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Nahj al-BalÄghah
The Wisdom and Eloquence of ʿAlī
Compiled by al-SharÄ«f al-Raá¸Ä«
(d. 406/1015)
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Raá¸Ä«âs Introduction In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful â0.1 â¬I praise God, who made praise the return for his favors, the refuge from his trials, the way to his garden, and the means to obtain yet more of his beneficence. May God shower blessings on his Messengerâthe Prophet of mercy, the Imam of all Imams, lantern for the community, the one fashioned from the clay of honor, the scion of ancient nobility, the deep-rooted tree of glory, and the leafy, fruit-bearing bough of grandeur. May God shower blessings on the people of his house. They are lamps in the darkness, protectors of the nations, brilliant beacons of faith, and weighted scales of virtue. May God shower them with blessings that equal their virtue, requite their endeavors, and match the bouquet of their fragrant bough and root, for as long as the morning gleams bright and the stars rise and set. â0.2 â¬In the days of my eager youth, motivated by a goal that I described in its introduction,1 I began compiling a book about the qualities of the Imams that included their beautiful sayings and bejeweled maxims. I finished transcribing the qualities of the Commander of the Faithful, Ê¿AlÄ«, but fate put obstructions in my path and destiny cast delays, such that I was prevented from finishing the rest. I had divided the part I had already written into chapters and sections, and, at its end, I had placed a section on short sayings narrated from Ê¿AlÄ«, including words of counsel, aphorisms, maxims, and directions for refined behavior; I had excluded the longer orations and more expansive letters.2 â0.3 â¬A group of my friends were especially enthralled with this section. Astonished by the marvels of the Commander of the Faithfulâs words and amazed by their limpid clarity, they asked me to compile a book that would offer a selection in all its manifold categories and branches, including orations, letters, statements of counsel, and directions for refined behavior. They knew full well that these pieces offered wonderful eloquence and rare expressions, jewels of Arabic, and gems of earthly wisdom and spiritual sayings, which are assembled |
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Raá¸Ä«, Khaá¹£Äʾiá¹£ al-aʾimmah, 36â38. As noted in the present volumeâs Introduction, Raá¸Ä«âs purpose in writing it was to refute an Abbasid (presumably Sunni) detractor.
Raá¸Ä«, Khaá¹£Äʾiá¹£ al-aʾimmah, passim. The section on Ê¿AlÄ« includes details of his appointment (naṣṣ) by the Prophet, some of his celebrated miracles, poetry in his praise and poetry describing his appointment at GhadÄ«r Khumm, the events of his caliphate, the grace enjoyed by those who visit his shrine, and a selection from his sayings and sermons.
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nowhere else, neither in spoken words nor in written books. Indeed, the Commander of the Faithful is the fountainhead of elocution and its wellspring, the cradle of eloquence and its birthplace. It is from him that its secrets became known, and its rules were learned. He is the model for every articulate orator, his the words used by every persuasive preacher. Moreover, he was the first, while they came trailing, he forged ahead, while they lagged behind. His words were anointed with divine knowledge and perfumed by prophetic discourse. â0.4 â¬I answered my friendsâ appeal and began the book, knowing it would bring me great benefit, redolent fame, and lasting reward. My purpose was to demonstrate the Commander of the Faithfulâs lofty station in this particular virtue, in addition to his numerous other qualities and abundant merits, and to highlight his singular attainment among the earliest Muslims. Of their words, we find a few sporadic pieces and occasional lines, while his are a bottomless ocean, an overwhelming torrent. With great pride in my own descent from him, I beg your leave to cite here a testimonial verse by Farazdaq:1
â0.5 â¬Ê¿AlÄ«âs verbal heritage, I have found, revolves around three poles: orations and directives; letters and epistles; and sayings and counsels. I have, with Godâs guidance, selected and transcribed his most beautiful orations, then his most beautiful letters, then his most beautiful sayings and directions for refined behavior. For each of these categories, I have dedicated its own separate chapter. In each chapter, I have left several pages blank, in case I have missed something that I might discover later. Whenever I have come across material from his oeuvre that was spoken in a conversation, or in answer to a question, or that belongs to a genre different than the ones around which I have structured my compilation, I have placed it in the chapter to which it is most suited, the one closest to it in form. Some sections therefore may not be fully harmonious in their coordination and some sayings may not be systematically arranged. My goal is to transcribe pithy sayings and dazzling expressions; consistent and methodical recording is not my intention. |
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Farazdaq, DÄ«wÄn, 360, from a poem beginning (â®
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â0.6 â¬Among the marvels unique to Ê¿AlÄ« that no one else shares with him is the following: if a person were to ponder his words of renunciation, counsel, remembrance, or admonition, if he were to parse them thoroughlyâwhile putting aside the knowledge that they were spoken by a man of lofty stature whose commands people followed and who ruled over a multitudeâhe would have no doubt that these are the words of one who knows nothing but renunciation, whose sole occupation is worship, who has withdrawn to a lonely corner or leads a solitary life at the foot of a mountain, hearing no other voice and seeing no other person. He would never imagine that they could have been spoken by a man who rushed into the fray of battle brandishing his sword, striking off menâs heads and cutting down warriors, then returning with it dripping blood and gore. Yet, Ê¿AlÄ« was also the most pious of renunciants and the greatest of Godâs deputies.1 Thisâhis combination of opposites and conjunction of contrariesâis one of his most marvelous virtues and sublime characteristics. I often remind my companions of this quality and they are moved to wonder, for it offers lessons and provokes contemplation. â0.7 â¬In my selection of material, it is possible that some words repeat and certain themes recur; the redundancy is occasioned by the strong variation in different narrations of Ê¿AlÄ«âs words. It could be that I have transcribed a piece as I found it in one narrative, then I came across it in another, somewhat different from the first, either in having a choice supplement, or a more eloquent turn of phrase, which led me to repeat it, to shore up my compilation and preserve these wondrously wise novelties. Or it could be that some time had gone by since my first selection and I repeated a text, not deliberately and intentionally, but in error or forgetfulness. Even so, I do not claim that I have gathered all the prominent pieces of Ê¿AlÄ«âs words such that no stray escaped my lasso and no breakaway absconded. Indeed, it is likely that the pieces I have missed are more numerous than the ones I found, and the examples I have tracked down are fewer than the ones that slipped from my grasp. The most I can do is to endeavor to the best of my ability. It is Godâif he willsâwho shows the path and guides aright. |
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Lit. âof the substitutes,â (abdÄl, sing. badal), refers to âcertain righteous persons, of whom the world is never destitute; when one dies, God substitutes another in his placeâ (Lane, Lexicon, s.v. âB-D-Lâ).
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â0.8 â¬I have decided to name this book Nahj al-BalÄghah (The Way of Eloquence), for it opens doors of eloquence for its readers and helps them acquire its tools. In it, both scholar and student can find something that speaks to them, and through it, both orator and renunciant can fulfill their desires. Within its pages, you will see marvelous expositions on Godâs unity and justice, on stripping God of attributes that would render him like his creatures,1 and expositions that assuage thirst, cure sickness, and dispel doubt. â0.9 â¬I ask God for guidance and protection. I appeal to him for direction and aid. I ask him to protect my heart before my tongue errs, and my tongue before my foot slips. God is my sufficiency and the best guardian. |
Raá¸Ä«âs mention of âGodâs unity and justiceâ and his words about âstripping God of attributesâ speak to his MuÊ¿tazilÄ« beliefs.
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1. Orations Chapter containing selections from the Commander of the Faithfulâs orations and directives, including selections from his addresses that may be likened to orations, spoken in charged gatherings, famous battles, and times of danger â1.1 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«, in which he spoke of the creation of sky and earth, and the creation of Adam:1 â1.1.1 â¬I praise God. Yet no speaker can articulate his praise, no reckoner can count his favors, and the most diligent cannot give him his due. Soaring thoughts cannot reach him and deep minds cannot fathom him. He cannot be described, for he is beyond the limits of demarcated boundaries, existing depictions, tallied times, and protracted lifespans. His power created the universe and his mercy sent forth rain-bearing winds. Then, to curb its oscillation, he pegged the earth with massive rocks. The first part of religion is knowledge of God. Knowledge of him is perfected by belief in him. Belief in him is perfected by the declaration of his oneness. Declaration of his oneness is perfected by sincere allegiance to him. Sincere allegiance to him is achieved by negating all attributes ascribed to him, by the testimony of every attribute that it is separate from the thing described, and by the testimony of each thing described that it is separate from the attribute.2 To describe God is to ascribe associates to him. To ascribe associates to him is to ascribe duality to him. To ascribe duality to him is to divide him. To divide him is to undervalue him. To undervalue him is to depict him. To depict him is to circumscribe him. To circumscribe him is to quantify him. To ask, âIn what?â is to confine him. To ask, âOn what?â is to make another space empty of him. God is a being but not by coming into being. He is existent but not after non-existence. He is with all things but not by association. He is other than all things but not by detachment. He is an agent but not by movement or instrument. He was all-seeing when there was no creature to be seen. He existed in solitude when there was no friend in whose familiarity he could take comfort, or by whose absence he would be distraught. |
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The first section (§â¯1.1.1) is from Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration to the Kufans, urging them to regroup to fight MuÊ¿Äwiyah, after the Battle of NahrawÄn in 38/658. KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 1:134.
I.e., the attribute and the thing described are two separate things, they are part of a pair and have âtwo-ness,â and, as such, neither label can be applied to God, who is one.
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â1.1.2 â¬God created the world and gave it a beginning. He did this without long mulling, prior experience, generated movement, or stirring aspiration. He made all things in their proper time and combined their parts. He accorded them a particular nature and gave them a specific form. He knew them before he gave them a beginning, cognizant of their limits and consequences, and aware of their connections and complexities. Then he rent the ether, tore up the sky and air, and unleashed a torrent roiling with crashing waves. He placed the torrent on the back of a stormy wind, a raging tempest. He ordered the wind to hold the torrent in check, dispatched it to fetter the flood, and compelled it to restrict the advancing surf. Below, the air was vast and empty. The water gushed above. Then, he created a barren wind, its control permanent, its current tempestuous, and its perfume wafting. He commanded it to whip up the rolling waters and bring forth mighty waves. The wind churned up the water like cream in a churning skin and tossed it about in the sky, flipping it end over end and mixing the still and the shifting, until it frothed and bubbled and threw up a mountain of foam. Raising the frothy mixture in the expansive layers of air, in the vast ether, God molded seven skiesâthe lowest of them a frozen wave, and the loftiest a well-preserved canopy, an elevated firmamentâwith no pillar for support, and no nails or ropes to bind. Then he ornamented the sky with beautiful stars and bright lights. He set therein a radiant sun and a glowing moon, gliding in that spinning sphere, that moving sky, that flowing, studded expanse. â1.1.3 â¬Then God rent the lofty skies and filled them with ranks of his angels: some continually prostrate, never bowing, others bow, never standing straight, yet others stand in rows, never quitting that position, and yet more chant litanies of his praise, never tiring. Drowsy eyes do not impede them, nor wandering minds, exhausted bodies, or forgetfulness occasioned by lack of heed. Among them, too, are angels God has entrusted with his revelation. Constituting Godâs tongues to his apostles, they come and go with his decrees and commands. Some are charged with protecting his servants, others are gatekeepers at the doors of his Garden. Yet others have feet firmly fixed in the nethermost regions of the earth, while their necks extend beyond the highest heaven, their flanks stretch beyond the land mass, and their shoulders reach the posts of Godâs throne. They lower their gaze before him and spread interlocked wings underneath, separated from those below by veils of might and cloaks of power. They do not attempt to picture their Lord through imagination, or apply to him the attributes of created beings, or demarcate him within a location, or depict him with comparisons. |
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â1.1.4 â¬From the same oration, describing the creation of Adam: God gathered soil by sifting coarse earth and fine, sweet earth and salty. He rinsed it with water until it became pure and clean, and moistened and kneaded it until it was smooth and malleable. With this mixture, he molded a form with curves, joints, limbs, and nodes. He let it dry until it hardened, setting it aside for a fixed period of time, until it became firm. Then he breathed into it of his spirit, and it stood before him as a human being. This being had faculties it could harness, a mind it could engage, limbs it could yoke to its service, parts it could use as instruments, and perception with which it could differentiate between right and wrong, tastes and smells, colors, and species. Its clay was a blend of disparate entities, assembled forms, warring opposites, and dissimilar mixtures: hot and cold, wet and dry, painful and joyous. â1.1.5 â¬Then God commanded his angels to fulfill the trust with which he had charged them and discharge the covenant he had enjoinedâto prostrate humbly, deferentially, before Adam, in recognition of the honor he had received from God. God said, «Prostrate before Adam, and they all prostrated except IblÄ«s»1 and IblÄ«sâs tribe. Pride held them back and wretchedness took over when they boasted of their creation from fire and scorned the creation of clay. God gave IblÄ«s a respite so that he could earn yet more of Godâs wrath, to complete the trial and fulfill the pledge. He said, «You have been placed among those who have been granted respite until the day of destiny.»2 As for Adam, God gave him a home, with a good life therein and a safe dwelling. He warned him of IblÄ«s and of IblÄ«sâs enmity. IblÄ«s misled Adam, for he was jealous of Adamâs heavenly abode and pious companions. Adam was deceivedâhe exchanged certainty for doubt and resolve for weakness, his bliss was replaced by fear, his deception was followed by regret. Afterward, God accepted his plea for forgiveness, spoke words of mercy, and promised him a return to paradise, but he nevertheless cast Adam into the abode of tribulation, where his descendants would multiply for generations. â1.1.6 â¬From Adamâs descendants, God selected prophets, exacting a pledge from them to convey his revelation, and entrusting them with delivering his message. As time passed, most people altered Godâs covenant, denied what they owed him, and ascribed partners to him. The devils had driven them away from their earlier recognition of him, stopping them from his worship altogether. God dispatched messengers and a succession of prophets to restore people to their |
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Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:34, ṬÄhÄ 20:116, IsrÄʾ 17:61. IblÄ«s refers to Lucifer.
Qurʾan, Ḥijr 15:37â38, á¹¢Äd 38:80â81.
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original pledge. He directed his prophets to remind people of the divine favors they had forgotten, establish the truth by conveying his message, and revive their numbed intellects. He instructed his prophets to show people the signs of his power: the sky raised above, and the earth spread below, livelihoods that sustained life, and lifespans that ended in death, suffering that made people age, and relentless calamities. Never in all this time did God allow his creation to be left without a prophet, a revealed scripture, a sure proof, or a clear path. The scanty number who answered did not stop Godâs messengers, nor the multitudes of their repudiators. Each messenger had his successor named for him, each successor was identified by his predecessor. In this manner, generations went by, and ages passed. Fathers died, and sons took their place. â1.1.7 â¬So it was, until God sent Muḥammad to fulfill his promise and complete the line of prophecy. All earlier prophets had been made to affirm Muḥammad, whose qualities had been made known to them, with a binding oath. His birth, when it came, brought auspicious blessings. At that time, the earthâs inhabitants were divided into numerous faiths with different notions and divergent views. One group likened God to his creatures, another rejected his name, and a third looked to a separate deity. Through Muḥammad, God saved the people from their errant ways. Because of his eminence, he delivered them from ignorance. Then God summoned Muḥammad to meet with him and desired for him the blessings to be enjoyed at his side. Raising him from the vileness of this worldly abode and lifting him from this place of tribulation, God brought him into his presence, honored and esteemed. For you, he left you what earlier prophets left their communities, they did not abandon their followers without guidance, without a clear path or a signpost. Muḥammad, too, left you your Lordâs Book, and he fully elucidated its contents: the licit versus the illicit, recommended virtues versus required mandates, abrogating verses versus abrogated ones, licenses versus decrees, specifics versus generalities, lessons versus parables, free verses versus restricted ones, and clear verses versus ambiguous ones. He explained the Bookâs subtleties and clarified what was obscure, including things whose knowledge is required for all Godâs servants, versus others, ignorance of which is excused; things whose mandate is established in the Book while their abrogation is shown in the Sunnah, versus others whose practice is commanded in the Sunnah while vacating them is permitted in the Book; and things that were compulsory in their time, versus others whose directive subsequently ceased. He differentiated among the Bookâs prohibitions of grave sins which incur the punishment of the Fire, versus smaller transgressions which hold the prospect of Godâs forgiveness; of acts acceptable in minimal form, versus those that earn maximum reward. |
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â1.1.8 â¬From the same oration: God mandated the rite of pilgrimage to his House, which he commanded you to face in prayer. He directed you to race to the House like cattle to water, like doves to seed, demonstrating your prostration before his greatness and your submission to his power. He selected true listeners to answer his call, believe in his word, stand in the stations of the prophets, and follow the example of angels who circumambulate his throne. These pilgrims obtain abundant profit through their worship of him, and they speedily secure his forgiveness. God characterized his House as Islamâs lofty banner and made it a sanctuary for all who seek shelter. Mandating pilgrimage to it, he commanded you to submit its due and come to it, and he decreed, «Pilgrimage to the House is compulsory for all who are able to find a path. As for those who disbelieve, they should know that God has need of no one from all the worlds.»1 â1.2 â¬From an oration given by Ê¿AlÄ« during his return from á¹¢iffÄ«n:2 â1.2.1 â¬I praise God, seeking the completion of his favor, submitting to his might, and entreating his protection against sin. I beseech him, needing only his all-sufficing aid. Whomsoever God guides never goes astray, whomsoever he abhors never endures, and whomsoever he suffices never wants. His praise is the weightiest commodity placed on the celestial scales, and the best treasure one can hoard. I testify that there is no god but GodâI render this testimony with firm sincerity and true belief. We, all of us, shall cling to it for as long as God gives us life, relying on it to dispel the terrors we must face, for it is the requirement of our faith and the key to Godâs gifts, it pleases the Merciful and banishes Satan. I testify that Muḥammad is Godâs servant and messenger and acknowledge that God sent Muḥammad with a celebrated religion, a legacy of knowledge,3 a transcribed scripture, brilliant light, gleaming radiance, and clear command. All this, in order to remove doubts, establish proofs, caution with portentous signs, and warn against Godâs punishments. When Muḥam- |
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Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:97. Godâs House (Bayt AllÄh) is the KaÊ¿bah in Mecca.
In 37/657. Alternatively, Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 1:143) states that the last line of §â¯1.2.2, which speaks of truth being restored to its owners, cannot be placed at the time of Ê¿AlÄ«âs leaving á¹¢iffÄ«n but has to have been spoken early in his caliphate, immediately after the pledge of allegiance to him in 35/656.
Reading Ê¿ilm. Or, reading Ê¿alam, âa time-honored banner.â
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mad arrived,1 people were embroiled in seditions. Religionâs rope was severed, convictionâs foundations were shaken, principles were scattered, the community was shattered, the egress had narrowed, and a way out could not be seen. Right guidance was not recognized, and the blindness was total. The Merciful Lord was disobeyed, Satan was abetted, and faith had no support. Its pillars had come crashing down, its features were distorted, its paths had fallen into disrepair, and its trails had worn away. In obedience to Satan, people had followed his ways and alighted at his watering hole. With their support, his banners were raised high, and his pennants were unfurled. This was a time when sedition was ascendant, when people were crushed by its steeds and trampled under its hooves. Enmeshed in its throes, they were in a state of convulsion, lost, confused, and ignorant. They lived in the best of abodes but with the worst of neighbors. They lived in a land where the learned were demeaned and the ignorant esteemed. Here, slumber had turned into insomnia and kohl had been replaced by tears. â1.2.2 â¬From the same oration, referring to the Prophetâs family: They are the embodiments of Godâs mystery, the foundations of his creed, the vessels of his knowledge, the harbors for his wisdom, the havens for his scriptures, and the peaks of his religion. Through them, he straightens religionâs back when it becomes crooked, and calms its limbs when it trembles. From the same oration, referring to the hypocrites: They sowed immorality, watered it with arrogance, and reaped perdition. No one from this community may be compared to Muḥammadâs family, and no one blessed by Godâs favors may be equated with them in this regard. They are the pillar of religion and the column of certainty. The exaggerator must return to their position, and the laggard must join up with it. Theirs is the right of allegiance, theirs the Prophetâs testament and inheritance. Now, in this moment, truth has been restored to its owners and returned to its home. |
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After Ḥ 1:137. These lines, from âfÄ« fitanin,â to the end of the section, have alternatively been read as a reference to the seditions in Ê¿AlÄ«âs time.
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â1.3 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« known as ShiqshiqiyyahââThe Roar of the Camel Stallionâ:1 â1.3.1 â¬By God, that man donned its cloak knowing that I am the pivot to its grinding stoneâits stream flows from my summit and no soaring bird can reach my heights. I draped a curtain across it and turned my face away. I weighed two options: strike with an amputated hand or endure a blind darkness that renders adults infirm and children old, in which believers continue to brave toil and turmoil until they meet their Lord. I saw that forbearance was the judicious choice. So I enduredâbut my eyes filled with dust and my throat choked as I saw my inheritance looted. â1.3.2 â¬Thus it was, until the first went on his way, tossing it to another after him.
How strange that he should wish to give it up during his lifetime yet secure it for another after his death! The two divided the milk from its udders between them! This next one corralled it to a stony field, where any who ventured sustained deep wounds and experienced rough passage. How often did people stumble in this terrain, and how often did they make excuses for stumbling! |
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Delivered in Raḥbah, south of Kufa, toward the end of Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, in response to Ibn Ê¿AbbÄsâs query about the Prophetâs succession, according to MufÄ«d (IrshÄd, 287). Sibá¹ (Tadhkirah, 124) states it was delivered on the pulpit of the Prophetâs Mosque in Medina in 35/656, soon after Ê¿AlÄ« was pledged allegiance as caliph, in response to a person calling out to him, âWhat kept you back until now?â, but this earlier dating is unlikely given the reference in the final section (§â¯1.3.4) to the three groups who rebelled against him. âItâ in the first line is the caliphate, and âthat manâ (lit. Ibn AbÄ« fulÄn, âson of so-and-soâ) is AbÅ« Bakr, the first historical caliph. The second individual (§â¯1.3.2) is Umar, and âthe thirdâ (§â¯1.3.3) is Ê¿UthmÄn; âhis clanâ refers to the Umayyads. This oration is controversial because of its political content, but it is not so different from materials recorded by the earliest historians: Ibn HishÄm (SÄ«rah, 2:489â490), ṬabarÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 4:231â233, 5:7â8), YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:126), and Ibn Qutaybah (ImÄmah, 1:28â33), all note Ê¿AlÄ«âs refusal to accept AbÅ« Bakr as caliph until forced to do so. They also record Ê¿AlÄ«âs declarations about his right to the caliphate immediately after Muḥammadâs death, and during the deliberations of Ê¿Umarâs ShÅ«rÄ council. For details of this issue and further primary sources, see Madelung, The Succession to Muḥammad, 28â33, 141, and passim; and Madelung, âS̲h̲īʿa,â EI2. The ShiÊ¿i commentators read the oration as proof of Ê¿AlÄ«âs imamate, while the Sunni commentators read it as an articulation of Ê¿AlÄ«âs superiority over all other Companions of the Prophet. B 153â155; R 1:122; Ḥ 1:156â159; Ê¿A 565.
By the pre-Islamic poet AÊ¿shÄ MaymÅ«n (d. ca. 7/629), DÄ«wÄn al-AÊ¿shÄ, 147, §â¯18, verse 57.
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Any who traversed it rode a bucking camelâtighten its rein and slit its nose or loosen the ropes and be thrown. By God, the community was struck by kicking feet and rearing hooves and tormented with caprice and obstruction. I enduredâbut it was a long time and a harsh affliction. â1.3.3 â¬Thus it was, until, when he went on his way, he handed it over to a group of people he supposed I belonged with. Dear God, what a Council! Was there doubt regarding my stature, even in comparison with the first of them, that I was now being equated with these laggards! But I moved with them, falling when they fell and flying when they flew. Even so, one of them turned away from me because of an old grudge,1 another inclined toward someone else because he was related to him by marriage,2 along with this one and that one, until the third stood up, bosom swelling with pride, amid his dung and fodder. His clan stood up with him, munching on Godâs property like a herd of camels munching on spring grass. â1.3.4 â¬Thus it was, until its strands came apart in his hands and his own actions delivered the death blow. It was greed that brought him to the ground. Then suddenly, people were flocking to me, thick as a hyenaâs mane, trampling Ḥasan and Ḥusayn and rending my own shirt, pressing in on me from every side like a surging herd of sheep.3 But when I rose to undertake its charge, one group of rebels broke their pledge, another deserted the faith, and a third went astray. Had they never heard Godâs words, «We shall reserve the hereafter for those who do not seek to exalt themselves on the earth or spread corruption. The good end is for the godfearing»?4 Yes, by God, they heard and understood it, but the world appeared bejeweled to their eyes and her ornaments dazzled them. I swear by him who split open the seed, the one who created living beingsâwere it not for those who appealed to me in that time, if the presence of supporters had not made it my binding duty, if God had not taken a pledge from the learned that they would not permit tyrants to ravage or the subjugated to starve, I would have flung the caliphateâs reins onto its shoulders and offered the same cup to its latest emissary that I had offered to its earliest one. If not for this, you would have seen that your world means less to me than the sneeze of a goat. |
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SaÊ¿d ibn AbÄ« WaqqÄá¹£. R 1:122; Ḥ 1:184, 189.
Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn ibn Ê¿Awf. Ḥ 1:189.
Similar lines in §â¯1.53, §â¯1.135.2, §â¯1.226.
Qurʾan, Qaṣaṣ 28:83.
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â1.3.5 â¬When Ê¿AlÄ« reached this point in his oration, a visitor from the countryside handed him a petition, and he paused to look at it. When he had finished reading, Ibn Ê¿AbbÄs asked, âCommander of the Faithful, will you not continue your speech where you left off?â âNo, Ibn Ê¿AbbÄs,â Ê¿AlÄ« replied, âthat was the roar of a camel stallion that burst out then subsided.â Ibn Ê¿AbbÄs remarked, âBy God, I have never regretted the loss of any words as much as I regret the loss of theseâif only the Commander of the Faithful had completed what he began!â â1.3.6 â¬Raá¸Ä«: Ê¿AlÄ«âs words in this oration: âAny who traversed it rode a bucking camelâtighten its rein and slit its nose, or loosen it and be thrown,â mean that if the rider were to pull strongly on the reins of a bucking came while it pulled the other way, he would slit its nose, but if he were to slacken them a little, then that, coupled with the camelâs recalcitrance, would mean that the camel would throw him off, for he would be unable to control it. It is said, âHe tightened the reins of the camel mareâ (ashnaqa l-nÄqata), when someone pulls back the camelâs muzzle with the nose-rein and lifts it up; the basic form of the verb (shanaqa) is also usedâIbn al-SikkÄ«t mentions this in Iá¹£lÄḥ al-maná¹iq (Correcting Speech). Ê¿AlÄ« said, âHe tightened for it its reins (ashnaqa lahÄ)â (using the preposition li-),1 rather than âHe tightened its reins (ashnaqahÄ)â (with the camel as direct object), because he wanted to preserve the parallelism with âif he loosened them (aslasa lahÄ),â where he also used the preposition li-. It is as though Ê¿AlÄ« said, âif he raised the camelâs head upward with the nose-rein,â meaning that he held the camel tightly by means of it. â1.4 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 Through us you received guidance in the dark night, mounted the camelâs lofty hump, and emerged from a moonless night into the light of dawn. How deaf are the ears that donât hear the mournersâ wails! Can people whom a clap of thunder fails to awaken be expected to heed a gentle voice? How calm is the heart that shudders in fear of God! I knew you would be treacherous, for I saw you donning seductionâs garb. But I wear the robe of religion, and it has prevented me from harming you, though my righteous spirit showed me clearly what you were. I stood up to guide you back to the trodden path of truth, from all those trails where you had wandered without a guide, where you had dug for water but found none. Today I have made mute signs, eloquent ones, speak to you. Those who held back from me have strayed. I never doubted the truth since it |
Li- is the usual form of this preposition, but it changes to la- before pronominals, as it has here and a few lines below.
After the Battle of the Camel in 36/656, posthumously addressing Ṭalḥah and Zubayr, and their defeated followers. R 136, after Miskawayh; Ḥ 1:209; B 164.
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was shown to me. Moses was not fearful for his lifeâwhat he feared was the dominance of the ignorant and the control of the errant.1 Today, we faced off on the battlefield, one on the side of right, the other on the side of wrong. A man who knows he will find water does not feel thirst. â1.5 â¬An address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered when Godâs Messenger passed away, and Ê¿AbbÄs and AbÅ« SufyÄn came to him offering the pledge of caliphal allegiance:2 People! Cut through the waves of rebellion by boarding the ark of salvation. Leave the path of dissension and cast off the crown of pride. Success comes to those who rise when they have support, or yield and let people be. This affair resembles murky water, or a morsel that chokes those who swallow it. One who plucks before his time gains as little as one who plants in anotherâs field. If I say something now, they will respond, âHe covets power.â If I remain silent, they will cry, âHe is afraid of being killed!â No, indeed, â¨not after the small calamity and the large oneâ©!3 By God, AbÅ« ṬÄlibâs son is more comfortable with death than an infant at his motherâs breast! But I hold knowledge of mysteries. Were I to reveal them to you, you would tremble like ropes hanging down deep wells. â1.6 â¬From an address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered when advised not to pursue Ṭalḥah and Zubayr or make preparations to fight them:4 By God, I shall not behave like the hyena that, sleeping through a prolonged barrage of pebbles, is captured by the stealthy hunter.5 I call on men who have |
Refers to the Qurʾanic story of Moses (Qurʾan, HÅ«d 11:70, ṬÄhÄ 20:67), and compares Ê¿AlÄ«âs story to it.
In 11/632, in Medina. ṬabrisÄ« (IḥtijÄj, 1:127) cites the first three lines as part of a note Ê¿AlÄ« wrote to AbÅ« Bakr, after he had denied FÄá¹imah her right to inherit the orchards of Fadak. Ê¿AbbÄs ibn Ê¿Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib was Ê¿AlÄ« and Muḥammadâs uncle. AbÅ« SufyÄn was MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs father and Muḥammadâs arch foe, before he converted to Islam following the Prophetâs conquest of Mecca. The twoâÊ¿AbbÄs and AbÅ« SufyÄnâwere close associates.
Proverb signifying all sorts of calamities (etiology in MaydÄnÄ«, MajmaÊ¿, 1:92), signifying that Ê¿AlÄ« has faced death on the battlefield throughout his life.
In Rabadhah, near Medina, in 36/656, enroute to Iraq in the lead-up to the Battle of the Camel (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:455â456), or in DhÅ« QÄr, soon after arriving in Iraq (ibid., 4:457â458); Ê¿AlÄ«âs son Ḥasan is named as his interlocutor.
See similar phraseology in §â¯1.146. The signification of the simile is being naively unaware of danger despite ample warning. In medieval Arab lore, the hyena (á¸abuÊ¿) is reputed to be a stupid animal. Easily tricked by the hunter who throws pebbles to draw it out, it emerges from its den, thinking to find prey, and is killed. Hyenas were apparently hunted as food; their meat is considered licit in the ShÄfiÊ¿Ä« and ḤanbalÄ« schools of law, and a delicacy in present-day Saudi Arabia (Osborne, âHyena Burger?â). B 170; R 149; Ḥ 224; Ibn ManáºÅ«r, LisÄn, s.v. âL-D-Ghâ; JÄḥiáº, ḤayawÄn, 6:38, 7:48; DamÄ«rÄ«, ḤayÄt al-ḥayawÄn, 2:206. For further details and sources, see Viré, âá¸abuÊ¿,â EI2.
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accepted the truth to attack those who have turned away. I call on those who hear and obey to fight those doubters who have disobeyed. I shall continue to call on you until my appointed time arrives. By God! From the day God took his Messenger unto him until this day, I have been continually driven away from this thing that is mine by right and passed over for another. â1.7 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 They made Satan master of their affairs and he made them his partners. He laid eggs in their breasts and hatched chicks. He frolicked in their laps and romped. He watched with their eyes and spoke with their tongues. He incited them to error and lured them to treachery. Their actions are the actions of people whose rule Satan shares and on whose tongues he utters his falsehoods. â1.8 â¬From an address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered about Zubayr:2 He declares that he pledged allegiance with his hand but not his heart. So he admits his pledge, although he claims he withheld intent. Let him bring tangible proof of that, or else return to the pledge he has forsaken. â1.9 â¬From an address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered:3 They thundered and blazed but that is the way of cowards. My thunder always strikes, and my torrent is always propelled by rain. â1.10 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:4 Hark! Satan has mustered his host and armed his cavalry and infantry. But my conviction has not deserted me, I have never deceived nor been deceived. By God, I shall fill the waterhole for them as only I canâthey shall not leave sated or return.5 |
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Presumably referring to Ê¿AlÄ«âs challengers at the battles of the Camel, á¹¢iffÄ«n, or NahrawÄn. The referents are described by RÄwandÄ« as âthe errant leadersâ (aʾimmat al-á¸alÄl), but neither he nor the other major commentators specify names. Ḥ 1:228; B 170â171; R 1:151â152.
Responding just before the Battle of the Camel, in 36/656, to a speech by Zubayrâs son Ê¿AbdallÄh, in which he stated his fatherâs claim. MufÄ«d, Jamal, 175, after WÄqidÄ«.
Refers to Ê¿AlÄ«âs challengers at the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (R 1:154, B 173). The lines are from an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in response to a speech by Ṭalḥah, just before battle commenced. MufÄ«d, Jamal, 177, after WÄqidÄ«.
Delivered at DhÅ« QÄr, thus in 36/656, en route to Basra (B 172), referring to Ê¿AlÄ«âs challengers at the Battle of the Camel. Alternatively, delivered at an unspecified time, and referring to MuÊ¿Äwiyah (Ḥ 1:240; R 1:155). See similar lines in §â¯1.22 and §â¯1.135.
The âwaterholeâ here refers to battle, and by saying he will fill it as only he can, Ê¿AlÄ« refers to his prowess in combat. Ḥ 1:240; R 155.
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â1.11 â¬From an address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered to his son Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah, while entrusting him with the banner at the Battle of the Camel:1 Mountains may move, but you should not. Clench your teeth. Lend God your skull.2 Dig your feet into the earth. Keep an eye on your farthest foes but focus on those who are close. Above all, know this: Victory comes from Almighty God. â1.12 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«, after his victory at the Battle of the Camel. One of his supporters said to him, âI wish my brother were present to witness the victory God has granted you over your enemies.â Ê¿AlÄ« asked, âDoes your brotherâs loyalty lie with us?â The man replied, âYes,â and Ê¿AlÄ« declared:3 Then he has witnessed us. Indeed, our fight has been witnessed by a mighty host in the loins of men and the wombs of women. Time will bring them forth and faith will gain strength. â1.13 â¬An address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered criticizing Basra and rebuking its people:4 You fought for the woman and followed the camelâwhen it bellowed, you answered, when it was killed, you fled. Your character is base, your custom is dissent, your faith is hypocrisy, and your water is bitter. Whoever resides with you is ensnared in sin, whoever leaves you is saved by Godâs mercy. I can see your mosque now, the prow of a ship enveloped by Godâs punishment from above and below. All on board will drown. A variant narrative: I swear by God, your city will drown! I see your mosque like a shipâs prow, or a squatting ostrich. It is also narrated as: Like a birdâs breast rising above the swells of the sea. |
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Basra, 36/656.
The commentators decode the metaphor as putting oneâs life on the line to defend Godâs religion; they also say the word âlendâ (aÊ¿ir), (rather than âgiveâ), denotes a promise that Ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah would not be killed in this battle. R 158â159, B 173, Ḥ 1:242.
According to BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 174), this and the next texts (presumably §â¯1.13â1.14) are from a single oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Basra three days after the Battle of the Camel in Basra, in 36/656. He had criers call out for the people to gather, and when they had assembled, he stepped into the mosque, prayed the morning prayer, stood on the right side of the prayer niche with his back against the wall, and gave this speech. The lines are also placed at NahrawÄn, following the battle there in 38/658. BarqÄ«, MaḥÄsin, 1:262.
See note to §â¯1.12. The reference in the first line is to Ê¿Äʾishah and the camel she rode onto the battlefield at the Battle of the Camel. B 175; Ḥ 1:252.
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â1.14 â¬From a similar address delivered by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 Your land is close to the sea and far from the sky. Your wits are feeble and your minds are weak. You are targets for the archer, morsels for the greedy, and easy prey for all who would attack. â1.15 â¬Ê¿AlÄ«âs address defending his restoration of Ê¿UthmÄnâs land grants to the public treasury:2 By God, even if the money had been spent to wed women or buy slave-girls, I would still have required its return. Justice has a wide scopeâwhoever finds it narrow should know that oppression is even more limiting. â1.16 â¬From an address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered when the pledge of allegiance was sworn to him in Medina:3 I guarantee the truth of what I say and stand as surety for my pledge. To be cautioned by historyâs lessons is to be protected by piety from galloping headlong into the abyss of doubt. Hark my words! You are being tested today, just as you were on the day God sent his Prophet. I swear by the one who sent him with the truth that you will be tossed hither and thither, sifted as in a sieve, and mixed and mingled as if in a boiling cauldron. Lowly folk will rise, and others in high positions will fall. Stragglers will race to the front, and others who are ahead will fall behind. By God, I have never held back a true word or spoken a single lie, and I was told of the arrival of this place and day. Hark my words! Sins are recalcitrant steeds, charging unreined with their riders into the Fire. Hear me! Piety is a docile mount that carries its riders, reins firm in their hands, steadily to paradise. There is truth and there is falsehood, and each has its peopleâwhat is new if falsehood prevails? Truth has few followers, and those who turn away rarely return. Those who see paradise or hellfire ahead have enough to occupy them. The swift runner is saved, the man who is tardy has hope, but the delinquent will end in the Fire. The right and the left lead to error, the middle |
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See note to §â¯1.12. WÄqidÄ«, cited in MufÄ«d, Jamal, 218, also places this oration on the battlefield immediately after the Battle of the Camel.
Lit. âto the Muslims.â Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in Medina in 35/656, soon after allegiance was pledged to him as caliph (B 178; NuÊ¿mÄn, DaÊ¿Äʾim, 1:396). The second sentence also forms part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to MarwÄn et al. when they refused to pledge him allegiance (YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:179).
First oration after assuming the caliphate in Medina in 35/656, delivered on the pulpit in the mosque; one of Ê¿AlÄ«âs most widely narrated orations (JÄḥiáº, BayÄn, 3:50â52, who adds a section on the excellence of the Prophetâs family, narrated by JaÊ¿far al-á¹¢Ädiq). YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:211) states that the oration was prompted by a man who criticized Ê¿AlÄ«âs judgment in a case he had brought before him.
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way is the straight road, upon it you will find the remnants of scripture and the traces of prophecy, from it emerged the Sunnah, to it the people shall return. False claimants will perish and «those who lie will fail.»1 Those who side with the truth will suffer at the hands of the ignorant. It is manifest ignorance for a man not to know his own worth! But fields sown by the pious will not wither. Roots planted by them will not shrivel. People, maintain the privacy of your homes and resolve your differences, and you will be forgiven. Praise only your Lord and blame only yourselves. Raá¸Ä«: No admiration can encompass the beauty in these words; the awe they inspire exceeds any expression of appreciation. They have so much linguistic brilliance that no tongue can do them justice and no human can plumb their deep ravine. Only expert knowledge of this craft and an innate disposition for it can comprehend what I allude to. Only the learned can grasp the full meaning of this oration. â1.17 â¬From an address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered describing men who set themselves up as judges for the community when they are far from qualified:2 The most hateful creatures in Godâs eyes are of two kinds: The first is a man whom God has given up on and left to his own devices. Straying from the straight path, enamored of heretical innovation and errant agitation, he ensnares many. Having lost his predecessorsâ path of right guidance, he leads people astray in his lifetime and continues his misguidance after his death. Surely, he will bear the burden of their sins, while remaining hostage to his own. The second collects scraps of ignorance and engages with the communityâs dolts. Heedless of the black beasts of mutiny, he is blind to the benefits of peace. His comrades call him a scholar, but he is not. He is hasty to amass things of which less is better than more. When he has drunk his fill of stagnant water and increased his store without profit, he sits down to dispense judgment, to elucidate what has perplexed others. When faced with an impenetrable case, he stitches together a jumble of rags concocted from his own capricious opinions, then passes judgment. Yet, he remains entangled in a web of doubt,3 not |
Qurʾan, ṬÄhÄ 20:61.
MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ« (Nuzhah, 317â319), AbÅ« ṬÄlib al-MakkÄ« (QÅ«t al-qulÅ«b, 1:246), and HÄrÅ«nÄ« (TaysÄ«r, 259) connect this oration to the previous one, viz., Ê¿AlÄ«âs accession speech, §â¯1.16. YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:211) also connects it, but he places the oration in a different context; see note at §â¯1.16.
Echoes Qurʾan, ʿAnkabūt 29:41.
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knowing whether he has judged correctly or erred. When correct, he is afraid he may have erred. When errant, he hopes he judged correctly. A total ignoramus, he stumbles about in his ignorance like the night-blind riding the steeds of darkness. Never biting into knowledge with strong teeth, he flings around hadith reports as the wind scatters dry leaves.1 By God, he is not qualified to judge the cases that come to his waterhole. He dismisses whatever is beyond his understanding, not realizing that others have found a path. When a case is too obscure for him to grasp, he hides the fact, for he knows he lacks knowledge. The blood of the executed screams from his oppression, and inheritances cry out from his injustice. God, I complain to you of men who live in ignorance and die in error! No commodity is less profitable to them than the Qurʾan when explained correctly, no commodity more profitable or more valuable than that same Qurʾan with its meanings corrupted. Nothing for them is worse than good, nothing better than evil. â1.18 â¬From an address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered censuring disagreement among jurists:2 When a case comes to one of them, he passes judgment based on his capricious opinion. Then the same case is brought before someone else, who gives a different judgment. Then all the judges congregate before the leader who appointed them, and he confirms all their judgments. This, when their God is one, their Book is one, and their Prophet is one! Did God command them to disagree such that they are simply obeying him? Rather, did he not forbid it and they disobeyed? Did God send down an imperfect religion and seek their help to complete it? Or did he make them his partners such that he must accept their whims? Or, yet again, did he actually send a perfect religion, and it was the Messenger who fell short in conveying and delivering it? God says, «We have omitted nothing from the Book.»3 It contains clarification of all things. He declares that one part of the Book supports the other without contradiction, saying, «If it had come from someone other than God, they would have found it to have many inconsistencies.»4 The Qurʾanâs form is elegant, and its content is deep. Its marvels never fade, and its wonders never run out. Only through the Qurʾan can darkness be dispelled. |
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Modified quote from Qurʾan, Kahf 18:45.
Ibn Ṭalḥah (Maá¹Älib, 118) presents this oration as a continuation of the previous one §â¯1.17.
Qurʾan, AnÊ¿Äm 6:38.
Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:82.
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â1.19 â¬From words Ê¿AlÄ« spoke to al-AshÊ¿ath ibn Qays while orating on the pulpit of Kufa. AshÊ¿ath objected to something in Ê¿AlÄ«âs speech, interjecting, âCommander of the Faithful, this point goes against you, it doesnât count in your favor,â and Ê¿AlÄ« looked at him and exclaimed:1 What do you know about what goes against me or counts in my favor? Godâs curse upon youâweaver, son of a weaver,2 hypocrite, son of an infidelâand the curse of all who curse! By God, unbelief captured you once, and Islam another time, and on neither occasion did your wealth or ancestry serve as ransom! If a man lifts the sword against his own tribe and brings death to them, he deserves to be hated by kin and feared by strangers. Raá¸Ä«: Ê¿AlÄ« means that AshÊ¿ath was taken captive once as an unbeliever and once as a Muslim. Regarding his words, âlifts the sword against his own tribe,â he is alluding to a conversation between AshÊ¿ath and KhÄlid ibn al-WalÄ«d in YamÄmah, in which AshÊ¿ath deceived his tribe and plotted against them, leading to KhÄlidâs attack and defeat of them. After this incident, AshÊ¿athâs kinsfolk named him âCockscomb-of-the-Fire,â a name they used for traitors. â1.20 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: If you saw what the dead see, you would be stricken with grief and fear, and would listen and obey. What they see is veiled from you, but soon the veil will be cast aside. The fact is, you have been given the capacity to see if you would but look, to hear if you would but listen, to be guided if you would but follow! I say this to you in truth: the worldâs deathly lessons have called out to you and given you harsh warning. After Godâs messengers who descend from the sky, who else but humans convey his message? â1.21 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 The end is before you and the dreaded hour drives your caravan to the waterhole. Lighten your burden and catch up, for those who have gone ahead await those who remain behind. |
After the Battle of NahrawÄn in 38/658; Ê¿AlÄ« spoke of the arbitration, and AshÊ¿ath sided with the Kharijite position. Ḥ 1:296.
This is a generic insult about weaving as a lowly trade, and not a remark about AshÊ¿athâs or his fatherâs actual trade. The commentators explain that Ê¿AlÄ« is (1) using AshÊ¿athâs own worldly criteria to denigrate him (Ḥ 1:296â297; R 184â185), or (2) alluding to the assumption that weavers are not astute about affairs of war and government (B 193).
Excerpt from §â¯1.165, from the early part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate in Medina in 35/656, perhaps his first oration (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:436). âYour burdenâ is explained as sin.
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Raá¸Ä«: If these words were weighed against any other, barring the words of God and the words of his Messenger, they would outweigh and outstrip them all. Regarding Ê¿AlÄ«âs statement, âLighten your burden and catch up,â no pithier or weightier words have ever been heard. How deep the meaning of this maxim, how pure its font of wisdom! I have further discussed its tremendous value and noble essence in The Book of Special Attributes (KitÄb al-Khaá¹£Äʾiá¹£).1 â1.22 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 Hear me! Satan has roared to his followers and herded his camels in order to return oppression to its homeland and restore evil to its roost. By God, they have no cause to fault me or seek redress. Rather, they demand from me a right they abandoned and vengeance for blood they spilt. If I had been their partner in this affair, they would still have their share of culpability. But if they have undertaken it on their ownâwhich they have, without meâthen they keep all the blame and their main allegation rebounds to them. In truth, they suckle at the breast of a woman who has weaned her young,3 and resurrect a heresy that has been put to death. Losers, every one of them, the issuers of this call! Who is it, pray, who calls, and to what purpose do they expect me to answer? I am satisfied with Godâs proof against them and his knowledge of their deeds! If they persist, I will consign them to my bladeâthat will cure wrong and instate right! Is it not strange that they challenge me to face their spears and threaten me with sharpened swords? May their mothers mourn! I have never been intimidated by threats of battle or panicked by an impending attack. I have ever trusted my Lord and never doubted my faith. â1.23 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:4 |
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Raá¸Ä«, Khaá¹£Äʾiá¹£, 112.
In the lead-up to the Battle of the Camel in Basra in 36/656: After Ê¿AlÄ«âs emissaries returned from speaking with Ṭalḥah, Zubayr, and Ê¿Äʾishah and informed him that they were adamant about confronting him on the battlefield (R 1:188; B 198; Ḥ 305â306). According to a minority opinion, the text refers to MuÊ¿Äwiyah (R 1:188â189). See similar lines in §â¯1.10 and §â¯1.135. The penultimate line of this oration is similar to the first line of §â¯1.172.
I.e., they suckle a woman who has no more milk, a metaphor for the emptiness of their claim.
Various contexts are given for this oration: (1) MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ« (Nuzhah, 228â229) transcribes the first paragraph as Ê¿AlÄ«âs answer in an oration in the Basra mosque a few days after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656; part of the same oration and answers are (in this order in ibid., 221â233): §â¯1.103.1, §â¯1.154.2, §â¯3.26, §â¯3.354.2, §â¯1.170.4, §â¯1.23, §â¯1.208, §â¯1.154.4. (2) YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:207) transcribes it as part of an oration in which Ê¿AlÄ« preceded these lines by reciting the Qurʾanic verse, «Indeed, it is I who brings the dead to life. I write down all that they have brought forth and note all their deeds. All things I have encompassed in a clear Imam» (Qurʾan, YÄsÄ«n 36:12). (3) MinqarÄ« (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 10) transcribes the second paragraph, the line of prayer, as part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs habitual Friday sermon in Kufa and Medina.
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Godâs command descends from the sky to the earth like raindrops, bringing to each soul what is decreed for it, be it plenty or dearth. Donât be envious if you see your brother in possession of family, health, and wealth. As long as a Muslim does not commit an outrage that would shame him if disclosed and embolden the rabble, he is like the adventurer whose first drawn arrow wins him the prize and pays off his debts.1 Similarly, a Muslim who is innocent of treachery awaits one of two beautiful outcomes:2 either he will receive Godâs callâand reward in Godâs presence is the best blessing anyone can obtainâor Godâs sustenance will come to him in this world, so he will have family and wealth, while also keeping his faith and character. Wealth and children are the harvest of this world, while good deeds are the harvest of the hereafter,3 and God may certainly bless a man with both. Beware the punishment that God has warned you of and do not fall short in fearing him. Perform deeds with sincerity, not to show off or gather praise, for whoever performs deeds for any reason other than to please God will be handed over to the person he performed them for. We beseech God to grant us the station of the martyrs, the companionship of the blissful, and the fellowship of the prophets. People! Even the wealthy man needs his kin, and he needs them to defend him with hand and tongue. Their backing is his best protection, and their support gives strength to his shaky affairs. When a calamity hits him, they show him the most compassion. A true tongue granted by God to a man among his people brings him more benefit than the wealth he leaves for another.4 From the same oration: Harken to my words! Let none of you turn away from an impoverished relative. Your wealth will not increase if you withhold your largesse or decrease if you provide. The man who is close-fisted with kin will find that his closed fist will be countered with many closed fists. The man who possesses gentleness will keep his peopleâs affection.5 |
The metaphor is based on the pre-Islamic practice of drawing arrows (called maysir) to determine division of a slaughtered camelâs meat. The man who draws the tallest arrow wins the choicest part. BÂ 203; RÂ 1:193â194.
Reference to Qurʾan, Tawbah 9:52.
Reference to Qurʾan, ShÅ«rÄ 42:20.
Reference to Qurʾan, Maryam 19:50, ShuÊ¿arÄʾ 26:84. âA true tongueâ (lisÄn á¹£idq) is the superior reputation he leaves behind, or the true teachings he imparts that continue to benefit after his death. B 205; R 1:195; Asad, The Message of the QurʾÄn, commentary on Qurʾan, Maryam 19:50.
âWho possesses gentlenessââlit. âwhose intestines are soft.â
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Raá¸Ä«: What a beautiful motif Ê¿AlÄ« expounded when he said, âThe man who is close-fisted with kin,â and so on, till the end of the piece. For the man who withholds generosity from kin withholds the benefit he can bestow with one hand, whereas when he needs their aid and craves their support, they will hesitate to help him and be slow to answer his call, denying him the support of many hands and a host of marching feet. â1.24 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: By my life, no softness or weakness shall hold me back from fighting those who challenge the truth and follow the way of error. Servants of God, fear God, and flee to Godâs reward from Godâs wrath.1 Walk the path that he paved for you, fulfill the duties to which he bound you, and Ê¿AlÄ« guarantees your success in the hereafter, even if victory is not granted you in the here and now. â1.25 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«. Widespread reports reached Ê¿AlÄ« that MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs commanders had occupied his territories. When Busr ibn AbÄ« Ará¹Ät seized Yemen, Ê¿AlÄ«âs governors, Ê¿UbaydallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs and SaÊ¿Ä«d ibn NimrÄn, fled and returned to Kufa. Angered by his followersâ apathy in rising to fight and their opposition to his commands, Ê¿AlÄ« ascended the pulpit and exclaimed:2 I have only you, Kufa, to hold or relinquish; only you, with your dry winds that raise pillars of dust! May God render you foul! He then recited a testimonial verse:
He continued: I am informed that Busr has ascended the Yemeni highlands. By God, I fear this group will vanquish you, for they are united in their false claim, while you, despite your truth, are divided. You disobey your leader in his call to the truth, while they obey theirs in his call to falsehood. They are loyal to their master, while you are treacherous. Their lands adhere to a proper state of affairs, while you are corrupt and dishonestâif I entrusted one of you with a wooden cup, he would make off with its palm-fronded handle! God, I am tired of these |
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Lit. âFlee to God from God.â I have added the words ârewardâ and âwrathâ for clarity.
One of Ê¿AlÄ«âs final orations, delivered in Kufa in 40/660. Ḥ 1:348. See details of Busrâs attack in Ḥ 2:3â18; B 208.
The commenters explain the verse but do not identify the poet and I have not found an identification elsewhere. BÂ 210; RÂ 1:201.
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people, and they are tired of me. I am weary of them, and they are weary of me. So give me better and give them worse. Crush their hearts like salt dissolving in water. By God, would that I had a thousand tribesmen from FirÄs ibn Ghanam instead of the lot of you!
Then he descended from the pulpit. Raá¸Ä«: Armiyah, pl. ramÄ«, is a cloud. ḤamÄ«m here means the heat of summer. The poet singles out summer clouds because they are blown along more swiftly and are light and fast moving. Clouds move heavily when they are full of water, and this is true mostly in winter. The poet wished to describe the warriors as swift to answer the call and as assisting as soon as they are asked. My interpretation is endorsed by his line, â¨When you call out / Their men rush to you.â© â1.26 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 â1.26.1 â¬God sent Muḥammad as a warner to all peoples and a trustee of his revelation at a time when you Arabs followed a foul religion and lived in a foul abode: You unloaded your camels between rough boulders and deadly adders, drank muddy water, ate coarse food, randomly spilt blood, and recklessly severed ties of kinship. Idols were ensconced in your lands, and sins were bound to your necks. â1.26.2 â¬From the same oration:3 I looked around me, and when I saw that my family was my only support, I chose to save them from certain death. But I blinked down dust, choked when I drank, suffered harsh throttling, and endured a state more bitter than colocynth. |
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The verse is by the pre-Islamic poet AbÅ« Jundub al-HudhalÄ« al-Mashʾūm, and is cited in SukkarÄ«, Sharḥ AshÊ¿Är al-HudhaliyyÄ«n, 363; Ibn ManáºÅ«r, LisÄn, s.v. âR-M-Yâ; AzharÄ«, TahdhÄ«b, s.v. âR-M-Y.â Ḥ 1:348; R 1:203â204.
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in Kufa in 38/658 after Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£ had conquered Egypt for MuÊ¿Äwiyah and killed Ê¿AlÄ«âs ward and governor, Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr. Details in Ḥ 2:61â73.
This section refers to the pledge of allegiance to AbÅ« Bakr after the Prophetâs death. Details in Ḥ 2:21â60. Similar lines in §â¯1.215.3.
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â1.26.3 â¬From the same oration:1 Ê¿Amr pledged allegiance to MuÊ¿Äwiyah only after he had stipulated a priceâmay the pledgerâs hand stay empty, and the pledgeeâs charge be betrayed! Men, prepare for battle and ready your weapons! The fires of war have been stoked and their blaze has flared high. â1.27 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 Jihad is a door to heaven that God has opened for his special devotees. It is pietyâs robe,3 Godâs own protective armor, and his trusty shield. Those who spurn it will be clothed in dishonor, engulfed by calamities, and whipped into compliance. Chaos will destroy their minds. If they forsake jihad, righteousness will cease, shame will consume, and justice will be denied. Listen to me! Day and night, in private and in public, I urged you to fight this group. I exhorted you to attack them before they attacked you, for, by God, a group attacked in its heartland is sure to be routed! But you looked at one another and abandoned your fellows until you were raided, time and again, and your homelands were overrun. So now the GhÄmidÄ« manâs horses have raided Anbar. He has killed ḤassÄn ibn ḤassÄn al-BakrÄ« and driven your cavalry from their fortifications. I have heard that their men forced their way into homes and ripped anklets, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings from our women, Muslim and non-Muslim,4 who had no way to save themselves except to beg for mercy, and to cry out that all must return to God.5 The horsemen then left unscathed, not a single individual injured, not a drop of their blood spilt. Who would blame a Muslim if, after this, he were to die in shame? I would say that his death is fully justified! O how incomprehensible your behavior! I am baffled at how that group unites behind their false claim, while you squabble among yourselves and refuse to fight for your right. It stabs my heart and gives me deep anguish. May you feel squalor and grief! You sit as a target for enemy arrows, you are |
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I have replaced the pronouns in the section with names, taken from the commentaries, which also provide details of Ê¿Amrâs arrangement with MuÊ¿Äwiyah. Ḥ 2:61â73; B 214; R 1:204â205.
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in the wake of an attack on Anbar in 39/660 by a cavalry troop led by MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs commander SufyÄn ibn Ê¿Awf al-GhÄmidÄ«, who killed Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor ḤassÄn ibn ḤassÄn al-BakrÄ« and pillaged the town. In response to Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration, two men came up to him to offer support; Ê¿AlÄ« prayed for them, and sighed, âBut what can two men do?â (§â¯3.254). R 1:214â215; B 215â216; Ḥ 2:75â76, 85â90.
Reference to Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:26.
Lit. muÊ¿Ähadah, âa woman protected by a covenant,â referring to Christians and Jews.
Reference to Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:156: «We belong to God, and to him we return» a verse typically voiced in times of great distress.
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raided but do not raid, you are attacked but do not attack, God is disobeyed and you sit content. Earlier, when I commanded you to mobilize in the days of heat, you replied, âIt is the swelter of midsummerâspare us until the heat lessens.â When I commanded you to mobilize in wintertime, you replied, âIt is the freeze of midwinterâspare us until the cold departs.â All this, just to avoid heat and cold! By God, if you flee thus from heat and cold, you will flee in greater panic from the sword! Semblances of men, not men, with minds of children and wits of cloistered women! I wish I had never seen you! I wish I had never known you! By God, knowing you has brought me only regret, only defamation! May God attack you! You have filled my heart with pus and weighted my breast with ire. With every breath I take, you have poured me draughts of sorrow. You have ruined my strategy with your disobedience and opposition, such that the Quraysh tribesmen say, âAbÅ« ṬÄlibâs son may be a brave man, but he has no knowledge of war.â Good God!1 Is there anyone more familiar with its harshness, or who experienced it at a younger age? I knew war intimately before I turned twenty, and now I am past sixty! But there can be no strategy without obedience. â1.28 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 The world has shown its back and proclaimed its farewell. The hereafter has approached and announced its arrival. Hark my words! Today is the day of training and tomorrow the race: its goal is paradise, or its end hellfire. Will you not repent of your sins before your death? Will you not perform deeds for your soul before your day of adversity? Hark my words! These are your days of hope and coming up right behind them is death. Those who perform deeds during their days of hope, before the arrival of death, will benefit from their deeds, and death will cause no harm. Those who fall short in performing deeds during their days of hope, before the arrival of death, will have squandered their deeds, and death will cause them harm. Hark my words! Perform deeds from hope, just as you perform them from fear. Hark my words! I have never seen any who seek paradise or flee hellfire in heedless slumber. Hark my words! Those not helped by right are harmed by wrong. Those not placed on the path |
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Lit. âTo God, purely, is attributable (the excellence of) their fatherâ (lillÄhi abÅ«hum). It is an expression of wonder, praise, or incredulity. Lane, Lexicon, s.v. âA-B-W.â
This is part of §â¯1.45, which begins âI praise God, never uncertain of his mercy.â B 221. §â¯1.28 is also cited in a slightly different recension as §â¯1.52. All these are parts of a sermon delivered on ʿĪd al-Fiá¹r or ʿĪd al-Aá¸á¸¥Ä, presumably in Kufa during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate. Details in note at §â¯1.45. (Some lines are also similar in §â¯1.42). On this oration, see Qutbuddin, âA Sermon on Piety by Imam Ê¿AlÄ« ibn AbÄ« ṬÄlib: How the Rhythm of the Classical Arabic Oration Tacitly Persuaded.â
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by guidance are dragged by error to perdition. Hark my words! You have been commanded to journey and directed to provision. What I fear most for you is the pursuit of desire and lengthy yearnings. Take provisions in this world, from this world, to nourish your souls tomorrow. Raá¸Ä«: If ever words grabbed you by the neck and compelled you to renounce the world and perform deeds for the hereafter, it would be these words, which cut the cords of false hope and ignite the flint of counsel and warning. Among their most wondrous lines are, âToday is the day of training and tomorrow the race: its goal is paradise, or its end hellfire.â For in addition to majestic vocabulary, exalted themes, clear analogies, and effective metaphors, they enfold a wondrous secret and sublime significance in the line, âits goal (subqah) is paradise, or its end (ghÄyah) hellfire.â Here, Ê¿AlÄ« differentiates between the two words because they have different significations. He does not say âits goal is hellfireâ as he says âits goal is paradiseâ because one races towards something one wants, to a prize one hopes to win, and that is the description of paradise. But this significance does not apply to hellfireâmay God protect us from it!âso it would be impermissible to say, âits goal is hellfire.â Rather, Ê¿AlÄ« says, âits end is hellfire,â because an end is reached by those who are not pleased to reach it as well as by those who are pleased to reach it; it conveys both situations. In the context of this sermon, the word âendâ indicates the last stop, the place of final return, as in Godâs words, «Say: Take pleasure if you wish! Your last stop is hellfire.»1 It would be impermissible to say here, âyour goal is hellfire.â Reflect on Ê¿AlÄ«âs words, for the signification of this saying is wondrous, its well deep. And this is true for the entirety of Ê¿AlÄ«âs speech. â1.29 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 People! You are together in body but divided in aspiration. Your words would shatter mighty rocks, but your actions embolden the enemy. In your gatherings you say this and that, but when battle approaches, you yell, âBe gone! Get away!â A mission that depends on you never succeeds. A heart that is subjected to you is never at ease. Excuses and falsehoods! You keep asking for a delay, like debtors who put off and refuse to pay! Men without honor cannot fight injustice. Rights cannot be won except through earnest effort. Tell meâwhich home will you defend when this one is taken? Under which leader will you fight when I am gone? By God, whoever believes in you is deluded! Whoever wins you as his share wins the losing arrow! Whoever has you in his bow shoots a broken- |
Qurʾan, IbrÄhÄ«m 14:30.
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in Kufa, following a raid by MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs commander al-á¸aḥḥÄk ibn Qays al-FihrÄ« in 39/660 on pilgrims encamped at ThaÊ¿labiyyah. Ḥ 2:113â117, B 225. NuÊ¿mÄn (DaÊ¿Äʾim, 1:391) identifies it as a Friday sermon.
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nocked arrow with a dull point!1 By God, I woke this morning not trusting anything you say, not expecting your support, not threatening the enemy with your strength. What is wrong with you? What is your cure? What is your remedy? They are but men like you! So much talk and no comprehension, so much rashness and no piety, so much greed for things that donât belong to you! â1.30 â¬From words Ê¿AlÄ« spoke about Ê¿UthmÄnâs assassination:2 If I had commanded it, I would be a killer. If I had forbidden it, I would be a supporter. In truth, the supporter cannot claim that he is more righteous than the detractor, while the detractor would not be correct in saying that the supporter is more righteous than he is.3 Let me summarize the situation for you: Ê¿UthmÄn misappropriated, and that was wrong. You responded with violence, and that was also wrong. Both the one who misappropriated and the one who responded with violence will face Godâs judgment. â1.31 â¬From words Ê¿AlÄ« spoke just before the fighting began at the Battle of the Camel, when he sent Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs to urge Zubayr to return to the fold of obedience. Ê¿AlÄ« said:4 Donât speak with Ṭalḥah, for you will find him a bull with twisted horns, a man who rides a refractory beast and swears it is docile. Speak instead with Zubayr, whose hump is softer, and say to him: Your cousin Ê¿AlÄ« says to you: You acknowledged me in Medina and rejected me in Iraqâwhat turned you from what you deemed good? Raá¸Ä«: Ê¿AlÄ« was the first to use the expression, âWhat turned you from what you deemed good?â (mÄ Ê¿adÄ mimmÄ badÄ). |
âBroken-nocked,â (fÅ«q, used here in the elative form, afwaq), is a notch at the end of an arrow into which the bowstring fits.
On the events leading up to Ê¿UthmÄnâs killing in Medina in 35/656, see Ḥ 1:129â161. Raá¸Ä« transcribes this text among Ê¿AlÄ«âs orations, but Ibn ṬÄwÅ«s (Kashf, 174, 180) cites it as part of a lengthy epistle Ê¿AlÄ« wrote after Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr was killed in 38/658, which Ê¿AlÄ« gave to al-Aá¹£bagh ibn NubÄtah et al., instructing them to have Ibn AbÄ« RÄfiÊ¿ read it out every Friday in the Kufa mosque. The Sunni commentators are at pains to point out that although Ê¿AlÄ« did not pick up a sword to defend Ê¿UthmÄn, he spoke out against his murder, even sending his sons Ḥasan and Ḥusayn to guard Ê¿UthmÄnâs door. Ḥ 2:126; Ê¿A 98 n. 1.
âThe supporterâ could be a reference to MarwÄn ibn al-Ḥakam, and âthe detractorâ to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn MasÊ¿Å«d. R 1:224.
Basra, 36/656. On details of the conversation between Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs and Zubayr, and related events at the Battle of the Camel, see Ḥ 2:166â170. Zubayr was the son of Ê¿AlÄ«âs paternal aunt, á¹¢afiyyah bint Ê¿Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib.
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â1.32 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 People! We live in a challenging age and a difficult time, when the good are deemed evil, and oppressors grow ever more brutal. We neither benefit from what we have learnt, nor ask about what we donât knowâwe ignore calamities until they set up camp in our homes. Men today fall into one of four categories: One is prevented from spreading corruption on earth by the weakness of his person, the dullness of his blade, and the sparseness of his wealth. Another unsheathes his sword, announces his intention, and assembles foot soldiers and cavalry, selling his soul and forfeiting his religion to amass baubles, lead an army, or ascend a pulpitâwhat a terrible transaction, when you deem the world an equitable price for your soul, a fair exchange for heavenly reward! A third seeks worldly gain by performing the deeds of the hereafter, rather than seeking the hereafter by performing good deeds in this world; he appears calm in his person, walks with slow steps, tucks up his garments, and presents himself as a trustworthy man, taking advantage of the concealment offered by Godâs veil to sin. A fourth is only prevented from seeking power by his own servility and lack of supportâthese are what keeps him in his place. He wears the mark of contentment and dons the garment of renunciants, but neither his haunts in the daytime nor his retreats in the night are anything like theirs. Only a few men remainâtheir eyes are wet with remembrance of the return to God, and their tears flow from fear of the resurrection. One is a solitary fugitive, another is curbed by fear, a third is shushed and muzzled, a fourth, sincere, prays, and a fifth is bereaved and grieving. They are weakened by terror and humiliated on all sides; they drink from a bitter sea, tongues silenced, hearts wounded. They gave counsel until exhausted, now they are beaten down; almost all have been killed off, only a few remain. People, let this world be smaller in your eyes than fibers of a spiny acacia pod, or fluffs of wool floating off a pair of shears. Learn from the fate of those who came before, let not those who come later have occasion to learn from yours. Reject this world and censure her, for she has rejected many who were far more enamored of her than you. Raá¸Ä«: Some individuals who lack any knowledge attribute this oration to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, when it is unquestionably the speech of the Commander of the Faithful. Can one compare dirt to gold, or the bitter to the sweet? Indeed, an experienced guide has shown |
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Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in the Grand Mosque of Kufa, during his caliphate, 35â40/656â661, in the presence of the communityâs leaders. Ibn Ṭalḥah, Maá¹Älib, 176.
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us the way, a discerning assayer has scrutinized it and pronounced judgment: Ê¿Amr ibn Baḥr al-JÄḥiáº, in his book, Eloquence and Exposition (al-BayÄn wa-l-tabyÄ«n), mentions that certain people attribute this oration to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, then he discusses the issue at some length. This is the gist of JÄḥiáºâs comments: âThese words resemble the words of Ê¿AlÄ«. They are closer to his style in categorizing people and providing information about their state, describing them as beaten, humiliated, fearful, and terrified. In contrast, when did we ever see MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs speech follow the path of the renunciants and the way of the worshippers!â1 â1.33 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«, when he marched on the people of Basra. Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs narrated: I entered the Commander of the Faithfulâs tent at DhÅ« QÄr and found him mending his sandal. He asked me, âWhatâs the value of this sandal?â and, when I replied, âItâs worth nothing,â he responded, âBy God, itâs worth more to me than command over you! That I undertake only to establish truth and fight falsehood!â Then he went out and addressed the people in the following oration:2 God sent Muḥammad when no Arab read scripture or claimed prophecy. He shepherded them until he had brought them to a safe encampment, a place of refuge, where their lances were straightened and the ground under them made firm. By God, I always fought in the front, always battled until the enemyâs battalions were repulsed and defeated, never holding back from weakness or cowardice. This march is the same. I shall impale the demon of falsehood until truth breaks out from its side. Heavens, why do the Quraysh hate me so? By God, I fought them when they were unbelievers, and I shall fight them now in this revolt. I brought them to their knees then and shall do so again. |
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JÄḥiáº, BayÄn, 2:59â61. Attributed to MuÊ¿Äwiyah in Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 4:176. Ê¿Abd al-ZahrÄʾ (Maá¹£Ädir, 1:418) argues in favor of the attribution to Ê¿AlÄ«, based on Raá¸Ä«âs and JÄḥiáºâs remarks, and on the fact that the individual who supposedly narrated the oration from MuÊ¿Äwiyah, ShuÊ¿ayb ibn á¹¢afwÄn, is considered an untrustworthy narrator (after AbÅ« ḤÄtim al-RÄzÄ« and Ibn Ê¿AdÄ«).
The march culminated in the Battle of the Camel near Basra in 36/656âbetween the Caliph Ê¿AlÄ« on one side, and the Prophetâs widow Ê¿Äʾishah, and the Prophetâs Companions Ṭalḥah and Zubayr on the otherâin which Ê¿AlÄ« won a decisive victory. This oration is also narrated in a variant version, §â¯1.101. DhÅ« QÄr was a caravan stop east of Kufa, in the direction of WÄsiá¹, where Ê¿AlÄ« campedâon events there, see Ḥ 2:187â188âen route to the Battle of the Camel at Basra. Alternatively, MufÄ«d (IrshÄd, 247) places the oration at Rabadhah, where hajj pilgrims were also in the audience.
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â1.34 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«, as he mobilized his followers to fight the Syrians:1 Shame! I am tired of rebuking you! Is it that you are satisfied with this world in exchange for the hereafter? Is it that you are happy with humiliation after having known strength and might? When I call you to fight your enemy, you roll your eyes as though in the throes of death, as if numb with strong drink. You struggle to find words and appear mystified by what I say, pretending that your minds are addled and that you grasped nothing. To the end of the long nights, never will you be supporters in whom I can trust, or a column on which I can lean, or allies on whom I can depend! You are like camels whose herder is at his wits endâeach time he gathers them from one side, they scatter from another. Godâs life! What cowards you are when faced with the flames of war! Your enemies conspire but you do not respond, your boundaries contract but you feel no anger, your enemies never sleep but you remain merrily oblivious. By God, the slothful will be crushed! By God, I know that when battle blazes and death burns, you will split from AbÅ« ṬÄlibâs son as cleanly as a head sliced off a body. By God, how powerless the man who lets his enemy eat his flesh, pound his bones, and flay his skin! His ribs conceal a feeble heart! You be that person if you wish. I, by God, shall strike a blow with my MashrafÄ« sword that will crush skulls and sever limbs. Then God may do with me as he wills! People! You have rights over me, and I have rights over you. I owe you sincere counsel, generous stipends, teaching that dispels ignorance, and lessons that make you better. You owe me fulfilment of your pledge and sincere support in my presence and my absence. You must answer when I call and obey when I command. â1.35 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« after the arbitration:2 |
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in Kufa, shortly after defeating the Kharijites at NahrawÄn. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:90â91. It is his fourth post-NahrawÄn oration attempting to muster his followers against MuÊ¿Äwiyahâthe first was at NahrawÄn itself, the second at Nukhaylah, near Kufa, the third immediately after reaching Kufa, and this, the fourth, after a few days had passed in Kufa. Details of his followersâ responses at each of these events in B 239; Ḥ 2:193â197. Ê¿Abd al-ZahrÄʾ (Maá¹£Ädir, 2:192) argues that this is part of the same oration as §â¯1.94 which Ê¿AlÄ« delivered after NahrawÄn, when the Kufans held back from marching on MuÊ¿Äwiyah.
Refers to the arbitration (taḥkÄ«m) between Ê¿AlÄ« and MuÊ¿Äwiyah, after the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n, at the hands of AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ al-AshÊ¿arÄ« and Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£ at DÅ«mat al-Jandal, in 37/658 (on the arbitration, see Ḥ 2:206â264). This oration by Ê¿AlÄ« was delivered soon thereafter in Kufa, before the Battle of NahrawÄn. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:77; Ḥ 2:206; B 242â243 (includes an additional section).
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I praise God even though this age has brought a great calamity and dealt a mighty blow. I testify that there is no god but Godâthere is no god other than he. I testify that Muḥammad is his servant and messengerâmay God bless him and his descendants. And now to the matter at hand:1 Disobeying a kind, learned, and experienced counselor yields only regret and remorse. I gave you my considered opinion regarding this arbitration, â¨O if only Qaṣīrâs command had been obeyed!â©2 With rebellious defiance you rejected my warnings, enough to make a counsellor doubt his own counsel and a flint hold back its spark! In this, you and I may be likened to the HawÄzin poetâs lines:3
â1.36 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« warning the people of NahrawÄn:4 I warn you! Take heed or you will soon be corpses strewn at the bend of this river in the hollows of this plain, holding no mandate from your Lord or proof of righteousness, cast out by your lands, and enmeshed in fateâs deadly snare. I forbade you from engaging in arbitration, but you challenged me with defiance and insolence until I gave in to your reckless dictates. Lightheaded fools, the lot of you! May you be deprived of fathers! Iâm not the one who has brought calamity on you, nor have I ever intended you harm. |
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âAnd now to the matter at handâ (lit. âAs for what comes after,â ammÄ baÊ¿du), is a standard phrase in the early Arabic oration, inserted between the praise-and-benedictions formula and the body of the oration.
Proverb referring to the treacherous death of the pre-Islamic Iraqi AzdÄ« king JadhÄ«mah (âthe leperâ) ibn MÄlik ibn Naá¹£r (fl. 3rd c. AD)âat the hands of the Queen of Palmyra, Zenobia, whose father he had killed and whom he had set out to wedâand the unheeded warnings of his wise counsellor Qaṣīr ibn SaÊ¿d al-LakhmÄ«. For details of the incident, see MaydÄnÄ«, MajmaÊ¿ al-amthÄl, 1:570â575 (under âkhaá¹b yasÄ«r fÄ« khaá¹b kabÄ«râ); R 1:243; B 243â244; Kawar, âD̲j̲ad̲h̲īma al-Abras̲h̲ or al-Waá¸á¸Äḥ,â EI2; and Shahid, âal-ZabbÄʾ,â EI2.
Often cited proverbially, the verse is by Durayd ibn al-á¹¢immah (DÄ«wÄn, 61) of the HawÄzin tribe, a famous poet and warrior who lived mostly in the pre-Islamic period and is said to have been killed at the age of a hundred fighting against Muḥammad in the Battle of Ḥunayn in 8/630. The verse is from a poem lamenting Duraydâs deceased brother Ê¿AbdallÄh, which begins: (â®
NahrawÄn, east of the Tigris River in Iraq, is the location and name of a pitched battle between Ê¿AlÄ« and the Kharijites, and this oration was delivered in 38/658 before the battle (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:84, 91, includes full oration text). For details on the Kharijites and the Battle of NahrawÄn, see B 245â246; Ḥ 2:265â283.
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â1.37 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« that resembles an oration:1 I answered Muḥammadâs call when others held back, sped forward when others dragged their feet, and welcomed Godâs light when others hesitated. The humblest in speech, I outpaced all in action. With the reins of religion firmly in my hands, I flew like the wind, staking everything I possessed, like a mountain that no gales could shake, no storms could budge. No one can find fault or speak ill of me in any of this. In my eyes, the weak were mighty as I strove to restore their rights, the mighty were weak as I wrested from them the rights of the weak. I accepted Godâs decree and bowed to his command. Do you think I would lie regarding Godâs Messenger when I was the first to support him? I shall not be the first to lie about him! But when I paused to reflect on my situation, I found that my obedience had preceded my oath of allegiance, and my pledge was a shackle around my neck.2 â1.38 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: â1.38.1 â¬Doubt is called doubt because it resembles truth.3 â1.38.2 â¬Certainty illumines the way for those who place their faith in God, and the path of right guidance carries them forward, while the call of Godâs enemies is the embodiment of error, and their guide is blindness itself. You will not escape death just because you fear it. You will not remain in this world just because you want to.4 |
The address was delivered following the Battle of NahrawÄn against the Kharijites in á¹¢afar 38/658. Ḥ 1:284. KulaynÄ« (KÄfÄ«, 1:454â456) narrates the first paragraph as a posthumous address in the second grammatical person, by an anonymous speaker to Ê¿AlÄ«, just after he died.
Multiple pronouns make this an ambiguous statement. The majority interpretation is this: ʿAlī is saying that he was obliged to obey the wishes of the Messenger who had commanded him to refrain from raising his sword to seek his right. He was thus forced to give an oath of allegiance to the earlier caliphs, for his pledge to the Messenger was a shackle around his neck that stopped him from fighting for his right (Ḥ 2:296; B 249; Gh 1:242). A second interpretation is this: ʿAlī is saying that the people had been commanded to render him obedience, a mandate that preceded their actual oath of allegiance to him; their pledge to him was a shackle around his neck, and he could not refuse to lead them (B 249).
The line plays on the paronomasia (jinÄs) between âdoubtâ (shubhah), and âresembleâ (tushbih), both deriving from the root letters âSh-B-H.â
Some sources attribute the last two lines to Ê¿AlÄ«âs associate MÄlik al-Ashtar in the lead-up to the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n, in a speech he gave following Ê¿AlÄ«âs speech, calling on the people to march on MuÊ¿Äwiyah. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 95; IskÄfÄ«, MiÊ¿yÄr, 126; AbÅ« ḤanÄ«fah al-DÄ«nawarÄ«, AkhbÄr, 164.
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â1.39 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 I am tested with followers who do not obey my command or answer my call. May you be deprived of fathers! What are you waiting for? Why do you not fight and serve your Lord? Does no religion unite you, no outraged honor goad you to action? I stand among you shouting till Iâm hoarse, appealing to you for succor, but you hear not a word, not a single command. These events are the result of your despicable behavior. No requital can be sought with you at my side, no purpose achieved. When I summoned you to come to your brothersâ aid, you growled like a sullen camel with sores on its chest, you plodded like a scraggy beast with lesions on its rump. The few who came forward came limp and dithering, «as though driven to a death they could see in front of their eyes.»2 Raá¸Ä«: By âdithering (mutadhÄʾib),â Ê¿AlÄ« means: âjerkily,â from the commonly used phrase, âthe wind dithered (tadhÄʾabat al-rīḥ),â meaning, âit blew jerkily.â It is from this meaningâthe jerkiness of its walkâthat the wolf (dhiʾb) is named. â1.40 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« when he heard the Kharijites shout, â¨No rule save Godâs!â©:3 The statement is true, but the intent is false. Yes, there is no authority save Godâs, but these people are claiming that there should be no other ruler. In truth, the community must have a ruler, whether pious or wicked, under whose jurisdiction believers do good and disbelievers make merry, till God brings each period to its destined conclusion. Taxes need to be collected, enemies repudiated, highways protected, and rights wrested from the mighty for the weakâall this, until the pious ruler goes to his rest, or the wicked rulerâs death allows the community to rest. |
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this address in Kufa following the raid by MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs commander, NuÊ¿mÄn ibn BashÄ«r al-Aná¹£ÄrÄ«, on Ê¿Ayn al-Tamr, west of the Euphrates, on the frontier between Syria and Iraq, in 39/659 (Ḥ 1:301; B 250; see events of the raid in Ḥ 1:301â306; Zetterstéen, âal-NuÊ¿mÄn b. Bas̲h̲īr,â EI2; see also §â¯1.66, delivered at around the same time). Some lines are transcribed by ṬabarÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 5:107) within an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered chastising the Kufans for not responding to his call to mobilize in aid of Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr, who was killed by Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£ in Egypt in 38/658.
Qurʾan, AnfÄl 8:6.
Ar. LÄ á¸¥ukma illÄ li-llÄh. Ê¿AlÄ« was preaching in the mosque in Kufa, in 37/657, soon after the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n, when he was interrupted by a group of Kharijites shouting this slogan, and he responded with the words at hand (BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 2:404; ShÄfiÊ¿Ä«, Umm, 4:229; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:72â73; see the events surrounding the Kharijitesâ use of this slogan, and Ê¿AlÄ«âs attempts to conciliate them before the Battle of NahrawÄn, in Ḥ 2:310â312). The first Kharijite to utter the slogan was Burak (or al-ḤajjÄj) ibn Ê¿AbdallÄh al-TamÄ«mÄ«, who later conspired with the Kharijites Ibn Muljam and Ê¿Amr ibn Bakr to assassinate Ê¿AlÄ«, MuÊ¿Äwiyah, and Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£; Ibn Muljam killed Ê¿AlÄ«, but the other two attempts failed, and all three conspirators were immediately executed (R 1:252). See also §â¯1.182 and §â¯3.182.
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In another version of the report, Ê¿AlÄ« said the following when he heard their declaration about authority: Itâs the manifestation of Godâs authority in you that Iâm waiting for! In a third version, he said: Under the rule of the pious, the virtuous perform good deeds. Under the rule of the wicked, the wretched make merry till their time runs out and death overtakes them. â1.41 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 Loyalty is honestyâs twin. I know of no better shield from hellfire, and those who believe they will return to God never betray. We have entered an age when the public equates betrayal with intelligence and the ignorant view duplicitous liars as clever strategists. What is wrong with them? May God punish them! The man of discernment also knows how to practice cunning, but he is checked by Godâs commands and prohibitions. Although he sees the option and has the capability, he chooses to refrain. It is the man who has no religion or scruple who exploits the opportunity to deceive. â1.42 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 People! I fear most for you two things: pursuit of desire and lengthy yearnings. Pursuit of desire stops you from seeing the truth, while lengthy yearnings make you forget the hereafter. Take heed! The world is retreating in haste! Only a small residue remains, like dregs in an emptied vessel. Take heed! The hereafter is at hand! And each of the two has children. Be children of the hereafter, be not children of the world, for children will be returned to their mothers on the day of resurrection. Today is the day for deeds, not reckoning. Tomorrow is the day of reckoning, not deeds. |
The commentators do not provide context, but Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d narrates examples of Ê¿AlÄ«âs honorable actions in war, including his allowing MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs army to access the river, even after they had earlier denied it to him. Ḥ 2:313â314. The âman of discernmentâ is Ê¿AlÄ« himself.
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in the Grand Mosque in Kufa immediately following his arrival after the Battle of the Camel in Rajab 36/656. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 3â4 (with this text, and further sections of the oration containing political themes). Some lines are similar in §â¯1.28 and §â¯1.45. KulaynÄ« (KÄfÄ«, 8:58) transcribes it as the earlier part of §â¯1.50, which is placed by YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:191) after the arbitration in 37/658. MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ« (Nuzhah, 211) attributes the oration to the Prophet, via Ê¿AlÄ«.
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â1.43 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs reply to his associates who, soon after he had sent JarÄ«r ibn Ê¿AbdallÄh as envoy to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, were urging him to make preparations for battle:1 If I prepared to battle the Syrians while JarÄ«r is still with them, I would close the door to reconciliation and eliminate the chance, were they to wish it, of a peaceful outcome. I have given JarÄ«r a limit for his return, which he should adhere to unless he is deceived or disobedient. I think we must wait, so go slowly, although I too am not against preparing. Iâve examined the eyes and nose of this affair, and flipped it over, back to belly, and the only alternative I see to fighting is to forsake Islam. Our community had a leader who instituted unwarranted practices, and he gave people the opportunity to rebuke him.2 They rebuked him, then turned hostile, and took it upon themselves to effect change. â1.44 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« after Maá¹£qalah ibn Hubayrah al-ShaybÄnÄ« defected to MuÊ¿Äwiyah. Maá¹£qalah had purchased captive slaves of the BanÅ« NÄjiyah from Ê¿AlÄ«âs commander in order to free them. When the commander asked for payment, he reneged and fled to Syria.3 May God strike Maá¹£qalah with shame! He behaved like a chieftain then fled like a slave! No sooner had he prompted his admirers to utter his praises before he shut their mouths, no sooner had he confirmed his extollersâ commendations before he turned round and rebuked them. Had he remained in Iraq, I would have shown leniency and allowed him to postpone payment until his fortunes improved. |
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this address in Kufa, shortly after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656. JarÄ«r had been Ê¿UthmÄnâs governor in HamadÄn, and, when Ê¿AlÄ« dismissed him, he came to Ê¿AlÄ« in Kufa and pledged allegiance. According to the sources, however, he remained pro-Umayyad. Details of JarÄ«râs embassy to MuÊ¿Äwiyah in Damascus as Ê¿AlÄ«âs envoy, and related events and epistles, in Ḥ 3:74â91. See also JarÄ«râs background with Ê¿AlÄ« in Ḥ 3:70â74.
Refers to the third caliph, Ê¿UthmÄn (d. 35/656), who was killed in Medina by a group of Muslims from Kufa and Egypt decrying his nepotism and other shortcomings. Ḥ 2:323â333, 3:1â69 (with details of these events and the peopleâs grievances); B 257â258.
This event took place after the arbitration, in the early months of 38/658, and Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration was delivered in Kufa. Maá¹£qalah was then Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor in ArdashÄ«r. The commander from whom he had purchased the freedom of the BanÅ« NÄjiyah captives was MaÊ¿qil ibn Qays al-RiyÄḥī. When Maá¹£qalah fled to Syria, MuÊ¿Äwiyah appointed him to several important posts. Details of these events and people in Ḥ 3:120â151; R 1:258â261; B 258; BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 2:417â418; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:113â132 (âThe BanÅ« NÄjiyah Episodeâ), 5:128â131; Pellat, âal-K̲h̲irrÄ«t,â EI2. See also Ê¿AlÄ«âs earlier epistles to Maá¹£qalah chastising him for misappropriating treasury funds, §â¯2.39 and §â¯2.44.
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â1.45 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 I praise God, never uncertain of his mercy, never empty of his favors, never doubtful of his forgiveness, never grudging in his worship. His mercy never ends, his favors never cease. The world is an abode whose edifice awaits destruction and whose people await eviction. Sweet and green, she appears to the seeker as a gift and ensnares the viewerâs heart. People! Leave her with the best provisions you can find. In life, do not ask of her more than you need, or seek from her more than you require. â1.46 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs supplication when he began the march to Syria:2 God, protect me from the hardships of travel, a sorrowful end, and the grief of seeing my family, children, and property in ruin. God, you are my companion in this journey and the guardian I leave behind with my family. Only you can do both, for a man who is left behind cannot travel as a companion, and a man who travels as a companion cannot be left behind. Raá¸Ä«: The opening lines of this supplication have also been narrated from Godâs Messenger.3 Beautifully completing the Prophetâs, Ê¿AlÄ« added his own eloquent lines: âOnly you can do both,â to the end of the piece. â1.47 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« about Kufa:4 I see you, Kufa, stretched like raw leather on display at the Market of Ê¿UkÄáº, beset by calamities and plagued with tremors. But I also know that should a tyrant intend you harm, God will engulf him in misfortune, then send a man to kill him. |
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Two unconnected excerpts from Ê¿AlÄ«âs sermon on ʿĪd al-Fiá¹r or ʿĪd al-Aá¸á¸¥Ä, presumably delivered in Kufa in one of the four years of his caliphate between 36/656 and 40/661. Also part of this sermon is §â¯1.28 (and its variant recension, §â¯1.52). B 221, 259. BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 259) says it is an ʿĪd al-Fiá¹r sermon, but, if it is part of §â¯1.52, and since §â¯1.52.3 mentions the sacrificial animal, it was more likely delivered on ʿĪd al-Aá¸á¸¥Ä.
Ê¿AlÄ« intoned this prayer âwhen he placed his foot in the stirrup,â as he was leaving from his home in Kufa to fight MuÊ¿Äwiyah in Syria. Before praying it, he intoned the name of God and the Qurʾanic verse, «Glorious is the one who subjugated this (mount) to our use, otherwise we would not have been capable» (Qurʾan, Zukhruf 43:13: â®
See, e.g., Muslim, á¹¢aḥīḥ, 2:979 (§â¯1343).
For examples of âtyrantsâ killed in Kufa in the early Umayyad period, see B 262. On sayings of the Prophetâs family regarding âvirtues of Kufa,â see Ḥ 3:198â199.
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â1.48 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« when he marched on Syria:1 I praise God whenever night spreads and darkens. I praise God whenever stars rise and set. I praise God whose favors are never deficient and whose gifts can never be repaid. And now to the matter at hand: I have dispatched my vanguard and commanded them to stay close to the high bank until I send further orders. I intend to cross this clear water and make contact with the tribesmen who live in the lee of the Tigris. I will recruit them to fight your enemy and increase your strength and numbers. Raá¸Ä«: By âhigh bank (milá¹Äá¹),â Ê¿AlÄ« means the path he has commanded them to follow along the banks of the Euphrates. The word is also used for the seashore, and its original meaning is level ground. By âclear water (nuá¹fah)â he means the water of the Euphrates, and it is a strange and marvelous expression. â1.49 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: Praise God, who is concealed in unseen mysteries but confirmed by clear signs. He is hidden from the keenest observer, yet the eye that does not see him cannot deny his existence, while the heart that acknowledges him cannot comprehend him. He is lofty and nothing is loftier than he, he is near and nothing is nearer than he, yet his loftiness does not distance him from his creatures, while his nearness does not place him with them. He has not revealed to intellects his true description, but neither has he veiled them from recognizing him, which they must do. Creation bears witness to the creator and compels the denier to acknowledge him in his heart, but his reality is exalted above whatever is said about him by those who liken him to his creation, or those who deny his existence. â1.50 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 Revolt begins with the indulgence of whims and the prescription of heresies, whereby Godâs Book is disobeyed, and men follow men in defiance of Godâs religion. If falsehood had no trace of truth, its evil would not be concealed from observers, and if truth had no shadow of falsehood, its enemiesâ tongues would be silenced. But a bit is taken from here, a bit is taken from there, they are mixed together, and lo and behold, Satan gains mastery over his followers! Only «those for whom» Godâs «blessings have been decreed» are saved.3 |
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration on 5 ShawwÄl 37â¯AH (Wednesday, March 17, 658â¯AD) at Nukhaylah, just outside Kufa, en route to á¹¢iffÄ«n. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 131â132; B 263 (includes a summary of the vanguardâs commanders and numbers, and of ensuing events); Ḥ 3:201 (further lines from the oration), Ḥ 3:202â215 (details of the events).
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in Kufa after the arbitration in 37/658. YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:191.
Qurʾan, AnbiyÄʾ 21:101.
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â1.51 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address when MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs army prevailed over his by the Euphrates, and blocked their access to water:1 By this act, they beg to be fed the victuals of war. You can either accept defeat and retreat, or quench your swordsâ thirst for blood and your thirst for water. Death to a life that accepts defeat! Life, in reality, is in a fighterâs death! Hark my words! MuÊ¿Äwiyah leads a band of fools and imbeciles. By muddying reports of what happened,2 he has deceived them into exposing their throats to fateâs arrows. â1.52 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«, parts of which were cited earlier in a different transmission. We record it again in this transmission because of the variance between the two:3 â1.52.1 â¬Harken! The world has severed its rope and announced its end, its favors have become strangers and it turns away in speed, it spurs its residents to annihilation and drives its neighbors toward death, its sweetness has turned bitter and its clarity has become turbid, all that remains of it is the last few drops in the jug, the last mouthfuls apportioned with a pebble.4 The thirsty man sucks on it in desperation, but it does not even wet his throat. â1.52.2 â¬Servants of God, make ready to quit this abode, for its residents are fated to die. Let not hopes of its permanence take hold, nor suppose your time in it to be long. By God, if you were to moan like bereaved camel mares, supplicate like cooing doves, and intone like praying hermits, or if you forsook property and children to attain nearness to God, to achieve a high station near him, or forgiveness for the sins that are recorded in his accounts and noted by his |
When the two armies arrived at á¹¢iffÄ«n in DhÅ« al-Ḥijjah 36/ June 657, MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs troops took control of the riverbank and blocked Ê¿AlÄ«âs troops from the water. Ê¿AlÄ« fought and prevailed. Against the urgings of his supporters to requite like for like, Ê¿AlÄ« allowed MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs troops unfettered access to drink. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 156â162; Ḥ 3:312â331; Gh 1:287.
I.e., by falsely accusing Ê¿AlÄ« of Ê¿UthmÄnâs murder.
