each other and meet each other. They have become superior, like seeds which are selected by taking some and throwing away others. This selection has distinguished them and the process of choosing has purified them.
Therefore, man should secure honour by adopting these qualities. He should fear the day of Doom before it arrives, and he should appreciate the shortness of his life and the shortness of his sojourn in the place of stay which has only to last for his change over to the next place. He should therefore do something for his change over and for the known stages of his departure. Blessed be he who possesses a virtuous heart, who obeys one who guides him, desists from him who takes to ruin, catches the path of safety with the help of him who provides him light (of guidance) and by obeying the leader who commands him, hastens towards guidance before its doors are closed, gets open the door of repentance and removes the (stain of) sins. He has certainly been put on the right path and guided towards the straight road.
*****
SERMON 214
A prayer which Amír al-mu'minín often recited
Praise be to Alláh! Who made me such that I have not died nor am I sick, nor have my veins been infected with disease, nor have I been hauled up for my evil acts, nor am I without progeny, nor have I forsaken my religion, nor do I disbelieve in my Lord, nor do I feel strangeness with my faith, nor is my intelligence affected, nor have I been punished with the punishment of peoples before me. I am a slave in Thy possession, I have been guilty of excesses over myself. Thou hast exhausted Thy pleas over me and I have no plea (before Thee). I have no power to take except what Thou givest me, and I cannot evade except what Thou savest me from.
O' my Alláh! I seek Thy protection from becoming destitute despite Thy riches, from being misguided despite Thy guidance, from being molested in Thy realm and from being humiliated while authority rests with Thee.
O' my Alláh! let my spirit be the first of those good objects that Thou takest from me and the first trust out of Thy favours held in trust with me.
O' my Alláh! we seek Thy protection from turning away from Thy command or revolting against Thy religion, or being led away by our desires instead of by guidance that comes from Thee.
*****
SERMON 215
Delivered at the battle of @iffín
Mutual rights of the ruler and the ruled
So now, Alláh, the Glorified, has, by placing me over your affairs, created my right over you, and you too have a right over me like mine over you. A right is very vast in description but very narrow in equitability of action. It does not accrue to any person unless it accrues against him also, and right does not accrue against a person unless it also accrues in his favour. If there is any right which is only in favour of a person with no (corresponding) right accruing against him it is solely for Alláh, the Glorified, and not for His creatures by virtue of His might over His creatures and by virtue of the justice permeating all His decrees. Of course, He the Glorified, has created His right over creatures that they should worship Him, and has laid upon Himself (the obligation of) their reward equal to several times the recompense as a mark of His bounty and the generosity that He is capable of.
Then, from His rights, He, the Glorified, created certain rights for certain people against others. He made them so as to equate with one another. Some of these rights produce other rights. Some rights are such that they do not accrue except with others. The greatest of these rights that Alláh, the Glorified, has made obligatory is the right of the ruler over the ruled and the right of the ruled over the ruler. This is an obligation which Alláh, the Glorified, has placed on each other. He has made it the basis of their (mutual) affection, and an honour for their religion. Consequently, the ruled cannot prosper unless the rulers are sound, while the rulers cannot be sound unless the ruled are steadfast.
If the ruled fulfil the rights of the ruler and the ruler fulfils their rights, then right attains the position of honour among them, the ways of religion become established, signs of justice become fixed and the sunnah gains currency.
In this way time will improve, the continuance of government will be expected, and the aims of the enemies will be frustrated. But if the ruled gain sway over the ruler, or the ruler oppresses the ruled, then difference crops up in every word, signs of oppression appear, mischief enters religion and the ways of the sunnah are forsaken. Then desires are acted upon, the commands (of religion) are discarded, diseases of the spirit become numerous and there is no hesitation in disregarding even great rights, nor in committing big wrongs. In such circumstances, the virtuous are humiliated while the vicious are honoured, and there are serious chastisements from Alláh, the Glorified, onto the people.
You should therefore counsel each other (for the fulfilment of your obligations) and co-operate with each other. However extremely eager a person may be to secure the pleasure of Alláh, and however fully he strives for it, he cannot discharge (his obligation for) obedience to Alláh, the Glorified, as is really due to Him, and it is an obligatory right of Alláh over the people that they should advise each other to the best of their ability and co-operate with each other for the establishment of truth among them. No person, however great his position in the matter of truth, and however advanced his distinction in religion may be, is above co-operation in connection with the obligations placed on him by Alláh. Again, no man, however small he may be regarded by others, and however humble he may appear before eyes, is too low to co-operate or to be afforded co-operation in this matter.
One of Amír al-mu'minín's companions replied to him by a long speech wherein he praised him much and mentioned his own listening to him and obeying him, whereupon Amír al-mu'minín said:
If a man in his mind regards Alláh's glory as being high and believes in his heart that Alláh's position is sublime, then it is his right that on account of the greatness of these things he should regard all other things small. Among such persons he on whom Alláh's bounty is great and Alláh's favours are kind has a greater obligation, because Alláh's bounty over any person does not increase without an increase in Alláh's right over him.
In the view of virtuous people, the worst position of rulers is that it may be thought about them that they love glory, and their affairs may be taken to be based on pride. I would really hate that it may occur to your mind that I love high praises or to hear eulogies. By the grace of Alláh I am not like this. Even If I had loved to be mentioned like this, I would have given it up in submissiveness before Alláh, the Glorified, rather than accept greatness and sublimity to which He is more entitled. Generally, people feel pleased at praise after good performances; but do not mention for me handsome praise for the obligations I have discharged towards Alláh and towards you, because of (my) fear about those obligations which I have not discharged and for issuing injunctions which could not be avoided, and do not address me in the manner despots are addressed.
Do not evade me as the people of passion are (to be) evaded, do not meet me with flattery and do not think that I shall take it ill if a true thing is said to me, because the person who feels disgusted when truth is said to him or a just matter is placed before him would find it more difficult to act upon them. Therefore, do not abstain from saying a truth or pointing out a matter of justice because I do not regard myself above erring. (1) I do not escape erring in my actions but that Alláh helps me (in avoiding errors) in matters in which He is more powerful than I. Certainly, I and you are slaves owned by Alláh, other than Whom there is no Lord except Him. He owns our selves which we do not own. He took us from where we were towards what means prosperity to us. He altered our straying into guidance and gave us intelligence after blindness.
