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Newsletter for December 2012
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Article 2
Nahj al-Balagha
Sermon 87
Sermons of Imam Ali
ibn Abi Talib (a)
The
Qualities of a Faithful Believer
O' creatures of Allah! the most beloved
of Allah is he whom Allah has given power (to act) against his
passions, so that his inner side is (submerged in) grief and the
outer side is covered with fear. The lamp of guidance is burning
in his heart. He has provided entertainment for the day that is
to befall him. He regards what is distant to be near himself and
takes the hard to be light. He looks at and perceives; he
remembers (Allah) and enhances (the tempo of his) actions. He
drinks sweet water to whose source his way has been made easy.
So he drinks to satisfaction and takes the level path. He has
put off the clothes of desires and got rid of worries except one
worry peculiar to him. He is safe from misguidance and the
company of people who follow their passions. He has become the
key to the doors of guidance, and the lock for the doors of
destruction.
He has seen his way and is walking on it. He knows his pillar
(of guidance) and has crossed over his deep water. He has caught
hold of the most reliable supports and the strongest ropes. He
is on that level of conviction which is like the brightness of
the sun. He has set himself for Allah, the Glorified, for
performance of the most sublime acts of facing all that befalls
him and taking every step needed for it. He is the lamp in
darkness. He is the dispeller of all blindness, key to the
obscure, remover of complexities, and a guide in vast deserts.
When he speaks he makes you understand whereas when he remains
silent then it is safe to do so. He did everything only for
Allah and so Allah also made him His own. Consequently, he is
like the mines of His faith and as a stump in His earth. He has
enjoined upon himself (to follow) justice.
The first step of his justice is the rejection of desires from
his heart. He describes right and acts according to it. There is
no good which he has not aimed at nor any likely place (of
virtue) of the Qur'an. Therefore the Qur'an is his guide and
leader. He gets down when the Qur'an puts down his weight and he
settles where the Qur'an settles him down.
The Characteristics of an unfaithful believer
While the other (kind of) man is he who calls himself learned
but he is not so. He has gleaned ignorance from the ignorant and
misguidance from the misguided. He has set for the people a trap
(made) of the ropes of deceit and untrue speech. He takes the
Qur'an according to his own views and right after his passions.
He makes people feel safe from big sins and takes light the
serious crimes. He says that he is waiting for (clarification
of) doubts but he remains plunged therein, and that he keeps
aloof from innovations but actually he is immersed in them. His
shape is that of a man, but his heart is that of a beast. He
does not know the door of guidance to follow nor the door of
misguidance to keep aloof therefrom. These are living dead
bodies.
About the Descendants (`Itrah) of the Holy Prophet
"So wither are you going to" (Qur'an, 81:26) and "how are you
then turned away?" (Qur'an, 6:95; 10:34; 35:3; 40:62). Ensigns
(of guidance) are standing, indications (of virtue) are clear,
and the minarets (of light) have been fixed. Where are you being
taken astray and how are you groping while you have among you
the descendants of the Prophet? They are the reins of Right,
ensigns of Faith and tongues of truth. Accord to them the same
good position as you accord to the Qur'an, and come to them (for
quenching the thirst of guidance) as the thirsty camels approach
the water spring.
O' people take this saying[1] of the last of the Prophets that
he who dies from among us is not dead, and he who decays (after
dying) from among us does not really decay. Do not say what you
do not understand, because most of the Right is in what you
deny. Accept the argument of one against whom you have no
argument. It is I. Did I not act before you on the greater
thaqal (ath-thaqal al-akbar, i.e. the Qur'an) and did I not
retain among you the smaller thaqal (ath-thaqal-al-asghar, i.e.
the descendants of the Prophet).[2] I fixed among you the
standard of faith, and I taught you the limits of lawful and
unlawful. I clothed you with the garments of safety with my
justice and spread for you (the carpet of) virtue by my word and
deed.
I showed you high manners through myself. Do not exercise your
imagination about what the eye cannot see or the mind cannot
conceive.
A part of the same sermon, about Banu Umayyah
Till people begin thinking that the world is attached to the
Umayyads, would be showering its benefits on them, and lead them
to its clear spring for watering, and that their whip and sword
will not be removed from the people. Whoever thinks so is wrong.