ʿĪd al-Aá¸á¸¥Ä sermon, as evidenced by its reference to the sacrificial animal (§â¯1.52.3). See also the opening lines of this sermonâin á¹¢adÅ«q, Man lÄ yaḥá¸uruhu, 1:518; ṬūsÄ«, Miá¹£bÄḥ, 663âwhich includes the âGod is greatâ peroration typical of an Eid sermon. The âearlier citationâ was §â¯1.28 (which is also said to be part of §â¯1.45: B 221, 259); the opening lines of §â¯1.28 and §â¯1.52.1 are similar.
The reference is to a pebble (maqlah) placed in a vessel to ration water among a group of travelers; for each person, water was dripped until it covered the pebble, then he sucked those drops from the pebble. Ḥ 3:333; R 1:273; Gh 1:289.
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angelsâall this would be little compared with the reward I hope for you and the punishment I fear. By God, if your hearts were to dissolve like salt, if your eyes shed blood in fear and hope, and if you were permitted to live in this world for as long as it continues to exist, your deedsâeven with supreme toil and laborâwould not repay Godâs immense favors, or his guidance of you to faith. â1.52.3 â¬From the same oration, referring to the Eid of Sacrifice, and describing the requirements of a sacrificial animal: The sacrificial animal is considered intact if its ears are whole and its eyes are sound.1 If the ears and eyes are sound, then the sacrificial animal is considered sound and intact. This is true even if a horn is broken and the animal drags its foot to the slaughterhouse. â1.53 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 They crowded me like parched camels jostling at the waterhole when the herder unfastens their hobbling ropes and sets them loose. I feared they would crush me or each other to death.3 I have turned over this matter in my mind through many sleepless nights and concluded that I can either fight the rebels or repudiate Muḥammadâs religion, and braving war with men sits lighter on me than braving Godâs punishment, facing death in this world sits lighter on me than facing death in eternity. â1.54 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to his troops at á¹¢iffÄ«n when they expressed impatience at his reluctance to commence battle:4 |
Lit. âif its ears stand upâ (istishrÄf udhunihÄ), denoting an animal whose ears are neither slit nor defective. BÂ 271.
Referring to the Medinansâ pledge of allegiance to Ê¿AlÄ« as caliph, after Ê¿UthmÄnâs death, and to the breaking of that pledge, either by Ṭalḥah and Zubayr (Ḥ 4:6â11), or by MuÊ¿Äwiyah and the Syrians (R 1:275; B 272â273), or by both groups (Gh 1:297â298). RÄwandÄ« and BaḥrÄnÄ« add that Ê¿AlÄ« refers here also to his initial delay in granting his army permission to fight the Syrians, explicitly mentioned next in §â¯1.54. Ibn Qutaybah (ImÄmah, 1:174) and Ibn ṬÄwÅ«s (Kashf, 174, 180) cite it as part of a lengthy epistle Ê¿AlÄ« wrote after Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakrâs killing in 38/658. They include §â¯1.30 in this epistle; see more details in note there.
Similar lines in §â¯1.3.4, §â¯1.135.2, §â¯1.226.
37/657. Details of Ê¿AlÄ«âs efforts at reconciliation in Ḥ 4:13â32. Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih (Ê¿Iqd, 1:95) and MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ« (Nuzhah, 376) narrate the line (By God, I care not ⦠confront me!) as a response to associates who warned him, saying, âDo you fight the Syrians in the morning, then come out in the evening wearing only a waist-cloth and cloak?â
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You taunt, âAll these excuses to avoid death!â By God, I care not whether I confront death or death confronts me! You mock, âOr perhaps you hesitate to fight the Syrians?â By God, I would not delay battle even by a day, were it not for the hope that a few may yet return, to be guided by me, andâalthough their sight is weak!âto discern my light. This would please me more than killing them for their errant ways, notwithstanding they would die yoked to their sins. â1.55 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 We fought in support of Godâs Messenger and killed our fathers, our sons, our brothers, and our uncles,2 all the while increasing in faith and acceptance, commitment to the true path, endurance in the face of stinging pain, and intensity in fighting the enemy. A warrior from our side and another from the enemy would clash like two stallions to the death, each attempting to steal the otherâs life, each offering the other fateâs cup.3 Ours would win in one combat, theirs would prevail in another. When God saw our true courage, he crushed our enemy in defeat and sent us triumphant victory. So was Islam founded. Thus did it rest its withers and settle into its stall. I swear on my life! If we had behaved like you, religion would never have been established, belief would never have blossomed. I swear Godâs oath! You shall squeeze calamityâs udders and find blood in your pail.4 You shall be dogged forever by regret. â1.56 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to his followers:5 |
Ê¿AlÄ« gave this address to his followers, either at á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657, when many of his troops, despite being close to winning, pressed him to accept MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs truce (B 273), or a year later in Kufa, when MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs commander Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ḥaá¸ramÄ« attacked neighboring Basra (Ḥ 4:34â53). It is also possible that he spoke similar lines on more than one occasion.
In the Battle of Badr, for example, Ḥamzah ibn Ê¿Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib fought and killed MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs paternal cousin, who was also from Ḥamzahâs tribe, Shaybah ibn RabÄ«Ê¿ah, and Ê¿Umar ibn al-Khaá¹á¹Äb fought and killed his own maternal uncle HishÄm ibn al-MughÄ«rah. Ḥ 4:34.
In various early battles, for example, ʿAlī singlehandedly fought and killed the known warriors Walīd ibn ʿUtbah, Ṭalḥah ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, and ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Wadd. Ḥ 4:34.
âMilking bloodâ is a metaphor for the painful results of the failure of Ê¿AlÄ«âs supporters to answer his call. B 274; Gh 1:305.
âThe man with a large mawâ is probably MuÊ¿Äwiyah, who was a glutton, or, less likely, ZiyÄd ibn AbÄ«hi, ḤajjÄj ibn YÅ«suf, or al-MughÄ«rah ibn ShuÊ¿bah (R 1:276â277; B 275; Ḥ 4:54). The full text is narrated by NuÊ¿aym (Fitan, 1:164) from the Prophet via Ê¿AlÄ«, and it names the man as MuÊ¿Äwiyah. The second half is placed by KulaynÄ« (KÄfÄ«, 2:219) on the pulpit of the Kufa mosque, while it is transcribed by KÅ«fÄ« (ManÄqib, 2:64) as a tag to a response to a merchant from whom Ê¿AlÄ« had purchased a shirt.
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After me, you will be ruled by a man with a large maw and a massive belly who swallows all that is in front of him and demands everything else besides. Kill him! But no, you wonât. Listen to me! He will command you to curse me with vile names and disassociate from me.1 Call me names if you mustâit will be a purge for me and save your life. But never disassociate from me, for I was born in a pure state of nature,2 and was the first to believe and migrate.3 â1.57 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to the Kharijites:4 May you be wiped out by sandstorms! May your date palms wither untended! Are you saying I should testify against myself and confess unbelief? This, after believing in God and fighting alongside his messenger! «I should stray from the path if so, no longer among the guided.»5 Return to the hole that you came from! Turn on your heels and retreat! After me, you face complete humiliation and a cutting sword. Indeed, despots will make it their custom to attack you and plunder.6 Raá¸Ä«: In his line, âMay your date palms wither untended (wa-lÄ baqiya minkum Äbir),â the word Äbir, when transmitted with an R, refers to a person who tends (yaʾburu) date palms, i.e., cultivates them. Another transmission is âone who narrates a tale (Äthir),â i.e., recounts and transmits it. The latter, in my opinion, is the most viable option. Accordingly, Ê¿AlÄ« is saying, âMay not one of you remain to carry forward your report.â Yet another transmission is âone who jumps (Äbiz)â with a Z,7 meaning someone who leaps. A dying man is also called Äbiz. |
Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d discusses the Umayyadsâ commanding people to curse Ê¿AlÄ«, often on penalty of death, in three full chapters. Ḥ 4:56â114; see also B 275â276. For additional reports and references, see Qutbuddin, Arabic Oration, 85â86.
Ar. Ê¿alÄ l-fiá¹rah, meaning he was born Muslim. The usage derives from the Prophetic hadith, âEvery child is born in the natural form (â®
Muslims consider early conversion and migration a source of honor, indicating dedication to the Prophet, and participation in setting up the nascent religion. On Ê¿AlÄ« being the first male to accept Islam and to migrate with the Prophet from Mecca to Medina, see Ḥ 4:116â128.
In NahrawÄn, 38/658 (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:84). YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:193) places these lines in an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered immediately upon his return to Kufa after NahrawÄn, addressing his supporters.
Qurʾan, AnÊ¿Äm 6:56.
Details of Umayyad-era Kharijite leaders and battles in Ḥ 4:132â278, 5:80â129.
Both Z and R have the same shape in Arabic orthography, but Z (â®
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â1.58 ⬠â1.58.1 â¬When Ê¿AlÄ« expressed his resolve to fight the Kharijites, he was told, âThey have already crossed the river at Jisr al-NahrawÄn,â and he declared:1 Their deaths are written on this side of the clear water. By God, not ten of them will survive, and not ten of you will be killed. Raá¸Ä«: By âclear water (nuá¹fah),â he means the water of the river, an eloquent metaphor for water, even in large quantities. â1.58.2 â¬Following the battle with the Kharijites, Ê¿AlÄ« was told, âEvery man among them has been killed,â and he declared: No, by God! They hide in the loins of men and the wombs of women. But whenever a horn protrudes from their head, it will be cut off,2 and the last of them will be thieves and brigands. â1.58.3 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« also said about them:3 Do not fight the Kharijites after me, for those who seek right but miss it are not like those who seek wrong and find it. Raá¸Ä«: He means MuÊ¿Äwiyah and his associates. â1.59 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address, when warned of assassination:4 I am protected by Godâs shield. When my day comes, it will leave and hand me over. Then, the arrow will not miss, and the wound will not heal. |
Jisr al-NahrawÄn (The Bridge of NahrawÄn) is the same as NahrawÄn (present-day Sifwah), a town east of the Tigris River in Iraq, the location of the Battle of NahrawÄn between Ê¿AlÄ« and the Kharijites in 38/658. For details of the place and the battle, see Morony, âal-NahrawÄn,â EI2.
âHornâ (qarn) is interpreted as leader, and a horn protruding is a metaphor for the emergence of a leader. B 277; R 1:283; Ḥ 5:73.
Ê¿AlÄ« spoke these words after the Battle of NahrawÄn in 38/658. á¹¢adÅ«q, Ê¿Ilal, 218.
It is narrated that Ibn Muljam, the Kharijite who would shortly assassinate Ê¿AlÄ«, had revealed his intention in Kufa. When people urged Ê¿AlÄ« to act, he refused, saying that Ibn Muljam had not yet perpetrated the crime; then he spoke the words in the text at hand, thus, in Kufa, in 40/661. B 278â279.
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â1.60 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: Hear me! The world is an abode from which you cannot be saved except within it, yet no tribute you offer it will grant you passage beyond its rim. The world tests people with gifts: Whatever they take from it for worldly benefit they must leave behind and account for. Whatever they take from it for the next abode will stay with them forever. To the intelligent, the world is a shifting shadowâone moment you see it spreading and the next it has narrowed to a shard, one moment you see it growing and the next it has disappeared. â1.61 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.61.1 â¬Be conscious of God, O servants of God, and outrace your imminent end with good deeds. Trade transient benefits for everlasting gain, prepare to depart, for the call has been given, and brace for death, for it hovers overhead. Be those who wake when shaken, who, knowing that the world is not their home, seek a better abode. God has not created you in vain, nor left you without direction.2 Nothing stands between you and paradise or hellfire but the arrival of death. Diminished by each passing moment, demolished by each pressing hour, your time to the goalpost is short. That traveler, death, whose camels are steered by Night after Day and by Day after Night will soon be here. Prepare well for this visitor who will bring you immortal triumph or unending misery. â1.61.2 â¬Gather provisions in this world from this world to sustain your souls tomorrow. A servant should fear his Master and be true to his soul, he should hasten to repent and conquer his passions, for his lifespan is veiled from him, his long hopes are false, and he is turned over to Satan, who adorns and encourages him to ride the steed of sin, while coaxing him to delay repentance. When he least expects it, fate will attack. O what agony for the heedless man! His life will testify against him, and his days will hand him over to unending misery. â1.61.3 â¬We beseech Almighty God to include us among those who are not made insolent by his bounty, fall short in his obedience, or are seized in death by grief and regret. |
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Additional parts recorded in Sibá¹, Tadhkirah, 145. Some lines are similar in §â¯1.202; see note on context there.
Modified quotes from Qurʾan, MuʾminÅ«n 23:115, QiyÄmah 75:36.
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â1.62 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.62.1 â¬No state for God precedes another state: he is neither first before he is last nor visible before he is hidden. Other than him, nothing can be described as one.2 Other than him, the mighty are humble, the strong are weak, masters are slaves, the learned are students, and the powerful can fail. Other than him, all observers are blind to subtle colors and ethereal bodies, and all listeners strain to hear faint sounds, are deafened by loud noises, and miss distant echoes. Other than him, nothing that is visible is hidden, and nothing that is hidden is visible. â1.62.2 â¬God did not create us to strengthen his authority or prevent timeâs blows, nor for help against an equalâs attack, a partnerâs multitudes, or a malicious adversary. Far from it! We are but subservient mortals and humble servants. He does not enter into things, so we cannot say that he exists therein, nor is he distant from them, so we cannot say that he lives apart. Creating did not tire him, nor directing the universe. Weakness did not delay his design, nor doubt enter into his decree. His judgment is perfect, his knowledge exact, his command irrevocable. He is entreated in times of distress and venerated in times of bounty. â1.63 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to his followers on one of the battle days of á¹¢iffÄ«n:3 Muslims! Sheathe yourselves in Godâs awe and envelop your bodies with calm. Bite down hard on your back teeth, for that will deflect the blades that strike at your heads. Wear full armor and rattle your swords inside their sheaths before you draw them out. Stare down the enemy and launch your spears from the right and the left. Fight with your swords and leap into the thrust so that they |
Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih (Ê¿Iqd, 4:163â164) narrates lines from §â¯1.62.2 as part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs Radiant Oration (GharrÄʾ), §â¯1.80. á¹¢adÅ«q (Tawḥīd, 41, 43) places it in Kufa, after the arbitration in 37/658, as the praise opening for an oration urging supporters to rally against MuÊ¿Äwiyah.
Ar. qalīl, translation after R 1:290, Ḥ 5:155. Alternatively explained as anything understandable in terms of number, unlike God from whom any attribution is to be removed (B 285); or weak (M 1:330).
Narrated by Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs, who said, âI saw Ê¿AlÄ« on the battle day of á¹¢iffÄ«n, a white turban on his head, his eyes like two glowing lamps, urging his followers to fight.â (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 416). Either on the day of the first skirmish in á¹¢iffÄ«n, or, more likely, on the penultimate battle-day that preceded the final Night of Clamor (laylat al-harÄ«r), Thursday-Friday 7â8 á¹¢afar 37/27â28 July 657. B 289. Further orations in á¹¢iffÄ«n by Ê¿AlÄ« and others, and poems and events, are recorded in Ḥ 5:175â258.
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pierce your foe. Know this: you fight under Godâs watch, and alongside his Messengerâs cousin. Charge forward in attack. Do not flee the battlefield, for that would dishonor your line for generations and repay you with hellfire on judgment day. Be generous with your lives and approach death with gentle courage. Aim for the black mass and the pitched tent. Cut down its center pole, for Satan is hiding in its flap. He has one hand in front, ready to attack, and one foot at the back, ready to flee. Charge! Charge! Fight till the pillar of truth shines bright. «You shall overcome. God is with you, and he will not let your deeds go to waste.»1 â1.64 â¬From observations by Ê¿AlÄ« regarding the Allies. After the death of Godâs Messenger, when reports of the Assembly at the BanÅ« SÄÊ¿idah Portico reached the Commander of the Faithful, he asked:2 What did the Allies say? Those who had brought the report replied: The Allies proposed: A commander from our side and another from yours. Ê¿AlÄ« responded: Did you not remind them of the Messengerâs directive to recompense those who do good among them and pardon those who transgress? Those reporting asked: How is that evidence against their claim? Ê¿AlÄ« replied: The instruction would not be about them if they had the right to command. Then he asked: How did the Quraysh respond? |
Qurʾan, Muḥammad 47:35.
Ê¿AlÄ« spoke these lines in Medina, following the death of the Prophet in 11/632, as mentioned in Raá¸Ä«âs comments. At this Assembly, immediately after the Prophet Muḥammadâs death, some of his Companions gathered at the Portico (SaqÄ«fah) of the BanÅ« SÄÊ¿idah and pledged allegiance to AbÅ« Bakr as his successor. Neither Ê¿AlÄ« nor anyone else from the Prophetâs family was present; they were preparing for the Prophetâs burial. See a summary of these events in B 292â293; Lecomte, âal-Saḳīfa,â EI2; a more detailed version in Ḥ 1:21â61, 6:5â17, and events immediately following in Ḥ 5:17â52. See also Ê¿AlÄ«âs rebuke to MuÊ¿Äwiyah regarding this event in Nahj al-BalÄghah, §â¯2.28.2.
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The reporters answered: They argued that they are the Messengerâs tree. Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed: They argue for the tree but forget about its fruit! â1.65 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« when his recently appointed governor, Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr, was killed, and Egypt was lost to the Umayyads:1 My own choice for governor of Egypt was HÄshim ibn Ê¿Utbah. HÄshim would not have left a gap for them to enter or an opportunity to attack. I say this without criticizing Muḥammad, whom I loved and reared.2 â1.66 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« admonishing his supporters:3 How long should I coax you and blandish you? How long must I handle you gingerly as a young camel whose hump a heavy load would crush, or as a worn garment, patched in one place, and falling apart in another? How is it that each man among you locks your door when a Syrian squadron approaches, and holes up in his home like a lizard in its burrow or a hyena in its den? By God, to gain you as supporters is to lose! To shoot with you in my longbow is to shoot an arrow with a broken nock and no arrowhead! By God, you throng the square, but only a few stand firm under warâs banners. I know well what would lick you into shape and straighten your crookednessâbut, by God, I shall not do this at the cost of demeaning my soul. May God begrime your faces and destroy your fortunes! You embrace not truth but falsehood! You reject not falsehood but truth! |
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I have added the words, âto the Umayyads,â for clarity. Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr was killed in 38/658, after the arbitration, when Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£ took over Egypt for MuÊ¿Äwiyah. Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this address in Kufa (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:109â110). On the events mentioned in the address, see B 294 (summary); Ḥ 6:57â94 (details), Ḥ 6:94â100 (text of Ê¿AlÄ«âs full oration following Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakrâs death).
Muḥammad was the son of AbÅ« Bakr, the first Sunni caliph, and AsmÄʾ bint Ê¿Umays. His father died when he was a child, and Ê¿AlÄ«, who married AsmÄʾ, raised him. R 1:294â295; Hawting, âMuḥammad b. AbÄ« Bakr,â EI2.
Among a number of orations (including §â¯1.39) that Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in the wake of NuÊ¿mÄn ibn BashÄ«râs raid on Ê¿Ayn al-Tamr in 39/659 (YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:195â196; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:133â134). He admonishes them for their reluctance to muster to fight MuÊ¿Äwiyah (B 295).
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â1.67 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« spoke these words in the predawn hour of the day in which he was struck his deathblow:1 Sleep overtook me as I sat, and the Messenger appeared before my eyes. âMessenger of God,â I exclaimed, âwhat treachery I have encountered from your community, what hate!â He replied, âInvoke maledictions on them!â so I prayed, âGod, give me better associates than they, and give them a worse leader than I!â Raá¸Ä«: By âtreachery (awad)â he means deceit and by âhate (ladad)â he means enmity. These are some of the most expressive words ever spoken. â1.68 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« censuring the Iraqis:2 Iraqis! You are like a pregnant woman who, at full term, delivers a stillborn child, then her husband dies, and she lives for a long time as a widowâshe dies alone, with only distant relatives as her inheritors. By God, I did not choose to come to you! I was forced come to you! I am told that you mutter behind my back, âHe lies!â May God fight you! Who do you accuse me of lying about? God? I was the first to believe in him! The Prophet? I was the first to accept his message! Never would I lie about them! But my words are beyond your comprehension, and you are not worthy to hear them.3 Woe to your mothers! I gave you a full measure, free of charge. If only there were vessels to hold it! «You shall surely learn the truth of its report, but only after a while.»4 â1.69 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« in which he taught his companions how to invoke blessings on the Prophet:5 |
Kufa, 40/661. NuÊ¿mÄn (Sharḥ al-akhbÄr, 2:432) names the addressee as al-Ḥasan ibn Ê¿AlÄ«, along with some unnamed associates. For details about Ê¿AlÄ«âs assassination, see Ḥ 6:113â126.
Excerpt from an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered after á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657, presumably in Kufa, chastising his Iraqi fighters who had agreed to a truce, when, after a hard-fought battle, they were on the verge of victory. See detailed parsing of the orationâs âpregnant womanâ metaphor in light of these events in B 297; R 1:301; Ḥ 6:127â129.
According to the commentators, Ê¿AlÄ«âs âmanner of speaking that is beyond the addresseesâ comprehensionâ refers to his prophecies about future events (B 297; Ḥ 6:128â134). It could also refer to his orations explicating the mysteries of theology and metaphysics.
Qurʾan, á¹¢Äd 38:88.
Ibn AbÄ« Shaybah (Muá¹£annaf, 6:66) prefaces the prayer with the tag, âÊ¿AlÄ« used to recite this supplication,â meaning it was Ê¿AlÄ«âs habitual prayer. Variant rendering in §â¯1.103.3 (see details of context there; §â¯1.103 is part of a larger oration that also includes §â¯3.26, on the four pillars of belief, and §â¯3.259).
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God, unfolder of lands unfolded, creator of skies elevated, infuser of hearts with their dispositions, blissful or wretchedâShower your noblest blessings, your manifold graces, on Muḥammad, your servant and messenger, the seal on what had come before, opener of all things locked, announcer of the truth in truth, repeller of the forces of evil, and crusher of the onslaught of error, doing all this as he was charged to do. He undertook your command and rose to serve your pleasure, with unfettered boldness and unfaltering resolve. He comprehended your revelation, safeguarded your compact, and executed your command, until he had ignited the flame of truth for those who sought its fire, and illuminated the road for those who stumbled. Through Muḥammad, hearts were guided after having been enmeshed in mutiny. He erected clear waymarks and luminous rules. He is the trustee whom you entrusted with your message, the custodian of your treasure of knowledge, your witness on judgment day, your emissary dispatched with the truth, and your messenger to the world. God, grant him a spacious home in your shade and a good reward multiplied by your generosity. God, let his palace soar above all others, give honor to his station at your side, and perfect his light.1 Reward him for being an exemplary messenger, one whose testimonial was accepted and whose words convinced, who spoke justly and took decisive action. God, unite us with him in a peaceful afterlife in a blessed abode, every desire satisfied, every pleasure granted, in ease, gentleness, and serenity, welcomed with your gifts of honor. â1.70 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to MarwÄn ibn al-Ḥakam in Basra. It is reported that when MarwÄn was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Camel, he begged Ḥasan and Ḥusayn to intercede for his release with the Commander of the Faithful. They spoke with their father, who answered that he could go free. They then added, âCommander of the Faithful, he wishes to pledge allegiance to you,â and he replied:2 |
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Modified quote from Qurʾan, Taḥrīm 66:8.
36/656. On MarwÄn and his dealings with Ê¿AlÄ«, see Ḥ 6:148â165. See also §â¯3.141.
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Did he not pledge allegiance to me right after Ê¿UthmÄn was killed? I have no need of his pledge now. His is a Jewish hand!1 If he were to pledge allegiance to me with his hand, he would break it the next moment with wind from his arse.2 One day, he will rule, but his rule will only last for as long as it takes a dog to lick its snout.3 He will also father four rams.4 At his hand and theirs, Muslims will encounter bloody death! â1.71 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to the ShÅ«rÄ Council when they resolved to pledge allegiance to Ê¿UthmÄn as the next caliph:5 You know full well that I have more right to the caliphate than anyone else. I will concedeâbut, by God, I will continue to do so only for as long as the concerns of the Muslims remain unharmed, as long as the injustice is directed solely at me. I do so in the hope of Godâs reward and recompense and in distaste for the adornments and splendors for which you vie. â1.72 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address when he heard reports that the Umayyads were accusing him of complicity in Ê¿UthmÄnâs killing: |
The hand is singled out for mention because a handclasp in that society sealed oneâs pledge of allegiance to a ruler. âA Jewish handâ presumably refers to the pledge given to the Prophet and then broken by the Medinan Jewish tribes. For a summary of Jews in the Qurʾan and early traditional Muslim historical works, see Stillman, âYahÅ«d,â EI2.
Lit. âhe would deceive with his arseâ (la-ghadara bi-sabbatihi). The commentators generally read this phrase metaphorically to denote strong censure and derision, but some also read it literally: Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d says it was common practice among the Arabs for a man to break wind upon resolving to break a pledge (!), and RÄwandÄ« notes that âto insultâ (sabbahÅ«) literally means to pierce in the buttocks with a spear. Ḥ 6:147; B 302; R 1:302.
MarwÄn (r. 64â65/684â685) became caliph after the last Sufyanid-Umayyad caliph, MuÊ¿Äwiyah II, and his reign lasted between six and ten months. Cf. Bosworth, âMarwÄn I b. al-Ḥakam,â EI2.
The âfour ramsâ are said to be either (1) MarwÄnâs sons: Ê¿Abd al-Malik (caliph, r. 65â86/685â705), and Ê¿Abd al-Ê¿AzÄ«z, Bishr, and Muḥammad, who ruled respectively as governors of Egypt, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula; or (2) MarwÄnâs grandsons through Ê¿Abd al-Malik, the only four brothers to rule as caliph: WalÄ«d (r. 86â96/705â715), SulaymÄn (r. 96â99/715â717), YazÄ«d (r. 101â105/720â724), and HishÄm (r. 105â125/724â723). B 302; R 1:306â307; Ḥ 6:147â148.
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this address in Medina following Ê¿Umarâs death in 23/644; I have added the words âthe ShÅ«rÄ Councilâ for clarity. Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d also notes Ê¿AlÄ«âs citation at this time of several well-known hadith, including, â¨For whomsoever I am master, Ê¿AlÄ« is his masterâ©, â¨You are to me as Aaron was to Mosesâ©, â¨You are my brother in this world and the nextâ©âthe ShiÊ¿a consider these hadith proof of the Prophetâs appointment of Ê¿AlÄ« as his successor. Ḥ 6:167â168.
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Is the Umayyadsâ own knowledge of my character not enough to stop them from injuring me? Is my precedence in Islam not enough to curb those imbeciles from accusing me? In truth, Godâs admonitions are more stirring that any my tongue can produce!1 I shall confront those who desert the faith and challenge those who doubt. The Book of God resolves disputes, and the contents of hearts determine recompense. â1.73 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: May God have mercy on the man who listens to wisdom and retains, who is called to guidance and follows, who clutches the hem of a guide and is saved, who is mindful of his Lord and fears sin, who carries out acts of purity and performs good, who earns something to put by and avoids hazardous terrain, who aims at a target and guards his treasure, who overcomes his passions and gives the lie to his desires, who makes forbearance the steed of his salvation and piety the provision for his passing, who rides on the illuminated path and keeps to the brightened road, who takes advantage of the respite and hastens to assemble provisions of good deeds before his life ends. â1.74 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 The Umayyads stingily throw at me my share of Muḥammadâs inheritance, piece by piece, like those who allow a camel calf to suckle its mother only lightly, at intervals. By God, if I live to show them, I will shake them up like a butcher shaking dirt off an animalâs innards. Raá¸Ä«: The phrase (al-widhÄm al-taribah), lit. âdirt-coated innardsâ is also narratedâin an instance of grammatical inversionâas âinnards-coated dirt (al-turÄb al-wadhimah).â By saying, âthey treat me in the manner of a camel calf allowed to suckle its mother only lightly at intervals (la-yufawwiqÅ«nanÄ«)â Ê¿AlÄ« means: âthey give me the money bit by bit like the fuwÄq of a she-camel, which is the quantity from a single milking.â âWidhÄm (innards),â the plural of wadhamah, is a piece of the ruminantâs stomach or liver; if it falls in the dirt, it must be shaken clean. |
I.e., the Qurʾanâs warnings against false accusations (Qurʾan, AḥzÄb 33:58), and its comparison of backbiting to «eating the flesh of oneâs dead brother» (Qurʾan, ḤujurÄt 49:12). B 303â304; Ḥ 6:170.
Ê¿AlÄ« spoke these terse lines in Medina in response to a gift sent to him by SaÊ¿Ä«d ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£, who was governor of Kufa in the latter part of Ê¿UthmÄnâs reign from 29â34/649â655. This is because SaÊ¿Ä«d, in an accompanying letter, had written to Ê¿AlÄ« that he had not sent so much to any other except the caliph himself. B 306; Ḥ 6:174.
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â1.75 â¬An excerpt from lines Ê¿AlÄ« used to intone in supplication:1 God, forgive my sinsâyou know more about them than I doâand if I turn back to them, turn to me with forgiveness. God, forgive the promises I made to myself that you know I have broken. God, forgive the deeds by which I sought closeness to you that my passions then stopped me from doing. God, forgive the lapses of my eyes, the blunders in my words, the errors of my heart, and the slips of my tongue. â1.76 â¬An address by Ê¿AlÄ« in response to one of his associates who, when Ê¿AlÄ« had resolved to march on the Kharijites, said to him: Commander of the Faithful, I fear you will not realize your goal if you march at this timeâI know this through my knowledge of the stars.2 Do you presume to guide me to the hour in which those who advance are shielded from injury? Do you presume to warn me of the hour in which those who advance are attacked by harm? He who believes you challenges the Qurʾan, he relies on your help to achieve his wishes and repel his fears, instead of Godâs. You may as well instruct him to glorify you and not his Lord, for in your belief, you are the one who guides him to the hour in which he will gain benefit and avert harm. Ê¿AlÄ« then turned to the people and spoke: People! Beware of studying the stars except to navigate on land and sea, for it leads to soothsaying. An astrologer is like a soothsayer, a soothsayer is like a magician, a magician is like an unbeliever, and an unbeliever will be cast into the Fire. March forward in Godâs name! |
KulaynÄ« (KÄfÄ«, 4:432â433) writes that this was Ê¿AlÄ«âs frequent supplication at the KaÊ¿bah, perhaps during the hajj pilgrimage, when pilgrims would perform the rite of walking between á¹¢afÄ and Marwah: âWhenever the Commander of the Faithful climbed atop (the hill of) á¹¢afÄ, he would face the KaÊ¿bah, lift up his hands, and intone (the supplication text).â For further prayers attributed to Ê¿AlÄ«, see Ḥ 6:178â196 (also includes prayers by Muḥammad and Jesus), Ê¿AlÄ«, âPrayers and Supplications,â in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, DustÅ«r, 176â197; Ê¿AlÄ«, al-á¹¢aḥīfah al-Ê¿Alawiyyah, passim.
Ê¿AlÄ« spoke these words in Kufa, just before the Battle of NahrawÄn in 38/658 (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 437â438; R 1:315, B 308). According to the commentators, the âassociateâ is Ê¿AfÄ«f ibn Qays, brother of the infamous al-AshÊ¿ath ibn Qays (R 1:315, B 308). On theological and legal aspects of the moratorium on astrology, see Ḥ 6:200â213; B 308â312. Ibn ṬÄwÅ«s (Faraj 1:58) says the speaker was not Ê¿AfÄ«f, but an unnamed landowner from MadÄʾin.
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â1.77 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« following the Battle of the Camel, in censure of women:1 People! Women are deficient in faith, deficient in fortune, and deficient in mind. Their faith is deficient because they must abstain during menstruation from the rites of prayer and fasting. Their mind is deficient because the testimony of two women counts as the testimony of one man. Their fortune is deficient because their inheritance is half that of men. Beware of evil women and be cautious when dealing with those who are good. Donât obey them even when they propose a righteous action, so that they donât presume to influence you to do wrong. â1.78 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«: People! To reject worldliness is to desire little, render thanks for favors, and restrain oneself from what is forbidden. If that is too much for you, then at least make sure that illicit temptations do not overwhelm your resistance or forget to render thanks when you receive favors. God has given you reason enough to obey him, with bright and clear proofs, and books with plainly defined arguments. â1.79 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« describing the world:2 How do I describe a world that begins in weariness and ends in death, where you are held accountable for approaching what is lawful and punished for consuming what is unlawful, where the wealthy are seduced and the poor grieve? The world eludes those who try to catch her while she comes willingly to those who pay her no heed. She instructs those who view her with discernment and blinds those who look at her with longing. |
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Excerpt from an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Basra immediately after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (Sibá¹, Tadhkirah, 85). Though denigrating women in general terms, it refers particularly to Ê¿Äʾishah, who had the central role in raising opposition against Ê¿AlÄ«, then led an army against him at this battle. BaḥrÄnÄ«, while emphasizing the Ê¿Äʾishah-Camel connection, also deems this statement to apply to women generally. Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d adds that the MuÊ¿tazilites believe Ê¿Äʾishah repented and therefore earned a place in paradise (B 312; R 1:316â317; Ḥ 6:214â221, 224â229, includes the events relating to Ê¿Äʾishah and the Battle of the Camel, and her oration). The rulings regarding women mentioned in the text have their basis in the Qurʾan (Baqarah 2:282, NisÄʾ 4:11) and Sunnah. Amina Inloes, âWas Imam Ê¿Ali a Misogynist? The Portrayal of Women in Nahj al-Balaghah and Kitab Sulaym ibn Qays,â argues that this and similar words attributed to Ê¿AlÄ« denigrating women are later insertions.
Response to a man who asked Ê¿AlÄ«, while he was orating, to describe the world. Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 3:119; KarÄjikÄ«, Kanz, 160.
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Raá¸Ä«: If a person were to ponder Ê¿AlÄ«âs words, âShe instructs those who view her with discernment (man abá¹£ara bihÄ baṣṣarathu),â he would find therein a wondrous meaning and a far-reaching aim whose end he can never attain and whose depths he can never plumb, especially if he reads them alongside Ê¿AlÄ«âs next words, âShe blinds those who look at her with longing (abá¹£ara ilayhÄ aÊ¿mathu).â He will find the difference between âview her with discernmentâ and âlook at her with longingâ (with the same verb, abá¹£ara, but a different prepositional phrase in each, bihÄ vs ilayhÄ) splendid and luminous, wondrous and dazzling. â1.80 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« that is among his most marvelous, known as GharrÄʾââThe Radiant Orationâ:1 â1.80.1 â¬Praise God, exalted in his might and near through his grace, bestower of gifts and favors and dispeller of calamities and hardships. I praise him for his ceaseless favors and perfect blessings. I believe in himâhe is the first and the manifest. I seek his guidanceâhe is close to me, and he is my guide. I ask him for aidâhe is the vanquisher, the all-powerful lord. I place my trust in himâhe suffices and gives victory. I bear witness that Muḥammad is his servant and messenger, whom he sent to execute his command, vindicate his claim, and deliver his warning. â1.80.2 â¬Servants of God, I counsel you to be conscious of God, who has taught you parables and decreed your lifespans, clothed you in finery and given you a good life, encompassed you in his reckoning and ordained recompense for your deeds, graced you with perfect favors and marvelous gifts, and warned you with convincing arguments. He has reckoned your numbers and appointed your time in this house of trial and abode of instructionâhere you are tested and held accountable for what you do. â1.80.3 â¬The worldâs water is murky and the path to her waterhole thick with mud. Her beauty dazzles but her reality kills. She is a fleeting deception, a fading light, an ephemeral shadow, and an unsteady support. When the man who shies away from her becomes familiar, when he who is wary relaxes, she gallops away at full stretch, traps him in her snares, targets him with her arrows, and entangles him in the noose of death. She leads him to a narrow bed and a place filled with terror, to live in his new home and be paid back for his deeds. In this |
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AbÅ« NuÊ¿aym (Ḥilyat, 1:77â79) records §â¯1.80.2, 6, 7, 9 and §â¯1.82.2 as part of an oration Ê¿AlÄ« declaimed after accompanying a funeral bier.
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way, sons follow fathers. Death keeps cutting off lives, and people keep sinning. They follow the example of those who went before and advance, one herd after another, to the final endâthe threshold of annihilation. â1.80.4 â¬Then, when affairs conclude, eons run their course, and the resurrection draws near, God plucks people from the recesses of graves, from the nests of birds and the dens of beasts, and from every pit death has cast them into, and they hasten to answer his command. They rush to him in silent troops, standing upright in straight rows, the eye pierces them and the caller forces them to heed his call, clad in garments of submission, suckling the unholy milk of humiliation and shame. Ruses have vanished, hope is lost, hearts are gripped by terror, voices are hushed and mute, throats choke on sweat like a camel chokes on its bridle-straps, dread pervades, and ears are deafened by the thunderous call to judgment, to the payment for past deeds, be it punishment or reward. â1.80.5 â¬All are Godâs servants, created by his power and ruled by his might. They will be seized by death, thrown into graves, transformed into dry bones, and resurrected alone, they will be held accountable for their deeds and singled out for the reckoning. They were given time to seek a way out and were guided to the beaten path, they had a lifetime to take warning and were led out from the shadows of doubt, they were left free to train for the race and contemplate their purpose, to seek a lighted torch and the promised goal. All this they could have done in their allotted time, in the respite granted for action. â1.80.6 â¬What striking parables, what healing counsels! If only they fell on attentive ears, pure hearts, resolute minds, and mature intellects! People, be conscious of God in the manner of one who, when he hears the call, prostrates; if he sins, he confesses; because he fears, he does good; because he dreads, he hastens; attaining certainty, he is virtuous; given lessons, he takes heed; when warned, he recoils; in answering, he returns; if he regresses, he repents; when he emulates, he perseveres; and when shown the way, he perceives. In doing so, he races when he seeks and is saved when he flees. Thus, he amasses a treasure, purifies his heart, prepares for the return, and gathers provisions for his day of departure, his time on the road, his moment of need, and his state of want. He readies stocks for his final abode. Servants of God! Be conscious of him and attend to the purpose he created you for. Be afraid of him with regard to the thing he warned you to fear him for. Deserve the fulfilment of his promise. Beware the terror of the return. |
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â1.80.7 â¬From the same oration: God has given you ears to hear what they should, eyes to dispel blindness, and a torso that encloses organs and is molded onto ribs; he has divided your formsâfor use through a long lifeâinto bodies that can attend to their needs, and hearts that can seek out their sustenance; he has given you these and many more splendid blessings, binding favors, and shelters of health and well-being; he has fixed your lifespans and concealed their duration. All the while, he has presented you with lessons in the tales of the people who went before you, who enjoyed good fortune and roamed with loosened halters, until fate overtook them and cut off their false hopes, and the termination of their lifespan drove them from their desires, who neglected to provide for themselves when their bodies were sound, nor heed lifeâs lessons while there was time to choose. Think: Can the youth with rosy skin expect anything but the bowed back of old age? The man of fresh health anything but the hard blows of sickness? The living anything but the moment of perdition, the imminence of separation, the approach of dislocation, the insomnia of anxiety, the pain of burning grief, the throttle of the death rattle, and the futile appeal for help to grandchildren and relatives, friends and colleagues? â1.80.8 â¬Can relatives ward off the ordeal, or wailing women avail, when the deceased are pledged to the dead manâs quarter, when they lie alone in the grave? Maggots tear into their skin and the elements corrode their freshness. Storms erase their traces and routines obliterate their signs. Bodies once rosy of skin decay, and bones once strong desiccate. Souls, mortgaged to their burdens, now see the reality of the unseen. But the time to stock deeds is past, or to atone for transgressions. Are you not the children of the dead, their fathers, their brothers, their relatives? Do you not follow in their footsteps? Do you not walk their road and tread their path? But your hardened hearts cannot absorb a share of belief. You run in the wrong race, too preoccupied to discern. You behave as though someone else is the next target, as though wisdom lies in amassing wealth. â1.80.9 â¬But know this: You too must cross the bridge of death, with its slippery surface, horrifying stumbles, and repeated terrors. So be conscious of God in the manner of a sage whose heart is deep in thought and whose body is emaciated by fear; whose snatches of sleep in the watches of night are interrupted by prayer, and whose hope for reward makes him choose thirst in the scorching hours of the day; whose passions renunciation dampens, whose tongue remembrance spurs on, and who fears God as he should, in order to obtain Godâs shelter; who shuns deviation from the straight path, and traverses the middle |
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road to reach his goal; whom delusionâs snares do not entangle and dubious affairs do not blind. Such a man wins promised delights and blessed repose, a tranquil sleep, and a day of safety. He has crossed the bridge exemplarily, and arriving at the provisions he had sent on, he exults. Because he feared, he hastened; when given a chance, he labored; seeking, he hoped; fleeing, he dodged; in his present, he was mindful of the morrow; with courage, he looked ahead. O people, take heed: paradise suffices as reward and recompense, hellfire as punishment and penalty. God suffices as avenger and bestower of victory, his Book as interlocutor and adversary. â1.80.10 â¬I counsel you to be conscious of God, who alerted when he cautioned, and justified his claim when he showed you the way. He warned you against the enemy who steals into breasts with stealth, and whispers into ears in secret; who misguides and leads into hell, and promises with vows that are false; who makes the evilest of crimes look attractive, and trivializes terrible sinsâthen, when he has deceived your soul and secured your collateral, he pronounces repulsive what he had bedecked and grave what he had dismissed, and he threatens you with the very things from which he had promised safety. â1.80.11 â¬From the same oration, describing the creation of humans: Look at this human, whom God created in the darkness of the womb, in layers of coverings, whom he transformed from a drop of gushing semen to a formless blood-clot, then to a fetus, a suckling babe, a child, and a youth. God bestowed on the human a heart that can remember, a tongue that can speak, and eyes that can see, so that he may learn when taught and refrain when admonished. But then, when he attained a balanced figure and his body stood up straight, he turned away in arrogance and bucked like a sun-struck camel, toiling only for worldly gain, and drawing up huge buckets from the deep wells of his passions. Seeking only ecstatic pleasures and wishful fancies, he neither heeded the approaching menace nor humbled himself before God. â1.80.12 â¬And so he died pursuing pleasure, having lived for a moment, jolly in his sins, then leaving without fulfilling obligations or earning reward. Sudden fate attacked him as he galloped headstrong in his merry path. That day, he collapsed like a sun-struck camel, that night, he lay tortured by agonies of pain and convulsions of illness. Onlookersâa blood brother, a doting father, one woman crying woe, another beating her chestâstood by. Then he was seized by consuming paroxysms, intense distress, and painful groans, in an excruciating extraction and a most severe end. Then he was wrapped in the cloths of a shroud and moved hither and thither, passive at all times and submissive. Then |
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his body, emaciated by disease and destroyed by illness, was tossed on a plank, and carried by his sonsâ children and his brothersâ attendants to the house of exile and the state of separation. Finally, when those who had come to bury him had turned back and the grieving mourners had gone away, he was made to sit up alone in his tomb to face a frightening interrogation and a terrible ordeal. People, know that the afterworldâs greatest torment is the Pit-of-Boiling-Liquid, the Blaze-of-Hellfire, the Conflagration-of-the Inferno.1 It allows no period of rest, no alleviating respite, no shielding force, no soothing sleep, and no relief in a final death. This is all there is: death after death and hour after hour of torture. «Indeed, we belong to God, and to him we shall return.»2 Truly, in God we seek refuge. â1.80.13 â¬Servants of God! You were given long lives that you enjoyed, knowledge that helped you understand, respite that you squandered in play, and security that made you careless. You were given a long reprieve and beautiful gifts, warned of punishments, and promised rewards. Bearers of eyes and ears, health and wealth, beware of sins that hurl into the abyss, and transgressions that incur Godâs wrath! Do you see escape, deliverance, refuge, shelter, retreat, or return? No? Well, then, «how are you deluded,»3 where are you directed, and what is deceiving you? Your share of the world, in all its length and breadth, is but the measure of your body as it lies with cheek in the dust! Servants of God! Take heed now, this very moment, while halters remain loosened and spirits untethered, while you have time to seek guidance and a body that is sound, with a remainder in your respite, the freedom to choose, a chance to repent, and room to move. Take heed before the calamity descends and straits narrow, before fear prevails and destruction sets in, before the arrival of that visitor who will surely arrive, and before you are seized by the Powerful, Almighty Lord. â1.80.14 â¬Raá¸Ä«: The report goes on to state that when Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration, bodies shuddered, eyes wept, and hearts trembled. Some people name this GharrÄʾ, âThe Radiant Oration.â |
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Modified quote from Qurʾan, WÄqiÊ¿ah 56:93â94.
Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:156.
Qurʾan, AnÊ¿Äm 6:95, YÅ«nus 10:34, FÄá¹ir 35:3, GhÄfir 40:62.
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â1.81 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address about Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£:1 How strange! The Harlotâs son tells the Syrians that I have a streak of foolishness, that I am a joker interested only in frolics and flirtation! He speaks untruth and gives voice to sin, for lies are the evilest of words. When he speaks, he lies, when he promises, he breaks his promise, when he solicits, he badgersâbut when he himself is solicited, he is stingy, he betrays his pledge and disowns his kin. When battle approaches, how boldly he chides and commands!âbut only before swords reap their harvest, then, his best strategy is to show people his arse!2 By God, the thought of death stops me from indulging in frivolities, while disregard for the hereafter stops him from speaking the truth. In fact, he pledged allegiance to MuÊ¿Äwiyah only after he had elicited from him a promise of paymentâa paltry bribe of baubles in exchange for abandoning the faith. â1.82 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 â1.82.1 â¬I bear witness that there is no god but God, who has no partner. He is the first, for there was nothing before him, and the last, for he has no end. Minds cannot find a way to describe him, hearts cannot comprehend his nature, dissecting or deconstructing cannot grasp him, and eyes and hearts cannot take him in. â1.82.2 â¬From the same oration: Servants of God! Take counsel from valuable lessons, warning from blazing signs, caution from powerful warnings, and benefit from reminders and counsels! Imagine that deathâs talons have pierced you and hopeâs threads are severed, that calamitous events have crushed you, and fate has driven you to the waterhole that is common to all. «Each soul is accompanied by its driver and |
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ThaqafÄ« (GhÄrÄt, 2:513) states that this oration was delivered on the pulpit. NuÊ¿mÄn (ManÄqib, 273) places the text in Iraq. Ê¿Amrâs mother was infamous in the pre-Islamic period as âThe Harlotâ (nÄbighah, lit. âthe woman who shows herself,â B 335; Gh 1:415). During the month in which she conceived Ê¿Amr, it is reported that she had lain with five menâAbÅ« Lahab ibn Ê¿Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib, Umayyah ibn Khalaf al-Jumaḥī, HishÄm ibn al-MughÄ«rah al-MakhzÅ«mÄ«, AbÅ« SufyÄn ibn Ḥarb, and al-Ê¿Äá¹£ ibn WÄʾil al-SahmÄ«âand each of them claimed him as his son. She chose Ê¿Äá¹£ as the father because he supported her financially, although Ê¿Amr resembled AbÅ« SufyÄn more (Ḥ 6:283; Gh 1:415). Ê¿Amrâs words about Ê¿AlÄ« having âa streak of foolishnessâ (duÊ¿Äbah) echoed a criticism earlier voiced by Ê¿Umar (Ḥ 6:326â330).
In one of the battle days of á¹¢iffÄ«n, Ê¿Amr came face to face with Ê¿AlÄ«, and when Ê¿AlÄ« was about to strike him, he exposed his private parts, and Ê¿AlÄ« turned away. IdrÄ«s, Ê¿UyÅ«n, 3:244â246.
§â¯1.82.2 (also §â¯1.80.2, 6, 7, 9) are recorded by AbÅ« NuÊ¿aym (Ḥilyat 1:77â79) as part of an oration Ê¿AlÄ« declaimed after accompanying a funeral bier.
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its witness»1âa driver who steers it to the place of accounting, and a witness who testifies to its deeds. â1.82.3 â¬From the same oration describing paradise: It has distinct ranks and diverse stations. Its blessings never end, its residents never leave, its occupants never age, and its inhabitants never want. â1.83 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 â1.83.1 â¬God knows your thoughts and discerns your feelings, he encompasses all things, subjugates all things, and controls all things. â1.83.2 â¬Do good in your time of respite before the end of your lifespan, in your time of leisure before other things preoccupy you, in the time you draw breath before your throat chokes. Provide for your soul and secure it a high rank. Take provisions from the home you will leave for the home you will reside in forever. â1.83.3 â¬People! Fear God in this: guard his Book, which he has asked you to preserve, and uphold his rights, which he has asked you to hold in trust. He has not created you in vain, nor left you without direction,3 nor ignorant and blind. He records your acts and knows what you do, and he has decreed what your lifespan will be. Sending you the Book with its clear exposition,4 God let his Prophet live among you through numerous seasons, until, by what he revealed in his Book, he perfected for him and for you the faith he was pleased to call his own.5 Expressing approvals and disapprovals on his Prophetâs tongue, as well as prohibitions and commands, God justified his claim to you, placed his proof before you, advanced his warning to you, and cautioned you of imminent and harsh chastisement. People, use your remaining days to rectify your wrongs and devote yourselves to that task, for your remaining days are few compared to the many you have squandered carelessly and in total neglect of admonition. Donât give yourselves undue license for that will lead you down the path of tyrants, donât be duplicitous for that will steer you into sin. |
Qurʾan, QÄf 50:21.
§â¯1.83.3 (and §â¯1.171.2) are recorded by MinqarÄ« (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 10) and AbÅ« ḤanÄ«fah al-DÄ«nawarÄ« (AkhbÄr, 152â153) as part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs first Friday sermon in Kufa (36/656). §â¯1.83.4 is recorded by ḤarrÄnÄ« (Tuḥaf, 150) as part of âThe Brocade (DÄ«bÄj) Oration,â also recorded in §â¯1.107; MufÄ«d (AmÄlÄ«, 206) prefaces this section with âÊ¿AlÄ« used to say.â
Modified quotes from Qurʾan, MuʾminÅ«n 23:115, QiyÄmah 75:36.
Modified quote from Qurʾan, Naḥl 16:89.
Modified quote from Qurʾan, MÄʾidah 5:3. I have added the word âfaithâ (Ar. dÄ«n) from the Qurʾanic verse to clarify the reference and meaning.
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â1.83.4 â¬Servants of God! He who counsels himself best, best obeys his Lord, while he who deceives himself most, most disobeys his Lord. He who cheats himself is truly cheated, he whose faith is safe is truly joyful, he who learns from the example of others is truly fortunate, and he who is misled by desire and conceit is truly wretched. Know this: If you do good to show off even a little, you assign partners to God, and when you keep company with the dissolute, you forget your faith and summon Satan. Stay away from lies for they weaken faith. The truthful stand on the threshold of salvation and honor, while liars stand at the rim of the abyss and the edge of abasement. Donât envy one another, for envy consumes faith just as fire consumes kindling. Donât hate one another, for hate destroys.1 Know this: false hope diverts the mind and causes you to forget God.2 Donât place your faith in it for it is nothing but deception and its friend is wholly deceived. â1.84 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 â1.84.1 â¬Servants of God! The most beloved of his servants in Godâs eyes is the man who, with his help, keeps his passions under control.4 By wearing the shirt of grief and donning the robe of fear, this man illumines his heart with the lamp of guidance. Putting by stores for the day that will come, for that guest who will soon be here, he brings the future close and dismisses the presentâs tribulations. He looks and discerns, he learns and gains, and he slakes his thirst with sweet water. His track to the waterhole has become smooth, so he walks its beaten path and drinks his fill. Discarding desireâs mantle and divesting from all aspirations, he holds on to just one. He escapes in this way from blindness and from the passion-driven rabble, and becomes a key to the door of guidance, a lock on the door of perdition. He sees his way, walks his path, recognizes his beacon, and crosses the deep seas. He grasps the firmest handle and the strongest rope, and so attains the certainty of one who sees the light of the |
Lit. â[Hate] is the Shaver (innahÄ al-ḥÄliqah),â an opaque metaphor interpreted variously to mean that hate (1) erases all good and blessings (Ê¿A 595); (2) cuts people off from one another (B 344); (3) harms faith (M 1:428); and (4) destroys society (R 1:359; Ḥ 6:357).
The usual rendering of amal (translated here as âfalse hopeâ) is simply âhope.â In the Arabic oratorical tradition, though, particularly in Ê¿AlÄ«âs sermons, the word invariably refers to the false hope that you will live forever, while it is the word rajÄʾ that usually denotes positive hope. The phrase translated as âcauses you to forget Godâ (yunsÄ« al-dhikr) literally means, âmakes you forget the remembrance,â here, of God (B 344), and the hereafter.
Ḥ 6:382â383 records two additional passages from this oration.
The word translated as âpassionsâ is nafs (lit. âsoul,â or âselfâ), in the Qurʾanic sense of «the [base faculty of the] soul that incites [its owner] to do evil» Qurʾan, YÅ«suf 12:53.
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sun. He deputes for God in the loftiest matters, providing all comers with water, tracing each branch to its root. He is a lamp in the darkness, a dispeller of obscurities, a key to elucidation, a defender against calamities, and a guide in the wilderness. When he speaks, people can understand, and when silent, he protects himself from erring. He is sincere in his devotion to God, so God singles him out for himself. He is thus a repository of Godâs faith, a mountain that pegs Godâs earth. He enjoins his soul to justice, and his first act of justice is to banish all passions from his soul. He preaches the truth and practices it. He strives continually for good, with no avenue unexplored, no location untracked. He entrusts his reins to Godâs Book, which becomes his driver and leader. He settles where it unloads its wares and encamps where it sets up camp. â1.84.2 â¬Then there is another kind: this man calls himself learned when he is not. He collects scraps of ignorance from the ignorant and bits of error from the errant, and traps people with deceptive snares and false reports. He interprets the Book to his fancies and bends the truth to his passions, he promises protection from punishment and trivializes major sins. He crows, âI pause if I have doubt,â when he has fallen into its pit. He boasts, âI stay away from heresy,â when he has made it his bedfellow. His form is human, but his heart is the heart of a beast. He does not recognize let alone follow guidance, he cannot identify let alone repel blindness. He is the living dead. «So where do you go,»1 «and how are you deluded,»2 when banners are raised, waymarks are clear, and beacons are lit? Indeed, whereto do you stray, and how is it you are lost, when you have among you the Prophetâs descendants, who are guide ropes of right and tongues of truth? Accord them the high regard you accord the Qurʾan,3 and race like parched camels to drink at their waterhole. People! Take this from the Seal of the Prophets, who said, â¨When one of us dies, he is not dead. When his body disintegrates in the ground, it has not disintegrated.â©4 Donât speak of what you donât know, for what you deny is the truth. Absolve the man against whom you have no claim, and that is I! Have I not led you in accordance with the Greater Treasure and given you the Smaller |
Qurʾan, Takwīr 81:26.
Qurʾan, AnÊ¿Äm 6:95, YÅ«nus 10:34, FÄá¹ir 35:3, GhÄfir 40:62.
I.e., revere them and obey their commands, as you revere and obey the Qurʾan. B 351; Ḥ 6:376; R 1:364.
Refers to the Qurʾanic verse, «Do not think that those who die striving in the path of God are dead: They are alive, sustained by the side of their Lord.» Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:169; B 351. The âSeal of the Prophetsâ is Muḥammad.
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One?1 Have I not raised for you the banner of faith, shown you the boundaries between licit and illicit, clothed you through my justice in the garment of security, unfurled for you with my words and deeds the carpet of good, and exemplified for you with my behavior a virtuous character? So do not exercise your fancy in areas whose depths your eyes cannot plumb, or your minds penetrate! â1.84.3 â¬From the same oration: A man may well believe that the world is a camel tied up in the Umayyadsâ pen, giving them sweet milk and leading them to pure water, and that their whip and sword will never be lifted from the communityâs neckâbut he would be wrong. This is but a delicious drink they will sip for a short while and then spit out all at once. â1.85 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 God has not crushed tyrants of any era except after a long respite and an abundant share of fortune, nor has he mended the bones of any community except after a period of anguish and trial. Lessons can be gleaned from lesser things than the calamities you have experienced, yet not every heart discerns, not every ear listens, and not every eye perceives. I am amazedâand how could I not be!âat the errors committed by these groups who produce such dissenting claims in faith. They neither follow the footsteps of a prophet nor emulate the actions of a legatee, they do not believe in the mystery or refrain from debauchery, rather, they base their actions on doubts and tread the path of passions. Good to them is what they find pleasing, and evil is what they find foul. When faced with obscurities, they rely on their own judgment, and when faced with ambiguities, they rely on their own caprice. Each of them is his own leader whoâmisguidedly, in his own viewâhas a firm grip on sturdy handles and strong ropes. â1.86 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 |
The reference is to the Prophetâs hadith: â¨I leave among you two weighty, or precious, things (thaqalaynâtranslated here as the Greater Treasure and the Smaller One), Godâs Book and my descendants, my family. They will never be separated and will come to me together at the pools of paradise.â© B 352; R 1:364; Ḥ 6:380.
KulaynÄ« (KÄfÄ«, 8:64) and MufÄ«d (IrshÄd, 1:291) say Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in Medina, presumably at the beginning of his caliphate in 35/656. BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 353) says the âtyrantâ (jabbÄr) in the oration refers to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, but if the oration is early in Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate as KulaynÄ« states (KÄfÄ«, 8:64), it would refer more generally to MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs Umayyad clan.
The first three lines are the same in §â¯1.156.1.
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God sent Muḥammad when an age had gone by without prophets, when people had long been in slumber, when steeds of revolt were bucking, affairs were in disarray, and battles were aflame. The world was devoid of light, her deceit was shining bright, her leaves had yellowed and browned, her fruits could not be found, and her water had sunk underground. The waymarks of guidance had crumbled, the waymarks of hell were erected. The world glared at her tenants and scowled in the face of her seekers. Mutiny was her harvest, cadavers her preferred food, fear was her garment, and the sword her daily robe. Servants of God, take heed! Remember the deeds to which your fathers and brothers remain pledged, and for which they must account. I swear on my life and say this: No great time has passed between their years and yours, no eons separate their seasons and yours, you are not so far today from the day you were in their loins. By God! Everything Godâs Messenger told them, I reiterate to you today, for your hearing is no less keen today than theirs was yesterday. Just as they were given eyes to see, just as they were given hearts to comprehend, so too have you, in your generation, been given. And neither, by God, are you shown something they were ignorant of, or privileged with knowledge they were not. The calamity that has attacked you has a slackened nose-rein and a loosened belly-strap,1 so do not be deceived by the ascendance of these men of deceit. Their spreading shade is fleeting. â1.87 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: God is recognized without being seen, a creator who did not need to deliberate. He was existent and present from eternity, when there were no mansion-filled skies,2 no inaccessible veils,3 no dark nights, no tranquil seas, no craggy gorges, no twisting ravines, no outspread earth, and no legged creatures. God is the originator of all creation and its inheritor, the maker of all creation and its sustainer. The sun and the moon strive for his pleasure as they wear out the old and bring near the far. He apportions our sustenance and reckons our traces and deeds. He enumerates our breaths and our glances, the secrets our bosoms hide, and our places of rest and passage in wombs and loins until our final end. His punishment crushes his enemies, despite the vastness of his mercy, while his mercy enfolds his devotees, despite the harshness of his punishment. He subjugates his challengers, destroys those who defy him, humbles his opponents, and overthrows his foes. He suffices those who trust him, he gives to those who beseech him, he repays with favors those who extend him a loan of |
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I.e., its rider could fall off at any moment. Ḥ 6:390; B 357; R 1:372.
Reference to the signs of the zodiac, Qurʾan, Burūj 85:1.
Refers to âinaccessible veils of divine light,â Ḥ 6:394; R 1:372â373.
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their deeds, and rewards those who thank him. Servants of God! Weigh yourselves before you are weighed, judge yourselves before you are judged, breathe before your throats constrict, go meekly before you are shoved. Finally, know this: if a man is not guided to combat his own passions, if he cannot counsel and admonish himself, no other counselor, no other admonisher, will avail. â1.88 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« known as AshbÄḥ, âEthereal Forms,â one of the most marvelous of orations. MasÊ¿adah ibn á¹¢adaqah narrated the following from JaÊ¿far ibn Muḥammad al-á¹¢Ädiq, who said: The Commander of the Faithful delivered this oration on the pulpit of Kufa, when a man approached him and asked, Commander of the Faithful, describe for us what our Lord looks like exactly so that our love and knowledge may increase. Ê¿AlÄ«, outraged at the blasphemy, called loudly, â¨Gather for the ritual prayer!â© and when the people crammed into the mosque, Ê¿AlÄ« ascended the pulpit, pale with anger. He praised God, pronounced benedictions on the Prophet, then said:1 â1.88.1 â¬Praise God, whom withholding does not make richer nor munificence and generosity impoverish, for giving depletes every giverâs store except Godâs, and every withholder is blameworthy except him. He is the Munificent Giver who bestows increasing favors and manifold gifts, and all creatures are his childrenâhe guarantees the sustenance they receive, ordains the food they eat, and paves the way for people to petition him and seek his bounty. In fact, he is as generous in granting what they do not ask for as he is in granting what they do. He is the first, with no before, so nothing could exist before him, he is the last, with no after, so nothing will exist after him. He prevents the pupils of our eyes from capturing or grasping his image. Time never changes for him, so his condition will never change, nor is he in a place, so his location will never change. If he distributed all that mountain depths yield and smiling seashells emit, from nuggets of silver and native gold to forests of coral and fistfuls of |
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This introduction is from manuscripts M and Y, and is also found in á¹¢adÅ«q, Tawḥīd, 48. Manuscript N and RÄwandÄ«âs commentary (R 1:374) have the following version: âThe oration was delivered in response to a man who asked Ê¿AlÄ« to describe God for him in a way such that he could almost see him with his eyes. Angered, Ê¿AlÄ« said [the text of the oration].â The commentaries of BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 361) and Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 6:398) amalgamate both versions. I have added the words âat the blasphemyâ for clarity; Ê¿AlÄ«âs anger, as it becomes clear from this alternative preface and from the oration text, is at the anthropomorphic views implicit in the manâs question. â¨Gather for the ritual prayer!â© is a dictum pronounced in early Islam to gather people for a momentous announcement. On its origin and early usage, see Qutbuddin, Arabic Oration, 202.
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pearl, this would not affect his generosity or deplete his vast possessions. The appeals of all the people in the world do not exhaust his treasure. He is the Generous Giver. Supplications do not empty his wellsprings and persistence does not make him withhold. â1.88.2 â¬See it this way, O seeker: Accept what the Qurʾan tells you about God and seek light from its radiant guidance. As for the questions that Satan burdens you with, questions not mandated for you by the Book or reported in the Prophetâs Sunnah and the Imamsâ guidance, consign their knowledge to God. That is Godâs ultimate right over you. Know this: Men rooted in knowledge do not attempt to force themselves through fortified barricades but accept the veiled mysteries whose details they lack as they are presented to them. They admit their inability to grasp things beyond their compass, which God praises them for, and he calls their abstentionâthe abstention from delving into things whose essence he has not burdened them with investigatingâdeep knowledge.1 You, too, limit yourself to this boundary, and do not measure Godâs greatness by the measure of your intellectâif you venture there, you will perish. He is the All-Powerful Being. If the imagination sends scouts to survey the extent of his power, if minds free of Satanâs whisperings attempt to penetrate the deep mysteries of his kingdom, if bewildered, yearning hearts walk in the way of his attributes, and if sharp intellects whose descriptions fail to capture him attempt to open the door to his essence, he repels them, one and all. They wander the deep and dark ravines of his mysteries to find a way to him, but, knocked hard on their foreheads, they are made to turn back, admitting that no aggression will plumb his core,2 and no reflection will glimpse the magnitude of his might. He created the world with no model, no plan measured by a creator worshipped prior to him. He showed us his powerful kingdom, the wonders articulated in the traces of his wisdom, and the worldâs frank admission that it needs his strong grip to remain standingâthereby he provided the proof that compels us to acknowledge him. Traces of his artisanship and signs of his wisdom can be seen in the marvels he made. Everything he created offers proof of his existence and guides us to him, even silent objects, for their design speaks of that proof, and it guides us toward their creator. |
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Ar. rusÅ«kh, echoes Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:7, «Men rooted in knowledge» (al-rÄsikhÅ«na fÄ« al-Ê¿ilm).
âAggressionâ (jawr al-iÊ¿tisÄf), is also interpreted as âturning away from the main roadâ (Ḥ 6:409; R 1:383), or âextreme wanderings in those stationsâ (B 369).
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â1.88.3 â¬I bear witness that anyone who likens you to the disparate limbs of your creatures, or to their bonded joints that your clever design has concealed, has erred. His inner self has not recognized you, and his heart is not certain that you have no peer. He does not appear to have heard of followers disowning those they followed, saying, «By God, we were clearly misguided when we equated you with the Lord of the worlds!»1 They lie who compare you! They lie when they liken you to their idols, when their imagination adorns you with the ornaments of your creatures, their notions divide you into physical parts, and their intellects measure you against the multiplicity of your creaturesâ faculties. I bear witness that to equate you with any of your creatures is to compare you, and to compare you is to profess unbelief in the clear verses you have revealed, in the witness provided by your eloquent signs. For you are God. Intellects with their penetrating thoughts cannot analyze your totality, nor hearts with their reflections limit or position you. â1.88.4 â¬From this oration: He planned the things he created with precision, arranged them with elegance, and led them in a certain direction, where they do not transgress the limits of their station, fall short of their goal, or pull back when commanded to proceed. How could they, pray, when all affairs transpire according to his will? He generated categories of things without relying on cogitation, engaging an inner disposition, drawing on experience obtained from the rise and fall of eons, or using a partnerâs help to originate his wondrous affairs. His creation was thus completed, and it bowed to him in obedience, and answered his call, unhindered by sluggish delay or laggardly indolence. He straightened out what was crooked, laid out its boundaries, harmonized its contrasting parts, bound the cords of linked entities, and distributed all into various species with distinct parameters, values, dispositions, and forms. Such was the beginning of Godâs creatures, each crafted with exquisite precision, produced and originated by his will. â1.88.5 â¬From the same oration, describing the sky: When God created the sky, he hung its spaces together without ropes, soldered the gaps in its parts, and connected them closely, each with the other.2 He smoothed its knobby ladder for beings who descend with his command, and ascend with his creaturesâ deeds.3 He called out to it while it was entirely |
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Qurʾan, ShuÊ¿arÄʾ 26:97â98.
Ar. azwÄj, interpreted as its âanalogsâ (R 1:377; Ḥ 1:419), âother celestial objectsâ (Ê¿A 600), or âthe angelsâ (B 373).
Those who descend and ascend are the angels. BÂ 373â374; RÂ 1:388.
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smoke,1 and its crevices became sealed. He cracked its locked doors open and set blazing sentinels in the gaps, restraining them with his own hands from falling through breaks in the firmament and commanding them to remain where they were. He made the sun a sign that brightens the day and the moon a sign that wanes through the nights.2 He set the two in motion within their orbits and ordained their passage within their tracks. By their movements, he distinguished night from day, and by their measure, he showed the «reckoning and calculation of years.»3 Then he suspended the skyâs sphere in the ether, hung ornaments of starry clusters and bright lamps,4 used blazing meteors to strike down spying demons,5 and launched the stars according to their stations: fixed versus moving, falling versus rising, and ominous versus lucky. â1.88.6 â¬From the same oration, describing the angels: Then God created wondrous angels to populate his skies and inhabit his kingdomâs highest planes. With them he filled the gaps in its rifts and the fissures in its ether, and in those gaps, in that sacred enclosure, in veils of concealment and canopies of glory, their thunderous chanting of his praise rings out. Behind the roar that deafens the ear shines the majesty of light that dazzles the eye, and the eye is driven back at this boundary. He fashioned them in different forms, in diverse ranks, each «with sets of wings».6 They chant litanies of praise for his glorious power, never claiming that they helped shape his creatures, nor professing to have created, alongside him, a single, solitary thing. In this, he has no peer. «Rather, they are his honored servants, they speak when he has spoken, and act on his command.»7 He entrusts them with his revelation and sends them to his messengers bearing his commands and prohibitions. He shields them from doubt and uncertainty, so not one strays from the path of his pleasure. He equips them with aid and assistance, and infuses their hearts with deference, with humility, peace, and calm. He eases their path to glorifying him and erects beacons to illumine for them the signs of his unity. They are never weighed down by sins, or loaded, like camels, by the calamities brought by nights and days. Suspicionâs arrows donât penetrate the robust frame of their belief, presumptionsâ rasps donât fray the strong cords of their convictions, the |
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Reference to Qurʾan, DukhÄn 44:10.
Reference to Qurʾan, IsrÄʾ 17:12.
Qurʾan, Yūnus 10:5.
Reference to Qurʾan, á¹¢ÄffÄt 37:6.
Reference to Qurʾan, Ḥijr 15:18. I have specified the word âdemonsâ based on the previous verse (Qurʾan, Ḥijr 15:17): «We protected it from every cursed demon.»
Qurʾan, FÄá¹ir 35:1.
Qurʾan, AnbiyÄʾ 21:26â27.
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fever of malice doesnât burn their bonds, perplexity doesnât pillage recognition of God from their hearts or plunder veneration of God and awe for his grandeur from their breasts, and the devils with their whisperings donât dare to sow doubts or cast lots for controlling their thoughts. â1.88.7 â¬Among them are angels created as heavy clouds, or with the massive dimensions of lofty mountains, or as dark as the starless night, angels whose feet pierce the nethermost regions of the earth and look like white banners protruding in the air. A gentle breeze below confines them inside the farthest limits they can reach. Godâs worship is their sole occupation, faithâs realities provide them with the means to recognize him, and certainty in his existence severs them from all else save yearning for him. Their desires seek what he bestows, never crossing to seek anotherâs favors. They taste the sweetness of his recognition and drink from the full cup of his love. His fear is rooted deep in their hearts, so they bend their backs in protracted worship. Lengthy petitions do not exhaust the store of their entreaties, and closeness to him does not loosen the cord of their submissiveness. No vanity aggrandizes for them their prior acts, while the humility generated in them by glorifying God leaves them no room to glorify their own deeds. No intervals of languor interrupt their protracted efforts, and no diminishing expectations make them question the hopes they have placed in their Lord. Long prayers do not parch their tongues, nor preoccupations weaken their raised voices. Their shoulders do not sag as they worship, standing in ranks, nor do they relax their necks and so fall short in carrying out his command. No dullness or disregard vanquishes their resolve, no deceiving passions vie to shoot down their high aspirations. They choose the Lord of the Throne to be the treasure they put by for their day of need, and they go to him with petitions when others go to his creatures. Their journey to perfect his worship never ends, and their passion for embracing his obedience stems from their heartsâ inner substance, which is ever infused by hope in him and fear. No severance of the cord of dread makes them lessen their labors, no ensnaring greed makes them favor flighty acts over serious effort. They do not aggrandize their past deeds, else complacent hope would have expelled their palpitating trepidations. No Satanic dominion puts them at variance among themselves concerning their Lord: no evil sundering of ties divides them, no rancor caused by mutual envy takes hold, no calamitous doubts separate them, and no contrary aspirationsâlike a horse with one blue eye and one |
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blackâfragment them.1 Captives of faith, no deviation, deflection, exhaustion, or lassitude frees them from its lasso. In all the skiesâ layers, there exists no place, not even the width of a strip of rawhide, that does not contain a prostrating angel or a swift messenger. Their long worship continually increases their knowledge of their Lord, and the grandeur of their Lordâs might ever increases in their hearts. â1.88.8 â¬From the same oration, describing the earth and how he laid it out over water: God poured earth into the mighty, heaving waves and the deep, swollen seas, where waves towered and clashed, and waters raced and crashed, as they grunted and frothed like a camel stallion in arousal. Weighed down by the earthâs mass their recalcitrant gallop became tractable, crushed by the earthâs torso their tumultuous tossing subsided, and dragged along by the earthâs withers they submitted with docility. After their earlier clamor, the waves grew still and were conquered. Tamed with the curb of servility, they were herded in defeat and captivity. The earth ensconced itself then, spreading in the depths of the flowing current, repelling its pride, haughtiness, disdain, and excess of energy, and muzzling its overabundant flow. After much vaulting and supercilious assault, the waters abated. When the waterâs tumult had grown still under the earthâs wings, under the weight of the soaring, lofty mountains placed on its shoulders, God made springs of pure water gush from the towering massifs and channeled them into outstretched wastelands and undulating furrows. He anchored the earthâs movements with massive rocks and high-topped, stony crags. Sunk deep beneath its surface, rupturing the smooth hollows of its crust, and straddling the backs of its plains and compacted soils, the mountains caused the earthâs heaving to still. He opened wide the space between the earth and the ether, and made the air fit for the earthâs residents to breathe. Then, with all preparations complete, he extracted from it and introduced to it its living inhabitants. In all of this, he did not neglect those barren tracts too high for springs and beyond the reach of rivers. He created swollen clouds to bring life to those bare stretches and coax out their vegetation. Piecing together wispy swirls and scattered puffs, he shaped a thick, enveloping cloud. Thenâwhen its deep waters roiled, when lightning flickered from its hands, when flashes in the massed white-and-black cloudbanks and the heaped rainclouds awoke from their slumberâhe let it loose in one continuous downpour. The cloud |
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Ar. akhyÄf, said of people who are âdifferent, one from another, in their states or conditions, or in their forms, shapes or semblances;â from khayafa, which means, âhaving one of the eyes blue, the other black; said of a horse, or any animal.â Brothers who are akhyÄf are âsons of one mother but different fathers.â Lane, Lexicon, s.v. âKh-Y-F.â
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hung low and hugged the earth, and the South Wind milked its teats to yield torrents and spills. When the cloud had settled its limbs on the ground, when it had dropped all the water it had drawn and carried, he brought forth plants from the barren ground and herbage from the bare mountains. The earth now rejoiced in the beauty of its meadows, it flaunted its garments of delicate blossoms and its necklaces of fresh flowers. All this he created to sustain humans and nourish cattle. He then hewed passes in remote regions and erected beacons for those who would walk the open roads. â1.88.9 â¬When God had primed the earth and executed his will, he singled out Adam from among his creatures and made him the first human.1 He lodged him in paradise and offered him all manner of delectable foods but warned him to keep away from the forbidden tree.2 He cautioned him that if he came near it, he would be committing a sin and jeopardizing his rank. Adamâas God had known he wouldâapproached the tree God had forbidden to him. After he repented, however, God sent him down to populate the earth with his descendants and serve as Godâs proof for his servants. Then, when God took him back, he did not void them of the clear proof of his majesty or the means to his recognition. He sent them his proof on the tongues of his chosen prophets, who carried his entrusted messages to them, generation after generation, until he completed his message to his creatures through our own Prophet Muḥammad, and his advocacy and warnings reached their climax. God decreed sustenance, giving some people much and others little, distributing constricted shares to some and ample ones to others. In all this, he was just. He tested those he wished with prosperity and those he wished with poverty to assess the gratitude of the rich and the patience of the poor. He also paired abundance with sores of destitution, wellbeing with calamities that creep up in the night, and joys that gladden with sorrows that choke. He ordained lifespans to be long or short, swift or tardy, and he handed their reins to death. Death pulls in their long ropes and cuts through the tight plait of their fastenings. â1.88.10 â¬God knows all secrets. He knows the thoughts of those who conceal what they are thinking, the clandestine conversations of those who whisper, stray notions generated by wild conjectures, secured resolutions arising from certainty, stolen glances flashed by drooping eyelids, veiled matters of the |
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Lit. ânatural dispositionâ (Ar. jibillah). BÂ 390 explains it as âhuman.â
Lit. âthat which God had forbidden to him.â I have replaced the phrase, here and in the next line, with the word âtree,â echoing the Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:35: «God said to Adam ⦠do not approach this tree.»
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heart, deep-welled mysteries, the sounds to which ears stealthily hearken, the summer nests of tiny ants, the winter habitats of mites, the repeated wails of mourning women, the sound of faint footsteps, the place hidden within the innermost sepal where fruit begins to grow, the concealed spaces in mountain hollows and riverbeds where wild beasts hole up, the cracks between the boles and bark of trees in which gnats hide away, the node on a branch from which a leaf sprouts, the basin where semen is deposited after flowing through the waterways of menâs loins, the forming of the new clouds and their thick amassing, the abundant flow of raindrops from towering cloudbanks, what the whirlwinds stir up with their kicking gusts, what the rains erase with their flood water, how tumbleweeds are swept by the wind over dunes of sand, the resting places of birds atop the high mountain peaks, the warbling of birds in the dimness of their nests, what seashells store and waves on the deep water envelop, what a black night conceals and bright daybreak reveals, what is prevailed on in alternation by layers of darkness and splendors of radiance, the trace of every footstep, the sensation of every movement, the echo of every word, the motion of every lip, the resting place of every creature that breathes, the weight of every tiny particle, the sobbing of every grieving heart, and whatever is on the earth,1 including the fruit growing on a tree, a falling leaf, the resting place of a drop of semen, the place where blood gathers in pools and where an embryonic clump of flesh congeals, and the emergence of creatures and offspring. In all this, God suffers no toil, no obstacle obstructs him from guarding his creation, and no stupor or apathy impedes him from executing his affairs or governing his creatures. Far from it! His knowledge penetrates them, his reckoning comprehends, his justice encompasses, and his favors engulf. All this, despite how short they fall in offering his due. â1.88.11 â¬God, to you belong the loveliest epithets and the largest armies. When solicited, you are the best repository of hope, and when petitioned, you are the best receptacle of trust. God, you stretch out your hand to me with such favors that I can praise none but you, extol none but you, I do not direct my praise toward those who are founts of disappointment or sites of suspicion, for you have diverted my tongue from praising the children of Adam, from extolling your creatures and subjects. God, every extoller deserves a reward that compensates, a gift freely bestowed by the one he extolls: I beseech you to guide me to the treasures of your mercy and the riches of your forgiveness. God, here I stand before you. I have singled you out with the proclamation of unity that |
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Lit. âon it,â explained in the commentaries as âon earth.â Ḥ 7:30; B 392; R 1:418.
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is your due, and I see no one worthy of these tributes and praises but you. My need of you is urgent. Nothing but your kindness can heal my destitutionâs broken bones, nothing but your beneficence and generosity can raise me from my lowly state of privation. So grant us your acceptance now as we stand before you, and free us from spreading our hands before any but you. You are powerful over all that you will.1 â1.89 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«, when, after Ê¿UthmÄnâs killing, the people rushed to him to pledge allegiance:2 Leave me and seek another! We are looking at a thing with many faces and shades, in which hearts will not remain steady or minds stable, for the skies are overcast and the road is obscure. Know this: If I accept your pledge, I shall drive you on the path I know to be right, without caring about your chiding or rebuke. If you leave me be, however, I will be as one of youâin fact, I will be the most attentive and obedient among you toward the man you entrust with your rule. You will find me a better counselor than commander. â1.90 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 â1.90.1 â¬People! I have gouged out the eyes of revolt. None other would have dared to challenge it when its darkness had spread so far, when its madness had become so rabid. â1.90.2 â¬Ask me before I am lost to you! By the one who holds my life in his hand, I swear this: If you ask me about what will happen between now and the last hour, about any group who will guide a hundred aright or lead a hundred astray, I shall inform you of who will call out and direct that herd, who will lead in the front and who will drive from the rear, where their camels will kneel and where they will set down their gear, who will be killed in battle and who will die a natural death. |
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Reference to Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:26, TaḥrÄ«m 66:8.
In Medina, 35/656. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:434.
The commentators agree that §â¯1.90.1 refers to Ê¿AlÄ«âs battles, but they differ on which ones: (1) Ḥ 7:57â58 (citing early, unnamed historical sources, and transcribing further sections of the oration) says the oration was delivered soon after NahrawÄn, i.e., either in NahrawÄn or Kufa in 38/658, presumably meaning it refers to this battle; YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:193) places it in Kufa, just after NahrawÄn. (2) R 1:424â425 says it refers to the Battle of the Camel and the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n. (3) B 395 says it refers to the Camel, á¹¢iffÄ«n, and NahrawÄn.
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â1.90.3 â¬After you lose me, when calamities strike you and devastation decimates, many who want to ask will cast down their eyes and many who are asked will fail to answer. When war tucks up its garments and girds its loincloth, when the world presses down on you and you have nowhere to turn, you will find the days of trial long, until, at last, God grants victory to the heirs of the righteous. When mutinies advance, they confuse, and as they turn away, they warn. Unrecognized in approach, they are identified only when they leave. They twist and turn like gusts of wind, striking one town and passing by another. â1.90.4 â¬Hark! Of all seditions, the one I fear most for you is the Umayyadsâ. A blind and dark insurrection, its tyranny will range wide, yet its blows will target individuals, striking those who know it for what it is, but passing over those who choose to be blind. Godâs oath! You will find the Umayyads harsh overlords after I am gone, like a timeworn, quick-to-bite camel cow, that, jaws snapping, forelegs stamping, and hind feet kicking, refuses to be milked. They will oppress you all, until only those who bring them benefit remain standing, or those donât do them harm. Their tyranny will be so fierce that if you dare to seek retribution, you will be as ineffective as a slave seeking retribution against his master, or a minion against his ruler.1 Ugly, frightening, a battalion from the Age of Ignorance,2 their insurrection will leave you with no beacon that guides, no signpost to follow. In all this, we, the people of the Prophetâs house, will remain quietly on the side. We will never take part in their mission. â1.90.5 â¬Then God will strip their tyranny from you, as a hide is stripped from a carcass, at the hands of a man who will inflict them with humiliation, drive them with brute force, pour them bitter aloes, strike them with the sword, and shroud them in fear.3 When that happens, the Quraysh will ache to see meâthey would trade the world and all that it contains to have me beside them for one last stand, even if only for the swift instant it takes to butcher a camel, to accept from them in full what I ask for a scrap of today, and which they refuse to give. |
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I have added the word âineffectiveâ after Ḥ 7:55; B 397.
Ar. jÄhiliyyah, referring to the pre-Islamic period and its pagan peopleâs âignoranceâ of the one God. The term jahlâfrom which the term jÄhiliyyah derivesâalso means âfoolish judgment.â Lane, Lexicon, s.v. âJ-H-L.â
The commentatorsâ interpretation that this is a prediction about the end of the Umayyad regime at the hands of the rising Abbasid power (Ḥ 7:57â60; B 397) seems unlikely, because the Abbasids, like the Umayyads, were also from the Quraysh tribe.
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â1.91 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.91.1 â¬Blessed is God! Vaunting aspirations cannot attain him, swift intellects cannot find him, he has no limit and will not expire, he has no boundary and will not cease to be. â1.91.2 â¬From the same oration: God placed them in the finest depository and the choicest repository. Patrician loins conveyed them to chaste wombs. Each time a forebear passed, his successor stood up to establish Godâs religion, until this divine honor came to Muḥammad. God extracted him from the most precious of mines to be quarried, the most venerated of roots from which to grow, from the very same tree from which God brought forth his prophets and chose his trustees. Muḥammadâs line is the best line, his family is the best family, his tree is the best tree. Rooted in the sacred enclave, it rises high in its fertile soil, with tall branches and matchless fruits. Muḥammad is the leader of the pious and a source of sight for those who follow the path, a shining lamp, a blazing star, and a sparking flint. His way is the middle way, his practice gives direction, his words are final, and his judgment is the embodiment of justice. God sent Muḥammad after a period had passed without prophets, when people had stopped doing good, and nationsâ minds had dulled. â1.91.3 â¬Do goodâMay God have mercy on you!âand follow its clear waymarks, for its road is wide and leads to the Abode of Safety. Beware, for you live in the abode of those who have been warned, where you have been given a brief respite and a little time. Registers are still open, pens still run with ink, bodies are still healthy, tongues are still unfettered, repentance is still received, and deeds are still accepted. â1.92 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: At the time when God sent Muḥammad as a prophet, people wandered in confusion and attempted to gather their firewood in the darkness of sedition. Passions had seduced them, arrogance had caused them to slip, gross ignorance had rendered them witless, and they stood confounded in the face of tumultuous affairs and painful folly. Muḥammad did his utmost to offer them sincere advice. He trod the true path and called to «wisdom and counsel.»2 |
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Excerpt from a famous long oration that Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Kufa after the arbitration in 37/658, urging his followers to regroup and fight MuÊ¿Äwiyah (á¹¢adÅ«q, Tawḥīd, 41, 72). IskÄfÄ« (MiÊ¿yÄr, 255) says it is part of the Luminous Oration (ZahrÄʾ), which also includes §â¯1.106 and §â¯1.158.
Qurʾan, Naḥl 16:125.
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â1.93 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: Praise God! He is the firstâthere was nothing before him. He is the lastâthere is nothing after him. He is the manifestâthere is nothing above him. He is the hiddenâthere is nothing below him. From the same oration describing Godâs Messenger: Muḥammad came from the worthiest repository and the noblest roots, from the mine of honor and the cradle of soundness. Virtuous hearts inclined to him, and discerning eyes were drawn. Rancorous intentions were buried because of him, and burning flames were doused. Brothers were reconciled and peers were separated, servility was converted to might and might was rendered servile. His words were the epitome of elucidation, his very silence was eloquent. â1.94 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.94.1 â¬God may have granted the tyrant a reprieve, but he will surely apprehend him. He lies in wait on the road along which the tyrant must pass, in the place where his saliva, dripping into his throat, will choke him. By the one who holds my life in his hand, I swear that this faction will overpower youânot because they have a greater right, but because they hasten to support their leaderâs unrighteous claim,2 while you hold back from supporting my right! Other communities fear tyranny from their rulers, while I have come to fear tyranny from my subjects! I urge you to fight, but you donât respond, I speak to you, but you donât listen, I call on you in private and in public, but you donât answer, I counsel you, but you donât accept my counsel. Those present among you are like those absent, and servants behave like masters. I recite litanies of wisdom to you but you bolt from them, I counsel you with profound advice but you scatter in its wake, I urge you to fight these treacherous people, but before I reach the end of my speech you â¨disperse like the hands of SabÄâ©3âyou |
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In Nukhaylah, just outside Kufa, after the arbitration in 37/658. A few lines are repeated in §â¯3.254, that specifies the location. MufÄ«d (IrshÄd, 277) cites it as part of an oration which begins âO people of Kufa, start preparations for fighting your enemy MuÊ¿Äwiyah and his supporters.â Ê¿Abd al-ZahrÄʾ (Maá¹£Ädir, 2:192) argues that this text is part of §â¯1.34, delivered after NahrawÄn when the Kufans held back from marching on MuÊ¿Äwiyah.
The reference is to the Syrians, the Umayyads, and MuÊ¿Äwiyah. Ḥ 7:72; B 403; R 1:431.
The reference is to the proverb, â¨They dispersed like the hands of SabÄ (Sheba)â© (tafarraqÅ« aydiya SabÄ), i.e., they dispersed never to be reunited again. SabÄ was a pre-Islamic man from Yemen. His hands are a metaphor for his sons who, warned by a sybil of the Maʾrib damâs imminent rupture and flooding, dispersed widely across the Arabian Peninsula. MaydÄnÄ«, MajmaÊ¿ al-amthÄl, 2:6â8; Ḥ 7:74â75; B 403; R 1:432.
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return to your assemblies and incite one another not to heed the counsel you have heard. I straighten you out in the morning, but you come to me in the evening, crooked as a bow. The one who would straighten has given up, for the one who needs straightening cannot be cured! â1.94.2 â¬You people! Your bodies are present, but your minds are gone, your ambitions are divided so your commanders suffer,1 your ruler obeys God, yet you disobey him, and the Syriansâ ruler disobeys God, yet they obey him. By God, how I wish MuÊ¿Äwiyah would trade me dirham for dinar, taking ten of you and giving me one of them! â1.94.3 â¬Kufans! I have been tested by three things in you, and two more: you have ears but are deaf, you have speech but are dumb, you have eyes but are blind, you are not courageous in battle as free men ought to be, nor trustworthy brothers in times of trial. May your hands be filled with dirt! You people, you resemble camels whose herdsmen have disappearedâgathered together on one side, you scatter from the other. I see you, by God, when war clamors and fighting heats up, running away from AbÅ« ṬÄlibâs son and leaving the way to him open like a woman with her legs spread wide, her front part exposed.2 I stake my claim on a clear proof from my Lord,3 and follow a path laid out by my Prophet. I walk with purpose on the clear road.4 Look to your Prophetâs family, stay on their course, and follow their trace, for they will never steer you from the path of guidance or return you to the path of destruction. Sit if they sit and stand if they stand, donât get ahead of them or you will stray, donât hold back from them or you will perish. â1.94.4 â¬I have seen Muḥammadâs Companions and none of you resembles them! The morning would find them disheveled and covered in dust, having spent the night in prostration and prayer, pressing foreheads and cheeks to the ground, yearning for the return as though walking on live coals, the skin of their brows gnarly from long prostrations like the knees of a goat. Their eyes would stream at the mention of Godâs name until their bosoms were soaked. They would shudder from fear of punishment and hope of reward like trees in a gale. |
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These first lines echo the opening lines of §â¯1.29.
âAbÅ« ṬÄlibâs sonâ is Ê¿AlÄ«. âA woman with her legs spread wide, her front part exposedâ (infirÄj al-marʾati Ê¿an qubulihÄ) is an idiom that refers to a woman giving birth. Ḥ 7:76; B 404.
Reference to Qurʾan, AnÊ¿Äm 6:57.
Ar. alquá¹uhu laqá¹an, explained as I have translated it by RÄwandÄ« and Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (R 1:432. Ḥ 7:76). BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 404) says it means âI pick my way through it,â adding that it means âI pick out right from wrong.â Lane (Lexicon, s.v. âL-Q-Ṭâ) supports both meanings.
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â1.95 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 By God, they will continue thus until they commit every forbidden act and untie every knot, until not one brick house and not one goat-hair tent remains unpenetrated by their tyranny or uprooted by their corrupt herding, until two weepers stand up to weep, one weeping over his religion, another weeping over his possessions, and until, if one of you seeks vengeance on one of them, he will be a slave seeking vengeance upon his master,2 obeying if present and slandering if absent. The richest of you will be the person who places his trust entirely in God. Remember this: If God grants you his protection accept it, and if he tests you be patient, for «the best outcome is reserved for the pious.»3 â1.96 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:4 We praise him for favors past and seek his help for what is to come. We ask him to grant us vigor in our faith, just as we ask him to grant us vigor in our bodies. I counsel you to reject the world, for she will reject you despite your dislike of leaving her and cause your bodies to decay despite your wish for renewal. You and she are like a band of travelers who seem already to have crossed the path they traverse, who seem already to have reached the mountain they are headed for. How likely it is that if you race your steed toward a goal, you will soon attain it! How likely it is that your life today will not continue into tomorrow! For you are driven on by a pursuer who will not relent until he makes you leave the world. Donât compete for the worldâs might and glories, donât be captivated by her beauty and delights or shaken by her injuries and sorrows, for her might and glories will be cut off, her beauty and delights will cease, and her injuries and sorrows will end. Each period of her time will end, and every being living in her will perish. Doesnât the evidence of earlier peoples and the example of your own ancestors alarm and enlighten you? If you would only reflect! |
Excerpt from an orationâpreceded, according to Ibn Qutaybah (ImÄmah, 1:174), by §â¯1.124, and including §â¯1.140âdelivered at á¹¢iffÄ«n (in 37/657), when some of Ê¿AlÄ«âs associates told him about how MuÊ¿Äwiyah lavishly rewarded his supporters and urged him to do the same (ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 185). This section concerns the Umayyadsâ tyranny and corruption (B 405; Ḥ 7:78â79).
Similar language in §â¯1.90.4, also about the Umayyads, interpreted as ineffectiveness against them. Ḥ 7:55; B 397.
Qurʾan, Hūd 11:49.
Friday sermon delivered early in Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, presumably in Medina in 35/656. R 1:438. IskÄfÄ« (MiÊ¿yÄr, 271) cites some lines in a passage that he says âÊ¿AlÄ« used to call out every night in a raised voice.â The last paragraph is also cited as part of an oration (of which §â¯1.202 is another part) in the mosque in Basra, a few days after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 235).