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(1). That the innocence of angels is different from the innocence of man needs no detailed discussion. The innocence of angels means that they do not possess the impulse to sin, but the innocence of man means that, although he has human frailties and passions, yet he possesses a peculiar power to resist them and he is not over-powered by them so as to commit sins. This very ability is called innocence and it prevents the rising up of personal passions and impulses. Amír al-mu'minín's saying that "I do not regard myself above erring" refers to those human dictates and passions, and his saying that "Alláh helps me in avoiding 'errors'" refers to innocence. The same tone is found in the Qur'án in the words of Prophet Yúsuf that:
I exculpate not myself, verily (one's) self is wont to bid (him to) evil, except such as my Lord hath had mercy on; verily my Lord is Oft-forgiving, All-merciful. (12:53)
Just as in this verse, because of the existence of exception, its first part cannot be used to argue against his innocence, similarly, due to the existence of the exception "but that Alláh helps me in avoiding errors" in Amír al-mu'minín's saying, its first part cannot be used to argue against his innocence, otherwise the Prophet's innocence too will have to be rejected. In the same way, the last sentence of this sermon should not be taken to mean that before the proclamation of prophethood he had been under the influence of pre-Islamic beliefs, and that just as others had been unbelievers he too might have been in darkness and misguidance, because from his very birth Amír al-mu'minín was brought-up by the Prophet and the effect of his training and up-bringing permeated him. It cannot therefore be imagined that he who had from infancy trod in the foot-prints of the Prophet would deviate from guidance even for a moment. Thus, al-Mas`údí has written:
Amír al-mu'minín never believed in any other god than Alláh so that there could be the question of his accepting Islam. He rather followed the Prophet in all his actions and (virtually) initiated him, and in this very state he attained majority. (Murúj adh-dhahab, vol. 2, p. 3).
Here, by those whom Alláh led from darkness into guidance, the reference is to the persons whom Amír al-mu'minín was addressing. Ibn Abi'l-\adíd writes in this connection:
The reference here is not to his own self because he had never been an unbeliever so as to have accepted Islam after that, but in these words he is referring to those group of people whom he was addressing. (Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 11, p. 108)
*****
SERMON 216
About the excesses of the Quraysh
O' my Alláh! I beseech Thee to take revenge on the Quraysh and those who are assisting them, for they have cut asunder my kinship and over-turned my cup and have joined together to contest a right to which I was entitled more than anyone else. They said to me: "If you get your right, that will be just, but if you are denied the right, that too will be just. Endure it with sadness or kill yourself in grief." I looked around but found no one to shield me, protect me or help me except the members of my family. I refrained from flinging them into death and therefore closed my eyes despite the dust, kept swallowing saliva despite (the suffocation of) grief and endured pangs of anger although it was more bitter than colocynth and more grievous than the bite of knives.
as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í says: This utterance of Amír al-mu'minín has already appeared in an earlier Sermon (171), but I have repeated it here because of the difference of versions.
A part of the same sermon about those who
went to Ba#rah to fight Amír al-mu'minín
They marched on my officers and the custodians of the public treasury which is still under my control and on the people of a metropolis, all of whom were obedient to me and were in allegiance to me. They created division among them, instigated their party against me and attacked my followers. They killed a group of them by treachery, while another group took up swords against them and fought with the swords till they met Alláh as adherents to truth.
*****
SERMON 217
When Amír al-mu'minín passed by the corpses
of ^al<ah
ibn `Ubaydulláh and `Abd ar-Ra<mán ibn `Attáb ibn
Asíd who were both killed in the battle of Jamal, he said:
Abú Mu<ammad (^al<ah) lies here away from his own place. By Alláh,
I did not like that the Quraysh should lie killed under the stars. I have
avenged myself with the descendants of `Abd Manáf, but the chief persons
of Banú Juma< (1) have escaped me. They had stretched their necks
towards a matter for which they were not suited, and therefore their necks
were broken before they reached the goal.
--------------------------------------
(1). In the battle of Jamal a group of Banú Juma< was with `Á'ishah, but the chief men of this group fled away from the battle-field. Some of them were: `Abdulláh a>-^awíl ibn @afwán, Ya<yá ibn \akím, `Ámir ibn Mas`úd and Ayyúb ibn \abíb. From this group (Banú Juma<) only two persons were killed.
*****
SERMON 218
Qualities of the God-fearing and the pious
He (the believer) kept his mind alive and killed (the desires of) his heart
till his body became thin, his bulk turned light and an effulgence of extreme
brightness shone for him. It lighted the way for him and took him on the (right)
path. Different doors led him to the door of safety and the place of (his
permanent) stay. His feet, balancing his body became fixed in the position
of safety and comfort, because he kept his heart (in good acts) and pleased
his Alláh.
*****
SERMON 219
Amír al-mu'minín recited the verse
Engage (your) vying in exuberance, until ye come to the graves. (1) (Qur'án, 102:1-2)
Then he said:
How distant (from achievement) is their aim, how neglectful are these visitors and how difficult is the affair. They have not taken lessons from things which are full of lessons, but they took them from far off places. Do they boast on the dead bodies of their fore-fathers, or do they regard the number of dead persons as a ground for feeling boastful of their number? They want to revive the bodies that have become spiritless and the movements that have ceased. They are more entitled to be a source of lesson than a source of pride. They are more suitable for being a source of humility than of honour.
They looked at them with weak-sighted eyes and descended into the hollow of ignorance. If they had asked about them from the dilapidated houses and empty courtyards, they would have said that they went into the earth in the state of misguidance and you too are heading ignorantly towards them. You trample their skulls, want to raise constructions on their corpses, you graze what they have left and live in houses which they have vacated. The days (that lie) between them and you are also bemoaning you and reciting elegies over you.
They are your fore-runners in reaching the goal and have arrived at the watering places before you. They had positions of honour and plenty of pride. They were rulers and holders of positions. Now they have gone into the interstice where earth covers them from above and is eating their flesh and drinking their blood. They lie in the hollows of their graves lifeless, no more growing, and hidden, not to be found. The approach of dangers does not frighten them, and the adversity of circumstances does not grieve them. They do not mind earthquakes, nor do they pay heed to thunders. They are gone and not expected back. They are existent but unseen. They were united but are now dispersed. They were friendly and are now separated.
Their accounts are unknown and their houses are silent, not because of length of time or distance of place, but because they have been made to drink the cup (of death) which has changed their speech into dumbness, their hearing into deafness and their movements into stillness. It seems as though they are fallen in slumber. They are neighbours not feeling affection for each other, or friends who do not meet each other. The bonds of their knowing each other have been worn out and the connections of their friendship have been cut asunder. Everyone of them is therefore alone although they are a group, and they are strangers, even though friends. They are unaware of morning after a night and of evening after a day. The night or the day when they departed has become ever existent for them. (2) They found the dangers of their placed of stay more serious than they had apprehended, and they witnessed that its signs were greater than they had guessed. The two objectives (namely paradise and hell) have been stretched for them upto a point beyond the reach of fear or hope. Had they been able to speak they would have become dumb to describe what they witnessed or saw.
Even though their traces have been wiped out and their news has stopped (circulating), eyes are capable of drawing a lesson, as they looked at them, ears of intelligence heard them and they spoke without uttering words. So, they said that handsome faces have been destroyed and delicate bodies have been smeared with earth. We have put on a worn-out shroud. The narrowness of the grave has overwhelmed us and strangeness has spread among us. Our silent abodes have been ruined. The beauty of our bodies has disappeared. Our known features have become hateful. Our stay in the places of strangeness has become long. We do not get relief from pain, nor widening from narrowness.