There are rather a few drops from the joys of life which they
would suck for a while and then vomit out the whole of it.
Footnotes by translator:
[1].This saying of the Prophet is a definite proof of the view
that the life of any one from among the Ahlu'l-bayt (Household
of the Holy Prophet) does not come to an end and that apparent
death makes no difference in their sense of living, although
human intelligence is unable to comprehend the conditions and
happenings of that life. There are many truths beyond this world
of senses which human mind cannot yet understand. Who can say
how in the narrow corner of the grave where it is not possible
even to breathe, replies will be given to the questions of the
angels Munkar and Nakir? Similarly, what is the meaning of life
of the martyrs in the cause of Allah, who have neither sense nor
motion, can neither see nor hear? Although to us they appear to
be dead, yet the Qur'an testifies to their life.
And say not of those who are slain in the path of Allah that
they are dead; Nay, (they are) living, but ye perceive not.
(2:154)
At another place it says about their life:
Reckon not those who are slain in the way of Allah, to be dead;
Nay! alive they are with their Lord being sustained. (3:169)
When restriction has been placed on mind and tongue even in
respect of the common martyrs that they should not be called
dead nor considered dead, how would not those individuals whose
necks were reserved for sword and palate for poison be living
for all times to come.
About their bodies Amir al-mu'minin has said that by passage of
time no signs of ageing or decay occur in them, but they remain
in the same state in which they fell as martyrs. There should be
nothing strange in it because dead bodies preserved through
material means still exist. When it is possible to do so through
material means will it be out of the Power of the Omnipotent
Creator to preserve against change and decay the bodies of those
upon whom He has bestowed the sense of everlasting life? Thus
about the martyrs of Badr, the Holy Prophet said:
Shroud them even with their wounds and flowing blood because
when they would rise on the Day of Judgement blood would be
pushing out of their throats .
[2]."ath-thaqal al-akbar" implies the Qur'an and "ath-thaqal al-asghar"
means Ahlu'l-bayt (the Household of the Holy Prophet) as in the
Prophet's saying: "Verily, I am leaving among you (the) two
precious things (of high estimation and of care)," the reference
is to Qur'an and Ahlu'l-bayt. There are several reasons for
using this word Firstly, "thaqal" means the kit of a traveller,
and since the kit is much in need, it is protected carefully.
Secondly, it means a precious thing; and since this is of great
importance, one is bound to follow the injunctions of the Qur'an
and the actions of Ahlu'l-bayt. So they have been called
'precious things'. Since Allah has made arrangements for the
protection of the Qur'an and Ahlu'l-bayt till doomsday so they
have been called "thaqalayn" . So the Prophet before leaving
this world for the next, declared them to be his valuable
possessions and ordered people to preserve them. Thirdly, then
have been called "Thaqalayn" (precious things) in view of their
purity and high value. Thus Ibn Hajar al-Haytami writes:
The Prophet has called the Qur'an and his Descendants as "thaqalayn"
(two precious things) because "thaqal" means a pure, chaste and
preserved thing, and either of these two were really so, each of
them is the treasure of Divine knowledge and a source of
scholarly secrets and religious commandments. For that reason
the Prophet desired the people to follow them and to stick to
them and to secure knowledge from them. Among them the most
deserving of attachment is the Imam and Scholar of the family of
the Prophet namely `Ali ibn Abi Talib (Allah may honour his
face) because of his great insight and copiousness of knowledge
which we have already described. (as-Sawa`iq al-muhriqah, p. 90)
Since the Prophet has with regard to apparent implication
attributed the Qur'an to Allah and the descendants to himself,
therefore in keeping with the natural status the Qur'an has been
called the bigger weight while the descendants, the smaller
weight. Otherwise from the point of view of being followed both
are equal and from the point of view of utility in the
development of character there can be no question in the status
of the speaking party (the Ahlu'l-bayt) being higher than the
silent one (the
Qur'an).
Alternative sources for this sermon:
(see Bibliography for details of these texts)
(1) Al-Zamakhshari, Rabi`, bab al-`izz wa al-sharaf; see also
Ibn Abi al-Hadid, II, 132.
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