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Havenât you seen that those who pass away donât return, and that you, their heirs, will not remain forever? Donât you see the people of this world, at dusk and at dawn, in disparate states? One dead and lamented, another bereaved, one struck and afflicted, another giving up the ghost, one who seeks this world when death seeks him, another heedless who goes not unheeded? In truth, those who remain walk in the traces of those who have passed. Hark! Before you rush to do evil, remember the destroyer of pleasures, the slasher of passions, and the slayer of hopes. Seek Godâs help in offering him what you owe for his incalculable blessings and abundant favors. â1.97 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 Praise God who extended his grace to all creatures and stretched out his hand to them with generous gifts. We praise him in all his affairs and seek his help in guarding his rights. We bear witness that there is no god other than he, and that Muḥammad is his servant and messenger, whom he sent to transmit his command and express his remembrance. He discharged the trust with honor, and died having guided us, having bequeathed to us the banner of truth; whoever gets ahead of it strays, whoever holds back from it perishes, and whoever remains beneath it catches up with those who have gone ahead. The guide who carries it is deliberate when speaking, measured when rising, and swift once risen,2 but when you have bent your necks to him fully and pointed toward him with your fingers,3 death will come to him, and he will be taken away. You will remain after him in this manner for as long as God wills, until he brings to you one who will unite you again and gather your scattered fragments. So do not keep hoping for a man to step up who is not going to, but do not despair of one who has turned away. Though he may have turned away because one foot slipped, the other could be stable, and both feet could once again stand firm. Hark! Muḥammadâs descendants are like stars in the firmament: if one sets, another rises. The time is near and has almost arrivedâthe time when Godâs blessings will reach perfection, and when he will show you what you hope to see. â1.98 â¬From one of Ê¿AlÄ«âs orations containing narratives of epic fighting:4 |
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Ê¿AlÄ«âs third Friday sermon delivered after becoming caliph, presumably in Medina, 35/656. Ḥ 7:93.
Referring to himself. Ḥ 7:85; B 408.
The commentaries state that âpointing with fingersâ means that âpeople recognized Ê¿AlÄ« as ruler.â Ḥ 7:94; B 408.
Part of an orationâthat includes §â¯1.99 and §â¯1.126âwhich Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Basra immediately after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656. B 480; Ê¿Abd al-ZahrÄʾ, Maá¹£Ädir, 2:202, 203, 288.
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â1.98.1 â¬He is the first before every first and the last after every last, his firstness dictates that he has no beginning, and his lastness dictates that he has no end. I bear witness that there is no god but God; my thoughts match my declaration, my heart matches my tongue. â1.98.2 â¬People! «Let not your enmity of me drive you to accuse me of lies»1 or seduce you into disobeying meâand do not look at one another so when you hear me speak these words! I swear by him who split open the seed and created the living being that what I say to you comes from the Prophetâthat speaker did not lie, and this listener did not forget. â1.98.3 â¬A wicked man will call out to his flock in Syria and scrapes the ground for his banners to roost in the hinterlands of KufaâI can almost see him!2 When his maw has opened wide, his defiance has become strong, and he stamps his feet with violence, sedition will sink its fangs into the cityâs children, waves of war will swell, the days will scowl, and the nights will maim. Then, with seditionâs fruit fully ripened, its thunderclaps booming and its lightning flashing, its obdurate banners will become ranged in tight ranks and march like the dark night, like the surging sea. All this will happen. How many winds will sweep into Kufa! How many storms will lash into her! Soon, very soon, horn will lock with horn. All who stand will be harvested, and all that is harvested will be crushed. â1.99 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« with similar content:3 â1.99.1 â¬On that day, God will assemble all who went before and all who came after, standing, necks bowed, to be interrogated for the judgment and receive payback for their deeds. Sweat will streak their cheeks like straps of a bridle, and the ground beneath them will tremble. The best any man can hope for is space for his feet and room for his frame.4 |
Qurʾan, Hūd 11:89.
The commentators state that this prophecy refers most likely to the fifth Umayyad caliph Ê¿Abd al-Malik ibn MarwÄn (r. 65â86/685â705), or perhaps to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, or the Antichrist. B 401, Ḥ 7:99â100. The first few lines are similar to §â¯1.136.3.
Part of an orationâthat includes §â¯1.98 and §â¯1.126âwhich Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Basra immediately after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656. B 480; Ê¿Abd al-ZahrÄʾ, Maá¹£Ädir, 2:202, 203, 288.
Ar. nafs, translated here as âframe,â also means âlife,â âperson,â and âsoul.â Differently vocalized as nafas, it can also mean âbreathâ (Ibn ManáºÅ«r, LisÄn, s.v. âN-F-Sâ). My translation is based on Ḥ 7:102; B 411.
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â1.99.2 â¬From the same oration:1 Seditions will approach like hosts of darknessâno horse will be able to withstand them, and no banner of theirs will be repelled. Advancing like bridled and saddled warhorses, they will be urged on by their drivers, and pushed hard by their riders, a rabid group with little appetite for stopping at plunder. Those who fight them for God will be a force deemed lowly by the arrogant, unrecognized on earth but eminent in the hereafter. Basra, you will be afflicted at that time with an army that brings Godâs chastisement, an army that neither raises dust nor makes any sound. Your inhabitants will be stricken with red death and black hunger. â1.100 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 â1.100.1 â¬Look at the world with the eyes of those who have little interest in her and who turn away from her. By God, she will soon evict her tenants and afflict the complacent and secure. That part which turns away and leaves never returns, while that part which you think is approaching is not guaranteed to arrive. Her happiness is blemished with grief, and menâs strength, as they continue to live in her bosom, deteriorates into weakness and incapacity. Do not be beguiled by her many beauties, for her companionship is short-lived. May God have mercy on the man who reflects and takes heed, and who, taking heed, discerns! In a short while, it will be as though this world never was, as if the hereafter has already come. All that is tallied will run out, all that is expected will be, and all that will be is at hand. â1.100.2 â¬From the same oration: The learned man knows his worthâsuffice it as a mark of ignorance when a man does not know his worth. Among the most hateful of men in Godâs eyes is a person whom God has given up on, a person he has left to his own devices, who strays from the straight path, and wanders without a guide. If called on to cultivate the fields of this world, he works hard, but if called on to cultivate the fields of the hereafter, he is lazy. He behaves as though the things he works for are mandatory, but the things in which he is remiss are an unpleasant burden that he is not required to carry. |
The commentators state that this section prophesies either (1) end-of-time apocalyptic events (Ḥ 7:104), or (2) the Zanj Rebellion (B 411â412). Led by the âChief of the Zanj,â Ê¿AlÄ« b. Muḥammad, this 15-year rebellion in southern Iraq (255â270/869â883) caused âinnumerable material losses and tens of thousands of lives.â Popovic, âal-Zand̲j̲: (ii) The Zand̲j̲ revolts in Ê¿IrÄḳ,â EI2.
KulaynÄ« (KÄfÄ«, 8:17) cites §â¯1.100.1 in a set of lines with which âthe Commander of the Faithful used to counsel his supporters.â
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â1.100.3 â¬From the same oration: A time will come when only humble believers are safe,1 not recognized if present and not missed when absent. They are lamps of guidance and waymarks for travelers, never gossipmongers or blabbering slanderers. God will open the gates of his mercy for them and offer protection from the blows of his punishment. People! A time will come upon you when Islam is overturned, just as a vessel is overturned, with its water poured away. People! God has promised to protect you against his injustice, but he has not promised to protect you against his trials. He, the most glorious of speakers, has said: «Truly there are signs in that, truly we shall put you to the test.»2 â1.100.4 â¬Raá¸Ä«: By the words, âevery humble believer (kullu muʾminin nÅ«mah),â Ê¿AlÄ« meant a person whom no one mentions and who does no one harm. âMasÄyīḥ (gossipmongers)â is the plural of misyÄḥ, one who goes around spreading discord and defamation. âMadhÄyÄ«Ê¿ (slanderers)â is the plural of midhyÄÊ¿, one who, whenever he hears of a person having committed an immoral act, circulates and disseminates it. âBudhur (blabberers)â is the plural of badhÅ«r, one whose levity is excessive and whose speech is nonsensical. â1.101 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« of which some parts have previously been cited in a variant form:3 God sent Muḥammad as a prophet when no Arab read scripture or claimed revelation and prophecy. Mustering those who obeyed him, he fought those who disobeyed, herding all to their place of refuge and hastening to set them on the right path before the final hour arrived. He raised the weary and nurtured the broken, until, except for those bereft of any good who perished, he had guided them all to their goal, shown them their refuge, and brought them into a safe enclosure, where their handmills spun and their lances straightened. By God, I was one of those who fought the Age of Ignorance until its battalions fled and Islamâs forces were corralled,4 never holding back out of weakness, cowardice, disloyalty, or impotence. By God, I shall impale falsehoodâs torso until truth emerges from its flank. |
Ar. nÅ«mah, translated here as âhumble,â is alternatively vocalized as nuwamah, âthose who sleep a lot.â B 414.
Qurʾan, Muʾminūn 23:30.
This oration is a variant of §â¯1.33, specified there as delivered âwhen Ê¿AlÄ« marched on the people of Basra.â See also MufÄ«d, IrshÄd, 247.
This line contains only pronouns, which I have replaced based on the commentaries: âAge of Ignoranceâ for âthe earlier age,â and âIslamâs forcesâ for âour forces.â Ḥ 7:116; B 415; R 339; Gh 2:108.
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â1.102 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.102.1 â¬God sent Muḥammad as a witness, a herald, and a warner.2 As a child, he was the best of the entire world, as a man, the most noble, purest of the pure in character, the most generous of all rainclouds. Until he came,3 you had neither tasted the worldâs sweetness nor succeeded in milking its teats. But afterward, when its halter was loose and its girth slack,4 some of you turned what he had forbidden into a «laden lote tree»,5 and what he had made lawful into a distant fancy. You found the world to be a cool, spreading shade: the earth defenseless before your aggression, your hands reaching out to grab it and the hands of just leaders restrained, your swords on their necks, their swords forcibly sheathed. Be warned! For every life taken vengeance will be sought, for every right abused redress will be pursued. Our avenger is none other than God, who will be both petitioner and judge. No one he seeks eludes him, no one who flees escapes. By God, Umayyads! Soon you will see rule in the hands of another, in the house of your enemy. Listen now! For the keenest eye kens good and the sharpest ear heeds counsel. â1.102.2 â¬People! Light your lamp from the flame of one who gives counsel and heeds it, draw your water from a spring that is unmuddied and pure.6 Servants of God! Do not rest on your ignorance or follow your caprice for that camper encamps at «the lip of a crumbling cliff».7 As he moves from place to place, as he innovates one heresy then another, as he tries to glue two things that cannot bond, as he works to join two things that are far apart, he carries his doom on his back. Fear God, and do not take your complaints to one who does not feel your pain, who cannot undo with his makeshift ruling a mandated rule. A leaderâs duties are those with which God has charged him: he must counsel the people |
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Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in Medina in 35/656, five days after allegiance was pledged to him as caliph. Ê¿AlÄ« ibn IbrÄhÄ«m al-QummÄ«, TafsÄ«r, 1:384.
Modified quote from Qurʾan, AḥzÄb 33:45. The Arabic begins with ḥattÄ (âuntilâ), presumably connecting from an earlier section on the condition of people just before the coming of Islam.
Ar. min baÊ¿dihi: âuntil he came,â addressing the early Muslims (H 7:119); or: âuntil he had gone,â addressing the Umayyads (B 105). Or, if reading the text as min baÊ¿di mÄ, as in some manuscripts, the sentence would connect to the next word and read as âYou did not taste ⦠until after you had earlier found the world to have a loose halter.â
I.e., difficult to ride, referring to the upheavals in the leadership of the Muslim empire after Muḥammad. Ḥ 7:119.
Ar. sidr makhá¸Å«á¸. Qurʾan, WÄqiÊ¿ah 56:28; Ḥ 7:119; R 1:449; B 417.
Referring to himself. Ḥ 7:168; B 418.
Qurʾan, Tawbah 9:109.
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to good purpose, exert effort in giving advice, keep alive the Sunnah, punish those who commit crimes, and distribute treasury stipends fairly. People, hasten to pluck knowledge before its plant withers, seek to acquire knowledge from its keepers before preoccupations distract, forbid evil and desist from it, for you have been commanded to desist before forbidding others. â1.103 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.103.1 â¬Praise God who paved the path of Islam, made it smooth for those who come to its waterholes, and protected its ramparts from attackers. He made it a source of security for those who cling to it, a place of safety for those who enter it, a proof for those who argue by it, a witness for those who litigate with it, a light for those who seek illumination by it, comprehension for those who understand, reason for those who ponder, a sign for those who search for pasture,2 perception for those who resolve to advance, a lesson for those who take heed, salvation for those who believe, support for those who trust, comfort for those who submit, and a shield for those who endure. Islamâs paths are lit, its trails marked,3 its beacons high, its highway bright, its lamps aglow, its arena honorable, its goal elevated, its racehorses numerous, its prize sought, and its champions noble. Its path is faith, its road good deeds, its end death, its racecourse the world, its track the day of resurrection, and its prize paradise. â1.103.2 â¬From the same oration in praise of the Prophet:4 |
Excerpt from an oration that Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in his home, either in Medina or Kufa, additional parts of which are recorded as §â¯1.69, and sayings §â¯3.26 (about the four pillars of belief) and §â¯3.259 (Ê¿Abd al-ZahrÄʾ, Maá¹£Ädir, 4:214â216). It is related that Ê¿AlÄ« was asked by an associate to describe belief (Ä«mÄn), and Ê¿AlÄ« instructed him to come back the next day, so that others could hear it too. He did return, presumably with others. Ê¿AlÄ« then delivered this oration and instructed that it be written down and read out to the public (KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 2:49). KulaynÄ« (ibid.) names the associate as Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-KawwÄʾ, while GhazÄlÄ« (IḥyÄʾ¸ 4:60) names him as Ê¿AmmÄr ibn YÄsir (if so, the oration would have been delivered before á¹¢iffÄ«n, in 37/657, when Ê¿AmmÄr was killed). Alternatively, §â¯1.103.1 is also cited as an answer given during an oration in the mosque in Basra, a few days after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 224â225). Other parts of the same oration in ibid., 221â233 are listed in note to §â¯1.23. §â¯1.103.1 is similar to §â¯1.154.2.
Or, for those who perceive hidden things (tafarrasa). B 420; R 1:455; Ḥ 7:122.
Or, its inner workings are clear. BÂ 420.
Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 7:174â175) remarks that none of the Prophetâs Companions praised the Prophet and prayed for him after his death as passionately as Ê¿AlÄ« did, just as no one aided and served the Prophet during his lifetime as sincerely as Ê¿AlÄ« and his family did.
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He ignited the flame of truth for any who sought a burning brand and lit torches on the road to paradise for those who had tied up their camels not knowing where to go. He is the trustee whom you, God, entrusted with your message, your witness on judgment day, your emissary sent as a blessing, and your messenger dispatched with the truth as the embodiment of mercy. God, bestow on him a bounteous share of your justice, and reward him with a munificent recompense, multiplied manifold by your generosity. God, let his palace tower high above all others, provide him a noble place near you, honor his station at your side, bestow him the right of intercession, grant him radiance and excellence, and resurrect us in his companyâlet us not be people of dishonor, remorse, deviation, violation, or error, or those who succumb to sedition. Raá¸Ä«: This passage was narrated earlier.1 I have repeated it here because the two reports vary in some of their language. â1.103.3 â¬From the same oration addressing his associates: It is through Godâs bounty that you have attained this high standing, in which your slave girls are honored, and your neighbors receive gifts, where you are revered by people to whom you have given no special favors or grants, while others stand in your awe who have no reason to fear your attack and over whom you have no command. Yet here you see Godâs compacts broken and are not roused to anger, while when your ancestorsâ traditions are rent, you profess outrage. Godâs affairs used to frequent your waterhole, but you have relinquished your station to tyrants, and entrusted your guide ropes to them. You have surrendered Godâs affairs into their hands, as they implement their dubious actions and walk in the path of their passions. But, by God, even if they strew you beneath every distant star, God will reunite you, on an evil day for them. â1.104 â¬From an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered during one of the battle-days of á¹¢iffÄ«n:2 I saw you turn away from your battle lines and fall back, pushed away by the rough rabble and common Bedouins of Syria, you, the aristocracy of the Arabs, the summit of nobility, the bridge of its nose, and its lofty hump! But my racing heart was calmed when later I saw you push them back as they had pushed |
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á¹¢iffÄ«n, 37/657. At one point during the battle, Ê¿AlÄ«âs right wing fell back. Ashtar, prompted by Ê¿AlÄ«, addressed them with a rousing oration, and they returned to fight and routed the Syrians. Ê¿AlÄ« then addressed them with the oration at hand. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:19â25; IskÄfÄ«, MiÊ¿yÄr, 149.
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you earlier, forcing them from their positions as they had forced you earlier, striking them with arrows and thrusting at them with spears, shoving the men in their front rows bodily onto the heads and chests of the men in the rows behind them, like parched camels driven from the waterhole and pushed away from drink. â1.105 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« with prophecies of future calamities: â1.105.1 â¬Praise God, who appears to his creation through his creation and manifests himself to their hearts through his proof. He created without cogitation or thought, for cogitation and thought only come from those who have an inner dispositionâand God does not possess an inner disposition in his self. His knowledge rends the hidden veils of mystery and encompasses beliefs stored in the innermost recesses of peoplesâ hearts. â1.105.2 â¬From the same oration in praise of the Prophet: God selected him from the tree of prophets, the lamp-niche of illumination, the forelock of majesty, and the navel of Baá¹á¸¥Äʾ,1 from the lamps in the darkness, and the wellsprings of wisdom. From the same oration: He was a physician who carried his medicine from place to place.2 He had prepared ointments and heated his cauteries, and he used them to heal the hearts of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and the tongues of the dumb, as called for by their needs. He sought out for his medicine places of heedlessness and locales of perplexity never illumined by the light of wisdom or sparked by the flints of glinting erudition. They had been like untended cattle and hard rocks, but then secret purposes became plain for the perceptive, the road of truth became clear for those who had been stumbling in the dark, the imminent hour unveiled its face, and fluttering banners came into sight for those looking for signs. Why is it that I see you as bodies without souls and souls without bodies, ascetics without piety and merchants without profit, awake yet asleep and present yet absent, seeing yet blind, hearing yet deaf, and speaking yet dumb? There will rise a banner of error, entrenched in its socket, spreading its streamers, measuring you with its yardstick, and striking you with outstretched hand, and its leader will be a man who has forsaken the faith to establish his errant claim. |
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Baá¹á¸¥Äʾâlit. âthe flatlandââis another name for Mecca.
Or, âI am a physician â¦â B 425. The pronoun is implied, not explicit, and the physician could be a reference to the Prophet or to Ê¿AlÄ« himself.
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On that day, those of you who remain standing will be as sediments in a cooking pot, or fluffs of wool after bales are packed. The sedition will scrape you like tanned leather, stamp you like harvested grain, picking out the believers among you as a bird picks out plump kernels from a dried-up heap of grain. So tell me, where are these paths taking you, these shadows leading you, these lies tempting you? How is it you have been deceived, «how is it you have been duped?»1 But «each term is written»2 and every absence is followed by a return. â1.105.3 â¬Listen to your godly leader, listen to him with your hearts, and pay attention when he speaks! A scout must tell his people the truth, gather them together, and remain alert.3 But this one has indeed exposed the affair for you and split it open like a cowrie shell,4 he has peeled it clear like gum from tree bark. The time will come when evil ensconces itself in its cradle, ignorance mounts its steeds, tyranny grows strong, callers to truth dwindle, time attacks like a rapacious carnivore, and evilâs camel stallion, gagged for a time, roars. People will become brothers in debauchery, deserters from religion, best friends in their mutual lying, and fierce enemies in the face of truth. When this happens, the son will bring his parents utter despair, the rain will bring scorching heat, the wicked will brim like a flood, and the noble will be depleted like an exhausted wellspring. The people of that time will be wolves, its rulers will be predators, its commoners will be gluttons, and its poor will be dead. Truth will collapse and falsehood spread, tongues will profess affection while hearts will conceal malice, adultery will be the source of kinship while chastity will be a thing of wonder, and Islam will be worn as a fur turned inside out. â1.106 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:5 â1.106.1 â¬Everything bows to him, and everything exists through him. He is the wealth of the poor, the might of the humble, the strength of the weak, and the refuge of the desperate. If someone speaks, he hears, if someone stays silent, he knows their secret, while someone lives, he provides them sustenance, and when someone dies, it is to him they return. God, eyes cannot see you, so they |
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Qurʾan, GhÄfir 40:62.
Qurʾan, Raʿd 13:38.
The âscoutâ refers to Ê¿AlÄ« himself.
Or, a glass bead.
Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih (Ê¿Iqd, 4:166â169) says this is Ê¿AlÄ«âs âLuminous Orationâ (ZahrÄʾ), which also includes §â¯1.91 and §â¯1.158.
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cannot inform about you. Indeed, you existed before any of your creatures who could describe you. You did not create them because you felt lonely or because they would bring you benefit. Those you pursue cannot outrun you, those you seize cannot escape. Those who disobey you do not lessen your authority, those who obey you do not bolster your kingdom, those who are unhappy with your decree cannot deflect your command, and those who turn away from your command still need you. For you, all secrets are open, all mysteries evident. You are eternal without end, the terminus from where there is nowhere to flee. Yours is the promised meeting from which there is no escape, your hand holds the forelock of every four-footed beast, to you returns every living being. Glory to you! How wondrous the marvels we see of your creation, yet how small its greatness alongside your power! How grand what we see of your kingdom, yet how humble in comparison with what is hidden from us of your might! How perfect your blessings for us in this world, yet how small against the blessings of the hereafter! â1.106.2 â¬From the same oration: You created angels, whom you lodged in your skies and raised above your earth. Of all your creatures, they know you best, fear you most, and are closest to you. They were never housed inside loins, enveloped in wombs, created from a lowly drop of sperm, or dispersed by fateâs calamity. But despite their station near you and their position by your side, despite the absorption of their desires in you, the scale of their obedience for you, and their absence of inattention to your commandâif they were to plumb your hidden depths, they would deem their deeds trivial and reprimand themselves. They would know that they have not worshipped you as they ought or obeyed you as you deserve. â1.106.3 â¬Glory to you, revered creator whom we worship! Bestowing a great favor on your creatures, you created a dwelling and placed therein a banquet of food and drink, spouses, servants, palaces, streams, grain, and fruit. Then you sent someone to invite people inâbut they did not answer the call, show interest in what you encouraged them to do, or evince passion for what you enthused about. Instead, they fell upon a rotten carcass, and, to their deepest shame, they devoured it and fell in love with it.1 Love blinds the eye and makes the heart illâthe lover sees with blurry eyes and listens with deaf ears, passions ravage his mind, and the world, his beloved, kills his heart and con- |
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The house is paradise (see descriptions of paradise in the Qurʾan, e.g., Baqarah 2:25, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:15, FurqÄn 25:10), the caller is Muḥammad, and more generally, each prophet, and the carcass is this world (B 434; Ḥ 7:206â207).
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sumes his soul. He thus becomes a slave to the world and to all who possess anything of her, wherever she goes he follows, and wherever she turns he turns. He pays no heed to Godâs warning and takes no counsel from Godâs lessons. All the while, he sees the heedless abruptly taken from her to a place from which there is no return, and he sees the terror they had denied descend upon them. He sees them leave the world in which they had taken comfort, and move to the afterlife as they had been warned. The horror that descends upon the dying person is beyond words. As the anguished convulsions of death and the remorseful pangs of loss together bear down upon him, his extremities begin to lose feeling, and his color changes. Then, death penetrates further and prevents him from speech. He lies among his family, seeing them with his eyes, hearing them with his ears, still able to discern, still able to understand. He can think only about his wasted life and squandered time. He remembers the wealth he has amassed, both licit and illicit, from honest and dubious sources. The sins he has gathered now weigh him down, now, when he is about to leave everything behind. The people who survive him will enjoy his wealth. Its gratification will belong to another, while the burden will weigh down his back. His debt has come due for payment. He bites on his knuckles, regretting the misdeeds that are now clear to him, caring little for the things he craved all the days of his life. He wishes that the person who envied him his wealth and coveted his property had taken it all! Meanwhile, death continues to penetrate his body and it pierces his hearing. Now he lies among his family, his tongue unable to speak, his ears unable to hear. His eyes go from face to face, he sees their tongues moving but cannot hear their words. Then death tightens its grip. His sight is taken away, just as his hearing had been earlier, and his soul leaves his body. He becomes a corpse lying amid his family, and they recoil from him in fear and back awayâhe cannot console those who weep or answer those who call out. Then they carry him to a grave marked with lines in the earth. They give him over to his deeds and cease to visit. â1.106.4 â¬Until destiny reaches its term and the affair approaches its ordained hour, when the last of creation has caught up with the first and Godâs command arrives to renew his creation, he shakes the sky and splits it, convulses the earth and agitates it, plucks out each mountain and uproots it, and, terrified by his majesty and cowed by his power, each crushes the other. He extracts all who are on earth, renewing them after their decay, gathering them after their separation. Then he stands them, each in his place, to be interrogated about deeds and secret acts. He divides them into two groups, blessing the one and punishing the other. He rewards the obedient with nearness to his divine self and with |
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eternal life in his abode, which its inhabitants never leave, where their condition never changes, misfortunes never befall, illness never takes hold, dangers never approach, and journeys never displace. He locks up the disobedient in the abode of horrors. He shackles their hands to their necks, binds their forelocks to their feet, clothes them in garments of pitch, and dresses them in robes of fire. He throws them into the chamber of torture, whose heat endlessly sears, whose door remains bolted, and whose blaze rages with rabid hunger, clamorous tumult, sheets of flame, and terrifying thunder. Its resident never leaves, its captive is never ransomed, its shackles are never broken. This abode has no limit, so it never ceases to be. Its people have no lifespan, so the terror never ends. â1.106.5 â¬From the same oration in praise of the Prophet: He viewed the world with contempt, demeaned it, disparaged it, and deemed it lowly. He recognized that God had deliberately turned the world away from him while allowing it ungrudgingly to many, so he turned his heart away from it and drove all thoughts of it from his mind. He preferred that its ornaments be absent from his eyes, so he would not be tempted to don its splendid garments or long for it to be his permanent residence. He conveyed his Lordâs message and proved his claim, instructed his community and gave them warning, and called them to paradise with glad tidings of its bliss. We are the tree of prophecy, the station of Godâs message, and the place where angels alight. We are mines of knowledge and springs of wisdom. Whoever supports and loves us should expect Godâs mercy. Whoever bears us enmity or malice should expect Godâs assault. â1.107 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 The deeds that bring you closest to God are the following: belief in him and his messenger; jihad in his path, for it is Islamâs summit; the testament of sincerityââ¨There is no god but Godâ©âfor it is the natural state; performing the ritual prayer, for it is the way of truth; offering the alms levy, for it is a man- |
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Excerpt from one of Ê¿AlÄ«âs famous sermons, named in several sources as âThe Brocade (DÄ«bÄj) Orationâ that begins with the line, âPraise to God, creator of the worldâ (â®
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dated obligation; fasting in the month of Ramadan, for it is a shield from Godâs punishment; performing the hajj and the Ê¿umrah pilgrimage to Mecca, for they dispel poverty and wash away sins; fostering close ties with kin, for it increases wealth and prolongs life; giving alms in secret, for it expiates transgressions; disbursing alms in public, for it wards off horrible forms of death; and acts of charity, for they protect you from dishonor and shame. Fill yourself with Godâs remembrance for it is the best remembrance. Wish for everything he promised the pious, for his promise is the truest of promises. Follow the guidance of your Prophet, for it is the best guidance. Follow his Sunnah, for it is the most righteous of practices. Learn the Qurʾan, for it is the heartâs springtime. Heal yourselves by its light, for it is a cure for souls. And recite it beautifully, for it is the most beneficial exhortation. A learned man who acts contrary to his learning is as bad as the ignorant and perplexed man who never wakes from his stupor. In fact, the case against him is stronger, his anguish more binding, and his culpability greater before God. â1.108 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.108.1 â¬I warn you against this world, for it is sweet and lush and surrounded by temptations. It breeds love for the here and now and excites wonder with its trifles, it is adorned with false hopes and embellished with deceptions, its joy does not last and its trauma is relentless. A ghoulish devourer, it deceives, harms, changes, ceases, wanes, perishes, and consumes. At the very moment that it fulfills your dearest hopes, it becomesâas God Most High has saidâ«like water that we sent down from the sky: the earthâs vegetation drew from it, then became dry straw, and was scattered by the winds. God has power over all things.»2 The world never gives a man joy without following it with tears, it never bestows happiness without following it with harm, it never sprinkles soft ease without following it with a cloudburst of calamity. If it braces him in the morning it rejects him in the evening, if one of its aspects is sweet and sugary the other is bitter and pestilential, if it bestows fresh bounties it oppresses later with oppressive misfortunes; a man does not pass the night sheltered under its wing without waking up under its pinion of fear. The world deceives and all in it is deception. The world will perish and all upon it will perish. There is no good in any of its provisions save piety. Those who take little from the world gather stores of protection, while those who amass its wares hoard that which will destroy, whose benefit will soon cease. |
On the pulpit in Basra, immediately after the Battle of the Camel in 36/356. KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 8:256.
Qurʾan, Kahf 18:45.
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The world strikes those who trust it and fells those who place in it their faith. How many grandees has it humbled! How many arrogant men has it debased! Its power goes around in turns, its life is turbid, its water is brackish, its sweets are filled with bitter juice, its nourishment is poison, its ropes are decayed, its living are targets for death, its healthy are targets for illness, its kingdom will be pillaged, its mighty will be vanquished, its wealthy will be afflicted, and its neighbors will be plundered. â1.108.2 â¬Do you not dwell in the abodes of those who came before you and enjoyed longer lives, who left behind more lasting monuments, had lengthier aspirations, were more profuse in number, and led vaster armies? They worshipped the world abjectly, they gave it preference, fully and truly, but they left it without sufficient provisions for the journey, or even a mount to carry them on its back. Have you ever heard that the world in its generosity let a single soul escape in lieu of ransom, or that it gave them any form of help, or offered to accompany them? No. It crushed them with catastrophes, weakened them with calamities, shook them with misfortunes, ground their noses in the dust, trampled them under its hooves, and equipped fate to bring them down. You have seen how it rejected those who bowed before it, gave it preference, and offered it loyalty. Their departure is an eternal separation. Did the world supply them with anything other than thirst, house them in anything other than narrow graves, give them anything other than dark gloom, or requite them with anything other than regret? Is this the same world that you too favor above all else, put your faith in, covet? What a wretched abode for those who do not view it with suspicion, who are not on their guard! â1.108.3 â¬Know thisâand you doâthat you too will leave the world, you too will depart. Take lessons from the fate of those who «said: is anyone mightier than we are?»1 They have been carried to their graves but cannot be called wayfarers, they have been laid there to rest but cannot be called guests, they have been covered in dirt and shrouded by earth. Decaying bones are their neighborsâneighbors who cannot answer those who call out to them, offer protection from attackers, or care about their mournersâ wails. If they get rain they do not rejoice, if they encounter drought they do not despair. They are together yet each is alone, neighbors yet so far distant from one another, so close yet they do not visit, so near yet they cannot meet, senior commanders whose hostilities are a thing of the past, rash youths whose hate and rancor |
Qurʾan, Fuṣṣilat 41:15.
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have been swept away, their blows no longer feared, their protection no longer sought. They surrendered the back of the earth for its belly, a vast space for narrow straits, family for exile, and light for darkness. They left the world as they had come, barefoot and naked, departing with their deeds to eternal life and the everlasting abode. For, as God says, «as I brought the first creation into being, so I shall bring it forth anewâthis is my pledge, and I shall bring it to pass.»1 â1.109 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« in which he spoke of the Angel of Death and the manner in which he takes souls:2 Do you sense his presence when he enters a home, or see him when he takes someone away? In fact, do you know how he takes the life of a fetus from inside its motherâs womb? Does he enter through one of her limbs, or does its spirit answer the angel with Godâs permission, or is he residing with it already inside the mother? How can we who are incapable of describing a creature like us aspire to describe our creator? â1.110 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: I warn you of this world: it is a home from which you will be uprooted, not an abode where you own the right to pasture, a dwelling adorned in deception, deceiving with its adornments. It is worth nothing in the eyes of its Lord, which is why he has intertwined the lawful in it with the unlawful, the good with the bad, life with death, and sweet with bitter. God has not made the world pure for his friends to enjoy, nor begrudged it to his enemies, for its good is meager, its evil ever present, its goods are temporary, its realm awaits pillage, and its habitations anticipate ruin. What good is a house that will crumble as a timeworn edifice, a life that will be exhausted like provisions, and a timespan that will be completed like a journey? When you supplicate God, include a prayer for his help in undertaking his mandates and ask him to aid you in giving him his due. Bend your ears to deathâs summons before your name is called. True renunciants live thus: their hearts weep even when they laugh, their grief is intense even when they are joyful, and their self-condemnation is great even though they are delighted with what they have been given. But your hearts have lost awareness of your imminent end and are filled with false hopes; the world controls you to the detriment of the hereafter; the here-and-now has distanced you from the afterlife. You are brethren in Godâs religion, but foul intentions and evil |
Qurʾan, AnbiyÄʾ 21:104.
Excerpt from a long oration on Godâs unity (tawḥīd). B 448.
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purposes have divided youâyou have stopped supporting one another, counseling one another, giving to one another, or bearing one another affection. Why are you so overjoyed when you win the worldâs baubles, yet not grieved when deprived of the hereafterâs bounty? How are you so exasperated by the loss of these trifles that your anger, your frustration, is plain on your face? You act as though you will always live here, as though this wealth will always remain yours! The only thing that stops you from confronting your brother or disclosing his failings is your fear that he will do the same. You have both rejected the afterlife and devoted yourselves to the present. Religion to you has become a dollop for your tongue to lick up, as though you had already completed your work and satisfied your master. â1.111 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.111.1 â¬Praise God who has linked praise with favors and favors with thanks. We praise him for his blessings, as we praise him for his trials. We ask him to rally our hearts, which are slow to undertake his command and quick to rush into what he has forbidden. We ask his forgiveness for everything we have done that his knowledge encompasses and his inventory includesâthat knowledge never falls short, and that inventory never omits. We believe in him, as though we have already seen the deep mysteries and attained the promised rewardâour sincerity refuses to assign partners to him, and our certainty rejects all doubt. We bear witness that there is no god but God, he has no partner, and Muḥammad is his servant and messenger, a testimony that assures our prayersâ and our deedsâ ascent to Godâno scale on which it is placed is light, no scale from which it is absent has weight. â1.111.2 â¬Servants of God, I counsel you to be conscious of him, to be pious. Piety is the best provision for the journey and the best means of return, for it is the provision that will get you to your destination and the return it promises is assured. A perfect caller has called toward it and a perfect listener has taken it to heartâthat caller was effective, and that listener will win entry to paradise. Servants of God, his consciousness has protected his chosen ones from trans- |
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ṬūsÄ« (AmÄlÄ«, 443) prefaces §â¯1.111.2 by saying, âThe Commander of the Faithful would say,â indicating that the theme and words were frequent in Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration; NaḥḥÄs (Ê¿Umdah, 1:353) cites it in an oration attributed to Zayd ibn Ê¿AlÄ«.
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gressing, and infused their hearts with fear, it has made their nights wakeful and filled their days with thirst, so that they find comfort in toil and satiety in thirst. Aware of approaching death, they hasten to do good. Denying false hopes, they keep death in front of their eyes. Next, know that the world is a place of perishing, weariness, vicissitudes, and instruction. Perishing is this: fate stands stretching his bow, his arrows do not miss, their wounds do not heal; he strikes the living with death, the healthy with illness, and the one who flees with destruction; an eater whose appetite is never satiated, a drinker whose thirst is never quenched. Weariness is this: a man gathers food he will not eat and builds edifices he will not inhabit; he leaves the world and returns to God with no property to carry, no edifice to transport. Vicissitudes are these: you see the pitied become the object of envy, and the envied become the object of pity, simply because of a blessing that has disappeared or a misfortune that has arrived. Lessons are these: a man is about to see his aspirations fulfilled when they are severed by the ending of his life; no aspiration is attained, no aspirer is left alive. Praise God! How deceptive are the worldâs pleasures! How parching its drink! How scorching its shade! No one who arrives is turned back, while no one who leaves can return. Praise God! How close are the living to the dead, for they will soon be with them, but how far the dead from the living, for they have been cut off from them forever! â1.111.3 â¬There is nothing worse than evil except its punishment, and nothing better than good except its reward. Everything in the world that you hear about is greater than what you see, while everything in the hereafter that you will see is greater than what you hear. Hearing should suffice you, there is no need to see. Reports should suffice you, even without direct witness. Know that a thing that decreases your share of the world but increases your share of the hereafter is better than a thing that decreases your share of the hereafter while increasing your share of the world. Many a person with a decreased share of the world earns good profit, while many a person with an increased share of the world loses everything. What you are commanded to do is more capacious than what you are prohibited from, and the things that are lawful for you are more numerous than the things that are unlawful, so abandon the little for the large, the narrow for the wide. God has guaranteed your sustenance and commanded you to do good, so let not the thing that is guaranteed deserve more effort from you than what is mandated upon you. But, by God, doubt has appeared in your midst, your conviction has become tainted; you act as though seeking the sustenance guaranteed for you is a mandatory act of worship, while the worship that is actually mandated is no longer required! Hasten to do good and fear the sudden arrival of death. There is no hope for return of life, while there is always |
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hope for return of sustenance; what is lost today of your sustenance may come back increased tomorrow, but what was lost yesterday of your time will never, ever return. Hope lies in the future, despair inhabits the past, so «be conscious of God as you should, and make sure you die submitting to him.»1 â1.112 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« beseeching God for rain: God, our mountains are parched, and our plains have filled with dust. Our sheep have gone mad with thirst and stand dazed in their pens.2 They moan like bereaved mothers, too exhausted to look for pasture or search out waterholes. God, have mercy on their panic when they head out, and their sad cries when they return! God, we have come to you in this open space because lean years of drought, like emaciated camels, have hemmed us in, and clouds that promised rain approached but turned away. You alone are the suffererâs hope and the petitionerâs provider. We call out to you in this time when people have lost heart, when rainclouds have withheld their bounty, and grazing animals have perished. Do not hold us hostage to our deeds or punish us for our sins. Unfold your mercy for us with torrential clouds, abundant herbage, and wondrous vegetation. Send us rain in a heavy downpour that revives what had died and restores what was lost. God, we beseech you for water that is reviving, quenching, perfect, universal, fragrant, blessed, wholesome, and fertile. Let it bring forth plants that flourish, trees full of fruit, and leaves fresh and green. Let it revive your weak servants and renew your barren lands. God, we beseech you for water that makes our highlands verdant, our lowlands lush, our countryside fertile, our fruits grow, and our sheep thrive. Let it irrigate our farthest lands and soak our nearby areas. Shower your vast grace and rich blessings on us, your destitute human creatures, and your forsaken beasts. Send us a soaking, gushing, drenching sky in which one deluge drives away another and raindrops jostle for spaceâa sky whose lightning does not deceive, whose clouds do not disappoint, whose puffs do not dissipate, and whose drizzle does not usher in cold, barren winds. Let its fertility irrigate the lands struck by famine, let its felicity revive the people hit by drought. You are the one who sends rain after all hope is gone, you are the one who pours down your mercy, you are the protector, the one worthy of all praise!3 |
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Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:102.
Ar. dawÄbbunÄ, lit. livestock, or pack animals. The use of the term marÄbiá¸, which are pens for sheep, rather than mawÄá¹in, which are pens for camels (Ḥ 7:264), appears to specify sheep.
The last two lines are modified from Qurʾan, ShÅ«rÄ 42:28.
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Raá¸Ä«: An explanation of the rare words in the oration: Ê¿AlÄ«âs saying âour mountain meadows are parched (iná¹£Äḥat)â means they have cracked from the effects of the drought; the Arabs use the same verb for a garment if it is torn, and a plant if it dries up and withers. Ê¿AlÄ«âs saying âour sheep have gone mad with thirst (hÄmat)â means they are thirsty; huyÄm means thirst. Ê¿AlÄ«âs saying âemaciated camels of drought (ḥadÄbÄ«r)â uses the plural of ḥidbÄr, a female camel made gaunt by hard travel, to which he compared a drought-stricken year. DhÅ« al-Rummah said:
In the phrase âwhose puffs (qazaÊ¿) do not dissipate,â qazaÊ¿ are small and scattered wisps of cloud. The phrase âwhose drizzle does not usher in barren, cold winds (shaffÄnin dhihÄbuhÄ)â actually means âwhose drizzle is not a bearer of cold, barren windsâ; shaffÄn is a cold, barren wind, and dhihÄb are light showers of rain; the word âbearer (dhÄt)â is elided because the hearer would know it is implied. â1.113 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.113.1 â¬God sent Muḥammad to call toward truth and bear witness to people. He conveyed his Lordâs messages, untiring and unstinting. He battled Godâs enemies, unflagging and unfaltering. He is the leader of the pious and the eyes of the righteous. â1.113.2 â¬If you knew what I know of the mysteries hidden from you, you would run out into the wilderness, weeping over your deeds, and striking your breasts, leaving your property without guard or protector. Every man would be absorbed in his own apprehensions and not spare a single thought for anyone else. But no! You have forgotten what you were told and become complacent about what you were warned. You have gone astray and fallen into total chaos. O, how I wish that God would deliver me from you and unite me with those who deserve my companionship! They, by God, were people of felicitous vision, grave maturity, and truthful speech, people who shunned treachery, advanced on the path, and raced on the road, who won everlasting life and gracious bounty. By God, |
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Excerpt from a Kufa oration in which Ê¿AlÄ« attempted to muster his supporters against the Syrians (B 456). AzharÄ« (TahdhÄ«b, s.v. âKh-á¸-Râ) says it was delivered during Ê¿AlÄ«âs final days, thus in 40/661. ṬūsÄ« (Miá¹£bÄḥ, 380â381) describes it as a Friday sermon.
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a swaggering, despotic youth from ThaqÄ«f will take control over you. He will devour your green grass and melt down your fat-tail. Come on, then, you piece of dung on a sheepâs butt!1 Raá¸Ä«: The phrase âyou piece of dung on a sheepâs buttâ refers to the black beetle, and by this Ê¿AlÄ« means ḤajjÄj: there is a long story about him and a beetle, but this is not the place to tell it.2 â1.114 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«: You donât spend your wealth for the one who has provided it or risk your lives as you should for the one who has created you. You claim honor in Godâs name from his servants, yet you donât honor God in your treatment of his servants. Be warned! You reside in the homes of those who went before you. Your rope is severed from them, the source that connected you with your brethren. â1.115 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 You are my supporters in the cause of truth and my brothers in faith, my shields on the day of combat and my closest associates. Through you, I strike those who turn away, and hope for the obedience of those who come forward. Give me sincere counsel, then, which is pure of deceit, and free of doubt, for, by God, I am the worthiest of the people to lead them. |
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Or: â⦠you beetle-man!â (abÄ wadhaḥah), lit. âO father ofâ(meaning one who has some close association with)âa wadhaḥah.â The dictionary meaning of wadhaḥah is âa piece of dry dung and urine sticking to the wool of a sheepâs buttâ (Ibn ManáºÅ«r, LisÄn al-Ê¿Arab, s.v. âW-Dh-Ḥâ). Raá¸Ä« says wadhaḥah denotes khunfusÄʾ (black- or dung-beetle), a denotation, as Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d mentions, not found in the lexicons. BaḥrÄnÄ« says the term âpiece of dungâ here indicates the âdung beetle,â due to their similarity in shape and size. These two commentators and RÄwandÄ« agree that the prophecy is about the Umayyad governor of Iraq, ḤajjÄj ibn YÅ«suf al-ThaqafÄ« (d. 95/714), explaining the characterization through ḤajjÄjâs phobia of black beetles, or, apparently, his use of those insects to scratch his butt (!) (Ḥ 7:279â281; R 2:22; B 457â458). Mughniyyah (Gh 2:203) says the attribution is due to ḤajjÄjâs swarthy coloring, and his small physical and moral stature.
For the story, see the previous note.
Excerpt from an address by Ê¿AlÄ« to supporters immediately after the Battle of the Camel, presumably in Basra or Kufa, in 36/656 (Ḥ 7:284, after MadÄʾinÄ« and WÄqidÄ«). ṬabarÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 5:79) places the oration in 37/658 after the arbitration, with Ê¿AlÄ« urging his followers to regroup to fight MuÊ¿Äwiyah, but the relatively hopeful tone fits better with Ê¿AlÄ«âs other orations in the former context.
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â1.116 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«. Ê¿AlÄ« instructed the people to assemble and urged them to fight, and they all fell silent. âWhat is wrong with you? Have you been struck dumb?â he exclaimed angrily. Some people answered, âCommander of the Faithful, if you march, we will march with you,â whereupon Ê¿AlÄ« thundered:1 What is wrong with you? What you propose is not the right course or the proper way! Is it fitting in this situation for me to take to the field? The one who should set out is a warrior I choose from your bravest and strongest. I should not abandon the main army, the capital city, the public treasury, collection of revenues, dispensation of justice, or oversight of petitionersâ rights! I should not ride in one battalion to chase another, shaken about like an arrow shaft in an empty quiver! I am the pivot in the grinding stone. It rotates around me while I remain in my place. If I were to abandon it, it would spin out of control and its base would shudder and break. Godâs life! This is a terrible proposition! By God, again! Were it not for my hope of earning a martyrâs death when I encounter the enemyâan encounter that is preordained!âI would fetch my camel and ride away. I would not seek you out then for as long as the north and the south winds blow. â1.117 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«: By God! I have been taught the transmission of Godâs messages, the fulfillment of his pledges, and the full meaning of his words.2 Weâthe people of his Prophetâs houseâpossess the keys to wisdom and the light of command. Hark! All trodden paths of religion are as one, its roads lead to the same destination. Whoever traverses them catches up with those who went before and wins Godâs favors, and whoever stays back strays from the path and earns regret. Set aside deeds for the day for which all provisions are hoarded, in which all hearts will be tested. If your intelligence does not benefit you now, that which is farther from you is even more out of your reach, and that which is absent is even less accessible.3 Protect yourself from a fire whose heat is intense, whose pit is deep, and |
Excerpt from an address by Ê¿AlÄ« in Kufa to supporters, castigating their apathy, in the wake of a Syrian raid on an Iraqi town after the Battle of NahrawÄn in 38/658. Ḥ 7:287.
The first part of the sentence may also be read as âI know about â¦â (Ê¿alimtu, vs. Ê¿ullimtu). The sentenceâs referents are as follows: âmessagesâ refers to the ShariÊ¿ah; âpledgesâ refers to either Godâs pledges to his prophets and humankind, or Muḥammadâs pledges that Ê¿AlÄ« fulfilled on his behalf; and âfull meanings of his wordsâ refers to the Qurʾanâs inner meaning (taʾwÄ«l). Ḥ 7:288â289; R 2:25; B 458â459.
Two interpretations: (1) Whoever is not benefitted by his own rationality that is present in him is incapable of being helped by the wits of another who is separate from him and unable to benefit from the mind of a person who is absent from him (Ḥ 7:289â290). (2) One who does not benefit now from the presence of his intelligence, will not benefit from it when it leaves him when death arrives, or afterward, when he faces the conditions of the hereafter (B 459).
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whose ornaments are chains of iron. Listen to me! A pious reputation, one that God sustains through peopleâs tongues, is better for a person than any wealth he may leave behind for his ungrateful heirs. â1.118 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«, when one of his associates stood up and confronted him, saying, âYou forbade us to enter into arbitration then commanded us to enter it, and we donât really know which of the two was the more reasonable course.â Ê¿AlÄ« clapped one hand over the other in frustration and anger, then spoke:1 This is how one who relinquishes a sound position is rewarded! By God! Had I forced youâwhen I commanded you what I didâto follow the hard course in which God has ordained good, that sound position would have been established. Then, if you had stayed resolute, I would have guided you, if you had deviated, I would have straightened you, and if you had balked, I would have set you right. But with whom, and through whom! I apply you as the cure when you are my disease, like â¨a person who extracts a thorn with a thorn, knowing that the one inclines toward the other!â©2 O God! How weary the physician treating this vicious disease! How tired the water-drawer hauling up these well ropes! O where are the people who were called to Islam and accepted it, who recited the Qurʾan and acted on it, who were urged to fight and raced to it? They tore camels from nurslings, snatched swords from their sheaths, and set out to the far regions of the earth, marching steadily, row by row. Some perished, and some survived, neither gladdened by their living nor saddened by their dead, their eyes raw from weeping, their stomachs lean from fasting, their lips withered from praying, their color pale from wakeful nights, and their faces dusty from long prostration. Those were my departed brothers! It is only right that I should thirst for them, that I should wring my hands at their separation! Satan has smoothed his paths for you. He wants to undo your religion, knot by knot, and replace your unity with dissent. Reject his incitements and whisperings! Accept your benefactorâs counsel and guard it with care! |
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I have added the words âin frustration and angerâ for clarity. The confronter is a member of the newly emerging Kharijite group in Kufa, following the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657, challenging Ê¿AlÄ« for his acceptance of the arbitration. Details in Ḥ 7:294, R 2:31, B 460. IskÄfÄ« (MiÊ¿yÄr, 241) places the latter lines of the second paragraph as an answer to a group who claimed to be his followers, while Ê¿AlÄ« denied that they were, for they did not possess the pious qualities outlined here.
Proverb denoting a person who seeks aid against his enemy from his enemyâs kin. Ḥ 7:292â294; R 2:30; B 460; Ê¿A 620.
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â1.119 â¬This is from Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to the Kharijitesâwho condemned his acceptance of the arbitrationâafter he had marched to their encampment.1 He first asked, âWere all of you present with me at á¹¢iffÄ«n?â âSome among us were, and others were not,â they replied. He then instructed, âSeparate into two groups, those present at á¹¢iffÄ«n and those not, so I can address each group according to their position.â He then called out in a raised voice, âStop your talk, listen to my words, and attend with your hearts, and if I ask a person to testify about a point, let him say what he knows about it.â After this, he spoke with them at length, and this is some of what he said: When the Syrians raised leaves from the Qurʾan on spearsâusing trickery, deception, cunning, and liesâwasnât it you who said, âThese are our brothers and people of our faith who beg us to cease fighting and take refuge in the Book of Godâwe should accept what they offer and deliver them from calamityâ? I said to you then, âThis is an affair whose facade is faith but whose reality is pure malice, its beginning is mercy, but its end is regret. So keep to your positions and stay steady on your path, bite down with your back teeth and fight, and do not heed this errant bleater. If you accept his call, he will lead you astray, if you donât, we will defeat him.â When we were with Godâs Messenger, we stood by him when fighting raged between fathers, sons, brothers, and kin. Calamities and hardships only increased our faith, our steadfastness in truth, our acceptance of Godâs command, and our fortitude in the face of painful wounds. But here, today, we have had to fight our brothers in Islam over their deviations, deviances, doubts, and false interpretations. When I thought there could be a way in which God may yet bring order to our scattered nation, and by which we may yet draw closer and conciliate, I was hopeful, and so I desisted from the other course. â1.120 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« to his supporters before the start of a battle:2 If any of you finds composure in his heart when meeting the enemy, and if he senses fear in one of his brothers, he should use his courage to defend him just as he defends himself. Had God wished it, he would have created them both the same. Death is an assiduous seeker. No one who stays home escapes it, and no one who flees battle eludes it. The most honorable death is on the battlefield. By the one who holds the soul of AbÅ« ṬÄlibâs son in his hand, a thousand sword strikes are easier to bear than dying on your bed! |
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Presumably, leading up to or just before the Battle of NahrawÄn, in Kufa or NahrawÄn, in 37/657 or 38/658. I have added the words âhis acceptance ofâ for clarity.
The second paragraph is placed by YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:209) at the Battle of the Camel in 36/656. However, according to MS N, the next two textsâ§â¯1.121 and §â¯1.122âare part of the same oration, and §â¯1.122, according to Ḥ 8:9, is from the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657. It is possible that Ê¿AlÄ« may have given similar counsel before both battles.
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â1.121 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 I see you now, scuttling away like a group of thorn-tailed lizards, neither demanding your rights, nor defending against attackers. But you are free to choose your path! Those who brave danger will be saved, those who hold back will perish. â1.122 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« urging his followers to fight:2 â1.122.1 â¬Place the armor-clad in front and the unprotected behind. Bite down on your back teeth, for that will blunt the blades that strike at your heads. Twist when facing lances, for that will make spearheads glance off your body. Focus your eyes low, for that will calm your hearts. Kill idle talk, for that will boost your courage. Donât let your banner list, or leave it unprotected, or give it to any but your bravest warriors who are staunch in defending honor. Indeed, those who are valiant in the face of death will guard it and surround it from both sides and from front and back, neither falling back and surrendering it, nor rushing ahead and leaving it unguarded. Each man should tackle his own opponent and also come to his brotherâs aid. He should never leave his own opponent for his brother to face, such that both his and his brotherâs opponents join forces against his brother. â1.122.2 â¬By God, if you are successful in fleeing the sword of this world you will still not be safe from the sword of the hereafter. This, when you are chieftains of the Arabs and the lofty crest of the camelâs hump! Fleeing from the battlefield earns Godâs wrath, eternal dishonor, and lasting shame, and anyway, the absconder cannot increase his lifespanânothing will protect him when his day arrives. Who among you will return to God in the evening like a thirsty man coming to a waterhole? Paradise lies beneath the points of tall spears! This is the day when resolutions will be testedâO God, scatter the enemy if they challenge the truth, divide their views, and destroy them for their sins! They will be dislodged from their positions only when sharp spears leave gaping wounds on their torsos, and cutting swords split skulls, slice bones, and sever arms and legs, |
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Presumably also delivered at the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657. As mentioned, according to MS N, this text and the one after itâ§â¯1.121 and 1.122âare a continuation of §â¯1.120.
Delivered just before the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657 (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:16â17; Ḥ 8:9). As mentioned, according to MS N, this text and the one before itâ§â¯1.121 and 1.122âare a continuation of §â¯1.120.
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when they are attacked by column after column and battered by battalions and cavalry, when their lands are attacked by army upon army, when the interlocking arteries of their terrain and the open vistas of their trails and pastures are trampled by squadrons of cavalry. Raá¸Ä«: âTrample (daÊ¿q)â means pounding, i.e., squadrons of cavalry pounding the terrain with their horsesâ hooves. âInterlocked arteries of their terrain (nawÄḥir ará¸ihim)â are separate sections that face one another. It is said âthe campsites of such-and-such tribe are as interlocked necks (manÄzilu banÄ« fulÄnin tatanÄḥaru),â meaning they face one another. â1.123 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address censuring the Kharijites when they condemned his appointment of men to arbitrate:1 I did not appoint men to arbitrateâI sought arbitration from the Qurʾan. But yes, this Qurʾan is a set of written lines enclosed by two covers; it does not speak with a tongue and thus has need of an interpreter, and those who speak on its behalf are men. When the Syrians proposed to have the Qurʾan arbitrate between us, I did not turn away from Godâs Book, for he has said «If you disagree about something, refer it to God and his Messenger.»2 To refer it to God is to rule by his Book, and to refer it to the Messenger is to follow the Messengerâs Sunnah. Had the arbitration been executed by the Book of God, I would have been found to be the person most worthy of the caliphate. If it had been executed according to the Sunnah of Godâs Messenger, I would have been established as the most deserving. You object, âWhy did you allow them an interval to decide the arbitration?â I did so in order that the ignorant might see the light and the informed might gain strength. I hoped that in the interim of truce God would stabilize the community, so it would not be grabbed by the throat and rushed back into error before the truth was became clear. The best man in Godâs eyes holds right dearer than wrong, no matter how hard or painful it is to act on, and no matter how much gain or benefit it brings. Pray, then, whereto do you stray, what corrupted you? Prepare to march against that confounded group of men who cannot see the truth! Seduced by tyranny, they cling to it; uneasy with the Book, they stray from its path. But you are also not a sturdy rope to cling to, or mighty lions who defend! What courage have the likes of you to ignite the blaze of combat? Shame! All you give me is pain! One day I rally you in public, the next I urge you in private, but your response to a call to muster is not that of the free and brave, or, when approached in confidence, of brothers I can trust. |
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Delivered at the Kharijitesâ camp outside Kufa after the arbitration in 37/658. B 465; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:66.
Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:59.
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â1.124 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« responding to the outpouring of complaints when he standardized treasury stipends with no privilege for precedence or nobility:1 Do you urge me to seek victory by oppressing the people I rule? By God, no, I will never do so, not as long as the night-watch is kept or while one star follows another in the heavens! If the funds had been mine, I would still have distributed them equally. How, then, when they belong to the people? Then he said: Listen to me! Awarding funds from the treasury to those who have no right to them counts as waste and squandering. It elevates the provider on earth but lowers his worth in the hereafter, it ennobles him among people but belittles him in the eyes of God. When a man gives money for unrighteous ends to undeserving recipients, God deprives him of their gratitude and veers their loyalty toward another. Then, if one day his foot slips and he needs their help, his previous act will reveal itself to be his worst bedfellow and most sordid friend. â1.125 â¬From another address by Ê¿AlÄ« to the Kharijites:2 Even if you insistâand you do so wronglyâon believing that I have sinned and erred, then why do you hold the whole of Muḥammadâs community errant because of my supposed error?3 Why do you hold them responsible for my sin and label them unbelievers because of my transgression? You strap swords to your shoulders and use them equally against the sound and the sick, placing the sinner with those who have not sinned. You know that the Messenger stoned the fornicator then prayed over him and allowed his family to inherit. He executed the murderer then distributed his property to his family. He cut the hand of the thief and flogged the unmarried fornicator yet continued to give them a share of the war booty and allowed them to marry Muslim women. The Messenger punished these sinners for their sins and carried out Godâs mandated penalties, yet he did not deprive them of their share of Islamâs benefits, nor did he remove their names from the roster of Muslims. But you! You are the worst of people! In you, Satan has struck his target. Through you, he has accomplished his mission of obfusca- |
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Excerpt from an orationâfollowed, according to Ibn Qutaybah (ImÄmah, 1:174), by §â¯1.95, and also including §â¯1.140âdelivered at á¹¢iffÄ«n (37/657), when some of Ê¿AlÄ«âs associates told him about MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs lavish rewarding of his supporters and urged him to do the same (ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 185; similar context in §â¯1.203). For a brief discussion of this issue, and further primary source references, see Qutbuddin, âÊ¿AlÄ«âs Contemplations on this World and the Hereafter in the Context of His Life and Times,â 339â340.
In NahrawÄn, just before the battle, 38/658. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:85.
The Kharijites claimed that Ê¿AlÄ« and his followers had left Islam because they had agreed to human arbitration, and thus they held their blood licit. On the Kharijite doctrine declaring those who commit a âmajor sinâ to have apostatized, see Ḥ 8:113â118.
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tion. Two types of peopleâwith regard to their relationship with meâwill perish: one who loves to excess, whose love crosses the boundary of right, and one who hates, whose hate crosses the boundary of right.1 The best of peopleâwith regard to their relationship with meâare the ones who keep to the middle road,2 so keep to it! Keep to the assembled group, for Godâs hand guides the congregation. Beware of division, for the isolated individual is hunted by Satan, just as the lone sheep is hunted by the wolf. Kill any person who calls to that evil banner, even if that man were me, the man wearing this turban! The arbitratorsâ charge was to revive what revives the Qurʾan and to kill what kills the Qurʾan. To revive the Qurʾan is to unite around it, and to kill it is to splinter from it. The mandate was that if the Qurʾan drew us to them, we would follow them, and if it drew them to us, they would follow us. I have committed no wrongâmay you have no fathers! I did not deceive you or muddy your affair. It was you, the majority of you, who chose these two men. I made them pledge that they would not transgress the Qurʾan, but they strayed from it and abandoned the truth, while seeing it all the while in front of them. Their intent was to oppress, and they did. I had made their arbitration contingent upon justice and truthâby their corrupt judgment and unjust ruling they have invalidated it. â1.126 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« foretelling epic fighting in Basra:3 Listen, Aḥnaf! I see him marching with troops that raise no dust, that make no sound, with no clanking of irons or neighing of horses, their feet silently pounding the earth like swift ostriches. Raá¸Ä«: In these lines, Ê¿AlÄ« predicted the uprising of the Chief of the Zanj.4 Then he said: Grief to your flourishing quarters and beautiful homes, with their eagle wings and elephant trunks,5 from an army whose dead will go unmourned and whose missing will go unnoticed! As for me, I hurl the world on its face, I measure it for what it is worth, I view it with its own eyes! |
On the so-called Exaggerators (ghulÄt), who attributed divinity to Ê¿AlÄ«, see Ḥ 8:119â122; Asatryan, Controversies in Formative ShiÊ¿i Islam; Halm, Die islamische Gnosis; Halm, âGolÄt,â EIr. On the âhaters,â usually taken to mean the Umayyads and the Kharijites, see Husayn, Opposing the ImÄm: The Legacy of the NawÄá¹£ib in Islamic Literature.
Reference to Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:143.
Part of an orationâthat includes §â¯1.98 and §â¯1.99âwhich Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Basra immediately after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656. B 480; Ê¿Abd al-ZahrÄʾ, Maá¹£Ädir, 2:202, 203, 288.
The Chief of the Zanj was Ê¿AlÄ« ibn Muḥammad al-ZanjÄ« (d. 270/883), who led the 15-year rebellion that ravaged southern Iraq from 255/869 to 270/883. For details, see Ḥ 8:126â214 (includes excerpts from ṬabarÄ«, MasÊ¿Å«dÄ«, and other early historical sources); ṬabarÄ«, History, vol. 17: The Revolt of the Zanj; Popovic, âal-Zand̲j̲, 2. The Zand̲j̲ revolts in Ê¿IrÄḳ,â EI2.
âEagle wings (ajniḥah)â of houses refer to overhanging wooden dormers, and âelephant trunks (kharÄá¹Ä«m)â refer to waterspouts snaking down from the roof (Ḥ 8:125; B 480; Ê¿A 623). Or, to the housesâ detailed decorations, and their height (R 2:44).
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From the same address, foretelling the coming of the Turks:1 I see them before me now, their craggy faces latticed shields, their robes silk and brocade, their mounts purebred steeds. I see violent fighting, the wounded trampling the slain, hardly any escaping and a host being captured. At that, one of Ê¿AlÄ«âs associates exclaimed, âYou have knowledge of the mysteries, Commander of the Faithful!â Ê¿AlÄ« laughed and said to the man, who was from the tribe of Kalb: This is not knowledge of the mysteries, O Kalbite, but what I have learned from one who had true knowledge.2 Knowledge of the mysteries constitutes knowing the coming hour and the things God has enumerated in his words, «God has knowledge of the coming hour, he sends down rain, and knows what is in wombs. No man knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no man knows the land in which he will die, but God is all-knowing, all-aware.»3 God knows what is in wombs, male or female, ugly or beautiful, generous or stingy, wretched or blissful. He knows who will go to hell and who will enjoy the company of the prophets in paradise. This is the knowledge of mysteries that God alone possesses. All else is knowledge that God taught to his Prophet, who taught it to me, and he prayed for my heart to preserve it and my breast to keep it safe. â1.127 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« about measures and weights:4 Servants of God! You, with all that you desire of this world, are lodgers with fixed timespans and debtors whose reckoning is coming due. The term approaches and deeds are preserved. Some who strive still squander and some who work still lose. You live in an era when good retreats, evil advances, and Satan is greedy for people he can throw into hell. This is that time: his army is strong, his plots commonplace, and his victims easy prey. Look at the people, look where you like! All you will see is paupers who suffer, rich men who repay Godâs blessings with ingratitude, misers who withhold Godâs due, and rebels whose ears are deaf to counsel. Where are the virtuous and the pious, where are the free and the generous, where are the honest earners and the people of scru- |
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The commentators explain this prophecy as foretelling the Mongol attack on the Muslim heartlands in the 7th/13th century initially under Chingiz Khan and culminating in the sack of Baghdad under Chingizâs grandson Hülegü in 656/1258. For details, see Ḥ 8:218â243; Jackson, âHülegü b. Toluy b. Chinggis KhÄn,â EI3; Biran, âChinggis KhÄn,â EI3; Morgan, âMongols,â EI2.
The reference is to the Prophet Muḥammad.
Qurʾan, LuqmÄn 31:34.
Although this text does not mention measures or weights, presumably ʿAlī is condemning his addressees for marketplace cheating.
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ple? They have departed this vicious, murky world, leaving you insignificant scum, you, whose very censure lips disdain to utter, whose slightest mention they spurn! «Truly, to God we belong, and to him we return!»1 Corruption is everywhere, but no one condemns or changes it, no one censures or disapproves. Is this how you earn lodging in Godâs sacred abode and seek to become his dearest friends? Perish the thought! God cannot be tricked into giving you paradise, his pleasure is earned only by obedience. Godâs curse on those who command good yet donât perform, who forbid evil yet donât renounce! â1.128 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« to AbÅ« Dharr when he was exiled to Rabadhah:2 AbÅ« Dharr, you were roused to anger in Godâs cause, so place your trust in the one in whose cause you were roused to anger. Your adversaries fear you with regard to their worldly gain, while you fear them because of your pious beliefs. Leave in their hands the thing they fear you will seize, and flee from them, taking with you the thing you fear they will take. How desperately they need the thing you forbid them, and how little you need the thing they forbid you! They will learn on the morrow who has the most profit, who is the most envied. Even if skies and earth close in on a true servant of God, God will show him a way to escape, if he remains conscious of him. Let truth be your comfort, and donât be afraid of anything except keeping company with falsehood. If you had accepted their proposals for worldly gain, they would have been on your side. If you had partaken of their offers, they would have offered you full protection. â1.129 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 You divided souls and fragmented hearts, present in body but absent in mind! I urge you toward truth, but you bolt from it like goats from a lionâs snarl! How impossible a task to brighten through your help this night of obscured justice,4 |
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Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:156.
Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this address to AbÅ« Dharr al-GhifÄrÄ« on the outskirts of Medina; it was reportedly committed to memory by DhakwÄn, freedman of Ê¿AlÄ«âs sister Umm HÄnÄ«, who was present. I have not located the date in the sources, but it is presumably shortly before 32/652, which is when AbÅ« Dharr died. AbÅ« Dharr was one of Muḥammadâs prominent and pious companions and an early convert to Islam. Ê¿UthmÄn exiled him to Rabadhah, two hundred kilometers northeast of Medina, because he was an outspoken supporter of Ê¿AlÄ« and openly condemned the Umayyads, and he died there. For details, see Ḥ 8:252â262; B 473â474; Afsaruddin, âAbÅ« Dharr al-GhifÄrÄ«,â EI3.
Part of an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered during his caliphate on the pulpit of Kufa (Sibá¹, Tadhkirah, 120), presumably, based on the opening line, after the arbitration in 37/658, when he was urging his supporters to regroup to fight MuÊ¿Äwiyah.
Ar. sirÄr al-Ê¿adl; the commentators give different explanations for sirÄr: (1) the last (moonless) night of the month (R 2:51; Ḥ 8:264); (2) a concealed thing (B 475); (3) shining lines on someoneâs forehead (Ḥ 8:264). They agree on the general meaning of the phrase that contains the word.
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or to straighten out the distorted truth! God! You know my intent was not to vie for power or seek this worldâs fleeting possessions. I did what I did in order to restore the waymarks of your religion and reform your lands, so your oppressed servants would find security and your forsaken mandates be once more upheld. God! I am the first who turned to you, who heard and answered your call. No one except your Messenger preceded me in the prayer of Islam. O people, you know that one who is in charge of marriage contracts, penalties for murder, distribution of war gains, legal rulings, and leadership of the Muslims should not be a miser or his greed would target their property, he should not be ignorant or he would lead them astray, he should not be harsh or he would alienate them, he should not be a tyrant or he would favor one group over another, he should not be corrupt or he would squander rights and be unjust in the distribution of stipends, and he should not be a person who obstructs the Sunnah or the community would perish. â1.130 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: â1.130.1 â¬I give praise to God for what he has taken away and what he has granted, for what he has gifted to us and what he has tested us with. He is aware of all that is hidden and present with all that is concealed, he knows all that hearts cover and all that eyes disclose. Thus, with my thoughts the same as my declaration, and my heart in accord with my tongue, I testify that there is no god other than he, and that Muḥammad is his chosen messenger. â1.130.2 â¬From this same oration: By God, it is seriousness, no jest, all truth, no liesâthere is nothing before you but death. Its caller has made its voice heard, and its driver has quickened the caravan, so donât let the recklessness of the masses distract you from your soul. You have seen the people who went before who amassed wealth and dreaded destitution, who were complacent about retribution because they cherished long hopes and ignored their shrinking lifespans. You saw death alight at each oneâs door, shove him out of his homeland, and seize him from his place of safety. He was carried out on fateâs wooden planks, one group of men handing him on to another, transporting him on their shoulders and gripping him by their fingers. Have you not seen those who cherished long hopes, raised edifices with strong mortar, and amassed abundant wealth? Their houses have become graves, what they gathered is in ruin, their property has gone to their heirs, their wives to other men. They are no longer asked to do good or to repent of earlier sins. It is those who robe their hearts in piety, who outrace their peers, whose deeds win the day. Work hard for this. Perform the deeds required to win par- |
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adise. This world has not been created for you as a home, it has been created for you as a passage on which to gather provisions for the final residence. Make haste to leave it. Make ready the backs of your camels for the journey. â1.131 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: â1.131.1 â¬This world and the hereafter have submitted their reins to God, the skies and the earth have handed him their keys, and the blossoming trees prostrate to him at dawn and at dusk. From their branches, his luminous flames are kindled, and in response to his words, they bring forth their harvest of fruit.1 â1.131.2 â¬From the same oration: The Book of God is in front of you. It is a speaker whose tongue does not stutter, a house whose pillars do not collapse, and a force whose supporters are never crushed. â1.131.3 â¬From the same oration: God sent Muḥammadâwhen prophecy had lagged, and tongues fiercely quarreledâto follow his messengers and seal his revelation. Muḥammad fought in Godâs path against those who had turned away from him or who assigned him peers. â1.131.4 â¬From the same oration: The blind see only this world. They cannot see past it, whereas the sighted penetrate it to see what is beyond, and they know their home is yonder. The sighted are waiting to leave it, whereas the blind are moving toward it. The sighted gather provisions from it, whereas the blind gather provisions for it. â1.131.5 â¬From the same oration:2 Know this: there is almost nothing its possessor doesnât weary of except lifeâno one ever takes comfort in death. This knowledge is the wisdom that brings life to the dead heart, sight to the blind eye, sound to the deaf ear, and water to the parched throat.3 It gives you all the counsel you need, and total safety. |
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References in this section are to Qurʾan, Ḥajj 22:18, YÄsÄ«n 36:80, Baqarah 2:265.
The next three paragraphs are thematically unconnected excerpts from different orations (Ḥ 8:288).
This âwisdomâ refers to (1) the Qurʾan (R 2:54); (2) the Prophetâs words (Ḥ 8:293); and (3) knowledge of the hereafter (B 480).
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By Godâs Book you see and perceive, through it you speak with reason, and from it you hear the truth. One part of the Qurʾan supports the otherâit contains no contradictions about God, and never leads its reader away from him. Although you hate one another, you band together to cultivate the refuse dump of malice, clasping hands for worldly gain, while fighting one another in the pursuit of wealth. Surely, the evil one has caught you in his spell and arrogance has led you astray! I seek Godâs help to fight my passions and yours. â1.132 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« responding to Ê¿Umarâs request for advice on whether he should lead the expedition against the Byzantines:1 God has guaranteed to followers of this faith that he will protect their land and guard their honor. He was the one who gave victory to their small band when they struggled to gain the upper hand, and he protected them when they could not protect themselves. He is the everliving who never dies. When you lead the expedition against the enemy, if you engage them and are pushed back, our fighters will have no stronghold to give them refuge and will flee to distant lands. If you are gone, they will have no community to which to return. Instead, dispatch a seasoned fighter accompanied by an experienced and intelligent group of warriors. If God grants them victory, then you have achieved your goal. If the outcome is otherwise, then you will still be here to harbor our people and provide a haven to which our warriors can return. â1.133 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«. Ê¿AlÄ« and Ê¿UthmÄn exchanged words, whereupon al-MughÄ«rah ibn al-Akhnas said to Ê¿UthmÄn, âI will take care of him for you.â Ê¿AlÄ« thundered at MughÄ«rah:2 You son of a barren, cursed father, of a tree without root or branch, you will see to me? By God, no man you support will ever obtain Godâs aid, no man you prop up will remain standing! Be gone, may God starve you of rain, and do your worst! And if you do, may God see to you! |
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In Medina, in 15/636, just before Ê¿Umar, the second Sunni caliph, participated in the march to Palestine. For details of this episode and the conquest of Syro-Palestine see Ḥ 8:298â300; B 481; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 3:608. Similar context and language in §â¯1.144, re Ê¿Umarâs march against the Persians.
The incident took place in Medina soon after AbÅ« Dharrâs death in exile in Rabadhah in 32/652, when Ê¿UthmÄn resolved to also send Ê¿AmmÄr into exile. Ê¿AlÄ« objected, and MughÄ«rahâa close associate of Ê¿UthmÄnâs who would be killed alongside himâcame, along with Zayd ibn ThÄbit, as Ê¿UthmÄnâs emissary, to remonstrate with and threaten Ê¿AlÄ« (Ibn AÊ¿tham, Futūḥ, 2:380). Al-MughÄ«rah ibn al-Akhnasâwhose brother, AbÅ« al-Ḥakam, Ê¿AlÄ« had killed at the Battle of Uḥud (details in Ḥ 8:301â303)âwas Ê¿AlÄ«âs keen enemy. On disagreements between Ê¿AlÄ« and Ê¿UthmÄn during the latterâs caliphate, see Ḥ 9:3â30.
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â1.134 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 Your oath of allegiance to me was not sworn on an impulse,2 and, furthermore, our intentions are not the same: I pursue you for the sake of God, while you pursue me for your own ends. People, help me to make you better! By God, I shall bring justice to the oppressed! I shall drag the oppressor by his nose-ring until I bring him kicking and screaming to the waterhole of truth! â1.135 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« regarding Ṭalḥah and Zubayr:3 â1.135.1 â¬By God, they have no cause to fault me, nor is the dispute they raise a fair one. They demand from me a right they abandoned and vengeance for blood they spilt. If I had been their partner in this affair, they would still have their share of culpability. But if they have undertaken it on their ownâwhich they haveâthen they should be the target of vengeance, and the first justice they mete out should be against themselves. But my conviction has not deserted me, and I have never deceived nor been deceived! They are the treacherous faction!4 Their insides are filled with dark slime, scorpion venom, and black suspicions.5 But the truth has become clear. Falsehoodâs grinding mill has been pushed out of its pivot, and its tongue has been curbed from inciting evil. By God, I shall fill the waterhole for them as only I canâthey shall neither leave it sated nor ever drink again from a smooth-bottomed pond! â1.135.2 â¬From the same address:6 |
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From Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration in Medina, soon after his accession to the caliphate in 35/656, referring to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn Ê¿Umar ibn al-Khaá¹á¹Äb, SaÊ¿d ibn AbÄ« WaqqÄá¹£, Muḥammad ibn Maslamah, ḤassÄn ibn ThÄbit, and UsÄmah ibn Zayd, who refused to pledge allegiance to him and decided to sit out the ongoing conflict. MufÄ«d, IrshÄd, 1:243, which also includes earlier lines from this oration.
Refers to Ê¿Umarâs statement, âThe oath of allegiance to AbÅ« Bakr was driven by an impulse (faltah), but God protected the community from its evil. Whoever repeats such an action must be killedâ (Ḥ 9:31; B 482), narrated widely in both ShiÊ¿i and Sunni sources.
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration in DhÅ« QÄr just before he left for Basra to fight his challengers at the Battle of the Camel, in 36/656 (MufÄ«d, IrshÄd, 1:251). See similar lines in §â¯1.10 and §â¯1.22.
The commentators state that the definite article âal-â in al-fiʾah al-bÄghiyah (the treacherous faction) indicates Ê¿AlÄ«âs prior knowledge of this group based on a portent from the Prophet. B 483; Ḥ 9:37.
âDark slimeâ (ḥamaʾ) is a metaphor for deceit and corruption (B 483); some say it refers to the Qurʾanic verse in Ḥijr 15:26, which says humans were made from ḥamaʾ (Ḥ 9:34). The variant reading ârelativeâ (ḥamÄ) is a reference to Zubayr, who was the son of Muḥammadâs, and Ê¿AlÄ«âs, paternal aunt (ibid.).
Refers to the Muslims in Medinaâincluding Ṭalḥah and Zubayrâwho rushed to Ê¿AlÄ« after Ê¿UthmÄnâs death, insisting that he accept their oath of allegiance (bayÊ¿ah). First lines are similar to §â¯1.3.4 (Shiqshiqiyyah), §â¯1.53, §â¯1.226.
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Shouting âthe oath! the oath!â you crowded around me like camel mares snuggling their newborn calves. I closed my palm shut, but you forced it open. I snatched my hand away, but you pulled it toward you. I beseech you, O God: Ṭalḥah and Zubayr have severed my ties of kinship, they have wronged me, they have broken their pledge of allegiance, and incited people to march against me. Undo the knots they have tied, unravel the ropes they have twisted, and show them the opposite of what they wish and strive for! Before beginning the fight, I asked them to return to their pledge; before commencing battle, I gave them a second chance; but they have scorned my kindness and rejected my offer of safety. â1.136 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« containing narratives of epic battles:1 â1.136.1 â¬He will bend passion to conform to guidance, where others have bent guidance to conform to passion. He will bend caprice to conform to the Qurʾan, where others have bent the Qurʾan to conform to caprice. â1.136.2 â¬From the same oration: War will stand fierce among you, baring its teeth, with full udders that are sweet to suckle but leave a bitter aftertaste of gourd.2 Be wary of the morrow which will bring you the unknown. A new sovereign will arrive who will punish governors for their injustice. The earth will reveal to him her inner treasures,3 and offer him submissively the keys to her fortress. He will make you walk the path of justice and resurrect what you have killed of the Book and the Sunnah. â1.136.3 â¬From the same oration, about an unjust ruler:4 |
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Part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration in Basra a few days after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (ṬabrisÄ«, IḥtijÄj, 1:289â290). The commentators state that the reference in §â¯1.136.1 and §â¯1.136.2 is to the Messiah, who will come at the end of time. Ḥ 9:40; B 484, R 2:62.
The Arabic sentence begins with ḥattÄ (âuntilâ), connecting to the previous part of the text which is not transcribed.
Lit. âThe earth will reveal the pieces of its liver (afÄlÄ«dh kabidihÄ).â Translation after Ḥ 9:46; B 485; R 2:62.
The commentators state that this prophecy refers to the Umayyad caliph Ê¿Abd al-Malik (r. 65â86/685â705) (Ḥ 9:47; B 486), orâunlikely, I think, because of the more immediate context of the lines followingâto âa rebel toward the end of time like SufyÄnÄ«â (R 2:63), and also because the first few lines are similar to §â¯1.98.3, which also, according to them, refers to Ê¿Abd al-Malik. Based on the context, I have added the phrase, âabout an unjust ruler,â to differentiate the paragraph from the one before.
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I can almost see him now as he calls to his flock in Syria and scrapes the ground for his banners to roost in the hinterlands of Kufa. Like an ill-tempered camel mare, he snaps and nips at your townspeople. He carpets its earth with decapitated heads. His jaws wide open, he stamps violently, he ranges far, and his onslaughts are brutal. By God, he will scatter you to the ends of the earth until few remain, as specks of kohl in the eye. You will continue thus until the Arabsâ long-departed reason returns home. During that difficult time, hold fast to established practices and clear traces. Look to your recent era that was stamped by the Prophetâs mark.1 Know that Satan smooths his pathways to lure you into treading in his steps. â1.137 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« during the ShÅ«rÄ Council:2 No one will outpace me in calling to the truth, fostering kinship, or acting with kindness, so listen to my words and pay attention to what I say. You will see swords drawn over this matter after today, and pledges broken; some of you will become leaders of the errant, others, followers of reckless fools. â1.138 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« in which he forbade his followers from exposing peopleâs sins: It befits those who are protected by good character and blessed with sound judgment to show compassion to sinners and transgressors. Gratitude should be their dominant trait, and it should stop them from pointing fingers. Doesnât the faultfinder who censures his brother and shames him for his trials remember the times when God concealed his own sins, sins that were far graver than the ones he censures his brother for? How can he condemn his brother for a sin he himself has also committed? Even if he has not committed the exact same crime, he has still disobeyed God in other things, some of which were perhaps more severe. By God, even if he has committed no mortal sin, even if has transgressed only in minor ways, his insolence in shaming others is worse than anything else. O servant of God, donât rush to expose your fellow manâs offence, perchance God may have forgiven it! Donât think your small transgression trivial, perchance God may punish you for it! Any man who recognizes that he too has committed shameful acts should refrain from shaming another. Thanksgiving for being spared the other manâs trials should give him occupation enough. |
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Refers to Ê¿AlÄ«âs own caliphate. Ḥ 9:48.
In Medina, 23/644. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:236; Ḥ 9:49â58; details of ShÅ«rÄ Council that appointed Ê¿UthmÄn in both.
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â1.139 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 People! Whoever knows his brother to have strong faith and good ways should not give ear to the rumors men spread about him. An archer may shoot, and his arrows may stray, but words always wound, and unjust words bring perdition, for God is listening and witnessing. The span of four fingers separates truth from falsehood. Ê¿AlÄ« was asked about the meaning of this statement, upon which he lined up his fingers and placed them between his ear and his eye, then said: âI heard,â is false. âI saw,â is true. â1.140 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 A person who distributes gifts in unsuitable quarters and makes presents to undeserving people earns only the praise of the immoral, the tribute of the wicked, and the commendation of the ignorant. As long as he continues to show favor, these churls exclaim, âWhat a generous hand he possesses!â Yet, when called to spend in Godâs name, he is tightfisted. If God has granted a person wealth, he should use it to help kin, feed the guest, free the captive and the hostage,3 and give to the mendicant and the debtor. Even when difficult, he should pay his dues and endure adversities to earn Godâs reward. These virtues, if won, bring honor in this world and merit in the next. â1.141 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« in which he supplicated God for rain: â1.141.1 â¬Hark! The earth that carries you and the sky that shades you obey their Lord. They favor you with their generous blessings not because they pity you, or seek to endear themselves to you, or hope for your reward, rather, they have been commanded to provide you with benefit and they obey, they have been appointed to ensure your welfare and they comply. Hear me! When Godâs servants do evil things, he tests them by reducing fruits, curtailing blessings, |
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The âspan of four fingersâ line is included in the following report by al-Aá¹£bagh ibn NubÄtah: The Byzantine Emperor wrote ten questions to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, who could not answer, and sent a rider to Ê¿AlÄ« with the questions. Among the questions was this one, âWhat is the distance between truth and falsehood?â (ThaqafÄ«, GhÄrÄt, 1:187â188). Presumably in Kufa, toward the end of Ê¿AlÄ«âs life in 40/661.
Excerpt from an orationâincluding §â¯1.95 and §â¯1.124âdelivered at á¹¢iffÄ«n (37/657), when Ê¿AlÄ«âs associates informed him of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs lavish rewards and urged him to do the same. ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 185; MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 235.
Ar. Ê¿ÄnÄ«, lit. âthe exhausted,â is translated here as âthe hostage,â based on the interpretation of the word as synonymous to âthe captiveâ (asÄ«r). Ḥ 9:74; B 490; R 2:63.
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and locking away treasures, so that any who are stirred to repent, to stop sinning, to listen to reminders, and to heed reproach, may do so. God has made a manâs quest for forgiveness the cord that releases sustenance, and his mercy for the world, and he instructs, «Ask your Lord for forgiveness, for he is ever forgivingâhe will make the sky pour rain and provide you with wealth and children.»1 May God show mercy to the person who hastens to repent, renounces sin, and races against death! â1.141.2 â¬God, we have ventured out to you from under shades and shelters, prompted by the heartrending groans of our cattle and our children. We seek your compassion, implore your abundant blessings, and fear your punishment and retribution. God, give us water to drink, send us rain! Do not place us among the disheartened, do not destroy us with years of drought,2 do not take us to task for what the foolish among us have done,3 O most compassionate one! God, we have ventured out under the sky to complain of things that are not hidden from you: rough constrictions have made us desperate, ruinous droughts have caused us anguish, extreme indigence has made us weak, and severe trials have banded against us. God, we beseech you, do not turn us away with empty hands! Do not send us back battered by grief! Do not chastise us for our sins! Do not measure us by our deeds! God, spread over us your rainclouds, your grace, your sustenance, and your compassion. Give us water, beneficial, quenching, and refreshing. Let it cause to grow what has withered and revive what has died. Give us drenching rain that yields abundant, ripe fruit. Let it quench plains, make pools overflow, urge trees to leaf and food prices to come down. Doubtless, you are powerful over all that you will. â1.142 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: â1.142.1 â¬God singled out messengers and sent them bearing his revelation, making them his proof against the people and giving them no cause to say he had stopped providing them with signsâthus, he continually called them to the path of right with the tongue of truth. Hark! God surveils all people, not because he is ignorant of the guarded secrets and the innermost thoughts they conceal, |
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Qurʾan, Nūḥ 71:10â12.
Lit. âDo not destroy us with those years.â Reference to Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:130, where Pharaohâs people are seized with years of drought.
Reference to Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:155, where Mosesâs people beg forgiveness for having worshipped the Golden Calf.
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but because he wishes to test them, to see «who among them performs the best deeds.»1 His reward is just recompense, and his punishment is equitable retaliation. Where are the people who claim that they, not we, are the ones «firmly rooted in knowledge»?2 Their claim is false and treacherous, for God has raised us and lowered them, favored us and deprived them, admitted us and excluded them. It is from us that guidance is to be sought and blindness cured. The Imams of Quraysh sprout from the seedbed of HÄshim. No others are fit for the Imamate. No others are fit to rule.3 â1.142.2 â¬From the same oration: They prioritized the present and put off the hereafter, rejected what is pure and drank what is foul. I can almost see their libertines as they go about befriending sin, growing familiar and intimate with it, and staying with it till their hair turns grey, till its dye stains their character; then they step forward, like a foaming torrent that cares not whom it drowns, or like sparks of fire falling on straw that care not what they burn. Where are the minds illumined by lamps of guidance, the eyes that looked to pietyâs beacon? Where are the hearts that gave themselves to God and bound themselves to his obedience? These people here crowded around worldly baubles and quarreled over forbidden things. Banners for both paradise and hellfire were raised before them, but they averted their faces from paradise and set out to earn hellfire. When their Lord called to them, they turned and bolted. When Satan called to them, they answered him and rushed forward. â1.143 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:4 â1.143.1 â¬People! You are targets in this world at which the fates shoot their arrows. With every sip you choke, with every bite you gag. You obtain no blessing without giving up another. No one lives for a day without erasing a day from his allotted time, he consumes nothing without depleting his apportioned sus- |
Qurʾan, Kahf 18:7.
Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:7.
â¨The Imamate is vested in Qurayshâ© (al-imÄmatu fÄ« l-Quraysh) is a hadith attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad. The ShiÊ¿i commentator takes Ê¿AlÄ«âs lines about it being confined to the clan of HÄshim, as confirmation that the Imamate is vested solely in the Prophetâs family (B 494). The Sunni commentatorâwho acknowledges that if Ê¿AlÄ« said this then it must be trueâtakes it as an optimal, but not required, state of affairs (Ḥ 9:88).
In ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 98, §â¯1.143.1 is an excerpt from a longer, aphoristic oration titled The Intercessor (WasÄ«lah). Other excerpts are §â¯3.29, §â¯3.99, §â¯3.103, §â¯3.175, and §â¯3.195.
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tenance, no sign of him is revitalized without another dying out, no new clothes are given to him except after the earlier ones have worn out, and no new shoots grow except after the dead wood is cut down. The roots have gone, and we are their branchesâhow long can a branch survive after its root has died? â1.143.2 â¬From the same oration: No heresy is innovated without an accepted practice being abandoned, so fear innovations and keep to the highway. The ancient ways are best, the newfangled ones are evil. â1.144 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« to Ê¿Umar ibn al-Khaá¹á¹Äb responding to his request for advice on whether he should lead the expedition to fight the Persians:1 In this matter, victory or defeat will not hinge on how large the number of troops is or how small. This is Godâs faith that he has made victorious, and his army that he has prepared and equipped, until it reached what it has, and spread where it has. We await the fulfilment of Godâs pledgeâGod will fulfil his pledge and grant his victory to his army.2 The custodian of the caliphate is like a string to beads, it gathers them and holds them together. If the string breaks, they scatter and disperse and are never whole again. The Arabs, though few today, are many by virtue of Islam, and mighty because they are united. You should be the pivot that spins them like grain in your mill. Have them brave the fires of war instead of you. If you leave the region, the Bedouins will swoop in from all sides and from the peripheries until the unguarded areas you leave behind will give you far more cause for concern than the ones that lie before you. If the Persians see you tomorrow, they will say, âHere is the Arabâs tree trunk, cut him down, and you can sit back!â Their rage against you will become rabid, and their hunger to get you intensify. Yes, as you say, they march to fight the Muslims. But God detests their expedition more than you do, and he has more power to change what he detests. As for what you say about their numbers, we didnât fight in the past on the strength of superior numbers. We fought on the strength of Godâs support and aid. |
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MadÄʾinÄ« (Futūḥ, lost, cited by Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d) places this address before the Battle of QÄdisiyyah in ca. 16/637, and ṬabarÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 4:124) before the Battle of NahÄwand in 21/642, both against the Persiansâdetails from both works are transcribed in Ḥ 9:96â102; B 497. Similar context and language in §â¯1.132 re Ê¿Umarâs march against the Byzantines.
Reference to Prophet Muḥammadâs hadith (â®
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â1.145 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.145.1 â¬God sent Muḥammad to turn his servants from worship of idols to his worship, from obeying Satan to his obedience. He sent him with the truth, with a clear and comprehensive Qurʾan, so his servants may know how to recognize their Lord after their earlier ignorance of him, that they may acknowledge him after prior repudiation, and accept him after previous denial. He, the Most Luminous, unveiled to them in his Book without their ever seeing him, by showing them his power, warning them of his rule, and reminding them that he had destroyed nations with his strong reckoning and reaped lives in harsh punishment. â1.145.2 â¬After I am gone, you will see a time when there will be nothing more suppressed than right, nothing more dominant than wrong, and nothing more prevalent than false attributions to God and his Messenger. No commodity will be worth less than the Bookâs proper recitation or valued more than its blatant corruption. Nothing anywhere will be less familiar than good or more prominent than evil. Those who had upheld the Book will have cast it away, and those who had memorized it will pretend they remember nothing. On that day, the Book and its Companions will be banished into exile, two friends walking together whom no one is willing to shelter. In that age, the Book and its Companions will be among the people yet not among them, they will be with the people yet not with them, for error is not compatible with righteousness, even if they come together in one place. People will unite in their dissension, they will splinter from the congregation, they will think themselves to be imams who rule the Book rather than realizing that the Book is the Imam who rules them. Nothing of the Book will remain with them except its name, they will know nothing of it but its script and scrolls. In all this time, they will continue to inflict torture on the pious, mislabel their truths as lies against God, and requite their good with evil. You should know that those who lived before you perished because they harbored long hopes and neglected their diminishing lifespans. The end befell them as promisedâa time when all excuses are rejected, all opportunity to repent removed, and calamity and punishment come home to roost. â1.145.3 â¬People! Those who seek Godâs counsel receive direction, those who take his word as guide are led to «the path that is straightest»,2 and those whom |
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From Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration at DhÅ« QÄr, just before the Battle of the Camel at Basra in 36/656. KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 8:386â391.
Qurʾan, IsrÄʾ 17:9.
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God protects are safe, while those who challenge him are fearful. All who recognizes Godâs greatness should avoid self-glorification, for real exaltation comes from humility before God, just as the security of those who know Godâs power comes from their submission to him. So shy not away from the truth, like the healthy from the mangy, or the sound from the sick. Know this: you will not recognize guidance until you know who has abandoned it, you will not abide by your pledge to the Book until you know who has broken it, you will not hold fast to it until you know who has cast it aside. Seek the truth from the people of truth. They are the life of knowledge and the death of ignorance. Their judgments reveal to you their knowledge, their silence tells you of their reason, and their outward aspect shows you their inner being. They never violate religion or diverge from its lawsâit is always among them as a truthful witness and a silent speaker. â1.146 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« about the people of Basra:1 Each of the two wants the caliphate, he maneuvers it toward himself and away from the other, with no rope in this affair connecting them to God, no cord attaching them to him. Each of the two harbors the malice of a treacherous, spiny-tailed lizard against his companion,2 and before long, he will remove his mask. By God, if they got what they wanted, each would assault the other, each would threaten the otherâs life. Behold! The treacherous faction has risen! Are there any among you who would seek Godâs reward? Clear paths have been laid out for you and you have warnings from the past. Every error has a trigger, and every breach is prompted by doubt. By God, I shall not be like the hyena listening meekly to the sound of pebbles being thrown,3 nor yet like the person who hears a death proclaimed and sees the mourners but pays no heed.4 |
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The âpeople of Basraâ refers to those who fought Ê¿AlÄ« in the Battle of the Camel, outside Basra in 36/656; the oration is from the lead-up to the battle, and âthe twoâ refers to two of his three chief adversaries in the battle, Ṭalḥah and Zubayr (the third was Ê¿Äʾishah, who is not mentioned), (Ḥ 9:109; B 502; R 2:75). Details of the battle in Ḥ 9:111â115.