Now. if you portray them in your mind, or if the curtains concealing them are removed from them for you, in this state when their ears have lost their power and turned deaf, their eyes have been filled with dust and sunk down, their tongues which were very active have been cut into pieces, their hearts which were ever wakeful have become motionless in their chests, in every limb of theirs a peculiar decay has occurred which has deformed it, and has paved the way for calamity towards it, all these lie powerless, with no hand to help them and no heart to grieve over them, (then) you would certainly notice the grief of (their) hearts and the dirt of (their) eyes.
Every trouble of theirs is such that its position does not change and the distress does not clear away. How many a prestigious body and amazing beauty the earth has swallowed, although when in the world he enjoyed abundant pleasures and was nurtured in honour. He clung to enjoyments (even) in the hour of grief. If distress befell him he sought refuge in consolation (derived) through the pleasures of life and playing and games. He was laughing at the world while the world was laughing at him because of his life full of forgetfulness. Then time trampled him like thorns, the days weakened his energy and death began to look at him from near. Then he was overtaken by a grief which he had never felt, and ailments appeared in place of the health he had previously possessed.
He then turned to that with which the physician had made him familiar, namely suppressing the hot (diseases) with cold (medicines) and curing the cold with hot doses, but the cold things did nothing save aggravate the hot ailments, while the hot ones did nothing except increasing the coldness, nor did he acquire temperateness in his constitution but rather every ailment of his increased till his physicians became helpless, his attendants grew loathsome and his own people felt disgusted from describing his disease, avoided answering those who enquired about him and quarrelled in front of him about the serious news which they were concealing from him. Thus, someone would say "his condition is what it is" and would console them with hopes of his recovery, while another one would advocate patience on missing him, recalling to them the calamities that had befallen the earlier generations.
In this state when he was getting ready to depart from the world and leave his beloved ones, such a serious choking overtook him that his senses became bewildered and the dampness of his tongue dried up. Now, there was many an important question whose reply he knew about he could not utter it, and many a voice that was painful for his heart that he heard but remained (unmoved) as though he was deaf the voice of either and elder whom he used to respect or of a younger whom he used to caress. The pangs of death are too hideous to be covered by description or to be appreciated by the hearts of the people in this world.
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(1). The genesis of the descending of this verse is that the tribes of Banú `Abd Manáf and Banú Sahm began to boast against each other over the abundance of their wealth and the number of their tribesmen, and in order to prove they had a greater number each one began to include their dead as well, whereupon this verse was revealed to the effect that abundance of riches and majority in numbers has made you so forgetful that you count the dead also with the living. This verse is also taken to mean that abundance of riches and progeny has made you forgetful till you reached the graves, but the utterance of Amír al-mu'minín supports the first meaning.
(2). This means that for him he who dies in the day it is always day whereas for him who dies in the night the darkness of night never dispels, because they are at a place where there is no turning of the moon and the sun and no rotation of the nights and the days. The same meaning has been expressed by a poet like this:
There is sure to be a day without a night,
Or a night that would come without a day.
*****
SERMON 220
Delivered after reciting the verse:
. . . therein declare glory unto Him in the mornings and the evenings; Men whom neither merchandise nor any sale diverteth from the remembrance of Alláh and constancy in prayer and paying the poor-rate; they fear the day when the hearts and eyes shall writhe of the anguish. (Qur'án, 24:36-37)
Certainly, Alláh, the Glorified, the Sublime, has made His remembrance the light for hearts which hear with its help despite deafness, see with its help despite blindness and become submissive with its help despite unruliness.
In all the periods and times when there were no prophets, there have been persons with whom Alláh, precious are His bounties, whispered through their wits and spoke through their minds. With the help of the bright awakening of their ears, eyes and hearts they keep reminding others of the remembrance of the days of Alláh and making others feel fear for Him like guide-points in wildernesses. Whoever adopts the middle way, they praise his ways and give him the tidings of deliverance, but whoever goes right and left they vilify his ways and frighten him with ruin. In this way, they served as lamps in these darknesses and guides through these doubts.
There are some people devoted to the remembrance (of Alláh) who have adopted it in place of worldly matters so that commerce or trade does not turn them away from it. They pass their life in it. They speak into the ears of neglectful persons warning against matters held unlawful by Alláh, they order them to practise justice and themselves keep practising it, and they refrain them from the unlawful and themselves refrain from it. It is as though they have finished the journey of this world towards the next world and have beheld what lies beyond it. Consequently, they have become acquainted with all that befell them in the interstice during their long stay therein, and the Day of Judgement fulfils its promises for them. Therefore, they removed the curtain from these things for the people of the world, till it was as though they were seeing what people did not see and were hearing what people did not hear.
If you picture them in your mind in their admirable positions and well-known sittings, when they have opened the records of their actions and are prepared to render an account of themselves in respect of the small as well as the big things they were ordered to do but they failed to do, or were ordered to refrain from but they indulged therein, and they realised the weight of their burden (of bad acts) on their backs, and they felt too weak to bear them, then they wept bitterly and spoke to each other wile still crying and bewailing to Alláh in repentance and acknowledgement (of their shortcomings), you would find them to be emblems of guidance and lamps in darkness, angels would be surrounding them, peace would be descending upon them, the doors of the sky would be opened for them and positions of honour would be assigned to them in the place of which Alláh had informed them. Therefore, He has appreciated their actions and praised their position. They call Him and breathe in the air of forgiveness, they are ever needy of His bounty and remain humble before His greatness, the length of their grief has pained their hearts, and the length of weeping their eves. They knock at every door of inclination towards Alláh. They ask Him Whom generosity does not make destitute and from Whom those who approach Him do not get disappointed.
Therefore, take account of yourself for your own sake because the account of others will be taken by one other than you.
*****
SERMON 221
Amír al-mu'minín recited the verse:
O' thou man! what hath beguild thee from thy Lord, the Most Gracious One. (Qur'án, 82:6)
Then he said:
The addressee (in this verse) is devoid of argument and his excuse is most deceptive. He is detaining himself in ignorance.
O' man! what has emboldened you to (commit) sins, what had deceived you about your Alláh and what has made you satisfied with the destruction of yourself. Is there no cure for your ailment or no awakening from your sleep? Do you not have pity on yourself as you have on others? Generally, when you see anyone exposed to the heat of the sun you cover him with shade, or if you see anyone afflicted with grief that pains his body you weep out of pity for him. What has then made you patient over your own disease, what has made you firm in your own afflictions, and what has consoled you from weeping over yourself although your life is the most precious of all lives to you, and why does not the fear of an ailment that may befall you in the night keep you wakeful although you lie on the way to Alláh's wrath due to your sins?
You should cure the disease of languor in your heart by determination, and the sleep of neglectfulness in your eyes by wakefulness. Be obedient to Alláh, and love His remembrance, and picture to yourself that you are running away while He is approaching you. He is calling you to His forgiveness and concealing your faults with His kindness, while you are fleeing away from Him towards others. Certainly, Great is Alláh the powerful, Who is so generous, and how humble and weak are you and still so bold to commit His disobedience although you live in His protection and undergo changes of life in the expanse of His kindness. He does not refuse you His kindness and does not remove His protection from you. In fact, you have not been without His kindness even for a moment, whether it be a favour that He conferred upon you or a sin of yours that He has concealed or a calamity that He has warded off from you. What is your idea about Him if you had obeyed Him? By Alláh, if this had been the case with two persons equal in power and matching in might (one being inattentive and the other showering favours upon you) then you would have been the first to adjudge yourself to be of bad behaviour and evil deeds.
I truthfully say that the world has not deceived you but
you have had yourself deceived by it. The world had opened to you the curtains
and divulged to you (everything) equally. And in all that it foretold you
about the troubles befalling your bodies and the decay in your power, it has
been too true and faithful in promise, and did not speak a lie to you or deceive
you. There are many who advise you about it but they are blamed, and speak
the truth about it but they are opposed. If you understand the world by means
of dilapidated houses and forlorn abodes, then with your good understanding
and far reaching power of drawing lessons you will find it like one who is
kind over you and cautious about you. It is good abode for him who does not
like it as an abode, and a good place of stay for him who does not regard
it a permanent home for stay.
Only those who run away from this world today will be regarded virtuous tomorrow.
When the earthquake occurs, the Day of Resurrection approaches with all its
severities, the people of every worshipping place cling to it, all the devotees
cling to the object of their devotion and all the followers cling to their
leader. Then on that day even the opening of an eye in the air and the sound
of a footstep on the ground will be assigned its due through His Justice and
His Equity. On that day many an argument will prove void and a contention
for excuses will stand rejected.
Therefore, you should now adopt for yourself the course with which your excuse may hold good and your plea may be proved. Take from the transient things of this world that which will stay for you (in the next world), provide for your journey, keep (your) gaze on the brightness of deliverance and keep ready the saddles (for setting off).
*****
SERMON 222
About keeping aloof from oppression and misappropriation.
`Aqíl's condition of poverty and destitution
By Alláh, I would rather pass a night in wakefulness on the thorns of as-sa`dán (a plant having sharp prickles) or be driven in chains as a prisoner than meet Alláh and His Messenger on the Day of Judgement as an oppressor over any person or a usurper of anything out of worldly wealth. And how can I oppress any one for (the sake of a life) that is fast moving towards destruction and is to remain under the earth for a long time.
By Alláh, I certainly saw (my brother) `Aqíl fallen in destitution and he asked me a #á` (about three kilograms in weight) out of your (share of) wheat, and I also saw his children with dishevelled hair and a dusty countenance due to starvation, as though their faces had been blackened by indigo. He came to me several times and repeated his request to me again and again. I heard him, and he thought I would sell my faith to him and follow his tread leaving my own way. Then I (just) heated a piece of iron and took it near his body so that he might take a lesson from it, then he cried as a person in protracted illness cries with pain and he was about to get burnt with its branding. Then I said to him, "Moaning women may moan over you, O' `Aqíl. Do you cry on account of this (heated) iron which has been made by a man for fun while you are driving me towards the fire which Alláh, the Powerful, has prepared for (a manifestation of) His wrath? Should you cry from pain, but I should not cry from the flames?"
A stranger incident than this is that a man (1) came to us in the night; with a closed flask full of honey paste but I disliked it as though it was the saliva of a serpent or its vomit. I asked him whether it was a reward, or zakát (poor-tax) or charity, for these are forbidden to us members of the Prophet's family. He said it was neither this nor that but a present. Then I said, "Childless women may weep over you. Have you come to deviate me from the religion of Alláh, or are you mad, or have you been overpowered by some jinn, or are you speaking without senses? "
By Alláh, even if I am given all the domains of the seven (stars) with all that exists under the skies in order that I may disobey Alláh to the extent of snatching one grain of barley from an ant I would not do it. For me your world is lighter than the leaf in the mouth of a locust that is chewing it. What has `Alí to do with bounties that will pass away and pleasures that will not last? We do seek protection of Alláh from the slip of wisdom and the evils of mistakes, and from Him we seek succour.
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(1). It was al-Ash`ath ibn Qays.
*****
SERMON 223
Supplication
O' my Alláh! preserve (the grace of) my face with easiness of life and do not disgrace my countenance with destitution, lest I may have to beg a livelihood from those who beg from Thee, try to seek the favour of Thy evil creatures, engage myself in praising those who give to me, and be tempted in abusing those who do not give to me, although behind all these Thou art the master of giving and denying.
. . . Verily Thou over all things, art the All-powerful. (Qur'án, 66:8)
*****
SERMON 224
Transience of the world and the helplessness of those in graves
This is a house surrounded by calamities and well-known for deceitfulness. Its conditions do not last and those who inhabit it do not remain safe. Its conditions are variable and its ways changing. Life in it is blameworthy and safety in it is non-existent. Yet its people are targets; it strikes them with its arrows and destroys them through death.
Know, O' creatures of Alláh, that, certainly, you and all the things of this world that you have are (treading) on the lines of those (who were) before you. They were of longer ages, had more populated houses and were of more lasting traces. Their voices have become silent, their movements have become stationary, their bodies have become rotten, their houses have become empty and their traces have been obliterated. Their magnificent places and spread-out carpets were changed to stones, laid-in-blocks and cave-like dug out graves whose very foundation is based on ruins and whose construction has been made with soil. Their positions are contiguous, but those settled in them are like far flung strangers. They are among the people of their area but feel lonely, and they are free from work but still engaged (in activity). They feel no attachment with homelands nor do they keep contact among themselves like neighbours despite nearness of neighbourhood and priority of abodes. And how can they meet each other when decay has ground them with its chest, and stones and earth have eaten them.
It is as though you too have gone where they have gone, the same sleeping place has caught you and the same place has detained you. What will then be your position when your affairs reach their end and graves are turned upside down (to throw out the dead)?
There shall every soul realise what it hath sent before, and they shall be brought back to Alláh, their true Lord, and what they did fabricate (the false deities) will vanish (away) from them. (Qur'án, 10:30)
*****
SERMON 225
Supplication
O' my Alláh! Thou art the most attached to Thy lovers and the most ready to assist those who trust in Thee. Thou seest them in their concealments, knowest whatever is in their consciences, and art aware of the extent of their intelligence. Consequently, their secrets are open to Thee and their hearts are eager from Thee. If loneliness bores them, Thy remembrance gives them solace. If distresses befall them, they beseech Thy protection, because they know that the reins of affairs are in Thy hands, and that their movements depend upon Thy commands .
O' my Alláh! if I am unable to express my request or cannot see my needs, then guide me towards my betterment and take my betterment and take my heart towards the correct goal. This is not against (the mode of) Thy guidance nor anything new against Thy ways of support.