Lit. â¨he carries a spiny-tailed lizardâ© (ḥÄmil á¸abb), a proverb that signifies betrayal; the spiny-tailed lizard is said to devour its young. B 502.
Lit. âthe one who listens to the sound of pebbles hitting the groundâ (ka-mustamiÊ¿ al-ladm). My translation, with the insertion of the word âhyena,â is based on Ḥ 9:109â110; R 2:75â76. The same simile, with an explicit mention of the word hyena, is used in §â¯1.6: see note there for details. Other commentators explain the phrase non-zoologically, connecting it with events alluded to in the next two phrases, as âthe sound of hitting and weeping as a sign of danger,â B 502, and, in a similar vein, âslapping on the face and chest as an act of mourning,â Ê¿A 627.
Refers to Ṭalḥah and his companionsâ killing of ḤakÄ«m ibn Jabalah and his followers in Basra before the Battle of the Camel, 36/656. Ḥ 9:110.
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â1.147 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« just before his death:1 People! Each person shall meet what he flees as he flees,2 for death is the place toward which the soul is driven and running away only brings it closer. How many days I wasted searching for the answer to this mystery, but God would not allow it to be revealed! Far from it! A guarded piece of knowledge! My testament is this: Hold fast to God and do not assign him partners. Hold fast to Muḥammad and do not squander his Sunnah. Erect these two pillars, kindle these two lamps, and, as long as you do not bolt from their stable, no blame will attach to you. Each person is made to carry his own burden, although the ignorant masses are given a lighter load. Your Lord is compassionate, your religion is strong, and your Imam is endowed with knowledge. Yesterday I was your companion, today I am a lesson for you to heed, and tomorrow I shall leave you. May God pardon both you and me. If my foot regains its balance on this slippery ground, then that was meant to be. But if it slips, then know that the shade of the tree of life is intermittent, winds come and go, clouds that cast shadows are soon dispersed, and signs are quick to vanish. For a while I was your companion, my body your neighbor. Soon you will see my empty corpse, motionless after having movement, silent after possessing speech. Let the quiet of my pose, the closing of my eyes, the stillness of my limbs, teach you a lesson, a lesson more effective than eloquent speech and loud words. I bid you farewell, eager for my meeting with God! Tomorrow, when you will look back on my life, my worth will be revealed to you. You will know me then, when my seat is empty, and someone else has taken my place. â1.148 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« containing accounts of epic events: â1.148.1 â¬Those others went right and left, travelling the paths of error and forsaking the roads of guidance. People, donât be impatient for the arrival of an anticipated event or deem slow tomorrowâs child! Manyâs the person impatient for a thing that, were he to attain it, would wish he never had. How close is today to the glimmer of tomorrow! This is the moment when all that is promised begins. The dawn of a time you will not recognize is come. Hark! A man from our family will witness this time, and he will traverse the night with a bright lamp.3 He will follow the example of the pious, loosen that which is bound, |
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Part of a testamentâthat includes §â¯2.23âdelivered in his home in Kufa in 40/661, where he was carried after the deathblow. KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 1:299.
Reference to Qurʾan, Jumʿah 62:8.
Interpreted as referring to the âRightly Guidedâ Messiah from the family of the Prophet, âMahdÄ«,â who will come at the end of time (Ḥ 9:128â129; B 506; R 2:82). I have added the word âfamilyâ for clarity; the Arabic is more cryptic, âa man from among us.â
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free those who are in bondage, sunder those who share a bond, and unite those who are dispersed. In all this, he will remain concealed from the people; no tracker will uncover his traces no matter how keenly he scans the ground. Then, a group will rise with resolve sharpened like a whetted sword.1 Their eyes will be opened by the Revealed Book, their ears will be filled with its interpretation, and they will be served the cup of wisdom morning and night. â1.148.2 â¬From the same oration: Their term was prolonged so they could finish their shameful deeds and deserve to be struck with cataclysms.2 Then, when that eraâs fabric frayed,3 while one group became comfortable with sedition and refused to impregnate warâs camel, another group endured without thinking that in laying down their lives for truth, they were doing God a favor, or anything more that they should. Finally, when the period of tribulation ended as ordained, they unsheathed their swords to spread their beliefs and drew close to their Lord at their guideâs command. â1.148.3 â¬Then, when God took back his Messenger, one group turned on their heels, and followed roads that tempted them into the waterless waste.4 They relied on treachery,5 cultivated other people but not the Prophetâs family,6 and abandoned his kin, whom they had been commanded to love.7 Uprooting the edifice from its fortified foundation, they erected it in the wrong location. These people are mother lodes of every sin and entry ways for those who set out on dangerous waters. In the manner of Pharaohâs family, they drifted without comprehension, intoxicated and confounded. Some devoted themselves to the world and inclined toward it, others deserted and discarded the faith. |
Lit. âa group will rise sharpened like a whetted sword.â I have added âwith resolveâ based on Ḥ 9:128; alternatively, âwith mindsâ (B 506).
Interpreted as referring to an errant faction who usurped rule (Ḥ 9:130; B 507); enemies of the family of the Prophet (R 2:82).
Ar. ikhlawlaqa, translation based on R 2:82; B 507. Or, âbecame ready to rain down,â said of a cloud, or âwere razed to the ground,â said of a house. Ḥ 9:130.
This segment may follow from the previous one (R 2:85), or it is a new segment (B 507). ṬabarÄ«-ÄmÅ«lÄ« (Mustarshid, 401) prefaces §â¯1.48.3 by saying that a group of people had harbored malice against Ê¿AlÄ« since the time of the Prophet, and after his death, their enmity came into the open. He cites the full address.
Ar. walÄʾij, translated as âtreacheryâ after R 2:85; or âpartisans,â B 508.
Lit. ânot the familyâ; translation based on Ḥ 9:132; B 508.
Interpreted as a reference to Qurʾan, ShÅ«rÄ 42:23: «Say, I do not ask of you any recompense except love for (my) kin.» Ḥ 9:133; B 508.
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â1.149 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: â1.149.1 â¬I ask him for aid against Satanâs expulsions and evictions.1 I seek his protection against Satanâs snares and ambushes. I bear witness that Muḥammad is his servant and messenger, his chosen one and his elect. His virtues cannot be matched, and the heartbreak caused by his loss cannot be mended.2 The land became illuminated with Muḥammadâs light after a time of black error, intense ignorance and uncouth ways, a time when people had made the unlawful legal and demeaned the wise, when they were living in a state of stupor,3 and dying as unbelievers. â1.149.2 â¬You, Arabs, are targets for approaching calamities, so be fearful lest your blessings intoxicate you and beware the blows of Godâs punishment. Remain firm when dust storms darken, when sedition begins to twist and turn, when its fetus is born, and its secret made manifest, when its pivot becomes entrenched, and its mill begins to turn. Sedition begins on hidden paths and soon reaches the status of clear atrocity. It dances around like a young boy, but its footprints are like wounds made by stoning. Tyrants inherit it, one from the other, through mutual agreement, the first among them impelling the last, and the last among them emulating the first. They compete fiercely for this vile world and fight like dogs over its stinking carcass. Soon the follower will dissociate from the one he followed, and the driver from those he steered. They will disown one another in enmity when they meet face to face, each will curse the other. â1.149.3 â¬After the first, a second seismic sedition, a crushing, relentless sedition, will march. Hearts once steadfast will falter, men once righteous will stray, tempestuous passions will bolt in every direction, and capricious opinions will appear in every quarter and lead to total confusion; this sedition will crush all who rise to face it and shatter all who attempt to withstand; people will nip and bite at one another like a herd of wild asses; knots will be undone and direction will be obscured; wisdom will recede and tyrants will speak out; seditionâs iron |
The line could also be translated as, âI ask God for aid in expelling Satan and driving him outâ (R 2:85), where the subject of the expulsion is the speaker and the object is Satan, rather than the other way around. In either case, the speaker is asking God for aid in withstanding Satan. Some commentaries offer both readings (B 509; Ḥ 9:138).
Lit. âcannot be splinted (yujbaru),â referring to the joining of broken bones, a metaphor for coming to terms with a death or other painful event.
Ar. fatrah. Or, âliving during the interval between prophets.â Ḥ 9:139; B 510; R 2:85; Ê¿A 628, citing Qurʾan, MÄʾidah 5:19.
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bridle will bruise the Bedouins and its looming torso will crush them; individuals will be lost in its dust and riders will perish in its path; it will come bearing bitter fate, and when milked, it will yield fresh blood; it will extinguish the beacon of faith, and undo the bonds of certainty; the intelligent will flee, while the degenerate will be mesmerized; it will hurl bolts of thunder and lightning and bare its shanks;1 kinship ties will be cut, and Islam will be forsaken; the unscathed will be afflicted, and the shirker will not escape. â1.149.4 â¬From the same oration: Some will be killed, their blood unavenged, others, desperately afraid, will seek asylum, and people everywhere will be taken in by false oaths and the pretense of faith. Be watchful, all of you, that you donât turn into temples of sedition or waymarks of heresy. Stay with the true belief to which the communityâs rope is bound, and on which the pillars of obedience are raised. Go forward to God as victims of oppression, not inflictors. Beware the ways of Satan, beware the abyss of rancor. Donât fill your stomachs with unlawful morsels. Remember! You are watched by the one who has forbidden sin and smoothed the path of obedience. â1.150 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 â1.150.1 â¬Praise God, who demonstrated his existence through his creatures, his eternity through their temporality, and his singularity through their resemblance to one another. But although veils cannot conceal him, neither can senses grasp him, for the craftsman and the handicraft, the delimiter and the delimited, the master and the servant, are mutually distinct. He is one but not in the sense of numbers, the creator but not through movement and effort, the hearer but not with an appendage, the seer but not through an organ, the witness but not by being present, the separate but not through distance, the manifest but not through vision, and the hidden but not because he is transparent. He is separate from all things, for he subjugates and wields power over them, and all things are separate from him, for they bow and return to him. To describe him is to circumscribe him, to circumscribe him is to quantify him, and to quantify him is to deny his eternity. To ask âHow?â is to seek a description of him, to ask âWhere?â is to confine him. He was knowledgeable when there was nothing to be known, Lord when there was no one to be Lord over, and powerful when there was nothing over which to wield power. |
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Ar. kÄshifatun Ê¿an sÄq, echoes Qurʾan, Qalam 68:42; it connotes severe hardship (Ḥ 9:145), or girding for an attack (B 511).
From the beginning of Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate in Medina, in 35/656. Ḥ 9:153; R 2:91; B 515.
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â1.150.2 â¬From the same oration: What was going to rise has risen, what was going to shine forth has shone, what was going to emerge has emerged, and what had listed to one side has straightened. God has replaced one group with another, one day with another, a change we awaited as the drought-stricken wait for rain. Hear me! The Imam is Godâs caretaker over his creatures and the leader he has appointed over his servants: no one will enter paradise except those he recognizes and who recognize him, no one will enter hellfire except those he denies and who deny him.1 God has privileged and blessed you with Islam: its name denotes safety and it is the aggregate of honor; its way is chosen by God, and its proofs are explained by him, both its manifest knowledge and its concealed wisdom;2 its wonders never cease, its marvels never end; it boasts verdant blessings and lamps that dispel darkness; its keys open goodness, its lamps dispel the dark; God has strengthened its fortifications and permitted grazing in its pastures; it heals those who seek healing and suffices those who seek sufficiency. â1.151 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 â1.151.1 â¬Such men, during the respite granted them by God, fall into error with the heedless, and set out every morning with sinners, with no path to follow, no Imam to guide them. â1.151.2 â¬From the same oration: Then, when God reveals the payback for their disobedience and tears off their garments of negligence, they must face what they ignored and leave what they loved, benefitting not at all from desires they slaked or passions they gratified. I warn youâand myselfâdonât reach this station! Let each man save himself! The discerning listens and contemplates, he sees and understands, he learns from exemplary lessons, follows the clear road, and avoids twisting ravines and perilous canyons, he does not give ammunition to his deceivers by dismiss- |
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Reference to Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:46â49. The word Ê¿urafÄʾ (leaders) is explained through the root meaning of Ê¿arafa (to recognize); the name of the SurahâAÊ¿rÄfâis also derived from the same root, âÊ¿-R-F.â
âManifest knowledge and concealed wisdomâ refer to the Qurʾan. Ḥ 9:156; R 2:91; B 517.
Delivered en route from Medina to Basra in 36/656, before the Battle of the Camel (Ḥ 9:162; B 521). §â¯1.151.1 refers to individuals who refused to support Ê¿AlÄ« and sat out the Battle of the Camel (R 2:92), or to all errant humans (Ḥ 9:157; B 518). §â¯1.151.3 refers to the leaders in the Battle of the Camel, Ê¿Äʾishah, Ṭalḥah, and Zubayr (Ḥ 9:161â162; B 521).
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ing truth, distorting speech, or dodging battle.1 Emerge, O listener, from your intoxication, awake from your slumber, and temper your haste for worldly gain! Ponder the warning that has come to you on the Meccan Prophetâs tongue about the inexorable, inescapable end.2 Resist anyone who resists this view, reject him and his errant ways. Discard your pride, abandon your arrogance, and remember the grave, for your path leads straight to it. As you treat others, so shall you be treated, as you sow, so shall you reap, the deeds you perform today shall you come to in the morrowâprepare for your arrival and provide for that day. Beware, O listener, beware! Heed, reckless one, heed! Indeed, «no one informs you as well as one who is fully aware.»3 â1.151.3 â¬One of the resolutions that God has transcribed in the Wise Remembrance4âand these are the resolutions on whose basis he rewards or punishes, accepts or rebukesâis that he will not show favor to the man who leaves the world to meet him, even one who has expended effort and performed sincere acts, if he comes unrepentant with the following sins: having assigned partners to God in worship, slaked his rage with murder, accused someone of a crime another has committed, sought gain by innovating a heresy, or displayed two faces and spoken with two tongues. Understand this, for one example sheds light on all similar cases. Cattle care only about their stomachs, predators care only about attacking, and women care only about worldly adornments and sowing discord.5 Believers are humble, believers are compassionate, believers fear God! â1.152 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: |
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Ar. aw takhawwufin min á¹£idq: á¹£idqâtranslated here as âbattleââmeans âtruthâ in common parlance, but in the context of battle, it denotes âcourage in fighting for the truth.â Discussion and examples in Qutbuddin, Arabic Oration, 318â320.
The word ummÄ« in the Qurʾanâs designation of Muḥammad as âthe ummÄ« Prophetâ (al-nabÄ« al-ummÄ«, Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:157) has differing interpretations. One is âthe Meccan Prophet,â as I have translated here (following R 3:248, commentary on §â¯3.41), which signals Muḥammadâs birth affiliation to âthe mother of all citiesâ (Umm al-qurÄ), Mecca. Other interpretations for ummÄ« are âunlettered,â or âbelonging to a community (ummah)â of earlier prophets.
Qurʾan, FÄá¹ir 35:14.
The Wise Remembrance (al-Dhikr al-ḥakīm) is the Qurʾan.
The reference about women is to Ê¿Äʾishah, who was at the head of the coalition challenging Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate. See also text and note at §â¯1.154.1, §â¯2.1.
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â1.152.1 â¬An intelligent person possesses a keen heart with which he perceives his goal and distinguishes high ground from low. The caller has called, and the shepherd has gathered his herd, so answer the caller and follow the shepherd! Those people plunged into seas of revolt and followed heretical innovations instead of established practice. Believers cowered, while those who had strayed, who were calling the truth a lie, spoke loudly. â1.152.2 â¬We are its vestments and companions, its vault-keepers and doors, and homes should be entered only through doorsâwhoever enters any other way will be called a thief!1 From the same oration: We are religionâs jewels, the Merciful Lordâs treasure; when we speak, we speak the truth, when we stay silent, no one outpaces us.2 Let the scout be true to his people and stay alert!3 Let him be a child of the hereafter from where he has come and to where he will return! The person who perceives with his heart and would act with discernment should first determine, will his deed count for or against him? If it will count for him, he should proceed, if it will count against him, he should desist. A person who acts without knowledge is like someone who loses his wayâthe further he strays from the road, the further he strays from his goal; the person who acts with knowledge is like someone who travels on the clear road. Let each individual assess for himself, should he go forward, or should he turn back? Know that every outward aspect has a corresponding inner oneâwhatever is pure in its outward aspect is pure in its inner one, and whatever is foul in its outward aspect is foul in its inner one. The truthful messenger has said, â¨God can love a servant and yet hate his deeds or love his deeds and yet hate his beingâ©. Know further that every deed is a plant, every plant requires water, and all water is not the same. A plant watered with pure water yields pure shoots and sweet fruit. A plant watered with foul water yields foul shoots and bitter fruit. |
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âItâ refers to the Imamate. âWeâ (here and in the next section) refers to the family of the Prophet. The simile of the âdoorâ echoes the Prophetâs hadith, â¨I am the city of knowledge and Ê¿AlÄ« is its gatewayâ© and the Qurʾan verse, «Enter homes through their doorways and fear God» (Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:189). âVestmentsâ (shiÊ¿Är), more specifically, âinner garments,â denotes closeness to the Prophet. Ḥ 9:165â166, 176; B 522â523; R 2:94. See twenty-four hadiths in praise of Ê¿AlÄ«, and their references, in Ḥ 9:166â175.
âNo one outpaces us (lam yusbaqÅ«)â means that (1) our silence is not due to incapacity, we are still the incumbents of the Imamate; and/or (2) no one dares to speak until we do; they stay silent out of respect and awe. Ḥ 9:177.
Refers to the proverb, â¨The scout does not lie to his peopleâ© (â®
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â1.153 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« in which he describes the wondrous creation of the bat: â1.153.1 â¬Praise God! Descriptions are too feeble to plumb his core, for his majesty curbs intellects from reaching the limits of his kingdom. He is God, real and clear, too real, too clear, for eyes to see. Intellects cannot delineate his boundariesâhe can never be likened to another. Imaginations cannot capture himâhe can never be pictured as another. He created without paradigm, advice, or help. His command brought forth a perfect creation, which bowed to him in obedience, responded without defiance, and submitted without fighting. â1.153.2 â¬Among the sublimities of his craftsmanship and the marvels of his creation are the profound mysteries he has shown us in these bats. They are constricted by light which causes other creatures to emerge, and drawn out by darkness, which causes other beings to seek shelter. See how he caused their eyes to be dazzled by the sunâs brilliance, instead of using the sun to guide their movements, or harnessing its light to visit their haunts. See how he curbed them with the sunâs very brilliance from flitting about in its majestic gleams, how he restrained them in their caverns from setting out in its intense glare. They let their eyelids droop during the day over their pupils and use the night as a lamp to guide them toward sustenance. The darkening gloom does not impede their sight, its black obscurity does not hinder their movement. But as the sun removes its veil and the morning glimmers, as its bright rays penetrate the lizard in its hole, the bats shut their eyelids and settle down with the food they were able to collect in the shadows of the night. Glory to him who made night for them as daylight hours, as the time to gather food, and daylight hours the time for rest and tranquility! Glory to him who created their wings from flesh! Wings they use to propel themselves in flight, that look like bow-shaped ears and have no feathers or quills, but in which you can see their clearly marked fingers;1 two wings, not so thin as to tear, but not so thick either that they would weigh down their bodies. When bats fly, their pups cling to them for shelter, swooping and rising with their mothers when their mothers swoop and rise. They do not fly off until their limbs are strong, and their wings can support them, until they can find their own way to food and safety. Glory to the creator of all things, who created without following anotherâs paradigm! |
Ar. Ê¿urÅ«q (sing. Ê¿irq), lit. ârootsâ or âveins,â translated as âfingersâ based on modern zoology.
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â1.154 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« to the people of Basra, foretelling calamities:1 â1.154.1 â¬At that time, whoever is able to bind himself totally to God should do so. If you obey me, I shall, God willing, drive you on the path to the celestial garden, even when it brings severe hardships and bitter trials. As for that woman, the suppositions of women overtook her and malice simmered in her breast like a dyerâs boiling cauldron.2 If she had been invited to malign anyone else with the aggression she used against me, she would not have done so. No matter. Let her retain her state of spousal sanctity.3 Her reckoning is in Godâs hands. â1.154.2 â¬From the same address: It is a road whose track is clear and whose lamp is bright. Through faith you are guided to deeds, through deeds you are guided to faith. Through faith you enliven knowledge, through knowledge you fear death, through death your life in the world ends, and through life in the world you attain the hereafter. There is no place where you can hide from the resurrection. In its arena, all race to the final post. â1.154.3 â¬Emerging from the repose of graves, they set off for their destined end;4 each abode receives its residents, and they are never removed from it, or given another, forever after. Commanding good and forbidding evil are traits of divinity, they will not hasten your death or decrease your sustenance. Hold fast to Godâs Book: it is the strong rope, the clear light, the effectual cure, the quencher of thirst, the adherentâs protection, and the devoteeâs salvation; it never becomes crooked and needs straightening, or deviates and needs to be forced back; it is not worn out by the tongueâs recitation or frayed by the earâs auditionâwhoever affirms it speaks the truth, whoever acts upon it wins. â1.154.4 â¬At that time, a man stood up and said, âCommander of the Faithful, tell us about this seditionâdid you ask Godâs Messenger about it?â and Ê¿AlÄ« responded: |
In Basra, immediately after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (ṬūsÄ«, TalkhÄ«á¹£ al-ShÄfÄ«, vol. 1 pt. 2, 274â275). §â¯1.154.2 and §â¯1.154.4 are cited as answers given during an oration in the mosque in Basra, a few days after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 224â225, 230). Other parts of the same oration in ibid., 221â233, are listed in note to §â¯1.23. Also, §â¯1.154.2 is similar to §â¯1.103.1.
Refers to Ê¿Äʾishah, who brought an army to fight Ê¿AlÄ« in the Battle of the Camel outside Basra in 36/656. Details of her conflicts with Ê¿AlÄ« and FÄá¹imah in Ḥ 9:190â200; B 527. âDyerâs boiling cauldronâ after R 2:101; or, âa cauldron made by a blacksmithâ (Ḥ 9:189).
As the Prophet Muḥammadâs wife. B 527; Ḥ 9:199.
I.e., paradise or hellfire.
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When the Almighty revealed the verses, «Alif LÄm MÄ«m. Do people think they can claim, âwe believe,â without being tested»?1 I knew that sedition would not befall us while the Messenger remained among us, so I asked, âMessenger of God, what is this sedition that God has informed you about and when will it come to pass?â He replied, â¨Ê¿AlÄ«, my community will be thrown into turmoil when I die.â© I probed, âMessenger of God, did you not say to me at the Battle of Uḥudâwhen some were martyred and I was sad that I was denied the honorââBe happy, for you shall win martyrdom tooâ?â He said, âYes, that is correct. What will your acceptance look like then?â and I replied, âMessenger of God, it will not be an occasion for acceptance, but for immense joy and gratitude!â The Prophet also told me, â¨Ê¿AlÄ«, people will be tested with regard to wealthâthinking their support of Islam a favor to their Lord,2 they will feel entitled to his mercy and believe themselves secure against his punishment. By raising false suspicions and wayward passions, they will legalize the things he has forbiddenâthey will drink wine, calling it date juice, take bribes, calling it gift-giving, and practice usury, calling it trade.â© I asked him then, âMessenger of God, which category will they fall in at that time, apostasy or sedition?â and he answered, âSedition.â â1.155 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 â1.155.1 â¬Praise God, who made praise the key to his remembrance,4 the means to increasing his bounty,5 and a sign of his blessings and glory. Servants of God! Timeâs river flows on with those who are alive, just as it swept away those who are now gone. The part that has gone will never return, and the part that is present will not remain. The last of its actions are like the first, its affairs outrace each other, its banners reinforce each other, and the final hour pushes you forward as a rough herdsman drives his thirsty camels to the waterhole. Whoever occupies himself with anything other than his soul stumbles in darkness and |
Qurʾan, Ê¿AnkabÅ«t 29:1â2. The first verseâ«Alif LÄm MÄ«m»âconsists of three letters of the Arabic alphabet that many exegetes explain as an allusion to angels or prophets by whom God swears an oath, after which he makes the declaration that follows in the second verse.
Refers to Qurʾan, ḤujurÄt 49:17.
Oration delivered in the mosque of Basra, a few days after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 233â235).
âThe Remembrance (Dhikr)â is also one of the names of the Qurʾan, the first Surah of which begins, âPraise God, Lord of all the worlds,â Qurʾan, Ḥamd/FÄtiḥah 1:1. Ḥ 9:210; R 2:106â107.
The Arabic word for âpraise,â ḥamd, also includes the meaning of âthanks,â and this is what is intended here, as a reference to the Qurʾanic verse, âIf you give thanks, we shall increase your blessings.â Qurʾan, IbrÄhÄ«m 14:7; B 531; Ḥ 9:211; R 2:107.
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is ensnared in catastrophe, he is incited by his devils to persist in depravity and to pile on the evil deeds they adorn in his eyes. Paradise is the destination of those who are quick to believe, hellfire the destination of malefactors. Servants of God! Know that pietyâs fortress is mighty, while immoralityâs citadel is easily breachedâit neither protects its people nor shields those who seek its refuge. Listen to me! Piety heals the scorpion-sting of sin. Certainty carries you to the ultimate goal. â1.155.2 â¬Servants of God! Fear God and look to the direction of your own soul, the one most precious to you and beloved, for God has shown you the path of truth and illumined its course: the end is either unshakable wretchedness, or eternal bliss. Stock up in the days that will expire for the days that will endure, for you have been shown where to find provisions, commanded to load up, and encouraged to set out. Yours is a halted caravan unsure of when it will be instructed to resume. Harken and listen! What does someone created for the hereafter want with this world? What does someone whose possessions will soon be plunderedâindeed, while its burden and reckoning will remainâwant with gold and livestock?1 Servants of God! There is no reason you should refrain from the good for which God has promised reward or seek the evils he has forbidden! Servants of God! Fear the day when deeds will be examined, earthquakes will intensify, and infantsâ locks will turn white. Servants of God, know this: Your own self surveils you, your own limbs spy on you, and truthful chroniclers record your deeds and count your breaths. Dark nights cannot veil you from them, nor locked doors keep you concealed. Tomorrow is close to today. Today, with all that is in it, will soon pass, and tomorrow will follow. It is as though each one of you has already reached his place of solitude inside the earth, that pit marked with lines. What a lonely residence! What a menacing domicile! What a forlorn exile! Imagine that the thunderclap has already pealed, the last hour has already come, and that you have already emerged for the final judgment, falsehoods uncovered, excuses obliterated, truths come to the fore, and matters having taken their course. Learn from exemplary lessons, benefit from warnings, beware the conversion of blessings into punishment! â1.156 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 |
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Ar. mÄl, which signifies movable wealth, including gold and silver, livestock, and grain.
Opening lines same in §â¯1.86.
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â1.156.1 â¬God sent Muḥammad after a period without prophets, when people had long been in slumber and bonds had frayed. Muḥammad brought them confirmation of earlier revelations and light for them to followâthe Qurʾan. Ask it to speak to you, then! It cannot, but I can tell you about it, so listen to me! The Qurʾan contains knowledge of the future and reports of the past. It is the cure for your illness and the benchmark for regulating your affairs. â1.156.2 â¬From the same oration: That day, when there remains no house of brick or goat-hair tent that the tyrants have not steeped in grief or invaded with cruelty, no one in the sky will grant the oppressors pardon and no one on earth will offer them shelter. You offered the caliphate to those who have no right to it,1 gave them access to a waterhole that is not theirs, but God will exact revenge from the despots, exchanging one food for another, one drink for another. Then they will swallow bitter morsels of colocynth and gulp acid drafts of aloes and vinegar, they will wear the garment of fear and their vestments will be the striking of swords. What are they but beasts carrying sin and camels laden with wickedness! I swearâand again I swearâthat the Umayyads will spit out the caliphate after me like a man spits out phlegm and mucus! After that time, they will never get to savor it or enjoy its taste for as long as day follows night and night follows day. â1.157 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: I protected you well and strove to keep you safe. I freed you from the tethers of degradation and the fetters of tyranny. All this in gratitude for small favors, while staying silent about the great wrongs my eyes had seen and my body had suffered! â1.158 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 â1.158.1 â¬His command constitutes judgment and wisdom, his acceptance constitutes safety and mercy, he judges with knowledge and forgives with clemency. God, we offer you praise for what you grant and what you take back, for what you heal and what you inflict. We offer the praise most acceptable to you, the praise most liked by you, the praise most excellent in your eyes. We offer you praise that fills the bounds of your creation and attains the limits that you will |
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Ar. al-amr, lit. âthe matter,â translated here as âthe caliphateâ; âthose who have no right to itâ are the Umayyads. Ḥ 9:218â219.
IskÄfÄ« (MiÊ¿yÄr, 257) and Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih (Ê¿Iqd, 4:167) state that §â¯1.158 is part of the Luminous Oration (ZahrÄʾ), which also includes §â¯1.91 and §â¯1.106.
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it to attain. We offer you praise that is neither veiled from you nor falls short in reaching you. We offer you praise in sums that never end and gifts that never run out. We do not know the essence of your majesty. All we know is that you are alive, existent, neither slumber overtakes you nor sleep,1 neither glances perceive you nor eyes. You see all eyes, you reckon all lifespans, you seize people by forelocks and feet.2 How little we understand of your creation, how inadequately we marvel at your strength, how feebly we describe your great power! That which is hidden from us, which our eyes fall short of, which our intellects fail to attain, which the veils of mystery prevent us from discerningâthat is far greater. Anyone who clears his heart and applies his mind to comprehend how you established your throne, originated your creation, suspended the skies in the air, and spread the earth on heaving water will have his glances befuddled, his intellect bedazzled, his ears bewildered, and his reason bemused. â1.158.2 â¬From the same oration: You claim that you place your hopes in God. Great God, what lies! What is it with you! These hopes do not show in your actions! When you place your hopes in anyone, your hopes show in your actions, except for the hopes you say you place in God, which are insincere. Every fear you feel is real except your fear of God, which is a sham. You expect from God what is great, and from Godâs servants what is small, but you offer to Godâs servants what you donât offer to your Lord! How is it that your actions for Godâmay his praise be exalted!âfall short, when you do so much for Godâs servants? Are you afraid that you may be making a mistake in relying on God, are you worried he may not be the right place in which to lodge your hopes? Likewise, when you fear one of Godâs servants, you render to him the awe born of fear that you donât render to your Lordâyou render your fear to Godâs servants in ready cash, while you make your fear for God a deferred promise. Indeed, those whose eyes find the world grand, whose hearts find it imposing, give it preference over God. When this happens, they become its devotees and servants. â1.158.3 â¬The Messenger of God should suffice you as exemplar, as proof of the worldâs wickedness and its flaws, its many disgraces and evils. The worldâs hands refused the Messenger their largesse, even though its wings were lowered for others; he, in contrast, was weaned off its milk, and shoved away from its orna- |
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Modified quote from Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:255.
Modified quote from Qurʾan, RaḥmÄn 55:41.
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ments. If you wish, I will give you a second example, that of Moses, he to whom God spoke. Moses beseeched, «My Lord, I am in dire need of whatever you may bestow!»1 By God, Moses asked God for nothing more than a piece of bread, for he had only wild plants to eat. He was so thin, his flesh so pared, that the green of the plants he had eaten shone through the translucent skin of his stomach. If you wish, I will give you a third example, that of David, he with the Psalms, reciter for the people of paradise. David would plait palm fronds with his own two hands and say to his associates, âWho will sell these for me?â then he would eat a coarse loaf of barley purchased with its sale. And if you wish, I will also tell you about Jesus, son of Mary. Jesus would use a rock for a pillow and wear rough garments. His food was hunger, his lamp at night the moon, his shelter in the winter the sunâs rays from East and West, his fruit and his fragrance the plants grown by the earth for the beasts. He had no wife to distract him, no son to grieve him, no wealth to occupy him, no greed to bring him low. His mount was his own two feet, his servant his own two hands. â1.158.4 â¬People, follow the example of your own virtuous and pure Prophet. Any who look for an exemplar can find one in him. Any who look for consolation can find it in him. Of all his servants, God loves most the one who follows the example of his Prophet, who walks in his footsteps. The Prophet took the smallest morsel from the world, he never gave the world a full glance. His waist was the most emaciated, his stomach the emptiest of worldly things. The world was offered to him, but he refused. He knew that God hated it, so he hated it too. He knew that God considered it wretched, so he considered it wretched too. He knew that God considered it of little worth, so he considered it of little worth too. People, if our only faults are love for what God hates and exaltation of what he considers paltry, they would be sufficient to count as opposition to God and challenge to his command! The Prophet used to eat on the ground and sit like a servant. He used to mend his sandals with his own hands. He used to patch his garments with his own hands. He used to ride an unsaddled donkey, not even alone, but with someone often sitting behind him. A curtain with images was hung on the door of his home, and he said to one of his wives, â¨Remove it from my sightâit reminds me of the world and its ornaments!â© He turned his heart away from the world, he suppressed its mention in his heart, he preferred that its adornments be removed from his eyes, so that he would not to be seduced by its soft luxuries or led to view it as a lasting home or permanent residence. He drove it from his spirit, banished it from his heart, and removed it |
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from his sight; for those who hate a thing hate to look at it, and they hate to have it mentioned. The Messengerâs story teaches you about the evils of the world and its flaws. He faced hunger and his loved ones did too. Its ornaments were kept from him despite his closeness to God. Let the discerning mind think: Did God honor Muḥammad by this or demean him? If he answers, âGod demeaned him,â then, by God, he lies! If he answers, âGod honored him,â then that person should know that God, in fact, demeaned others to whom he gave worldly chattels, while turning them away from the one closest to him. Any who seek an exemplar should follow Godâs Prophet, walk in his footsteps, and enter through his door, else he will face perdition. God has made Muḥammad the banner for the coming hour, the herald of paradise, the warner ahead of the decisive punishment. Leaving the world empty-bellied, he entered the hereafter in sound health. Never once did he build a grand house, or place stone upon stone, until at last he answered his Lordâs call and went on to his final abode. What a great favor God has granted us, having blessed us with Muḥammad as an exemplar to follow, a commander in whose footsteps to walk. By God, I too have patched my rough cloak so often that I am embarrassed to have it mended. Someone said to me, âWhy donât you throw it away?â and I replied, âGet away from me! â¨When morning comes, the night-traveler will be praised!â©â1 â1.159 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: God sent Muḥammad with brilliant light, clear proof, a distinct path, and a book of guidance. His family is the best family, his tree is the best tree, its branches straight and tall, its fruits hanging low. His birth was in Mecca, his migration was to Ṭaybah,2 from there his fame rose high, and his voice spread far and wide. God sent Muḥammad with ample evidence, healing counsel, and an enlivening faith,3 through him, he revived abandoned laws,4 crushed newfangled heresies, and explained decreed rules. Indeed, «whoever seeks a religion other than Islam»5 will find his wretchedness real, his support bro- |
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A line of rajaz by the pre-Islamic poet Jumayḥ ibn al-SharÄ«d al-TaghlibÄ«, used proverbially to mean that fortitude begets a praiseworthy result. F 270; AbÅ« HilÄl, Jamharah, 2:32, 2:42; BakrÄ«, Faá¹£l al-maqÄl, 254, 334; MaydÄnÄ«, 2:3, §â¯2382; JÄḥiáº, ḤayawÄn, 6:508.
Earlier Yathrib, ṬaybahââThe Pure (City)ââis the name given by Muḥammad to his new hometown. After Muḥammadâs migration, people began referring to it as âThe City of the Prophetâ (MadÄ«nat al-nabÄ«) in short, Medina, which is how it is best known.
Ar. daʿwah, lit. call.
Ar. sharÄʾiÊ¿ sing., sharÄ«Ê¿ah, lit. paths, potentially referring to the laws of earlier prophets.
Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:85. The verse may also be translated, «⦠other than commitment (islÄm) to Godâs will».
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ken, and his tread unsteady. His final return will be to long-lasting grief and painful punishment. I place my trust in God and turn to him. I seek his guidance in finding the path that will lead to his Garden and direct me to his pleasure. Servants of God! I counsel you to be conscious of him and obey him, for that will bring you salvation on the morrow and eternal deliverance. He cautioned you to beware and gave full warning. He directed you to earn reward and gave complete measure. He described the world to you and told you of its severance, its transience, its departure. People, turn away from everything in it that excite your wonder, because it will not be with you for long. This world is the domicile that is closest to Godâs anger and farthest from his pleasure. Servants of God, be certain of its separation and mutability, turn your eyes away from its griefs and occupations, be true to your soul and work hard for it, fear the worldâs dealings, and learn from the generations before you that you have seen die. Their limbs fell asunder, their ears and eyes ceased to function, their grandeur and might were lost, their happiness and joys were severed. In place of proximity to their children they were given loss, in place of the companionship of spouses they were given isolation. They no longer boast, or procreate, or visit, or associate. Servants of God, beware! Control your passions, restrain your desires, and use your intellect! The matter is clear, the banner is erect, the road is compact, and the path is straightforward. â1.160 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«, to one of his associates who asked him, âHow is it that your tribe has driven you away from this position when you are worthier?â Ê¿AlÄ« answered:1 You man of Asad! Your girth is loose, and you fire without aim!2 Still, you possess kinship through marriage, and have the right to ask.3 You want to know, so I will give you an answer: The injustice done to us concerning this positionâwhen we are loftier in lineage and our kinship with the Messenger is closerâwas an act of amoral appropriation. Some hearts coveted it, other |
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á¹¢adÅ«q (AmÄlÄ«, 716â717) places this address at á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657; the speaker is a man from the DÅ«dÄn clan of Asad. âThis positionâ (hÄdhÄ l-maqÄm), refers to the caliphate; Sunni commentators (Ḥ 2:243; also mentioned in B 543) interpret the referent as the ShÅ«rÄ Council who elected Ê¿UthmÄn, while ShiÊ¿i commentators (B 543; R 2:125) interpret the referent as Ê¿UthmÄn in particular, but also AbÅ« Bakr and Ê¿Umar.
Refers to the manâs lack of discernment and his speaking out of turn. R 2:122; Ḥ 9:242; B 543; F 271.
Ê¿AlÄ«âs kinship to the Asad tribe was through one of the following AsadÄ« women: (1) Ê¿AlÄ«âs wife LaylÄ bint MasÊ¿Å«d ibn KhÄlid (F 271â272); (2) an unnamed wife of Ê¿AlÄ« (R 2:123); (3) the Prophetâs wife Zaynab bint Jaḥsh (Ḥ 9:242â243; Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d says Ê¿AlÄ« himself never married into Asad).
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hearts relinquished it, and God is the judge, the resurrection the time of return. But â¨forget about the looting that caused screams in the neighborhoodâ© and call out the crime of AbÅ« SufyÄnâs son!1 Time has made me weep and then laugh!2 No wonder, by God! What a calamity, what astonishment, what toil! These people seek to extinguish the light of Godâs lamp and block the water that gushes from his wellspring. They pour pestilence into the water between them and us. If these calamitous trials are lifted, I shall drive them on the course of unadulterated truth. If the opposite, well, «do not grieve over their actions, for God knows all that they do!»3 â1.161 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:4 â1.161.1 â¬Praise God, who created his servants, unfurled the earth, filled valleys with streams, and covered highlands with green. His primacy has no beginning, and his perpetuity never concludes, he is first without ceasing, and eternal without end, foreheads touch the ground before him, and lips declare his oneness. He demarcated all the entities he created to differentiate between their likeness and him.5 Imaginations cannot evaluate him with perimeters and movements, nor with limbs and instruments. It cannot be asked of him, âWhen?â nor can a limit be set for him by saying, âUntil.â He is the manifest about whom no one can ask, âFrom what?â and the hidden, about whom no one can ask, âIn what?â He is neither a form that can be destroyed, nor is he veiled and thus encompassed. He is neither near to things by adherence nor remote from them by separation. An unblinking gaze, an echoing word, an approach to a hilltop, a lengthening of stepânone of his servantsâ actions are hidden from |
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The quotation is the first hemistich of a proverbial verse by the pre-Islamic poet Imruʾ al-Qays (Imruʾ al-Qays, DÄ«wÄn, 140; MaydÄnÄ«, MajmaÊ¿ al-amthÄl, s.v. âD-Ê¿â), said to mean the following: Forget about the previous looting, viz., by the first three Sunni caliphs, or, by the ShÅ«rÄ Council. The second hemistich, which would also be evoked for the audience and the real point of the citation, is (â®
The laughter is in disbelief and astonishment. Ḥ 9:246â247; B 544.
Qurʾan, FÄá¹ir 35:8.
Delivered in the Grand Mosque of Kufa, presumably during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate 35â40/656â661, in response to an unnamed Jewish man from Yemen who asked him to describe the Lord (á¹¢adÅ«q, Tawḥīd, 78â79).
Thus, if read as lahÅ« (MS M, Y, commentaries Ḥ 9:252, B 544, Ê¿A 634). If read as lahÄ (MS Sh, H, and commentaries KaydarÄ«, 2:126, F 273): âto differentiate them from each other.â
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him, even in the darkest night, even in motionless dusk. The moon shines above the darkness, and the blazing sun follows, rising and setting in the rotation of eras and eons, with nights advancing and days in retreat. He is before every end and term, every reckoning and calculation. He is exalted above every description ascribed to him: attributes of quantity, terminal points in space, location in dwellings, and fixedness in place. Limits are specified for his creationâthey relate only to beings other than him. He did not create things from eternal fundamentals or timeless principles. Rather, he created what he created and established its limit, he shaped what he shaped and made it beautiful. No one can withstand his power, just as no one can seek to benefit him by obeying him. His knowledge of the dead equals his knowledge of the living, his knowledge of what is in the lofty skies equals his knowledge of what is in the nethermost regions of the earth. â1.161.2 â¬From the same oration: O you who have been created with harmonious proportions, carefully nurtured in the darkness of wombs and the multiplicity of veils. You began as «an extraction of clay»1 and were placed in «a safe abode for a known term»2 and an ordained duration. You quickened in your motherâs belly as a fetus, never answering a call or hearing a shout. Then you were brought out of your dwelling to an abode you had not witnessed, and whose benefits you did not know how to attain. Who guided you then to suckle from your motherâs breast? Who showed you in your time of need the place where you could obtain what you sought and wished for? One who is incapable of describing a being with form and appendages is even more incapable of describing the creator, far from it! He is even further from being able to grasp the creator through the definitions of created beings. â1.162 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«, when people gathered around him to complain of wrongs Ê¿UthmÄn had committed and asked Ê¿AlÄ« to remonstrate with him on their behalf and rebuke him. Ê¿AlÄ« went to Ê¿UthmÄn and said:3 |
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Qurʾan, Muʾminūn 23:12.
Qurʾan, MursalÄt 77:21â22.
In Medina, in 35/656, toward the end of Ê¿UthmÄnâs caliphate. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:336â337. Ibn AbÄ« QuḥÄfah is the first Sunni caliph, AbÅ« Bakr. Ibn al-Khaá¹á¹Äb is the second Sunni caliph, Ê¿Umar.
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â1.162.1 â¬People have gathered behind me, and they have sent me to negotiate. By God, I donât know what to say! There is nothing I know that you donât, no path I can guide you to that you are not familiar with already. You know what we know, we have not preceded you to something that we can tell you about, nor privately learned something we can share. You have seen what we saw, you have associated with Godâs Messenger as we did. In truth, Ibn AbÄ« QuḥÄfah and Ibn al-Khaá¹á¹Äb were not worthier of doing what is right than you! You are closer to the Messenger in kinship, and you, not they, have the honor of being his son-in-law. Fear God for the sake of your soul! By God, you do not need to be given sight as though you were blind, or knowledge as though you were ignorant! The roads are clear, and faithâs banners stand high. â1.162.2 â¬Know that the best of his servants in Godâs eyes is a just leader who is rightly guided and guides aright, who establishes time-honored practices and puts to death unacceptable heresies. The paths of the Sunnah are brightly illumined and have their banners. Innovations are also clearly visible, and they too have their banners. The worst of people in Godâs eyes is an unjust leader who goes astray and leads people astray, who puts to death time-honored practices and revives abandoned heresies. I have heard the Messenger of God say, â¨On the day of resurrection, the unjust leader will be brought for judgment, and he will not have a single person to help him or speak on his behalf. He will be thrown into the Pit of Gehenna and spin there like a millstone, then he will be tethered in its lowest point.â© I ask you in Godâs name, do not be the slain leader of this community, for it has been said that âa leader will be slain in this community who will open unto it the door of killing and assault till the resurrection.â The communityâs affairs will slide into chaos and seditions will become widespread, such that people will stop distinguishing right from wrong. They will heave in agitated waves, disordered and confused. At your advanced age, having neared the end of your life, donât become a camel driven by MarwÄnâs whim!1 â1.162.3 â¬Ê¿UthmÄn responded to Ê¿AlÄ«: Talk to the people and ask them to give me time to address their grievances. |
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MarwÄn ibn al-Ḥakam, who had earlier been exiled along with his father from Medina by the Prophet, was a member of the Umayyad clan and one of Ê¿UthmÄnâs chief advisors during his caliphate. Later, he fought against Ê¿AlÄ« at the Battle of the Camel but reluctantly pledged allegiance to him in defeat. After the death of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs grandson MuÊ¿Äwiyah II, MarwÄn became the first caliph of the MarwÄnid branch of the Umayyads.
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Ê¿AlÄ« replied: For grievances within Medina, there can be no reprieve. For those from other places, you can have only as much time as it takes for your orders to get there. â1.163 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration in which he describes the wondrous creation of the peacock: â1.163.1 â¬God created wondrous creatures, living beings, inanimate bodies, still objects, and things that move, and he set up clear testimonies to his sublime craftsmanship and great power, impelling intellects to recognize and submit to him. Proofs of his oneness cry out to our ears, including the birds that he created in a multitude of forms, that he lodged in the furrows of the earth and in the crevices of its mountain passes and mighty crags. Possessing many kinds of wings and different shapes, all are controlled by the rein of subjugation, yet soar in spaces within the vastness of the ether and the wide-open skies. He brought them from non-being into being in marvelous forms. He fitted joints to sockets and covered them with flesh. He made some birds bulky, preventing them from rising easily into the sky, and causing them to flutter and flap on the ground. He fashioned them all differently, in diverse hues, with his sublime power and precise craftsmanship. Some he gave a single unadulterated color, others he dyed with a color iridescent with the sheen of a second hue. â1.163.2 â¬The most marvelous of birds in the manner of its creation is the peacock, which is formed by the creator in the most congruent harmony, with its colors arrayed in the best possible way, with wings of interlacing, golden feather-shafts, and a tail with a lengthened train. When it approaches the hen, the peacock spreads out the folds of its tail and lifts it high over its head, like a DÄrÄ« sail hoisted by a boatman.1 It struts haughtily in its many colors and swaggers dragging its train. It mates in the manner of the cockerel, leaping onto the female and inseminating it. I relate this to you from observation, not as one whose narrations are based on weak attribution.2 Even if it were the case, as some believe, that the peacock inseminates through a teardrop emitted by its tear ducts and poised on the edge of its eyelids, and that the female imbibes it |
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DÄrÄ« is a relative adjective from DÄrÄ«n, the name of the main settlement on an island near Qaá¹Ä«f, on the eastern coast of present-day Saudi Arabia. In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, DÄrÄ«n was the main port of Bahrain, through which musk was imported from India. YÄqÅ«t, MuÊ¿jam al-buldÄn, 2:432, s.v. âDÄrÄ«nâ; B 549; Ḥ 9:268.
Although not native to the Arabian Peninsula, peacocks were common in the Persian empire, and the commentators state that Ê¿AlÄ« would have seen them in Kufa. Ḥ 9:270; JÄḥiáº, ḤayawÄn 7:170, 186.
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then lays eggs,1 rather than through insemination by a male with a fluid other than his teardrop, that would not be more marvelous than the mating of crows through mutual feeding.2 You would think the shafts of the peacockâs feathers silver combs and the astonishing halos and suns that sprout from them coins of pure gold and shards of green emerald! If you were to compare them to the earthâs produce, you would call it a bouquet of spring flowers. If you were to liken them to garments, you would say they are an embroidered robe, or a beautiful Yemeni turban. If you were to equate them with jewelry, they would be bezelled gemstones of different colors rimmed with studs of silver. The peacock struts, haughty and exultant, it fans its tail and wings and laughs out loud, relishing its beautiful dress and its many-hued scarf. But when it looks at its legs, it cries out in pain with a voice that reveals its need for help and testifies to its real suffering, for its legs are scrawny, like the legs of a drab cockerel, and a small spur juts out from its shinbone. In its crest, though, it has a beautiful crown of green feathers, while the curve of its neck is shaped like the mouth of a water-jug, and underneath, its belly is like the cobalt-blue dye of Yemen, or like silk cloth draped on a polished mirror. It appears wrapped in a veil of purest black, except that its luster is so intense and its sheen so bright that it is as if fresh green is mixed in with the black. At the slit of its earhole, there is a line like the fine edge of a reed-pen, snowy white in color like the chamomile flower, and its whiteness gleams against the blackness that prevails there. There is hardly a color it does not have a share of, and that has not been enhanced further by a unique polish, gleam, sheen, and radiance. It looks like scattered flowers untouched by spring showers or full summer suns. Sometimes, it sheds its feathers, as if stripping off its clothes; they fall off, one by one, then grow back altogether. They fall from their shaft-roots like leaves from a branch, then grow and connect, until they come back the way they were before; the new colors are no different, and not a single color appears in the wrong place. If you examine just one of the plumules growing from the shaft, it will display the red of a rose, the green of an emerald, and even at times the yellow of pure gold. Not even the deepest of minds and the most gifted of intellects can find a way to describe this creature, so how |
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In Hindu mythology, peahens self-impregnate by drinking the tears of peacocks, which are celibate (brahmachÄrÄ«), and to laud ascetics, Lord Krishna wears a peacock feather in his crown.
In ancient Arab folklore, crows mate by exchanging inseminating fluid through their beaks, and their proverb says, â¨more hidden than the mating of a crowâ©. Details and caveats in Ḥ 9:270; JÄḥiáº, ḤayawÄn, 3:177, 3:464, 7:244. I have added âmatingâ in the translation to clarify this context.
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can words be mustered to illustrate it? Even the smallest of its parts is so splendid that it exceeds the grasp of imagination and surpasses the descriptions of tongues. Glory to the one who has dazzled intellects, who has rendered them incapable of describing a creature that he placed in the open, where eyes could perceive its outline, shape, structure, and color! He made tongues incapable of describing it succinctly and rendered them too weak to give its depiction full due. Glory to the one who gave strong structures to all creatures, from ants and gnats to whales and elephants, and who pledged to himself that no form he has infused with spirit shall move, without death being its end, and destruction its goal! â1.163.3 â¬From the same oration, describing the celestial garden: If you gaze with your heartâs eye at the wonders described for you of paradise, your soul will loathe the marvels of this world, its sensualities, pleasures, and gilded landscapes. You will lose yourself in heavenâs rustling trees whose roots are buried in dunes of musk on the banks of its rivers, in the clusters of brilliant pearls that hang from their branches, in the fruits that burst from their sepals that can be gathered without effort and delight the gatherer. You will see the residents of heavenâs pavilions and arcades, who are served pure honey and rich wine; they lived in this world nobly until, at last, they settled in a permanent home, with no further need of travels and journeys. If you were to task your heart truly, O listener, with reaching these wondrous landscapes, your longing soul would leave your body right now, and you would hasten from this assembly here to the company of the people of the grave! May God, in his mercy, place us among those whose hearts strive to reach the abode of the pious! â1.163.4 â¬Raá¸Ä«: Explanation of some of the rare words in this oration: As for Ê¿AlÄ«âs words, âit leaps on the female and inseminates it (wa-yaʾurru bi-mulÄqaḥah),â âleaping onâ alludes to copulation; it is said, âhe leaped on the woman, he leaps on her,â if he copulates with her. As for Ê¿AlÄ«âs words, âas though it were a DÄrÄ« sail hoisted by a boatman (ka-annahÅ« qalÊ¿u DÄriyyin Ê¿anajahu nÅ«á¹iyyuhu),â qalÊ¿ is a shipâs canvas sheet, and DÄrÄ« is related to DÄrÄ«n, a sea town through which perfumes are imported; âhoisted (Ê¿anaja)â means he made it turn; it is said âI hoisted the female camel;â âI hoist it a hoisting,â if I make it turn; nÅ«á¹Ä« is a seaman. As for Ê¿AlÄ«âs words, âá¸affah of its eyelids,â he meant the sides of its eyelids; á¸affah means side. As for Ê¿AlÄ«âs words, âbits (filadh) of green emerald,â filadh is the plural of fildhah, which means piece. As for Ê¿AlÄ«âs words, âclusters of brilliant pearls (kabÄʾis al-luʾluʾ al-raá¹b),â kibÄsah (clusters) means bunch, Ê¿asÄlÄ«j (branches) are tree limbs; the singular is Ê¿uslÅ«j. |
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â1.164 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.164.1 â¬Let your young emulate your elders, let your elders nurture your young. Donât be like churls from the Age of Ignorance who have no understanding of religion and no comprehension of Godâs commands. Dealing with you is like crushing a nest of eggs in the sandâbreaking them is a sin but brooding them produces vipers!2 â1.164.2 â¬From the same oration: They scattered after having come together and moved away from the tree trunk, but some will continue to hold fast to the main branchâwherever it bends, they will bend too.3 Later, God will bring them together, mustering them like wisps of autumn clouds, on an evil day for the Umayyads. God will assemble them, then pile them up like winter cloudbanks, then open their doors, and they will gush out from their source like the flood of the Two Gardens,4 no knoll will be safe, and no hillock withstand, neither strong cliff nor high rock will stem their current. God will send them into the bellies of the earthâs valleys, then make them «flow out in streams».5 Through them, he will wrest from one group the rights they had usurped from another, he will settle one group in the abodes of another. By God, after their time of might and establishment, all that is in Umayyad hands will melt away as a fat-tail melts on the fire! â1.164.3 â¬People! If you had not held back from supporting right, if you had not shown weakness in upending wrong,6 these challengers who are not nearly your match would not have become emboldened against you, and those who overpowered you would have failed. But you strayed as the Israelites did. By my life, when I am gone, you will stray more and more. You turned away from what |
§â¯1.164.2 is said to have been declaimed as part of an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Medina, presumably in 35/656 at the beginning of his caliphate (KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 8:63â65). §â¯1.164.3 is said to have been declaimed as part of an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Kufa, presumably during his caliphate 35â40/656â661 (MufÄ«d, IrshÄd, 1:290).
Lit. âbrooding them produces evil.â I.e., if you crush them before they have done wrong, you incur sin; if you leave them be, they may hatch vipers. F 287; Ḥ 9:282; B 553; R 2:146â147.
The trunk (lit. root, aṣl) refers to ʿAlī, the branch to his son and successor, Ḥasan. Ḥ 9:284; B 553.
The flood of the Two Gardens is a Qurʾanic reference to the devastating flood of the Maʾrib dam in Yemen that submerged the Gardens of Sheba. Qurʾan, Sabaʾ 34:15â16; Ḥ 9:285; B 554; R 2:149â150.
Qurʾan, Zumar 39:21.
Reference to Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:139.
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was right, severed your bonds of kinship from the person who was close, and forged them with the person who was distant. Know this: If you follow him who calls you,1 he will lead you on the Messengerâs pathâyou will be spared the weight of deviation and cast this crushing yoke from your necks. â1.165 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« at the beginning of his caliphate:2 God has revealed a book to guide you and explained in it the difference between good and evil. Follow the path of good and you shall be rightly guided. Shun the path of evil and you shall you remain on the high road. The mandated rites must be performed; offer them to God, and they will take you to paradise. God has made certain things illicit, and these are known. He has placed the sanctity of Muslims above all sanctities; through their devotion and declaration of his oneness, he has bound them, and their rights, together. A Muslim is someone from whose tongue and hand all other Muslims are safe,3 except when it is lawfully required to punish; it is unlawful to injure a Muslim, except with just cause. People, hasten to accept death! Death is common to all, yet particular to each individual. Generations have preceded you, and the dreaded hour now drives you forward. Lighten your burden of sin, so that you may be quick to catch upâthose who have gone ahead await the arrival of those who are yet to come. Fear God, and do not injure his servants or his lands. You are answerable for your actions, even those relating to the earth and to cattle. Obey God and do not sin. If you see an opportunity to do good, take it. If you see a chance to do evil, shun it. â1.166 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« following the peopleâs pledge to him as caliph, responding to some of the Prophetâs Companions who urged, âYou should punish the people who conspired to kill Ê¿UthmÄn.â Ê¿AlÄ« answered:4 Brothers, I am not unmindful of what you know, but how do I enforce retribution when the people who conspired to kill Ê¿UthmÄn are so powerful? They control us, we donât control them! Here they are now, your own slaves having risen up with them, as well as the Bedouins. They are mixed in among you and impose their will. Do you see a way to carry out any part of your plan? |
Refers to ʿAlī himself. F 281.
35/656, in Medina. ṬabarÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 4:436) says this was Ê¿AlÄ«âs first oration as caliph.
Hadith attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯1.134.
Delivered in 35/656 in Medina (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:437). It is reported that Ê¿AlÄ« assembled the people and said, âLet Ê¿UthmÄnâs killers stand up,â and most people stood up in solidarity with the assaulters. (B 556). On Ê¿AlÄ«âs initial dealings with Ê¿UthmÄnâs killers, see Ḥ 9:293â294.
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Ê¿UthmÄnâs killing is an act from the Age of Ignorance and its perpetrators have strong support. If an order were given now, you would see the people divide into three groups: one would agree with you, another would think the opposite, and a third would see neither the one nor the other. Be patient, let the people calm down and hearts settle, then justice can be exacted more easily. Step back and see what my rule bringsâdonât be impulsive in doing something that will wreck your power, ruin your force, and bequeath weakness and humiliation. I will hold things together as long as they will stay together. If I am left with no alternative, then, when afflicted by an incurable disease, â¨cauterizing is the last resortâ©.1 â1.167 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« in the lead-up to the Battle of the Camel, when his opponents marched on Basra:2 God sent a Messenger, a guide, with a book that speaks and an established religion.3 Whoever dies having strayed from them will perish, for dubious and heretical innovations bring perdition, except when God protects from their harm. Submitting to Godâs authority safeguards your religion. Render him obedience, then, without blame or force. By God, you must do this, else he will remove Islamâs authority from your control and never give it back, and rule will pass to another group! These individuals have banded to condemn my command, and I will be patient for as long as I donât fear for your concordâif they continue to pursue this errant course, the Muslimsâ stability will crumble. They seek this world and envy those to whom God has awarded it, they wish to turn these affairs back on their heels. My promise to you is this: I shall act on the Book of God and the practice of his Messenger. I shall uphold his right and revive his Sunnah. â1.168 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to an Arab sent by a group of Basrans when he approached their city, in the lead-up to the Battle of the Camel, to find out the truth of Ê¿AlÄ«âs dealings with his opponents, because they were unsure of who was in the right. When Ê¿AlÄ« explained what had transpired, the man accepted that he, Ê¿AlÄ«, was in the right. Ê¿AlÄ« |
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Ar. Äkhir al-dÄʾ al-kayy, proverb referring to battle as the final option; also rendered: Äkhir al-dawÄʾ al-kayy, â¨the final medicine is cauterizationâ©, or Äkhir al-á¹ibb al-kayy, â¨the final treatment is cauterizationâ©. Etiology in F 283â284; Ibn ManáºÅ«r, LisÄn, s.v. âK-W-Y.â
Delivered in Medina in 36/656, while preparing to march to Iraq, urging the Medinans to mobilize. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:445â446.
Ar. amr, translated here as âreligion,â lit. âaffair,â used twice more in this passage, once in the plural umÅ«r. In addition to the faith of Islam, the word also simultaneously denotes its political entity; I have used âcaliphateâ to translate the second instance, and âaffairsâ to bring together both meanings in the third instance.
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then said to him, âPledge the oath of allegiance!â to which he replied, âI am my peopleâs emissary, and can do nothing on my own; I have to first return to them.â Ê¿AlÄ« then said:1 If the people you represent had sent you as a scout to find out where the rains are falling, and, if, when you told them where to find grass and water, they went against your recommendation and headed for parched, drought-hit lands, what would you do then? The man replied, âI would leave them and proceed to where there was grass and water.â Ê¿AlÄ« declared, âIn that case, extend your hand!â The man said later, âBy God, I was not able to refuse when the case was so clearly proven, and I pledged him allegiance.â The manâs name was Kulayb al-JarmÄ«. â1.169 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs prayer when he had resolved to fight the enemy at á¹¢iffÄ«n:2 God! O Lord of the lofty sky and layers of air, you made the sky and air the marshland into which night and day are absorbed, the course where the sun and moon orbit, and the space through which the moving planets sail. You populated it with tribes of your angels, who never tire of your worship. O Lord of this earth, you made the earth a home for humans, a place for insects to crawl and cattle to roam, and a habitat for countless other creatures, seen and unseen. O Lord of the mighty mountains, you made the mountains anchors for the earth and a refuge for your creatures. Hear our prayer: If you grant us victory over our enemy, then hold us back from treachery and direct us to follow the truth. If you grant them victory over us, then honor us with martyrdom and save us from sedition. People, where are your doughty fighters who would defend honor and guard families with zeal when the blows of war descend? Behind you lies shame! Before you is paradise! |
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This event took place a little before the Battle of the Camel, after Ṭalḥah and Zubayr had entered Basra, and Ê¿AlÄ«, on his way to confront them in Basra, was encamped nearby in DhÅ« QÄr. MufÄ«d, Jamal, 156, after WÄqidÄ«; full account in ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:490â492.
Intoned just before the battle at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 37/657. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 232; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:14â15.
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â1.170 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.170.1 â¬Praise God, from whose vision one sky does not conceal another, one earth does not conceal another. â1.170.2 â¬From the same oration: Someone said to me, âHow you covet the caliphate, son of AbÅ« ṬÄlib!â I retorted, âNo, by God, you are more covetous and farther away from it, while I am closer and more worthy! What I seek is my right, and you are blocking me from it, you are hitting me in the face and pushing me away!â When I struck him with this clear argument in front of the whole group, he was dumbstruck and could find no answer. â1.170.3 â¬God, I ask your help against Quraysh and their supporters. They have severed the bonds of my kinship, demeaned my lofty station, and banded together to wrest my right from me. Then they say, âA right may be taken, a right may also be abandoned.â2 â1.170.4 â¬From the same oration describing Ê¿AlÄ«âs opponents at the Battle of the Camel:3 They marched toward Basra dragging the Messengerâs wife with them like a slave-girl dragged for sale, having veiled their own women to their homes, while exposing the Messengerâs wife to their eyes and the eyes of others in their army. There was not a single individual in that army, moreover, who had not sworn obedience to me, who had willingly, without coercion, pledged allegiance to me. They advanced against my governor in Basra, as well as the custodians of the public treasury and other townspeople, and they killed a number after capturing them, and several more whom they tricked with their treachery. By God, if they had purposefully killed even a single Muslim without a crime to justify |
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In Basra, in 36/656, soon after the Battle of the Camel (reference to the battle in §â¯1.170.4). §â¯1.170.4 is cited as an answer given during an oration in the mosque in Basra, a few days after the battle (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 228); other parts of the oration as cited in ibid., 221â233, are listed in the note to §â¯1.23. The reference in §â¯1.170.2â3 is to the ShÅ«rÄ Council that elected Ê¿UthmÄn in 23/644. Ḥ 9:305.
Similar lines in §â¯1.215.1.
âTheyâ are Ṭalḥah and Zubayr, âthe Messengerâs wifeâ is Ê¿Äʾishah. For context of the Battle of the Camel and Ê¿Äʾishahâs role, see Ḥ 9:310â327; B 561â564; F 288â289. Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor in Basra was Ê¿UthmÄn ibn Ḥunayf, a Companion of the Prophet. Similar lines in §â¯1.215.2.
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his killing, it would be lawful for me to execute their whole army, for they all stood by without protest. They failed to defend any of the innocent victims with their hands or even with their tongues! But, in fact, they have not just killed oneâthey have killed a great many Muslims, as many as the numbers with which they themselves entered the city. â1.171 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.171.1 â¬Muḥammad was the trustee of Godâs revelation, the seal of his prophets, the herald of his mercy, and the warner ahead of his punishment. â1.171.2 â¬People! The individual most worthy to assume the mantle of leadership is the one who is most capable of carrying its trust, most knowledgeable about Godâs command. After the pledge, if a rebel revolts, he is to be persuaded to return to the fold, and if he refuses, he is to be fought. By my life, if you are saying that the imamate can be pledged only with the whole populace in attendance, there is no way to do this! Instead, the leaders decide on behalf of the absent,2 and afterward, those who were present have no right to rescind their pledge, while the absent have no right to choose another. Hark! I shall fight two kinds of men, the man who claims what does not belong to him, and another who refuses to render his due. I counsel you to be conscious of Godâthis is the best counsel his servants can give one another, and the way that obtains the best outcome before God. Hear me! War has commenced between you and people of the Qiblah,3 and our banner can be carried only by people of perception and fortitude, those who know where truth resides. Enact what you are commanded, then, and desist from what you are forbidden. Do not hasten to an action until you have clarity, for anything you discover to be wrong I will change.4 |
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Likely delivered just before or soon after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656: §â¯1.171.3 is included by ḤarrÄnÄ« (Tuḥaf, 183â184) in an oration that he says Ê¿AlÄ« delivered âwhen some people expressed unhappiness at his levelling of stipends among the people,â which fits with what the sources say of Ṭalḥahâs and Zubayrâs source of dissatisfaction with Ê¿AlÄ«âs rule. §â¯1.171.2 (and §â¯1.83.3) are recorded by MinqarÄ« (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 10) and AbÅ« ḤanÄ«fah al-DÄ«nawarÄ« (AkhbÄr 152â153) as part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs first Friday sermon in Kufa.
Ar. ahlahÄ, lit. âits peopleâ; my translation, âtheir leaders,â is based on B 566; Ḥ 9:329, which interpret the phrase as âthe people of loosening and bindingâ (ahl al-ḥall wa-l-Ê¿aqd) and âscholarsâ (Ê¿ulamÄʾ).
I.e., fellow Muslims. The Qiblah is the direction of the Kaʿbah in Mecca that all Muslims face in ritual prayer.
The context for this last statement is Ê¿UthmÄnâs unwillingness to make changes in his administration, even when its wrongs were brought to his notice. BÂ 566.
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â1.171.3 â¬Hark my words! This world that you covet and desire, that causes you anger and pleasure, is not your home, it is not the residence for which you have been created or to which you have been called. Listen to me! It will not remain for you, nor will you remain in it. While it tempts you with its allures, it also warns you of its evil, so heed its warnings and threats, and shun its temptations and enticements. Turn your heart away and race to the home to which you are called. Let no one among you sniffle like a young slave-girl over anything he has lost of this world! Instead, seek the completion of Godâs blessings by being patient in the path of his obedience and holding fast to Godâs Book. Hark and listen! Nothing you surrender of this world will harm you if you secure the principles of your faith! Hark again! Nothing you secure of your worldly affairs will benefit you if you surrender your faith! May God guide our hearts toward the truth. May he grant us patience in adversity. â1.172 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« about Ṭalḥah ibn Ê¿UbaydallÄh:1 I have never been one to be shaken by threats of battle or panicked by notices of attack. I await the victory my Lord has promised me. By God, Ṭalḥah only hastened to draw his sword and demand vengeance for Ê¿UthmÄnâs blood because he feared that the same call was going to be made against him! He is implicated in this matter, for none among the people was more avid for it than heâhe wishes to create confusion and has raised a tumult about it only in order to muddy the issue and raise doubt. By God, he took none of the three proper courses in the crisis around Ê¿UthmÄn: If Ibn Ê¿AffÄn was an oppressor, as Ṭalḥah believed, he should have backed those who killed him or at least rebuffed his supporters. If Ê¿UthmÄn was a victim, Ṭalḥah should have been among those who defended him and pleaded his cause. And if he was in doubt about both choices, he should have dissociated from Ê¿UthmÄn and remained on the sidelines, leaving the people to do their will. But he did none of thisâhe followed a path whose entryway was unsanctioned and whose justifications were unsound. |
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In Medina in 36/656, soon after Ê¿AlÄ«âs accession to the caliphate, when news arrived that Ṭalḥah and Zubayr were on their way to Basra to recruit an army to fight him (B 567; on Ṭalḥahâs misconduct with Ê¿UthmÄn, see Ḥ 10:5â9; B 568). KulaynÄ« (KÄfÄ«, 5:53) quotes the first few lines in an oration at the Battle of the Camel outside Basra in 36/656. The first line is similar to the penultimate line of §â¯1.22.
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â1.173 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: O heedless people who go not unheeded! Spurners of good who will soon be brought to account! How is it that I see you moving away from God and placing your hopes in another? As though you were a herd of sheep driven to a plague-ridden pasture and contaminated water! Or beasts fattened for the knife, who have no idea what lies in store for them, who, if treated well, think the remainder of their days to be as long as an age, and that all they must do is fill their bellies! By God, if I wished to inform each of you about his exit, his entry, and all that he will encounter, I would do so, but I fear that you will abandon Godâs Messenger for me. Harken to me! I shall pass on its knowledge to individuals who are to be trusted in this regard. I swear by the one who sent Muḥammad with truth and placed him above all people, I never speak anything but the truth! Muḥammad bequeathed me this knowledge and told me about the perishing of all who will perish, the saving of all who will be saved, and the end result of this affair. He left no question that might occur to me without pouring its secrets into my ear and communicating to me its mysteries. People! By God, I do not urge you to an act of obedience without preceding you to it! I do not forbid you from an act of disobedience without staying away from it myself! â1.174 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.174.1 â¬Profit from Godâs revelation, heed Godâs counsels, and accept Godâs direction, for God has cautioned you with clear guidance and brought you convincing proofs. He has shown you what he likes and what he dislikes so that you may follow the former and shun the latter. His Messenger used to say, â¨Paradise is veiled by torments, while the Fire is surrounded by delights.â©2 Know that every act of obedience to God is achieved with toil, while every act of disobedience to God comes in the guise of pleasure. May God have mercy on the man who roots out his desires and crushes the passions of his appetitive soul.3 This appetite ranges far, and, urged on by its desires, it never stops urging you to acts of disobedience. Servants of God! Know that a believer wakes up every morning and sleeps every night wary of his gluttonous soul, continually rebuking it and seeking to provision himself for the hereafter. Be like those who preceded you, who died before you. They pulled up their tent-pegs from this world as those striking camp and traversed through it as in the successive stages of a journey. |
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One of Ê¿AlÄ«âs first orations after becoming caliph, delivered in Medina in 35/656. B 573.
Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯3.1.
Ar. nafs, lit. âsoulâ or âself,â translated here as âappetitive soul,â refers to the base, animal faculty of the human soul, «Indeed, the soul urges one to evil.» Qurʾan, YÅ«suf 12:53.
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â1.174.2 â¬Know also that the Qurʾan is a counselor that never deceives, a guide that never leads astray, and a speaker that never lies. Whoever sits down with this Qurʾan gets up with either an increase or a decrease: an increase of guidance or a decrease of blindness. Know, furthermore, that no person will remain poor after accepting the Qurʾan and that no person will be wealthy before accepting it. Seek its cure for your ailments and its support against your hardships, for it holds the cure for the greatest ailments of allâunbelief, hypocrisy, gross error, and miscreance. Beseech God through its sanctity and turn to him through your love for it. Do not misuse it to seek favors from Godâs creatures. Nothing equals the Qurʾan in helping you to turn to God. Know, too, that the Qurʾan is an intercessor that is heeded and a speaker that is believed. Those for whom it intercedes on judgment day will have their plea accepted, while those it accuses on judgment day will have the claim against them upheld. Indeed, a crier will cry out on judgment day: âHark! Every tillerâs crop and all the fruits of his labor have been destroyed, except that of the tillers of the Qurʾan!â Be, therefore, among the Qurʾanâs tillers and followers! Secure it as the guide to your Lord, accept it as a counselor who restrains your appetites, and distrust any of your opinions that contradict its teachings. Learn from the Qurʾan and know that your passions deceive. â1.174.3 â¬Deeds, deeds! Goals, goals! Rectitude, rectitude! Endurance, endurance! Ethics, ethics! Truly, you have a goal, so proceed toward it! You have been given a signpost, so be guided by it! Islam has an objective, so race toward it! Stand before God having cleared the dues he has mandated, having performed the duties he has required. Do this, and I shall bear witness on your behalf and plead your cause on judgment day. â1.174.4 â¬Hark! The preordained commandment has come to pass, and the predestined event has arrived at its waterhole. Let me tell you of Godâs promise and his proof, for he has said, «as for those who proclaim that âOur Lord is God,â and then remain upright, angels come to them, saying, âdo not fear and do not grieve, but rejoice, for paradise, as promised, is yours!â»1 You have proclaimed, «Our Lord is God.» Now remain upright in the manner shown by his Book. Follow the straight path of his command and the pious road of his worship. Do not abandon the faith, do not introduce heresies, and do not transgress, for those who abandon the faith will be severed from God on judgment day. |
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Qurʾan, Fuṣṣilat 41:30.
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â1.174.5 â¬Beware of marring your morals and shifting your moresâspeak with a single tongue. Let every man safeguard his tongue, for the tongue can bolt and carry off its master. By God, I see no godfearing person profiting from his piety until he safeguards his tongue. A believerâs tongue is found behind his heart and a hypocriteâs heart is found behind his tongue. When a believer intends to say something, he first mulls in his heart the words he will say. Then, if he finds them to be good, he voices them, and if he finds them to be wicked, he buries them. A hypocrite, on the other hand, says whatever comes to his tongue without knowing what is for and what against him. Godâs Messenger has said, â¨A personâs belief is right only when his heart is right, and his heart is right only when his tongue is righteous.â©1 Let those of you who can, meet the Almighty with hands unsullied by Muslim blood or property, and tongue unblemished by defiling their honor. â1.174.6 â¬Servants of God! Know that a believer considers licit this year what he had considered licit the year before. He considers illicit this year what he had considered illicit the year before. The innovations of men do not make the illicit licit for you. What God has made licit is licit, and what God has made illicit is illicit. You have experienced many affairs and bitten down on them with strong teeth, you have been forewarned by the example of those who lived before you, parables have been drawn for you, and you have been called to the clear way. Only the truly deaf remain deaf to the call, only the truly blind remain blind. Those whom God does not benefit through their own trials and experiences will not benefit from homilies and counsel. It is when their own sins confront them that they will accept as good what they had thought to be bad, and as bad what they had thought to be good. People are of two kinds: one follows a clear path, while another introduces heresies with no proof of established practice nor gleam of evidence from God. â1.174.7 â¬The Almightyâs best counsel is found in this Qurʾan. It is Godâs strong rope, it is his firm cord, it is the heartâs springtime, it is the wellspring of wisdom. Nothing burnishes the heart like the Qurʾan. But all who were mindful have disappeared, only those who have forgotten it, or pretend to have forgotten, remain. People, when you know something to be good, lend it support. When you know something to be evil, distance yourself. The Messenger used to say, â¨Son of Adam, do good and avoid evil, and you will race ahead like a thoroughbred!â© |
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Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯6.41.
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â1.174.8 â¬Harken to me! Wrongs are of three kinds: a wrong that will not be forgiven, one that will not be left unrequited, and a third that will be forgiven and not pursued. The wrong that will not be forgiven is assigning partners to God, for the Almighty has said, «God does not forgive being assigned partners.»1 The wrong that will be forgiven is the wrong a person incurs against himself when committing small sins. The wrong that will not be left unrequited is the wrong people commit against one another, and retribution in this instance will be severe. It will not consist of being stabbed with a knife or struck with a whip, but these will seem slight in comparison. Beware of capricious change in Godâs religion. Uniting to face a challenge in the cause of right is far better than dividing the community to attain wrong. The Almighty has never granted anyone anything good through dissent, not among those who are gone, nor among those who remain. â1.174.9 â¬People! Blessed are those whose faults distract them from the faults of others.2 Blessed are those who remain in their homes, eat their food, occupy themselves with acts of obedience for their Lord, weep for their sins, and weary themselves by constant chiding, while never causing others unease. â1.175 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« regarding the arbitrators:3 Your majority opinion settled on choosing two arbitrators. I made them pledge that they would kneel before the Qurʾan and not transgress its command, that their tongues would speak according to its guidance and their hearts follow it. But they strayed from the Qurʾan and abandoned the truth, despite seeing it before their eyesâdiscrimination was their desire and crookedness their practice! I had declared at the outset that my acceptance of their ruling would be contingent on their implementing justice and truth, and that stipulation excluded any ruling at which they might arrive at through corrupt views or unjust dictates. Since they have strayed from the path of truth and produced a contrary ruling, authority remains in my hands. |
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Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:48, 116.
Attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯3.35.
Ê¿AlÄ« addressed this oration to the Kharijites after news of the arbitratorsâ rulingâagainst him and in MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs favorâarrived in Kufa in 37/658 (B 578; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:85). The arbitrators were Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£ on MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs side, and AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ al-AshÊ¿arÄ« on Ê¿AlÄ«âs. Ê¿AlÄ« signals here his own reservations about the choice of arbitrators, and the fact that it was the Kufan army that had forced his hand. On details of the arbitratorsâ injustice, see F 295. On verses attributed to Ê¿Amr, boasting of deceiving AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ, see Ḥ 10:56â57.
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â1.176 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.176.1 â¬No matter can preoccupy him, no time can alter him, no place can encompass him, and no tongue can describe him. Nothing escapes his reachânot the droplets in water, nor the stars in the sky, not the dust-raising winds in the air, not the crawling of ants on rocks, not the sleeping of insects in the dark night. He knows the falling of leaves and the blinking of eyes. I bear witness that there is no god but God. I do not equate him with another, or doubt him, or reject his religion, or deny his creation. This testimony comes from one whose intention is true, whose motives are pure, whose certainty is limpid, and whose scales are heavy. I bear witness that Muḥammad is Godâs servant and messenger, the one chosen from among all his creation, the one selected to explain his truths, the one singled out for his exquisite glories, the one designated to convey his precious message, the one who clarifies signs of guidance, the one through whom dark blindness is dispelled. â1.176.2 â¬People! The world deceives those who desire her and incline toward her. Cherishing not those who compete for her, she conquers those who try to conquer her. By God, no group who are given lifeâs delightful bounties have them taken away except due to their sins, for «God is not unjust to his servants.»2 When calamities swarm and bounties cease, if people turned to their Lord with sincere intent and heartfelt longing, he would recover their runaway camels and heal what was corrupted. I fear you are in a state of ignorance. Events happened in the past during which you deviated, and your behavior was less than admirable. If matters reverted to what they were before, you would attain happiness, and I can try to make that happen. If I so wished, I could also say: May God forgive the past. â1.177 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« when DhiÊ¿lib, the Yemenite, asked him, âCommander of the Faithful, have you seen your Lord?â Ê¿AlÄ« replied, âWould I worship what I do not see?â DhiÊ¿lib asked, âHow do you see him, then?â Ê¿AlÄ« answered:3 |
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After Ê¿UthmÄnâs assassination, at the beginning of Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, in 35/656, in Medina. B 579; Ḥ 10:62; Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 4:157.
Qurʾan, AnfÄl 8:51.
Early in Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate in Medina, 36/656: Ê¿AlÄ« ascended the pulpit of the Prophetâs mosque wearing the Prophetâs mantle and sword, and said to the people, âAsk me before you lose meâ (§â¯1.187). DhiÊ¿lib, a renowned and audacious orator, stepped forward with this question, hoping to dumbfound him. Ê¿AlÄ« answered with these lines, and DhiÊ¿lib, repentant, fell in a swoon. á¹¢adÅ«q, AmÄlÄ«, 423, §â¯55.
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Eyes do not see him through physical observation, but hearts perceive him with true belief. He is near to all things without touching them, yet far from them without being apart. He speaks without the need to reflect, wills without the need to aspire, and crafts without the need for hands. He is sublime but cannot be described as concealed. He is mighty but cannot be described as harsh. He is all-seeing but cannot be described as having eyes. He is merciful but cannot be described as having compassion. All faces bow to his majesty. All hearts tremble in awe. â1.178 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« censuring his associates:1 I offer praise to God for the affairs he has ordained and the events he has destined, and even for afflicting me with you, the faction who donât obey when I command, or answer when I call! In times of peace, you speak boldly, but when attacked, you bleat like lambs.2 When people unite behind a leader, you challenge him, and if you answer a call to fight, you soon retreat. May you not be deprived of fathers! What are you waiting for? Why do you sit back, why do you not fight for your rights? This way, you will only find death or dishonor! By God, when my day comesâand it is comingâand when it takes me from you, I will leave you as one who detests your company, and who, when he has you on his side, has nothing. My God, what manner of men are you! Does no religion unite you, no zealous honor sharpen your resolve? Is it not astonishing that when MuÊ¿Äwiyah calls to his uncouth riffraff they follow him, even without wages or stipend, and when I call out to youâyou, who are the legacy of Islam and sons of the first Muslims,3 and even though I promise you wages and stipendâyou dissent, you oppose my command! Everything I propose, you reject, and everything I reject, you band together to promote. O how I long to meet death! I instructed you in the Book and showed you its proofs, I dispelled your ignorance and taught you to swallow the dribble from your flaccid mouthsâbut the blind canât see, and the sleeping donât wake! O how close to unbelief is that faction whose caravan is led by MuÊ¿Äwiyah, and whose instructor in morals is the Harlotâs son!4 |
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Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration in Kufa in 38/658, urging his followers to march in support of Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr, his governor in Egypt, who had been besieged by MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs commander Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:107. ThaqafÄ«, GhÄrÄt, 1:291.
Ar. khurtum. Or, âyou show weakness.â
âLegacy of Islam,â lit. âbroken ostrich shells (tarÄ«kah) of Islam.â âSons of the first Muslims,â lit. âremainder of the people.â
Referring to Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£, whose mother was infamous in the pre-Islamic period as âThe Harlotâ (nÄbighah, lit. âthe woman who shows herselfâ). Details in note at §â¯1.81.
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â1.179 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«. Ê¿AlÄ« had sent one of his men to bring news of a group from his Kufan army who were tempted to join the Kharijites and were fearful of Ê¿AlÄ«âs retribution. When the man came back, Ê¿AlÄ« asked him: Did they feel secure enough to stay, or did they become cowards and run? The man answered: Theyâre gone, Commander of the Faithful. Ê¿AlÄ« then said:1 «Away with» them, «as the ThamÅ«d were done away with!»2 If spears had been hurled at them and swords had rained on their heads, they would have regretted what they have done! Satan has found them small pickings today, and tomorrow he will discard them and disown them completely. Enough that they have left the home of guidance and lapsed into error and blindness. Enough that they have challenged right and bolted into the waterless wastes. â1.180 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«. Nawf al-BikÄlÄ« reported: The Commander of the Faithful addressed us in Kufa, standing on a rock placed for him by JaÊ¿dah ibn Hubayrah al-MakhzÅ«mÄ«. He was wearing a simple wool garment, his sword-belt was plaited from palm fronds, he wore palm-frond sandals on his feet, and his forehead looked like the calloused knee of a camel stallion. He orated:3 â1.180.1 â¬Praise God, to whom all creation arrives, and all affairs return! We praise him for his great blessings, his lucent proof, and his abundant favor and bounty. We praise him to repay his due, render him thanks, draw closer to his reward, and deserve more of his beautiful favors. We ask his aid, hoping for his favor, wishing for his profit, trusting in his protection, acknowledging his gift, and submitting to him with deed and word. We believe in him, placing our hopes in him with certainty, turning to him as believers, bowing to him in submission, proclaiming his unity with sincerity, glorifying his greatness, and seeking his protection through our hopes and efforts. |
The group Ê¿AlÄ« refers to in this text are the BanÅ« NÄjiyah, a Christian tribe, who, under their leader al-KhirrÄ«t ibn RÄshid al-NÄjÄ«, deserted from Ê¿AlÄ«âs army after the arbitration, in the early months of 38/658. Ê¿AlÄ« sent his commander MaÊ¿qil ibn Qays al-RiyÄḥī with troops to fight them, and KhirrÄ«t and many of his warriors were killed in the ensuing battle. Details in Ḥ 3:120â151 (text at 130). The rest were made captive, and Maá¹£qalah ibn HubayrahâÊ¿AlÄ«âs governor in ArdashÄ«râpurchased them from MaÊ¿qil and freed them. Maá¹£qalah, after paying only a fraction of the price, defected to MuÊ¿Äwiyah (see §â¯1.44 and the accompanying note).
Qurʾan, HÅ«d 11:95. ThamÅ«d were the tribe who challenged the Arabian Prophet á¹¢Äliḥ and were destroyed.
Said to be the last oration that Ê¿AlÄ« delivered standing, before he was struck the death blow, in Kufa, in 40/661. Ḥ 10:112. Possibly a Friday sermon, based on Nawfâs mention of âthe next Fridayâ in §1.180.7. âHis forehead looked like the calloused knee of a camel stallionâ from long prostrations in prayer.
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â1.180.2 â¬Never begotten, he has no partner in might, never begetting, he has no heir, for he will never die.1 Time and age have not preceded him, increase and decrease have not affected him. Rather, he appeared before our intellects through the signs he showed us of his perfect planning and his irrevocable decree. Among the testaments of his creation is the creation of the skies, anchored without columns and standing without supports. He called out to them, and they answered, obedient and submissive, neither hesitant nor slow. If not for their acknowledgment of his sovereignty and their submission to him in obedience, he would not have made them the home for his throne, the habitation of his angels, or the place to which the pure word and the pious deed ascends from his creation.2 He made its stars waymarks through which those lost in the myriad valleys of the earthâs provinces are guided. The darkening of the dusky night does not veil their glow, and the swathes of intense black do not block the gleam of the moon from spreading in the skies. Glory to the one from whom nothing is hidden! Not the blackness of spreading obscurity or tranquil night in the earthâs low regions and its rust-colored mountain ranges, not the crash of thunder in the skyâs far horizons and the momentary brilliance of lightning bolts in the clouds, not the falling of a leaf that is then blown away by stormy winds and pouring skies! He knows where each raindrop falls and pools, where each ant trails and drags its food, what foodstuffs suffice the gnat, and what every female carries in her belly. â1.180.3 â¬Praise God, who existed before stool, or throne, or sky, or earth, or jinn, or human. He cannot be grasped by the imagination or measured by perception. No suppliant distracts him from responding, no gift diminishes his treasures. No eye can see him, no âwhereâ can limit him, he cannot be described as being one of a pair, he need not toil to create, he cannot be grasped with the senses, he cannot be compared to people. He spoke to Moses and showed him his majestic signs without limbs, or implements, or speech, or mouth.3 If you are sincereâO you who take on the burden of describing your Lord!âthen first describe the archangels Gabriel and Michael, or the legions of cherubim in the vaults of the holy heavens, who bend low in humility, whose intellects bewilderment hinders from constraining the best of creators! Only entities with forms and appendages, entities that run their course and perish when |
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Reference to Qurʾan, IkhlÄá¹£ 112:3.
Modified quote of Qurʾan, FÄá¹ir 35:10.
Ar. lahawÄt, lit. âuvulas,â translated as âmouths.â Godâs speaking to Moses is a modified quote from Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:164.
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they have reached their limit, can be grasped through a description of their attributes. Understand that there is no God but he. Every darkness brightens with his light, every light darkens with his darkness. â1.180.4 â¬Servants of God, I counsel you to be conscious of God, who clothed you in finery and gave you a life of plenty. If ever there was one who could have found a ladder to eternity or a path to repel death, it would have been Solomon, son of David, who was given dominion over the kingdom of jinn and humans, along with prophecy and intimacy with God. But when he had received his fill of the world and completed his time, annihilation felled him with the arrow of death. Abodes became empty of him and habitations vacant. They were inherited by others. Truly, you have been given lessons in the passage of generations! Where are the Amalekites and the descendants of the Amalekites? Where are the Pharaohs and the descendants of the Pharaohs? Where are the people of the cities of Rass, who killed their prophets, extinguished the practice of Godâs emissaries, and revived the ways of tyrants?1 Where are those who marched at the head of armies, defeating thousands, mobilizing troops, and building great cities? â1.180.5 â¬From the same oration: He will come bearing the shield of wisdom, having seized it with all its requirementsâattention, recognition, and devotion. For him, wisdom is his own lost camel that he seeks, his own missing saddlebags about which he inquires. Whenever Islam is exiled, tail down like a camel and neck flat on the earth, he too hides in exile. He is Godâs remaining proof, the successor of his prophets. â1.180.6 â¬Then he said: People! I have given you the counsel with which prophets guided their nations and conveyed to you what their legatees conveyed to the subsequent generation. I have disciplined you with my whip, but you have not stayed upright. I have steered you with admonitions, but your flock has not kept together. O God, what manner of men are you? Are you waiting for another leader to walk you on the path and guide you to the way? Listen to me! That portion of the world which had approached has turned back, and that which had turned back now approaches. Godâs pious servants have resolved to depart on their journey. They have sold the paltry ephemera of the world for the permanent abundance of the hereafter. Our brothers whose blood was spilt in á¹¢iffÄ«n have lost noth- |
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The people of Rass are mentioned in Qurʾan, FurqÄn 25:38, QÄf 50:12.
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ing by not being alive today. They no longer choke on morsels of food or drink muddy water. By God, they have returned to him, and he has given them their full reward, housing them in a place of safety after their earlier trepidations! O where are my brothers who rode on the high road and trod the track of right? Where is Ê¿AmmÄr, where is Ibn al-TayyihÄn, where is DhÅ« al-ShahÄdatayn?1 Where are their peers, their brothers, who pledged to fight to the death, and whose decapitated heads the dispatch carried to the depraved? Upon saying these words, Ê¿AlÄ« placed his hand on his beard and wept long and hard, then he continued: Alas for my brothers who recited the Qurʾan and recited it well, who reflected on their duty and undertook it! They revived the Sunnah and killed heresy, they were called to jihad and answered the call, they trusted in their commander and followed him. â1.180.7 â¬Then Ê¿AlÄ« called out in a raised voice: Servants of God! Jihad, jihad! Harken to me! I will set up camp today! All who wish to return to God should muster! Raá¸Ä«: Nawf said: In planning the return to á¹¢iffÄ«n, Ê¿AlÄ« appointed Ḥusayn commander over ten thousand troops, Qays ibn SaÊ¿d commander over ten thousand, AbÅ« AyyÅ«b al-Aná¹£ÄrÄ« commander over ten thousand, and different commanders over varying numbers of troops. But no sooner had the next Friday come around than the cursed Ibn Muljam struck him his deathblow, and the troops pulled back. We were like sheep who had lost their shepherd, snatched by wolves from every side. â1.181 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: â1.181.1 â¬Praise be to God, recognized without being seen, and creator without toil. He created all things with his power, subjugated kings with his might, and dominated grandees with his generosity. It was he who lodged his creatures in the world, and he sent messengers to jinn and humans to lift her veils, warn of her harm, explain her ciphers, and highlight her faults, to offer lessons in her cycles of illness and health and her bounds of licit and illicit, and to show them what God has prepared for those who obey or disobeyâparadise versus hell- |
The three are the Prophetâs venerable Companions, Ê¿AmmÄr ibn YÄsir, Ibn al-TayyihÄn al-Aná¹£ÄrÄ«, and Khuzaymah ibn al-ThÄbit, DhÅ« al-ShahÄdatayn, âThe-Twice-Martyred,â who were killed fighting for Ê¿AlÄ« at the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657.
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fire, honor versus shame. I offer him praise in the full measure he deserves from his creatures. «God has appointed for each thing a measure,» for each measure a timespan, and «for each timespan a prescribed end.»1 â1.181.2 â¬From the same oration about the Qurʾan: The Qurʾan commands and forbids, it is silent and yet it speaks, it is Godâs proof against his creatures. He required them to offer the Qurʾan their oaths and pledge their souls. He perfected its light, honored his religion through it, and recalled his Prophet only after he had fully conveyed the guidance of its rulings. Glorify God, then, in all the glories that he has shown you, for he has not concealed from you any part of his religion. He has left nothing that he likes or dislikes without setting up a shining banner and a clear sign that either forbids a thing or calls toward it. His likes for future generations are the same, and his dislikes for them are also identical, so you should know that he will not be pleased with something you do that displeased him from the generations before you, while he will also not be displeased with you for doing something that pleased him from them. You follow clear footsteps, and your speech echoes the words of men who walked before. In all this, God has provided you with enough provisions for your life in this worldâhe has urged you to give thanks and claimed tribute from your tongues. â1.181.3 â¬God has counseled you to piety and made it the ultimate way to earn his pleasure and fulfil what he requires of his creatures. Be conscious of God, then, for you are always before his eyes, your forelocks are in his hand, and your fortunes are in his grip. If you hide something, he knows it, and if you disclose something, he writes it down. He has appointed noble guardians over you who never miss something or transcribe something in error.2 Know that «God shows the God-conscious a way out»3 from seditions, and he grants them light after darkness and eternal life with everything their hearts desire.4 He houses the pious with honor near him, in the home he has prepared for himself which is shaded by his throne, whose light is from his splendor, whose visitors are his angels, and whose companions are his messengers. Hasten to return to God, and race against your lifespans! The time is near when your hopes will be cut off, death will overtake you, and the door of repentance will be shut in your face. This morning, you are still in the place to which your deceased ancestors |
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Qurʾan, ṬalÄq 65:3, RaÊ¿d 13:38.