O' my Alláh! deal with me through Thy forgiveness and do not deal with me according to Thy justice.
*****
SERMON 226
About a companion who passed away from this
world before the occurrence of troubles.
May Alláh reward such and such man (1) who straightened the curve, cured the disease, abandoned mischief and established the sunnah. He departed (from this world) with untarnished clothes and little shortcomings. He achieved good (of this world) and remained safe from its evils. He offered Alláh's obedience and feared Him as He deserved. He went away and left the people in dividing ways wherein the misled cannot obtain guidance and the guided cannot attain certainty.
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(1). Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has written (in Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 14, pp. 3-4) that the reference here is to the second Caliph `Umar, and that these sentences have been uttered in his praise as indicated by the word " `Umar" written under the word "such and such" in as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í's own hand in the manuscript of Nahj al-balághah written by him. This is Ibn Abi'l-\adíd's statement, but it is to be seen that if as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í had written the word "`Umar" by way of explanation it should have existed, as other explanations by him have remained, in those versions which have been copied from his manuscript. Even now there exists in al-Mú#il (Iraq) university the oldest copy of Nahj al-balághah written by the famous calligraphist Yáqút al-Musta`#imí; but no one has afforded any clue to this explanation of as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í. Even if the view of Ibn Abi'l-\adíd is accepted it would be deemed to represent the personal opinion of as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í which may serve as a supplementary argument in support of an original argument but this personal view cannot be assigned any regular importance.
It is strange that two and a half centuries after as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í namely in the seventh century A.H., Ibn Abi'l \adíd makes the statement that the reference here is to Caliph `Umar and that as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í himself had so indicated, as a result of which some other annotators also followed the same line, but the contemporaries of as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í who wrote about Nahj al-balághah have given no such indication in their writings although as contemporaries they should have had better information about as-Sayyid Ar-Ra_í's writing. Thus, al-`Allámah `Alí ibn Ná#ir who was a contemporary of as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í and wrote an annotation of Nahj al-balághah under the name of A`lám Nahj al-balághah writes in connection with this sermon:
Amír al-mu'minín has praised one of his own companions for his good conduct. He had died before the troubles that arose after the death of the Prophet of Alláh.
This is supported by the annotations of Nahj al-balághah written by al-`Allámah Qu>bu'd-Dín ar-Ráwandí (d. 573 A.H.). Ibn Abi'l-\adíd (vol. 14, p. 4) and Ibn Maytham al-Ba<rání (in Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 4, p. 97) have quoted his following view.
By this Amír al-mu'minín refers to one of his own companions who died before the mischief and disruption that occurred following the death of the Prophet of Alláh.
Al-`Allámah al-\ájj al-Mirzá \abíbu'lláh al-Khú'í is of the opinion that the person is Málik ibn al-\árith al-Ashtar on the ground that after the assassination of Málik the situation of the Muslim community was such as Amír al-mu'minín explains in this sermon.
al-Khú'í adds that:
Amír al-mu'minín has praised Málik repeatedly such as in his letter to the people of Egypt sent through Málik when he was made the governor of that place, and like his utterances when the news of Málik's assassination reached him, he said: "Málik! who is Málik? If Málik was a stone, he was hard and solid; if he was a rock, he was a great rock which had no parallel. Women have become barren to give birth to such as Málik." Amír al-mu'minín had even expressed in some of his utterances that, "Málik was to me as I was to the Holy Prophet." Therefore, one who possesses such a position certainly deserves such attributes and even beyond that. (Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 14, pp. 374-375)
If these words had been about Caliph `Umar and there was some trustworthiness about it Ibn Abi'l-\adíd would have recorded the authority or tradition and it would have existed in history and been known among the people. But here nothing is found to prove the statement except a few self-concocted events. Thus about the pronouns in the words "khayrahá" and "sharrahá" he takes them to refer to the caliphate and writes that these words can apply only to one who enjoys power and authority because without authority it is impossible to establish the sunnah or prevent innovation. This is the gist of the argument he has advanced on this occasion; although there is no proof to establish that the antecedent of this pronoun is the caliphate. It can rather refer to the world (when Amír al-mu'minín says, "He achieved good [of this world] and remained safe from its evils.") and that would be in accord with the context. Again, to regard authority as a condition for the safeguarding of people's interest and the propagation of the sunnah means to close the door to prompting others to good and dissuading them from evil, although Alláh has assigned this duty to a group of the people without the condition of authority:
And that there should be among you a group who call (mankind) unto virtue and enjoin what is good and forbid wrong; and these are they who shall be successful. (Qur'án, 3:104)
Similarly it is related from the Prophet:
So long as people go on prompting for good and dissuading from evil and assisting each other in virtue and piety they will remain in righteousness.
Again, Amír al-mu'minín, in the course of a will, says in general terms:
Establish the pillars of the Unity of Alláh and the sunnah, and keep both these lamps aflame.
In these sayings there is no hint that this obligation cannot be discharged without authority. Facts also tell us that (despite army and force, and power and authority) the rulers and kings could not prevent evil or propagate virtue to the extent to which some unknown godly persons were able to inculcate moral values by imprinting their morality on heart and minds, although they were not backed by any army or force and they didn't have any equipment save destitution. No doubt authority and control can bend heads down before it, but it is not necessary that it should also pave the way for virtue in hearts. History shows that most of the rulers destroyed the features of Islam. Islam's existence and progress has been possible by the efforts of those helpless persons who possessed nothing save poverty and discomfiture.
If it is insisted that the reference here should only be to a ruler, then why should it not be taken to mean a companion of Amír al-mu'minín who had been the head of a Province such as Salmán al-Fárisí for whose burial Amír al-mu'minín went to al-Madá'in; and it is not implausible that Amír al-mu'minín might have uttered these words after his burial by way of comments on his life and way of governance. However, to believe that they are about Caliph `Umar is without any proof. In the end, Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has quoted the following statements of (the historian) a>-^abarí in proof of his hypothesis:
"It is related from al-Mughírah ibn Shu`bah that
when Caliph `Umar died Ibnah Abí \athmah said crying. 'Oh `Umar, you
were the man who straightened the curve, removed ills, destroyed mischief,
revived the sunnah, remained chaste and departed without entangling in evils.'
(According to a>-^abarí) al-Mughírah related that 'When `Umar
was buried I came to `Alí and I wanted to hear something from him about
`Umar. So, on my arrival Amír al-mu'minín came out in this state
that was wrapped in
one cloth after bathing and was jerking the hair of his head and beard and
he had no doubt that the Caliphate would come to him. On this occasion he
said, "May Alláh have mercy on `Umar." Ibnah Abí \athmah
has correctly said that he enjoyed the good of the Caliphate and remained
safe from its evils. By Alláh, she did not say it herself but was made
to say so.'" (a>-^abarí, vol. 1, p. 2763; Ibn Abi'l-\adíd,
vol. 12, p. 5; Ibn Kathír, vol. 7, p. 140)
The relater of this event is al-Mughírah ibn Shu`bah whose adultery with Umm Jamíl, the Caliph `Umar's saving him from the penalty despite the evidence, and his openly abusing Amír al-mu'minín in Kúfah under Mu`áwiyah's behest are admitted facts of history. On this ground what weight his statements can carry is quite clear. From the factual point of view also, this story cannot be accepted. Al-Mughírah's statement that Amír al-mu'minín had no doubt about his Caliphate is against the facts. What were the factors from which he made this guess when the actual facts were to the contrary. If the caliphate was certain for any one, it was `Uthmán. Thus, at the Consultative Committee `Abd ar-Ra<mán ibn `Awf said to Amír al-mu'minín: "O' `Alí! do not create a situation against yourself for I have observed and consulted the people and they all want `Uthmán." (a>-^abarí, vol. 1, p. 2786; Ibn al-Athír, vol. 3, p. 71; Abu'l-Fidá', vol. 1, p. 166)
Consequently, Amír al-mu'minín was sure not to get the caliphate as has already been stated on the authority of a>-^abarí's History, under the sermon of the Camel's Foam (ash-Shiqshiqiyyah), namely that on seeing the names of the members of the Consultative Committee, Amír al-mu'minín had said to al-`Abbás ibn `Abd al-Mu>>alib that the caliphate could not be given to anyone except `Uthmán since all the powers had been given to `Abd ar-Ra<mán ibn `Awf and he was `Uthmán's brother-in-law (sister's husband) and Sa`d ibn Abí Waqqá# was a relative and tribesman of `Abd ar-Ra<mán. These two would join in giving the caliphate to him.
At this stage, the question arises as to what the reason was that actuated al-Mughírah to prompt Amír al-mu'minín to say something about `Umar. If he knew that Amír al-mu'minín had good ideas about `Umar, he should have also known his impression; but if he thought that Amír al-mu'minín did not entertain good ideas about him then the purpose of his asking Amír al-mu'minín would be none other than that whatever he may say he would, by exposing it, create an atmosphere against him and make the members of the Consultative Committee suspicious of him. The views of the members of the Consultative Committee are well understood from the very fact that by putting the condition of following the conduct of the first two Caliphs in electing the caliph they had shown their adherence to them. In these circumstances when al-Mughírah tried to play this trick Amír al-mu'minín said just by way of relating a fact that `Umar achieved the good (of this world) and remained safe from its evil. This sentence has no connection with praise or eulogy. `Umar did in his days enjoy all kinds of advantages while his period was free from the mischiefs that cropped up later. After recording this statement Ibn Abi'l-\adíd writes:
From this event the belief gains strength that in this utterance the allusion is towards `Umar.
If the utterance means the word uttered by Ibnah Abí \athmah about which Amír al-mu'minín has said that they are not her own heart's voice but she was made to utter them, then doubtlessly the reference is to `Umar, but the view that these words were uttered by Amír al-mu'minín in praise of `Umar is not at all established. Rather, from this tradition it is evidently shown that these words were uttered by Ibnah Abí \athmah. Alláh alone knows on what ground the words of Ibnah Abí \athmah are quoted and then it is daringly argued that these words were uttered by Amír al-mu'minín about `Umar. It seems Amír al-mu'minín had uttered these words about someone on some occasion, then Ibnah Abí \athmah used similar words on `Umar's death and then even Amír al-mu'minín's words were taken to be in praise of `Umar. Otherwise, no mind except a mad one can argue that the words uttered by Ibnah Abí \athmah should be deemed a ground to hold that Amír al-mu'minín said these words in praise of `Umar. Can it be expected, after (a glance at) the sermon of the Camel's Foam, that Amír al-mu'minín might have uttered these words. Again, it is worth consideration that if these words had been uttered by Amír al-mu'minín on `Umar's death, then at the Consultative Committee when he refused to follow the conduct of the (first) two Caliphs it should have been said to him that only the other day he has said that `Umar had established the sunnah and banished innovations, so that when his conduct was in accord with the sunnah what was the sense in accepting the sunnah but refusing to follow his conduct .
*****
SERMON 227
(About allegiance to Amír al-mu'minín for the
Caliphate.
A similar sermon in somewhat different version has already
appeared earlier.)
You drew out my hand towards you for allegiance but I held it back and you stretched it but I contracted it. Then you crowed over me as the thirsty camels crowd on the watering cisterns on their being taken there, so much so that shoes were torn, shoulder-cloths fell away and the weak got trampled, and the happiness of people on their allegiance to me was so manifested that small children felt joyful, the old staggered (up to me) for it, the sick too reached for it helter skelter and young girls ran for it without veils.
*****
SERMON 228
Advice about fear of Alláh, and an account of those
who remain
apprehensive of death and adopt abstemiousness
Certainly, fear of Alláh is the key to guidance, provision for the next world, freedom from every slavery and deliverance from all ruin. With its help the seeker succeeds and he who makes for safety escapes and achieves his aims.
Perform (good) acts while such acts are being raised (in value), repentance can be of benefit, prayer can be heard, conditions are peaceful and the pens (of the two angels) are in motion (to record the actions). Hasten towards (virtuous) actions before the change of age (to oldness), lingering illness or snatching death (overtakes you). Certainly, death will end your enjoyments, mar your pleasures and remove your objectives. It is an unwanted visitor, an invincible adversary and an unaccounting killer. Its ropes have entrapped you, its evils have surrounded you, its arrowheads have aimed at you, its sway over you is great, its oppression on you is continuous and the chance of its missing you is remote.
Very soon you will be overwhelmed with the gloom of its shades, the severity of its illness, the darkness of its distresses, the nonsense utterances of its pangs, the grief of its destruction, the darkness of its encompassment and the unwholesomeness of its taste. It will seem as if it has come to you all of a sudden, silenced those who were whispering to you, separated your group, destroyed your doings, devastated your houses and altered your successors to distribute your estate among the chief relatives, who did not give you any benefit, or the grieved near ones who could not protect (you), or those rejoicers who did not lament (you).
Therefore, it is upon you to strive, make effort, equip yourself, get ready and provide yourself from the place of provision. And let not the life of this world deceive you as it deceived those before you among the past people and by-gone periods -- those who extracted its milk, benefited from its neglectfulness, passed a long time and turned its new things into old (by living long). Their abodes turned into graves and their wealth into inheritable estate. They do not know who came to them (at their graves); do not pay heed to those who weep over them, and do not respond to those who call them. Therefore, beware of this world as it is treacherous, deceitful and cheating, it gives and takes back, covers with clothes and uncovers. Its pleasure does not last, its hardship does not end and its calamity does not stop.
A part of the same sermon about ascetics
They are from among the people of this world but are not its people, because they remain in it as though they do not belong to it. They act herein on what they observe and hasten here in (to avoid) what they fear. Their bodies move among the people of the next world. They see that the people of this world attach importance to the death of their bodies but they themselves attach more importance to the death of the hearts of those who are living.