Reference to Qurʾan, Infiá¹Är 82:10â11.
Qurʾan, ṬalÄq 65:2.
Reference to Qurʾan, AnbiyÄʾ 21:102.
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pleaded to be allowed to return.1 You are travelers soon to leave this abode, which is not your homeâyou have heard the announcement to depart and the command to gather your provisions. Know that your delicate skin cannot bear the torture of the Fire and take pity on your souls, for you have seen how they crumbled when faced with the hurts of this world. You know how each of you dreads the prick of a thorn, a fall that draws blood, the heat of burning sands. How, then, will you endure being crushed between two sheets of fire with a stone for bedmate and a devil for companion!2 Donât you know that when the angel MÄlik vents his anger upon the Fire, one part devours another in terror, and when he shouts at it, its flames shoot in panic from locked door to locked door!3 O decrepit, timeworn man whose hair is flecked with white! What will you do when shackles of fire choke you and fuse with the bones of your neck, when fetters eat into the flesh of your arms? O assembly of Godâs servants, fear God, fear God, while you are still sound, while you have health before illness strikes, while you have room before your straits constrict! Strive to free your necks before their release from bondage is forfeit! Keep the night-vigil, starve your bellies, make use of your feet, spend your wealth, put your bodies to work, and exert them for the benefit of your souls. Do not be stingy in this, for God has promised, «If you help God, he will help you and give you a firm foothold.»4 God has also invited you, «Who will offer God a beautiful loan of deeds, that he may multiply it for him, and give him a generous recompense?»5 God does not ask you for help out of weakness, nor for a loan because he is poor. He asks you for help while possessing «the legions of the skies and the earth», «and he is mighty and wise».6 He asks you for a loan while possessing «the treasures of the skies and the earth», and «he is rich and praised».7 In truth, he wishes to «put you to the test, to see who among you performs the best of deeds».8 Hasten to perform good deeds, then, and you shall be among Godâs neighbors in his abode, with his messengers for companions, his angels for visitors, your ears protected from the Fireâs frightening roar, and your bodies safe from fatigue or weakness.9 «That is Godâs bounty, which he bestows on whom he willsâgreat is Godâs bounty!»10 |
Reference to Qurʾan, MuʾminÅ«n 23:99â100.
Reference to Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:24, QÄf 50:23.
MÄlik is the angel in charge of hell.
Qurʾan, Muḥammad 47:7.
Qurʾan, ḤadÄ«d 57:11. I have added the words âof deedsâ for clarity.
Qurʾan, Fatḥ 48:7, IbrÄhÄ«m 14:4.
Qurʾan, MunÄfiqÅ«n 63:7, Ḥajj 22:64.
Qurʾan, Hūd 11:7.
Reference to Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:69, FÄá¹ir 35:35.
Qurʾan, Jumʿah 62:4; Ḥadīd 57:21.
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I say what you hear and ask Godâs aid against my passions and yours. He suffices us and he is the best trustee.1 â1.182 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« to Burj ibn Musâhir al-ṬÄʾī, one of the Kharijites, when he called out in Ê¿AlÄ«âs hearing, â¨No rule save Godâs!â©:2 Silence! May God disfigure you, you toothless driveller! By God, when right showed itself, your arms offered feeble support and your voice could not be heard, but when wrong snorted, you emerged like the horns of a goat! â1.183 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 â1.183.1 â¬Praise God! Senses do not grasp him, places do not hold him, eyes do not see him, and veils do not hide him. He proves his antiquity by the newness of his creatures. By the newness of his creatures, he proves his existence, and by their similarities, he proves that he has no peer. He is true to his promise, rises above any wrong to his servants, upholds equity among his creatures, and is just when he commands. The newness of all things testifies to his eternity, the incapacity he has marked them with testifies to his power, and the annihilation he has subjugated them to testifies to his permanence. He is one without number, permanent without end, standing without need of support. The mind receives him without touching him, all that we see testifies to his existence without entering his presence. The imagination cannot encompass him: rather, he shows his light to it and in it, while he renders himself inaccessible to it and by it, and he also summons it for judgment to it. He possesses greatness, but not in the sense of flexible perimeters that make him massive in body. He possesses might, but not in the sense of expanding limits that make him grand in form. Rather, he is great in majesty and mighty in power. I testify that Muḥammad is Godâs chosen servant and his faithful trustee, whom he sent with compelling arguments, clear direction, and triumphant victory. He conveyed Godâs message and announced it to all, showed people the straight road and led them to it, raised banners of guidance and beacons of light, fastened Islamâs ropes and strengthened faithâs bonds. |
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Modified quote from Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:173.
Presumably in Kufa, after the arbitration in 37/658. See similar materials in §â¯1.140 and §â¯3.182.
HÄrÅ«nÄ« (TaysÄ«r, 273) places §â¯1.183.1 in Kufa, sometime during his caliphate 35â40/656â661, at the beginning of an oration he calls The Radiant Oration (GharrÄʾ; Raá¸Ä« calls §â¯1.80 in the present volume by that name).
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â1.183.2 â¬From the same oration, describing the wondrous creation of many species of animals: Had they contemplated the greatness of his power and the vastness of his bounty, they would have returned to the Path, and feared the punishment of the Fire. But hearts are sickly and eyes diseased. Do they not observe the smallest of things he has created, how he has perfected its creation, refined its form, provided orifices for hearing and sight, and fashioned bones and skin? Observe the ant in its tiny frame and delicate shape! It can hardly be spotted by the eye or grasped by the mind, yet see how it crawls on the earth and guards its food, transporting a single seed to its nest and stashing it in its lair! It gathers in the hot season for the cold, in the time of abundance for the time of dearth, its sustenance is guaranteed, and its provisions are made to suit. The Great Benefactor does not ignore it and the Great Rewarder does not deprive it, even when it lives on dry rock and barren stone. And if you were to contemplate the tracts through which its food passes inside its parts, high and low, the membranes of its stomach within its abdomen, and all that its head contains, eyes, ears, and everything else, you would marvel at its creation and be hard pressed to describe it. Exalted be the one who righted it upon its legs and set it on its limbs! No partner assisted him to make it, no power helped him in its creation! And if you were to follow the path of your thought to its logical end, you would infer that the maker of the ant is also the maker of the honeybee.1 Every creature has subtle particulars, and every living being has imperceptible variances, but with regard to their being created, the large, the slight, the heavy, the light, the strong, the weak, all are the sameâall are Godâs creatures. â1.183.3 â¬The case of sky, air, wind, and water is similar. Observe the sun, moon, plants, trees, water, and rocks. Observe the alternation of night and day, the roiling of the seas, the majesty of the mountains, the loftiness of the massifs, the diversity of languages, and the variety of tongues. Woe to those who deny the Great Ordainer, who reject the Great Planner! They claim they are like plants without a cultivator, that there is no artisan who crafted their different forms, but they have no proof for their claim and no justification for their belief. Can there ever be a building without a builder, an act without an actor?2 |
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Ar. naḥlah; Or, per MSS M âthe date-palm (nakhlah).â
Lit. âCan there be a crime without a perpetrator?â; my translation is in the generic sense of action, following Ḥ 13:65.
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â1.183.4 â¬If you wish, I can also speak of the locust. God gave it two red eyes and within them he suspended two pupils, two moon-like orbs. He fashioned for it minute ears and an opening for a mouth, gave it keen senses, two fang-like teeth with which to cut, and two scythe-like forelegs with which to grip. Farmers dread their ravagesâeven if they join forces, they canât drive the locusts away until theyâve inflicted their violence on the crops and satisfied their hunger, yet all the while each one measures no more than a tiny finger! Blessed is he before whom «all who are in the skies and the earth, obedient or unwilling,»1 fall prostrate! They press their cheeks and faces to the earth, throw down their weapons in a vulnerable plea for amnesty, and offer their reins to him in awe and fear! The birds are also subject to his command. He reckons the number of their feathers and their breaths, keeps their feet firm on wet land and dry, ordains their food, and knows their innumerable species. This one is a crow, that an eagle, this one a pigeon, that an ostrich. He calls each bird by its name, and he guarantees its sustenance. Quickening heavy clouds,2 drawing forth pouring rain, and enumerating appointed bounties, he drenches the land after it was parched and prompts it to germinate after it was barren. â1.184 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« on Godâs oneness that brings together principles of knowledge like no other: â1.184.1 â¬Those who assign him a form have not acknowledged his oneness, those who liken him have not hit upon his reality, those who compare him have not denoted him, those who point to him or imagine him have not directed themselves to him. Each entity that is known in its essence is constructed, and each entity that stands with anotherâs support is a result. God acts without implements, he ordains without thought, he is wealthy without acquisition. Time does not accompany him, and appendages do not attend him. His being precedes time, his existence precedes non-existence, and his eternity precedes the beginning. By his forming of the senses, we know that he has no senses, by his creation of opposites, we know that he has no rival, by his design of similarities, we know that he has no peer. He made light the opposite of darkness, clarity the opposite of gloom, dry the opposite of wet, and heat the opposite of cold. He joined what was disparate, gathered what was distinct, brought close the things that were far, and separated those that were near. He cannot be confined |
Qurʾan, Raʿd 13:15.
Modified quote from Qurʾan, Raʿd 13:12.
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by a limit or reckoned by counting, for instruments can only limit other instruments, and implements can only indicate similar things. âSinceâ prevents them from antiquity, âjustâ precludes them from eternity, and âif not forâ drives them from perfection.1 Through these things, the artisan who crafted them displays his light to intellects, yet because of these things, it is impossible for eyes to see him. Stillness and motion do not apply to him. How can something he set forth apply to him? How can something he originated become part of him? How can something he made happen, happen to him? If that were the case, his being would have contrasting modes, his essence would be divided into parts, and it would be impossible for his reality to be eternal. If he had a front, he would also have a back, if he were incomplete, he would need completing, and if that were the case, the mark of craftsmanship would appear in him. He would become a sign instead of something to which all signs point. Butâthrough the utter impossibility of that being the caseânothing that affects his creatures affects God. â1.184.2 â¬He is the one who never changes, never ceases, never sets. He has not begotten, else he himself would be like one born, he was not begotten, else he would be constrained.2 His glory precludes begetting sons, his purity precludes intimacy with women. The imagination cannot attain or measure him, the intellect cannot imagine or picture him, our senses cannot grasp or sense him, our hands cannot touch or feel him. No situation causes him to change, no conditions cause him to alter. The passage of night and day do not cause him to decay, light and dark do not cause him to transform. He cannot be described as possessing parts, or limbs and organs, or segments, or accidental qualities that can change, or the trait of being other than something, or comprised of sections. It cannot be said of him that he has limit, end, termination, conclusion, or that things control him so as to raise or lower him, or that things carry him so as to balance him or cause him to incline. He neither enters into things nor exits them. He informs without tongue or mouth. He hears without ears or any other organ. He speaks without uttering, remembers without memorizing, and wills without pondering. He loves and is pleased without sentiment, he hates and is angry without toil. For anything whose being he wills, he says «âBe!ââand it is,»3 without emitting a sound that strikes the ear, or a call that can be |
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Ar. mundhu, qad, and law-lÄ. These words distinguish creatures from the creator, to whom none of these terms apply, for they imply coming into existence, being newly created, and imperfection.
Reference to Qurʾan, IkhlÄá¹£ 112:3.
Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:117.
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heard. Rather, his speaking of words is itself an act that he created and formed. His words did not exist before, for if they had been present from antiquity, they would have constituted a second god. It cannot be said of him that he came into being after non-existence, or else the attributes of newly created beings would apply to him, there would be no difference then between him and them, nor would he possess any distinction over them. The craftsman and his craft would become the same, the initiator and the initiated would become equal. â1.184.3 â¬He created his creation without using an earlier model, without seeking help from any of his creatures. Forming the earth, he held it firm without labor, anchored it without a seabed, erected it without supports, raised it without pillars, ensured it was safe from bending and buckling, and secured it from disintegration and rupture. He then set down its stakes, established its barriers, released its wellsprings, and furrowed its valleys. What he built never becomes unstable, what he strengthened never becomes weak. He is powerful over it through his authority and glory, he is concealed within it through his knowledge and recognition, he is lofty above all things through his magnificence and might. Nothing that he seeks eludes him, nothing can stand up against him or overpower him, no creature can outrun or outstrip him, he needs no wealthy benefactor to sustain him. All things bow to him and efface themselves before his majesty. No one can flee his power or be free of his benefit or harm. He has no equal to match him, no peer to rival him. â1.184.4 â¬He will annihilate the world after its existence, until everything that existed in it will be lost. But the annihilation of the world after its creation is no more marvelous than its origination and formation. How could it not be so? For if all the worldâs living beings came togetherâits birds and its beasts, all its cattle in stables and pastures, all its many species in terms of their origins and types, the dullards among its nations and the cleverâif they all came together to try to create a gnat, they could not, they would never find a way to bring it into existence. Their minds would be dazed by the attempt to know how, their faculties would be perplexed and incapacitated and would retreat, beaten and weary, recognizing defeat, conceding their incapacity to bring it into existence, and acknowledging that they are too weak even to cause its destruction. God will once again be alone after the annihilation of this worldânothing else will exist with him. As he was before its beginning, so will he be after its end, beyond season, place, moment, or time. Lifespans and seasons will become non-existent, years and hours will cease. Nothing will remain save the |
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one, the vanquisher, to whom all affairs return. The beginning of their creation took place without their volition, their annihilation too will come without them having the power to arrest its march. If they had been able to, they would have existed forever. â1.184.5 â¬Crafting any part of what he crafted caused him no hardship. Creating what he created, what he formed, caused him no fatigue. He did not bring his creatures into being in order to consolidate his authority, or from fear of cessation or loss, or to bolster his worth against a wealthier peer, or to protect himself from an avenging enemy, or to expand his kingdom, or to boast of greater riches to a partner, or out of loneliness such that he wanted the comfort of their company. Now, after bringing the world into being, he will annihilate it, but not because he is wearied by planning and running it, or to seek rest, or because any of it weighs him down. Its long existence does not tire him and require him to annihilate it swiftly. He has planned it through his grace, upheld it with his command, and perfected it with his power. After annihilating it, he will bring it back again. This, too, without having a need for it, without seeking help from any creature to create it, or to emerge from a state of loneliness to a state of comfort, or from a state of ignorance and blindness to knowledge and attainment, or from poverty and destitution to wealth and abundance, or from shame and abjectness to might and power. â1.185 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« prophesying a calamitous time:1 I would offer my father and mother as ransom for that host whose names are recognized in the heavens but remain unknown on earth. Hark, people, prepare for what is coming! Your affairs will soon turn topsy turvy, your ties will soon be severed. Only the rash among you will find employment. On that day, it will be easier for a believer to suffer the blow of a sword than to earn a single dirham through licit means. On that day, the receiver will be rewarded more than the giver.2 On that day, you will become intoxicated, not from drink, but with luxury and affluence, you will swear gratuitous oaths and lie without scruple. On that day, calamity will bite like a packsaddle biting into a camelâs withers. O how lengthy the hardship, how distant the hope! People! Stop driving beasts you have loaded with sin! Stop challenging your authorities, or you will |
Excerpt from an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Kufa after the Battle of NahrawÄn in 38/658. Ḥ 6:134â135, after MadÄʾinÄ« (the preceding lines are also recorded).
Because those who give at this time will do so from illicit earnings, while those who receive will do so legitimately. Ḥ 13:96â97; B 712; F 350; R 2:440.
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denounce the results of your action! Stop rushing into seditionâs raging fire, stay away from its path, leave its road empty! By my life, I fear believers will perish in its flames, while non-Muslims will stay safe! â1.186 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 People! I counsel you to be conscious of God and to give abundant thanks for his bounties to you, his blessings on you, and his favors for you. How often has he singled you out for a blessing and rescued you with an act of mercy! You revealed your shame, and he concealed it, you put yourself in the way of his punishment, and he granted you reprieve. I counsel you to remember death and lessen your neglect! How can you forget something which will not forget you? How can you place your hopes in something which will not grant you reprieve? The dead whom you have seen with your own eyes are sufficient counselors. They are carried to their graves, not riding there, then placed inside without choosing to dismount, as though they had never lived merrily in the world, as though the hereafter had always been their home. Now, they recoil from their earlier abode, they make their home in that place from which they had earlier recoiled. Long did they occupy themselves with concerns they now have to leave behind! Long did they ignore the cares to which they are now transported!2 Now, they cannot run away from their vile deeds or increase their stock of good. They became familiar and comfortable with the world, and she deceived them. They trusted her, and she hurled them to the ground. People, race toward the home that you have been commanded to inhabitâmay God have mercy on you!âthe one to which you have been urged and invited. Seek the completion of Godâs blessings through obedience, do good and shun sin, for tomorrow is close to today. O how swift the passage of hours in a day! How swift the passage of days in a month! How swift the passage of months in a year! How swift the passage of years in a lifetime! â1.187 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 |
Excerpt from Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration soon after his accession to the caliphate in Medina, when he was informed that Ṭalḥah and Zubayr had rebelled. IskÄfÄ«, MiÊ¿yÄr, 109â111.
Or, âThey are occupied with paying for the things they have had to leave behind, having squandered the opportunity to prepare for that to which they are now transported.â Ḥ 13:100.
This could be an excerpt from an early oration in Medina in 35â36/356, since the penultimate line, âAsk me before you lose me,â is said to be the prompt for DhiÊ¿libâs question about seeing God and Ê¿AlÄ«âs answer in §â¯1.177 (á¹¢adÅ«q, AmÄlÄ«, 423, Majlis no. 55; see note there), set in Medina. But, on the other hand, the line also occurs in §â¯90.2, from the late Kufa period, ca. 38/658, and in another oration in MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 145â147âthe line appears to be a recurrent one in Ê¿AlÄ«âs orations, from the beginning of his caliphate to the end.
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Some peopleâs hearts are firm and steadfast in belief, while for others belief is a temporary loan lodged between heart and breast. If you wish to dissociate from anyone, wait until death comes to himâthat is the point at which dissociation becomes appropriate.1 Migration continues to be required as it was when first mandated,2 although God has no need of any of the earthâs people, neither those who conceal their affiliation to this community, nor those who declare it publicly.3 Moreover, the honor of migration is not earned by a person unless he recognizes Godâs proof on earth.4 To recognize and acknowledge this proof is to be a true migrant. The phrase âtoo weakâ does not apply to anyone whom Godâs proof reaches, that is, if his ears hear it and his heart preserves it.5 Our affair is hard and challenging, and only a person whose heart God has tested with belief can bear it patiently. Our words are preserved only by trusted hearts and mature minds. People! Ask me before you lose me, for I know more about the pathways of the heavens than I do about the pathways of the earth! Do this before sedition rushes to attack, raising its hind-foot, trampling on its nose-rein, and destroying peopleâs minds. â1.188 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:6 I offer praise to God in thanks for his blessings and ask his aid in upholding his rights. His army is mighty, and his nobility great. I bear testimony that Muḥammad is his servant and messenger, who called on people to obey God and vanquished his enemies, fighting tirelessly to defend his religion. They banded together to call him a liar and attempted to extinguish his light, but they could not turn him away from his purpose. |
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I.e., see whether the person dies a believer or an unbeliever before you cast him off.
Ar. hijrah. The first migration refers to the migration to Medina, the Prophet Muḥammadâs city, following his own migration there from Mecca.
Translation based on reading mÄ as a negation and the two sentences as independent clauses, based on B 717; R 2:444â445. If we read mÄ to be the particle that means âas long as,â the two lines would be combined into one clause (cf. Ḥ 13:103), and would translate quite differently as: âMigration continues to be required as it was when first mandated, as long as God has need of any of the earthâs people, those who conceal their affiliation to this community and those who declare it publicly.â
The ShiÊ¿i commentators BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 717â718) and RÄwandÄ« (R 2:444â445) state that âGodâs proofâ is the Imam. The Sunni Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 13:103â104) says this passage is about the âsecrets of legatee-ship,â and it refers to migration toward the Imam, Ê¿AlÄ« himself. Both are effectively saying the same thing.
Reference to Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:97, which excuses people who are âtoo weakâ from migrating to Medina.
Called one of Ê¿AlÄ«âs most eloquent orations, especially for the rhythmic and graphic description of hellfire; echoed later by Ibn NubÄtah al-Khaá¹Ä«b (d. 374/985) (Ḥ 13:114; B 725). The last paragraph about standing fast is interpreted variously: Ê¿AlÄ« is either (1) instructing his Kufan supporters not to be hasty in drawing swords against the Kharijites (Ḥ 13:113); or (2) directing his followers never to draw swords in the absence of the rightful Imam (B 725); possibly both.
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Take refuge, people, in consciousness of God, for its rope has a strong grip, and its refuge is on an impregnable height. Hasten to prepare for the engulfing pangs of death, make ready before it arrives. Know that the resurrection is the final endâenough counsel for the perceptive, enough lesson for the ignorant! But even before you arrive at that terminus, you know well what you will encounter: the narrow confines of earth-filled graves, the sheer abyss of despair, the terror of the prospect, the disintegration of ribs, the blocking of ears, the darkness of the tomb, the fear of the portent, and the horror of that crypt sealed with slabs of stone! Fear him, servants of God, fear him! The world, as is her wont, is sweeping you along, your rope tethered to her last hour, whose heralds are here and whose dawn glimmers. The hour has already stood you in readiness to meet it on its concourse. It will arrive any moment now. Imagine that its earthquakes are already here, as though its brutish chest is already crushing out your breath, as though the world has already cut her ties with you, her children, and hurled you from her lap! Indeed, your world is like a day that has already passed, and a month that has already ended, the new in her has worn out, the healthy are wasted and thin. All in her proceed to an assembly that is tight and narrow, to matters that are grave and dark. Ahead lies a fire of rabid thirst, whose roar is deafening, whose flames rise high, whose crackle rages, whose conflagration is fierce and slow to extinguish, whose inferno blazes, whose threat is terrifying, whose pit is unfathomable, whose sides are dark, whose cauldrons are iron-hot, and everything about it is horrific. But «those who were conscious of their Lord will be led in groups into paradise»,1 secure from punishment, safe from reprimand, snatched from the clutches of hellfire. Paradise will delight in their arrival, and they will rejoice in their new dwelling, their permanent home. These are people whose deeds in this world were righteous, whose eyes were full of tears, whose nights were spent as daylight hours in humble entreaty to God for forgiveness, whose days were spent as nighttime vigils in alienation and separation from the world. God rewarded them with paradiseâ«and they were worthy of it and deserving!»2âwith life in the eternal kingdom, in everlasting bliss. Servants of God, stay the course whose fulfilment will lead you to triumph, but whose squandering will hand you defeat. Outrace your lifespans with good deeds, for you remain mortgaged to your past actions and will be rewarded for what you advance. The time that you dread is almost upon you, when no return to the world can be availed, no fall can be averted. May God help us to obey him and his Messenger! May he forgive us with his kind mercy! |
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Qurʾan, Fatḥ 48:26.
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People, stand fast in your land and be patient in the face of trial. Donât follow your hot tongues with drawn swords, donât rush into something that God has not urged you to. Know that if one of you dies in his bed, if he has recognized the right of his Lord, his Messenger, and the Messengerâs family, he dies a martyr, and God guarantees his recompense. He has earned reward for his pious intention, and that intention is equal to him unsheathing his sword. Know that everything has a time and a term. â1.189 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: Praise God, whose praise is pervasive, whose armies are victorious, whose greatness is exalted. I offer thanks for his multiplied blessings and immense favors: his clemency is vast, and he pardoned; he was just in all he ordained; he knows all that will happen and all that already has, he originated all creatures by his knowledge, he conceived them all through his wisdomâno imitation or instruction, no emulation of prior artisan, no mistake made, no advisors present. I bear witness that Muḥammad is his servant and messenger, dispatched when people were swamped in confusion, tossed on waves of deviation, led by reins of destruction, hearts clamped in padlocks of grime. I counsel you to piety, to be conscious of God, O servants of God, for it is Godâs right that you owe to him, and it will earn you rights from God. I counsel you to seek Godâs help to become pious, and seek to become pious in order to please God. Piety is a refuge today and protection, and it is tomorrowâs path to the celestial garden. Pietyâs way is clear, those who walk it profit, and he who guarantees your deposit of it is trustworthy. Piety presented itself to past nations and will do so to those that remain. They will have need of it tomorrow, when God recalls what he created, takes back what he gave, and asks for an account of his gifts. But how rare the people who were pious, how few who practiced it well! Those are the few in number, the people whom God has praised, when he said, «few among my servants are truly grateful.»1 So dedicate your ears to pietyâs call and apply your efforts to responding. Exchange your past wrongs for it, make it your ally against foes. Use it to wake you from your sleep, get through your days with its help. Infuse your hearts with it, scrub off your sins with it, heal your maladies with it, outpace your death with it. Be warned by those who squandered it, let others not take warning from your terrible end. Hark and listen! Preserve it carefully, people, and thereby preserve yourselves. Free yourself from this world and focus your longings on the next. Donât scorn those elevated by piety, donât elevate those elevated by the world. Donât look |
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Qurʾan, Sabaʾ 34:13.
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for her rainclouds, donât attend her speakers, donât answer her callers, donât seek her glitter, donât fancy her jewelsâfor her flashes are empty, her speech is false, her wealth will be plundered, and her jewels will be looted. Hark! She is but a strumpet who will pull away, a bronco that will bolt, a liar who will betray, a churl who is ungrateful, a deviator who shuns, who strays. Her nature is to terminate, her step causes earthquakes, her might is equal to shame, her seriousness is equal to jest, and her elevation is equal to disgrace. She is an abode of plunder and pillage, of loot and ruin. Her people are in torment, in agony, they rush forward, they disperse, they are confused by her roads, enmeshed by her evils, frustrated by her tricks. Their fortresses do not protect them, their homes spit them out, and their ruses fail them. What are they but hamstrung fugitives, butchered meat, slaughtered limbs, and spilt blood! Some among them bite on their hands, strike with their palms, lean cheeks on elbows in regret. Others among them are beset by doubt and withdraw after resolve. But the time of scheming has passed, the hour of calamity has come, «and it is too late to escape.»1 Far be it! Far be it! What is lost is lost, what has gone has gone, and the world has moved on with everything that it housed. «Then, neither the sky nor the earth weeps over them, and they are not granted a reprieve.»2 â1.190 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« known as QÄá¹£iÊ¿ahââThe Crusher.â It is a long oration, containing censure of IblÄ«s,3 and of arrogance and tribal factionalism.4 â1.190.1 â¬Praise God, who donned robes of might and pride, reserving them for himself and allowing them to no other, who made them a fortress and sanctuary that only he inhabits, selecting them for his own majesty and cursing all who attempt to challenge him for them. Then he tested his cherubim to see |
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Qurʾan, á¹¢Äd 38:3.
Qurʾan, DukhÄn 44:29.
Iblīs refers to Lucifer.
The oration was delivered in (a) Kufa in 38/658 during the episode with MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs envoy Ibn al-Ḥaá¸ramÄ« in Basra (see note at §â¯2.29), with Ê¿AlÄ« rebuking his followers, particularly certain individuals from the TamÄ«m and Azd tribes for bickering among themselves when they had a common enemy to fight (ThaqafÄ«, GhÄrÄá¹, 2:394â396); or (b) sometime in the last few months of Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, after the Battle of NahrawÄn when there was tribal strife in Kufa, condemned in the oration (B 736; Ḥ 13:167â168, 198). The context of internal quarreling among Ê¿AlÄ«âs followers is a possible reason for the name assigned to the oration: QÄá¹£iÊ¿ah, âThe Crusher,â from: (1) qaá¹£aÊ¿a l-qamlah, âhe crushed the louse,â i.e., the oration crushed Satan and his supporters; (2) qaá¹£aÊ¿at al-nÄqah, âthe camel crushed its grain,â referring to a camel chewing cud, because Ê¿AlÄ« rode out to the tribes and delivered this oration from the back of his camel; or (3) qaá¹£aÊ¿a l-mÄʾu Ê¿aá¹ashahu, âthe water slaked his thirst,â i.e., the oration breaks the false pride of those who heed its teachings (B 736; Ḥ 13:128; F 354).
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who were humble and who arrogant. He saidâwhile knowing all that was concealed in their hearts and their hidden secretsâ«I shall create a human out of clay; when I have fashioned him in good proportion and breathed into him my spirit, bow before him in prostration. The angels prostrated, every one of them, except IblÄ«s»1âhis pride prevented him, and he claimed superiority over Adam, citing his loftier creation and higher origin. IblÄ«sâGodâs enemyâis leader of the bigots and forebear of the arrogant, the one who laid the foundations of factionalism. He challenged God for his robe of haughtiness, donned garments of self-glorification and cast off the veil of humility. Do you not see how God diminished him because of his arrogance and debased him because of his pride? He banished him in this world and prepared for him a blazing fire in the hereafter! If the Almighty had wished to create Adam from light whose radiance dazzled the eye and whose brilliance stupefied the mind, and from fragrance whose perfume filled the senses, he would have done so; and had he done so, necks would have bowed to Adam in servility, and the trial of the angels would have had little weight. But God tests his creation through things whose reality they do not know, in order to differentiate them through their choices, dispel their arrogance, and repulse their vanity. Learn a lesson from Godâs punishment of IblÄ«s, whose long-standing worship and painstaking efforts he obliterated for a single hour of pride! IblÄ«s had worshipped God for six thousand years, either by the reckoning of years in this world or by the unknown reckoning of the hereafter. Who, then, is safe from Godâs retribution if he disobeys God as IblÄ«s did? No one! God will never allow a human to enter the celestial garden if he has committed a crime for which he evicted an angel. Godâs judgment among the inhabitants of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth is one and the same. He will show no leniency in allowing anyone to enter a fortress he has forbidden to all the worlds. â1.190.2 â¬Beware lest IblÄ«s infect you with his disease or intimidate you with his cavalry and infantry.2 By my life, he has fitted the arrow of threat to his longbow, pulled the bowstring, aimed, and shot at you from close by. «He said: My Lord, because you caused me to stray, I shall place temptations before them on earth and lead them all astray.»3 His was a farfetched idea and a wild supposition, but zealotryâs offspring, factionalismâs brothers, and men riding horses of pride and intolerance made his aspiration come true. Then the hidden secret turned into an open affair, when the recalcitrant among you became docile |
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Qurʾan, á¹¢Äd 38:71â74.
Modified quote from Qurʾan, IsrÄʾ 17:64.
Qurʾan, Ḥijr 15:39.
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enough for him to lead, and his ambitions for you took firm hold. His power over you grew oppressive and he marched against you with his armies. They forced you into caverns of humiliation, hurled you into chasms of carnage, and trampled you causing terrible wounds, thrusting spears into your eyes, slashing your throats, smashing your noses, slashing your organs, and dragging you by the nose-rings of subjugation toward the Fire. IblÄ«s has maimed your religion and scorched your worldly affairs far more effectively than the people you took as adversaries and against whom you gathered your armies. Draw your swords against him and double your efforts in his face! By my life, he has boasted that his origin is better than yours, he has slandered your ancestors, and tarnished your lineage. He has attacked you with his cavalry and assaulted you with his infantry. They hunt you down wherever you hide and slice off each of your fingers,1 while you cannot defend yourself through any stratagem or push back with any act of resolve. You are caught in the abyss of degradation, the nose-ring of compulsion, the arena of death, and the circle of affliction. Extinguish the fires of factionalism that lie concealed in your hearts and the resentments that belong to the Age of Ignorance! Factionalist zeal in a Muslim comes from Satanâs incitements, from his goads, provocations, and splutterings. Resolve to adorn your head with modesty, trample self-glory beneath your feet, and cast the yoke of arrogance from your necks. Make humility the garrison that stands between you and your enemy, IblÄ«s, and his armies, for he has armies, infantry, cavalry, and spies in all nations. Donât be like Cain, who thought himself better than his brother, with no superior God-given virtue except the glory he attributed to himself, generated by hate and envy, and the supercilious zeal of his heart, kindled by the fire of anger!2 Satan breathed his own pride into Cainâs nose.3 Because of that pride, God bequeathed him eternal remorse, and will hold him responsible for the crimes of all who kill until the day of resurrection. â1.190.3 â¬Hark! You have galloped on the course of treachery and caused mayhem on earth, openly challenging God and fighting his believers. Fear God, fear God! Stay away from the arrogant bigotry and boasting that characterized the Age of Ignorance! Those are rancorâs pregnant camels and Satanâs bellows! With them, he duped past nations and bygone generations, making them race |
Modified quote from Qurʾan, AnfÄl 8:12.
Lit. âDonât be like the one who â¦â The reference is to Adamâs sons Cain (Ar. QÄbÄ«l) and Abel (Ar. HÄbÄ«l), to Cainâs killing of Abel at IblÄ«sâs suggestion, and later, when it was too late, feeling remorse. Qurʾan, MÄʾidah 5:27â31; Ḥ 13:145â146; B 747; F 358â359.
The nose symbolizes pride in Arab culture, in addition to being the organ of breathing.
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into the dark night of his ignorance and the abyss of his error, docile under his direction and submissive under his reins. In Satanâs grip, hearts resembled one another as generation followed generation. Pride ruled as breasts became straitened by its grip. Hark and beware! Beware of obeying these chieftains and elders,1 who have magnified themselves above their stature and aggrandized themselves beyond their lineage, who have attributed vile deeds to their Lord and challenged his actions, scorning his decree and impugning his favors. They are pillars of factionalism, columns of sedition, and swords of ancestor boasts from the Age of Ignorance. Be conscious of God. Do not repulse his favors by acting in a contrary manner or repel his generosity by your envy. Donât obey false claimants whose muddy slime you have drunk instead of your pure water, whose diseases have infected your sound health, and whose wrong you have mixed in with your right. They are the foundations of vice, the constant companions of rebellion. IblÄ«s owns themâsteeds of error and an army with which he assaults people. He has appointed them his interpreters. Speaking with their tongues, he weakens your minds, lends you his eyes, and whispers in your ears. In this manner, he targets you with his arrows, tramples you under his foot, and crushes you in his closed fist. â1.190.4 â¬Learn lessons from what arrogant nations before you faced: Godâs crushing blows, his sudden attacks, his shocking onslaughts, and his exemplary punishments. Take counsel from knowing that their cheeks are now stuck inside the earth and their torsos are struck onto the ground. Seek refuge in God from the pregnant dangers of pride, just as you seek refuge in him from the battering calamities of the age. If God had permitted any of his servants pride, he would have permitted it to his select prophets, but he disliked them to be proud and preferred them to be humble. They placed their cheeks on the earth before him and pressed their faces to the dirt. They lowered their wings for believers and were a group that was widely scorned as weak.2 He tested them with hunger, afflicted them with weariness, tried them with dangers, and ground them down with adversities. People, do not weigh Godâs pleasure and displeasure in terms of wealth and offspring, without knowing what tests and trials inhere in positions of wealth or poverty! God has said, «Do they think we supply them with wealth and sons in order to increase their comforts? No indeed, they have no idea!»3 God tests people who are mighty in their own view, through his chosen ones, who are weak in their eyes. Moses, son of Amram, |
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Reference to Qurʾan, AḥzÄb 33:67.
Reference to Qurʾan, Ḥijr 15:88, Qaṣaṣ 28:4.
Qurʾan, MuʾminÅ«n 23:55â56.
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and with him his brother Aaron, were admitted to Pharaoh wearing shifts of coarse wool and holding wooden staffs, and they offered him a guaranteeâif he committed to Godâs will, his kingdom would last forever, and his might would persist. Pharaoh exclaimed, âDo you not wonder at these two? They promise me the continuation of my might and the perpetuation of my kingdom when, as you see, they are utterly poor and totally contemptible! How is it they are not adorned with bracelets of gold?â Pharaoh prized gold and the hoarding of it and mocked coarse wool and the wearing of it. If God, when he sent his prophets, had wished to open for them treasuries of gold, stores of bullion, and the granaries of the celestial garden, if he had wished to assemble in their legions the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, he would have done so. And had he done so, the trial would have been nullified, recompense would have become invalid, and true reports would have dwindled. Those who accepted the prophetsâ message would not have deserved the reward of those who had been tested, believers would not have merited the reward of good deeds, and words would not have retained their meanings. But God sent his messengers strong in resolution, weak in terms of what eyes perceived. Their contentment filled hearts and eyes with riches, while their destitution filled eyes and ears with pain. If these prophets had possessed strength that could not be challenged, might that could not be diminished, and kingship toward which menâs necks craned and saddles were fastened, these conditions would have relieved the weight of reflection for the people and broken their arrogance. People would have become believers either out of subjugation to fear or the pull of desire. Intentions would have been split and benefits would accordingly have been divided. But God willed that all pious actsâdevotion to his messengers, acceptance of the truth of his books, self-effacement for his sake, humility before his command, and submission to him and obedienceâall these things should be pure and for himself alone, untainted by any drop of insincerity. The greater the test and trial, the grander the reward and recompense. â1.190.5 â¬Do you not see? Starting with Adam, God tested all who came before, up to the very last people in this world, with stones that neither harm nor benefit nor see nor hear, shaping them into his sacred house and designating it a place of worship for all humans. He placed this House in the most rugged, most rocky region of the earth, in the most barren place in the world, in the narrowest, steepest cleft of a valley, between rough mountains, tracts of porous sand, springs with slow-trickling water, and scattered habitations, where no hoofed animalsâneither camels, nor mules, nor sheepâcould feed or thrive. Then he commanded Adam and his children to turn their bodies toward it, making it the place to which they should return time after time to seek their journeysâ bene- |
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fit,1 and the final station where they should cast down their saddles. Sincere hearts rush toward it,2 coming from remote, waterless deserts, deep, hidden ravines, and isolated islands in the sea. They come to it with their bodies shaking in awe, declaring Godâs oneness as they circumambulate and quicken their feet, disheveled and covered in dust, having cast off stitched clothing and tarnished the comeliness of their form by foregoing shaving or cutting their hair. This is truly a great trial, a harsh ordeal, a clear testârefinement by fire. God has made it the means to obtain his mercy and the path to reach his celestial garden. If he had placed his sacred house and sites of ceremonial rites among gardens and rivers and valleys and plains thick with trees and low-hanging fruits, densely packed with habitats, flourishing with sun-ripened wheat and bright green flowerbeds, with expansive pastures and well-watered plains, with freshly sprouted grain and well-worn paths, all this would have decreased the value of the reward, in keeping with the ease of the trial. Indeed, if the pillars that support the sacred house and the slabs that raise it had been made from green emerald and red ruby, from light and incandescence, this would have hindered doubt from entering into breasts, prevented Satanâs attacks on hearts, and blocked uncertaintyâs waves from crashing down on people. No, indeed! God tests his servants with many kinds of hardship, urges them to worship him through many types of privation, and afflicts them with many different sufferings, in order to remove pride from their hearts and instill humility in their souls. These trials act as doors that open wide toward his generosity, as docile mounts that carry their riders toward his forgiveness. Fear God, people, fear God, and beware the imminent penalties of treachery, the unwholesome end of oppression, and the terrible outcome of pride! Pride is IblÄ«sâs greatest snare and his principal scheme. He infiltrates menâs hearts with its deadly poison. It is never ineffectual, and it misses no oneânot the learned man with his knowledge, nor the beggar with his rags. â1.190.6 â¬God has protected his believing servants from pride by prescribing the ritual prayer, the alms-levy, and the hardship of obligatory fasting on certain days, in order to quieten their limbs, lower their eyes, humble their souls, chasten their hearts, and repel their conceit. These actions prompt them to smear their precious faces with dust in self-effacement, prostrate their noble limbs upon the earth in humility, and join belly to back through fasting in |
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Reference to Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:125.
âSincere hearts,â Lit. âthe fruit of hearts (thimÄr al-afʾidah).â Reference to Qurʾan, IbrÄhÄ«m 14:37.
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submission. In addition, the alms-levy procures the fruits of the earth and other commodities for the poor and destitute. See how these actions blast peopleâs nascent shoots of self-importance and wither their budding sprouts of pride! â1.190.7 â¬I looked around and found no one anywhereâother than youâwho displays zealotry without a reason, any reason, that could possibly prompt the ignorant to confusion, or an argument, any argument, that could potentially appeal to the minds of the foolish. You show prejudice toward a matter whose reason is unknown, that is untouched by any hand of purpose. IblÄ«s felt himself superior to Adam because of his origin, and he defamed Adamâs mode of creation when he said, âMy origin is fire, while yours is clay.â Scions of wealthy nations who were given enormous riches felt themselves superior because they had become used to luxury, and they said, «We have more wealth and more children; we shall never have to endure suffering.»1 If you must feel superior, then save your pride for the noble qualities, praiseworthy acts, and beautiful deeds that the honorable and courageous Arabian clans and tribal chieftains strived for through their cultivation of desirable traits, great minds, kingly thoughts, and praiseworthy deeds.2 Their zeal was for traits that earn praiseâprotection of neighbors, fulfillment of pledges, obeying good, desisting from pride, embrace of virtue, refraining from treachery, deeming killing to be a grave affair, dispensing of justice to all, suppression of anger, and abstention from wreaking havoc on earth. â1.190.8 â¬Beware of exemplary punishments that befell earlier nations because of their evil acts and hateful deeds. Recall their conditions, the good and then the bad, and beware of becoming like them. Think about the change in their states. Hold fast to everything that gave them might, scattered their enemies, spread wellbeing among them, attracted beneficence to them, and bolstered the bonds of generosityâavoidance of division, holding fast to friendship, promoting harmony, and counselling one another to unite. Refrain from everything that broke their spine and weakened their strengthâmalice in the heart, rancor in the breast, turning oneâs back, and withholding oneâs hand. â1.190.9 â¬Reflect on the condition of past believers. Think about how they lived through states of trial and testing. Were they not the most burdened of creatures, the most tested of Godâs servants, the most straitened among the worldâs |
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Qurʾan, Sabaʾ 34:35.
âChieftains,â lit. âqueen beesâ (yaÊ¿ÄsÄ«b, sing. yaÊ¿sÅ«b).
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people? Various pharaohs enslaved them, inflicted on them the vilest of tortures, and forced them to drink from the bitterest of cups. Their condition continued thus in servile desperation and forceful subjugation with no means to repel and no way to defend, until God, seeing them endure suffering, out of their love for him, seeing them accept hardship, out of their fear of him, showed them a way out of the narrow straits of trial, giving them might in exchange for humiliation, security instead of fear. They became kings who ruled and leaders with great fame. They received gifts from God beyond their furthest hopes. Think! What was their state when factions were united, desires were in concert, hearts were balanced, hands were used to help, swords were drawn in assistance, perceptions were acute, and resolutions were one? Did they not become lords of all the realms, kings ruling over the necks of all peoples of the world? Again, think! How did their state change near the end, when division befell them, friendships shattered, words and hearts moved apart, when they split into opposing factions and separated into warring groups? God stripped them of his enveloping generosity and plundered them of his fresh bounty. Yes, and he ensured that their tales stayed alive among you as a lesson for all who would heed. â1.190.10 â¬Take a lesson from the condition of the sons of Ishmael, the children of Isaac, and the children of Israel. How strongly their states harmonize, how closely their examples match! Think of their state during their time of division and disunity. Those were the nights in which the kings of Persia and the emperors of Byzantium were their overlords. They drove them out of their pasturelands from the river valleys of Iraq and the worldâs abundance of green herbage into tracts where bitter wormwood grew, where hot winds blew, and life was harsh. They left them poor and abject, camel-herders tending to their beastsâ sores and harvesting their wool. They lived as the most wretched of nations, with the least fertile fields, with no mission under whose wing they could seek shelter, no column of unity on whose strength they could depend. Their situation was volatile, their hands discordant, their numbers scattered. They were trapped in a hard trial and crushed under rocks of ignorance: they buried baby girls alive,1 worshipped idols, cut ties of kinship, and raided one another. Observe the abundance of Godâs blessings on them. He sent them a messenger, secured their obedience through his religion, and gathered their company within his mission. See how bounty spread the wings of her generosity over |
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Reference to Qurʾan, TakwÄ«r 81:8. On female infanticide in pre-Islamic Arabia, see Ḥ 13:174â177; F 362â364; B 766â768.
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them and the wellsprings of her delights flowed. See how the new religion gathered them within the gifts of its grace. They were immersed in its bounty, joyful in the fresh greenness of its way of life. Their affairs reposed comfortably in the shade of powerful authority, events brought them under the aegis of victorious might, and affairs looked kindly upon them, as they lived in ease in the protection of an established empire. They became rulers of the world and kings over the far reaches of the earth, controlling the affairs of those who had controlled theirs, and issuing commands to those who had commanded them. â¨Their spear became hard, their rock uncrushable.â©1 â1.190.11 â¬Hark! Your hands have loosed the rope of allegiance and breached Godâs fortress by indulging in judgments from the Age of Ignorance. This, when God has blessed this congregation by binding them with bonds of affection, so they can move in its shade and take refuge in its shelter! No one can fathom the value of this favor; it exceeds any price and is grander than any eminence. Know this: After your migration to Muḥammadâs city, you have reverted to living as rough Bedouins,2 after loyal unison, you have again split into factions. You own nothing of Islam except its name, you recognize nothing of belief except its ritual. You say, âFlames rather than shame!â as though you wished to knock Islam over on its face, rending its holiness, and breaking the covenant by which God gave you a sanctuary upon his earth and a source of safety among the earthâs people. If you seek any other refuge, unbelievers will wage war against you, and neither Gabriel nor Michael, neither Immigrants nor Allies, will come to your aid.3 You will see only the clashing of swords until God rules between you once and for all. You have witnessed examples of Godâs might, of his blows, battle-days, and onslaughts. Do not ignore his chastisement, underestimate his assault, and undervalue his force, do not think his retribution will be slow in coming! God damned the generation just before you because they ceased to command good and forbid evil. He damned the immature because they mounted the steeds of sin and the mature because they ceased to forbid. |
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Arabic idioms. Lit. â¨Their spear could never be squeezed (lÄ tughmaz), and their rock could never be crushed (lÄ tuqraÊ¿)â©. For references in poetry re âsqueezingâ (ghamz) of a spear, see Ibn ManáºÅ«r, LisÄn, s.v. âGh-M-Z.â â¨Their rock cannot be crushedâ© (lÄ tuqraÊ¿u lahum á¹£afÄh) is attributed to the Prophet in NuwayrÄ«, NihÄyah, s.v. âá¹¢-F-W.â
Re the migration (hijrah), I have added the words âto Muḥammadâs cityâ for clarity. Re Bedouins (aÊ¿rÄb), the line signifies that âafter having accepted the refinements of Islam, you have reverted to the factional ways of pre-Islamic Arabians.â B 768; Ḥ 13:18. Bedouins are chastised for hypocrisy in the Qurʾan, Tawbah 9:97, 99.
Gabriel and Michael are two archangels. Immigrants (MuhÄjirÅ«n) are those who migrated to Muḥammad in Medina, and Allies (Aná¹£Är) are the Medinans who supported him.
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Hark! You have cut off Islamâs restrictions, stripped off its constraints, and killed off its commands. Hark! God has commanded me to fight those who commit treachery, break their pledge, and cause mayhem on earth: I have fought those who broke their pledge, battled those who acted wrongfully, and subdued those who left the faith.1 The Satan of the Stony Hollow was taken out by a thunderbolt that made his heart scream and his breast quake.2 A small number of rebels remain: If God permits another attack, I shall most certainly prevail, except for the handful that escape, who will scatter to the corners of the realm. â1.190.12 â¬It was I who felled the trunk of the Arabs and crushed the horns of RabÄ«Ê¿ah and Muá¸ar.3 Besides, you all know my relationship with Godâs Messenger, our close kinship and special intimacy.4 He took me to his bosom as a newborn, clasping me to his breast and covering me with his bedspread, his body touching mine and I inhaling his fragrance; he would chew a piece of food to soften it then place it in my mouth. He never found falseness in my words or foulness in my actions. Ever since the Messengerâs own infancy, God had placed his greatest angel to guide him day and night on the path of virtue and the most beautiful traits. I would follow him as a camel calf follows its mother, and each day he would raise in front of me a banner displaying his virtuous character and command me to emulate. Every year he would retreat to Mount ḤirÄʾ for prayer, where no one but I saw him. In those days, not one home housed any supporters |
The pledge-breakers (nÄkithÅ«n) are said to be Ê¿AlÄ«âs opponents at the Battle of the Camel, the wrongdoers (qÄsiá¹Å«n) are MuÊ¿Äwiyah and his Syrian supporters, and those who left the faith (mÄriqÅ«n) are the Kharijites, the three groups that Ê¿AlÄ« fought in the Battles of the Camel, á¹¢iffÄ«n, and NahrawÄn. Muḥammadâs hadith, whose terminology Ê¿AlÄ« echoes in his oration, is reported as, â¨You [O Ê¿AlÄ«] will battle the pledge-breakers, the wrongdoers, and the faith-leavers after meâ©. Ḥ 13:183â184; B 771â772; F 364â365.
The Satan of the Stony Hollow (shayá¹Än al-radâhah) is a man known as DhÅ« al-Thudayyah, âThe Man with the Breast,â called thus because of a mass of flesh on his shoulder, a Kharijite whose death at NahrawÄn Ê¿AlÄ« said the Prophet had told him would signal his own imminent martyrdom. Ê¿AlÄ« personally sought out DhÅ« al-Thudayyahâs corpse among the dead at NahrawÄn, and when he saw it, he exclaimed, âGod is great! I have never lied, nor has [the Prophet] lied to me.â Ḥ 13:183â184; B 771â772; F 364â365.
Refers to Ê¿AlÄ«âs slaying of famous pre-Islamic Arabian warriors in single combat during the early Muslimsâ battles, when he was only around twenty years of age, thereby playing a major role in Islamâs military and political ascendancy. Muá¸ar is the eponymous ancestor of the Prophetâs own tribe of Meccan Quraysh, who formed the largest bloc of his enemies, and Ê¿AlÄ« slew several of their leaders in the Muslimsâ early battles. The RabÄ«Ê¿ah tribe was divided among Ê¿AlÄ« and his opponents during the Battles of the Camel and á¹¢iffÄ«n, and Ê¿AlÄ« slew several of their leaders who fought against him then. B 772; Ḥ 13:198.
Muḥammad had taken the infant Ê¿AlÄ« as his ward, and Ê¿AlÄ« grew up in Muḥammadâs care. Details in Ḥ 13:198â212; B 772â776.
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of Islam, it was just the Messenger and KhadÄ«jah, and I was the third. Throughout, I saw the light of revelation and messengerhood, and inhaled the fragrance of prophecy. I heard Satanâs cry when revelation descended on the Messenger, and when I asked, âWhat is this cry?â he answered me, â¨This is Satan, who now despairs of being worshipped. You see what I see and hear what I hear, Ê¿AlÄ«, though you are not a prophet, but my vizier, and on the path of virtue.â© I was with the Messenger when a group of the Quraysh came to him and said, âMuḥammad, you have made a grand claim, one that none of your forebears or any of your house has ever made. We want to ask you to do something: If you are able to do it, if you are able to show it to us, we will be convinced that you are indeed a prophet and a messenger, but if you donât, then we will know that you are a magician and a liar.â The Messenger responded, âWhat do you seek?â They answered, âAsk this tree to pull up its roots and come forward to stand before you.â1 The Messenger exclaimed, â«Truly, God is powerful over all things.»2 If God does this for you, will you believe and testify to the truth?â They replied with one voice, âYes, we will.â The Messenger said to them, âAll right, I will show you what you demand, although I know that you will not turn to virtue. I know that there are among you men who will be cast into the Well, and others who will convene the fated Confederacy.â3 Then he intoned, âO tree, if you believe in God and the last day, if you know that I am Godâs messenger, then, with Godâs permission, pull up your roots and come stand in front of me!â I swear by the one who sent Muḥammad with the truth that the tree pulled up its roots and came forward with a loud rumble and a fluttering like the fluttering of birdsâ wings. Boughs rustling, it came to stand before the Messenger and let its highest branches fall over him. Some branches brushed my shouldersâI was standing to his right. When the men from Quraysh saw this, they demanded with pride and arrogance, âNow command half of it to come to you, while the other half stays in its place.â The Messenger commanded the tree to do this. Half of it came forward most wondrously and with an even louder |
Recounts the Miracle of the Tree that Muslims believe Muḥammad performed in Mecca. B 776; Ḥ 13:214.
Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:20, 109, 148, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:165, Naḥl 16:77, NÅ«r 24:45, Ê¿AnkabÅ«t 29:20, FÄá¹ir 35:1.
âPersons cast into the Wellâ is a prophecy about those of the Quraysh who would be killed fighting against Muḥammad at the Battle of Badr in 2/624 and were thrown into its wells, including Ê¿Utbah ibn RabÄ«Ê¿ah ibn Ê¿Abd Shams, Shaybah ibn RabÄ«Ê¿ah ibn Ê¿Abd Shams, Umayyah ibn Ê¿Abd Shams, AbÅ« Jahl (Ê¿Amr ibn HishÄm ibn al-MughÄ«rah), and WalÄ«d ibn al-MughÄ«rah. âOthers who will convene the fated Confederacyâ is a prophecy about those of the Quraysh who would spearhead the Battle of the Confederates in 5/627, including AbÅ« SufyÄn á¹¢akhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayyah, Ê¿Amr ibn Ê¿Abd Wadd, á¹¢afwÄn ibn Umayyah, Ê¿Ikrimah ibn AbÄ« Jahl, and Suhayl ibn Ê¿Amr. B 776; Ḥ 13:214; F 365.
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rumble, and it almost wrapped itself around the Messenger. The group then cried out in rejection and insolence, âCommand this half to go back to its other half as it was.â The Messenger did so, and the tree went back. I spontaneously exclaimed, ââ¨There is no god but God!â© I am the first to profess belief in you, O Messenger of God, the first to profess belief that the tree did what it did by Godâs command to prove the truth of your prophethood, the first to offer obeisance to your word!â That group, however, every one of them, sneered, âNo, you are a magician and a liar! Your magic is quite something, and you are good at it. Only someone like this nobodyâmeaning meâwould believe you to be a prophet.â People, I belong to a group who care not if they are criticized when their actions are for the sake of God! Our mark is the mark of those who uphold the truth of Godâs word, our speech is the speech of the virtuous. We inhabit the night with prayer, we are beacons of light during the day. We hold fast to the Qurʾan, keeping alive Godâs ways and the practices of his Messenger. We never behave with arrogance, never conduct ourselves with conceit, never cheat, are never corrupt. Our hearts are in paradise, while our bodies are occupied here with doing good. â1.191 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: It is reported that one of Ê¿AlÄ«âs companions, a man named HammÄm, who was devoted to worship, said to him, âCommander of the Faithful, describe to me the pious, such that I see them before my eyes!â Ê¿AlÄ« hesitated, then answered, âHammÄm, be pious and do good, for «God is with those who are pious and do good.»â1 HammÄm was not satisfied with this brief answer and persisted. The narrator continues that Ê¿AlÄ« then thanked God, praised him, invoked blessings on the Prophet, and delivered the following oration:2 When God created people, he created them not needing their obedience, and untouched by their disobedience. The disobedience of those who disobey does not harm him, and the obedience of those who obey does not benefit him. He distributed sustenance among them and gave them various stations in this life. |
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Qurʾan, Naḥl 16:128.
Presumably in Kufa, during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate 35â40/656â661, based on the context given by Ibn Ṭalḥah (Maá¹Älib, 269), in which a few individuals approached Ê¿AlÄ« asking for a favor, presumably money; they would have been more likely to petition Ê¿AlÄ« when he, as caliph, was in charge of the treasury. Ibn Ṭalḥah further narrates that they identified themselves as his followers, to which Ê¿AlÄ« replied, âI donât see any signs of my true followers in you.â At this time, HammÄm asked Ê¿AlÄ« to explain the signs of his true followers (shÄ«Ê¿ah, rather than âthe pious, muttaqÅ«n,â as per the present volume), and Ê¿AlÄ« responded with the oration at hand. On this text, see Qutbuddin, âPiety and Virtue in Early Islam: Two Sermons by Imam Ali,â and Qutbuddin, âClassical Islamic Orationâs Art, Function, and Life-Altering Power of Persuasion: The Ultimate Response by Hammam to Aliâs Sermon on Piety, and by Hurr to Husaynâs Battle Oration in Karbala.â HammÄm (d. ca. 36/656), according to the commentators, is HammÄm ibn Shurayḥ ibn YazÄ«d (Ḥ 10:134), or HammÄm ibn Ê¿UbÄdah ibn Khuthaym (B 599).
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The pious in this world are people of virtue. Their speech is rational, their garments simple, and their gait embodies humility. They lower their eyes, avoiding what God has forbidden them to see, and dedicate their ears to hearing words of wisdom that bring them benefit. Their hearts are at peace, both in times of tribulation, and in times of prosperity. If not for the lifespans decreed for them by God, their souls would not tarry in their bodies for the blink of an eye but, yearning for Godâs reward and fearing his punishment, they would instantly depart. The creatorâs majesty in their hearts makes all else paltry in their eyes. Paradise is before their eyesâthey see it as clearly as though they were already enjoying its blessings. Hellfire too is before their eyesâthey see it as clearly as though they were being tortured there. Their hearts are sorrowful, their malice never feared, their bodies emaciated, their needs few, and their persons chaste. They patiently endure their few days here in this world, awaiting the long comfort of the hereafter. Theirs is a profitable transaction bestowed in ease and security by their Lord. The world approached them, but they turned away. It shackled them, but they ransomed their souls and set themselves free. In the night they stand in worship and recite sections of the Qurʾan. They chant them in sweet melody, moving their own hearts to tears, and finding there the cure for their illness. If they come across a verse that rouses their yearning, they consume it hungrily, their hearts stretching out toward it in longing. They see its promised blessings before their eyes. If they come across a verse that stokes their fear, they incline their hearts toward its warning. The hiss and crackle of the inferno fills the innermost recesses of their ears. They bow their backs, laying their forehead, palms, knees, and toes on the ground, beseeching God to free their necks from the Fire. In the day, they are kind, wise, good, and pious. Fear has made them as thin as arrow shafts. The onlooker thinks them ailing, but they are not ill. He says, âTheyâre crazy!â but they are crazed only by something immensely grave. They are not satisfied with a few deeds of goodness, nor do they consider their numerous endeavors too many. They constantly chide themselves and fear the consequence of their actions. If one of them is praised, he is apprehensive, and replies, âI know myself better than you know me, and my Lord knows me even better! Lord, do not hold me to what they say about me, but make me more virtuous than they think I am, and forgive those actions of which they do not know.â1 Their hallmark is strength in faith, resolve with gentleness, belief with certainty, voracity for knowledge, knowledge with maturity, temperance in affluence, humility in worship, forbearance in indigence, patience in hardship, desire for the licit, enthusiasm in following guidance, and aversion to greed. |
Final lines similar to §â¯3.90.
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They do good while always being on guard. They spend the night thanking God and the morning praising him. They sleep vigilant and awake in joy, vigilant because they have been warned against neglect, and joyful because of the blessings and mercy they have gained. If their ego bucks against doing something it dislikes, they do not give it free rein to do what it desires. Their joy is centered on whatever brings lasting reward, while they care little for ephemeral baubles that will not remain. They combine maturity with learning and words with action. You will see thisâtheir needs are few, their slips are rare, their hearts are humble, their souls are content, their fare is meager, their manner is affable, their faith is secure, their appetite is dead, and their rage is held in check. Their goodness is always anticipated, their evil never feared. If they sit with the heedless, they are still numbered among the heedful, and if they sit with the heedful, they are not numbered among the heedless. They forgive those who oppress them, give to those who refuse them, and foster those who cut them off. Lewdness is far removed from their persons, gentleness imbues their words, and wrongdoing is absent from their actions. Their decency is ever present, their goodness always forthcoming, and their wickedness always distant. In calamities they remain dignified, in catastrophes they remain patient, in happy times they remain thankful. They never wrong an enemy or transgress to help loved ones. They acknowledge the dues they owe to others before testimony is given against them. They never squander what they have been given in trust, they never forget what they have been reminded of, they never call others vile names, they never harm a neighbor, they never gloat at anotherâs misfortune, they never enter into wrongdoing or abandon the truth. If they are silent, their silence is not burdensome. If they laugh, they are not raucous. If attacked treacherously, they are patientâGod himself avenges them. They weary themselves by constant chiding, while never causing others unease. They push themselves to prepare for the hereafter and never cause others harm. Chaste and upright, they stay away from those who distance themselves. Kind and merciful, they draw near to those who seek to come close. Their detachment is not out of arrogance or grandiosity, and their accessibility is not out of cunning or trickery. Raá¸Ä«: The narrator said: HammÄm fell as though struck by a thunderbolt and died then and there. The Commander of the Faithful exclaimed, âBy God, I feared this effect on him!â Then he continued, âThis is what strong counsel does to people who listen!â A man challenged Ê¿AlÄ«, âCommander of the Faithful, how about you, then?â and Ê¿AlÄ« replied angrily, âGood grief! Each lifespan has an allotted time that it does not transgress and a cause that it does not overstep. Slow down! Donât repeat this kind of talk again, for it was Satan who spoke with your tongue.â |
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â1.192 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« in which he describes the hypocrites who feign faith: We praise God for having guided us toward obedience and guarded us from disobedience. We ask him to perfect his blessings and help us hold fast to his rope. We testify that Muḥammad is his servant and messenger, who plunged into every swelling wave, and swallowed every choking morsel, to earn his pleasure. Close relatives showed their true colors and turned away, while distant kin banded against him; loosening their horsesâ reins and whipping the bellies of their camels, Arab tribesmen raced from the furthest, most distant abodes to fight him, until their rancor alighted in his courtyard. Servants of God, I counsel you to remain conscious of him! I warn you against hypocrites, who, having strayed from the path, lead others astray, and having slipped, cause others to slip. Chameleon-like, they change color, change narratives; they aim at you from behind every pillar and lie in wait at every lookout. Their hearts are diseased while their faces look fresh, they walk with stealth and creep through the thicket, their words seem to heal but their actions bring chronic illness, they envy good fortune, magnify hardship, and destroy hope. In every path they leave a body felled, into every heart they find access, for every sad situation they produce false tears. They trade praises and expect material reward. When they solicit, they do not stop, when they turn away, they expose your shame, when they are given rule, they commit all kinds of excess. For every right, they have prepared an opposing wrong, for everything upright, something that will make it bend, for every living thing a killer, for every door a key, and for every night a lamp. They nourish their greed by creating desperation, in order to sustain their markets and sell their expensive wares; they speak to confuse and describe to delude; they frighten you from the path and create confusion in the narrow defile. They are Satanâs host and hellfireâs scorpion-sting. «These are Satanâs faction. Hark! Satanâs faction are losers.»1 â1.193 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: Praise God! He has revealed traces of his authority and the magnificence of his majestyâtheir mighty wonders dazzle the intellectâs eyes and prevent the soulâs flashing thoughts from plumbing the depths of his attributes. I testify with belief, certainty, sincerity, and humility that there is no god but God. I testify that Muḥammad is his servant and messenger, whom he sent when guidanceâs banners had frayed and religionâs pathways had eroded to declare the truth, counsel the world, guide toward virtue, and command temperance. May God bless him and his descendants. |
Qurʾan, MujÄdalah 58:19.
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Servants of God! Know that God has not created you in jest, nor cut you loose without direction. He knows the extent of his blessings and keeps track of his bounties, so ask him to grant you victory and success, seek his favors and generosity. No veil separates you from his favors, nor is any door to him closed. He is present in every place, in each time and moment, with every human and jinn. Generosity does not deplete his possessions, charity does not decrease them, supplicants do not use them up, and gifts do not drain their depths. One person does not divert his attention from another, nor does one voice distract him from another. But giving also does not prevent him from taking away. Anger does not preoccupy him from mercy, nor does mercy confound him from punishing. The visible does not block him from the hidden, nor does the hidden separate him from the visible. He is close yet distant, transcendent yet near, manifest yet hidden, hidden yet open, and close yet utterly beyond reach. He did not create the world through artifice, nor did fatigue ever prompt him to solicit help. Servants of God! I counsel you to be conscious of God! Piety is your harness and mainstay. Hold fast to its ropes and seek protection in its truths, for they will lead you to comfortable dwellings, expansive homelands, protective fortresses, and mighty abodes, on «the day when eyes stare fixedly in terror»,1 the earth falls dark, camel mares in full term are abandoned, and the horn is blown.2 At that time, spirits will perish, and tongues will be struck dumb. Lofty peaks and rugged rocks will crumble, their hardness will turn into a shifting mirage, their fastness will convert to bare, flat desert. In that moment, no intercessor will intercede, no kin will offer protection, no excuse will avail. â1.194 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: God sent Muḥammad when no waymark was raised, no beacon shone, and there was no clear road. Servants of God! I counsel you to be conscious of God! I warn you of this world, a habitation you must vacate, a quarter plagued by suffering; its tenants must depart, and its occupants must leave. It heavesâwith its peopleâlike a ship tossed by stormy winds on the swells of the deep sea; some drown and perish, while others are saved on waves whose strong currents carry them away and dash them into further dangers; those who drown cannot be saved, while those who are saved will still die. Servants of God, take heed now! Act while tongues are free, bodies are sound, limbs are pliant, the course is free, and the track is open. Act before this chance is gone and death arrives. Know that it will come upon youâdonât delay until it is here. |
Qurʾan, IbrÄhÄ«m 14:42.
Reference to Qurʾan, Takwīr 81:4, Nabaʾ 78:18. Camel mares in full term would in normal times be the most carefully tended.
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â1.195 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 Muḥammadâs true companions know that never, not in a single instance, have I ever renounced God or his Messenger. I laid down my life to protect him during times so fraught that champions hesitated, and all feet flounderedâmy courage was a gift from God. Moreover, the Messenger died with his head on my chest, and his spirit flowed out over my palm, and I put my palm to my face directly. I undertook his final ablution with angels as my helpersâthe house and courtyard rang out as one group descended and another ascended, each praying over him, my ears hearing every soft invocation, until we buried him in his grave. Who is closer to him, alive or dead, than I? Act with perception, people, and fight your enemy with true courage! I swear by the God save whom there is no god, that I walk the firm path of right, they flounder on the slippery slope of wrong. I say what you hear, and seek Godâs forgiveness for me and for you. â1.196 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: â1.196.1 â¬He knows the bellowing of beasts in the forest, the sins his servants commit in private, the movements of fish in the deep oceans, and the crashing of waters tossed by stormy winds. I testify that Muḥammad is Godâs noble representative, the ambassador who conveyed his revelation, and the messenger who brought his mercy. And now to the matter at hand: I counsel you to be conscious of God, who created you in the beginning, to whom you shall return. With him lies your petitionâs success, in him rests your hopesâ realization. Your path leads to him, in him you will find protection. Consciousness of God is the remedy for your sick hearts, the bringer of sight to your blind spirits, the cure for your diseased bodies, the healing for your corrupt breasts, the purification of your begrimed souls, the luster for your impaired eyes, the safeguard for your fearful minds, and the light for your black darkness. Wear it as an undergarment, not just as an outer robe, wear it next to your skin, not simply as an undergarment. Make it the essence that |
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At á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657, in response to orations by MuÊ¿Äwiyah and Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£, in which they urged their Syrian army to fight Ê¿AlÄ« and accused him of breaking his oath of allegiance and spilling blood unjustly (MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 223â224). âMuḥammadâs true companions,â lit. âcustodians (mustaḥfaáºÅ«n) from among Muḥammadâs Companions,â are explained by commentators as being (1) the first three historical caliphs, AbÅ« Bakr, Ê¿Umar, and Ê¿UthmÄn, or (2) the learned. The statement about Ê¿AlÄ«âs never having disobeyed the Prophet is an oblique criticism of Ê¿Umarâs objections to Muḥammadâs truce at Ḥudaybiyyah. Ḥ 10:179; R 2:292; B 612; details of Muḥammadâs final moments and Ê¿AlÄ«âs performance of his ablutions are recounted in Ḥ 10:183â187; B 612â613.
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penetrates your ribs, the commander who governs your affairs, the waterhole where you drink, the advocate for your petition, the shield that will protect you on the day of dread, the lamp in the hollow of your grave, the comforter during your long, lonely suffering, and the air that helps you breathe during the anguish of your battles. Obedience to God is an amulet that protects against encroaching dangers, looming perils, and blazing fires. Whoever is conscious of God finds troubles retreat after having approached, concerns sweeten after bitterness, waves recede after whipping up, hardships ease after exhaustion, generosity flow after drought, mercy come forward after having fled, favors gush out after draining away, and blessings pour down after scanty rain. Be conscious of Godâhe aided you with his guidance, counselled you with his message, and blessed you with his favors. Devote yourselves to his worship and discharge your duties of obedience to him. â1.196.2 â¬Islam is Godâs religion that he chose for himself and fashioned in front of his eyes.1 He bestowed it upon the best of his creation,2 and raised its pillars upon his love. He humbled all religions by honoring it, lowered all nations by elevating it, shamed all enemies by giving it renown, chastened all challengers by giving it victory, razed errorâs columns by erecting its column, slaked the thirsty from its pools, and filled these pools through its watercarriersâ efforts. He has made it such that its handle will never break, its links will never separate, its foundations will never be destroyed, its pillars will never cease to stand, its tree will never be uprooted, its time will never end, its ways will never be effaced, its branches will never be chopped, its paths will never become narrow, its ease will never change to harshness, its dawn will never dim, its straightness will never twist, its shaft will never warp, its canyon will never become rutted, its lamps will never be extinguished, and its sweetness will never turn bitter. It is built with columns whose bases are embedded in truth and whose pediments are strong, it has wellsprings whose water gushes, lamps whose flames rise high, beacons by which travelers are guided, waymarks by which mountain passes are indicated, and watering places where thirst is slaked. God is pleased with his religion.3 He has made it the pinnacle of his pillars and the summit of obedience. It stands before God, column compact, |
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Reference to Qurʾan, ṬÄhÄ 20:39.
The ShiÊ¿i commentators interpret âthe best of his creationâ (khayrata/khiyarata khalqihi) as Muḥammad and his descendants (B 617; R 2:301â302), the Sunni commentators as (2) all Muslims (Ḥ 10:192).
Reference to Qurʾan, MÄʾidah 5:3, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:19.
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edifice exalted, proof shining, fires burning, power mighty, and beacon raised, impossible to destroy.1 So honor it, follow it, give it its due, and accord it the position it deserves. â1.196.3 â¬God sent Muḥammad with the truth when the end of the world had drawn near and the next life had approached, when her splendor had dulled after long brightness, her people confronted attack, her bed had turned rough, and her reins had become slack. This was a time when the worldâs lifespan was drawing to a close, her signs were at hand, her people were mowed down, her ropes had frayed, her waymarks were effaced, her shame was manifest, and her long rope had been cut. God made Muḥammad the bearer of his message, honor for his community, springtime for his people, exaltation for his helpers, and distinction for his allies. â1.196.4 â¬God revealed to him the Bookâa light whose flame cannot be extinguished, a lamp whose glow cannot be hidden, a sea whose depths cannot be plumbed, a road whose course does not mislead, a ray whose brightness never darkens, a dawn whose proof is never extinguished, an edifice whose columns cannot be razed, a cure after which no disease is feared, might whose supporters are never vanquished, and truth whose proponents are never bested. It forms the mine and home of belief, the founts and seas of wisdom, the meadows and pools of justice, the frame and edifice of Islam, and the valleys and orchards of truth. It holds a mighty river that water-seekers cannot exhaust, wellsprings that water-drawers cannot deplete, waterholes that drinkers cannot drain, waystations that travelers cannot miss, waymarks to which wayfarers cannot remain blind, and highlands that travelers cannot circumvent. God has made it water to quench the thirst of the learned, springtime for the hearts of the wise, the high road for the pious to walk, a healing after which there is no illness, a light alongside which there is no darkness, a handle whose grip is strong, and a fortress whose ramparts are never stormed. It gives might to those who are loyal, peace to those who enter, guidance to those who follow, defense for those who adhere, proof to those who articulate, witness to those who argue, victory to those who fight, support for those who carry, steeds for those who ride, signs for those who foretell, shields for those who seek armor, knowledge for those who heed, truth for those who narrate, and discernment for those who judge. |
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Ar. muÊ¿wiz al-mathÄr; translation based on Ḥ 10:193; R 2:303; or âdifficult to excavate,â referring to the treasures of its wisdom, based on B 619.
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â1.197 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« with which he would counsel his associates:1 Be diligent in the matter of the ritual prayerâpray regularly and frequently, and seek to come closer to God through it, for it is «prescribed for believers at fixed times.»2 Have you not heard the people of hell when they were asked, «âWhat led you into the Fire?â and they answered, âWe were not among those who prayedâ».3 Prayer makes sins fall from you like leaves and loosens their bonds from your necks. Godâs Messenger compared it to a hot spring located at a manâs doorstep, one that he can bathe in five times in one day and nightâtell me, what grime will remain on his body then? Prayerâs value is recognized by believers who are not diverted by gilded furniture or the gratifications of children and herds, believers God praises as «men whom neither trade nor commerce divert from remembering God, from performing the prayer, or submitting the alms-levy».4 Even after being pledged paradise, the Messenger exerted himself to the utmost in prayer, for God instructed him, «command your family to pray, and adhere to it yourself»5âhe thus commanded his family to pray, and adhered to it himself. Second, be assiduous in offering the alms-levy, which, alongside the ritual prayer, is a means for the followers of Islam to obtain closeness to God. Whoever gives it freely and happily will find that it serves as expiation for his sins and a barrier and shield against hellfire. Let no one yearn for it after giving it or mourn its loss! For whoever gives it unwillingly, hoping only for material benefit, is ignorant of the Sunnah and will be cheated of its reward; his deed will be lost and his regret will persist. Third, be careful to uphold trustâwhoever does so will not fail. Indeed, the trust was offered to the lofty skies, the outspread earth, and the towering, deep-rooted mountainsâthere is nothing taller, or broader, or higher, or greater than they, and if anything could have borne it because of height, or breadth, or strength, or might it would have been they. But they feared the punishment and understood what was not recognized by a weaker being, «the human, for he was a tyrant, an ignoramus.»6 The sins that Godâs servants commit at night or by day are not concealed from him. His awareness of them is total, his knowledge encompasses them fully: your limbs are his witnesses,7 your bodies are his armies, your hearts are his spies, and your private conversations are open to him. |
KulaynÄ«âs report (KÄfÄ«, 5;36) says Ê¿AlÄ« would counsel his followers thus ahead of any battleâperhaps as a testament, in anticipation of his death.
Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:103.
Qurʾan, Muddaththir 74:42â43.
Qurʾan, Nūr 24:37.
Qurʾan, ṬÄhÄ 20:132.
Qurʾan, AḥzÄb 33:72; the lines leading up to it are a modified quote from the earlier part of the same verse.
Reference to Qurʾan, Nūr 24:24.
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â1.198 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 By God, MuÊ¿Äwiyah is not more astute than I, but he deceives and lies. If I did not abhor deception, I would be the most cunning of people, but every act of deception is a lie, every lie is an act of unbelief, and every deceiver will be given a banner by which he shall be known on judgment day.2 But, by God, I am not one to be taken unawares by a plot or found weak in the face of adversity! â1.199 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:3 People! Do not be nervous about following the path of guidance because its followers are few. The public has gathered round a table where satiety is short, and hunger will be long. People! Approval and disapproval unite people. Only one man slaughtered ThamÅ«dâs camel mare, but God included them all in his punishment because they united in approving his act. God said, «They slaughtered the mare, and in the morning, they had cause to regret.»4 For their land roared and was swallowed up with its inhabitants, like a fire-seared ploughshare hissing as it sinks into soft soil. People! Whoever follows the trodden path reaches water. Whoever strays dies in the scorching desert. â1.200 â¬From words uttered by Ê¿AlÄ« just after he had buried the queen of all women, FÄá¹imah, at the graveside of Godâs Messenger:5 Salutations to you, Messenger of God, from me and from your daughter who has come to stay with you, who has joined you so swiftly. I have little strength to bear the loss of your cherished one, O Messenger of God! My endurance is broken! But I bore the anguish of your separation and the calamity of your passing and shall strive to endure this too. It was I who placed you in the hollow of your grave. You breathed your last with your head resting between my neck and chest. «Truly, to God we belong and to him we shall return!»6 The deposit has been reclaimed and the loan has been repossessed, but my grief will remain forever, my nights will be wakeful evermore, until the time when God transports me to the home where you now reside. Your daughter will inform you, so press her to answer, and find out from her what has happened to usâso soon, when your memory was still fresh among the people! Salutations to you both from one who bids you farewell, but not because of aversion or fatigue. When I take my leave, it is not because I |
Delivered in the Grand Mosque in Kufa, presumably after the arbitration in 37/658 (KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 2:338). On MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs and Ê¿AlÄ«âs strategies of governance and warfare, see Ḥ 10:212â260; B 626â627.
Modified quote of the Prophetâs hadith, Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯1.162.
Delivered in the Grand Mosque in Kufa during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, presumably between 37/658 and 40/661. Ibn AbÄ« Zaynab, Ghaybah, 37.
Qurʾan, ShuÊ¿arÄʾ 26:157.
Delivered in Medina in 11/632.
Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:156.
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wearied of grieving. When I stay, it is not from lack of faith in Godâs promise to the patient. â1.201 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«: People! The world is a passage and the hereafter your permanent home. Gather supplies from your abode of transience for your abode of residence. Do not rend your veils before one who knows all your secrets. Remove your hearts from the world before your bodies are removed from it. Here you are tested, but you are created for another home. When a man dies, people ask, âWhat did he leave behind?â while the angels inquire, âWhat has he sent on ahead?â May God reward your fathers! Send ahead a portion that will remain yours. Do not leave everything behind, for that will count against you. â1.202 â¬From words Ê¿AlÄ« often addressed in oration to his associates:1 Gather your suppliesâMay God have mercy on you!âfor the call has come to depart. Lessen your inclination toward the world and see that you leave your present life with provisions. A tough ascent lies ahead with fearsome and strange waystations through which you must pass and at which you must alight. Know this: Death homes in on you. Imagine that you are already trying to ward off its claws, that its horrors and fearsome calamities are already upon you. Cut off all ties to this world and prepare provisions of piety. Raá¸Ä«: Similar lines have been recorded earlier in a different version.2 â1.203 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« to Ṭalḥah and Zubayr whenâafter pledging allegiance to him as caliphâthey reproached him for not consulting them or seeking their assistance in governing:3 |
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Delivered regularly in the Grand Mosque in Kufa during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661. á¹¢adÅ«q (AmÄlÄ«, 402â403, Majlis 75), says: âThe Commander of the Faithful would pray the Ê¿ishÄʾ night-prayer, then call out thrice, so all the people in the mosque would hear him: (the text).â Similar tag in MufÄ«d, IrshÄd, 2:234. MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ« (Nuzhah, 420), says: âThe Commander of the Faithful would call out every night, in the face of the morning: (the text of the first half).â He cites the second half as part of an oration (of which §â¯1.96 is another part) in the mosque in Basra, a few days after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (ibid., 236).
Possibly referring to §â¯1.182.
Delivered in Medina in 35/656, soon after Ê¿AlÄ« received the pledge. Ê¿AlÄ« rescinded the earlier caliphsâ practice of graded stipends and gave everyone an equal share from the state treasury (similar context in §â¯1.124). Ṭalḥah and Zubayr were unhappy with this new arrangement and complained. When Ê¿AlÄ« replied as he did in this address, they sought leave to go to Mecca, and once there, planned with Ê¿Äʾishah a revolt against him, which resulted in the Battle of the Camel. On the events leading up to this address, and the address itself, see IskÄfÄ«, MiÊ¿yÄr, 112â114. On Ṭalḥahâs and Zubayrâs pledge to Ê¿AlÄ« and their subsequent breaking of it, see Ḥ 11:10â20. See also §â¯3.186.
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You rebuke me for a small matter and youâre going to bring on much more besides. Tell meâwhich rights have I deprived you of, what share due to you have I withheld? Or which claim has been brought to me by any Muslim that I have been too weak to deal with, or proved to be ignorant about, or mistaken in handling? By God, I had no wish to assume the caliphate and no interest in ruling. It was you who urged me and pleaded with me to accept. And when the caliphate came to me, I looked to Godâs Book for guidance, and to its ordinances and commandments for governance, and followed its path. I looked to the Prophetâs Sunnah and emulated his example. I had no need of your opinion or the opinion of any other, there was no ruling I was uncertain about such that I needed to consult you or any of my Muslim brethren. Had I needed advice, I would not have held back from you or anyone else. My equal distribution of treasury funds is a matter neither of personal decision nor whim, but I have found thisâand you know it tooâto be the ruling brought and decided by Godâs Messenger. I did not need your help in deciding the manner of distribution that God had already set forth, that he already ruled on. By God, neither you nor anyone else has grounds to reproach me! May God guide your hearts and mine to right and move me and you to have patience in adversity. Then Ê¿AlÄ« said: May God have mercy on the man who supports right when he sees it and repudiates wrong when he sees it, who courageously supports right against those who promote wrong. â1.204 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« when he heard some of his supporters cursing the Syrians during the conflict at á¹¢iffÄ«n:1 I donât like you to curse! Rather, describe their deeds and define their situation, that is a more judicious way of speaking and more convincing. Instead of cursing, itâs better for you to say this: âGod, preserve our blood and theirs from being spilled, reconcile us, guide them out of their error until the ignorant recognize right and those enamored of deception and enmity retreat from their unrighteous ways.â |
In 37/657, in Kufa, just before Ê¿AlÄ« set out to fight the Syrians. The supporters are Ḥujr ibn Ê¿AdÄ« and Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ḥamiq al-KhuzÄÊ¿Ä«. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 102â103. Note that this event took place before the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n, when Ê¿AlÄ« was still hopeful of persuading the Syrians to pledge allegiance to him; moreover, he is forbidding his followers from cursing the Syrians generally. As for MuÊ¿Äwiyah, Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£, and even his own disloyal arbiter, AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ al-AshÊ¿arÄ«, Ê¿AlÄ« himself is later said to have regularly cursed them and four others of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs commanders after each prayer. Ibid., 552.
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â1.205 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« on one of the battle-days of á¹¢iffÄ«n, when he saw Ḥasan rushing into the fray:1 Help me! Restrain this lad! Donât let him crush my hopes! I am determined to protect both (meaning Ḥasan and Ḥusayn) from death, so that the Messengerâs line doesnât end here! Raá¸Ä«: Ê¿AlÄ«âs expression, âHelp me! Restrain this lad! (imlikÅ« Ê¿annÄ« hÄdhÄ l-ghulÄm)â is among the most sublime and eloquent of words. â1.206 â¬From an address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered when his supporters disagreed with him in the matter of the arbitration:2 People! You have followed my command as I have wished thus far, but now warfare has worn you out. By God, it has indeed taken some and left some, but it has depleted your enemy more than you! Yesterday I was your commander, and today you command me. Yesterday I was the one who forbade you, and today you forbid me. You want to live, and I have no way of convincing you to do what you are dead set against. â1.207 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« in Basra. Ê¿AlÄ« went to visit Ê¿AlÄʾ ibn ZiyÄd al-ḤÄrithÄ«, one of his supporters who was ill; when Ê¿AlÄ« saw the size of the house, he said:3 â1.207.1 â¬What will you do with this large house here in this world? You will have more need of it in the hereafter! And yes, if you wish, you can take it with you. Offer hospitality in it to guests, use it to foster ties with kin, and pay your dues on it as they accrue. If you do all this, you will take it with you to the hereafter. |
In 36â37/657. For events before and after, see MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 529â530.
This was at á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657. The battle was going in Ê¿AlÄ«âs favor when MuÊ¿Äwiyahâafter earlier having rebuffed Ê¿AlÄ«âs efforts at negotiationâheld aloft Qurʾan leaves attached to spears and asked for arbitration. Ê¿AlÄ« believed this to be a ruse and urged his supporters to continue fighting, but there were many who insisted he accept. Some details in Ḥ 11:29â31; text and further context in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 484.
In 36/656, following the Battle of the Camel (IskÄfÄ«, MiÊ¿yÄr, 243). Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 11:37) says the man was named RabÄ«Ê¿ ibn ZiyÄd al-ḤÄrithÄ« (cf. the same anecdote in MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 384, which also has RabÄ«Ê¿), and that the name Ê¿AlÄʾ is an error. RabÄ«Ê¿ was a Companion of the Prophet, who was a commander during the conquest of Khurasan and served as governor of Bahrain during Ê¿Umarâs caliphate. Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d says this anecdote about RabÄ«Ê¿ and Ê¿AlÄ« is well known, while Ê¿AlÄʾ is not mentioned elsewhere in the sources.
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â1.207.2 â¬Ê¿AlÄʾ then said to Ê¿AlÄ«, âCommander of the Faithful, I have a complaint against my brother Ê¿Äá¹£im ibn ZiyÄd.â Ê¿AlÄ« asked, âWhat is your problem with him?â and Ê¿AlÄʾ replied, âHe has donned a striped cloak of haircloth and renounced the world.â Ê¿AlÄ« instructed, âBring him to me!â and when Ê¿Äá¹£im was brought before him, Ê¿AlÄ« berated him: O self-hater, the evil one has befuddled you! Do you feel no compassion toward your wife and children? Do you think that God has made licit for you the good things of this world when he did not want you to partake of them? Are you so important to God that he should trouble with all that! Raá¸Ä«: Ê¿Äá¹£im replied, âBut, Commander of the Faithful, here you stand with your rough clothing and coarse food!â and Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed: Good grief! Our situations are not the same. God has mandated for true leaders that they should measure themselves against the needy so that the poor are not crushed by their penury. â1.208 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« responding to a man who asked him about invented hadith and contrary reports current among people. He said:1 Reports current among people today include both the right and the wrong, the true and the false, the abrogating and the abrogated, the general and the specific, the clear and the ambiguous, and the accurate and the flawed. People attributed things falsely to the Messenger even when he was alive, until finally he stood up to orate and declared, â¨Whoever deliberately misattributes something to me will take possession of a seat in hellfireâ©. There are four kinds of men who come to you with hadith, there is no fifth after them: The first is the hypocrite who makes a show of faith and pretends to be a Muslim. He neither fears sinning nor hesitates to commit an act of wickedness, and he deliberately misattributes words to Godâs Messenger. If people knew that he is a lying hypocrite, they would not accept the report from him or believe his words, but instead they say, âThis is the Messengerâs Companion, who saw him, heard from him, and took from him,â and so they accept his words. You know what God has |
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Presumably in Kufa, during the years of Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661. The man is said to be Sulaym ibn Qays, who prefaced his question to Ê¿AlÄ« with the lines, âI have heard SalmÄn, AbÅ« Dharr, and MiqdÄd speak of certain things regarding exegesis of the Qurʾan, and hadith and reports from Godâs Messenger, and I have heard you endorse those. But there are many hadith and reports in peopleâs hands that contradict them â¦â (text and context in ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 193â196). On Sulaym, see Muḥammad BÄqir Aná¹£ÄrÄ«, âLamḥah Ê¿an ḥayÄt Sulaym wa-taÊ¿rÄ«kh kitÄbihi,â in the introduction to his edition of KitÄb Sulaym, 1:41â84. Alternatively, the text is cited as an answer given during an oration in the mosque in Basra, a few days after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 229). Other parts of the same oration, as cited in ibid., 221â233, are listed in the note to §â¯1.23.
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said to you about hypocrites, you know how God has described them! After the Messengerâs death they persisted, seeking closeness with lies and fabrications to false leaders and hellâs advocates who made them governors and gave them authority over peopleâs necksâleaders who, in turn, amassed wealth through them. Except for those whom God protects, most people side with kings and choose the path of worldly benefit. This is one of the four. The second is a man who has heard something from the Messenger but has not retained it correctly, he errs but does not deliberately lie. The report as he remembers it is in his hands, and he narrates it and acts upon it, saying, âI heard this from Godâs Messenger.â The Muslims would not accept it from him if they knew that he errs; he too would reject it if he knew. The third is a man who heard the Messenger ordain something that he later forbade but does not know this, or he heard the Messenger forbid something that he later ordained but does not know this, he thus preserves the abrogated, but not the abrogating, ruling. He himself would reject it if he knew it was abrogated; the Muslims would reject it too if they knew it was abrogated. The fourth is a man who never attributes words falsely to God or to his Messenger. He fears God and reveres Godâs Messenger, and he detests lies. He does not err and correctly preserves what he heard, relating the report as he heard it without addition or omission. He knows the abrogating ruling and acts upon it, and he knows the abrogated act and stays away from it. He knows the specific and the general and places everything in its proper place, he knows the ambiguous and the clear. Indeed, the words the Messenger spoke were of two kinds, the specific and the general. Many who heard them did not fully understand what God or his Messenger had meant. These people narrated and interpreted them in a particular way without understanding their real meaning, or what the Messenger had intended in uttering them, or the context in which he had spoken them. Not all the Messengerâs Companions questioned him and sought clarity, in fact, they used to hope that a Bedouin or a stranger would turn up and inquire so that they could hear the explanation. I, on the other hand, asked the Messenger about all his utterances and remembered them correctly. These are the categories of disagreement among the people, and the reasons for their varied narrations. â1.209 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: Through his supreme power and sublime and wondrous craftsmanship, God produced dry, solid earth from the raging, crashing, ocean masses.1 He then divided the firmament into layers and separated its mass into seven skies that held together through his command and stood at the limit he had set. The skies |
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I have inserted the word âearth,â following Ḥ 11:52; B 640; R 2:336â337.
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were borne by the aquamarine depths, and those vast seas that submitted to his command bowed in reverence and stilled their flow in awe. He formed the earthâs rocky crags and towering ridges and peaks, anchoring and embedding them in the seabed until their summits rose high in the firmament and their roots sank deep below the waterâs surface. He elevated the mountains above its plains and sank its supports into the backs of its far-reaching regions and landmarks, summits lofty and pinnacles high, columns for the earth fixed inside it like pegs. The earth became still. It no longer heaved or tossed around its inhabitants, nor sank under their weight, nor shifted position. Glory to him who stopped its movement after its waters had surged in billows, who made it dry and solid after its regions had been covered in water! He made it a cradle for his creatures and unfurled it like a carpet. He settled it on still ocean depths that do not surge, a quiet sea that does not flow, though it is whipped by blustery winds, and churned by tempestuous clouds. «There is a lesson here for all who venerate God.»1 â1.210 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 God! I ask you, O greatest witness, to bear witness over any of your servants who hear my wordsâwords that are always just, never tyrannical, always righteous, never corruptâand, after hearing them, refuses to support you and holds back from fighting for your religion. I ask all whom you have housed upon your earth and in your skies to bear witness over him. And God, I know that you will suffice me without his support and hold him accountable for his sin. â1.211 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: Praise Godâexalted beyond comparisons to created beings, greater than the utterances of those who describe, manifest through his wondrous planning to beholders, concealed in his majestic might from thinkers, all-knowing without acquisition, increase, or learning, ordainer of all affairs without reflection or thought. Darkness does not cover him, lights do not illumine him, nights do not torment him, and days do not fatigue him. His perception does not stem from vision, his knowledge does not stem from reports. From the same oration in praise of the Prophet: |
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Qurʾan, NÄziÊ¿Ät 79:26.
Presumably in Kufa, between 37/658 and 40/661. B 640: âThis is an excerpt from an oration with which Ê¿AlÄ« frequently urged his associates to muster against the Syrians, delivered after most of them held back from supporting him in the fight.â
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God sent him with light and precedence among his select. Through him, God repaired torn ties, fought off powerful enemies, made the unruly tractable, and smoothed rough groundâuntil he had dispelled error from the right and from the left. â1.212 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 I testify that God is the fount of justice who always gives justice, the judge whose judgment is final. I testify that Muḥammad is his servant, and the chief among his servants. Whenever God divided a blood line into two, he placed Muḥammad in the best line; no fornicator ever had a share in producing him, nor an adulterer any part. Harken to me! God has created upholders of good, pillars of right, and guardians for acts of obedience. When you perform an act of obedience, you will find that Godâs aid speaks to you through peopleâs tongues and makes your hearts steadfastâGodâs aid suffices those who rely on it and cures those who seek to be cured. Know this: Those whom God has entrusted with preserving his knowledge protect its fortifications, pour forth its streams, associate with each other in loyalty, meet each other with affection, offer each other refreshing cups, and leave the waterhole with their thirst quenched; doubts never plague them and backbiting never gains traction. God has bound their bodies and their character to this holy way of being, and they love each other and foster mutual regard. They are like high quality grain used for planting: first it is sorted, and the bestâdistinguished by purity and refined by fireâis picked out and sown into the ploughed earth. Let each man among you secure honor by adopting this counsel! Let him fear the great calamity before it descends! Let each man reflect on the shortness of his days, on the brevity of his stay, in this abode that he will soon exchange for another! Let him prepare for the journey and watch for the signs of the exodus! Blessed is the person who possesses a sound heart, obeys his guide, and shuns his destroyer, who finds the road to security through the sight bestowed on him by his teacher and obedience to the commands of his guide, who hastens to attain guidance before its doors close and its ropes sever, who knocks on the door of forgiveness and repulses sin! Such a person has been placed on the right path. He has been guided to the straight road. â1.213 â¬From a supplication by Ê¿AlÄ«: |
Raá¸Ä« transcribes this text among Ê¿AlÄ«âs orations, but Ibn ṬÄwÅ«s (Kashf, 189â192) cites it as part of a letter, which he says Ê¿AlÄ« âwrote to one of his eminent companions.â
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Praise God who brought me to this morning alive and healthy with no leprosy in my veins,1 not seized for my worst deeds, or with my line of descendants severed, or an apostate from my religion, or a denier of my Lord, or estranged from my faith, or with my mind confused, or punished with the punishment meted out to nations before me. God! I have come into this morning your servant and bondsman, one who has oppressed his own soul. You have established your case against me, while I have no case to offer you. I can take nothing except what you give me, I can protect myself against nothing except what you protect me against. God! I seek refuge in you! Let me not be poor when you possess riches. Let me not stray when you are the guide. Let me not be assaulted in the domain of your authority. Let me not be persecuted when you are the one who commands. God! Of all the precious faculties I possess, let my spirit be the first thing you wrest from me. Of all the blessings you have given me in trust, let it be the first deposit you ask to be returned. God! We seek refuge in you! Do not let us forsake your word or be lured away from your religion. Do not let our passions rush us headlong into evil, rather than being led by the guidance that has come from you. â1.214 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« at á¹¢iffÄ«n:2 â1.214.1 â¬God has given me rights over you by placing me in charge of your affairs, and you have rights over me, just as I have over you. Rights are the broadest of things in the scope of their delineation, but the narrowest in terms of equitable application. They are never credited to any individual except that they can also be credited against him, and they are likewise never credited against him except that they can also be credited to him. If it were possible for any being to have rights credited to but not against him, that position would be reserved for Almighty God alone; it would not apply to any of his creatures because he is all-powerful over his servants and always just in enacting his decrees. But God made it his right over his servants that they obey him, while also making it incumbent upon himself to recompense them with manifold reward through the abundant generosity and expansive bounty only he can bestow. Then, as part of Godâs own rights, he mandated rights for some people over others. He balanced these rights in their various aspects, making some entail others, and some not be entailed except by others. The greatest of his mandated rights are those of the ruler over his subjects and those of subjects over |
Ar. sūʾ, lit. âwith my veins being hit with evil,â translation based on Ḥ 11:85, who says that âevilâ was a euphemism for âleprosyâ (baraá¹£).
In 37/657.
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their ruler. This is a duty that God has mandated for everyone over everyone, in a system that generates mutual regard and strengthens Islam. For subjects will not be righteous except when their ruler is righteous, and a ruler will not be righteous except when his subjects are steadfast. If subjects render the ruler his rights and the ruler renders them theirs, truth will become strong, the ways of religion will be established, the waymarks of justice will be fixed, and the road of the Sunnah will become easy to follow. Thereby, the age will become virtuous, the state can be expected to remain stable, and its enemiesâ ambitions will be thwarted. But if subjects overpower their ruler, or if the ruler overburdens his subjects, voices will be divided, oppression will rage, religious corruption will increase, and the straight road will be abandoned. Then, passions will drive actions, rules will be forsaken, and hearts will become diseased. People will cease to be outraged even when essential rights are abandoned, or great injustices perpetrated. In that moment, the pious will be shamed and the evil honored, and God will afflict his servants with great punishments. People, counsel one another in this matter and help one another as you should. No one, no matter how strong his wish to secure Godâs pleasure, or how far-reaching his efforts in doing good, is capable of rendering to God the obedience that is truly his due. God has mandated as a right for himself over his servants that they counsel one another as much as they are able, and help one another in establishing what is proper. No man, no matter how great his station in truth, or how superior his precedence in religion, is above needing help in establishing Godâs charge. And no man, no matter how servile people might think him, or how humble he may appear to their eyes, is too lowly to help in this, or to be helped. â1.214.2 â¬One of Ê¿AlÄ«âs associates responded with a long speech, in which he praised Ê¿AlÄ« profusely and declared that he would hear and obey,1 to which Ê¿AlÄ« countered: Those who feel Godâs majesty in their souls and his grandeur in their hearts should find all else insignificant by comparison; those who have received his great blessings and sublime favors should be the most assiduous in this regard, for when Godâs blessings for a person increase, Godâs rights over him also increase. The pious would say that it is the most foolish rulers who crave acclaim and who ground their authority in pride, so I am mortified that you thought your adulation and praise would please me. But, by Godâs grace, I am not that man. Even if I had relished that kind of speech, I would have set it aside in submission to God, not daring to stretch my hand toward that greatness and |
Text of the manâs full speech reported by KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 5:352.
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glory of which he is far worthier than I. It may be that some people do find praise sweet after achieving an intensely contested victory, but donât shower me with praise just yet for having fought in Godâs cause and yoursâI still have many obligations to discharge and many requirements to fulfill. Donât address me as you would tyrants, donât be wary of me as you would those quick to anger, donât try to influence me with flattery. Donât think, moreover, that I should be pained by a word spoken to me in truth, or that I should think myself above it. Anyone who finds the truth painful to hear, who is angered when presented with a sound opinion, will find action even harder. Donât hold back from telling me the truth or offering good counsel, for I donât consider myself above error,1 nor do I count myself safe in my actions, except that God, who has the power to do so, will save me, I know. You and I are his slaves and bondsmen, there is no Lord other than heâhe owns us more surely than we own ourselves. He brought us out from where we were to a better place, replacing our error with guidance, and our blindness with sight. â1.215 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 â1.215.1 â¬God! I ask your help against the Quraysh! They have severed my kinship, upended my vessels, and banded together to wrest from me a right that I have always been worthier of than any other. They mocked, âA right may be taken, and a right may also be denied, so bear your grief, or die lamenting!â I looked around and saw no supporter, no protector, no helper other than my own family, and I chose to save them from sure death. I closed my eyes tight against the dust, choked on my saliva, and swallowed my anger, in a state that was more bitter than colocynth and caused my heart more anguish than a knife wound. Raá¸Ä«: These lines were seen in an earlier orationâI have repeated them here because some language is different.3 |
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The ShiÊ¿i commentators see this line as evidence of Ê¿AlÄ«âs humility (R 2:357; B 650). The Sunni commentator interprets it as an admission of fallibility (Ḥ 11:107â108).
Some sources transcribe this text as part of an epistle Ê¿AlÄ« sent to be read out in public to his supporters following Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£âs killing of Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr in Egypt in 38/658 (ThaqafÄ«, GhÄrÄt, 1:302, 308, 311; Ibn ṬÄwÅ«s, Kashf, 174, 180). It refers to the succession after the Prophetâs death in 11/632 and also to the ShÅ«rÄ Council that appointed Ê¿UthmÄn in 23/644. The text could have been first delivered as an oration, then transcribed and disseminated as an epistle. It could also be that the historians are unsure about the genre because excerpts from orations and epistles from the early period are stylistically quite similar. See discussion of this similarity in Qutbuddin, Arabic Oration, 416â419.
First half of §â¯1.215.1 in §â¯1.170.3, second half in §â¯1.26.2.
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â1.215.2 â¬From the same address, describing those who marched to Basra to fight him:1 They advanced against my governors in Basra and the custodians of the public treasury under my jurisdiction, and against others among the townspeopleâall bound to my obedience and pledged to my allegianceâcreating division and fragmenting their unity. They attacked my followers, killing a group of them through treachery, while another group of loyalists gripped their swords and exchanged blows until they met God, having fought with true courage. â1.216 â¬From words that Ê¿AlÄ« spoke when he passed by the corpses of Ṭalḥah and Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn ibn Ê¿AttÄb ibn AsÄ«d, who had been slain during the Battle of the Camel:2 AbÅ« Muḥammad sleeps here this morning, an exile from his home! By God, I am grieved that the Quraysh should lie slain under the stars! The chieftains of Jumaḥ have escaped my grasp, but I have obtained my revenge against the clan of Ê¿Abd ManÄf. Their necks strained after a position that did not belong to them and they were broken. â1.217 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«: This man resuscitated his intellect and killed his sentient soul, until his body became emaciated and his frame became slight. Lightning shone in a brilliant flash that illuminated the road for him and showed the way. Doors opened before him, one after another, until they conveyed him to the door of safety and the abode of permanence. His feet stood firm, his body serene, in the stable earth of security and comfort. All this because he engaged his heart in good and pleased his Lord. â1.218 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« upon reciting, «You are obsessed with gathering more and more until you visit your graves.»3 |
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Some lines of §â¯1.215.2 also in §â¯1.170.3.
Outside Basra, in 36/656. AbÅ« Muḥammad is Ṭalḥah. Ê¿Abd ManÄfâto which Ê¿AlÄ«âs and the Prophet Muḥammadâs clan of HÄshim also belongedâwas a sub-tribe of the Quraysh. At the Battle of the Camel, the Ê¿Abd ManÄf clansmen killed fighting Ê¿AlÄ« included Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn ibn Ê¿AttÄb, from the clan of Umayyah (Ḥ 11:123â124); Ṭalḥah and Zubayrâfrom the clans of Taym and Asad respectivelyâwere also descended from Ê¿Abd ManÄf on their mothersâ side (B 652). Jumaḥ was another sub-tribe of Quraysh, and, although some of its chieftains were killed, others, including Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn á¹¢afwÄn and Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn ibn á¹¢afwÄn, fled; MarwÄn ibn Ḥakam, also from Jumaḥ, was captured and pardoned (B 652; Ḥ 11:125; see also §â¯1.70).
Qurʾan, TakÄthur 102:1â2.
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â1.218.1 â¬What a goal, and how distant! What a visitor, and how heedless! What a danger, and how terrible! You reckless people have emptied your minds of every lesson the dead could teach you but have seized on their ancient glories!1 Is it of the felling of your forebears that you boast? Or about the large numbers of their dead that you crow? You attempt to resurrect those spiritless corpses and stilled movementsâthey should be harsh lessons for you rather than a source of pride, more correctly denigrated to a place of shame than elevated to a position of honor! You view the deceased with night-blind eyes and plunge with them into the deep waters of ignorance. But if you were to ask their ruined homes and empty courtyards about them, they would answer: âThey were laid in the earth in their error, and you follow in their footsteps in your ignorance. You trample on their skulls and grow crops in their corpses. You pasture on grass growing from their bodies and inhabit what they laid waste. The days will weep and wail over you, just as they wept and wailed over them.â â1.218.2 â¬They have preceded you to the destination that you too will reach. They are the early arrivals scouting out your watering hole. Rulers or subjects in this life, they grasped ploughshares of might and raced steeds of pride. Then they journeyed into the belly of the earth, where she took over, eating their flesh and drinking their blood. Morning dawned on them, inert in the clefts of their graves, a mortgage that could not be recovered. Now, the onset of dangers terrifies them no more, worsening conditions cause them no grief, they are neither shaken by earthquakes nor do they heed claps of thunder, they have vanished and are no longer awaited, they are present yet do not appear, they were all together, but now are fragmented, they were friends, but now they are separated. Their stories are forgotten and their homes silent, but not because of the time that has passed or the distance of their abodes. They have been given a cup to drink that has made their tongues dumb, their ears deaf, and their movements stillâa passing observer would describe them as deep in slumber, but they are neighbors who do not give each other comfort, friends who no longer visit, the ropes of affection between them have frayed, the ties of brotherhood are severed, each of them is alone, though they are all together, each of them is forsaken, though they are all fellows. They do not recognize the morning after the night, or the evening after the day, whichever of the two they departed in, be it day or night, it stays with them foreverâeither they have found the dangers of their new abode far more terrifying than they had feared, or they have seen its blessed signs to be far greater than they had anticipated. Both destinations are a home whose reality surpasses all fear and all hope. |
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Reference to Qurʾan, Sabaʾ 34:52.
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â1.218.3 â¬Had they been able to speak, they would have faltered in describing what they witnessed, what they saw. But even though their traces are effaced, and their stories erased, eyes that heed warnings can still see them, and ears of the intelligent can hear. For they speak to us, though without the instruments of speech, and this is what they have to say: âOur fresh faces have become foul, and our soft bodies putrid; we have donned the rags of decay, and the narrow walls of our bedchambers hem us in, we have inherited the desolate strip of the grave, and this silent bier mocks usâhere the beauties of our bodies are erased, our defined features are unrecognizable. Long has been our stay in this desolate residenceâwe find no relief from our agony, no release from our fetters!â If you were to depict them in your imagination, or if the veil were removed and you could actually see them, this is what you would see: ears blocked up and crawling with scorpions, eyes burst open and dirt the kohl that smears them, tongues cut out after keen eloquence, hearts once vigilant fallen silent in breasts, decay, ever new, ravaging each of their limbs, making them hideous, and preparing the way for yet more calamities to attack. All this, while the dead lie submissive, hands unable to push anything away, hearts unable to recoil. You would see the real anguish in each of their hearts and the pus in each of their eyes. The abominations never move away. The pangs of horror never dissipate. â1.218.4 â¬How completely has the earth eaten up that precious body, that elegant color that was nurtured in luxury and reared in grace! Whenever its owner was faced with grief, he would soothe himself with sensual pleasures, whenever a catastrophe descended, he would seek comforts, clinging to the freshness of his life and unwilling to give up his frolicsome play in the shade of his reckless life. But even as he smiled at the world, and even as she smiled back at him, time pierced him with its thorns, the days assaulted his senses, and deathâs eyes drew ever closer. Then, a new and alien sorrow infected him, and anxieties never felt before whispered in his ear. Earlier smugly complacent about his health, disease now birthed lassitude in his body. He rushed to physicians for treatments, suppressing hot with cold and expelling cold with hot, but his attempt to extinguish hot with cold only made the heat blaze, and his attempt to expel cold with hot only made the blast more frigidâhis attempt to balance the mixtures of these elements only worsened his diseased organs. Eventually, his consolers grew tired and his attendants neglectful. His family were no longer able to describe his disease, and they stopped answering any who inquired about his condition. They argued among themselves about the gravity of his condition and concealed their thoughts from him. One said, âHis disease will take him.â Another spoke hopefully of recovery. A third urged the family to bear his loss with patience, reminding them of how generations had borne losses in the past. |
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While this man was thus perched on the wing of departure from the world and of separation from loved ones, a sudden obstruction choked his throat. His acumen turned to bewilderment and the saliva dried up on his tongue. How many an important answer he knew but was unable to give! How many an entreaty pained his heart, but he was forced to turn a deaf ear! A question coming from an elder whom he revered, an appeal from a young one whom he loved! Truly, the pangs of death are too terrible to be contained in any description, or to be grasped by the minds of the living. â1.219 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« upon reciting, «They are men whom neither commerce nor trade distracts from Godâs remembrance.»1 â1.219.1 â¬God has made his remembrance the burnish for your hearts2âwith it, you can hear after your earlier deafness, see after your earlier night-blindness, and quieten after your earlier recalcitrance. Age after age, even in periods of dormancy, God communicates with certain servants whose minds he speaks to and whose intellects he engages, who kindle bright lamps of vigilance in peopleâs ears, eyes, and hearts. Godâs gifts are precious! Guides in the wilderness, his chosen men remind the nations of his special days,3 and warn them that their meeting with him is near. They praise those who keep to the middle road and give them tidings of salvation, they censure those who stray to the right and the left and caution them against damnationâin this way, they serve as lamps in times of darkness and guides in periods of doubt. Remembrance is the province of men who consider it fair exchange for worldly chattels, neither commerce nor trade distracts them from it. They traverse their days always remembering God, crying warnings against the illicit to the ears of the heedless, commanding justice and undertaking it, forbidding evil and staying away from it. You would think they have already cut through the world to the hereafter and are there now, as though they have already witnessed what is beyond the grave. You would think they were privy to the mysteries of the Barzakh from |
Qurʾan, NÅ«r 24:37. On this oration, see Shah-Kazemi, Justice and Remembrance, 134â207.
âRemembranceâ (dhikr) refers to (1) remembering God with the heart and with the tongue (Ḥ 11:178; R 2:381; Ê¿A 668); and, specifically, (2) the Qurʾan (B 658â659), among whose names is âThe Wise Remembrance (al-Dhikr al-ḥakÄ«m),â which reminds people of God.
Lit. âGodâs daysâ (ayyÄm AllÄh), were either (1) days of calamity when retribution descended on past nations who defied God (RÂ 2:382; BÂ 659), or (2) days that God had consecrated for his worship.
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long residence in it,1 as though they have already seen the resurrection fulfilling its promise. These men draw back the veil for the living, until those who heed them see what most cannot see and hear what most cannot hear. â1.219.2 â¬You will see the strength of their piety if you picture them in their praiseworthy standings and laudable sittings. You will see them as they unfold the registers of their deeds and apply themselves to reckoning their accounts; as they list every small and large deed they were commanded to perform but fell short in accomplishing, and note every one they were forbidden but transgressed; as they feel the weight of their sins on their backs, but find themselves too weak to bear the burden; as they sob then and choke with tears, and wail to one another, and cry out to their Lord from repentance and recognition. You will see that they are true banners of guidance and lamps in the darkness, shaded by angels, enveloped by gentle calm, awaited by heavenâs open doors. There, they are promised seats of high honor near Godâhe will be pleased with their deeds and praise their efforts, and they will surely inhale the wafting fragrance of his pardon. In this world, they choose to remain hostage to his generosity and captives to his majesty. Long repentance has wounded their hearts and long weeping has wounded their eyes. Their hand knocks ceaselessly at every door of divine supplicationâand surely, they petition the one whose generosity never fades, whose suppliants are never rebuffed. O listener, call yourself to account for your own soul! Other souls have a reckoner other than you. â1.220 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« upon reciting, «O human, what has deceived you into neglecting your Generous Lord?»2 â1.220.1 â¬Of all who could be questioned, you have the most unstable arguments and the most deficient excuses, your ignorance of yourself is extremeâO human, what has emboldened you to sin, what has deceived you into neglecting your Lord, what has made you complacent about the damnation of your soul? Will you not cure yourself of your disease, will you not wake from your slumber, will you not feel compassion for your own soul as you have compassion for others? You see a person burning in the hot sun, and you offer him shade. You see a person whose body is wracked with pain, and you weep for |
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âThe Barzakh,â lit., âa thing that intervenes between any two things,â (Lane, Lexicon, s.v. âB-R-Z-Khâ), interpreted as the intermediary station between life on earth and the final end in hell or paradise.
Qurʾan, Infiá¹Är 82:6.
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him. What has made you so stoic about your own disease, so forbearing in your own affliction, so resigned that you do not weep for your own soul? It is surely the most precious of all souls to you! How is it that fear of a sudden strike in the night does not keep you awake, when your sins have hurled you into the path of Godâs assaults? Renew your resolve and vigilance, O human, cure your heart of apathy and your eyes of slumber. Obey God and take comfort in his remembrance! While you are turning away from him, picture him turning to you, calling you to his forgiveness, covering you with his generosity, even as you turn from him to another. â1.220.2 â¬How exalted is God, how strong, how generous! How lowly you are, how weak, how brazen! You continue to disobey him while you enjoy his shelter, while you live in the shade of his expansive generosity, yet he neither holds back his gifts nor rends the veil he has drawn. Never, even for the blink of any eye, are you deprived of his many kindnessesâhere he bestows a favor, there he conceals a transgression, here again he turns a calamity away from you. How do you think he will treat you then if you obey him? By God, if this situation obtained among two individuals equal in strength and identical in power, you would be the first to condemn yourself for your immoral traits and wicked deeds! I say this truly: The world has not deceived you, it is you who have chosen to be deceived. She, in fact, has given you open counsel and fair warning. In all that she promisesâof affliction attacking your body and your strength waningâshe is too true, too faithful to lie or deceive. How many counsellors she sent have you accused of falsehood? How many reports she recounted have you refused to believe? If you were to seek knowledge of her reality in her empty homes and abandoned courtyards, you would discover through these striking reminders and far-reaching counsel that the world feels only compassion for you and deep caring. O how good a home she is for those who donât want her as their home! How good an abode she is for those who donât adopt her as their native land! Those who flee from the world today are those to whom she will grant true happiness tomorrow. This, when the earth convulses at the blast of the trumpet, when the resurrection with its great calamities arrives, when all followers are given over to the rites they followed, all worshippers are given over to the deities they worshipped, and all who obeyed are given over to those they obeyed. That day, in the realm of Godâs fairness and justice, every glance of an eye, every tread of a foot, will be requited with its due. How many arguments will be refuted on that day, how many trailing excuses will be severed! Follow a course, then, that will support your account and prove your claim. Take provisions that will remain for you, from this place in which you will not remain. Prepare for your journey. Seek the rain-giving lightning of salvation. Saddle the steeds of readiness. |
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â1.221 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.221.1 â¬By God! I would prefer to lie on a bed of three-pronged SaÊ¿dÄn thorns and be dragged along the ground in iron fetters than to meet God and his Messenger on the day of resurrection having oppressed any of his servants or having usurped any part of any personâs property! How could I oppress someone to benefit a body that is part of a caravan speeding toward decay, which will long reside inside the belly of the earth! â1.221.2 â¬By God! I saw Ê¿AqÄ«l, in his dire poverty, begging me for a measure of wheat from the treasury, and I saw his children, ashen from destitution, as if their faces had been blackened with indigo.2 He implored, he insisted, he entreated over and over, and since I listened, he assumed I would sell out my religion. He thought Iâd be led by his rope and step off my path. I wanted him to understand. I heated an iron bar and brought it close to his body, and he screamed in pain, as if stabbed by the pangs of an excruciating illness. âMay your women mourn you, Ê¿AqÄ«l!â I cried, âHow do you bawl so from the pain inflicted by an iron that a human has carelessly heated, while you drag me into the Fire of Wrath stoked by the All-Powerful Lord? How is it that you scream from this small injury and think I should not scream from the flames of hell?â â1.221.3 â¬Even stranger is the case of the night visitor who brought me a gift wrapped in a box, a cake that I found as hateful as though it had been kneaded with the venom or bile of a snake.3 âIs this an offering to curry favor, or the alms-levy, or charity?â I asked him, âfor all those are forbidden to us, the Prophetâs household.â âIt is none of those, but a free gift,â he replied. I rebuked him then, âMay your mother lose you! Have you come to lead me astray from Godâs religion? Has the devil touched you, or the jinn? Are you in a state of delirium?â4 By God, if I were given the earthâs seven climes and everything that lies below the celestial spheres in exchange for disobeying God in something as paltry as snatching the husk of a single grain of barley from the mouth |
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Presumably in Kufa after the arbitration in 37/658, since Ê¿AqÄ«l (mentioned at §â¯1.221.2) then went to MuÊ¿Äwiyah for help.
Ê¿AqÄ«l ibn AbÄ« ṬÄlib was Ê¿AlÄ«âs brother. Details of Ê¿AlÄ«âs exchange with him are related in Ḥ 11:250â254; MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 125â131.
The ânight-visitorâ is said to be the Kufan notable al-AshÊ¿ath ibn Qays. Ḥ 11:247â248; B 667.
It is possible that Ê¿AlÄ«âs reply to AshÊ¿ath continues to the end of the following line, â⦠I should not do so.â
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of a single ant, I should not do so. This world of yours is worth less to me than a leaf munched in the mouth of a locust. What would Ê¿AlÄ« want with delights that will perish and pleasures that will not remain? We entreat God to protect our intelligence from dulling, and from terrible slips and falls. It is him we ask for aid. â1.222 â¬From a supplication by Ê¿AlÄ«: God! Protect my countenance through prosperity, do not dissipate my dignity through poverty. Let me not importune seekers of your sustenance or beg kindness from your worst creatures. Let me not be afflicted with flattering those who give or provoked to reviling those who refuse. Youâbeyond them allâare the one who gives or refuses, «you are powerful over all things».1 â1.223 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:2 This is a residence encircled by trials and renowned for deceit, its conditions are never stable, its residents are never safe, its states are changing, its times are unstable, its life is sordid, its security is nonexistent, and its people are targets for arrows that shoot to kill. Servants of God, know that you, along with the world you live in, tread the path of those who went before: they were longer lived than you, they had more flourishing homes than you, they had more lasting monuments than you, but their voices have fallen silent, their breath has stilled, their bodies have decomposed, their homes are abandoned, their monuments are gone. They have exchanged fortified palaces and cushioned thrones for immovable stones and rocks, for the crushing recess of graves whose courtyard is built on ruin and shored with dirt, whose dwelling is near, but whose residents are far away and out of reach. For they reside in a community who take no comfort from one another, who need not labor yet are preoccupied, who, though they live in proximity and their homes are near, find neither solace in their homeland nor visit their neighbors. But how would they visit? For decay has crushed them, like a massive camel with a heavy chest, and rocks and earth have consumed their bodies. People, imagine that you too have arrived at the place where they have gone, as though that same bed has claimed you, that |
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Qurʾan, Taḥrīm 66:8.
Sibá¹ (Tadhkirah, 122â123) reports this as part of an oration he says is named The Attainer, or The Eloquent Oration (BÄlighah). In his text, he includes lines also present in §â¯1.42, delivered in Kufa immediately following Ê¿AlÄ«âs arrival there after the Battle of the Camel in Rajab 36/JanuaryâFebruary 657.
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same dwelling has encased you! How will it be with you when affairs end, when graves are emptied?1 «There, each soul will be tried for what it did in past times, and all creatures will be returned to God, their true masterâtheir falsehoods will no longer avail.»2 â1.224 â¬From a supplication by Ê¿AlÄ«: God! You are the greatest comforter for those who love you, the readiest caregiver for those who trust you. You see their minds, view their thoughts, and know the strength of their perceptions, their secrets are open to you, and their hearts long for you. When loneliness makes them fearful, your remembrance gives them comfort, when calamities rain down, they seek refuge in your protection. They know that your hand holds the reins of all things, that your decree steers the course of all events. God, whenever I falter in asking, whenever I stray from my goal, guide me to my advantage and lead my heart to the right path, for that is not alien to your way of guidance or new to your way of care. God, mount me on the steed of your forgiveness, do not mount me on the steed of your justice. â1.225 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«: May God cherish the land that produced that man!3 He straightened crooked backs and healed lesions that were hidden inside fatty humps, established tradition and shunned sedition, departed with clean garments and few faults, hit the target of good and raced away from evil, offered obedience to God and feared him as was his due. But he went on, leaving others to scatter in many different pathsâpaths in which the errant find no guidance, the guided no certainty. â1.226 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« describing the manner of the pledge to him as caliph. Similar lines have been recorded earlier in slightly different language:4 |
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Reference to Qurʾan, Infiá¹Är 82:4.
Qurʾan, Yūnus 10:30.
This is an idiom used for commendation. âThat man,â lit. âSo-and-So (fulÄn),â refers, according to the ShiÊ¿i commentators, to an unnamed Companion (R 2:402; B 682). According to the Sunni commentators, the reference is to Ê¿Umar (Ḥ 12:3â5; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:218).
Delivered at DhÅ« QÄr just before the march on Basra and the Battle of the Camel in 36/656; §â¯1.228 is part of the same oration (MufÄ«d, Jamal, 143â144, citing WÄqidÄ«). See details of the event in IskÄfÄ«, MiÊ¿yÄr, 49â50. Similar lines in §â¯1.3.4 (Shiqshiqiyyah), §â¯1.53, and §â¯1.135.2.
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You pulled my hand toward you, and I resisted. You forced it open, and I closed it shut. Then, like parched camels jostling each other at the waterhole on their allocated day, you crowded around me, your sandals tearing, your cloaks falling, the slow trampled underfoot. In your delight to pledge me allegiance, children sped rejoicing, the old and unsteady hurried, the sick asked to be carried, and young girls ran out without putting on a veil. â1.227 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«:1 â1.227.1 â¬Consciousness of God is the key to righteousness and a store of treasure for the return. Because of it, one who seeks succeeds, one who flees escapes, and all wishes are obtained. People, act while deeds still ascend, repentance still benefits, supplications are still heard, affairs are still calm, and pens still flow with ink. Hasten to do good before your lifespan runs out, disease seizes you, and death snatches you away. Remember that death is the destroyer of pleasures, the roiler of passions, and the expeller of hopes, a visitor who is not loved, an adversary who is never vanquished, and a shedder of blood from whom no vengeance can be extracted. Already its snares have entrapped you, its misfortunes have encircled you, and its arrowheads fly toward you. Its assault is terrible, its attack is unremitting, and chances are small that its sword will glance off your skull. Soon you will be surrounded by its lowering clouds, its burning illnesses, its dark floods, its calamitous spasms, its painful piercing, its dusky folds, and its coarse rations. Imagine that death has already, abruptly, arrived, as though it has already silenced your conversations, scattered your assemblies, erased your footsteps, emptied your homes, and prompted your heirs to divide your inheritance. There you lieâamong close relatives who cannot help you, and grieving kinsfolk who cannot push away death, and among others who gloat and feel no sorrow at your departure. â1.227.2 â¬Expend effort, work hard, prepare stocks, ready supplies, and gather provisions in this waystation. Let not the world deceive you as she deceived those before you, ancient nations and past generations who milked her udders, hoarded her choice parts,2 used up her days, and wore out her new clothes. |
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Ḥ 13:7: âThis is one of Ê¿AlÄ«âs most beautiful orationsâits rhetorical embellishments (badÄ«Ê¿, referring here to parallelism, paronomasia, antithesis, and consonant-rhyme) are clearly visible to any who would look.â
Ar. aá¹£ÄbÅ« ghurratahÄ. Or, âbenefitted from her (temporary) carelessness (ghirratahÄ),â after R 2:404; Ê¿A 973.
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Their homes have become sepulchers and their possessions have been inherited by others. They no longer recognize those who come to them, or heed those who weep over them, or answer those who call out to them. Beware of the world! She deceives and cheats, gives then denies, provides clothes then strips them away. Her ease does not last, her struggles do not end, and her trials never quieten. â1.227.3 â¬From the same oration, in praise of renunciants: They were of this world yet not of her. They lived in her as those who never truly belonged, enacting what they believed and outracing what they feared.1 Their forms moved among the people of the hereafter: they saw men here fear the death of their bodies, but they were more afraid of the death of the hearts of the living. â1.228 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« delivered at DhÅ« QÄr, en route to Basra, related by WÄqidÄ« in his book on the Battle of the Camel:2 Godâs Messenger proclaimed what he had been commanded to proclaim,3 and communicated the messages of his Lord. Through him, God mended divisions and stitched rips and tears. Through him, God brought kinsfolk together after enmity had burned in their breasts and rancor had kindled in their hearts. â1.229 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn ZamaÊ¿ah, one of his followers, who came during his caliphate to ask for money:4 These funds do not belong to me, and they do not belong to you. They are battle gains won by the Muslims and wealth procured by their swords. If you join in their warfare, you will get a similar share, otherwise, the harvest of their swords is for their mouths alone. â1.230 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ«:5 |
I.e., death (Ḥ 13:8); or Godâs punishment (B 677).
In 36/656, before the Battle of the Camel. Part of the same oration as §â¯1.226.
Reference to Qurʾan, Ḥijr 15:94.
Presumably in Kufa, between 36/656 and 40/661. Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn ZamaÊ¿ah was from Quraysh, and one of Ê¿AlÄ«âs devoted followers.
Part of a long oration (presumably in Kufa, during his caliphate, 35â40/656â661) after JaÊ¿dah ibn Hubayrah al-MakhzÅ«mÄ«, Ê¿AlÄ«âs nephew, who had ascended the pulpit at his command to orate, stood there tongue-tied. The Abbasid commander who defeated the Umayyads, AbÅ« Muslim al-KhurÄsÄnÄ«, re-used these lines by Ê¿AlÄ« in one of his well-known orations. Ḥ 13:130; B 679.
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Hark! The tongue is but an instrument wielded by men.1 Words do not come to it when a man feels constrained, nor does it hesitate to produce speech when its owner feels at ease. Indeed, it is we, the Prophetâs family, who are the princes of language.2 It is in us that its roots are fixed, upon us that its branches dangle. Know this, may God have mercy on you! You live in an age when upholders of right are few, tongues are blunted against truth, and champions of justice are shamed. People in this age practice incessant disobedience and shake hands on treason. Their youth are violent, their old are sinners, their scholars are hypocrites, and their Qurʾan-readers are two-faced. Their young do not respect the old, their rich do not care for the poor. â1.231 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address explaining why people differ. YamÄnÄ«3 narrated this report from Aḥmad ibn Qutaybah, who narrated it from Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn MÄlik ibn Dajnah,4 who said: We were with the Commander of the Faithful when the talk turned to differences among people, and he said: What differentiates them is the source of their clay, for they are fragments from saline or sweet soil, and from hard or smooth earth. They resemble one another based on the closeness of their soil and diverge in accordance with its difference. A person may have perfect features but an imperfect mind, or be tall in stature but short in aspiration, or have beautiful deeds but an ugly appearance, or he may have little depth yet be able to sense a great deal, or his temper could be good while his traits are bad, or his heart could be lost while his wits are also scattered, or he could possess an eloquent tongue as well as a strong heart. â1.232 â¬From an address Ê¿AlÄ« delivered as he conducted the Messengerâs funeral ablutions and prepared his body for burial:5 May my father and mother give their lives for you! Your death has cut short what the death of no other has: prophecy, divine reports, and accounts of the heavens. You brought some of us so close that you comforted us against the loss of anyone else, yet you were there for allâall people were equal in your |
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Ar. baá¸Ê¿ah, lit. âpartâ or âpiece,â translated here as âinstrument,â based on Ḥ 13:12; B 679.
I have added âthe Prophetâs familyâ based on context in BÂ 679.
Or, âYamÄmÄ«â (MS Y), or, âThumÄlÄ«â (MS M), or, âDhiÊ¿lib al-YamÄnÄ«â (Ḥ, and some MSS of R).
Or, âDujunnahâ (MS M), or, âDiḥyahâ (MS Y).
In Medina, in 11/632.
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eyes.1 If you had not commanded us to be patient in adversity or forbidden outpourings of grief, we would have used up all the tears in our eyes weeping over you, and our ailment would be chronic, our grief would endureâand yet both would be sorely inadequate! But enough! Death cannot be fended off or rebuffed. May my father and mother be your ransom, O Messenger! Remember us to your Lord and keep us in your thoughts. Additional Orations2 â1.233 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« in which he narrated what all he did after the Prophetâs migration until he caught up with him:3 I began to follow the path taken by Godâs Messenger and continued to tread the footsteps of his reports until I reached Ê¿Araj. Raá¸Ä«: This is a passage from a long address by Ê¿AlÄ«. His words, âI continued to tread the footsteps of his reports (aá¹aʾu dhikrahu),â strike the targets of eloquence and pithiness both. He means that âI kept receiving word of Godâs Messenger from when I started out until I reached this location.â He expressed this meaning through this marvelous allusion. â1.234 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« discussing the two arbitrators and censuring the Syrians:4 They are uncouth riffraff and vile bondsmen gathered from every shore and gleaned from every rabble, who need to be taught, disciplined, instructed, trained, supervised, and restricted in their doings. They belong neither to the Emigrants nor the Allies who made their homes in Medina. Hark and listen! The Syrians have selected the person who is closest to what they love, while you have selected the person who is closest to what you hate. You have experienced Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn Qays (AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ al-AshÊ¿arÄ«)! Just yesterday, he was saying to you, âThis is seditionâcut your bowstrings and sheathe your swords!â If he was right then, he is wrong in marching with us today, but if he was wrong thenâand he wasâhe deserves to be viewed with suspicion. Strike Ê¿Amr ibn |
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I have translated this differently than Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d and BaḥrÄnÄ« (Ḥ 13:24â25; B 682), who state that âmaking special (khaá¹£aá¹£ta)â and âmaking common (Ê¿amamta)â both refer to the grief of the Prophetâs passing: with their interpretation, I find the next phraseââthat you comforted us against the loss of any otherââdifficult to understand. RÄwandÄ« (R 2:415) states that the two phrases refer to the manner of the Prophetâs life and death.
An additional six orationsâperhaps added by Raá¸Ä«, or by othersâare transcribed in some of our primary and secondary manuscripts (further details in the Editionâs footnotes, and in Note on the Edition and Translation)
Details of Ê¿AlÄ«âs role in Muḥammadâs migration in B 778; Ḥ 13:303â306, after Ibn IsḥÄq, MaghÄzÄ«.
Presumably in Ṣiffīn, in 37/657, after the Syrians asked for arbitration.
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al-Ê¿Äá¹£ in the chest with Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs! Take advantage of the respite granted by these days and protect the borders of Islam! Donât you see your lands under attack, your ramparts under siege? â1.235 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« in which he speaks of the Prophetâs family: They are the life of knowledge and the death of ignorance. Their forbearance stems from their knowledge, and their silence from the wisdom of their speech. They never go against what is right and never differ in it. They are the pillars of Islam and the doors to the halls of protection. It is through them that right has returned to its home, wrong has been displaced from its residence, and its tongue has been excised at the root. They have assimilated religion with understanding and mindful attention, not by rote learning and narration. There are many narrators of hadith,1 but those who tend to it mindfully are rare. â1.236 â¬From an oration by Ê¿AlÄ«: Act while you still possess the breath of life, while registers are open and repentance is extended, while one who turns away is invited back and one who sins is asked to desist, before action is extinguished, the respite is cut short, the interlude ends, the door of repentance is shut, and the angels ascend. Let each man gather provisions by himself, for himself, by the self that is living for the self that will soon be dead, by the self that will perish for the self that will remain, by the self that will depart, for the self that will abide. Such a man fears God during his allotted span, while he is given time to act. Such a man places a bridle and halter on his sentient soul. He curbs it with this bridle from acts of disobedience to God and leads it with the halter toward acts of obedience to God. â1.237 â¬From an address by Ê¿AlÄ« urging his supporters to jihad:2 God has required you to thank him, given you his command, and a lengthy respite to prepare for the race so that you may compete and win. Tighten your belts and lose your belly fat, for resolve and feasting never come together. How completely does sleep destroy resolutions made in the day! How completely does darkness erase the memory of high aspirations! |
Lit. âknowledge,â Ê¿ilm; in early Islamic times, the word usually referred to religious knowledge, and often specifically to the Prophet Muḥammadâs teachings.
Presumably in Kufa, after the arbitration in 37/658.
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â1.238 â¬From words Ê¿AlÄ« spoke to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs1âIbn al-Ê¿AbbÄs had brought Ê¿AlÄ« a missive from Ê¿UthmÄn ibn Ê¿AffÄn, who was under siege, asking him to depart for his estate in YanbuÊ¿ al-Nakhl, hoping this would stop people calling out Ê¿AlÄ«âs name for the caliphate; Ê¿UthmÄn had made the same demand of Ê¿AlÄ« earlier. Ê¿AlÄ« responded to Ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs: Ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs! Ê¿UthmÄn wishes to make me a camel drawing water with a pulley, constantly going forward and back! He insisted that I leave, then sent for me to return, and now he has again sent you with instructions for me to leave! By God, I have defended him until I feared I was sinning! This is the end of the section on orations. It is followed by selections from Ê¿AlÄ«âs letters and epistles. |
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In Medina, 35/656.
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2. Letters Chapter containing selections from the Commander of the Faithfulâs dispatches and letters to his enemies and his regional governors, including selections from instructions to his tax collectors and testaments to his family and companions â2.1 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs dispatch to the residents of Kufa, when he was about to march from Medina on Basra:1 From Godâs servant, Ê¿AlÄ«, Commander of the Faithful, to the residents of Kufaârenowned face of the Allies, crest of the Arabs.2 And now to the matter at hand: I write to inform you of what happened to Ê¿UthmÄn, and when you hear my words,3 you will see the events unfold before your eyes: The public censured Ê¿UthmÄn for his conduct, and the Emigrants each took their stand. I tried hard to reconcile and lower the heat, while Ṭalḥah and Zubayr galloped to escalate the affair, harshly driving the camels of castigation toward their destination, and Ê¿Äʾishah fired out an angry outburst.4 A group, emboldened, killed Ê¿UthmÄn. The Muslims then pledged allegiance to me as their caliph, willingly and of their free choice, without any coercion or force. Kufans, know that Medina |
Sent with Ḥasan and Ê¿AmmÄr in 36/656, from Rabadhah, 200â¯km to the NE of Medina, soon after Ê¿AlÄ«âs accession to the caliphate, on his way to confront Ê¿Äʾishah, Ṭalḥah, and Zubayr, who had rebelled and marched to Basra to garner military support (MufÄ«d, Jamal, 131â132). See also Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«dâs (Ḥ 14:8â21) âAccounts of Ê¿AlÄ«âs march on Basra, and his letters to the residents of Kufa.â See also comments on Ê¿Äʾishahâs, Ṭalḥahâs, and Zubayrâs later repentance, according to this Sunni-MuÊ¿tazilÄ« account (Ḥ 14:24â25).
âAlliesâ (Aná¹£Är) here refers either to (1) the Medinese Allies, of which there was a small but discrete section in Kufa in the earliest time of its settlement (cf. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:44â45); or (2) Ê¿AlÄ«âs allies more generally (Ḥ 14:6; R 3:12). âCrest,â lit. âcamelâs hump (sanÄm).â
Note that Ê¿AlÄ« writes, âWhen you hear my words.â At this time, and for some centuries thereafter, official state letters and proclamations were read out to the populace in the mosque or other public space. Similarly, in §â¯2.73.
When Ê¿UthmÄn stood up in the mosque trying to appease the public, Ê¿Äʾishah reportedly spoke harshly from behind a curtain, and she displayed a pair of the Prophetâs slippers, shouting that Ê¿UthmÄn had âchanged the Prophetâs religion, when the Prophetâs slippers had not even worn outâ (B 785). Ê¿Äʾishah reportedly called out to the people of Medina to âKill the Longbeard (naÊ¿thal)!â Ê¿UthmÄnâs nickname (R 3:13). Unusually, Ê¿AlÄ« calls her out by name in this letter, presumably due to the very real and imminent danger she posed in that moment. In the aftermath of the battle, he used the generic âwoman/womenâ to allude to her: §â¯1.13, §â¯1.77, §â¯1.151.3, §â¯1.154.1.
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reels, and its people reel with it.1 It boils like a cauldron and revolt has raised its banner, so hasten to join your ruler and advance to fight your enemy! Battle, if that be Godâs will, looms ahead. â2.2 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs dispatch to the residents of Kufa, after his victory at Basra:2 Residents of Kufa, may God reward you on behalf of your Prophetâs family! May he bestow on you the reward he reserves for those who obey him through their actions and thank him for his favors! You heard and you obeyed, you were called, and you answered. â2.3 â¬From a missive that Ê¿AlÄ« wrote to his judge, Shurayḥ ibn al-ḤÄrith. It is related that during Ê¿AlÄ«âs reign, Shurayḥ ibn al-ḤÄrith, a judge appointed by the Commander of the Faithful, purchased a house for eighty gold dinars. The news reached Ê¿AlÄ«, who summoned Shurayḥ and said, âIâm told that you have bought a house for eighty gold dinars, and that you wrote up a contract and called witnesses to attest to the purchase.â Shurayḥ responded, âThat is correct, Commander of the Faithful.â Ê¿AlÄ« looked at Shurayḥ with some anger, then said to him:3 Shurayḥ, soon there will come to you one who will not look at your written contract nor ask for your testimonials but will turn you out of your house and over to your grave. Take heed, Shurayḥ! You had better not have bought this house with money that doesnât belong to you or in coin gained from unlawful sources. If so, you will have lost the abode of this world and the abode of the hereafter. If you had come to me when you were about to buy the house, I would have written up a different kind of contract, in this manner. You would not then have wished to purchase this house for a single silver dirham, let alone for the sum you paid. The transcript: This is what a humble servant has bought from a soon-to-be-dead man whose departure from the world has already begun. The humble servant bought from the soon-to-be-dead man one of the houses of calamity located in the district of those soon-to-perish in the quarter of the dead. There are four borders to this house: The first extends to the summons of calamity, the second extends |
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âMedina,â lit. âThe Home of Migrationâ (dÄr al-hijrah; Ḥ 14:8; B 785; R 3:15). RÄwandÄ« (R 3:15) states it could also refer to âKufa, to which Ê¿AlÄ« migrated,â which appears incorrect, as Ê¿AlÄ« settled there only after the Battle of the Camel.
In 36/656, in Basra, following the Battle of the Camel, sent with Ê¿Amr ibn Salamah al-HamdÄnÄ« al-ArḥabÄ«. The Kufans had been the mainstay of Ê¿AlÄ«âs army. Full letter in MufÄ«d, Jamal, 216, after WÄqidÄ«.
Shurayḥ served as judge in Kufa during Ê¿AlÄ«âs reign, 35â40/656â661.
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to the summons of catastrophe, the third extends to destructive passions, and the fourth extends to Satan, the great deceiver. The door of this house opens from this side. This man, deceived by false hopes, has bought this house from that man, who is soon to be evicted by death. The buyer has left the protective might of contentment and entered the shameful condition of petition and entreatyâhe has not purchased anything good. Might belongs to God, who decomposes the bodies of kings, snatches the souls of pharaohs, destroys the empire of despots such as Chosroes, Caesar, TubbaÊ¿, and Ḥimyar, rulers who amassed wealth, who constructed, fortified, decorated, furnished, hoarded, and stockpiled, thinking they were providing for their children. When the command comes for the final judgment, all will be forced to the dock of review and reckoning, the station of reward and punishment, «and there shall the falsifiers lose everything.»1 This contract has been witnessed by an intellect liberated from the shackles of passion and protected from worldly attachments. â2.4 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs dispatch to one of his army commanders:2 If they reenter the canopy of obedience, then that is what we desire. But if their affairs direct them to dissent and disobey, then rise up with those who obey you to fight those who disobey, make do with those who accept your leadership, without seeking the help of the recalcitrant. One who marches against his will is better absent than present. He is more helpful to us sitting than standing. â2.5 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs dispatch to al-AshÊ¿ath ibn Qays, his governor in Azerbaijan:3 Your governorship is not a meal for you to devour but a trust to which your neck is shackled. You have been charged with taking care of it by a man who is superior to you in rank, and are not authorized to order your subjects around, or to imperil their fundsâthose must be secured. What you have in your hands is property belonging to Godâyou have been entrusted with safeguarding it and submitting it to me. Rest assured, however, that I shall be one of the kinder rulers you encounter.4 Go in peace. |
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Qurʾan, GhÄfir 40:78.
Excerpt from dispatch to Ê¿UthmÄn ibn Ḥunayf, governor of Basra, when many residents had turned away from their sworn pledge to Ê¿AlÄ«, after Ê¿Äʾishah, Ṭalḥah, and Zubayr marched there in the lead-up to the Battle of the Camel in 36/656. B 787.
Excerpt from letter to Ashʿath following the Battle of the Camel in 36/656, when Ashʿath seized 100,000 dirhams from the treasury. Minqarī, Waqʿat Ṣiffīn, 20; B 787; Ḥ 14:34, also records preceding lines of the text.
Lit. âI shall not be the worst of rulers you encounter.â The line is meant to placate. B 787; Ḥ 14:34.
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â2.6 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:1 The same people who pledged allegiance to AbÅ« Bakr, Ê¿Umar, and Ê¿UthmÄn pledged allegiance to me, and they did so on the same basis.2 Those who were present did not have the right to choose, and those absent did not have the right to objectâconsultation is reserved for the Emigrants and Allies alone, and if they agree on someone and name him their leader, then that is Godâs will. Afterward, if a person secedes from the consensus with accusations and excuses, they should compel him to return. If he refuses, they should fight him, for he has strayed from the path of believers, and God will shun him for as long as he continues his recalcitrance. By my life, MuÊ¿Äwiyah, if you would look with your mind and not your passion, you would find me of all people to have the least share of blame in the matter of Ê¿UthmÄnâs blood, you would know that I kept away from the fray. Unless you insist on making a patently false accusationâif so, then go ahead and accuse me of what you will! Go in peace. â2.7 â¬From another letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:3 I have received from you a string of advice, enclosed in an embroidered epistle, embellished with your misguidance, and dispatched by your specious views. It is the letter of a man with no perception to direct him and no guide to show him the way, a man who answered the call of his passions, who was led by the reins of misguidance, a delirious man who rambles and blunders from the path. From the same letter: The pledge of allegiance happens once. It is not open to reconsideration or a second round of selection. One who breaks the pledge is an aggressor, one who holds back and wavers is a traitor. |
One of Ê¿AlÄ«âs earliest letters to MuÊ¿Äwiyah following the Battle of the Camel, sent from Kufa to Damascus in 36/656 with JarÄ«r ibn Ê¿AbdallÄh al-Aná¹£ÄrÄ«. Full text and context in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 28â30. Further details of JarÄ«râs embassy to MuÊ¿Äwiyah in Damascus as Ê¿AlÄ«âs envoy, and related events and letters, in Ḥ 3:74â91; JarÄ«râs prior dealings with Ê¿AlÄ« in Ḥ 3:70â74.
The Sunni MuÊ¿tazilÄ« commentator (Ḥ 14:35) takes these lines to endorse the validity of the people selecting a caliph. The ShiÊ¿i commentators (B 787; R 3:18) say Ê¿AlÄ« used this argument here, rather than citing the Prophetâs designation (naṣṣ) of himself, because it was what his addressees were more likely to accept.
Excerpt from letter in response to MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs, (1) sent from Kufa, while Ê¿AlÄ«âs envoy JarÄ«r was in Damascus in 36/656, persuading MuÊ¿Äwiyah to give the pledge of allegiance to Ê¿AlÄ« (MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 57â58; MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 300â303); and/or (2) written in á¹¢iffÄ«n, toward the end of the battle, in 37/657 (Ḥ 14:42â43, includes text of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs letter, and Ê¿AlÄ«âs full response; B 788).
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â2.8 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs missive to JarÄ«r ibn Ê¿AbdallÄh al-BajalÄ«, his emissary to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:1 When you receive my letter, tell MuÊ¿Äwiyah that he must take a final decision and give a binding response. Then ask him to choose between a war that displaces or a settlement that disgraces. If he chooses war, then dissolve the covenant of peace and fling that threat at him. If he chooses to settle, then make him give me the pledge of allegiance. Go in peace. â2.9 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:2 Our tribe decided to kill our Prophet and extirpate our root. They came at us with evil intentions and spiteful actions, denying us the sweetness of life, throwing over us a blanket of fear, forcing us into the rugged mountains, and kindling the flames of war. But God willed that we should protect the enclosure of his religion and shield its sanctity from piercing arrows. Those of us who were believers did so in the hope of Godâs reward, and those who were unbelievers acted in defense of their kin. Muslims from other clans of Qurayshâprotected by a pact or by kinâwere not exposed to our hardships but were protected from lethal assault. Whenever red flames of battle blazed, moreover, whenever the Muslims drew back in fear, the Messenger would send men of his own family to the front, and, through them, he would shield his Companions from the heat of swords and spears. Ê¿Ubaydah ibn al-ḤÄrith was killed at the Battle of Badr, Ḥamzah was killed at the Battle of Uḥud, JaÊ¿far was killed at the Battle of Muʾtah. Another manâand I could name him if I wishedâsought to attain martyrdom just as they did, but their deaths were decreed early, while his was deferred.3 What a strange age we live in, when I am placed on the same level as men who have not raced out in front, who do not possess my precedence! If any man were to make this, or any similar claim, they would be claiming a status I do not recognize, nor, I believe, does God. But God deserves praise in every situation. You demand that Ê¿UthmÄnâs killers be handed overâI have looked |
From Kufa to Damascus, 36/656, between the Battle of the Camel and Ṣiffīn. Minqarī, Waqʿat Ṣiffīn, 55.
In response to MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs letter sent with AbÅ« Muslim al-KhawlÄnÄ« before the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n, in 36/656, in which MuÊ¿Äwiyah accused Ê¿AlÄ« of envying the first three caliphs and treachery toward them (MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 85â94; Ḥ 15:73â78, after MinqarÄ«; includes text of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs letter, and Ê¿AlÄ«âs full response; a lengthy account of the historical events during the Prophetâs lifetime is provided in this letter, particularly with regard to Muḥammadâs years in Mecca and the actions of Quraysh against his family, as well as his major battles after the migration to Medina; these are recorded from the histories of WÄqidÄ«, Ibn IsḥÄq, and other sources in Ḥ 14:52â281, end, 15:3â78; see also F 368; B 789; R 3:26â31). §â¯2.28 is possibly another part of this letter (B 819).
Referring to himself. R 3:38; Ḥ 14:50; B 789.
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into the matter and have concluded that I am unable to hand them over to you, or to anyone else. By my life, if you do not desist in your deceit and dissent, you will very soon see those same men seeking you out, saving you the trouble of seeking them out on land, or sea, or mountains, or plains. Your search will end badlyâthese are visitors you will not enjoy meeting. Peace to the deserving. â2.10 â¬From another letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:1 How will you fare when the robes with which this world adorns herself, with whose beauty she has ensnared you, are stripped off? She called, and you answered, she led, and you followed, she commanded, and you obeyed. Very soon, you will face something no shield can protect you from. Stand down from this path, gather provisions for the final reckoning, roll up your sleeves to prepare for lifeâs imminent end, and do not give ear to the wicked. Desist, or let me inform you about your own situation, a situation that you appear not to know: You live a life of excess. Satan has had his way with you, he has achieved his fullest hopes of you, and he now moves inside you as your own blood and spirit. When were your family ever rulers of the people, MuÊ¿Äwiyah, or guardians of the communityâs affairs? You can claim no high honor there, no winning horse! We should all seek refuge in God from clinging to the stakes of wretchedness! I give you warning: Cease to be deceived by false hopes. Cease to hide intentions that differ from your speech. You call me to war, do you? Leave the people out of this and take the field! Meet me yourself and spare our armies the killing! Let it be known to all which of us possesses a blinded heart and blindfolded eyes!2 I am AbÅ« Ḥasan, who killed your grandfather, your uncle, and your brother in the Battle of Badr with the cutting blow of my swordâthat same sword is with me today, and so too that same heart with which I shall meet my enemy!3 I have not changed my religion or adopted a new prophet. I walk the path that you abandoned so willingly, that you had joined only under com- |
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Excerpt from Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to MuÊ¿Äwiyah from Kufa, in 37/657, after JarÄ«râs embassy had failed, just before Ê¿AlÄ« set out with an army to á¹¢iffÄ«nâcontext, full text, and MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs response in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 108â110; Ḥ 15:86â88; Ê¿AlÄ«âs opening paragraph in B 790. Similar lines in §â¯2.64.
âBlinded heartâ is a reference to Qurʾan, Muá¹affifÅ«n 83:14.
Ar. anÄ AbÅ« Ḥasan (I am Ḥasanâs father), i.e., I am Ê¿AlÄ«; it was common to refer to use a filionymic (âfather of Xâ) to address individuals; see also §â¯2.18. At the Battle of Badr, Ê¿AlÄ« had killed MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs maternal grandfather, Ê¿Utbah ibn RabÄ«Ê¿ah, his maternal uncle WalÄ«d ibn Ê¿Utbah, and his brother Ḥanáºalah ibn AbÄ« SufyÄn. B 792; R 3:31; F 369.
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pulsion.1 You claim to seek vengeance for Ê¿UthmÄnâyou know well who was responsible for shedding Ê¿UthmÄnâs blood, so seek vengeance there if you wish! I can see you now, mauled by battle, screaming like a camel grumbling under a heavy load. I can see your faction panicked by unrelenting sword strikes, by the descent of fate, by death after death, inviting me, ironically, to follow the Qurʾanâs judgment, while you yourselves are unbelieving deniers, or men who swore allegiance then broke the pledge!2 â2.11 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs instructions to a battalion he had dispatched against the enemy:3 When you reach the enemy, or when they reach you, set up camp just before the high ground, or on the foothills of a mountain, or at the bend of a river, so these can serve as protection and barrier. Attack from a single side or from two at most. Place sentries on the horns of mountains and the shoulders of knollsâthe enemy should not be able to take you by surprise, whether from a side you fear or even one you think is secure. Know that the eyes of the army are its vanguard, and the eyes of its vanguard are its scouts. Donât split up into separate groupsâstay together when you set up camp and stay together when you set off. When night descends, place your spears in a circle around you and sip the cup of sleep only from time to time. â2.12 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs instructions to MaÊ¿qil ibn Qays al-RiyÄḥī, when he dispatched him to Syria at the head of a three-thousand-man vanguard:4 Fear God, whom you must meet, and beyond whom you have no goal. Fight only those who fight you. March during the two cooler periods of the day, alight at noon so your men can rest, and drive your camels at a comfortable pace. Donât march in the first part of the night, for God has made it a time for repose and ordained it as a time of quiet and calm, not as a time for marchingâso rest your body and your mounts. Then, when you rise at the spread of dawn, at the |
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The reference is to MuÊ¿Äwiyah and his clan, who waged war against the Prophet for years, then accepted Islam only after the Conquest of Mecca, in 8/630, when they had no choice.
Prophecy regarding the Battle of Ṣiffīn and how it would end. Ḥ 15:83.
Excerpt from a missive Ê¿AlÄ« wrote in 36/657 from his army camp at Nukhaylah, near Kufa, to ZiyÄd ibn al-Naá¸r al-ḤÄrithÄ« and Shurayḥ ibn HÄnÄ«, whom he had sent at the head of his vanguard to Syria. ZiyÄd was commander of the contingent. Shurayḥ was commander of a sub-contingent, and subordinate to ZiyÄd. B 793. Text of full letter in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 123â125. See also §â¯2.13 and §â¯2.56.
From Kufa in 36/657, in the lead-up to á¹¢iffÄ«n, when Ê¿AlÄ« sent MaÊ¿qil to Mosul from MadÄʾin, both cities in Iraq, at the head of three thousand men, and asked him to go on from there to Raqqah, in Syria, where he, Ê¿AlÄ«, and the main army would meet up with him. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 148â149; B 794.
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break of day, march forward with Godâs blessing. When you meet the enemy, stand at the center of your men. Donât allow your army to draw so near to the enemy that they fear you are on the verge of battle, but donât stay so far away from them that they think you fear their attack. Wait on my further orders. Donât let their insults incite you to begin the fight before you have called on them to make peace and exhausted your pleas. â2.13 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs missive to two of his army commanders:1 I have appointed MÄlik ibn al-ḤÄrith al-Ashtar over both of you and over all those under your command. Listen to him and obey his orders, consider him your armor and shield. He is a person from whom neither weakness nor error is to be fearedâhe will not delay when speed is of the essence, nor hasten when measured steps are called for. â2.14 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs instructions to his army just before confronting the enemy at á¹¢iffÄ«n:2 Donât attack them unless they attack you first. Praise God, you already possess proof of righteousness, and waiting until they begin the fighting will be yet another proof against them and in your favor. If we defeat the enemyâand with Godâs permission, we shall!âthen donât kill those who flee, donât strike the unarmed, and donât bear down on the wounded. Donât threaten or hurt women, even if they insult your honor or abuse your leaders, for women are weak in strength, spirit, and mind, and we were commanded not to hurt them even when they were unbelievers. Even in the Age of Ignorance, if a man struck a woman with as much as a pebble or a small stick, he was held in shame for his act evermore, and so too were his descendants after him. â2.15 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« would offer this supplication whenever he met his enemy on the battlefield:3 God, it is to you that our hearts flow, our necks stretch, our eyes are raised, and our feet move. It is from the swiftness of our journey to you that our bodies have |
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The two commanders are ZiyÄd ibn al-Naá¸r and Shurayḥ ibn HÄnÄ«, whom Ê¿AlÄ« sent from Kufa, at the head of his 12,000-strong vanguard, to Syria in 36/657 (see also §â¯2.11 earlier, and §â¯2.56 later, addressed to them). En route, the vanguard encountered a Syrian contingent under AbÅ« al-AÊ¿war al-SulamÄ«. They wrote for help to Ê¿AlÄ«, who responded by sending MÄlik. Details of Ê¿AlÄ«âs instructions to MÄlik and the incident in B 795; MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 152â155; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:566â567 (letter at 567).
In 37/657, at á¹¢iffÄ«n. Ê¿AlÄ« reportedly delivered this same battle-ethics speech ahead of any military conflict. B 795. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 203â204; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:10â11.
Prayer at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 37/657, and elsewhere, intoned when mounting his horse for battle. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 231. Full version of Ê¿AlÄ«âs battlefield supplication in B 796.
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become emaciated.1 God, buried rancor has surfaced today, and cauldrons of malice simmer. God, we complain to you of our Prophetâs death, our enemiesâ numbers, and our communityâs implosion. «Lord, decide between us and our tribesmen with truth, for you are the best conqueror.»2 â2.16 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« would give his supporters these instructions ahead of battle:3 Donât hesitate to retreat then assail, to withdraw then attack. Give your swords their due. Think of the place where your body may fall as your home. Prepare your frames for piercing spear-throws and powerful sword-strikes. Deaden your voices, for this will drive out your fear. I swear by him who split the grain and created the soulâyour enemies have never really accepted Islam! They had to surrender but concealed their unbelief. When they found supporters, they revealed it again. â2.17 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter replying to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:4 You demand Syria, but Iâm not about to give you today what I refused you yesterday. We are not equal in war and menâyou in your state of doubt donât possess sharper perception than I do in my certainty, and the people of Syria donât covet this world more than the people of Iraq covet the hereafter. You say, âWe are all sons of Ê¿Abd ManÄfââyes, we are, but Umayyah is not the equal of HÄshim, Ḥarb is not the equal of Ê¿Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib, AbÅ« SufyÄn is not the equal of AbÅ« ṬÄlib, the Emigrant is not like the Freedman,5 the purebred is not like the adopted, the righteous is not like the falsifier, and the believer is not like the closet antagonist! The worst son is one who follows his forebears into the Fire of Gehenna! Our hands possess the honor of prophecy, with it we brought low the mighty and raised the humble. When God brought the Arabs in droves into |
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Lit. âIt is to you that bodies become emaciated (uná¸iyat).â I have inserted, âfrom swift journeying,â based on the literary context, which evokes a journey in which the rider pushes his camel to swift and continuous travel, thereby emaciating itâin our text, the emaciated camel signifies the rider himself.
Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:89.
At á¹¢iffÄ«n, 37/657. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 235â236.
On one of the battle-days at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 37/657. MuÊ¿Äwiyah wrote to Ê¿AlÄ« at á¹¢iffÄ«n, offering him the pledge in return for the governorship of Syria. MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs letter and Ê¿AlÄ«âs full reply in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 470â471; MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 258â259; B 798; R 3:47; Ḥ 15:120â124, after MinqarÄ«.
Freedman (á¹alÄ«q, pl. á¹ulaqÄʾ) is a derogatory term referring to those of the Quraysh, including MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs father, AbÅ« SufyÄn, who remained the Prophetâs committed enemies until forced to capitulate upon the Muslim conquest of Mecca. On that day, instead of forcing them into captivity according to the standard practice, Muḥammad pardoned them and granted them their freedom, saying, âYou are freedmen.â Ibn HishÄm, SÄ«rah, 4:35; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 3:61.
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the fold of his religion, when this nation submitted to Islam, some willingly and some by force, you were among those who did so out of greed or fear. By that time, the true winners had already attained precedence, and the first Emigrants had already won distinction. Donât let Satan have a share in you, MuÊ¿Äwiyah, donât show him a way to control your soul. â2.18 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs missive to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs, his governor in Basra:1 Know that Basra is where IblÄ«s landed after his fall from grace and where the trees of sedition have taken root, so tame its people with kindness and unravel from their heart the knot of fear. It has reached me that you have castigated the TamÄ«m tribesmen and spoken with them harshly. Know that no star of TamÄ«m has ever set except that another has risen in its place, and no one has dared to attack them either in the Age of Ignorance or since the coming of Islam. They are our intimate kin and our close relationsâwe shall be rewarded for fostering their bonds and incur sin if we sever them. Exercise restraint, AbÅ« al-Ê¿AbbÄs2âmay God have mercy on you!âin whatever flows from your hand or your tongue, be it good or bad, for we are partners in this endeavor. Behave as I hope you will behave, and donât make me change my opinion of you. Go in peace. â2.19 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs missive to one of his governors:3 The DihqÄn landowners in your province have complained of your harshness, strictness, contempt, and ill-treatment.4 I have looked into this matter, and although I find them unworthy of being your close associates because of their polytheism, yet they certainly do not deserve to be alienated or to be treated harshly, for they have entered into our compact. In dealing with them, wear a soft garment with an edge of toughness, and alternate between strictness and compassion. Mix intimacy and closeness with remoteness and reserve. You will do this, God willing. |
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Presumably from Kufa, soon after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656. During that battle, the loyalties of the TamÄ«m tribe of Basra had been divided, and many had fought against Ê¿AlÄ«. Afterward, when Ê¿AlÄ« appointed Ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs governor of Basra, Ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs was harsh with the TamÄ«m for this reason. Details and Ê¿AlÄ«âs full letter in B 801.
âAbÅ« (father of) al-Ê¿AbbÄs,â addressing Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs. Though commonly known as âIbn (son of) al-Ê¿AbbÄs,â Ê¿AbdallÄh is referred to here in relation to his son, who, like Ê¿AbdallÄhâs father, is also named al-Ê¿AbbÄs. For another use of this form of nomenclature, see §â¯2.10.
Presumably from Kufa between 37/658 and 40/661. BalÄdhurÄ« (AnsÄb, 2:161), YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:203), and MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ« (Nuzhah, 258) name the recipient as Ê¿Amr ibn Salamah al-HamdÄnÄ« al-ArḥabÄ«, Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor in Isfahan.
Ar. dihqÄn, pl. dahÄqÄ«n, class of lesser nobles in early Muslim Iran. Most were Zoroastrians, while some in northern Mesopotamia were Christians. For details, see Paul, âDihqÄn,â EI3. BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 801) says Ê¿AlÄ«âs missive refers to Zoroastrian (MajÅ«s) landowners.
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â2.20 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs missive to ZiyÄd ibn AbÄ«hi, who was acting as deputy for Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs in Basra. Ê¿AbdallÄh was then Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor in Basra and he also had jurisdiction over the provinces of Ahwaz, Fars, and Kirman.1 I swear this by God, in all truth: If I hear that you have misappropriated funds from the Muslimsâ treasury, whether it be a small or a large amount, I shall inflict on you a harsh punishment that will leave you short of wealth, diminished in strength, and burdened with shame. Go in peace. â2.21 â¬From another missive sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to ZiyÄd:2 Turn from extravagance to moderation, think today of tomorrow, and spend what you must, but put by the rest for your day of want. Do you expect God to remunerate you with the humble if he counts you among the arrogant? Do you think he will reward you with the charitable when you wallow in luxuries and refuse to help the weak and the widowed? A man is recompensed for the work he has accomplished. He advances to meet what he sent on. Go in peace. â2.22 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs. Ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs used to say: After the words of the Prophet, I have benefited from no words as much as I have benefited from these:3 |
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Presumably sent from Kufa to Fars sometime in 37â38/657â658: YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 2:204) prefaces this missive with the words, â[Ê¿AlÄ«] wrote to ZiyÄd, his governor in Farsâ; ZiyÄd was appointed as governor there after á¹¢iffÄ«n, which was in 37/657. This text is an escalation from the earlier, relatively milder reproof against corruption in §â¯2.21.
Presumably also from Kufa, but earlier than §â¯2.20, in 36/657, in the lead-up to the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n, when Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs left his post to join Ê¿AlÄ« for preparations. Ê¿AlÄ« had dispatched his freedman SaÊ¿d to ZiyÄd, instructing him to send funds to him in Kufa from the treasury of Basra; they argued, and, presumably, ZiyÄd did not send the funds, which is what prompted Ê¿AlÄ«âs reply. Details of the context, Ê¿AlÄ«âs full missive, and ZiyÄdâs reply, in BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 2:164â165; Ḥ 16:196â197, within the commentary on §â¯2.44.
Excerpt from a letterâof which §â¯2.66 is a variant rendering, and §â¯2.41 and §â¯2.72 are possibly other partsâlikely sent from Kufa to Mecca in 40/661, a short while before Ê¿AlÄ«âs death. Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs, Ê¿AlÄ«âs cousin and governor of Basra during Ê¿AlÄ«âs reign, apparently took money for personal use from the Basra treasury, arguing that as a member of the Prophetâs family, he had a right to the Qurʾanic âfifthâ (khums) share. When Ê¿AlÄ« chastised him, he retracted his claim and returned the money. Text and context for §â¯2.22 and §â¯2.66 in YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:205. The commentators also discuss the episode under §â¯2.41, which includes explicit mention of the affair: Ḥ 16:169â172; B 867, includes Ê¿AbdallÄhâs reply, and Ê¿AlÄ«âs further reply; details are also given in BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 2:169â176; RÄwandÄ« (R 3:134â135) arguesâcontra the other commentatorsâthat the reference is more likely to Ê¿AbdallÄhâs brother Ê¿UbaydallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs.
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A man is gladdened by obtaining a thing he was not going to lose and saddened by the loss of a thing he was not going to obtain. Be glad for what you have achieved for the hereafter. Be sad for what you have lost of it. Whatever you achieve of this world, donât exult over it excessively. Whatever you may lose of it, donât grieve too much. Save your worries for what comes after death. â2.23 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs address after Ibn Muljam struck him with his sword, spoken as a testament just before Ê¿AlÄ«âs death:1 This is my testament to you: Do not assign partners to God or abandon the Sunnah of the Prophetâkeep these two pillars upright, and you shall be free of blame. Yesterday I was your companion, today I serve as a plain lesson for you, and tomorrow I shall be gone from your midst. If I survive, I shall claim my own blood-wit,2 and if I die, well, death is what we are promised. If I forgive, my action will gain me nearness to God, and if you do the same, you too will earn Godâs reward. Choose forgivenessâ«Do you not wish that God should forgive you?»3 By God, death has not surprised me as an unwelcome visitor, or as a sudden arrival that I find unpleasant. I am like a person who has arrived at the watering hole he sought, who found the object he pursued. «What God has prepared for people of virtue is the best!»4 Raá¸Ä«: Part of this address was previously recorded in the Orations section.5 This version contains some additions, which is why I have found it necessary to repeat it here. â2.24 â¬From a testament Ê¿AlÄ« wrote after turning back from á¹¢iffÄ«n, regarding the distribution of his properties:6 This is what IâGodâs servant, Ê¿AlÄ« ibn AbÄ« ṬÄlib, Commander of the Faithfulâhave directed with regard to my property in the pursuance of Godâs pleasure, in the hope that God will allow me entry into the celestial garden and grant me his protection. |
Delivered as part of a testament in his home in Kufa, where he was carried after he was struck the deathblow, in 40/661. KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 1:299.
Blood-wit and forgiveness are mentioned in the context of punishment for Ê¿AlÄ«âs killer, Ibn Muljam.
Qurʾan, Nūr 24:22.
Qurʾan, Ê¿Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:198.
§â¯1.147.
En route from á¹¢iffÄ«n to Kufa in 37/657. Full testament with list of transmitters and some details of Ê¿AlÄ«âs concubines in B 806â807. Some details of his properties in Ḥ 15:149. The testament starts out in the conventional third grammatical person, which I have changed to first person for clarity, since the final line in Arabic is in the first person.
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From the same testament: My property shall be administered by al-Ḥasan ibn Ê¿AlÄ«.1 He should use a portion from it in licit ways and disburse from it also in licit ways. If something happens to Ḥasan while Ḥusayn lives, Ḥusayn shall administer the property thereafter and in the same way. FÄá¹imahâs sons are both to have the same share from my trusts as my other sons, but I have selected them for the charge of administering my trusts in order to obtain Godâs pleasure, gain closeness to Godâs Messenger, honor his sanctity, and privilege his kinship. The administrator is to leave the propertyâs principal in its original form and spend only from its fruits as he has been directed and instructed. He may not sell the estatesâ date-palm shoots until the entire land has ripened with them and become a fully green plantation. If any of my concubines with whom I cohabit has a child or is pregnant, then the cost of freeing her is to be deducted from her childâs share. If her child dies and she lives, she is still free, for her bondage has already been removed, and my freeing her has certified her liberty.2 Raá¸Ä«: As for Ê¿AlÄ«âs words in this testament, âHe may not sell the estatesâ date-palm shoots (wadiyyah)â: wadiyyah are saplings, and the plural is wadÄ«. His words: âuntil the land has ripened with them and become (an tushkila) a green plantationâ is among the most eloquent of expressions. It means that date-palm plantings will grow with such abundance in that land that the beholder will think it a landscape different to the one before; he will be thrown into doubt (ashkala, which also means ripen) and will think it is a different piece of land altogether. â2.25 â¬From a testament Ê¿AlÄ« would customarily inscribe for tax collectors he appointed to oversee collection of the alms-levy. I have recorded some sections from it here to show how Ê¿AlÄ« raised the pillar of right and followed the path of justice in matters small and large, and in affairs trivial and momentous:3 â2.25.1 â¬Set out in consciousness of God, who is one and has no partner. Donât threaten a Muslim, donât survey his property without his consent, and donât take from his possessions more than what is due to God. |
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This is Ê¿AlÄ«âs son Ḥasan from his wife FÄá¹imah ZahrÄʾ, daughter of the Prophet. Following convention for official documents, Ê¿AlÄ« refers to him as âḤasan ibn (= son of) Ê¿AlÄ«â rather than saying âmy son Ḥasan.â
Translation after Ḥ 15:150.
In Kufa, during his caliphate, 35â40/656â661, when he sent tax collectors to agricultural lands to collect the alms-levy (á¹£adaqÄt) annually required of Muslims. ThaqafÄ«, GhÄrÄt, 1:126â131.
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â2.25.2 â¬When you arrive in the lands of a tribe, pitch your tent at their watering hole and donât enter their residential areas. Then walk toward them calmly and with dignity and stand in their midst. Then hail them in peace and donât stint with your greeting. Then say, âServants of God, Godâs vicegerent, his caliph, has sent me to secure Godâs due from your property. Is there anything you owe God from your property that you should submit to his vicegerent?â If a person says no, donât ask him again. If a person is forthcoming, set out with him, but donât frighten, threaten, force, or oppress himâaccept whatever gold or silver he submits to you freely. If he has goats or camels, donât enter their pens without his permission, for most of the animals belong to him. When you do enter, donât behave rudely or with violence. Donât frighten the animals or startle them, and donât cause the owner distress by maltreating them. Divide the animals into two groups and have the owner select one set. When he has made his selection, donât object. Then divide the remaining the animals again into two groups, and have the owner select one set. When he has made his selection, donât object. Keep doing this until Godâs due is fulfilled by the number of animals that remain in your share, then accept them as Godâs due from the owner. If, after that, he asks you to rescind the operation, rescind it. Then bring all the animals together once again and repeat what you had done earlier until you have secured his acceptance of Godâs due from his property. Make sure, however, that you donât accept animals that are old, decrepit, broken-boned, sickly, or defective. â2.25.3 â¬Assign the animals only to the care of someone you know to be pious and who will be gentle with these flocks that belong to the Muslim community, until he delivers them to their leader, and that leader distributes the animals among them. Entrust the animals only to the care of someone who is kind and sincere, a vigilant custodian who wonât treat them roughly, overburden them, fatigue them, or drive them too hard. Then hasten to send me all the animals that have been collected under your supervision so that I may distribute them in the manner commanded by God. When your deputy takes charge of them, instruct him not to separate a camel from her calf, or to milk her to the extent that it harms the calf, or to ride her so hard that she collapses. He should divide his riding evenly between her and her fellow mares. He should allow tired animals to rest and be unhurried in herding the animals with worn hooves or a limp. He should let them drink whenever they pass a pool of water and not force them from green shoots to the beaten road. He should let them have a respite every few hours and pause wherever there is water and grass. He should do this until he delivers the animals to me, with Godâs permission, healthy and fat with marrow, neither fatigued nor distressed, so that I may distribute them |
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according to Godâs Book and the Prophetâs Sunnah. Do this, and God willing, it will increase your reward and bring you closer to the way of guidance. â2.26 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs missive to one of his tax collectors whom he had sent to collect the alms-levy:1 â2.26.1 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« commands his tax collector to be conscious of God in private affairs and hidden acts, for there is no true witness, and no real agent, other than God. Ê¿AlÄ« commands his tax collector to make sure that while he shows obedience to God in public, he should never do the opposite in private. To discharge his trust and offer worship with sincerity, the tax collectorâs private and public life should not contradict, and his actions and words should not be in opposition. Ê¿AlÄ« also commands him to make sure he never abuses or reviles his subjects. He should never raise himself above them because of his charge, for they are his brothers in faith and his helpers in the collection of dues. â2.26.2 â¬You have a prescribed share, a recognized right, in this levy. You also have partnersâthe poor, the weak, and the destitute. I will give you your share in full, but you should leave them their full share, else you will be among those who face an army of adversaries on the day of resurrection. Woe to the man whose adversaries before God are the mendicant, the poor, the beggar, the helpless, the debtor, and the wayfarer!2 If you scorn your trust and forage in the pastures of embezzlement, if you donât keep your soul and your faith clean from its filth, you will secure shame for yourself in this world, and even greater shame and humiliation in the hereafter. The most dreadful embezzlement is embezzlement of property that belongs to the community. The most terrible deception is deceiving the Imam. â2.27 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs testament to Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr, when he placed him in charge of Egypt:3 |
In Kufa during his caliphate, 35â40/656â661, when he sent Mikhnaf ibn Sulaym al-AzdÄ« to collect the alms-levy (á¹£adaqah). NuÊ¿mÄn, DaÊ¿Äʾim, 1:252.
These are among the eight categories of recipients for the alms-levy named in the Qurʾan, Tawbah 9:60. Discussion in B 811; Ḥ 15:161. The Arabic word madfÅ«Ê¿Å«nâtranslated here as âhelplessâ (after R 3:61; Ḥ 15:161, in the Qurʾanic category of âin the path of the God,â fÄ« sabÄ«l AllÄh)âcould also be interpreted, pace Ḥ 15:161, as âweakly faithful,â i.e., the category of those âwhose hearts are reconciledâ (al-muʾallafati qulÅ«buhum) to Islam.
Presumably written in Kufa between 36/656 and 38/658, in answer to questions Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr posed to him in a letter. ThaqafÄ«, GhÄrÄt, 1:235â248; MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 264â281, JurjÄnÄ«, IÊ¿tibÄr 561â572 (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ« and JurjÄnÄ« include the text of Ê¿AlÄ«âs full letter, and Muḥammadâs letter of request). These lines are similar to §â¯2.46.
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â2.27.1 â¬Lower your wing over them, offer them your softer side, show them your face, and give equal attention to all in glance and look, such that the powerful are not emboldened to expect unfair favors and the weak do not despair of getting justice. God will ask all his servants about small and large deeds, those open and those concealed. If he punishes, it is because you are the sinners. If he forgives, it is because he is the benefactor. â2.27.2 â¬Servants of God! Know that the pious partake of the joys of this world and the next. They share the world with the worldly, but the worldly do not share the hereafter with them. In this world, they reside in the most splendid of residences and consume the finest of delicacies. They possess the opulent comforts of the wealthy and partake of the lavish luxuries of the mighty. Yet, when they depart, they leave with a full supply of provisions and a large profit. They enjoy the pleasures of this world without becoming immersed in worldliness, content in the certain knowledge that they will be Godâs neighbors in the nextâno prayer rejected, no pleasure withheld. â2.27.3 â¬Servants of God! Beware of death, for it is imminent! Ready your provisions, for death will bring a momentous affair, a fateful endâgood with no evil attached to it forever after, or evil with no good attached to it forever after. Tell me: Who is closer to paradise than its seeker? Who is closer to hellfire than its seeker? Death stalks you. If you remain motionless, it will snatch you, if you flee, it will find youâit is more firmly attached to you than your shadow. Death is bound to your forelock while behind you the earth continues to be rolled up, like a scroll. Beware of the Fire whose pit is bottomless, whose heat is intense, and whose punishment is ever renewed! It is an abode where there is no mercy, no prayer is heard, no pain is healed. If you can fear God intensely and also place your hopes in him at the same time, then do so, combine the two. Indeed, a servantâs hope in his Lord is only as strong as his fear of his Lord. Those who harbor the greatest hopes of Godâs bounty are the ones who fear him most. â2.27.4 â¬Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr! Know that I have placed you in charge of the region most important to meâEgypt. This is what is due from you: oppose your passions and defend your religion, even if you have only a single hour left in this world. Do not anger God in trying to please his creatures. God compensates for |
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the loss of others, but no one can compensate for the loss of God. Pray the ritual prayer at its appointed time. Do not pray it early just because you have time or delay it because you are occupied. Know that every single one of your duties is subordinate to prayer. â2.27.5 â¬From the same testament: They are not equalâan Imam who leads to guidance and an Imam who leads to perdition, a man who loves the Prophet and a man who hates the Prophet. Godâs Messenger said to me: â¨I do not fear harm for my community from either believer or unbeliever. As for the believer, God holds him back because of his belief. As for the unbeliever, God thwarts him because of his unbelief. I fear harm for you from every man whose heart harbors hypocrisy while his tongue spouts knowledge, who says what you know to be good, but does what you know is evil.â©1 â2.28 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs reply to MuÊ¿Äwiyah. This is one of the most eloquent letters of all time:2 â2.28.1 â¬I received your letter in which you speak of how God selected Muḥammad to propagate his religion and aided him through his Companions. How astonishing the things time reveals about you! You presume to inform us about the bounties God has bestowed upon us and of the fact that he has blessed us with our Prophetâyou are â¨like the man who carried dates to sell in Hajarâ©, the motherlode of dates,3 or the man who challenged his instructor to duel with bow and arrow! You allege that So-and-So and So-and-So are the most excellent Muslims.4 If what you say is true, you have disqualified yourself from consideration, whereas if what you say is false, the breach is none of your concern. What have you to do with deciding who possesses more and who less excellence, who is to lead and who is to be led! How dare Freedmen and sons of |
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Hadith cited in ṬabarÄnÄ«, al-MuÊ¿jam al-awsaá¹, 7:128; MuttaqÄ«-HindÄ«, Kanz, 10:271.
In response to MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs second letter in 36/656 before the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«nâwhich MuÊ¿Äwiyah sent with AbÅ« UmÄmah al-BÄhilÄ«âin which he again accused Ê¿AlÄ« of envy of the first three caliphs and treachery towards them. Text of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs letter in Ḥ 15:185â187. BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 819) says that §â¯2.28 is part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs reply to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, of which another part was transcribed earlier as §â¯2.9.
Ar. ka-nÄqili tamrin ilÄ Hajar, lit. â¨like one who carries dates to Hajarâ©, is an ancient proverb, also rendered, â¨like one who carries dates to sell in Hajarâ© (ka-mustabá¸iÊ¿i tamrin ilÄ Hajar), similar in meaning to the English idiom, â¨carrying coal to Newcastleâ©. Hajar is a town near Bahrain famous for its dates. I have added âthe motherlode of datesâ in the translation for clarity. Proverbâs explanation in Ḥ 15:188; B 819; F 372.
Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, the first two Sunni Caliphs. Ḥ 15:189.
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Freedmen presume to draw distinctions between the first Emigrants, by classifying their stations and determining their ranks!1 Woe! â¨An arrow has whirred that does not belong to the quiver!â©2 A person has passed judgment on a matter in which he should be the one judged, not the judge! You, man! Will you not pity your limping hoof, recognize the shortness of your stride, and retreat to where destiny has placed you? What have you to do with the defeat of the defeated or the victory of the victorious! You are plunging deep into the waterless desert and straying far from the right path! â2.28.2 â¬Do you not seeâand I say this not to give you information but to speak of Godâs blessings3âthat many Emigrants were martyred in Godâs cause, and each one had merit, but when our martyr was killed, he was named the King of Martyrs, and Godâs Messenger singled him out by performing seventy supplications when he prayed over his body?4 Do you not see that many warriors had their hands severed in Godâs cause, and each one had merit, but when the same injury was inflicted on one of us, he was named He-Who-Soars-in-Paradise and He-of-the-Two-Wings?5 And if God had not forbidden men to praise themselves, I could mention someone else whose abundant virtues are known to believersâ hearts and not rejected by the ears of them who listen!6 Leave off talking about â¨one whose arrows pursued an animal that veered to one sideâ©!7 We are beholden only to our Lord and all people are beholden to |
On âFreedmen,â see note at §â¯2.18.
Ancient Arabian proverb. B 820; Ḥ 15:191; F 373; R 3:72.
Reference to Qurʾan, á¸uá¸¥Ä 93:11.
The passage is about the excellence of the Prophetâs and Ê¿AlÄ«âs clan of HÄshim. He compares their virtue and their service in the cause of Islam to the ignobility and anti-Islamic activities of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs Umayyad clan. The âKing of Martyrsâ (Sayyid al-ShuhadÄʾ) is the Prophetâs and Ê¿AlÄ«âs uncle Ḥamzah ibn Ê¿Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib, who was killed fighting for him at the Battle of Uḥud. Translated here as âsupplications,â the term takbÄ«r, lit. âproclaiming that [God] is the greatest (AllÄhu akbar),â is invoked during a funeral prayer, where it leads into a supplication for the deceased (takbÄ«r is also used in other contexts); the usual number of supplications in a funeral prayer is five, and the seventy that the Prophet prayed over Ḥamzah were unprecedented and never repeated. Ḥ 15:193; B 820; F 373; R 3:73.
âHe-Who-Soars-in-Paradiseâ (ṬayyÄr), also called âHe-of-the-Two-Wingsâ (DhÅ« al-JanaÌḥayn) is Ê¿AlÄ«âs brother and the Prophetâs cousin, JaÊ¿far ibn AbÄ« ṬÄlib, killed at the Battle of Muʾtah. Ḥ 15:193; B 821; F 373; R 3:73.
The one with âabundant virtuesâ is Ê¿AlÄ« himself, who fought valiantly in the Muslimsâ early battles. Ḥ 15:193; B 820â821; R 3:74.
Ar. mÄlat bihi l-ramiyyah, lit. â¨his arrows pursued an animal that veered to one sideâ©, is a proverb denoting one who pursues the elusive prey of worldly gain. Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 15:194) says Ê¿AlÄ« alludes here to Ê¿UthmÄn, who was from the clan of Umayyah. BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 821) says the reference is to Ê¿Amr ibn al-Äá¹£, and if so, the translation should be amended to âLeave off talking with (instead of: about) one whose arrows pursues an animal that veers to one side.â
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us. We intermingled with you despite our time-honored might and our ancient superiority over your people. We married among you and let you marry among us as though we were peersâwe are not.1 How could we be equal when we have the Prophet and you have the Nay-Sayer,2 when we have the Lion-of-God and you have the Lion-of-the-Alliances,3 when we have the Chiefs-of-the-Youth-of-Paradise and you have the Boys-of-Hellfire,4 when we have the Most-Virtuous-Woman-of-all-People and you have the Woman-Who-Carries-Firewood-to-Hell?5 And there are many more things that speak for us and against you. Our noble deeds in Islam have been heard by all, and your Age-of-Ignorance misdeeds cannot be denied.6 Godâs Book brings together for us what was taken from us, in his words, «Those who are from the same womb have more claim upon each other according to Godâs Book,»7 with his words, «Those who have the most claim on Abraham are the ones who followed him, and this Prophet, and those who profess belief. God is the believersâ master.»8 |
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Marriages between the HÄshim and Umayyah clans discussed in Ḥ 15:195â196.
âThe Prophetâ (NabÄ«) is Muḥammad. âThe Nay-Sayerâ (Mukadhdhib) is the Umayyad AbÅ« Jahl ibn HishÄm, at the head of nine other men who fought Muḥammad at Badr (Qurʾan, Muzzammil 73:11; B 821; R 3:75; Ê¿A 681), or, less likely, MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs father, AbÅ« SufyÄn ibn Ḥarb (Ḥ 15:196).
âThe-Lion-of-Godâ (Asad AllÄh) is Ḥamzah ibn Ê¿Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib (B 821; Ḥ 15:196; R 3:76; F 374, Ê¿A 681) and/or Ê¿AlÄ« himself (again, F 374). âThe Lion-of-the-Alliancesâ (Asad al-AḥlÄf) is one of several possible Umayyads, either from the pre-Islamic period (more likely)âÊ¿Utbah ibn RabÄ«Ê¿ah (Ḥ 15:196; F 374), or some other men who had the name âAsad,â viz., Asad ibn Ê¿Abd al-Ê¿UzzÄ (B 821; R 3:76), Asad ibn Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah ibn IlyÄs (again, F 374), or Asad ibn RabÄ«Ê¿ah ibn NizÄr (again, F 374)âor from the early Islamic period, viz., AbÅ« SufyÄn (Ê¿A 681). âThe Alliancesâ refers to the so-called âAlliance of the Pure Onesâ (Ḥilf al-Muá¹ayyabÄ«n) between certain Quraysh clans in the pre-Islamic period, regarding the allocation of the ritual offices of the KaÊ¿bah (R 3:86; B 821); if the âLionâ is AbÅ« SufyÄn, it refers to the tribal alliance put together by the Quraysh against Muḥammad.
âThe Chiefs-of-the-Youth-of-Paradiseâ (SayyidÄ ShabÄb Ahl al-Jannah) are Ḥasan and Ḥusayn, Ê¿AlÄ«âs sons with FÄá¹imah, the Prophetâs grandsons (R 3:77; F 77; Ḥ 15:197; B 822; Ê¿A 681). âThe Boys-of-Hellfireâ (á¹¢ibyat al-NÄr) are the sons of the Umayyad Ê¿Uqbah ibn AbÄ« MuÊ¿Ä«á¹, who was killed fighting against the Muslims at the Battle of Badr (Ḥ 15:197; F 374; B 822), or the sons of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs second cousin MarwÄn ibn al-Ḥakam (R 3:77; again B 822; Ê¿A 681).
âThe Most-Virtuous-Woman-of-all-Peopleâ (Khayr NisÄʾ al-Ê¿ÄlamÄ«n) is FÄá¹imah al-ZahrÄʾ, the Prophetâs daughter and Ê¿AlÄ«âs wife (R 3:77; Ḥ 15:197; B 822; Ê¿A 681). âThe Woman-Who-Carries-Firewood-to-Hellâ (ḤammÄlat al-Ḥaá¹ab; âto-Hellâ is added in the translation from the Qurʾanic context) is Umm JamÄ«l bint Ḥarb, MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs paternal aunt and wife of AbÅ« Lahab (Reference to Qurʾan, Masad 111:4; Ḥ 15:197; B 822; R 3:77; F 374; Ê¿A 681).
In some manuscripts, the pronoun is âourâ (-nÄ), which would read, âand our noble deeds in the Age of Ignorance (jÄhiliyyatunÄ) cannot be denied.â On the virtues of the HÄshim clan, see Ḥ 15:198â269. Refutation of virtues attributed to the Umayyads in Ḥ 15:270â295.
Qurʾan, AḥzÄb 33:6.
Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:68.
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We possess the higher claimâbecause of our kinship, yes, but also because of our obedience to God. When the Emigrants argued against the Allies on the Day of the Portico,1 the Emigrants challenged the Alliesâ claim on the basis of their own kinship with Godâs Messenger. If the argument is based on kinship with the Messenger, then we, not they, possess the truer claim. If it is based on something else, then the Alliesâ claim stands. â2.28.3 â¬You allege that I was envious of every caliph and disloyal to all. If that is true, then the crime was not committed against you, and you are due no justification. As the saying goes, â¨that is a disease whose shame is external to you.â©2 You also say that I had to be dragged to give the pledge of allegiance, like a camel pulled by a wooden bit in its nose. Godâs life, you intended to revile but have offered praise instead, you intended to disgrace but are yourself disgraced! A Muslim is never shamed because he is a victim of oppression, as long as he does not doubt in his faith or falter in his certainty. The argument I have made here is intended for another, but I have set it before you to the extent that I thought necessary. â2.28.4 â¬You recount what happened between me and Ê¿UthmÄnâyou are due a response in this matter because of your kinship with him. So tell me, which of us was more wrong in our actions toward him and did more to bring about his assassination? Was it the one who offered him support, but who he insisted should stand back and desist? Or was it the one with whom he pleaded for help, who loosened the reins of his mount to slow it down and stalled in giving a response, who pushed death toward him until his fate overpowered him?3 No, indeed! God knows the identity of «those among you who impede, who say to their brothers, âCome help us,â while they themselves seldom enter the fray.»4 I will not apologize for the fact that I chastised him for some of his actions. If my crime against him is my counsel and guidance, then how often are the |
âThe Day of the Porticoâ (Yawm al-SaqÄ«fah) refers to the assembly, immediately after Muḥammadâs death, when some of the Emigrants and Allies gathered in the covered assembly area of the BanÅ« SÄÊ¿idah clan, and which ended with the pledge for AbÅ« Bakr. See Ê¿AlÄ«âs similar initial response (and references for further details) in §â¯1.64 and my note there.