*****
SERMON 229
Amír al-mu'minín delivered this sermon at Dhiqár
on his way to Ba#rah, and the historian al-Wáqidí has
mentioned it (in Kitáb al-Jamal).
About the Holy Prophet
The Prophet manifested whatever he was commanded and conveyed the messages of his Lord. Consequently, Alláh repaired through him the cracks, joined through him the slits and created (through him) affection among kin although they bore intense enmity in (their) chests and deep-seated rancour in (their) hearts.
*****
SERMON 230
`Abdulláh ibn Zama`ah who was one of the followers
of Amír al-mu'minín came to him during his Caliphate
to ask for some money when Amír al-mu'minín said:
This money is not for me nor for you, but it is the collective property of the Muslims and the acquisition of their swords. If you had taken part with them in their fighting you would have a share equal to theirs, otherwise the earning of their hands cannot be for other than their mouths.
*****
SERMON 231
On Ja`dah ibn Hubayrah al-Makhzúmí's (1)
inability to deliver a sermon.
About speaking the truth
Know that the tongue is a part of a man's body. If the man desists, speech will not co-operate with him and when he dilates, speech will not give him time to stop. Certainly, we are the masters of speaking. Its veins are fixed in us and its branches are hanging over us.
Know that - may Alláh have mercy on you - you are living at a time when those who speak about right are few, when tongues are loath to utter the truth and those who stick to the right are humiliated. The people of this time are engaged in disobedience. Their youths are wicked, their old men are sinful, their learned men are hypocrites, and their speakers are sycophants. Their youngs do not respect their elders, and their rich men do not support the destitute.
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(1). Once Amír al-mu'minín asked his nephew (sister's son) Ja`dah ibn Hubayrah al-Makhzúmí to deliver a sermon, but when he rose for speaking his tongue faltered and he could utter nothing, whereupon Amír al-mu'minín ascended the pulpit to speak and delivered a long sermon out of which a few sentences have been recorded here by as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í.
*****
SERMON 232
Causes for difference in the features and traits of people
Dhi`lib al-Yamámí has related from A<mad
ibn Qutaybah,
and he from `Abdulláh ibn Yazíd and he from Málik ibn
Di<yah who said, "We were with Amír al-mu'minín when
discussion arose about the differences of men (in features
and conduct) and then Amír al-mu'minín said":
They differ among themselves because of the sources (l) of their clay (from which they have been created). This is because they are either from saltish soil or sweet soil or from rugged earth or soft earth. They, resemble each other on the basis of the affinity of their soil and differ according to its difference. Therefore, sometimes a person of handsome features is weak in intelligence, a tall statured person is of low courage, a virtuous person is ugly in appearance, a short statured person is far-sighted, a good-natured person has an evil trait, a person of perplexed heart has bewildering mind and a sharp-tongued person has a wakeful heart.
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(l). Amír al-mu'minín has ascribed the differences in features and characters of people to the differences in the clay from which they are created and according to which their features are shaped and the skeletons of their characters are formed. Therefore, to the extent that their clay of origin is akin, their mental and imaginative tendencies too will be similar and to the extent by which they differ, there will be a difference in their inclinations and tendencies. By origins of a thing are meant those things on which its coming into existence depends, but they should not be its cause. The word ">ín" is the plural of ">ínah" which means origin or basis. Here ">ínah" means semen which after passing through various stages of development emerges in the human shape. Its origin means those constituents from which those items are created which help in the formation of semen. Thus, by saltish, sweet, soft or hard soil the reference is to these elementary constituents. Since those elementary constituents carry different properties the semen growing out of them will also bear different characteristics and propensities which will (eventually) show forth in the differences in features and conduct of those borne in it.
Ibn Abi'l-\adíd has written (in Shar< Nahj al-balághah, vol. 13, p. 19) that "origins of >ínah" implies those preservative factors which are different in their properties as Plato and other philosophers have held. The reason for calling them "origins of >ínah" is that they serve as an asylum for the human body and prevent the elements from diffusion. Just as the existence of a thing hinges on its basis, in the same way the existence of this body which is made up of elements depends on preservative factors. So long as the preservative factor exists the body is also safe from disruption and disintegration and the elements too are immune to diffusion and dispersal. When it leaves the body the elements also get dispersed.
According to this explanation Amír al-mu'minín's words would mean that Alláh has created different original factors among whom some are vicious and some are virtuous, some are weak and some are strong, and every person will act according to his original factor. If there is similarity in the inclinations of two persons it is because their original factor are similar, and if their tendencies differ it is because their original factors do not have any similarity. But this conclusion is not correct because Amír al-mu'minín's words do not only refer to differences in conduct and behaviour but also of features and shape and the differences of features and shape cannot be the result of differences in original factors.
In any case, whether the original factors are the cause of differences in features and conduct or the elementary constituents are the cause, these words appear to lead to the negation of volition and to prove the compulsion (of destiny) in human actions, because if man's capacity for thinking and acting is dependent on ">ínah" then he would be compelled to behave himself in a fixed way on account of which he would neither deserve praise for good acts nor be held blame worthy for bad habits. But this hypothesis is incorrect because it is well established that just as Alláh knows everything in creation after its coming into being, in the same way He knew it before its creation. Thus, He knew what actions man would perform of his free will and what he would leave. Therefore, Alláh gave him capacity to act according to his free will, and created him from a suitable ">ínah". This >ínah is not the cause of his actions so as to snatch away from him his free will but the meaning of creating from suitable >ínah is that Alláh does not by force stand in man's way but allows him to tread the path he wants to tread of his own free will.
*****
SERMON 233
Spoken when Amír al-mu'minín was busy in the
funeral
ablution (ghusl) of the Holy Prophet and shrouding him
May my father and my mother shed their lives for you. O' Messenger of Alláh! With your death the process of prophethood, revelation and heavenly messages has stopped, which had not stopped at the death of others (prophets). Your position with us (members of your family) is so special that your grief has become a source of consolation (to us) as against the grief of all others; your grief is also common so that all Muslims share it equally. If you had not ordered endurance and prevented us from bewailing, we would have produced a store of tears and even then the pain would not have subsided, and this grief would not have ended, and they would have been too little of our grief for you. But this (death) is a matter that cannot be reversed nor is it possible to repulse it. May my father and my mother die for you; do remember us with Alláh and take care of us.
*****
SERMON 234
In (1) this sermon Amír al-mu'minín has related his own condition
after the Prophet's immigration till his meeting with him.
I began following the path adopted by the Prophet and treading on the lines of his remembrance till I reached al-`Arj.
as-Sayyid ar-Ra_í says: Amír al-mu'minín's words "faa>a'u dhikrahu" constitute the highest forms of brevity and eloquence. He means to say that he was being given news about the Prophet from the commencement of his setting out till he reached this place, and he has expressed this sense in this wonderful expression.