Second hemistich of a verse by the pre-Islamic poet AbÅ« Dhuʾayb al-HudhalÄ« (DÄ«wÄn al-HudhaliyyÄ«n, 1:21), used as a proverb. The first half is (â®
âThe one who offered him supportâ is Ê¿AlÄ«. âThe one with whom he pleaded for helpâ is MuÊ¿Äwiyah. Details in B 823.
Qurʾan, AḥzÄb 33:18.
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innocent blamed! â¨Sometimes, the only benefit a well-wisher derives is suspicion!â©1 I intend «only to set things right as much as I can. My direction comes from God. In him I place my trust.»2 â2.28.5 â¬You also say that you have nothing to offer me and my supporters but the sword. My eyes were moist earlier and now you make me laugh! When have you ever found the sons of Ê¿Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib to shrink from enemies or fear the sword? â¨Wait just a littleâḤamal will soon join the fray!â©3 The one you seek shall soon seek you, and what you think is far will come close indeed! I shall ride to you swiftly, bringing a large army of Emigrants, Allies, and Followers-in-Virtue, pressing strongly, raising dust, clothed in robes of death, and longing to meet their Lord. They number children of the warriors of Badr, wielding the swords of HÄshimâyou have experienced their strikes on your brother, your uncle, your grandfather, and your kinsmen!4 The blade «is never far from the wicked.»5 â2.29 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to the people of Basra:6 You know this well: You severed your rope of allegiance earlier and seceded from the community, but I pardoned those among you who had committed crimes, lifted the sword from those who had turned their backs, and accepted those who returned to me. If damning events and the immaturity of your |
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Second hemistich of a verse by an anonymous poet used as a proverb. The first half is (â®
Qurʾan, Hūd 11:88.
First half of a verse by the pre-Islamic warrior Ḥamal ibn Badr (or: Ḥamal ibn SaÊ¿d al-Ê¿AshÄ«rah), in response to threats by MÄlik ibn Zuhayr, used as a proverb. The second half is (â®
The Umayyad men slain by the Muslims in the Battle of Badr included MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs brother Ḥanáºalah ibn AbÄ« SufyÄn, his maternal uncle WalÄ«d ibn Ê¿Utbah, and his grandfather Ê¿Utbah ibn RabÄ«Ê¿ah. R 3:83; B 824.
Qurʾan, Hūd 11:83.
Excerpt from a letter to the Basrans in 38/658, during the Ibn al-Ḥaá¸ramÄ« episode: After MuÊ¿Äwiyah took Egypt, he sent Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn Ê¿Ämir ibn al-Ḥaá¸ramÄ« to Basra to recruit its people, and many welcomed him. Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor, ZiyÄd ibn AbÄ«hi, wrote for help, and Ê¿AlÄ« sent the Basran JÄriyah ibn QudÄmah al-SaÊ¿dÄ« with fifty men from Kufa, and with this letter addressed to the Basrans. JÄriyah confronted Ibn al-Ḥaá¸ramÄ« and killed him and his men. Details of Ibn al-Ḥaá¸ramÄ«âs attack in ThaqafÄ«, GhÄrÄt, 2:383â412 (with full text of the letter at 2:403â404); ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:110â112. See also oration §â¯1.1.90 (QÄá¹£iÊ¿ah), which is said to have been delivered at this time.
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despotic views now incite you to break your pledge again and challenge me, then beware! I have kept my steeds close, and my mounts saddled! If you force me to march, I shall charge against you in a battle that will make the thrashing you received at the Battle of the Camel seem like a romp in the meadow. I am also aware of the virtue of those of you who are obedient and the rights of those who are sincere. In punishing the guilty I shall not violate the innocent, in punishing those who break the pledge I shall not violate the faithful. â2.30 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:1 Fear God in all that you do and reflect on what you owe him. Return to the path of obedience, for your ignorance of it will not be excused. Its waymarks are clear, its roads are bright, its thoroughfare is open, and its destination is the one you should seek. The intelligent traverse it to reach water, while the wretched turn away. Whoever deviates from it strays from the truth and is lost in the waterless desertâGod overturns his blessings and afflicts him with harsh punishment. Look out for your soul, MuÊ¿Äwiyah, look out for your soul! God has shown you the grim reality of your current path and where your affairs will end. You speed inexorably toward the destination of utter loss and the resting-place of unbelief. Your passions have led you into evil, cast you into error, brought you to uncharted wastes, and made the road ahead of you steep and arduous. â2.31 â¬From a testament of counsel that Ê¿AlÄ« wrote to his son Ḥasan, at ḤÄá¸irÄ«n, on the return from á¹¢iffÄ«n:2 â2.31.1 â¬From a father who admits the power of time, bows to the supremacy of fate, censures this world below, lives in the abodes of the dead, and will depart from them tomorrow, to a son who hopes for what he cannot attain and walks the path of men long gone, a target for disease, a mortgage pledged to the passage of days, a quarry stalked by adversity, a slave of the world, a merchant trading in deception, a debtor bound to doom, a prisoner of death, a friend of sorrow, a companion of grief, a victim of calamity, a man felled by passion, and an heir to the dead. |
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Excerpt from a letterâpresumably from Kufa, and, since there is no reference to a prior battle, before the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657âin reply to a letter by MuÊ¿Äwiyah containing threats and accusations. Earlier part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter recorded in B 825; Ḥ 16:7â8.
In 37/657; in northern Syria. ḤÄá¸irÄ«n could be the name of a place, or the word could be ḥÄá¸irayn, sing. ḥÄá¸ir, meaning âtwo urban spacesâ (Ḥ 16:52). Addressed to Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah (rather than Ḥasan) in MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 201. One of the most famous and widely narrated of Ê¿AlÄ«âs testaments.
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â2.31.2 â¬I have observed how the world has turned its back on me, how refractory fate has bolted with my affairs, and how the hereafter steadily approaches. This has restrained me from thinking about anyone else or from worrying about any circumstances I might leave behindâcares about myself have driven out cares about other people. My prudence has led me to rebuff and reject my passions, and my reality has become clear, impelling me to gravity untainted by frolic and truth untarnished by lies. Yet, I realize that you are part of me, nay, you are all of me. If something hurts you, it hurts me. If death comes to you, it comes to me. Your affairs are as important to me as my own, and for this reason, I write this testament for you. It will support you while I remain with you and after I am gone. â2.31.3 â¬My dear son! I counsel you to be conscious of God. Obey his command, nourish your heart with his remembrance, and hold fast to his ropeâif grasped tightly, can you imagine a stronger bond between you and God?1 Revive your heart with pious counsel, kill its appetites through renunciation, strengthen it through certainty, and illuminate it with wisdom. Humble it by the remembrance of death, impress upon it the reality of annihilation, and make it aware of the worldâs sudden assaults. Give it warning of the violent attacks of fate and the horrible changes wrought by the passage of nights and days. Place before it reports of past peoples and remind it of the calamities that befell the ancients. Walk among their dwellings, their ruins, and reflect: What happened to them? What did they leave behind? Where did they take up residence? You will find that they left their loved ones and took residence in a strange land. Before long, you too will join them, so strive to build your permanent home and do not sell out the hereafter in exchange for this world. Leave off talking about what you do not know, or calling out people about things you are not charged with addressing; desist from any path that might lead you astray, for holding back when you fear error is far better than sailing the dread swells of the unknown; command good, and you will belong to its people; forbid evil with hand and tongue and strive hard to distance yourself from those who practice it; fight wickedness in the name of God, as is his due; do not be disheartened by any who might revile or shame you for anything you do for God; dive into the depths in the quest for truth, wherever or whenever you may have to do so; gain a good understanding of religion; and habituate yourself to patienceâwhat a beautiful trait is patience! In all your affairs, seek support from God, for in him you seek the |
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âHold fast to his rope,â reference to Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:103. The ShiÊ¿i commentator RÄwandÄ« (R 3:93â94) narrates a hadith in which the Prophet named Ê¿AlÄ« as the embodiment of Godâs rope.
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shelter of a deep cave and a mighty protector. Petition your Lord with a sincere heart, for his hand holds the power to give or refuse, ask him to help you choose what is good. Understand my testament and do not turn your face away, for the best words are those that bring benefit. Know this: There is no good in knowledge that brings no benefit, there is also no benefit in acquiring classes of knowledge that are not recommended for you to learn.1 â2.31.4 â¬My dear son! When I saw that I had lived to a full age, when I saw that I was growing weak, I hastened to prepare this testament for you and listed virtuous traits of character. I worried lest death overtake me before I could reveal to you what was in my heart, before weakness affected my mind as it has my body, and before forces of passion or the seductive powers of the world rushed to make you intractable and skittish. A young heart is like untilled landâit accepts whatever is sown. I have sought to refine your disposition before your heart hardens and before your mind becomes preoccupied. I hope that serious commitment will help you learn through the experiences of the experienced and save you from confrontation and investigation, and that it will spare you the hardship of pursuit and the bitter medicine of suffering. I hope that you learn from my experience, yet I further hope that even those things that may have remained obscure to me become clear to you. â2.31.5 â¬My dear son! Although I have not lived as long as those before me, I have reflected upon their acts, pondered their histories, and walked among their ruins, until I am almost one of them. In fact, because of what I have learned of their affairs, I feel as though I have lived with the first of them all the way to the last of them. I have distinguished the pure from the impure and the beneficial from the harmful. From each of their affairs, I have extracted the essential points of benefit, sought out the most beautiful, and dispensed with those that are unproven. My concern for you is as a loving father, and my hope is to complete the refinement of your character. The time for this is now, while you are still young, with your life ahead of you, while your intentions are innocent and your soul pure. I wish to begin by teaching you the Book of God and its deep meanings, the laws of Islam and its commands, what it has made licit and what illicit. I want you to focus on these things and leave the rest aside. |
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The âclasses of knowledge that are not recommended for you to learnâ are interpreted as (1) any kind of knowledge that it is not required or recommended to learn (R 3:94); or (2) that constitutes arts prohibited in Islam, such as magic, soothsaying, and astrology (B 831); or (2) that does not bring benefit for the hereafter (F 375); specifically, (4) geometry, mathematics, or their like (!) (Ḥ 16:66).
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I worry lest you should become confused, as others have, about issues on which peopleâs interpretations and views differ. Although I am loath to alarm you, I prefer to strengthen you in advance, rather than leave you without caution about approaching times in which you could perish. I ask God to direct you to the right path and guide you toward your goal. Accordingly, I bequeath to you this testament. â2.31.6 â¬My dear son! Know that the directives of my testament most dear to me, the ones to which I sincerely hope you will adhere, are the following: Remain conscious of God and do not overstep the boundaries of Godâs mandates for you. Adhere to the path followed by your forebears and your pious family. Like you, they never stopped caring for their souls or reflecting deeply on matters, so they carried out all that was good and refrained from all they had not been charged to undertake. If your heart refuses to accept their path without first learning what they learned, then commence your search with understanding and acumen, without hurtling down the precipice of doubt, or engaging in strident argumentation. Begin your exploration, moreover, by seeking aid from God and petitioning him for direction. Beware of lapses that could throw you into doubt or give you over to error. Once you have ensured that your heart has become pure and humble, your mind mature and composed, your aspiration resolute, begin reflecting on what I have explained. If you cannot achieve this, if you cannot compose your heart or clear your perception and thoughts, thenâand this you should know tooâyou will stumble around heavily like a blind camel and be flung headlong down a dark precipice; and one who stumbles around heavily, one who is delirious, is no seeker of religion. In such a case, it is better to refrain altogether. â2.31.7 â¬My dear son! Try to understand my testament. Know that the master of death is also the master of life, the creator is also the destroyer, the demolisher is also the restorer, the one who inflicts pain is also the one who bestows wellbeing. The world can be sustained only in the way of Godâs planâwith blessings and affliction, and repayment in the return to him, or other things that he wills that remain unknown to us. If any of this is difficult for you to grasp, attribute it to your ignorance. At the time of your creation, you were created ignorant, then you learned. How often it happens that you are ignorant of something, that your mind is perplexed about it and your perception leads you astray, but then afterward you perceive it clearly! Seek refuge in the one who created you, who sustained you, who molded you in harmonious form. Let your worship be for him, let your hope be in him, let your fear be of him. |
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â2.31.8 â¬My dear son! Know that no one has brought Godâs message in the manner of our Prophet, so take joy in accepting him as your scout for salvation and your leader. I have never held back from giving you advice. Though you may strive hard, you will never look out for yourself as much as I look out for you. â2.31.9 â¬My dear son! Know that if your Lord had a partner, his messengers would have come to you. You would have seen the evidence of that deityâs kingship and power and recognized his actions and attributes. But there is only one Godâhe has described himself as one,1 and no one can challenge him for his kingdom. As he has always been, so he will never cease to be. He is first before all things, yet without beginning, he is last after all things, yet without end. His majesty is too great to be encompassed by heart or eye. If you recognize this, do what someone like you should do, a human of little significance, of meager power, of complete incapacity, a human in great need of his Lordâseek to obey him, beware his punishment, and fear his wrath, for he only ever commands you to do what is right, and he only forbids you from doing what is wrong. â2.31.10 â¬My dear son! I have told you about this world, about its condition, its imminent end, and its inexorable passing. I have told you about the hereafter and what has been prepared in it for its people. You have been given illustrations about both so that you may learn from them and act upon them. Those who have tested the worldâs reality are like a group of travelers who, finding it an unsatisfactory, drought-stricken abode, seek another that is fertile and rich in pasture. They patiently suffer the tribulations of the road, the separation from friends, the roughness of the journey, and the coarseness of their food, in order to arrive at the vast and lovely expanse of their new home, their permanent residence. They care nothing for the pain they must experience on the road, nor do they deem the expense they must incur an indemnity. Nothing pleases them more than the things that bring them closer to their permanent abode, that draw them nearer to their real home. In contrast, those who are taken in by the worldâs deceptions are like a group of people who live in a fertile pasture and leave it behind to travel to a place of drought. Nothing will bring them more grief or be more devastating for them than leaving the pleasures they enjoy, and arriving, suddenly, at the place to which they must come, and in which they must stay forever. |
E.g., Qurʾan, IkhlÄá¹£ 112:1, Naḥl 16:51, Baqarah 2:163.
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â2.31.11 â¬My dear son! How you wish to be treated should be the measure with which you treat others. Choose for others what you would choose for yourself, and dislike for them what you dislike for yourself; do not oppress, just as you would not wish to be oppressed; be good, just as you would have others be good to you; consider ugly in yourself what you consider ugly in others; accept from others what you would have them accept from you; do not speak about things you do not know, even when there is not much that you do know; do not say things you would not wish to have said to you. Know that conceit is the enemy of good judgment and the bane of good minds. Toil hard but do not hoard your wealth for others to inherit. When you are guided to your purpose, humble yourself before your Lord. â2.31.12 â¬Know that ahead of you lies a road whose route is long and whose hardships are severe. You must traverse it as well as you are able and take with you the provisions you will need. Keep your load light, and do not burden your back beyond its capacity, for a heavy load will cause a bad outcome.1 Whenever you find a mendicant to carry your provisions for you till the day of resurrection, such that tomorrow, when you are in need of them, he can hand them over to youâtake advantage of him, give him your cargo to carry, and load him up with as many provisions as you are able.2 Do this while you have the opportunity, for it could happen that you go out to search for him but cannot find him. Take advantage, too, of any who ask you for a loan on your day of wealth and defer repayment for your day of hardship. Know that there is a tough climb before you in which it is better to travel light than to carry a heavy load, where it is much worse to go slowly than to go in speed. Know that you must dismount in either paradise or hell, so seek provisions for your soul before you are made to alight. Embrace your final home and make it ready before you take up residence. Remember: After death, there will be no way to please God, and no way to return to this world. â2.31.13 â¬Know that he whose hands hold the treasures of the skies and the treasures of the earth has permitted you to petition him and promised to answer. He has commanded you to ask in order that he may give, he has commanded you to beseech his mercy in order that he may shower it upon you. He has not placed any veil between you and him, nor has he required you to seek refuge with anyone who will intercede for you. If you sin, he does not withhold his |
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The âheavy loadâ on your back is a metaphor for sins.
âFinding a mendicant to carry your provisions for youâ is an injunction to charity, which will bring abundant rewards on judgment day.
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pardon, nor does he hasten to punish. He does not disgrace you even when you deserve shame. He does not rebuke while accepting your repentance. He does not chide you for your crimes or cause you to despair of his mercy. Rather, he counts it as a good deed when you shun sin. He reckons your bad deed as a single bad deed but multiplies your good deeds by ten. He has opened the door of repentance for youâif you call out to him, he hears your call, if you whisper to him, he knows your wordsâso open your heart and plead with him to take care of you. Divulge to him your inner self, tell him of your griefs, entreat him to dispel your sorrows, beseech him to help you in all that you do. Ask him for the treasures of his mercy, for that is something he alone can bestow. Ask him for a long life, a healthy body, and abundant providence. God has placed in your hands the keys to his treasury, for he has permitted you to pray. Whenever you so desire, you can beseech him and unlock the doors of his favors. Whenever you so desire, you can supplicate him and receive the copious showers of his mercy. Do not despair if the answer is slow in coming, for the gift will be in proportion to the intent. Perhaps the answer has been delayed so that the petitioner may receive yet greater rewards, and the aspirant may obtain yet richer gifts. When you asked for a thing and it was not given to you, perhaps it was because you will be given something even better, either here or in the next world. Perhaps it was turned away for something better. It may so happen that a thing you requested would have ruined your faith if it were granted. Ask for things whose beauty you will always cherish and against whose harm you will be guarded. Wealth will not remain for you, nor will you remain for it. â2.31.14 â¬Know that you have been created for the hereafter, not for this world, for annihilation, not existence, for death, not life. You are in a temporary home, a place for gathering provisions, a path to the hereafter. Death stalks you. No one who attempts to flee can escape, for it will inevitably overtake him. Be watchful lest it seize you in a state of sin. You tell yourself you will repent later, but death may get in the wayâif that happens, you will have caused your soul to perish. My dear son! Think about death and do so often. Reflect on what you are rushing toward and where you may be pitched after death. Make sure death does not take you before you have taken the warning to heart or girded your loins. Let it not come upon you suddenly and dash you to the ground! â2.31.15 â¬Beware! Do not be deceived by the world, do not become like the covetous who fight over her like wild dogs! God has informed you about her reality, she too has given you tidings of her own death, shown you her real evils. Are her people anything but howling dogs and savage predators? Yowling at each other, |
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the strong devour the weak, the large attack the small. Herded and tended camels, some, but others gone loose, having slipped their ropes and run off in unknown directions. They graze now on foul weeds in stony valleys, no shepherd to watch them, no herdsman to lead them to grass. The world took them on the path of blindness and made them oblivious to their beacons of guidance, they drifted in her perplexities and drowned in her pleasures, they took her as their lord and master, she toyed with them, and they dallied with her, forgetting what was coming. But wait, go gently! Darkness will soon give way to morning. Travelers have already arrived at the watering hole, yet those who hasten may very well catch up. Know this: If your steeds are Day and Night, you are driven forward even when you stand still. You cut the distance to the destination even when you remain motionless and calm. â2.31.16 â¬Know this with full certainty: Your path is the path of those before you, and you will not achieve your long hopes and surpass your allotted lifespan, so be moderate in your pursuits and restrained in what you seek. A pursuit often leads to deprivation: not every seeker finds sustenance, while not every person of restraint is denied. Honor yourself by rising above despicable acts, even when they lead to the fulfilment of your passions, for there is no adequate recompense for expended honor. Do not become a slave to another when God has created you free. What is the good of something good obtained through evil? Or of ease obtained through privation? Beware lest ambitionâs steeds run off with you and pitch you down at the station of destruction! If you can arrange things such that no benefactor stands between you and God, then do so. No matter what, you will attain your destiny and receive your share, and a little from God is both more in quantity and greater in worth than a lot from his creatures. Ultimately, everything comes from him. â2.31.17 â¬Making up for too much silence is easier than retracting what escapes your lips. Secure your sack by tightening the strap. It is far better to guard your property than to covet anotherâs. It is far better to taste the bitterness of resignation than to importune people. It is far better for you to combine poverty with restraint than to pair wealth with dissolution. |
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You protect your own secret best. Often the very thing you strive for harms you when you get it. Whoever talks too much, blathers. Associate with good people, and you will be one of them. Stay away from evil people, and you will be separate from them. How vile is forbidden food! Oppressing the weak is the worst oppression. If goodness is stupid, then stupidity is good. Sometimes the cure becomes the disease. A person who does not intend to often unwittingly gives counsel, while a well-wisher sometimes unwittingly deceives. Beware of placing faith in worldly hopesâthey are the property of fools. Learning from experience is smartâthe best experience gives good counsel. Seize opportunities before they are lost. Not every seeker gets what he wants, and not everyone who goes comes back. To squander provisions and to spoil your return is to cause your own ruin. Every affair has a consequence. Your destiny will come to you. A trader takes risks. A little often produces more than a lot. There is no good in a contemptible helper or a suspicious friend. Fate is a camel. Loosen its reins and give it slack as long as it remains docile. Donât risk what you have in hopes of getting more. Beware lest a quarrel run away with you. â2.31.18 â¬Maintain bonds of kinship with your brother, even when he is bent on cutting them. Perform kindnesses for him, even when he shuns you. Be generous to him, even when he is aloof and close-fisted. Stay close to him, even when he distances himself. Be kind to him, even when he is harsh. Placate him, |
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even when he is cruel. Behave towards him as though you were a slave, and he a generous benefactor. But beware lest you do this where it is not fitting, or with people who are not worthy. To befriend your friendâs enemy is to spurn your friend. Give your brother sincere advice, whether palatable or unpleasant. Swallow your rageâno other drink leaves a sweeter taste or has a pleasanter effect. Be kind to one who is harsh with you, perhaps, then, he will be kinder to you. Be generous to your enemyâthat is the sweetest of the two ways of celebrating victory. If you must sever relations with your brother, save a small space in your heart for him, in case, one day, he wants to return. If someone thinks you are good, prove them right. Donât squander your brotherâs rights by taking the bond between you for granted. If you squander his rights, he is no longer your brother. Donât give your family members the least share of you. Donât place your desires in those indifferent to you. Donât let your brother be more capable of severing himself from you than you of associating with him. Donât let him be more capable of meanness than you are of being kind. Donât be unduly troubled by an oppressorâs oppression. Know that he harms himself and benefits youâdonât reward someone who benefits you by doing him harm. â2.31.19 â¬My dear son! Know that providence is of two typesâthe one you seek and the one that seeks you. If you donât find it, it will find you. How loathsome is a show of humility in times of need, and aloofness in times of affluence! Your greatest assets are the deeds you carry to the grave. If you would bewail the loss of what you once had, then bewail too the absence of things you never had. |
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Expect what will happen by extrapolating from what has happenedâhistory repeats.1 Donât heed counsel only when it haunts you and causes you pain. A rational person takes counsel from rebuke. Only cattle are counseled by the whip. Cast off the fevers of anxiety with patient resolve and seemly conviction. To leave the middle road is to deviate. Friends are like kin. A friend is true in your absence. Passion blinds. Those far are often closer than those close. Those close are often farther than those far. The real exile is the person who has no one to love. Whoever transgresses the truth finds his path closing in on him. Whosoever limits himself to his capacity abides. The sturdiest rope is the one that links you to God. A person who doesnât care for your wellbeing is your enemy. Accepting that hopes may not be realized could lead to their realization, whereas coveting them could lead to your destruction. Not every gap in a fortress can be breached. Not every opportunity can be availed. Sometimes the perceptive miss the target and the blind hit the mark. Impede evil, else you may hasten its onset. Dissociating from a fool is equal to befriending an intelligent man. Trust the world and you will be deceived by it. Venerate the world and you will be reviled by it. Not every arrow hits the mark. New ruler, new age. Before beginning a journey, inspect your fellow travelers. Before buying a house, inspect your neighbors. Beware of cracking unseemly jokes, even when attributing them to another. |
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Ar. inna l-umÅ«ra ashbÄhun, lit. âall things are the same.â
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â2.31.20 â¬Beware of seeking advice from women, for their opinion can be weak and their resolve can waiver.1 Employ the veil to shade their eyes, for strict veiling preserves modesty; also, private visits from untrustworthy men are as harmful as going out unveiledâif you can, make it so that they know only you. Donât allow a woman to govern affairs other than her own, for a woman is a fragrant flower, not a manager of affairs; donât allow your generosity to her extend beyond her to another, donât encourage her to intercede for others. Beware, on the other hand, of irrational jealousy, for jealousy leads the healthy wife to sickness and the innocent one to engage in suspicious behavior. â2.31.21 â¬Make every individual under your command responsible for his own particular task. If you do, he will be less likely to slacken and point a finger. Honor your kinsmen. They are the wings with which you fly, the tree on which you lean, and the hand with which you attack. â2.31.22 â¬I place your religious and your worldly affairs in Godâs care. I beseech him to ordain for you everything good, now and later, both in this world and the hereafter, if he so wills, InshÄʾallÄh! â2.32 â¬From a letter by Ê¿AlÄ« to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:2 You have destroyed a whole generation of people, deceiving them with your evil ways and pitching them into the waves of your turbulent sea, where they were engulfed in darkness and tossed hither and thither by doubt. Straying from the destination, they spun on their heels, turned their backs on religion, and placed their faith in ties of kinshipâexcept for the few who were discerning. When you mounted the latter on refractory camels and led them off the straight path, they recognized your misguidance and fled, leaving your service to return to God. Fear God for your own sake, MuÊ¿Äwiyah, and wrench your halter out of Satanâs hands. Very soon, the world will sever its rope from you. The hereafter has drawn near. Go in peace. |
Some of these lines, alongside a few others in which women are referred to harshly in this volume, are usually read as an indirect rebuke of the Prophetâs widow Ê¿Äʾishah, who led an army against Ê¿AlÄ« at the Battle of the Camel (see also §â¯1.77, §â¯2.1, and accompanying notes).
Excerpt from a letter within a series of acrimonious exchanges, presumably in the lead-up to the Battle at á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657. Preceding part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter in B 859; Ḥ 16:133, and MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs reply and the full exchange, in Ḥ 16:133â137.
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â2.33 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs dispatch to Qutham ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs, his governor in Mecca:1 My agent in the west has written to inform me that a group of Syriansâblind of heart, deaf of ear, and weak of eyeâare being sent to Mecca this hajj season. They claim to establish a right through wrong means, obey a human, a creature, while disobeying the creator,2 and attempt to milk the worldâs udders in the name of religion. They purchase the temporary benefits of this realm and sell off the reward promised to the pious and godfearing. But good will be won only by those who practice good, while the recompense of those who practice evil will be nothing but evil. Govern your city wellâbe astute, strong, sincere, and thoughtful, a man who follows his leader and obeys his Imam. â¨Beware of an action you must justify.â©3 Do not exult in times of prosperity or despair in times of distress. â2.34 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr, upon learning of Muḥammadâs distress at being replaced by Ashtar as governor of Egypt (Ashtar died en route):4 I have learned that you are distressed at my sending Ashtar to take charge of your region. That was not because I found you remiss in your efforts or less diligent than I would have wishedâalthough I retracted the authority I had placed in your hands, I had intended to replace it with a governorship that would have been easier for you to handle and more fulfilling. The man I sent as the new governor of Egyptâmay God have mercy on him!âwas sincere in his love for me and a fierce enemy to my foe. But he has finished his days and met his end. I am pleased with his deedsâmay God too be pleased with him and multiply his reward. Now go out and confront your enemy. Be guided by your discerning mind, gird up to fight your attacker, call to the path of your Lord, and beseech God repeatedly for aid. He will dispel your grief and help you to combat the calamities that have come your way, if he so wills. |
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From Kufa, just prior to the hajj season, in DhÅ« al-Ḥijjah, 39/659, warning Qutham about the imminent arrival in Mecca of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs troops under YazÄ«d ibn Shajarah al-RahÄwÄ«. B 859; Ḥ 16:138â139. Context and text in ThaqafÄ«, GhÄrÄt, 2:504â510.
Echoes a well-known hadith, â¨Do not obey humans if it means you will disobey Godâ© (â®
Proverb. RÂ 3:381.
From Kufa to Egypt in 38/658. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:87. See next text, §â¯2.35, for Ê¿AlÄ«âs grief when Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr too was killed. âAshtar diedâ (tuwuffiya al-Ashtar), or, as per MS Sh, âAshtar was poisonedâ (summa al-Ashtar).
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â2.35 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs, after Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr was killed in Egypt:1 Egypt has been conquered, and Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakrâmay God have mercy on him!âhas gained martyrdom. I seek Godâs recompense for enduring the pain of his death! He was a sincere son, a diligent governor, a cutting sword, and a pillar of support. I had urged people to succor him ahead of the skirmish and commanded them to come to his aid, and I pleaded with them early and often, in private and in public, but to no availâa few reluctantly stood up, some gave insincere excuses, and others sat back and flatly refused.2 I entreat God to grant me swift relief from their company! By God, were I not hoping for martyrdom when I meet the enemy in battle, had I not trained myself to face death in combat, I would prefer not to stay among these people for another day, I would wish never to see them again! â2.36 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs reply to a letter from his brother Ê¿AqÄ«l ibn AbÄ« ṬÄlib, describing the movements of a military unit he had sent against one of his enemies:3 I dispatched a large army of Muslims to fight him. When he learned of its coming, he tucked up his garments and fled, regretting his incursion, and attempting to retreat. They caught up with him on a certain road just as the sun was about to set, and the two sides exchanged quick blows.4 After a short hourâs skirmish, in which he was personally grabbed by the throat and had his breath squeezed out of him, he escaped, choking on his spittle. He escaped, but only with terrible effort. |
From Kufa to Basra in 38/658 (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:109). Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr, Ê¿AlÄ«âs foster-son and ward, and his governor in Egypt, was tortured and killed by MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs commander, Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£.
Ê¿AlÄ«âs public and private orations urging his supporters to mobilize and aid Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr are recorded in ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:107â108.
Excerpt from a post-á¹¢iffÄ«n reply from Kufa in 39/659 to Ê¿AqÄ«l in Medina, describing the raids of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs commander á¸aḥḥÄk on Iraqi towns, and the actions of Ê¿AlÄ«âs commander Ḥujr ibn Ê¿AdÄ«, at the head of four thousand men, against him. Details of events in Ḥ 2:113â125, Ê¿AqÄ«lâs letter to Ê¿AlÄ« and Ê¿AlÄ«âs full reply in MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 295â297; Ḥ 2:118â120.
Ar. fa-qtatalÅ« shayʾan ka-lÄ wa-lÄ, lit. âThey fought for a bit like no and no!â â¨Like no and noâ© (ka-lÄ wa-lÄ) is an idiom signifying something quick and fleeting, onomatopoeic for the staccato shortness of the repeated single-syllable lÄ. B 863; F 381; Ḥ 16:149.
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Donât speak to me of Quraysh! They have raced into error, galloped into dissent, and bolted into the waterless waste. They have banded to fight me, just as they banded earlier to fight Godâs Messenger. May Quraysh be repaid as they deserve! They have cut the bonds of my kinship and looted the authority given to me by my brother, Muḥammad.1 You have asked about my view on fightingâhere it is: I shall continue to fight all who break their pledge of allegiance until I meet God. My might is not increased by large numbers, nor do I grow uneasy if they disperse. Donât think that I, your brother will be broken or humbled, even if I am abandoned by any and all! You will not find me weak in the face of oppression, like a docile camel, or one with a broad back on which a rider can sit in comfort. In the words of the Sulaym tribesman:2
â2.37 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:3 Great God! How fervently you cling to your outlandish passions and your obsessive machinations! How blatantly you disregard the facts and reject Godâs compacts that are proofs against his servants! You make repeated arguments in the matter of Ê¿UthmÄn and his killers, but the reality is that you are only coming forward to defend Ê¿UthmÄn now in order to help yourself. You abandoned him earlier, when you could have helped him. Go in peace. |
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Lit. âmy motherâs sonâ (ibn ummÄ«), refers to Ê¿AlÄ«âs closeness to Muḥammad generally, and to the fact that he was raised by Ê¿AlÄ«âs parents. F 382; R 3:126â127; Ḥ 16:151; B 832. âMuḥammadâ is added to the translation for clarity.
Attributed to Ê¿AbbÄs ibn MirdÄs al-SulamÄ«, a pagan poet and warrior who converted to Islam after the Conquest of Mecca (d. bet. 18/639 and 36/656). B 863; Ḥ 16:152.
Presumably from Kufa to Damascus in 36/656, or at á¹¢iffÄ«n before the battle in 37/657. Earlier part in B 83; Ḥ 16:153â154; details of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs withholding of aid in the face of Ê¿UthmÄnâs pleas in B 864; Ḥ 16:154, after BalÄdhurÄ«.
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â2.38 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to the people of Egypt, when he sent Ashtar to them as their governor:1 From Godâs servant, Ê¿AlÄ«, Commander of the Faithful, to the people who rose up in anger for the sake of God, when God was disobeyed on earth and his dues were flouted, when tyranny raised its canopy over pious and debauched, over resident and traveler, when good was no longer pursued, and evil was no longer hindered.2 I have sent you one of Godâs own servants, who neither sleeps during the days of danger, nor shrinks from confronting the enemy in the hours of terror. He is more ardent in attacking the wicked than a blazing fire. He is MÄlik ibn al-ḤÄrith, from the tribe of Madhḥij. Listen to him and obey his command in everything that accords with the truth, for he is one of Godâs own swords. His blade is far from blunt, his blow is never weak. March when he commands you to march, halt when he commands you to halt, for he advances and withdraws, delays and proceeds, only at my command. I would wish to keep him by my side, but have sent him to you instead, because he is sincere in his wish to guide you and unyielding in his severity toward your enemy. â2.39 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£:3 You have subordinated your faith to the worldly gain promised to you by a man whose deceit is plain, whose dishonor is manifest, who uses his assemblies to slander the noble, and who transforms mature associates into fools. You follow in his footsteps and seek his favors like a dog trailing a lion, begging for largesse, and waiting for whatever scraps of prey it might toss your way. You |
Kufa, 38/658. Ê¿AlÄ« sent Ashtar to replace Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr as governor of Egypt when a group there turned to MuÊ¿Äwiyah and Muḥammad was besieged. Ashtar was poisoned by MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs agent en route. This letter was found among his belongings. Details in ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:95â97; YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:193â194; MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 282â284 (text of letter, 283â284). Other relevant letters are §â¯2.53 and §â¯2.62.
The reference is to the Egyptiansâ displeasure with Ê¿UthmÄnâs rule, which resulted in a delegation demanding reform or abdication. Ḥ 16:156â157 and B 864: Ê¿AlÄ« was supportive of the Egyptiansâ grievances, but not of Ê¿UthmÄnâs killing.
From Kufa to Damascus in 36/656, before leaving for á¹¢iffÄ«n. Text, context, and Ê¿Amrâs reply, in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 110â111; ṬabrisÄ«, IḥtijÄj, 1:267. Earlier part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter in B 865; Ḥ 16:163. Ê¿Amr had agreed to support MuÊ¿Äwiyah against Ê¿AlÄ«, in exchange for the governorship of Egypt. Ḥ 16:160â161. Earlier, Ê¿Amr had been in command of the Muslim army that had conquered Egypt during the caliphate of Ê¿Umar, who then dismissed him for corruption. âWhose dishonor is manifest,â lit. âwhose veil is rentâ (mahtÅ«kin sitruhu). âAbÅ« SufyÄnâs sonâ is MuÊ¿Äwiyah.
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have lost out in this world and in the hereafter, when you could have achieved your desires through rightful means. Beware! If God grants me victory over you and AbÅ« SufyÄnâs son, I will requite you like for like. But should you elude me and manage to stay alive, beware: what lies ahead is much worse. Go in peace. â2.40 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to one of his governors:1 I am informed that you have done something, which, if you have done it, means you have angered your Lord, disobeyed your Imam, and betrayed your trust. I am informed that you stripped the land bare, devoured whatever was under your control, and consumed whatever you could lay your hands on. Send me your accounts, then, and know that Godâs accounting is more stringent than manâs! â2.41 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to one of his governors:2 I had shared my charge with you and kept you as close to me as an intimate garment, I trusted none of my family to support and serve me, to stay true to his charge, more than I trusted you. But when you saw that the age had turned rabid against your cousin, the enemy was attacking with savage madness, the people were becoming increasingly corrupt, and the community had risen up in revolt and abandoned me, you turned your shield in your cousinâs face.3 You left me, along with all the others; you abandoned me, along with all the others; you betrayed me, along with all the others. You failed to support your cousin or fulfill your trust. When you fought beside me earlier, you appear to have had something other than Godâs cause in mind, to have never truly held a mandate from your Lord; you appear to have been deceiving this community in order to defraud them, as though, all along, you had intended to cheat them of their war gains. For when you saw the opportunity to swindle, you were swift to charge and quick to attack. You swooped and ran off with whatever money you could |
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The governor is Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs in Basra and Ê¿AlÄ«âs letterâsent from Kufa sometime after NahrawÄn, in 38/658âwas prompted by a complaint written to him by his treasurer there, AbÅ« al-Aswad al-DuʾalÄ« (BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 2:170; Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 5:103). §â¯2.43, Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to Maá¹£qalah ibn Hubayrah, governor in ArdashÄ«r, Fars, contains similar language.
Excerpt from a letter likely sent from Kufa to Mecca in 40/661 to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs, a short while before Ê¿AlÄ«âs death; §â¯2.22, and its variant rendering, §â¯2.66, is possibly another part from the same letter (text and context in YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:205), and perhaps also §â¯2.72. Details of event in note to §â¯2.22. Text of §â¯2.41 in BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 2:175â176; Ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄsâs reply, and Ê¿AlÄ«âs further reply in B 867.
An action usually taken in the face of an enemy, denotes disloyalty; cf. proverb: â¨Turned the face of his shieldâ© (qalaba áºahr al-mijann). Ḥ 16:169; Ê¿A 690; R 3:136â137; F 382.
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grabâmoney held in trust for their widows and orphansâlike a lean-hipped wolf pouncing and snatching a bleeding, limping goat. You blithely carried it away to Mecca, without deeming your appropriation a crime, as though youâmay other people be deprived of fathers!âwere gifting to your family property inherited from your father and mother!1 Great God! Do you not believe in the return to him? Do you not fear interrogation at the reckoning? I counted you among the intelligent! How can you eat and drink when you know that what you eat and drink is illicit? How can you purchase slave-girls and marry women, using money that belongs to orphans and beggars, to believers, to warriors on whom God has bestowed these properties, and through whom God has protected these lands? Fear God and return their property! If you do not, and if God places you in my power, I shall redeem myself before him by punishing you appropriately. I shall strike you with my sword, a sword that has thrust every man it has struck into the Fire of Hell. By God, if Ḥasan and Ḥusayn had done what you have done, they would have met with no leniency from me, nor would they have gotten their way! I would have wrested from them what was due and redressed the injustice wrought by their actions. I swear this by God, Lord of all the peoplesâI would not even wish to own lawfully what you have usurped of the communityâs property, or to leave it as inheritance for those who live after me. â¨Pasture lightly in the forenoon!â©2 Think: how will it be when you reach the end of your path and are buried beneath the earth, when your deeds are laid before you in that abode where the tyrant cries out in despair and the wicked begs for a chance to return?3 «But it will be too late then to escape!»4 â2.42 â¬From a missive sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to Ê¿Umar ibn AbÄ« Salamah al-MakhzÅ«mÄ«, his governor in Bahrain, discharging him and replacing him with al-NuÊ¿mÄn ibn Ê¿AjlÄn al-ZuraqÄ«:5 I have appointed al-NuÊ¿mÄn ibn Ê¿AjlÄn over Bahrain and discharged you without censure or reproach. You undertook your duties as governor admirably and fulfilled the trust I had placed in you. Come to me, then, without blame, liabil- |
âTo Mecca,â lit. âto the ḤijÄz,â western Arabia, where Mecca and Medina are located.
Ar. á¸aḥḥi ruwaydan, an idiom enjoining restraint. Two interpretations: (1) The verb á¸aá¸¥á¸¥Ä means to allow camels to pasture only very lightly in the forenoon (á¸uḥÄ), to ensure they can resume walking swiftly without needing to rest. Ḥ 16:169; B 868; R 3:138â139. (2) F 382 explains the idiom as âslaughter gently,â from the verb á¸aḥḥÄ, meaning to sacrifice an animal, which, when followed by âgentlyâ (ruwaydan), similarly denotes restraint.
Reference to Qurʾan, Sajdah 32:12.
Qurʾan, á¹¢Äd 38:3.
From Kufa to Bahrain in 36/656, in the lead-up to the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n. Ê¿Umar ibn AbÄ« Salamah was the Prophetâs stepson and ward, son of his wife Umm Salamah from her previous marriage.
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ity, culpability, or guilt. I intend to march against the despots of Syria and want you beside me in the battle. You are one of those whose support I rely on to fight the enemy and erect the pillar of religion. We shall do so, God willing! â2.43 â¬From a missive sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to Maá¹£qalah ibn Hubayrah al-ShaybÄnÄ«, his governor in ArdashÄ«r-khurrah:1 I am informed that you have done something, which, if you have done it, means that you have angered your Lord and enraged your Imam. I am informed that you distribute among your ingratiating Bedouin tribesmen the war booty won by the Muslimsâ arms, their cavalry, and their blood. I swear by him who split the grain and created the soulâif this is true, you will be disgraced in my eyes and worthless in my scales! Donât make light of your obligations to your Lord, donât advance your worldly life by effacing your religion, else you will be among those who lose all their deeds. Hark! All Muslimsâthose who live in your jurisdiction and those who live in mineâhave equal share in the war booty. They come to my watering hole to receive it, and leave, having drunk their fill. Go in peace. â2.44 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs missive to ZiyÄd ibn AbÄ«hi, when he learned that MuÊ¿Äwiyah had written to ZiyÄd, enticing him to defect by connecting ZiyÄdâs lineage to his own:2 I have learned that MuÊ¿Äwiyah wrote to you in an attempt to befuddle your mind and dull your blade. Beware of him! He is Satan, approaching a man from the front and the back, the right and the left,3 storming in wherever he finds laxity, and plundering wherever he finds negligence. Once, during the reign of |
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Presumably sent from Kufa in or just before 38/658. The first line is similar to §â¯2.40, and Maá¹£qalah is also castigated in §â¯1.44 (details of event in notes there). ArdashÄ«r-khurrah was a district in Fars.
Presumably from Kufa to Fars, between 38/658 and 40/661. The correspondence between MuÊ¿Äwiyah and ZiyÄd likely began when Maá¹£qalah defected to MuÊ¿Äwiyah in 38/658 (see Ibn Ê¿AsÄkir, TÄrÄ«kh, 58:269â270). ZiyÄd was Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor in Fars who, soon after Ê¿AlÄ«âs death, left Ê¿AlÄ«âs son Ḥasan and defected to MuÊ¿Äwiyah in 44/665. MuÊ¿Äwiyah won him over by officially declaring that ZiyÄd was his own (illegitimate half-)brother and appointing him governor in Iraq. The Nahj al-BalÄghah textâlike most primary sourcesâcalls him âZiyÄd ibn AbÄ«hi,â lit. âZiyÄd, son of his fatherâ (instead of âZiyÄd, son of Ê¿AbÄ«d,â the name of his legal father) because of the uncertainty regarding his parentage; several candidates are mentioned in the sources, including MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs father, AbÅ« SufyÄn. ZiyÄdâs mother, Sumayyah, a slave, is characterized as promiscuous, andâthis is the incident mentioned in Ê¿AlÄ«âs letterâAbÅ« SufyÄn had once boasted to Ê¿AlÄ« that he, AbÅ« SufyÄn, had âplaced ZiyÄd inside Sumayyahâs womb.â Details of these events, texts of the letters exchanged between MuÊ¿Äwiyah and ZiyÄd, and between Ê¿AlÄ« and ZiyÄd, and ZiyÄdâs orations, in Ḥ 16:179â204 (after Ibn Ê¿Abd al-Barr, BalÄdhurÄ«, WÄqidÄ«, MadÄʾinÄ«, and ṬabarÄ«); B 870â871; F 383â384; R 3:140â142.
Reference to Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:17.
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Ê¿Umar ibn al-Khaá¹á¹Äb, AbÅ« SufyÄn admitted that he had lapsed, an immoral admission that Satan propelled from his mouth, one which establishes neither lineage nor inheritance. Whoever relies on it as evidence is like a gatecrasher who is thrown out, or like a cup dangling from a saddle that is tossed hither and thither. When ZiyÄd read Ê¿AlÄ«âs missive, he exclaimed, âBy the Lord of the KaÊ¿bah, he has testified to it!â And this stayed with him, until, eventually, MuÊ¿Äwiyah proclaimed him his brother. Raá¸Ä«: Ê¿AlÄ« said, âlike a gatecrasher who is thrown out (ka-l-wÄghil al-mudaffaÊ¿)â: a gatecrasher is someone who bursts in uninvited upon a group of drinkers in order to join them, but, since he is not one of them, he is repulsed. âA cup dangling from a saddle that is tossed hither and thither (al-nawá¹ al-mudhabdhab)â is a cup or a bowl or something similar fastened to a riderâs saddle, that rattles and jiggles whenever the rider urges his mount and quickens his pace. â2.45 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to Ê¿UthmÄn ibn Ḥunayf al-Aná¹£ÄrÄ«, his governor in Basra, when he heard that a certain group of people had invited Ibn Ḥunayf to a wedding banquet, and he had attended:1 â2.45.1 â¬Ibn Ḥunayf, I am informed that one of Basraâs grandees invited you to a feast and you rushed to goâchoice foods were presented to you there, and many dishes were served, but I would not have expected you to accept an invitation from people who are harsh to the needy and welcome only the rich! Look to the chickpeas you crunch up, and spit out anything you have misgivings about! Eat only what you know to be categorically clean. â2.45.2 â¬Harken to me! Every follower has a leader he emulates, whose knowledge he seeks for illumination. Harken again! Your leader is satisfied for his share of the world with his two shabby garments and his two pieces of bread. And harken once more! You will not be able to do what I doâbut help me by practicing restraint and striving for good. By God, I have never hoarded the gold of your world, nor amassed loads of riches, nor even laid aside an extra garment to replace my rags! |
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Presumably from Medina to Basra at the beginning of Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate in 36/656, before the Battle of the Camel. A Companion of the Prophet, one of the Allies, Ibn Ḥunayf was Ê¿AlÄ«âs first governor in Basra, and he was expelled by the Camel forces in the lead-up to the battle. He fought for Ê¿AlÄ« in that battle, then remained with him in Kufa, living there until his death in MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs reign. á¹¢adÅ«q (AmÄlÄ«, 604) states that the letter (§â¯2.45.4) was to Sahl (not Ê¿UthmÄn) ibn Ḥunayf.
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â2.45.3 â¬And yes, of all the lands under the sky, we possessed only Fadak.1 But the hearts of one group coveted it, while the generous hearts of another group relinquished itâand God is the best judge! Yet, what should I do with Fadak, or with a land other than Fadak, when tomorrow every man will make his home in the grave? In that darkness, his features will be erased, his renown will fade. The tomb is a pit which, no matter how wide its hollow, how capaciously dug by the grave-diggerâs hands, is still crushed by stones and slabs, still sealed with piles of earth. As for my own soul, I train it to piety, so that I can come in full security to the day of great terror and have a firm foothold on the slippery edge of the abyss! If I had wished, I could have enjoyed the purest honey, the finest wheat, and lengths of woven silk. But far be it for passion to overpower me, for gluttony to make me partake of delicate foods, when perhaps in YamÄmah or the ḤijÄz there is someone with no hope of finding a piece of bread, no memory even of having eaten a full meal! Far be it for me to sleep with a full belly when I am surrounded by hungry stomachs and empty bellies! Far be it for me to be among those of whom the poet has said:2
â2.45.4 â¬Should I be content to be hailed as Commander of the Believers without sharing in the hardships inflicted on them by fate, or without serving as an example for how to endure a rough life? I was not created in order to eat sumptuous foods, like a tethered beast who thinks only of fodder, or a pastured animal who merely looks to eat, an animal that fills its belly with grass, while remaining blithely unaware of what is intended for it! I was not created in order to be ignored and unheeded and left alone to frolic, to drag along the rope of error or to wander off into the wilderness! I can hear some of you saying that AbÅ« ṬÄlibâs sonâs diet of uncooked food has made him too weak to fight his rivals or challenge warriors. Hark! A tree in the wilderness is made of stronger wood. Green shoots that are tended have soft surfaces, while plants watered only by rain produce tougher and longer-burning kindling. I am to Godâs Messenger as |
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Fadak was an estate near Khaybar, north of Medina, which the Prophet had bequeathed to his daughter, Ê¿AlÄ«âs wife, FÄá¹imah. After the Prophetâs death, AbÅ« Bakr denied it to her, claiming that the community are heirs to the Prophetâs property. Long discussion in Ḥ 16:209â286; B 874â876. FÄá¹imahâs oration in AbÅ« Bakrâs court, arguing for her right to Fadak, in Qutbuddin, Arabic Oration, 385â388 (text, translation, and analysis).
By the pre-Islamic poet ḤÄtim al-ṬÄʾī, proverbial for his generosity. B 877; Ḥ 16:288.
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light issuing from light,1 as the hand at the end of the arm. By God, even if all the Arabs came together to attack me, I would stand my ground. If the opportunity to strike off their heads were presented, I would rush forward alone. I shall do my best to cleanse the earth of this warped hulk, this grotesque carcass.2 All dirt shall be removed from the harvested grain. â2.45.5 â¬Keep away from me, world, go on your way, for I have cast your reins on your withers, evaded your claws, escaped your snares, and sidestepped your slippery paths! Where are the generations you enticed with your pandering, the nations you seduced with your jewels? Here they all are, pledged to their graves, enclosed in their tombs! By God, if you possessed a visible form, a sentient body, I would flog you for the multitudes you enticed with false hopes, for the nations you pitched into the abyss, for the kings you handed over to destruction and swept to their ruin, to a waterhole where no one drinks and no one leaves. Far be you from me! Whoever steps onto your slippery trail tumbles, whoever sails your swelling waves drowns, while whoever escapes your snares is well-directed! Those saved from your harm care not if their beds are narrow. To them, this world is but a day, and its end is near. Get away from me! By God, I shall never be submissive and let you steer me, I shall never be docile and let you lead me! Godâs oath, I shall train myself to delight in a piece of bread, should I be fortunate enough to obtain it, and be content with salt as my sauceâGod willing, I shall do this! I shall let my eyes stream like a gushing spring until I exhaust all my tears. Camels fill their bellies with fodder and kneel to rest, sheep stuff their stomachs with grass and lie downâshould Ê¿AlÄ« also be content to eat his provisions and sleep? His eyes would close in prolonged torpor ifâafter many long years of lifeâhe started to emulate the grazing beasts and the cattle of the fields! Blessed is the man who discharges his obligations toward his Lord, who endures the rough grip of calamities on his body, who resists closing his eyes at night in slumber, until, when sleep overpowers him, he stretches out on the earth with his palm for a pillow. He is among a devout group whose eyes stay awake in fear of the return to God, whose bodies renounce their beds, whose lips whisper the name of their Lord, and whose sins are sloughed off by long prayer. |
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Ar. ka-l-á¸awʾi mina l-á¸awʾ. The variant reading is âas brother to brotherâ (ka-l-á¹£inwi mina l-á¹£inw).
Refers to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, echoing Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:88, Mulk 67:22. R 3:152; Ḥ 16:291â292; B 878â879.
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â2.46 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to one of his governors:1 You are one of those whose support I rely on to establish our religion, break the rebelâs false pride, and protect vulnerable gaps at the frontier.2 Ask God for help in any matter that causes you anxiety. Mix your firmness with a hint of gentleness, be compassionate when compassion is called for, and be resolutely firm when only firmness will work. Lower your wing over your subjects in humility,3 show them your softer side, and give equal attention to all in glance, look, gesture, and greeting, such that the powerful are not emboldened to expect unfair favors and the weak do not despair of receiving justice. Go in peace. â2.47 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs testament for Ḥasan and Ḥusayn, after Ibn Muljam had struck him the death blow:4 â2.47.1 â¬I counsel you both to remain conscious of God. Do not seek this world even if it seeks you, do not grieve over any of its benefits that are turned away from you. Speak the truth, strive to earn Godâs reward, be an enemy of the oppressor and a friend of the oppressed. I counsel you both, and all my children and family, as well as all who read my testament, to be conscious of God, to cooperate in common affairs, and to reconcile with kinsfolk. I have heard your grandfather, Muḥammad, say, â¨To reconcile with kin is even better than to pray and to fastâ©.5 Fear God, fear God, in the matter of orphans! Do not fill their mouths only every other day, do not let them be uncared for, for as long as you live. Fear God, fear God, in the matter of your neighbors! Your Prophet counseled you to be good to them, and he did this so often we thought he might actually give them a share of inheritance. Fear God, fear God, in the matter of the Qurʾan! Do not let others precede you in following its guidance. Fear God, fear God, in the matter of the ritual prayer! It is the foundation of your reli- |
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Excerpt from epistle sent from Kufa to MÄlik al-Ashtar, then governor in NaṣībÄ«n, in northern Iraq, after the arbitration in 37/658; by this letter, Ê¿AlÄ« recalled Ashtar to Kufa, then sent him as governor to Egypt, to take over from Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr, and MÄlik died en route. Text and context in ThaqafÄ«, GhÄrÄt, 1:257â258; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:94â96; MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 282â283.
Lit. âprotect the uvula (lahÄh) of the frontier, [for whose safety we] fear.â The image is of a weak barrier (the uvula) between the enemy and the heartland (the inside of the body, accessed through the mouth).
Reference to Qurʾan, IsrÄʾ 17:24.
Kufa, 40/661. Fuller text and context in ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:146â147; AbÅ« al-Faraj, MaqÄtil, 51â53.
Hadith cited in TirmidhÄ«, Sunan, §â¯2501.
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gion. Fear God, fear God, in the matter of your Lordâs House! Do not abandon it as long as you live, for if you forsake it, you will not be granted reprieve. Fear God, fear God, in the matter of jihad! Fight with your wealth, your lives, and your tongues in the path of God. Furthermore, foster bonds with family and help each other, never turn away from each other or sever relations, and never cease to command good or forbid evil, lest the wicked gain ascendancy. If that happens, your prayers will no longer be answered. â2.47.2 â¬Then he said: Sons of Ê¿Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib! Let me not find you spilling the blood of Muslims, shouting, âThe Commander of the Faithful has been killed, the Commander of the Faithful has been killed!â Listen to me! Only my killer should be killed in retaliation for my killing. Pay further attention! If I should die from his blow, then kill him with a single blow. Do not torture him, for I have heard the Messenger say, âNever torture, not even a rabid dog!â â2.48 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:1 Treachery and lies kill a manâs faith and ruin his worldly affairs, and they expose his faults to those who know him to be shameful. You realize you will not attain what is destined to remain unattained!2 Certain people coveted a thing they had no right to, and they came up with false interpretations of Godâs words that God then proved false.3 Beware the coming day! The man with good deeds will rejoice, the one who surrendered his reins to Satan will regret. You proposed that we should submit to the rule of the Qurʾan, yet you are not a man who follows the Qurʾan. It was not you I answered, but the Qurʾan, whose judgment I agreed to follow. |
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á¹¢iffÄ«n, 37/657, after MuÊ¿Äwiyah raised pages from the Qurʾan on spears and solicited arbitration, and Ê¿AlÄ«âs army compelled Ê¿AlÄ« to accept. Fuller text and context in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 489â494 (text at 493â494). BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 884) places the letter following MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs claim to the caliphate after the arbitration in 37/658; in his version, the letter would have been sent from Kufa to Damascus.
B 884; Ê¿A 695: the line refers to MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs call to avenge Ê¿UthmÄn in 35â36/656. My reading: the line refers to MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs bid for the caliphate, based on the subsequent lines, re the proposal to submit to the Qurʾanâs judgment, which took place at the end of the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657.
âA certain groupâ is Ṭalḥah, Zubayr, and Ê¿Äʾishah, who fought Ê¿AlÄ« in the Battle of the Camel on the same pretext as MuÊ¿Äwiyah at á¹¢iffÄ«n, namely, vengeance for Ê¿UthmÄnâs killing. The âthingâ is the caliphate, which they coveted for themselves. The line, âcame up with false interpretations (taʾawwalÅ«) of Godâs word,â may alternatively be read, âswore they knew Godâs destiny,â as per the variant reading (taʾallahÅ«): F 386, citing the hadith, â¨God proves wrong those who swear they know his judgments (yataʾallÄ)â©, (Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯2.3).
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â2.49 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to someone else:1 This world distracts you from the next. When a worldly man obtains a bit of the world, it opens the door to further greed and craving. Never satisfied with what he has, he is always thinking of what he doesnât have. And the end? Separation from all he amassed and destruction of everything he built! If you heed lessons of the past, you will safeguard what remains. Go in peace. â2.50 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to his military commanders:2 From Godâs servant, Ê¿AlÄ«, Commander of the Faithful, to officers in charge of the garrisons. It befits those in authority that the honor they have received and the favor for which they have been singled out do not change their behavior toward their subjects. Rather, Godâs blessings on them should prompt them to greater closeness with Godâs servants and greater kindness toward their brothers. Harken to my words! You can expect this from me: I shall not keep secrets from you except in war, I shall not hide matters from you except when I judge, I shall not delay in paying your stipends or obstruct disbursements, and all of you shall be equal before me in claiming your rights. If I fulfill my duty, you, in turn, are required to do the following: Give thanks to God for his bounty, offer me full obedience, do not hold back when called, do not shirk in doing good, and plunge into deep and dangerous waters for the sake of truth. If you do not remain upright, though, beware, for no one will fall more from my regard than those who deviate. I shall punish them harshly and they shall receive no leniency. Take this promise from me, your Commander, and give me yours. If you do, God will keep your affairs in good order. â2.51 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs epistle to his officers in charge of collecting the land tax:3 From Godâs servant, Ê¿AlÄ«, Commander of the Faithful, to the officials in charge of collecting the land tax. |
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From Nukhaylah, just before Ê¿AlÄ« set out for Syria, addressed, according to MinqarÄ« (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 110â111), to Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£. MinqarÄ« records the text and context, and Ê¿Amrâs response, calling for Ê¿AlÄ« to step down as caliph. Addressed to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, per the variant reading âto him againâ (ilayhi) in some MSS and commentaries.
MinqarÄ« (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 107) and ṬūsÄ« (AmÄlÄ«, 222) place this letter in Kufa or Nukhaylah, just before setting out for á¹¢iffÄ«n, in 36/656.
Along with the previous text, MinqarÄ« (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 108) appears to place this letter in Kufa or Nukhaylah, just before setting out for á¹¢iffÄ«n, in 36/656. âLand taxâ (kharÄj) is different from the alms-levy (á¹£adaqÄt) mentioned in §â¯2.25.
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Whoever fails to care about his end, fails to safeguard himself by advancing provisions for his soul. Know that your obligations are small while their reward will be great. Even if you feared no punishment for breaking Godâs prohibitions against treachery and hostility, the reward promised for shunning them should leave you with no excuse. Treat people with justice and be patient in tending to their needs. You are the peopleâs treasurers, the communityâs trustees, and the Imamâs agents. Do not come between a man and his needs, do not restrain him from going about his business, do not force people to pay taxes by selling their winter garments, their summer clothes, the beasts they need for work, or their slaves, do not whip anyone for silver. Do not seize the property of a single individual, whether Muslim, Christian, or Jew,1 except when you find a horse or weapon that could be used to attack the people of Islam, for a Muslim should not leave in the hands of Islamâs enemies objects they could use to strengthen their attack. Do not hold backâgive each other counsel, set an example for your troops, help your subjects, and support Godâs religion. Push yourself hard in Godâs way and fulfil your duties. God has blessed me with his immense favors, and he has blessed you. We must thank him through our actions and serve him with our full strength. All strength comes from God. â2.52 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs instructions to his governors regarding the ritual prayers:2 Pray the noon prayer when the sun casts a shadow equal to a squatting goat.3 Pray the afternoon prayer while the sun burns intensely bright, when what remains of the day is enough to travel two leagues.4 Pray the sunset prayer when a person would break fast, and a hajj pilgrim would make his descent.5 Pray the night prayer when twilight ends and through the first third of the night. Pray the dawn prayer when a man can see his neighborâs face. Pray the prayer that suits the weakest among them and do not cause sedition.6 |
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Lit. âwhether he prays the ritual prayer [of Islam] (muá¹£allin) or is guaranteed protection by a covenant (muÊ¿Ähid).â
Presumably from Kufa sometime during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate 35â40/656â661. Discussion on various legal opinions regarding prayer times in Ḥ 17:23â29.
I.e., when the sunâs shadow reaches the length of a handspan. RÂ 3:163; 17:23.
Lit. two farsakhs. A farsakh is a unit of distance between four to six miles.
From Ê¿ArafÄt to Muzdalifah, per the pilgrimage rites.
I.e., keep it shortâdo not pray long Surahs, or people will stop attending. B 888; R 3:164. Similar to §â¯2.53.16.
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â2.53 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs testament for MÄlik al-Ashtar al-NakhaÊ¿Ä« when he appointed him governor of Egypt and its provinces, to replace Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr, whose control over the region had been severely challenged. It is Ê¿AlÄ«âs longest epistle and gathers within it the most beautiful aspects of language:1 â2.53.1 â¬In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. This is what Godâs servant, Ê¿AlÄ«, Commander of the Faithful, commands MÄlik ibn al-ḤÄrith al-Ashtar, in the epistle he writes appointing him governor of Egypt, with the charge to collect its land tax, fight its enemies, reconcile its people, and make its lands prosper: Ê¿AlÄ« commands him to be conscious of God and prefer Godâs obedience above all; to follow what God has commanded in his Book, both the mandatory and the recommended acts, for only those who follow them attain happiness and only those who deny them and squander them fall into wretchedness; and to support Godâs cause with his hand, heart, and tongue, for God has promised to support those who support him, and to exalt those who exalt him. Ê¿AlÄ« commands him to break the passions of his sentient soul and to rein them in when they become restive. For «the sentient soul commands vice unless God shows it mercy».2 â2.53.2 â¬Know, O MÄlik, that I send you to a land where just and unjust rulers have ruled before you. Its people will watch what you do, as you watched the actions of earlier rulers, they will speak about you, as you spoke about those rulers. The pious are recognized through what God prompts his servants to say about them, so let praiseworthy deeds be your dearest treasure. Control your passions and restrain yourself from all that is illicit for you, holding yourself accountable in what you love and in what you hate. â2.53.3 â¬Clothe your heart with compassion, love, and kindness toward your subjects. Do not be a ravening lion who devours their flesh.3 People are of two kinds: they are either your brothers in faith or your peers in creation. They make mistakes, they are exposed to temptations, and their hands do wrong, be it deliberately or in error. Grant them your forgiveness and pardon, just as you wish for God to forgive and pardon you. You are above them in rank, but the one who appointed you is above you, and God is above him. God has required |
In Kufa, 38/658. ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 126. See also §â¯2.38 and §â¯2.62. On this oration, see Shah-Kazemi, Justice and Remembrance, 73â114; Qutbuddin, âJust Leadership in Early Islam: The Teachings and Practice of Imam Ali.â
Qurʾan, Yūsuf 12:53.
Lit. âpredatory beast (sabuÊ¿ á¸ÄrÄ«),â usually used for a lion. R 3:172.
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you to tend to their needs and tested you through them. Do not set yourself up to be at war with God, for your hands do not have the strength to repulse his punishment, while you have utter need of his forgiveness and compassion. Never regret having pardoned, never rejoice in punishing, and never hasten to act in a fit of passion when you can find a calmer way. Never say, âI have been given commandâI command, and I shall be obeyed,â for that will make hearts fester, weaken religion, and draw calamities close. If your sovereignty makes you haughty, then look to the greatness of Godâs kingdom above you, at his power over your own life, which is far beyond anything you possess. That will subdue your recalcitrance, restrain your sword, and bring you back to your senses. Beware of exalting yourself in the face of Godâs majesty or of imitating his power. God abases every tyrant and degrades all who show pride. â2.53.4 â¬Render God justice and render people justice against yourself, your close family, and those whom you favor among your subjects. Otherwise, you will have oppressed. Whoever oppresses Godâs servants, God, not his servants, will be his adversary, and whoever has God for adversary will find his arguments void. He will find himself at war with God until he desists and repentsânothing calls more strongly for Godâs blessings to be rescinded and his punishment to be hastened than persistent oppression. Let the way most dear to you be the most moderate in truth, the most universal in justice, and the most far reaching in achieving your subjectsâ satisfaction. The peopleâs dissatisfaction washes away the satisfaction of the elite, while the elitesâ dissatisfaction is not significant when the people are satisfied. In fact, there are none among a rulerâs subjects more burdensome in times of ease, less helpful in times of trial, more opposed to equity, more importunate in demands, less grateful for gifts, more petulant when denied, and less patient in the face of calamities than the elite. The support of religion, the majority of Muslims, and the armies with which to combat enemies come from the common people of the community. Let your attention be focused on them, let your inclination be toward them. â2.53.5 â¬Loathe and distance those who persist in exposing other peopleâs shame. Everyone possesses faults, and it behooves the ruler, more than any other, to conceal them. Do not seek to unearth a shame that is hidden from you, for your charge is to cleanse what is exposedâit is for God to judge the hidden. Conceal peopleâs shame as much as you are able, and God will conceal the things you wish to conceal about yourself from your subjects. Unbind the people from knots of rancor and sever yourself from ropes of vengeance. Close your eyes against things you should not inspect. Do not be hasty to uphold a slanderer, for the slanderer deceives, even when he comes in the guise of a well- |
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wisher. Do not appoint as counsellor a miser who will stem your generosity, who will alarm you with the specter of poverty, or a coward who will weaken your resolve in the face of combat, or a glutton who will render attractive the tyranny of avarice. Miserliness, cowardice, and greed are diverse temperaments united by a common lack of trust in God. The worst people you could choose to serve as your viziers are those who served as viziers for evil rulers before you, who were their partners in crime. Do not include them among your courtiers, for they are supporters of criminals and brothers to tyrants. You will find excellent choices among similarly astute and equally effective men who are not encumbered by wickedness and sin, who have never supported a tyrant in his tyranny or a criminal in his crime. They will be a lighter burden and a firmer support. They will be more inclined to feel affection for you and less inclined to feel esteem for another. Take them as your confidantes, keep them by your side in private assemblies and public gatherings. Favor above all the one who most often tells you bitter truths, who least often supports actions that God dislikesâespecially from his chosen onesâand who does so without pandering to your wishes. Embrace people of restraint and truth. Train them never to flatter, never to lavish upon you undue praise. Too much praise generates vanity and propels the praised one toward pride. Do not give the good and the evil equal consequence. That would discourage the good from doing good and encourage the evil to do evil. Keep each person in the position that befits him. â2.53.6 â¬Know that nothing helps build a stronger bond of trust between a ruler and his subjects than when he is good to them, lightens their burdens, and does not coerce them. You should endeavor to achieve a manner of governance that includes trust in your subjects, for trust will terminate longstanding apprehensions. It is also important to remember that the person whom you have tested and found trustworthy is the one who most deserves your trust. In contrast, the person whom you have tested and found untrustworthy is the one who most deserves your mistrust. Do not end any pious tradition enacted by leaders of this community that has created harmony among your subjects and helped them prosper. Do not introduce any new tradition that harms traditions of the past. If you do, those who established the earlier traditions will be rewarded for establishing them, and you will be punished for ending them. Devote time to understanding this aspectâstudy with scholars and converse with sages about consolidating the prosperity of your lands and perpetuating earlier practices that ensured success for the people. |
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â2.53.7 â¬Know that the subject population consists of categories of people, each category sustained by the others and in need of the others. The categories are these: soldiers who fight in Godâs cause, scribes who write for the public or for the elite, judges who dispense justice, administrators who work with equity and compassion, members of the protected peoples and the conquered who have converted to Islam and who pay the poll tax and land tax, merchants and artisans, and the lowest category, the poor and needy. God has prescribed a role for each, drawing boundaries through the laws mandated in his Book and in the practice of his Prophet. This is a covenant from him, one that we preserve. Soldiers serve with Godâs permission as a fortress for the public, the ornament of the realm, the might of religion, and the path to securityâthe public can be sustained only through them. Soldiers, in turn, are sustained by the land tax that God has ordained to be used for their maintenance, through which they gain the strength to fight their enemy, and upon which they depend to improve their living conditions and fulfill their basic needs. These two groups are sustained by the thirdâjudges, tax collectors, and administrators, who draw up careful contracts, collect taxes, and are entrusted with affairs of private and public utility. All these groups are sustained by the merchants and artisans who gather together the stuff of life, set up markets, and suffice the other groups in their daily needs with services that no one else can perform. Then comes the lowest category, the poor and needy, who merit help and aid. Godâs grace encompasses all. Each group has rights that the governor should uphold to the best of his ability. â2.53.8 â¬Place in charge of your soldiers the man who, in the service of God, his Messenger, and your Imam, has kept his pockets clean,1 who is the most forbearing, a man who is slow to anger, happy to pardon, compassionate with the weak, and harsh with the mighty, who is neither quick to violence nor restrained by weakness. Select for leadership people of noble lineage who belong to virtuous families and have performed many good deeds.2 Look for people of valor, courage, generosity, and benevolence, for they are storehouses of nobility and wellsprings of honor. Afterward, keep an eye on their affairs as parents keep an eye on their children. Do not consider excessive the benefits you bestow on them in order to strengthen them. Do not consider trivial the little kindnesses you have habituated them to. All this motivates them to wish |
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Lit. âwho is the sincerest of pocketâ (aná¹£aḥahum ⦠jayban), where âsincereâ refers to âclean,â meaning trustworthy and not corrupt. R 3:172; B 898.
Lit. âmake cling toâ (alá¹£iq), i.e., âmakeâ the leadership of the army âcling toâ people who possess these attributes. BÂ 900; HÂ 17:53; RÂ 3:180â181.
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you well and place their trust in you. Do not be remiss in keeping an eye on their small affairs, relying solely on your inspection of greater ones. There are places where small kindnesses benefit, just as there are circumstances in which people cannot survive without more substantial support. Among the officers of your troops, give preference to those who give the troops steady assistance, and give your troops the means to sustain themselves and the families they leave behind. Do all this until their aspiration becomes as oneâto fight the enemy. Your kindness will attract their hearts to you. Unless they are devoted to their commanders, unless they find their control not burdensome and their continuing tenure acceptable, they will not be sincere in service. Encourage their hopes, praise them profusely, and be generous in mentioning the great services of those who have rendered these services. God willing, your frequent praise of their deeds will encourage the bold and inspire the timid. Recognize each manâs service, do not attribute one manâs service to another, and do not fall short in articulating the extent of his service. A manâs eminence should not prompt you to glorify his trifling service, and anotherâs humble position should not prompt you to belittle his great deed. Refer to God and his Messenger the problems that make you stop in your tracks, the matters that you find obscure. God has said to a people whom he wished to set right, «Believers, obey God, obey the Messenger, and the people in command among you. If you disagree over something, refer it to God and the Messenger.»1 Referring something to God is to abide by the clear text of his Book. Referring something to the Messenger is to abide by his agreed upon Sunnah, keeping away from what is disputed. â2.53.9 â¬Select the man you deem the most excellent among your subjects to judge between the people: a man who will not be overwhelmed by lawsuits or angered by litigants, who, upon recognizing the truth, will not persist in error or hesitate to revert to what is right, whose heart is not drawn to greed, who is not satisfied with superficial understanding but goes the full course, the most cautious when encountering points of doubt, the one who puts the most emphasis on evidence, the one who is least wearied by having to question litigants, who is the most patient in probing truths, and the most decisive in determining when the truth has become clear, the one who does not strut when he is praised, and is not seduced by temptations. Such men are rare. Once you have appointed a judge, moreover, exercise vigilance in checking his judgments. Pay him generously to remove his wants and to reduce his need to appeal to others. Give him |
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Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:59.
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a high station by your side, such that none of your associates dare to slander him and that he be secure against harm threatened him by prominent men. In sum, be vigilant in your inspection of the dispensation of justice. In recent times, our religion has become a prisoner in the hands of the wicked, who have abused it to further their passions, and who, through it, have sought worldly gain.1 â2.53.10 â¬Scrutinize the affairs of your administrators. Test people, then employ them. Do not make appointments based on caprice or nepotism, for these two attributes bring together all kinds of oppression and dishonesty. Seek individuals with experience and modesty from virtuous families who have precedence in Islam, for they possess nobler character and greater honor, are less prone to greed, and have keener anticipation of consequences. Award them a generous livelihood, for that will strengthen their prosperity and inhibit them from misappropriation. Moreover, that can also be used to shame them if they disobey your command or breach your trust. Exercise vigilance regarding their activities and send truthful and loyal observers to clandestinely observe what they do. If they know you are keeping an eye on them, this will encourage them to be honest and compassionate toward their subjects. Be watchful too with regard to your aides. If an administrator stretches his hands toward illicit gains, and if all your observersâ reports concur, consider their testimony enough to indict. Subject the man to corporeal punishment and chastise him for abusing his authority. Degrade him, brand him as a thief, and garland him with shameful expulsion. â2.53.11 â¬Exercise vigilance in the matter of the land tax and ensure that those who pay it prosper. In its prosperity and in theirs lies the prosperity of all other categories of people. In fact, no one prospers unless taxpayers prosper, for everyoneâs prosperity depends on the land tax and on those who pay it. Let your concern for the land to thrive be greater than your concern for collecting abundant land taxâthe land tax can be collected only when the land thrives. A governor who seeks to collect the land tax without ensuring the landâs productivity destroys the country and brings death to the people; moreover, his rule will not last. If the people complain that the tax burden is too heavy, if they complain of blight, or lack of irrigation, or insufficient rain, or if their lands have been inundated by floods, or ruined by drought, you should reduce their |
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Ḥ 17:60: the line about religion becoming a prisoner is a criticism of Ê¿UthmÄnâs judges and governors; in the line, certain particles (fa-inna ⦠qad kÄna) grammatically denote a recent past.
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tax burden and improve their living conditions. Do not let the fact that you had to reduce taxes weigh you downâthink of the lost monies as a loan that the farmers will repay manifold by cultivating your lands and enriching your governorate. Besides, you will earn their heartfelt praise and gain great joy yourself when you give them this full measure of justice. You will ensure enough rations for them by providing this relief, while gaining their trust by orienting them to your fairness and compassion. You may need to enlist their support later, and if that happens, they will willingly shoulder the weightâprosperity has the strength to carry whatever burden you load on its back. Conversely, the land is ruined when farmers become destitute, and farmers become destitute when tax collectors become obsessed with collectionâthis happens when tax collectors think they will live forever,1 and do not learn from the exemplary lessons of past peoples. â2.53.12 â¬Next: Inspect the abilities of your scribes and put the best of them in charge of your chancery. Entrust the writing of top-secret epistles in which you outline strategies and transcribe confidential information to the scribe who possesses the best characterâchoose one whom eminence does not embolden to oppose you in public, and whom negligence does not hinder from presenting to you administrative reports, or issuing appropriate responses, or receiving and disbursing funds on your behalf; choose one who does not undercut the agreements he draws up for you, or fail to take down clauses that go against you; choose one who is not ignorant of his own worth, for such a man is even more ignorant of the worth of others. Do not select scribes, moreover, based on casual impression, blind trust, or plain faith. Men deliberately give a certain impression of themselves to rulers by cunning and by ingratiating behavior that is not always supported by sincerity or honesty. Instead, examine the work they have done for virtuous rulers before you, and single out the scribe who has the best reputation among the common people, one whose countenance is recognized by all as trustworthy. If you take this course, you will prove your devotion to God and to the one who has appointed you to govern. Furthermore, appoint a head scribe to lead each of your chanceryâs operations, and choose someone who will not be overwhelmed by a large project or panic when more than a few matters need attention. Remember this: all of your scribesâ faults that you ignore will be attributed to you. |
Lit. âhave doubts about remainingâ (sūʾ áºannihim bi-l-baqÄʾ), translation based on R 3:187; Ḥ 17:73âI prefer this reading because it leads more naturally into the next line about exemplary lessons, which are in these texts a reference to the death of earlier peoples. Alternative translation, âthey are afraid they will not remain long in their posts,â based on Ḥ 17:73, who gives both explanations; B 903; F 389.
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â2.53.13 â¬Next: Be good to merchants and artisans and instruct your officers to be good to them as well, including those who reside in your towns, those who travel to sell their wares, and those who profit by physical labor. These workers increase everyoneâs benefits and provide them with goods. They procure merchandise from isolated and faraway places, from the land and the sea, from the plains and the mountains, from places where people never gather in large numbers and locations where others dare not go. They are peaceful folks from whom no attack is to be feared, docile people from whom no treachery is to be expected. Keep a watch on the prosperity of their affairs in your town as well as in the peripheries of your land. Know also, however, that many merchants can be excessively stingy and monstrously avaricious. They hoard grain and fix prices. These things harm the common people and stain the reputation of rulers. Forbid hoarding, for the Messenger forbade it. Ensure that trading is peaceful, scales are balanced, and prices are set at levels that harm neither buyer nor seller. If someone dares to hoard after you have publicly forbidden it, make an example of him and punish him, but here, too, not in excess. â2.53.14 â¬Beware Godâs wrath, and never, ever forsake the people of the lowest strata who have no meansâthe poor, the destitute, the wretched, the suffering, and the disabled. In this category, too, are the beggar and the suppliant.1 Protect their rights for the sake of God, for he has entrusted them to you. Set aside for them a share from the common treasury and, in every town, a share from the produce of public lands won in battle by the Muslim army. The indigent in far-off lands have the same right as those who live near you; you are responsible for securing the rights of all. Do not let any kind of pomp and ceremony distract you from attending to the needy. You will not be excused for neglecting small petitions, even if you attend assiduously to the large and important ones. Do not repudiate your solicitude for the poor or avert your face from them in contempt. Keep a check on the welfare of those who do not have direct access to you, people whom eyes disdain and men scorn. Appoint a trusted agent, a man who is godfearing and humble, to care for their needs particularly. Have him bring you their concerns and respond to them in a manner that will earn you Godâs pardon on the day you meet him. Of all your subjects, these are most in need of your justice. Render to each of your subjects his rights in a manner that will earn you Godâs pardon! Take care of the orphan and the elderly who have no means of support and cannot advocate for themselves. |
Reference to Qurʾan, Ḥajj 22:36.
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This responsibility weighs heavily on rulers, but fulfilling rights is no doubt a weighty responsibilityâGod lightens the burden for those who seek the hereafter, are patient in adversity, and trust in the truth of Godâs promise. Set aside a share of your time for petitioners. Attend to them in person, without distractions. Hold public audience and humble yourself therein before your creator. Keep your soldiers, aides, guards, and police officers at a distance, so that people may speak to you freely without anxiously stammering. I have heard the Messenger say on more than one occasion, â¨A nation in which the weak are not given justice against the strong except by anxiously stammering will never be made holy.â©1 Be patient with their coarse language and faltering speech, put aside your prejudice and pride. In return, God will spread for you the wings of his mercy, and decree for you the reward of his obedience. Give whatever you give in a kind and agreeable manner and refuse when you must, with sympathy and apology. â2.53.15 â¬Next: There are certain matters to which you must attend personally. Reply to your administrators when your scribes cannot find a solution. Respond directly to petitions if your aides find them challenging. Get through each dayâs work that very dayâto each day its own tasks. â2.53.16 â¬Next: Reserve the best of your hours, the choicest parts of your time, for your soulâs communion with God. Indeed, all your hours and times are spent in devotion to God if your intention is sincere and your subjects secure from your harm. The most important acts of devotion you undertake for Godâs religion are the mandatory acts of worship, which are for God alone. Offer God your bodyâs worship both night and day. When you offer this worshipâthe worship that you perform to gain nearness to Godâoffer it perfectly and completely, not damaged or flawed, and push your body to its limits. When you stand to lead the people in ritual prayer, you should neither disrespect the prayer nor repel the people, for among them there may be some who are ill or disabled.2 I asked the Messenger when he sent me to Yemen, âHow should I lead the prayer?â and he replied, â¨Pray the prayer of the weakest among themâshow compassion to all believers.â© |
Hadith cited in Abū Nuʿaym, Ḥilyah, 7:315.
I.e., pray at moderate speed. You should neither âdisrespect (lit. âsquanderâ) the prayerâ by rushing and not performing the prayer rites as they ought, nor ârepel the peopleâ by praying so long that the âill and disabledâ stop coming. B 908; Ḥ 17:90. Similar to §â¯2.52.
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â2.53.17 â¬And further: Do not withdraw from your subjects for long periods. A rulerâs seclusion is a kind of constraint, and it leads to his receiving inadequate information about his subjectsâ affairs. Likewise, it cuts them off from getting correct information: they soon begin to deem the trivial great and the great trivial, to think the ugly beautiful and the beautiful ugly, and to mix right with wrong. A ruler is human; he does not know what people conceal from him of their affairs; no waymarks distinguish expressions of truth from falsehood so as to enable easy recognition of what is right. So, you can be one of two men: Either you can be someone who gives generously in the way of truthâand if so, why hold back from dispensing a valid right or carrying out an act of generosity in person? Or else you are afflicted with a stingy natureâif that, well, you will see just how soon people stop petitioning you, when they lose hope in your charity! Besides, most petitions do not impose a financial burden. In most cases, they consist of complaints against unfairness or appeals for justice in a transaction. â2.53.18 â¬Next: A ruler has intimates and courtiers who often misappropriate, transgress, or commit acts of injustice. Check their rise by cutting off their access to such acts. Do not award land grants to any of your retinue or relatives. Do not raise their hopes for an estate, because in their exercise of ownership they might harm a neighboring estateâs water supply, or there may be common services whose burden they pass on to others. If you award them such grants, the benefits will be theirs and the blame will be yours, in this world and the next. Compel all people to abide by what is right, whether they are near to you or distant. In this, be patient and seek Godâs reward, no matter how your relatives and intimates react. If any of this should weigh on you, look only to the goal, for its outcome will be admirable. If your subjects should suspect you of an injustice, be open and explain your reasonsâdeflect their suspicions through your candor. If you explain your reasons, you will attain your objective of keeping them on the path of truth. â2.53.19 â¬Never reject a peace treaty when your enemy calls for peace, if it is a course that pleases God. A peace treaty brings relief to your troops, release from your worries, and security for your lands. But stay wary, utterly wary, of your enemyâs treachery. He may have drawn near only because he hopes to make you careless. Act with prudence. Be cautious, not gullible. And if you draw up a truce with your enemy, or if you offer him a covenant of protection, then fulfill your pledge, abide by your pact, and scrupulously protect your agreement. There is nothing among all of Godâs mandated acts about which people are more unitedâdespite their various leanings and divided viewsâ |
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than the importance they attach to fulfilling a pledge. Not just the Muslims, even idolaters in the past adhered to compacts they had agreed on, because they knew the evil outcome of treachery. Never betray a pledge of protection, never break your covenant, never defraud your enemy. Only a wretched fool dares to transgress against God. God has made his covenant, his pledge of protection, a deed of safe conduct that he, in his mercy, has disseminated among his servants, a haven in whose unassailable strength they can find comfort, and within whose protective shelter they can gather. There should be no malice, no deceit, no treachery in the enaction of a covenant. Do not draw up an agreement and then, after you have concluded and confirmed it, claim loopholes, or rely on misinterpretations to retract. Even if you find the confines of an affair in which Godâs covenant binds you constricting, you cannot seek an unjust way out. Patience accompanied by hope for relief and a virtuous outcome is far better than deception accompanied by fear of the consequences, the fear of Godâs all-encompassing reckoning. You will not be able to disavow that deception in this world or the next. â2.53.20 â¬Beware of spilling blood without legal cause. Nothing calls down Godâs punishment more swiftly, or has graver consequences, or causes Godâs blessings to be taken away faster, or cuts your allotted lifespan shorter, than spilling blood without legal cause. When God commences judgment among his servants on the day of resurrection, he will begin with cases of spilled blood. Do not attempt to strengthen your hand by spilling forbidden blood, for it will actually weaken and enfeeble your power, in fact, it will rout you and end your rule. You will find no excuse before God or me for willful killingâthe punishment for that can be nothing but in-kind reprisal. If by sorry chance you kill someone involuntarily, if your whip or hand go too far when inflicting a punishment and cause death, the blood-wit for a blow with the fist or anything stronger is the one mandated for manslaughter. Do not let the might of your authority embolden you to shirk payment to the family of the man you have accidentally killed. â2.53.21 â¬Beware of self-importance, pomposity, and love of flattery, for that is where Satan is most confident of his opportunity to erase the good deeds of a virtuous man. Beware of keeping tally of the favors you bestow on your subjects,1 exaggerating your deeds, or making and then breaking a promise. Keeping tally nullifies favors, exaggeration extinguishes the light of truth, and breaking promises earns the outrage of God and men. God has said, «God deems it a great outrage when you say what you do not do.»2 |
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Reference to Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:264.
Qurʾan, Ṣaff 61:3.
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â2.53.22 â¬Beware of rushing into things before their time, or hesitating at the opportune moment, of persistence in the face of ambiguity, or weakness in following through when the facts become clearâplace each thing in its rightful place and perform every action in its rightful time. Beware of appropriating property to which the common people possess an equal right, or of feigning ignorance of problems you should handle when they are obvious and plain to see. If you transgress, what is in your hands will be taken away and given to another. Very soon, the veil will be removed, and those you have wronged will obtain justice. Control your prideful passion, your violent anger, your brutal hand, and your cutting tongue. Restrain the blade and delay the strike until your anger abates and you regain control and mastery of your will. Know this: You will not master yourself until you remember that you will return to your Lord. â2.53.23 â¬You should study the methods of just governance used by those who preceded you, their virtuous practices, the traditions of our Prophet, and the mandates of Godâs Book. You have seen how I have put these principles into practiceâemulate me in this. Strive hard to follow the path I have laid out for you in this testament. I trust that I have done my duty to guide you and that your heart has now no excuse to follow its passions. â2.53.24 â¬From this same testament, the final section: With full trust in Godâs vast mercy and his power to grant every wish, I beseech him to direct us to do what will please him, what he and his creatures deem good, what earns us praise among his servants and acclaim in his lands, what completes his blessings for us and multiplies his favors. I beseech him to end your days and mine in happiness and martyrdom. In God we place our hopes.1 I end with abundant greetings of peace to Godâs Messenger. â2.54 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to Ṭalḥah and Zubayr, sent with Ê¿ImrÄn ibn al-Ḥuá¹£ayn al-KhuzÄÊ¿Ä« (AbÅ« JaÊ¿far al-IskÄfÄ« records it in his Book of Exhortations, KitÄb al-MaqÄmÄt):2 Although you deny this now, you know that I did not approach the people until they approached me, you know well that I did not demand their pledge of allegiance until they offered it to meâthe two of you were among them, among those who approached me and offered allegiance. You also know well |
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Reference to Qurʾan, Tawbah 9:59.
Sent just before the Battle of the Camel, outside Basra in 36/656. Text and context in Ibn AÊ¿tham, Futūḥ, 2:465. The full title of IskÄfÄ«âs book is KitÄb al-MaqÄmÄt fÄ« tafá¸Ä«l Ê¿AlÄ« (The Book of Exhortations Regarding the Superiority of Ê¿AlÄ«). The book is mentioned by DhahabÄ«, Siyar, 10:51, but appears to be lost.
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that every last one pledged without coercion or inducement. If the two of you pledged freely, then you must return to the fold and ask Godâs forgiveness, and you must do so directly. If you pledged unwillingly, then by pretending to obey while masking your intent to disobey, you have given me just cause to march against you. I swear by my life, you have no special rights over the other Emigrants that let your concealed thoughts justify your actions. It would have been far less grave if you had challenged my caliphate before giving the pledge, than doing thisâgiving the pledge and then breaking it. As for your claim that I killed Ê¿UthmÄn: There are men in Medina who have held back from supporting either of usâlet those neutral individuals judge the matter between you and me, then, on the basis of their judgment, let each man among us be charged with what he perpetrated. Turn back from this path now, O sheikhs, while the greatest penalty you face is shameâturn back before shame combines with flames! Go in peace. â2.55 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:1 God created this world for the hereafter, and he tests its people to ascertain who among them performs the best of deeds. We have not been created to live in this world, we have not been commanded to strive for this world, we have been placed in it in order to be tested. God has tested me through you, he has tested you through me, and he has made one of us a rightful plaintiff against the other. You transgress in your pursuit of this world, relying on deliberate misinterpretation of the Qurʾan, and hold me responsible for something neither my hand nor my tongue has perpetrated. You and the people of Syria wrap its malicious turban around my head, the learned among you incite the ignorant, those standing incite those sitting.2 Fear God, MuÊ¿Äwiyah, for the sake of your soul, and snatch your halter from Satanâs hands! Turn your face to the hereafter, for it is my destination and yours. Beware, lest God strike you with a calamity that will eradicate you and sever your line! I am more worthy than you of swearing an honest oath: By God, if the will of the gathering fates joins us in battle, I shall encamp in your courtyard «until God judges between usâand he is the best of judges»!3 |
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Presumably in 36/656, in the lead-up to the Battle of Ṣiffīn, from Kufa to Damascus (see the threat in the last line).
âThe learnedâ are AbÅ« Hurayrah, MughÄ«rah ibn al-ShuÊ¿bah, and others among the Prophetâs Companions who supported MuÊ¿Äwiyah. âThose standingâ are Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£ and MarwÄn ibn al-Ḥakam. The âignorantâ and âthe sittingâ are the common people of Syria. F 391; Ê¿A 703.
Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:87.
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â2.56 â¬From instructions Ê¿AlÄ« gave to Shurayḥ ibn HÄnÄ« when he appointed him commander of the vanguard he sent ahead of his army to Syria:1 Be conscious of God every morning and every night, beware the snares of this treacherous world, donât trust her ever, at any time, and know that if you donât restrain yourself from many of the things you love, if you donât recognize the damage they can cause, your passions will lead you into terrible harm. Restrain your soul and forbid it from evil. Control your impulse to erupt when enraged and vanquish your fury. â2.57 â¬From a letter by Ê¿AlÄ« to the people of Kufa when he marched from Medina on Basra:2 I have marched from my hometown as either oppressor or oppressed, either treacherous or a target of treachery. I call out in Godâs name to all whom my letter reaches: Come to me! If I am in the right, support me. If I am in the wrong, berate me. â2.58 â¬From an epistle Ê¿AlÄ« wrote to the garrison towns, narrating what had taken place between him and those who fought against him at á¹¢iffÄ«n:3 Events began thus: We and the Syrians faced off, both sides believing in the same God, the same Prophet, and the same call to Islam. We were not attempting to increase their belief in God and his Messenger, and they were not attempting to increase ours, our beliefs were already one. What we differed on was the charge of Ê¿UthmÄnâs blood, and we were innocent of it. We said to them, âCome, let us approach this objectiveâwhich we are not in a position to achieve todayâwith prudence. Let us first extinguish these burning fires and bring calm to the community. Once we have strengthened our control, we will have the power to disburse justice and put things where they belong.â âNo!â |
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In 36/657 at the camp at Nukhaylah, near Kufa. In MinqarÄ«âs version (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 121â122), the remarks are addressed jointly to Shurayḥ and his co-commander, ZiyÄd ibn al-Naá¸r. §â¯2.11, §â¯2.13 are from the same event.
In the lead-up to the Battle of the Camel, sent from Ê¿AlÄ«âs camp close by, in DhÅ« QÄr, in 36/656, with his son Ḥasan and Ê¿AmmÄr ibn YÄsir. Text and context in ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:499â500.
From the content, the letter appears to have been written soon after the cessation of hostilities at á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657, before arbitration results were declared a few months later. The main Muslim garrison cities (amá¹£Är, sing. miá¹£r) in Ê¿AlÄ«âs time were Kufa and Basra in Iraq, and Fusá¹Äá¹ in Egypt. Additional cities in Iran and Central Asia could also have been addressed; they were set up to serve the early conquests and by his time had become permanent and important settled towns in the region.