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(1). Since the commencement of prophethood, the Prophet remained in Mecca
for thirteen years. For him, this period was of the severest oppression and
destitution. The unbelievers of the Quraysh had closed all the doors of livelihood
upon him, and had left no deficiency in inflicting hardships upon him, so
much so that in order to take his life they began contriving how to do away
with him. Forty of their nobles assembled in the hall of audience (Dár
an-Nadwah) for consultation, and decided that one individual should be picked
out from every tribe and they should jointly attack him. In this way, Banú
Háshim would not dare to face all the tribes, and the matter would
quieten down on the payment of blood price. To give a practical shape to this
scheme, these people sat in ambush near the house of the Prophet on the night
of the first of Rabí` al-awwal, so that when the prophet slept in his
bed he would be attacked. On this side the preparation for killing him was
complete, and on the other side Alláh informed him of all the intrigues
of the Quraysh unbelievers and commanded him to make `Alí (p.b.u.h.)
sleep on his bed and himself to immigrate to Medina. The Prophet sent for
`Alí (p.b.u.h.) and disclosing to him his plan, said: "Alí,
you lie on my bed." Amír al-mu'minín enquired: "O'
Messenger of Alláh, will your life be saved by my sleeping here?"
The Prophet said: "Yes." Hearing this Amír al-mu'minín
performed a prostration in thanks-giving and, exposing himself fully to the
danger, lay on the Prophet's bed while the Prophet left from the rear door.
The Quraysh unbelievers were peeping and getting ready for the attack but
Abú Lahab said: "It is not proper to attack in the night because
there are women and children also in the house. When morning dawns you attack
him, but keep watch during night that he should not move anywhere." Consequently,
they kept their eyes on the bed throughout the night and soon, on the appearance
of the dawn, proceeded forward stealthily. Hearing the sound of their footsteps,
Amír al-mu'minín removed the covering from his face and stood
up. The Quraysh gazed at him with stretched eyes as to whether it was an illusion
or fact. After making sure that it was `Alí they enquired, "Where
is Mu<ammad?" and `Alí replied, "Did you entrust him to
me, that now you are asking me?" They had no reply to this. Men ran to
chase him but found footprints only up to the cave of Thawr. Beyond that there
were neither footprints nor any sign of hiding in the cave. They came back
bewildered while the Prophet after staying in the cave for three days left
for Medina. Amír al-mu'minín passed these three days in Mecca,
returned to the people their properties lying in trust with the Prophet and
set off towards Medina to join the Prophet. Upto al-`Arj which is a place
between Mecca and Medina, he kept getting news about the Prophet and he continued
his anxious march in his search till he met the Prophet at Qubá on
the twelfth of Rabí` al-awwal, and entered Medina with him. (a>-^abarí,
at-Tafsír, vol. 9, pp. 148-151; at-Taríkh, vol. 1, pp. 1232-1234;
Ibn Sa`d, a>-^abaqát, vol. 1, Part 1, pp. 153-154; Ibn Hishám,
as-Sírah, vol. 2, pp. 124-128; Ibn al-Athír, Usd al-ghábah,
vol. 4, p. 25; al-Kámil, vol. 2, pp. 101-104; Ibn Kathír, at-Tafsír,
vol. 2, pp. 302-303; at-Táríkh, vol. 3, pp. 180-181; Ibn Abi'l-\adíd,
vol. 13, pp. 303-306; as-Suyú>í, ad-Durr al-manthúr,
vol. 3, pp. 179-180; al-`Allámah al-Majlisí, Bi<ár
al-anwár, vol. 19, pp. 28-103).
*****
SERMON 235
About collecting provision for the next world while in this world
and performing good acts before death
Perform (good) acts while you are still in the vastness of life, the books are open (for recording of actions), repentance is allowed, the runner away (from Alláh) is being called and the sinner is being given hope (of forgiveness) before the (light of) action is put off, time expires, life ends, the door for repentance is closed and angels ascend to the sky.
Therefore a man should derive benefit from himself for himself, from the living for the dead, from the mortal, for the lasting and from the departer for the stayer. A man should fear Alláh while he is given age to live upto his death, and is allowed time to act. A man should control his self by the rein and hold it with its bridle, thus by the rein he should prevent it from disobedience towards Alláh, and by the bridle he should lead it towards obedience to Alláh.
*****
SERMON 236
About the two arbitrators (Abú Músá al-Ash`arí
and `Amr ibn
al-`Á#) and disparagement of the people of Syria (ash-Shám).
Rude, low people and mean slaves. They have been collected from all sides and picked up from every pack. They need to be taught the tenets (of Islam), disciplined, instructed, trained, supervised and led by the hand. They are neither muhájirún (immigrants from Mecca), nor an#ár (helpers of Medina) nor those who made their dwellings in the abode (in Medina) and in belief.
Look! They have chosen for themselves one who is nearest of all of them to what they desire, while you have chosen one who is nearest to what you dislike. You may certainly recall that the other day `Abdulláh ibn Qays (Abú Músá) was saying: "It is a mischief, therefore, cut away your bow-string and sheathe your swords." If he was right (in what he said) then he was wrong in marching (with us) without being forced, but if he was lying then he should be viewed with suspicion. Therefore, send `Abdulláh ibn al-`Abbás to face `Amr ibn al-`Á#. Make use of these days and surround the borders of Islam. Do you not see that your cities are being attacked and your prowess is being aimed at?
*****
SERMON 237
Amír al-mu'minín describes herein the members
of the Prophet's family
They are life for knowledge and death for ignorance. Their forbearance tells you of their knowledge, and their silence of the wisdom of their speaking. They do not go against right nor do they differ (among themselves) about it. They are the pillars of Islam and the asylums of (its) protection. With them right has returned to its position and wrong has left its place and its tongue is severed from its root. They have understood the religion attentively and carefully, not by mere heresy or from relaters, because the relaters of knowledge are many but its understanders are few.
*****
SERMON 238
When `Uthmán ibn `Affán was surrounded, `Abdulláh ibn
al-`Abbás brought a letter to Amír al-mu'minín from `Uthmán
in which he expressed the desire that Amír al-mu'minín should
leave for his estate Yanbu` so that the proposal that was being mooted out
for him to become caliph should subside. `Uthmán had this request earlier
also. Upon this Amír al-mu'minín said to Ibn al-`Abbás:
O' Ibn al-`Abbás! `Uthmán just wants to treat me like the water-drawing camel so that I may go forward and backward with the bucket. Once he sent me word that I should go out then sent me word that I should come back. Now, again he sends me word that I should go out. By Alláh, I continued protecting him till I feared lest I become a sinner.
***** *
SERMON 239
Exhorting his men to jihád and asking
them to refrain from seeking ease
Alláh seeks you to thank Him and assigns to you His affairs. He has allowed time in the limited field (of life) so that you may vie with each other in seeking the reward (of Paradise). Therefore, tight up your girdles and wrap up the skirts. High courage and dinners do not go together. Sleep causes weakness in the big affairs of the day and (its) darkness obliterates the memories of courage.
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