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they replied, âwe shall decide it through combat!â and they refused to budge from this entrenched position, until war spread her wings and settled upon her brood, until her flames crackled and burned hot. When she had chewed both sides with her maw, when she had pierced both sides with her claws, then they came soliciting the course we had proposed earlier. We were nonetheless swift to respond and agreed to their proposal, in a way that made the rightfulness of our claim clear and left them bereft of excuse. God will save all who abide by this realization from perdition, but all who persevere in their wrongdoing will be driven backâGod will corrode their hearts, and the wheel of evil fortune will descend on their heads.1 â2.59 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to al-Aswad ibn Quá¹bah, commander of the garrison of ḤulwÄn:2 A rulerâs passions, if they lean in one direction, prevent him from dispensing justice. Let the rights of all people be equal in your eyes, for injustice is never defensible. Stay away from actions you would find deplorable if directed at you. Hope for Godâs reward and fear his punishment, and exert yourself to undertake his charge. Know that this world is a domain of trialâno man wastes an hour of his time here without regretting it on the day of resurrection. Remember: Nothing can release you from the obligation to do what is right, especially the charge to protect your soul, and to safeguard your subjects to the best of your ability. If you do, the benefit that will come to you is greater than the benefit that will come to them through you. â2.60 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs epistle to administrators whose lands his army would march through:3 |
Reference to Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:88, Muá¹affifÅ«n 83:14, Fatḥ 48:6.
This letter could date from any time in Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661, after his arrival in Kufa. The identity of the addressee, named here as al-Aswad ibn Quá¹bah, is also uncertain. Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 17:145) says he was not able to ascertain a genealogy for him, and conjectures that the name may be a mistranscription for al-Aswad ibn Zayd ibn Quá¹bah ibn Ghanam al-Aná¹£ÄrÄ«, from the Ê¿AdÄ« tribe. MinqarÄ« (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 106) names the recipient of this letter as al-Aswad ibn Quá¹nah. Ibn MÄkÅ«lÄ (IkmÄl, 7:283), without any reference to Ê¿AlÄ« or this letter, mentions a man named AbÅ« Mufazziz al-Aswad ibn Quá¹bah, who took part in the conquest of Iraq; ḤulwÄn is located today in the Kermanshah province of Iran.
Presumably from the camp at Nukhaylah, outside Kufa, on the way to á¹¢iffÄ«n in 36/657. MinqarÄ«âs version (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 125) is transcribed by Ê¿AlÄ«âs scribe, AbÅ« TharwÄn. âTax collectors,â in the first line, lit., âcollectors of the land tax (kharÄj).â
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From Godâs servant, Ê¿AlÄ«, Commander of the Faithful, to the tax collectors and administrators whose lands my army will pass through. I have dispatched troops who, God willing, will pass through your lands, and I have instructed them to observe what they owe to God, to refrain from causing destruction or any kind of harm. I repudiate before God and before our compact, any violations by the army except in times of hunger when they have no other way to curb its pangs. Punish anyone who seizes something he has no right to, but restrain too the hands of your rash fools from obstructing the troops or challenging them when they take what I have allowed. I am coming up right behind the army, so bring me any complaints of unjust behavior or hardships which you are not able to repel except through God and me. If God wills it and with his help, I shall correct the wrong. â2.61 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to Kumayl ibn ZiyÄd al-NakhaÊ¿Ä«, his governor in HÄ«t, rebuking him for setting out on a raid while failing to defend his own town from enemy forces:1 A manâs neglect of what he has been charged with and his zeal in pursuing what others were charged to do reflects palpable weakness and flawed judgment. Your decision to raid QarqÄ«siyÄ, while leaving open the stronghold you are responsible for with no one to defend it or to repel enemy forces, was a rash decision. You opened the gates for enemies waiting to raid your people.2 Out in the open, no longer strong shouldered or fearsome of mien, you were rendered powerless to repel a breach or crush an attack, unable to defend your townsfolk or to serve me, your Commander. â2.62 â¬From an epistle Ê¿AlÄ« sent to the people of Egypt with MÄlik al-Ashtar, when he appointed him governor:3 â2.62.1 â¬God sent Muḥammad as warner for the world and witness to the truth of the Messengers. When he died, the Muslims quarreled over who was to succeedâby God, the thought had never entered my heart, never crossed my mind, that the Arabs would uproot the caliphate from Muḥammadâs family, |
From Kufa to HÄ«t in 39/659, in the wake of SufyÄn ibn Ê¿Awfâs raid. Text and context in BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 2:473â476. HÄ«t is a town in northern Iraq on the Euphrates River toward Syria.
âYou opened the gates,â lit., âyou became a bridge.â
From Kufa to Egypt in 38/658. §â¯2.62.1 is cited by ThaqafÄ« (GhÄrÄt, 1:303â305) as part of a letter Ê¿AlÄ« wrote to be read out to his followers there after Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr was killed. Related letters are §â¯2.38 and §â¯2.53. âSo-and-Soâ is AbÅ« Bakr, the first Sunni caliph. The apostasy reference is to the so-called Wars of Apostasy (ḥurÅ«b al-riddah), where several tribes renounced Islam and/or refused to accept Medinaâs overlordship, soon after Muḥammadâs death.
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that they would seize it from me, and I was stunned when people rushed to So-and-So to pledge allegiance. I held back my hand, I withheld my pledge, until I saw that large numbers had apostatized from Islam and were calling for the eradication of Muḥammadâs religion. I feared then that if I did not show public support for Islam and its people, I would see it breached or destroyed. That calamity would be far greater than losing my right to rule, a rule whose wares last for a few, short days, then cease to be, as a mirage evaporates or as clouds disperse. I rose to confront those challenges until falsehood ceased and disappeared and religion became calm and still. â2.62.2 â¬From the same epistle: By God, if I were to face them alone while their legions filled the length of the earth, I would still not feel uneasy or afraid. I know that I am righteous, and my certainty is bequeathed by my Lord. I know that they stray while I walk the path of guidance. I long to meet God, I anticipate and expect his beautiful reward. What grieves me is the thought that this community could be ruled by the rash and depraved who take what belongs to God as their own property, treat his servants like slaves, view the pious as enemies to be struck down and the wicked as allies, whose numbers include men who drank prohibited drinks, who were whipped under the aegis of Islam as punishment for their blatant crime, as well as those who did not accept Islam until they were bought for a paltry sum.1 If not, I would never go to the trouble to rouse, reprehend, gather, or goad you, but would consign you to your refusal and your tepid response. Do you not see that your borders shrink, your cities are conquered, your territories are seized, and your lands are attacked? March to fight your enemy, may God have mercy on you! Do not sink to the earth in languor, else you acknowledge your shame and accept dishonor, and your share will be the vilest and ugliest of all. The true warrior is ever wakeful. If you sleep, be aware that your enemy does not. Go in peace. |
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âThose who drankâ refers to WalÄ«d ibn Ê¿Uqbah ibn AbÄ« MuÊ¿Ä«á¹, Ê¿UthmÄnâs stepbrother and his governor in Kufa (Ḥ 17:227â245âlengthy narrative, after AbÅ« al-Faraj al-IsfahÄnÄ« and Ibn Ê¿Abd al-Barr; B 919; F 393), and/or al-MughÄ«rah ibn ShuÊ¿bah (F 393 again; R 3:226â227). âThose who did not accept Islam until they were boughtâ by gifts from the Prophet after the Conquest of Mecca, refers to MuÊ¿Äwiyah and his father, AbÅ« SufyÄn (B 919), also several members of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs Umayyad clan (Ḥ 17:226), and/or Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£ (F 393; R 3:227; B 919).
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â2.63 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ al-AshÊ¿arÄ«, his governor in Kufa. Ê¿AlÄ« had sent word to the Kufans soliciting their support against his opponents at the Battle of the Camel, and he learned that AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ was actively dissuading them:1 From Godâs servant, Commander of the Faithful, to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn Qays. I am told that you have spoken words that go both for you and against you. When my messenger arrives, roll up your sleeves, gird your loins, emerge from your hideout, and urge your townspeople to fight. If you are capable, get going. If you are a coward, stand down. By God, you will be seized wherever you go and pounded until you are creamed and crushed,2 you will be thrown from your seat, fearing what comes at you from the front and from behind. You are not looking at a trivial protest here but at a grave calamityâits camel stallions must be ridden, its restive beasts must be tamed, its threatening heights must be levelled. Return to your senses, man, regain your command, and take your due share and portion. Or, if you find this repugnant, then step aside and leave, taking with you neither greeting nor safe-conductâwe are better off without you! Sleep on. No one will even ask, âWhere is So-and-So?â We are righteous, by God, and on the path of right. We care nothing for what the heretics do. Go in peace. â2.64 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs reply to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:3 Yes, my clan and yours were on terms of affection and unity, as you say, but what divided us yesterday was our belief and your unbelief, and what divides us today is our right and your wrong. Those of you who accepted Islam did so only because they were forced to, after the foremost Arabians had joined Godâs Messenger and formed the vanguard of Islam.4 You claim that I killed Ṭalḥah and Zubayr, threatened Ê¿Äʾishah, and set up a military base between the two |
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From his camp in DhÅ« QÄr to Kufa in 36/656, in the lead-up to the Battle of the Camel, addressing AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ by his given name and patronymic, Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn Qays. In response to Ê¿AlÄ«âs earlier message instructing him to recruit, AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ had given a speech in which, though acknowledging Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, he cautioned the Kufans against answering Ê¿AlÄ«âs call to fight; he said he had heard the Prophet say there would come a time when it was better to sit back than to fight, and this was that time, because it was not permitted to Muslims to fight their fellow Muslims. Ê¿AlÄ« sent his letter with his son Ḥasan to AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ in Kufa. Ḥasan dismissed AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ from his post and recruited the Kufans to join Ê¿AlÄ«. B 920; Ḥ 17:246.
Lit. â⦠until your cream mixes with your whey, your liquids with your solids.â
Presumably sent from Kufa to Damascus in 37/657, in the lead-up to the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n (contains lines similar to §â¯2.10). See MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs letter that prompted Ê¿AlÄ«âs response in Ḥ 17:251â256.
After having fought the Muslims in the early years, MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs father, AbÅ« SufyÄn, and most of his clan accepted Islam only after the Conquest of Mecca, when a large part of the Arabian Peninsula had come under Muḥammadâs control. AbÅ« SufyÄnâs story in R 3:231â232; B 922.
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garrison towns.1 This was an event at which you were not present. Even if an infraction were committed, it was not committed against you, and you are owed no explanation. You threaten to attack me with a group of Emigrants and Alliesâin fact, Emigration ended with the battle in which your brother was taken captive.2 Donât bother to make haste, but get some restâwhen I attack you, it will be over. God has sent me to visit his punishment on you. If you attack me now, then it will be as the AsadÄ« tribesman has said:3 They advance into the burning winds of high summer As they enter the lowlands, it blows dust, and pebbles, and rocks in their faces. I have the same sword with me now with which I severed the heads of your grandfather, your uncle, and your brother in a single battle,4 while you, by Godâfor as long as I have known youâhave had a hardened heart,5 and a deficient mind. Someone should tell you that you have climbed the ladder to a height that shows you an evil time ahead, which will go against you, not for you. You seek anotherâs camels and pasture anotherâs goats, you pursue a thing to which you have no right, that lies in a different quarry than yours. How far your words from your deeds! How close your resemblance to paternal and maternal uncles, who were prompted by their wretched views and unholy desires to challenge Muḥammad! They were killed in battle, as you know only too well, unable to defend themselves against the great calamity that befell them, or to protect their sanctuary from the clash of swords. No battle is empty of sword-thrusts, |
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The âtwo garrison townsâ are Kufa and Basra.
Lit. âYou say you will visit me.â The subtext is that there are no Emigrants or Allies among MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs supporters; that, in fact, MuÊ¿Äwiyah, and his associates are all enemies of Islam. The Emigrants, mainly from Mecca, who left their homes and emigrated with Muḥammad to Medina, together with the Allies of Medina, are revered for their early and sincere service to Islam. âThe battleâ is the Conquest of Mecca, following which Muḥammad said that the chapter of Emigration was now closed; âyour brotherâ is YazÄ«d ibn AbÄ« SufyÄn, who was taken captive in a skirmish just ahead of the Conquest. Ḥ 17:256; F 394. A different and more convoluted explanation is that the âbrotherâ is Ê¿Amr ibn AbÄ« SufyÄn, who was taken captive (by Ê¿AlÄ«) during the Battle of Badr earlier, and that the âend of Emigrationâ is not meant literally but denotes MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs familyâs enmity for Islam. B 922. A variant reading here (also B 922) is âyour fatherââi.e., AbÅ« SufyÄnâinstead of âyour brother,â and âtaken captiveâ denotes AbÅ« SufyÄnâs defeat rather than actual capture.
Verse attributed to the pre-Islamic poet Bishr ibn AbÄ« KhÄzim al-AsadÄ«. Ḥ 18:19.
Ê¿AlÄ« killed MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs maternal grandfather, Ê¿Utbah ibn RabÄ«Ê¿ah, his maternal uncle WalÄ«d ibn Ê¿Utbah, and his brother Ḥanáºalah ibn AbÄ« SufyÄn at the Battle of Badr. Ḥ 19:19; B 792/923; R 3:31/234; F 369/394.
Reference to Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:88.
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and you will not find these slow in coming! You go on and on about Ê¿UthmÄnâs killersâenter the fold that all the people have entered, then raise to me your plaint against that group, and I shall settle the matter between them and you according to Godâs Book. As for your other demand, it is but a toy one gives to an infant to distract him from milk while being weaned.1 Peace to those who deserve it. â2.65 â¬From another letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:2 This is the time for you to understand fully the affairs swiftly unfolding before your eyes and take heed. You walked in the path of your forebears by making false allegations, rushing headlong into the paths of deception and dishonesty, claiming what is above your reach, and plundering what is not meant for you. You fled from the truth and denied something that is closer unto you than your own flesh and bloodâwords your own ears have heard, and your own breast enfolds.3 «But what is there after truth save error»,4 and after clarity save confusion? Beware of suspicion and the doubts that it brings along! Long has sedition spread its cloak and, with its darkness, robbed eyes of sight! I have received a strange letter from you, filled with contradictory utterances, whose supposedly potent points are too weak to forge any kind of peace;5 in fact, it is stuffed with nonsensical myths that you have clearly not fashioned with any knowledge or maturity. With these proposals, you are like a man sinking into a swamp or stumbling about in a cavern. You attempt to climb a tower that rises beyond your reach, that gives you no waymarks, a tower that is too high even for the soaring kite, as lofty as twinkling Capella. God forbid that after me you should have charge of taking the Muslims to and from their waterhole, or that I should grant you authority now to oversee a single contract or covenant for even one of them!6 Save your soul and look directly to its welfare. If you continue to transgress until Godâs servants attack you, all your pathways will be blocked. At that time, you will be denied the chance to offer me what I am willing to accept from you today. |
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Soon after the Battle of the Camel, MuÊ¿Äwiyah demanded that Ê¿AlÄ« confirm him as governor of Damascus, else he would not pledge allegiance. Ê¿AlÄ« characterizes the demand as a cheap ruse. Ḥ 19:21; R 3:235; B 923.
Response to MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs letter (not transcribed in the commentaries) after the Battle of NahrawÄn in 38/658, proposing that Ê¿AlÄ« appoint him successor, whereupon he would cease hostilities and pledge allegiance (see also §â¯2.73). Ḥ 19:27; B 924â925.
Refers to the Prophetâs numerous hadiths in praise of Ê¿AlÄ«, including the proclamation at GhadÄ«r Khumm, which made obeying Ê¿AlÄ« incumbent on MuÊ¿Äwiyah. Ḥ 19:24â25; B 925.
Qurʾan, Yūnus 10:32.
I translate silm as âpeaceâ (following B 924; R 3:243). If we translate silm as âbeing Muslimâ (following Ḥ 19:25â26), the line reads: âtoo weak to have come from a Muslim.â
The translation is based on BÂ 925; RÂ 3:245.
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â2.66 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs (this letter was recorded earlier with slightly different wording):1 A man is overjoyed by gaining a thing he was not going to lose and grieved by the loss of a thing he was not going to gain. The choicest thing your soul takes from your life in this world should not be a pleasure indulged or a revenge achieved, but the obliteration of a wrong or the restoration of a right. â2.67 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to Qutham ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs, his governor in Mecca:2 Lead the hajj among the people and remind them to revere these, Godâs special days. Hold audience every morning and evening, and explain legal rulings to the inquirer, teach the ignorant, and discourse with the knowledgeable. Your tongue should be your only ambassador, your face your only chamberlain. Do not conceal yourself from any petitioner who wants to present his petitionâif a petitioner is driven away from your door when he first approaches, you will not be thanked for a subsequent response. Keep an eye on goods belonging to God that have accumulated in your jurisdictionâdisburse them among the destitute and the starving in your land, those who are beset with poverty and need; whatever remains, send it to me so that I may distribute it among the people here. Forbid the people of Mecca from charging rent to pilgrims, for God has said, «its resident and the foreigner are equal»3âa resident is one who lives there permanently, and a foreigner is someone who has come for the pilgrimage. May God direct you and me both to perform the deeds that he loves. Go in peace. â2.68 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to SalmÄn al-FÄrisÄ«, before the time of his caliphate:4 This world is like a snakeâit is soft to the touch, but its venom is lethal. Turn away from its attractions, for it will be with you only a short while. Shrug off its cares, for you know you will soon depart. Beware of it most when you are most comfortable in it. For each time the dweller finds himself happy in a joyful event, it hurls him toward something he had feared. |
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§â¯2.22, see note there.
From Kufa to Mecca in 38/659, when Ê¿AlÄ« deputed Qutham to lead the pilgrimage. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:132.
Qurʾan, Ḥajj 22:25.
Ê¿Umar appointed SalmÄn as governor of MadÄʾin, near present-day Baghdad; he died there around the end of Ê¿UthmÄnâs reign in 35/655. HÄrÅ«nÄ« (TaysÄ«r, 506) says Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter was in response to SalmÄnâs letter asking him, âI fear that I may lean toward worldliness, so counsel me!â
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â2.69 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to al-ḤÄrith al-HamdÄnÄ«: Hold fast to the Qurʾan and embrace its counsel. Deem licit what it deems licit and deem illicit what it deems illicit. Believe in the true messages brought in bygone times,1 and apply the lessons you learn from the past to what is yet to come. One time resembles another, and the last will catch up with the firstâthen all of it will end and be gone. Exalt the name of God, do not invoke it save in truth.2 Contemplate death and what comes after death. Donât wish for death without surety.3 Beware of every deed that a man finds pleasing when he does it, but hateful when other Muslims do it. Beware of every deed that a man does in private and is ashamed of in public. Beware of every deed that a man denies when asked about it or for which he offers excuses. Donât let your honor become a target for the arrows of scandal. It is a sufficient mark of falsehood that you pass on everything you hear, a sufficient mark of ignorance that you dispute everything you are told. Donât venture there! Swallow your rage, be patient in times of anger, forgive when you could punish, and pardon when you have power.4 Do this, and the outcome will be good. Be grateful for each blessing God has bestowed. Donât squander any of Godâs blessings. Let the marks of Godâs blessings be manifest on your person.5 Know that the most generous of believers is the most generous in presenting his life, his family, and his property to God. The treasury of deeds you present will remain in safekeeping for you, the benefits of deeds you hold back will accrue to others. Beware of keeping company with those of unsound judgment and evil deedsâa man is judged by the company he keeps. Live in large towns, for that is where Muslims gather. Beware of camps where rashness and vulgarity prevail, where there are few allies in obedience to God. Confine your opinions to things that concern you. Beware of loitering in the marketplaceâit is Satanâs home and the place where seditions shoot their arrows. |
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I.e., the missions of past prophets. B 927; Ḥ 18:43.
Reference to Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:224.
I.e., donât wish for death unless you are sure your deeds will gain you entry to paradise. Ḥ 18:44; B 928. Reference to Qurʾan, JumÊ¿ah 62:6â7.
Reference to Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:134.
Reference to Qurʾan, á¸uá¸¥Ä 93:11.
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Always think about those who have lessâthat door leads to gratitude. Do not commence a journey on Friday until after the prayer, unless it is to fight in Godâs path, or for another urgent matter. Obey God in all that you do, for that is more important than anything else. Coax your heart to worship God but be gentle and do not force its complianceâtake advantage of it when it first awakens and enjoys its moments of fresh vigor. The exception is the case of mandated actsâthese must be performed with regularity at the prescribed times. Beware lest death seize you while you are fleeing from your Lord in pursuit of the world. Beware of keeping company with the depravedâvice is drawn to vice. Extol God, and love those whom he loves. Beware of anger, for it is one of IblÄ«sâs most powerful battalions. Go in peace. â2.70 â¬From a letter sent by Ê¿AlÄ« to Sahl ibn Ḥunayf al-Aná¹£ÄrÄ«, his governor in Medina, about a group of Medinans who had defected to join MuÊ¿Äwiyah:1 I have learned that men from your town are stealing out to join MuÊ¿Äwiyah. Do not grieve over the loss of their numbers or supplies! Their flight from true guidance, their haste toward blind ignorance, proves their waywardness and shows that you are well rid of them. They are worldly people, stretching their necks toward wealth and power. They personally experienced my justiceâthey saw it, heard it, understood it, and realized that all are equal before me in claiming their rightsâand they fled from this toward nepotism! Let them go far away and yet farther! By God, they did not leave to escape from injustice or to arrive at justice! I beseech God to make the recalcitrant camel docile and the rough ground smooth. God willing, it will happen. Go in peace. â2.71 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to al-Mundhir ibn al-JÄrÅ«d al-Ê¿AbdÄ«, whom he had appointed tax collector in a certain district, after Mundhir had embezzled treasury funds:2 |
Sahl was Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor in Medina for a short while in 36/656, before the Battle of the Camel, and if the letter is addressed to him, then it was sent from Iraq at that time; it is possible that some people left Medina for Damascus immediately after Ê¿AlÄ« left for Iraq, in the lead-up to the Battle of the Camel, and the references to witnessing Ê¿AlÄ«âs fairness fit well with the steps he took to level stipends immediately upon assuming the caliphate. Or, if there is an error in naming Sahl as the recipient, the letter could be from after the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657.
Presumably sent from Kufa to Iá¹£á¹akhr, in Fars, where Mundhir was tax collector or governor sometime during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661. Text and context in BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 2:163â164. The follow-up lines about Mundhir were spoken by Ê¿AlÄ« to á¹¢aÊ¿á¹£aÊ¿ah ibn ṢūḥÄn in Kufa. YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:204.
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I was deceived about you by your fatherâs pietyâI thought you would follow his guidance and walk his path. According to what I have learned, however, you neither pull against passionâs halter, nor put aside provisions for the next worldâyou adorn your abode in this world by demolishing your home in the hereafter, you strengthen bonds of gift-giving with kin by severing the bonds of your faith. If what I am told about you is true, your familyâs mangy pack-camel and your sandalâs frayed thong are more valuable than you! Someone with your immoral character cannot be expected to fill a breach or carry out a command, he cannot be raised in station, given partnership in matters of responsibility, or trusted not to embezzle. Come to me when my letter, God willing, reaches you. Raá¸Ä«: Mundhir is the one about whom the Commander of the Faithful also said: He looks at himself in glee, preens in his pretty robes, and shines his sandal straps with his spittle. â2.72 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs:1 You will not exceed your lifespan or be granted sustenance that is not yours. Know that life alternates between two daysâone day is for you, another day is against you. The world is an abode of changeâwhatever is decreed for you will come despite your weakness, whatever is decreed against you cannot be repelled by your strength. â2.73 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to MuÊ¿Äwiyah:2 I attribute to weak judgment and flawed acumen the fact that I exchanged letters with you in the first place and listened to your epistles at all! When you make such demands of me and repeat such lines, you are like a man deep in slumber who dreams false dreams, or like one who stands perplexed, not knowing whether the future will be for or against him! If you are not that man, then that man certainly resembles you! I swear this by God: If I did not have good reasons to hold my tongue, you would have received evidence from it damning |
Possibly part of the same letter sent from Kufa to Mecca in 40/661, parts recorded as §â¯2.22 (see note there), §â¯2.41, and §â¯2.66.
Presumably from Kufa to Damascus after the arbitration in 37/658, in the context of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs demand that Ê¿AlÄ« make him successor (similar themes in §â¯2.65). âListened (istimÄÊ¿) to your epistlesâ signals the practice of official epistles being read out in a public setting; see also §â¯2.1.
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enough to crush bones and consume flesh!1 But know this: It is Satan who prevents you from returning to a better way, or from listening to the words of a sincere counselor. Go in peace. â2.74 â¬From a treaty of alliance that Ê¿AlÄ« concluded between the people of Yemen and the tribe of RabÄ«Ê¿ah (copied here from a script in the hand of HishÄm Ibn al-KalbÄ«):2 This is what the people of Yemen, both its townspeople and its country-dwellers, and the tribe of RabÄ«Ê¿ah, both its townspeople and its country-dwellers, have agreed upon: They will follow Godâs Bookâthey will call to it and command by it, and answer those who call to it and command by it; they will not betray it for a price or accept another in its place; they will act as one hand against all who oppose or abandon it. They will support one anotherâtheir mission will be one. They will not break their pledge, even if one tribesman hurls rebuke, rage, humiliation, or abuse at another. This agreement has hereby been accepted by all present as well as those absent, mature elders as well as impetuous youths. They are bound to it through Godâs pledge, to which all are accountable.3 Written by Ê¿AlÄ« ibn AbÄ« ṬÄlib. â2.75 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to MuÊ¿Äwiyah from Medina, when allegiance was first pledged to him as caliph. (It is recorded by WÄqidÄ« in the Book of the Camel, KitÄb al-Jamal):4 From Godâs servant, Ê¿AlÄ«, Commander of the Faithful, to MuÊ¿Äwiyah ibn AbÄ« SufyÄn. You know that I was justified both in my efforts for your clan and in turning away from them, until that which was going to happen, that which could not be repelled, came to pass.5 The story is long and there is much to be said, but |
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Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 17:65) explains that Ê¿AlÄ« had witnesses to the fact that the Prophet had cursed MuÊ¿Äwiyah as a hypocrite destined for hellfire, and that he chose not to make this information public for fear of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs false retaliation.
RabÄ«Ê¿ah and Yemen signify North and South Arabia respectively. HishÄm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-SÄʾib al-KalbÄ« (= Ibn al-KalbÄ«) (d. 206/821) is the famous genealogist, whose grandfather, SÄʾib fought alongside Ê¿AlÄ« in the Battles of the Camel and á¹¢iffÄ«n. Ibn al-KalbÄ« is the compiler of a lost book titled Khuá¹ab Ê¿AlÄ« (Orations of Ê¿AlÄ«, Ibn al-NadÄ«m, al-Fihrist, 125). The treaty would have been concluded some time in Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate in Kufa, 35â40/656â661.
Reference to Qurʾan, IsrÄʾ 17:34.
In 35/656.
The reference is to Ê¿AlÄ«âs efforts to negotiate between Ê¿UthmÄn, who was from MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs Umayyad clan, and the group of Muslims who had come to Medina demanding his resignation and who eventually killed him (Ḥ 18:67; B 932). Another, to me less convincing, reading (R 3:258) is that the reference is to Ê¿AlÄ«âs efforts to appease MuÊ¿Äwiyah when Ê¿AlÄ« first became caliph.
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what has passed has passed, and what is coming is coming. Take the pledge of allegiance for me, then, from your townspeople, and come to me here with a delegation of your associates. Go in peace. â2.76 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs counsel to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs when Ê¿AlÄ« departed from Basra, and appointed Ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs to remain there as governor:1 Be generous with your attention, your audiences, and your judgment. Beware of anger, for it is a surge of rashness prompted by Satan. Know that whatever takes you closer to God takes you away from the Fire, and whatever takes you away from God takes you closer to the Fire. â2.77 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs counsel to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs when he sent him to debate the Kharijites:2 Donât argue with them on the basis of the Qurʾan, for the Qurʾan can be interpreted in many waysâyou will say something, and they will say something else. Debate with them instead with the Sunnah, for there they will find no escape. â2.78 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs letter to AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ al-AshÊ¿arÄ«, replying to him in the matter of the arbitrators (recorded by SaÊ¿Ä«d ibn YaḥyÄ al-UmawÄ« in his book The Expeditions, al-MaghÄzÄ«):3 The state of the people is such that many have bartered away most of their allotted share,4 they sway with the worldâs swaying and speak from sheer caprice. In the matter at hand, I am astonished that my camp has become a gathering place for the conceited and the disobedient. I treat the wound they have inflicted,5 but fear that it might suddenly spurt blood again. There is no manâand you should know thisâwho is more concerned than I am to maintain unity and affection among Muḥammadâs community. I seek only Godâs |
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In 36/656, after the Battle of the Camel. MufÄ«d, Jamal, 223â224, after WÄqidÄ«.
Soon after the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657, when the Kharijites faulted Ê¿AlÄ« for accepting the arbitration and encamped at ḤarÅ«rÄʾ. Context in ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:73.
In the lead-up to arbitration at DÅ«mat al-Jandal in 37/657â658. AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ al-AshÊ¿arÄ« was the arbitrator from Ê¿AlÄ«âs side, and Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£ from MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs. This letter signals Ê¿AlÄ«âs distrust of AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ. Ḥ 18:75.
I.e., of religion and the hereafter.
Refers to both the arbitration with MuÊ¿Äwiyah, which a group of Ê¿AlÄ«âs own army forced him to accept, even though they were on the verge of victory, and the choice of AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ as the arbitrator from their side, who was not loyal to Ê¿AlÄ«. See also §â¯2.63.
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pleasing reward and an honorable return to him, and I shall remain true to my pledge, even if you move away from the position that you held when you left here. The true wretch is the person who is deprived from using his own intelligence and experience, and I refuse to let anyone speak what is wrong or to blight a matter that God has resolved. Donât heed false suspicionsâthe foulest of men are racing to you now, carrying wicked rumors. Additional Letter1 â2.79 ⬠From a missive Ê¿AlÄ« wrote to governors of the garrison towns when he became caliph: Governors before you were destroyed by this: They denied the people their rights, so the people were forced to purchase them. They ruled the people unjustly, and the people emulated their injustice. |
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An additional letterâperhaps added by Raá¸Ä«, or by othersâis transcribed in all our primary and secondary Nahj al-BalÄghah manuscripts (further details in the Editionâs footnotes, and in Note on the Edition and Translation).
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3. Sayings Chapter containing selections from the Commander of the Faithfulâs wise sayings and words of counsel, including selections from his answers to questions and short texts from all genres of his literary production â3.1 â¬In times of sedition, be like a young camel buckâno back to be ridden, no udders to be milked.1 â3.2 â¬To wear the robe of greed is to degrade yourself. To reveal your troubles to others is to humiliate yourself. To let your tongue control you is to demean yourself.2 Stinginess is a vice, cowardice is a defect, poverty strikes a clever man dumb, and a pauper is an exile in his hometown. Incapacity is a calamity, forbearance is a form of courage, renunciation is a treasure, restraint is a shield, and acceptance of Godâs will is the best companion. Knowledge is a noble legacy, refined behavior is like new clothing, and thought is a polished mirror. A wise manâs heart is a vault for his secrets. Cheerfulness is a snare for friendship, forbearance is a tomb for shortcomings. Raá¸Ä«: It is also narrated that Ê¿AlÄ« said similarly: Conciliation is a tomb for flaws. The smug invite detractors. Almsgiving is powerful medicine. Believersâ deeds in this world will be placed before them in the hereafter. |
Ar. ibn al-labÅ«n, lit. âthe son of a lactating camel mare,â referring to a buck that has just reached two years of ageâhis mother has had another foal and is again producing milkâhe has no udders because heâs male and his back is weak because heâs young. Ê¿AlÄ« advises his followers to be shrewd in times of conflict, so that despotic rulers are not able to harness their support for evil acts or bully them (Ḥ 18:82; B 935; R 3:267; F 397). From Ê¿AlÄ«âs counsel to his son Ḥasan (MajlisÄ«, BiḥÄr, 74:234).
The sayings in §â¯3.2 are from Ê¿AlÄ«âs counsel to Ashtar. ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 201â202.
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â3.3 â¬Behold the wonder of the human! He sees with a bit of fat, speaks with a piece of flesh, hears with a shard of bone, and breathes through a tiny hole! â3.4 â¬When the world smiles at a person, it lends him the good qualities of others. When it turns away from him, it snatches from him his own.1 â3.5 â¬Associate with people in such a manner that they cherish your company while you live and weep for your loss when you die.2 â3.6 â¬If you succeed in subduing your enemy, thank God by forgiving the man. â3.7 â¬The most incapable person in the world is the one who is incapable of making friends. Even more incapable than he, though, is the person who loses the friends he has made. â3.8 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said this about the men who sat out the battles during his reign:3 They abandoned right, while not aiding wrong. â3.9 â¬If the harbingers of Godâs blessings reach you, donât drive away the favors yet to come with a lack of gratitude. â3.10 â¬A man who is shunned by those close to him will find help from distant strangers. â3.11 â¬Not every deluded person can be chastised.4 |
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I.e., when a personâs luck is in, people attribute to him qualities he doesnât have, but when his luck is out, they donât give him credit for the qualities he does have.
Or, per the variant reading in MSS N and Sh, âthey long for you when you are absent (ghibtum, vs. Ê¿ishtum), and weep for your loss when you die.â From Ê¿AlÄ«âs deathbed counsel to his children (Sibá¹, Tadhkirah, 142; ṬūsÄ«, AmÄlÄ«, 209). I have switched the two phrases around in the translation for more idiomatic English.
These were the prominent Medinans Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn Ê¿Umar, SaÊ¿d ibn AbÄ« WaqqÄá¹£, SaÊ¿Ä«d ibn Zayd, UsÄmah ibn Zayd, Muḥammad ibn Maslamah, and Anas ibn MÄlik (Ḥ 18:115; text and context in ṬūsÄ«, AmÄlÄ«, 83). According to some commentators, they also include the Kufans AbÅ« MÅ«sÄ al-AshÊ¿arÄ« and Aḥnaf ibn Qays (B 939; F 402).
Interpreted as (1) a reference to the prominent Medinans who refused to support Ê¿AlÄ« against the associates of the Camel (Ḥ 18:119; MufÄ«d, Jamal, 46; names in note to §â¯3.8), or (2) a general observation on human nature (F 401; B 938).
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â3.12 â¬Affairs bow to the fatesâsometimes planning leads to death.1 â3.13 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked about the Prophetâs words, â¨Dye your white hair and donât emulate the Jewsâ©, to which he answered:2 The Prophet said this when Muslims were few. Now that Islam has loosened its halter and laid its withers flat on the ground, let every man decide for himself. â3.14 â¬Whoever gallops forward, giving the rein to his hopes, will be hurled into the pit of death. â3.15 â¬Forgive good people their mistakesâwhen one of them slips, God takes his hand and helps him to rise. â3.16 â¬The timid will falter, the meek will lose their share. Opportunity passes like a cloud, so seize every opportunity for good. â3.17 â¬We have a right. If it is given to us, good. If not, we will ride the camelâs rump through the long night.3 Raá¸Ä«: This statement is among the most refined and eloquent of expressions, and it means that when we are not given our due, we are being dishonored; that is because a pillion rider rides on the camelâs rump, as does a slave, or captive, or another person of lowly status. â3.18 â¬If your deeds are slow, your lineage will not take you far.4 â3.19 â¬To console the heartbroken and comfort the grieving is to atone for the gravest sins. |
In an address to the Persian emperorâs daughter ShÄh ZanÄn (= Shahr BanÅ«) after her capture, ca. 17/638 (MufÄ«d, IrshÄd, 1:302). Similar to §â¯3.426.
The hadith is cited by, e.g., Ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad, §â¯1415. The command is for men to dye white hair black in battle and pertains to the importance of appearing young and strong in order to instill fear in the enemy (Ḥ 18:122; B 939; R 3:269; F 402). The metaphor of the camel relaxing indicates Islamâs expansion and firm establishment.
The sources place these words by Ê¿AlÄ« in Medina, either (1) immediately after the death of the Prophet, in 11/632, when AbÅ« Bakr was sworn in as caliph (Ḥ 18:133, citing the Twelver ShiÊ¿a interpretation); or (2) in Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration to the ShÅ«rÄ Election Council, following the death of Ê¿Umar, in 23/644 (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 4:236; MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 327â328; full text in both; Ḥ 18:133).
The line is attributed to the Prophet in Ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad 2:252; Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 2:148; RÄzÄ«, MafÄtīḥ, 3:573.
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â3.20 â¬Son of Adam! When your Lordâs blessings keep coming, be on guard!1 â3.21 â¬When a person conceals something in his heart, it shows in the slips of his tongue and the planes of his face. â3.22 â¬If you fall ill, get on with your life as best as you can. â3.23 â¬Rejection of worldliness is best done in secret. â3.24 â¬How soon the meeting when you retreat and death presses forward! â3.25 â¬Fear God and beware! I swear he has concealed for so long you think he has forgiven! â3.26 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked about faith, and he expounded:2 Faith stands on four pillars: forbearance, conviction, justice, and struggle against evil. Forbearance has four branches: longing, fear, rejection of worldliness, and patient expectation. Whoever longs for paradise is diverted from indulging passions, whoever fears hellfire retreats from forbidden things, whoever rejects worldliness makes light of calamities, and whoever awaits death hastens to do good. Conviction also has four branches: sagacious perceptivity, interpreting divine wisdom, heeding the counsel offered by historyâs lessons, and following the practice of those who went before. Whoever perceives with sagacity recognizes divine wisdom, whoever recognizes divine wisdom heeds historyâs lessons, and whoever heeds historyâs lessons has lived with those who went before. Justice, in its turn, has four branches: deep understanding, profound knowledge, blossoms of wisdom, and deep-rooted restraint. Whoever understands gains profound knowledge, whoever gains profound knowledge |
I.e., if you continue to be ungrateful and disobey God while still enjoying his blessings, beware his retribution, which will surely come (F 403). Some later MSS and commentaries (Ḥ 18:136 and B 940) make this subtext explicit by adding to the text, âwhile you continue to disobey himâ (wa-anta taʿṣīhi).
Excerpt from oration delivered in his home, either in Medina or Kufa, additional parts recorded as §â¯1.69, §â¯1.103 (further details in note there), §â¯3.259. Alternatively, the text is cited as an answer given during an oration in the mosque in Basra, a few days after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656 (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 225â227), where the questioner is named as Ê¿AbbÄd ibn Qays (another version, which conforms more directly to the version here, is also recorded in ibid., 198â199). Other parts of the same oration (ibid., 221â233) are listed in note to §â¯1.23. On this text, see Qutbuddin, âPiety and Virtue in Early Islam: Two Sermons by Imam Ali.â
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advances on the path of wisdom, and whoever possesses restraint shuns extremes in his affairs and lives among people loved and respected. Struggle against evil similarly has four branches: commanding good, forbidding evil, valor in battle, and abhorring the corrupt. Whoever commands good strengthens the believersâ backs, whoever forbids evil cuts off the hypocritesâ noses, whoever shows valor in battle has discharged his duty, and whoever abhors the corrupt and is roused to anger for the sake of God, so too will God be roused to anger on his behalf, and, on the day of resurrection, will make him truly happy. Unbelief stands on four pillars: overthinking, fractiousness, deviation, and rebellion. Whoever overthinks misses what is right, whoever constantly disputes remains blind to the truth, whoever deviates deems good to be evil and evil to be good until he becomes intoxicated by his errant ways, and whoever rebels finds his way rugged, his affairs straitened, and his escape blocked. Doubt also has four branches: skepticism, dread, vacillation, and surrender. Whoever makes skepticism his practice finds that his night never brightens into day, whoever dreads what is ahead turns back on his heels, whoever is suspicious and vacillates is trampled by devilsâ hooves, and whoever surrenders to the perishing forces of this world and the next perishes in both. Raá¸Ä«: There is text after this that I have omitted, for fear of being prolix or going beyond the bookâs goals. â3.27 â¬The doer of a good deed is better than the deed itself. The doer of an evil deed is worse than the deed itself. â3.28 â¬Be generous without being extravagant. Be thrifty without being stingy. â3.29 â¬The most honorable wealth is abandoned desire.1 â3.30 â¬If you are quick to say bad things about people, they will make up things about you. â3.31 â¬Long hopes, foul deeds. |
Identical line in §â¯3.195.
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â3.32 â¬At Anbar, during Ê¿AlÄ«âs march to Syria, its landowners and merchants came out to meet him, and when they reached him, they dismounted and began to run ahead of his mount on foot. He asked, âWhat is it you are doing?â and they answered, âThis is our customâit is our way of showing respect to our rulers.â Ê¿AlÄ« responded:1 By God, this behavior does not benefit your rulers at all! All you are doing is causing suffering to yourself while earning wretchedness for the hereafter. O how great the loss when suffering is followed by punishment! How great the profit when ease is followed by freedom from hellfire! â3.33 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said to his son Ḥasan:2 My dear son, remember four things from me, and four things moreânothing will harm you as long as you follow them. The best wealth is intelligence, the greatest poverty is foolishness, the loneliest alienation comes from conceit, and the noblest lineage is good character. My dear son, beware of befriending a foolâhe wants to help you but will harm you. Beware of befriending a miserâhe will hold back from helping you when you need him most. Beware of befriending a wantonâhe will sell you out for a trifle. Beware of befriending a liarâhe is like a mirage that makes near what is distant and makes distant what is near. â3.34 â¬Supplementary acts of worship bring no reward if they cause you to neglect mandatory ones.3 â3.35 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said: A sageâs tongue is located behind his heart, a foolâs heart is located behind his tongue. Raá¸Ä«: This is among the most wondrous and noblest of concepts. The point is that an intelligent man doesnât allow his tongue free rein until after consulting with his mind and conferring with his reason, while the pebbles flung by the foolâs tongue and the blunders of his speech race out of his mouth without being reviewed by his reason or assessed by his thought. The intelligent manâs tongue follows his heart, while the foolâs heart follows his tongue. The aphorism has also been narrated from Ê¿AlÄ« in a variant rendering, thus: â¨A foolâs heart is located in his mouth, a sageâs tongue is located in his heart.â© The meaning of both versions is the same. |
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In 36/656, during the march toward á¹¢iffÄ«n. Anbar is in northern Iraq, and the merchant family is named as the BanÅ« KhushnÅ«shak (Persian name). Text and context in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 143â144.
This text is among Ê¿AlÄ«âs deathbed counsels to Ḥasan. MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 182â183, HÄrÅ«nÄ«, TaysÄ«r, 563, Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, DustÅ«r, 100â101, Ibn Ê¿AsÄkir, TÄrÄ«kh, 42:561.
Similar to §â¯3.271.
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â3.36 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said to an associate who had been taken ill:1 May it please God to make your suffering decrease your burden of sin! Illness, while it does not earn you reward, decreases your sins, making them fall off like leaves in the Fall. Reward, on the other hand, is earned through words spoken by tongues, and actions performed by hands and feet. Nevertheless, God willingly admits into paradise all his servants who possess true intentions and pious hearts. Raá¸Ä«: Ê¿AlÄ« is absolutely correct when he says that illness earns no reward, for it belongs to the category of things that are requited, and requital operates in cases of Godâs actions toward his servant, such as suffering, illness, and their like. Reward and recompense, on the other hand, operate in cases of Godâs servantâs actions. There is clearly a difference between the two categories, which Ê¿AlÄ« explains with penetrating knowledge and precise judgment. â3.37 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« prayed for KhabbÄb ibn al-Aratt:2 May God have mercy on KhabbÄb! He accepted Islam with joy, emigrated in obedience to his Lord, and lived his life fighting for the truth. Blessed is he who contemplates the return to God, does good in anticipation of judgment, contents himself with basic rations, and accepts Godâs will. â3.38 â¬Were I to strike a believer on the bridge of his nose with my sword, an action that should cause him to hate me, he will not hate me. Were I to shower the riches of the world on a hypocrite, an action that should prompt him to love me, he will not love me. This is because it was proclaimed, and thus decreed, on the tongue of our Meccan Prophet, who said, â¨No believer will hate you, Ê¿AlÄ«, and no hypocrite will love youâ©.3 |
In 37/657, on the return from á¹¢iffÄ«n, within view of Kufa. The addressee was an old man named á¹¢Äliḥ ibn Sulaym from the tribe of SalÄmÄn ibn Ṭayy, a follower of Ê¿AlÄ«, who apologized that his illness had kept him from accompanying Ê¿AlÄ« to battleânote the last line comforting á¹¢Äliḥ, reassuring him that his good intention had earned him paradise. Text and context in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 528â529.
Also in 37/657, on the return from á¹¢iffÄ«n, just outside Kufa. Ê¿AlÄ« enquired about the graves he saw there and was told that one was the grave of KhabbÄb, a venerable Companion of the Prophet and Ê¿AlÄ«âs supporter, who had died after Ê¿AlÄ« left for á¹¢iffÄ«n. Text and context in MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 530â531; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:61â62. Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to the people of those graves in §â¯3.119.
From an oration in Kufa, after the Battle of NahrawÄn, around 39â40/659â661, attempting to mobilize the Kufans to fight MuÊ¿Äwiyah. Text and context in Ḥ 2:195â196 (within their commentary on §â¯1.34 of present volume; see my note there). âThe Meccan Prophet,â lit. âthe ummÄ« Prophet,â see note at §â¯1.151.2.
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â3.39 â¬A shameful act about which you are sorry is better in Godâs eyes than a virtuous act of which you are proud. â3.40 â¬The measure of a man is in accord with the measure of his resolution, the measure of his truthfulness is in accord with the measure of his chivalry, the measure of his valor is in accord with the measure of his self-respect, and the measure of his chastity is in accord with the measure of his jealous sense of honor. â3.41 â¬Victory is reached through resolution, resolution is reached through reflection, and reflection is reached through guarding your secrets. â3.42 â¬Beware the peerâs attack when heâs hungry, and the churlâs when heâs sated. â3.43 â¬Menâs hearts are wild beasts, but they soften toward those they love. â3.44 â¬Your flaws will remain concealed as long as your luck holds. â3.45 â¬Those who hold the most power to punish should be the foremost in forgiving. â3.46 â¬True generosity is spontaneous. Giving when solicited is merely to avoid shame and blame. â3.47 â¬There is no wealth like intelligence, no poverty like ignorance, no bequest like refinement, and no shield like consultation. â3.48 â¬Patience is of two kinds: patience in the face of adversity and patience in the absence of privilege. â3.49 â¬The rich man is at home in a foreign land, the pauper is a stranger in his hometown. â3.50 â¬Contentment is wealth that never runs out. â3.51 â¬Wealth fuels passions. |
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â3.52 â¬One who brings dire warnings is like one who gives glad tidings. â3.53 â¬The tongue is a wild beastâlet loose, it attacks.1 â3.54 â¬A woman is a scorpion with a sweet sting. â3.55 â¬The intercessor is the suppliantâs wing. â3.56 â¬People in this world are a company of travelers who are carried along while they sleep. â3.57 â¬Living without loved ones is like living in a strange land. â3.58 â¬Not getting what you want is better than asking those you shouldnât. â3.59 â¬Donât be embarrassed to give a littleânot giving is even less. â3.60 â¬Temperance adorns poverty.2 â3.61 â¬If what you wanted didnât happen, donât bewail your lotâin fact, donât bewail anything at all! â3.62 â¬An ignoramus is either stingy or extravagant. â3.63 â¬Where intelligence abounds, words are few. â3.64 â¬Time wears out bodies, renews hopes, draws death close, and makes goals distant. It wearies those who win a share and grieves those who donât. â3.65 â¬A man who would lead should teach himself before teaching others, he should discipline with his behavior ahead of his tongueâa man who teaches and disciplines himself is worthier of reverence than a man who teaches and disciplines others. |
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs counsel to Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah. MufÄ«d, Ikhtiá¹£Äá¹£, 229.
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration titled WasÄ«lah (ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 90). This saying is similar to the first half of §â¯3.325.
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â3.66 â¬Each breath is another step toward death. â3.67 â¬Everything you can tally will run out. Everything you can anticipate will happen. â3.68 â¬When affairs grow murky, predicate endings on beginnings.1 â3.69 â¬From a report relating á¸irÄr ibn á¸amrah al-á¸ibÄbÄ«âs visit to MuÊ¿Äwiyah, who asked him to describe the Commander of the Faithful. á¸irÄr declared: I testify that I saw Ê¿AlÄ« as he prayed when night had lowered its curtain. Standing in his prayer niche, hand upon his beard, writhing as though bitten by a snake and weeping grievously, he exclaimed:2 World, O world, get away from me! Is it me you try to tempt, is it for me you adorn yourself? May your time never arrive, go deceive another, for I have no need of youâI have divorced you thrice and there can be no reversal!3 Your life is short, your worth is little, all hopes placed in you are of no consequence. Alas, how scarce my provisions, how long the road, how distant the journey, and how momentous the arrival at the watering hole! â3.70 â¬From Ê¿AlÄ«âs words to the Syrian who asked whether the march on Syria was decreed by God. Ê¿AlÄ« gave a lengthy answer from which the following is a selection:4 Woe! Perhaps you think destiny is final and fate absolute! If that were the case, Godâs reward and punishment would be invalid, and Godâs promise and threat would have no meaning. God has commanded his servants to do certain things, while giving them free choice, and forbidden them from doing other things, while giving them fair warning. He has imposed on them easy, not harsh tasks, and has promised great rewards for small efforts. When he is disobeyed, it is not because he is overpowered. When he is obeyed, it is not because he coerced. He has not sent prophets in play, or revealed scriptures on a whim, or created the skies «and the earth in vain. That is the claim of those who do not believeâwoe and hellfire to unbelievers!»5 |
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From Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration on the last night of fighting, The Night of Clamor, at the Battle of á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 476.
Presumably in Kufa, during the final years of his caliphate, around 39â40/660â661.
In most schools of Islamic law, a man is permitted to remarry his divorced wife up to a total of three times.
According to á¹¢adÅ«q (Tawḥīd, 380), the man who asked the question was not a Syrian, but one of Ê¿AlÄ«âs Iraqi followers.
Qurʾan, á¹¢Äd 38:27.
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â3.71 â¬Seize wisdom wherever you find it. A wise maxim may reside in the breast of a hypocrite, and it quivers and trembles there until it settles next to its kin, in the breast of a believer. Ê¿AlÄ« also said in a similar vein: Believers, wisdom is your own lost camelâseize it, then, even from hypocrites! â3.72 â¬The measure of a man is the good he does.1 Raá¸Ä«: This maxim is priceless. No adage can be equated with it, no maxim can be compared to it. â3.73 â¬I counsel you to five traits so precious it is only right that you should whip your camels to reach them: Place your hopes in no one save your Lord. Fear nothing save your sins. When asked about something you donât know, donât be ashamed to say, âI donât know.â If you donât know something, donât be ashamed to learn. And be patient in adversity, for patience is to faith as the head is to the bodyâwhat good is a body without a head, or faith without patience?2 â3.74 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said to a secret calumniator who praised him effusively to his face:3 I am less than you say but more than you think. â3.75 â¬Survivors of the sword multiply in number and their descendants proliferate.4 â3.76 â¬The moment you stop saying, âI donât know,â you will be struck the deathblow. â3.77 â¬An elderâs advice is worth more to me than a youthâs muscle.5 |
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Listed among Ê¿AlÄ«âs âsignature repliesâ (tawqÄ«Ê¿Ät), inscribed on the letter to his associate á¹¢aÊ¿á¹£aÊ¿ah ibn ṢūḥÄn (Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 4:288). The line could also be translated as, âThe measure of a man is what he does wellââi.e., does well in terms of professional skill (B 954), or knowledge and worship (F 408).
Part of a sermon in the mosque (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 154â157), presumably in Kufa; other parts are §â¯3.81, §â¯3.100.
The calumniator was al-AshÊ¿ath ibn Qays, and the exchange presumably happened in Kufa during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661. AbÅ« Ê¿Ubayd al-BakrÄ«, Faá¹£l al-MaqÄl, 33.
Among Ê¿AlÄ«âs signature replies (tawqÄ«Ê¿Ät), inscribed on his letter to his associate Ḥuá¹£ayn (or Ḥuá¸ayn) ibn al-Mundhir. Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 4:288.
Among Ê¿AlÄ«âs âsignature repliesâ (tawqÄ«Ê¿Ät), inscribed on his letter to his son Ḥasan. Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 4:288.
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Raá¸Ä«: The saying is also narrated as âa youthâs martyrdom.â â3.78 â¬I marvel at one who despairs when he could ask forgiveness! â3.79 â¬AbÅ« JaÊ¿far Muḥammad ibn Ê¿AlÄ«, al-BÄqir, reported these words by Ê¿AlÄ«: Of the two refuges from Godâs punishment, one is taken away, but the other remainsâso hold fast! The refuge that is taken away is Godâs Messenger, the one that remains is repentanceâthe Almighty said to the Prophet, «God will not punish them while you are among them, and he will not punish them if they repent.»1 Raá¸Ä«: This is one of the most beautiful of interpretations and the most sublime of inferences. â3.80 â¬Whoever puts right what is between him and God, God puts right what is between him and others. Whoever puts right affairs of the hereafter, God puts right for him affairs of the world. Whoever has himself as counsellor has God as protector. â3.81 â¬A true sage teaches people never to despair of Godâs mercy, and never to lose hope in Godâs compassion, yet, at the same time, never to stop fearing Godâs retribution.2 â3.82 â¬The lowest form of knowledge stops at the tongue. The highest form of knowledge manifests in limbs and appendages. â3.83 â¬Minds tire just as bodies tire, so seek for them wondrous novelties of wisdom!3 â3.84 â¬Never say, âGod, protect me from trial!â for no one is free from exposure to trial. If you wish to seek Godâs protection, seek it against the inducements to stray that occur during times of trial. God has said, «Know that the riches you own and the children you beget are nothing but trials!»4 This means that the Almighty tests people through wealth and children to see who is unhappy with his lot and who accepts his share with equanimity. The Almighty knows what |
Qurʾan, AnfÄl 8:33.
Part of a sermon in the mosque (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 154â157), presumably in Kufa; other parts are §â¯3.73, §â¯3.100.
Nearly identical to §â¯3.181.
Qurʾan, AnfÄl 8:28.
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is in their hearts more than they do, but the trials prompt them to actions by which they earn either reward or punishment. Some prefer male children and dislike girls. Others are obsessed with amassing wealth and lose patience when their robes fray. Raá¸Ä«: This is among the wondrous commentaries on the Qurʾan heard from Ê¿AlÄ«. â3.85 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked, âWhat constitutes distinction?â and he replied: Possessing great wealth and having many children are not marks of distinctionâdistinction is obtained through vast knowledge and abundant kindness, and by vying to worship the Lord. If you do good, praise God, if you do ill, beg his forgiveness. Distinction in this world is reserved for two kinds of men: one who commits a sin but atones for it by repenting, and one who hastens to perform good deeds. No deed is too small if performed with pietyâhow can something that God accepts ever be small? â3.86 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said: Closest to prophets are those who discern their message best. Then he recited, «Closest to Abraham are those who followed him, as is this Prophet, and those who profess beliefâGod is close to believers.»1 Then he continued: One who obeys God is Muḥammadâs kinsman, however distant he may be in bloodline. One who disobeys God is Muḥammadâs enemy, however close he may be in kinship. â3.87 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« heard a ḤarÅ«rÄ« Kharijite praying late in the night and reciting the Qurʾan, and he said:2 Sleep accompanied by certainty is better than prayer accompanied by doubt. â3.88 â¬Study any hadith you hear with mindful attention, not by rote learning.3 Narrators of knowledge are many, its true custodians few. â3.89 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« heard a man intone, «To God we belong and to him we shall return!» and he said:4 |
Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:68.
Presumably in Kufa, soon after the Kharijitesâ secession in 37/658. The ḤarÅ«riyyah were the first KharijitesâḤarÅ«rÄʾ was the place near Kufa where they initially gathered to protest against Ê¿AlÄ«.
Ar. khabar, lit. âreport,â translated here as âhadith.â The last lines of §â¯1.236 are similar.
Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:156. The man is al-AshÊ¿ath ibn Qays, to whom Ê¿AlÄ« was offering condolences at the death of his brother, Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn (ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 209). See also Ê¿AlÄ«âs condolence to AshÊ¿ath on his sonâs death in §â¯3.277, and for an unnamed relative in §â¯3.385.
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When we say, «To God we belong,» we acknowledge our subjugation. When we say, «To him we shall return,» we acknowledge our mortality. â3.90 â¬Lord, you know me better than I know myself, and I know myself better than others know me. Lord, make me more virtuous than they think, and forgive those of my actions they donât know.1 â3.91 â¬Your benefaction becomes perfect only when you add three more actions: when you deem your favors small, they become great, when you conceal them, they become clear, and when you expedite them, they are received with joy. â3.92 â¬An age is coming to the world in which none but the schemer will be granted intimacy, none but the debauched will be considered witty, and none but the just will be deemed weak. People will regard charity a tax, gifts to relatives a favor, and Godâs worship a means to self-glorification. At that time, power will be wielded through the counsel of concubines, the command of boys, and the governance of eunuchs. â3.93 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was seen wearing a worn and patched garment, and when someone remarked on this, he explained: The heart bows to him and the soul prostrates before himâtrue believers will follow my practice. â3.94 â¬This world and the hereafter are mutual enemies and divergent pathsâto love and follow this world is to hate and reject the hereafter. The two are like East and West for the person who walks between themâthe nearer he draws to one, the further he moves from the other. They are like two wives married to one man. â3.95 â¬Nawf al-BikÄlÄ« narrated this report, and he said: I saw the Commander of the Faithful one night as he rose from his bed, gazed at the stars, then said to me, âNawf, are you asleep or awake?â âIâm awake, Commander of the Faithful,â I replied. Ê¿AlÄ« then said to me:2 |
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Presumably in Kufa during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661. Response when he was praised to his face (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 243â244). Similar final line in §â¯1.191.3 (see note on context there).
Presumably in Kufa during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661. The words in parentheses within Ê¿AlÄ«âs text are Raá¸Ä«âs explanatory insertions.
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Nawf, blessed are those who reject worldliness and focus their desire on the hereafter! They take Godâs earth for a carpet, its dust for a bed, its water for perfume, the Qurʾan as their garment, and prayer as their robe. They cut their bonds with the world as the Messiah did. Nawf, the Prophet David stepped outside at just such an hour, and said, â¨This is an hour when the prayer of any who prays will be answered, unless he is a tax collector, an appraiser, an enforcer, an oud player (that is, a lute player), or a percussionist (that is, a drummer).â© Raá¸Ä«: Alternatively, it is said that Ê¿ará¹abah, the first word of the last pair, means drum, and kÅ«bah, the second word, means lute. â3.96 â¬God has mandated certain things for youâdonât squander them. He has laid down certain limits for youâdonât transgress them. He has forbidden you certain actionsâdonât violate them. He has stayed silent about certain things deliberately and not because he had forgottenâdonât burden yourself with them.1 â3.97 â¬When people forego a religious duty to rally their worldly affairs, God opens for them a door that leads to more harm. â3.98 â¬A learned man is sometimes killed by ignorance, and his learning fails to come to his aid.2 â3.99 â¬There is a piece of flesh attached to the jugular vein that is the humanâs most wondrous organâthe heart. It has elements of wisdom, and others that are quite the opposite. If it is lifted by hope, ambition debases it, and if ambition boils over, greed destroys it, but if disappointment takes hold, regret kills it. If aggravated, its rage runs rampant, but if made happy, it forgets to be circumspect. If overwhelmed by fear, caution preoccupies it, but if safety is secured, heedlessness strips it away, and if calamity strikes, it panics. If it gains property, wealth makes it a tyrant, but if poverty bites, distress preoccupies it. If hunger enfeebles it, weakness prevents it from rising, but if satiety is excessive, surfeit oppresses it. Every deficiency does it harm, and every excess injures it.3 |
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HÄrÅ«nÄ« (TaysÄ«r, 272) cites this excerpt as part of §â¯1.50, an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in Medina six days after he became caliph, in 35/656.
The lineâwhich refers to Ṭalḥah and Zubayrâis from Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration in Medina in 36/656, when news arrived that the two had set out for Basra with Ê¿Äʾishah to raise an army against him. Ḥ 1:233 (in commentary on §â¯1.8), after AbÅ« Mikhnaf, Jamal.
From an aphoristic oration titled WasÄ«lah (ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 92â100).
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â3.100 â¬We are the saddle-pad in the middleâthose who lag must catch up, while those who exceed bounds must return to it.1 â3.101 â¬Godâs faith is established only by a man who never blandishes, or succumbs, or follows the path of greed. â3.102 â¬When Sahl ibn Ḥunayf, one of the people Ê¿AlÄ« loved dearly, died in Kufa soon after returning with him from á¹¢iffÄ«n, he exclaimed:2 Were a mountain to love me, it would crumble! Raá¸Ä«: The expression means that troubles bear down on such a man and calamities rush to strike him, and that this happens only to pious savants and virtuous saints. It resembles another saying by Ê¿AlÄ«, in which he said: Whoever loves us, the family of the Prophet, should prepare to wear the robe of poverty. Raá¸Ä«: This saying has also been interpreted differently, but this is not the place for those details. â3.103 â¬There is no wealth more profitable than intelligence, no solitude more desolate than vanity, no intelligence like prudent planning, no honor like godfearing piety, no companion like a beautiful character, no legacy like mannered refinement, no leader like divine direction, no trade like good deeds, no profit like heavenly reward, no restraint like pausing when in doubt, no renunciation |
âWeâ refers to the Prophetâs family according to all the commentators, but the enigmatic image of the âsaddle-pad in the middleâ (al-numruqah al-wusá¹Ä) is interpreted variously as: (1) the true and just Imams, embodiment of the middle way between two extremes, presumably those who deem Ê¿AlÄ« the fourth caliph and those who believe in his divinity; this explanation focuses on âin the middle,â while âsaddle-padâ is not explained (B 961; F 419); (2) the virtuous mean between the vices, because the âsaddle-padâ is placed higher than everything else on the camelâs back, and, being the place where the rider sits, it is akin to a personâs theological position (Ḥ 18:273); (3) the intermediate position of authority held by the family of the Prophet, where the Prophet is the âgreatest saddle-pad,â and other Muslim authorities are the âlesser saddle-padâ (R 3:302â303); (4) comfort-givers, like the saddle-pad that supports and cushions the body (Ê¿A 713). The textâs context is also given variously as: (1) part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to ḤÄrith al-HamdÄnÄ« (Ê¿ImÄd al-DÄ«n al-ṬabarÄ«, BishÄrah, 21); (2) Part of a sermon in the mosque, presumably in Kufa; other parts are §â¯3.73, §â¯3.81 (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 154â157, where the first line is, âFollow the middle path,â while the rest is the same as here); (3) Ê¿AlÄ«âs address to a group from âthe Westâ (presumably, Syria), in praise of the truly pious (YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:210).
In 37/657 or 38/658.
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like renouncing the forbidden, no knowledge like contemplation, no worship like the mandated rites, no faith like modesty and endurance, no lineage like humility, no nobility like knowledge, and no support surer than consultation.1 â3.104 â¬Among a people and at a time when integrity prevails, you are being unjust if you entertain suspicions about a man who has never performed an act of villainy. Among a people and at a time when corruption prevails, you are rushing into peril if you trust any man. â3.105 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked, âHow do you fare, Commander of the Faithful?â and he replied:2 How fares he who is led to death by his life, carried to sickness by his health, and about to be attacked in his place of safety? â3.106 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said: How many are made complacent by continued favors, deceived by concealment of sins, and duped by peopleâs praise! The most severe of Godâs tests is time and a slack rein. â3.107 â¬Two kinds of men are damned because of how they feel about me: one is excessive in his love, the other is extreme in his hatred.3 â3.108 â¬Missed opportunities produce regret. â3.109 â¬This world is like a snakeâsoft to the touch but filled with deadly poison. The foolish lad reaches out for it, but the intelligent man is wary.4 â3.110 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked to describe the clans of the Quraysh, and he said: MakhzÅ«m are the sweet blossoms of Quraysh, you enjoy the conversation of their men and delight in marrying their women. Ê¿Abd Shams are the most farsighted and the most valiant in protecting their own. We, HÄshim, are the most openhanded in giving and have the biggest hearts when facing death. They are more numerous, more cunning, and more repugnant. We are more eloquent, more sincere, and fairer of countenance. |
Part of an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered nine days after Muḥammadâs death, in Medina in 11/632 (á¹¢adÅ«q, AmÄlÄ«, 399). Also included in WasÄ«lah (ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 94).
The man who asked is Ê¿AlÄ«âs nephew Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn JaÊ¿far, who had come to visit Ê¿AlÄ«, who was ill. ṬūsÄ«, AmÄlÄ«, 631.
Similar to §â¯1.125, addressed to the Kharijites in Kufa, 37/658.
Similar to §â¯2.68, written to SalmÄn al-FÄrisÄ«, who was appointed governor of MadÄʾin, near present-day Baghdad, by Ê¿Umar, and died there around the end of Ê¿UthmÄnâs reign in 35/655.
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â3.111 â¬How different these two actions! An action whose pleasure passes but whose punishment remains, and an action whose suffering passes but whose reward remains. â3.112 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was following a bier in a funeral procession when he heard a man laugh. He exclaimed: We behave as though death were decreed for everyone other than ourselves, as though duties were incumbent upon everyone other than ourselves, as if those who die before our eyes are travelers who will soon return! We consign their bodies to the grave and consume their wealth, forgetting every counselor and shrugging off every tragedy. Blessed is he whose soul is humble, whose earnings are pure, whose heart is sincere, whose character is good, who shares his surplus wealth, who restrains his tongue from gratuitous utterances, who spares people his evil, who finds sufficient room within the accepted practice, and to whom no heretical innovation can be ascribed! Raá¸Ä«: Some people attribute these words to Godâs Messenger.1 â3.113 â¬Womanâs jealousy is heresy, manâs jealousy is faith.2 â3.114 â¬I shall trace the pedigree of Islam as no one has done before: Islam means submission, submission means certainty, certainty means belief, belief means acknowledgment, acknowledgment means discharge of duties, and discharge of duties means action.3 â3.115 â¬I am amazed by the miser who hastens to bring on himself the very poverty he flees and fails to enjoy the very wealth he seeksâhe spends his life in this world among the destitute, yet is held to account in the hereafter with the wealthy. I am amazed by the conceited bighead who was but yesterday a droplet of sperm and who will tomorrow be a rotting corpse. I am amazed by one who doubts God when he can see Godâs creation. I am amazed by one who forgets death when he can see the dead. I am amazed by one who denies the afterlife when he can observe this life. I am amazed by one who furnishes the abode of transience and ignores the abode of eternity. |
Within an oration the Prophet delivered âfrom the back of his camelâ upon his return to Medina from the Last Pilgrimage in 10/632. YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:100; KulaynÄ«, KÄfÄ«, 8:168.
Islamic law allows a man to marry up to four co-wives, while a woman may only marry one man at a time. B 966; R 3:315; F 421â422, citing Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:3.
âSubmissionâ (taslÄ«m) derives from the same root (âS-L-Mâ) as âIslam,â whose lexical purview includes submission, commitment, peace, and wellbeing.
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â3.116 â¬If you fall short in deeds, you will be afflicted with anxiety. God has no need of someone who offers him no share of his life or wealth. â3.117 â¬Protect yourself against the cold when the wintry weather begins, and expose yourself to it as it ends, for its action on bodies is the same as its action on trees: the first cold burns, while the last prompts leaves to sprout. â3.118 â¬The majesty of the Creator in your heart should make his creatures insignificant in your eyes.1 â3.119 â¬When Ê¿AlÄ« reached the cemetery outside Kufa upon his return from á¹¢iffÄ«n, he intoned:2 O people of desolate abodes, ruined quarters, and dark tombs! O people of dust, O people of exile, O people of isolation, O people of desolation! You preceded us, and we shall follow. As for your homesâothers have occupied them. As for your wivesâothers have bedded them. As for your propertiesâothers have divided them. This is our newsâwhat is yours? Then he turned to his companions and said: If they were permitted to answer, they would say, «The best provision is piety.»3 â3.120 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« retorted to a man whom he overheard criticizing this world:4 |
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs HammÄm Oration describing the pious, §â¯1.191.2.
According to ḤarrÄnÄ« (Tuḥaf, 186â188), this is the second part of an oration Ê¿AlÄ« delivered late in the night immediately following the Battle of the Camel, outside Basra in 36/656, to a group of men from his own army, of which the first part is recorded with some variants as §â¯3.120 (the next text here). Alternatively, the first line is recorded by MinqarÄ« (WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 531) and ṬabarÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 5:61â62) as part of a longer address Ê¿AlÄ« intoned just outside Kufa in 37/657, on his return from á¹¢iffÄ«n, when he saw the graves of his companion KhabbÄb ibn al-Aratt and others; he prayed for them (§â¯3.37), then addressed them thus. The line could have been used more than once by Ê¿AlÄ«, and both contexts could be correct.
Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:197.
ḤarrÄnÄ« (Tuḥaf, 186â188) says Ê¿AlÄ« delivered this oration late in the night outside Basra, immediately following the Battle of the Camel in 36/656, to a group of men from Ê¿AlÄ«âs own army, who were presumably blaming the world for the inexplicable failings of Ṭalḥah, Zubayr, and Ê¿Äʾishah. Ê¿AlÄ« reminds them that the world is not responsible for the fate of its inhabitants. It is followed in this source and some others by §â¯3.119. Ibn al-Ê¿AsÄkir (TÄrÄ«kh, 42:499) places this oration in the Grand Mosque in Kufa, in response to a man whom Ê¿AlÄ« heard chastising the world. Muwaffaq biʾllÄh (IÊ¿tibÄr, 51) narrates it from Aá¹£bagh ibn NubÄtah, who says Ê¿AlÄ« spoke these words in response to a man who complained about the state of the world. See further analysis of §â¯3.119â20 in Qutbuddin, âÊ¿AlÄ«âs Contemplations on this World and the Hereafter,â 345â348.
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You who reproach this worldâdo you choose to be deceived by her yet censure her? Should you be accusing her, or should she be accusing you? When did she lure or deceive you? Was it by her destruction of your father and grandfather and great-grandfather through decay? Or by her consigning your mother and grandmother and great-grandmother to the earth?1 How carefully did your hands tend them! How tenderly did your fingers nurse them! All the while you were hoping against hope for a cure, begging physician after physician for a treatment. Your apprehension did not benefit any one of them, your appeal remained unanswered, and you could not keep death away from them, even though you applied all your strength. In this way, the world warned you of your own approaching end. By their death, she illustrated your own. Indeed, this world is a house of truth for all who stay true to her, a house of wellbeing for all who understand her, a house of riches for all who gather her provisions, a house of counsel for all who take her advice. She is a mosque for Godâs loved ones, a place where Godâs angels pray, where Godâs revelation alights, where Godâs saints transact, earning his mercy and gaining paradise. Who would blame her, when she has declared her imminent separation, proclaimed her impending departure, and announced her and her peopleâs impending destruction? By her trials she has illustrated the greatest trial, and by her delights awakened a desire for the truest delight. In the evening she leaves you healthy and happy, only to turn up the next morning with a terrible calamity. All this, to awaken your desire and your alarm, to stir up your fear and your vigilance. Some will blame her on the morning of regret. Others will praise her on the day of resurrection. For she reminded them, and they took heed. She told them about herself, and they believed. She counseled them, and they were mindful. â3.121 â¬An angel has been assigned by God to call out every day: âGive birth for death! Gather for annihilation! Build for destruction!â2 â3.122 â¬The world is a course through which we must pass, not a permanent home. Its people are of two kinds: those who sell their souls and destroy them, and those who ransom their souls and set them free. |
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Lit. âyour fathersâ (ÄbÄʾika) and âyour mothersâ (ummahÄtika), meaning parents and forebears.
This saying is echoed in the verse of the Abbasid poet AbÅ« al-Ê¿AtÄhiyah (DÄ«wÄn, 46), âGive birth for death and build for destruction, for each of you walks the path of death.â
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â3.123 â¬A friend is not true unless he protects his brother in three circumstances: in his misfortune, during his absence, and after his death. â3.124 â¬Whoever is granted four gifts will not be refused four others: Whoever is granted the gift of prayer will not be refused an answer. Whoever is granted the gift of repentance will not be refused acceptance. Whoever is granted the gift of seeking forgiveness will not be refused forgiveness. And whoever is granted the gift of gratitude will not be refused further blessings.1 Verification is provided by the Book of God:2 About prayer, he has said, «Pray to me and I will answer.»3 About seeking forgiveness, he has said, «Whoever does wrong or oppresses his soul, but then seeks forgiveness from God, will find that God is forgiving and merciful.»4 About gratitude, he has said, «If you give thanks, you will be given more.»5 About repentance, he has said, «God accepts the repentance of those who do wrong in ignorance then repent soon thereafter; they are the ones whose repentance God accepts; God is knowing and wise.»6 â3.125 â¬The pious draw near to God through the ritual prayer.7 Hajj is the jihad of the frail. There is a levy on all thingsâthe bodyâs is fasting. Being a good wife is a womanâs jihad. â3.126 â¬Draw down Godâs sustenance by giving alms. Those who are certain about the hereafter give generously.8 â3.127 â¬Assistance is sent in accordance with need.9 |
Similar to §â¯3.407.
Both paragraphs of §â¯3.124 are attributed to Ê¿AlÄ« in Sibá¹, Tadhkirah, 133, which is how I have presented it here, whereas Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 18:331) reads the second paragraph as Raá¸Ä«âs commentary, BaḥrÄnÄ« (B 970) does not clarify his position, and the manuscripts of RÄwandÄ«âs commentary (R 3:309) differ between the two positions. Both paragraphs are attributed to Imam JaÊ¿far al-á¹¢Ädiq in á¹¢adÅ«q, Khiá¹£Äl, 202.
Qurʾan, GhÄfir 40:60.
Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:110.
Qurʾan, IbrÄhÄ«m 14:7.
Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:17.
This set of sayings, §â¯3.125, is attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯1.205, 1.72, 1.176, 1.73.
Second line attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯2.31.
Similar line attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯7.21.
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â3.128 â¬Practice moderation and need nothing.1 â3.129 â¬Having a small family is one way to affluence.2 Affection is one half of discernment. Worry is one half of aging. â3.130 â¬Patience is rewarded in proportion to the affliction. Those who strike their hand on their thigh when afflicted lose their reward. â3.131 â¬Many who fast gain nothing but thirst. Many who pray gain nothing but fatigue. O how excellent the sleep and the food of the wise! â3.132 â¬Foster your faith through charity. Fortify your wealth by paying the alms-levy.3 Ward off the gales of calamity by supplicating God. â3.133 â¬These are Ê¿AlÄ«âs words to Kumayl ibn ZiyÄd al-NakhaÊ¿Ä«, who narrated: The Commander of the Faithful, Ê¿AlÄ« ibn AbÄ« ṬÄlib, took my hand and led me toward the cemetery. When he reached the desert, he sighed deeply, and said to me:4 Kumayl, these hearts are like vessels, and the best are those that best receive and store. Take heed of what I am about to tell you. There are three types of people: those with divine learning, apprentices who walk the path of salvation, and the ignorant rabble, followers of any bleating fool, who sway with every wind, seeking neither illumination from the light of knowledge, nor support from a sturdy column. Kumayl, knowledge is better than wealth: knowledge protects you, whereas you must protect wealth, wealth decreases with spending, whereas knowledge increases when you distribute it, and the benefits of wealth cease with its ceasing. Kumayl, knowledge is a faith to be followed: it earns a man obedience during his lifetime,5 and leaves a beautiful legacy of remembrance after his deathâand knowledge rules, whereas wealth is ruled over. Kumayl, those who hoard wealth are dead even as they live, whereas the learned remain for as long as the world remainsâtheir persons may be lost, but their teachings live on in the hearts of men. Truly, abundant knowledge is housed here (signaling to his breast), if only I could find bearers for it! But no! I |
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Similar line attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯5.1.
Similar lines to §â¯3.129, attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯1.23, 1.21, 1.22.
Ar. zakÄh. The line is attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯4.56.
Presumably in Kufa during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661. The Arabic word jabbÄn, an uncommon word for âcemetery,â frequently refers in the sources to the cemetery outside Kufa.
Translation based on B 973. Or, âIt helps you practice obedience to your Lord in your lifetime,â based on Ḥ 18:349, citing Qurʾan, FÄá¹ir 35:28.
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encounter clever students who are not trustworthy, who use the instrument of religion for worldly benefit, who attempt to use Godâs favors to attack his servants, and his proofs to gain victory over his select. I encounter others who have been guided to the bearers of truth but have no real perceptionâdoubt is kindled in their hearts by the first appearance of misgivings. Hark, neither is to be countenanced! There is a third type, enamored of carnal pleasures, easily led to passions, or yet another, in thrall to hoarding and collecting. Neither is mindful of religion. In fact, they are closest to grazing cattle. This is how knowledge dies, through the death of its bearers. But no, by God! There will always be a person on earth who upholds Godâs proofâwhether visible and known or fearful and concealedâfor Godâs proof can never be overthrown. How many are they, and where? By God, they are few in number, but great in stature! Through them God protects his proof, until they entrust it to others like them, sowing it in the hearts of their peers. Knowledge has led them to real perception, enabling them to touch the spirit of certainty, to deem easy what the dissolute find difficult, and take comfort in what the ignorant find miserable. In this world they live in bodies whose spirits are linked to the highest abode. They are Godâs vicegerents on his earth, who call to his religion. Ah! Would that I could see them! You may take your leave now. â3.134 â¬A man is concealed behind his tongue. â3.135 â¬The man who does not recognize his own worth will perish. â3.136 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said to a man who asked him for counsel:1 Do not be one of those who expect the hereafter without work or who postpone repentance through complacent hopes of a long life. They talk of rejecting the world but reveal their desire for it in their conduct. When they are given of its stocks, they are not satisfied, when those are withheld from them, they are angry. Incapable of gratitude for Godâs gifts, they want more. They forbid others from evil but do not desist, they command others to do good but do not perform. They love good people but do not behave like them, they detest the wicked but resemble them. They fear death because of their many sins yet continue to do the very things that make them fearful. If they fall ill, they repent, but once healthy, they feel secure and resume their frolics. When fit, they are full of themselves, but when tested, they despair. When afflicted with poverty, they supplicate God and beg him, but when they regain affluence, they turn |
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Part of an oration delivered on the pulpit in the Grand Mosque of Kufa, following the Battle of NahrawÄn in 38/658. MuttaqÄ«-HindÄ«, Kanz, 16:205.
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away in prideful delusion. Their ego compels them to follow its inclinations, they do not compel it to follow the path of certainty. For others, they expect punishment for sins lesser than their own, for themselves, they expect greater reward than their deeds have earned. If they acquire wealth, they turn insolent and are seduced, if they become poor, they despair and grow weak. They fall short in their deeds yet make grand requests. If passions tempt them, they go ahead and sin, postponing repentance for later. If tribulation strikes them, they cast off the curbs of religion. They describe the worldâs lessons to others but do not themselves learn. They deliver pretentious sermons but do not take them to heart. Their words are bold, but their deeds are few. They compete for what perishes but are generous in giving away what endures. They see gain as loss and loss as gain. They fear death yet do nothing in its anticipation. They consider othersâ sins momentous yet deem insignificant their own numerous transgressions. They glorify their own acts of obedience yet think the same acts contemptible when others do them. They calumniate others and flatter themselves. Idle talk with the rich is dearer to them than worshipping God with the poor. They judge others but not themselves. They counsel others but delude themselves. They expect others to obey them, yet they disobey. They expect full measure but do not pay a fair price. When facing their Lord, they fear his creatures. When facing his creatures, they do not fear their Lord. Raá¸Ä«: If this book contained just these words and nothing else, it would contain enough effective counsel, far-reaching wisdom, discernment for those who discern, and lessons for those who see and think! â3.137 â¬Every man faces an outcome, whether sweet or bitter.1 â3.138 â¬Everything that moves forward turns back, and everything that turns back is as if it never were. â3.139 â¬Success comes to those who are patient, even if the wait is long. â3.140 â¬Anyone who agrees with other peopleâs deeds is a doer himself, and anyone who does wrong commits two sins: the sin of committing the deed and the sin of agreeing with those who committed it. |
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Ar. kullu -mriʾin. Or, based on the variant reading in MS Sh, âEverything (kullu amrin) has a consequence, whether sweet or bitter.â
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â3.141 â¬Protect your covenants and secure their fastenings.1 â3.142 â¬Obey the one you are required to obeyâyour failure to recognize him will not be pardoned.2 â3.143 â¬Truly, you have been given the capacity to see if you would but look, to be guided if you would but follow.3 â3.144 â¬Chastise your brother by being good to him. Deflect his malice by being generous to him. â3.145 â¬A person who frequents places of ill repute should not blame those who suspect him of wrongdoing. â3.146 â¬One who gains power usurps. One who clings to his own opinion perishes. One who consults mature men partakes of the fruit of their minds. One who conceals his secret retains his options. â3.147 â¬Poverty is the ultimate death. â3.148 â¬If you offer dues to a man who does not offer you yours in return, you have offered him servile worship. â3.149 â¬Do not obey humans if it means that you will disobey God.4 |
From a lengthy address by Ê¿AlÄ« when MarwÄn ibn al-Ḥakam and several of the Freedmen of Quraysh came to offer him allegiance after they were taken captive by Ê¿AlÄ«âs forces at the Battle of the Camel in 36/656. Ê¿AlÄ« is reported to have exclaimed, âDid you not pledge allegiance to me yesterday?â i.e., in Medina after Ê¿UthmÄnâs death (similar lines in §â¯1.70). Ḥ 18:372. âFastenings,â lit. âpegsâ (awtÄd) refers to âcommitments,â after R 3:336; or to âtrustworthy persons,â thus translating as: âProtect your compacts with trustworthy persons,â and do not rely on compacts offered by disbelievers and rebels, after Ḥ 18:372, citing Qurʾan, Tawbah 9:10â12.
Included in a deathbed testament of counsel Ê¿AlÄ« wrote for his children and followers, thus in Kufa in 40/661 (NuÊ¿mÄn, DaÊ¿Äʾim, 2:353). According to all the commentators, âthe one you must obeyâ refers to Ê¿AlÄ« himself. Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 18:373) explains: Ê¿AlÄ« is an Imam, obedience to whom is mandatory according to all Muslims, through the communityâs pledge, according to Sunnis, and through the Prophetâs appointment, according to the ShiÊ¿a; and whoever fails to recognize his imamate will burn in hellfire; no excuse will be deemed acceptable.
Included in §â¯1.20.
Attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯6.34.
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â3.150 â¬Donât condemn the man who delays in securing what belongs to him. Itâs the man who takes what does not belong to him who deserves your condemnation. â3.151 â¬Vanity impedes growth. â3.152 â¬The end is near, and the fellowship is short. â3.153 â¬The morning is bright for those who have eyes. â3.154 â¬Not sinning is easier than seeking pardon. â3.155 â¬How many a morsel has prevented a full meal!1 â3.156 â¬People hate the unfamiliar.2 â3.157 â¬Those who seek othersâ opinions recognize potential pitfalls.3 â3.158 â¬Those who sharpen spears of righteous anger have the strength to strike down champions of evil. â3.159 â¬If you fear something, jump right into it. The strain of avoiding is worse than the thing you fear. â3.160 â¬Broad-mindedness is the instrument of leadership.4 â3.161 â¬Repay malice with kindness and you will have rebuked. â3.162 â¬Cut away malice from othersâ hearts by uprooting it from your own. â3.163 â¬Hostility robs one of judgment.5 â3.164 â¬Greed is perpetual bondage. |
Repurposed by ḤarÄ«rÄ« (MaqÄmÄt, 24), in his Kufa MaqÄmah, §â¯5.
Identical to §â¯3.409.
Part of Ê¿AlÄ«âs testament of counsel to his son Ḥusayn. ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 90.
Ar. saÊ¿at al-á¹£adr, lit. âAn expansive chest is the instrument of leadership.â
The translation follows B 979. Or it could be translated more specifically as â[Your] hostility steals [the opportunity to implement my, i.e., Ê¿AlÄ«âs] good strategy,â after Ḥ 18:412.
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â3.165 â¬Extravagance yields regret, prudence yields wellbeing. â3.166 â¬There is no virtue in holding back wisdom, just as there is no virtue in ignorant speech. â3.167 â¬When two missions differ, one is wrong. â3.168 â¬I have never doubted the truth ever since it was shown to me.1 â3.169 â¬I have never lied, nor have I been lied to.2 I have never strayed, nor have I been led to stray. â3.170 â¬One who instigates violence will bite his knuckles on the morrow.3 â3.171 â¬The time for departure draws nigh. â3.172 â¬Those who challenge the truth perish.4 â3.173 â¬Those who are not saved by patience are slain by panic. |
From oration §â¯1.4, delivered after the Battle of the Camel in 36/656, addressing Ṭalḥah and Zubayr posthumously, as well as their defeated followers. R 136 (after Miskawayh); Ḥ 1:209; B 164.
âNor have I been lied to,â means I have never been lied to by the Prophet in what he informed me would happen (B 980). This line is placed by the sources within several orations by Ê¿AlÄ«, and may have been spoken by him on various occasions: (1) At the Battle of the Camel, outside Basra in 36/656, responding to a man who chastised him for fighting Muslims (Ḥ 1:265, after AbÅ« Mikhnaf); (2) in the Kufa mosque, addressing a man from Basra (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 178); (3) at á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657, addressing his followers (MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 315); and (4) at the Battle of NahrawÄn, in 38/658 either before the battle, or afterward, while instructing people to look for DhÅ« al-Thudayyah among the Kharijitesâ corpses (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:88; NuÊ¿mÄn, ManÄqib, 214; Ḥ 6:129, 18:368).
I.e., in remorse. Reference to Qurʾan, FurqÄn 25:27.
Included in §â¯1.16, Ê¿AlÄ«âs first oration after the pledge of allegiance to him as caliph in Medina in 35/656. Translation follows Ḥ 18:371; R 3:337. Following B 980 and F 436, the line may alternatively be translated as, âWhoever exposes his face for the sake of truth will be killed [by the ignorant masses]ââthe inserted final phrase is stated explicitly in §â¯1.16.
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â3.174 â¬How sad, how strange! So, the caliphate can be justified through the Prophetâs companionship, but not through companionship and kinship together!1 The following verses are attributed to Ê¿AlÄ« in the same vein:
â3.175 â¬Every man in this world is a target at which fate shoots its arrows, he is booty for calamity to plunder. With every sip he chokes, with every bite he gags. He obtains no blessing without relinquishing another, greets no new day except after bidding farewell to one from his allotted share. We are all deathâs assistants, and our human forms are quarries of doomâhow can we hope to survive? Night and Day erect nothing without swerving back to destroy what they have built, to scatter what they have brought together!2 â3.176 â¬Son of Adam, whatever you earn above your needs, you keep in store for another. â3.177 â¬Hearts have passions, there are times when they are receptive and others when they are withdrawn. Approach them by way of their passions, then, and at times when they are receptive, for a heart turns blind when coerced.3 â3.178 â¬When should I satisfy my rage? Should it be when I have no power to demand vengeance and am admonished, âYou should forbear!â or when I have the power to exact retribution and am advised, âYou should forgiveâ? |
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Immediately after the death of the Prophet in Medina in 11/632, when AbÅ« Bakr was sworn in as caliph. As explained in my Note on the Edition and Translation: Previous Editions (p. 48), this is the original text (â®
Related with some variants in §â¯1.143.1. ḤarrÄnÄ« (Tuḥaf, 98) transcribes it within the aphoristic oration titled WasÄ«lah.
First lines similar to §â¯3.298.
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â3.179 â¬Walking past refuse on a rubbish dump, Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed: This is what the misers hoarded! Raá¸Ä«: It is alternatively narrated that Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed: This is what you were brawling over yesterday! â3.180 â¬Wealth is not lost if losing it teaches you a lesson. â3.181 â¬Minds tire, just as bodies tire, so seek for them wondrous novelties of wisdom.1 â3.182 â¬Hearing the Kharijitesâ slogan, â¨No rule save Godâs!â© Ê¿AlÄ« remarked:2 The statement is true, but the intent is false. â3.183 â¬Describing the rabble among people, Ê¿AlÄ« said:3 When they unite, they overpower. When they disperse, they canât be recognized. Raá¸Ä«: It is alternatively narrated that what he said was this: When they unite, they harm. When they disperse, they benefit. Raá¸Ä«: He was asked, âWe know of the harm they cause when they unite, but what is the benefit they offer when they disperse?â and he replied: Workers return to their work, and everyone benefits. The builder returns to building, the weaver returns to weaving, and the baker returns to baking. â3.184 â¬A felon, with a crowd behind him, was brought before Ê¿AlÄ«, who exclaimed:4 How contemptible these faces seen only at the site of someoneâs shame! â3.185 â¬Each person has two angels assigned to protect him, until, when his ordained fate approaches, they let it in. In truth, your allotted span is a powerful shield.5 |
Nearly identical to §â¯3.83.
In Kufa, after the arbitration in 37/658. YaÊ¿qÅ«bÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 2:191; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh 5:72â73. See also §â¯1.40 and §â¯1.182 and the accompanying notes.
Presumably in Kufa, during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661.
Presumably in Kufa, during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661. Lit. âNo welcome to these facesâ (lÄ marḥaban bi-wujÅ«hin).
A little before Ê¿AlÄ« was killed in Kufa in 40/661, when a man from the MurÄd tribe came to him to warn him of his tribesmen Ibn Muljam al-MurÄdÄ«âs intent to kill him. Ibn SaÊ¿d, ṬabaqÄt, 3:43.
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â3.186 â¬á¹¬alḥah and Zubayr said to Ê¿AlÄ«, âWe will pledge allegiance to you if you make us partners in your caliphate,â and he replied:1 No, but you are partners in strength and victory, and advisors in distress and adversity. â3.187 â¬People, fear God, for he hears what you say and knows what you conceal. Hasten to prepare for death, for death will seize you even when you stay still and remember you even if you forget. â3.188 â¬Donât let a recipientâs ingratitude stop you from doing goodâthe one who reaps no benefit from your generosity thanks you, and you may well find more gratitude there than the ingrate withheld! «God loves those who do good.»2 â3.189 â¬Every vessel constricts as it fills up, except the vessel of knowledge, which expands. â3.190 â¬The first reward of a man who shows restraint is that people side with him against his boorish challenger. â3.191 â¬If you are not a patient man, then mimic those who areârarely does someone mimic people without becoming at least a little bit like them. â3.192 â¬Whoever takes himself to task profits, whoever neglects his soul loses, and whoever fears God secures safety. Whoever heeds lessons discerns, whoever discerns understands, and whoever understands realizes the truth. |
Presumably in Medina in 35 or 36/656, soon after the pledge of allegiance to Ê¿AlÄ« as caliph. âVictoryâ (istiÊ¿Änah, after Ḥ 19:22, who explains it as al-fawz wa-l-áºafar) is an unusual denotation for istiÊ¿Änah, which is more commonly used to denote âseeking aid.â As Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d explains, though, here it is derived from the proverb, qad jarÄ bnÄ Ê¿inÄn (â¨The two âsonsâ of Ê¿inÄnâ©âi.e., two lines drawn in the earth to frighten off birdsââ¨have made their runâ©), said of one who draws the winning arrow in a pre-Islamic game of chance; istaÊ¿Äna al-insÄn (âA person performed istiÊ¿Änahâ, with the Xth form verb of the same root, âÊ¿-W-Nâ) is said of someone who utters this proverb. On Ṭalḥahâs and Zubayrâs pledge to Ê¿AlÄ« and their subsequent breaking of it, see Ḥ 11:10â20. See also §â¯1.203.
Qurʾan, Äl Ê¿ImrÄn 3:134,148, MÄʾidah 5:93.
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â3.193 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said: The world will bend for us after refusing us its back, just as an irascible camel mare bends toward its young. He then recited the Qurʾanic verse: «We intend to bless those rendered weak on earth with abundant favors. We shall make them Imams. We shall make them inherit.»1 â3.194 â¬Fear God, people! Gird your loins and sprint, roll your sleeves and strive, race ahead during this brief reprieve, act quickly against the danger that looms! Remember the final return, the inexorable outcome, and the ultimate end! â3.195 â¬Generosity protects reputations. Forbearance muzzles the fool. The tax due on victory is pardon. Solace serves as recompense for betrayal. Consultation is the essence of directionâwhoever disdains advice faces danger. Patience shoots down calamities. Panic is an ally of fate. The most honorable wealth is abandoned desire.2 Many minds lie captive under passionâs rule. Learning from experience is evidence of Godâs direction. Affection is a valuable form of kinship. Donât trust the discontent. â3.196 â¬A manâs vanity is his intellectâs jealous foe. â3.197 â¬Forget about the speck in your eye, else you will never be happy. â3.198 â¬If your trunk is pliant, your branches will be thick.3 â3.199 â¬Resistance ruins strategy. |
Qurʾan, Qaṣaṣ 28:5.
Exact line in §â¯3.29.
I.e., if you are humble, you will have many supporters (B 985; Ḥ 19:35). Or, âOne who is too soft is disrespected by his subordinatesâ (Waá¹wÄá¹, Maá¹lÅ«b, 44).
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â3.200 â¬One who gets what he wants waxes arrogant. â3.201 â¬Capricious conditions reveal the mettle of men. â3.202 â¬Envying a friend poisons affection. â3.203 â¬Most shattered minds are felled by the lightning bolt of greed. â3.204 â¬When suspicions dictate judgment, justice fails. â3.205 â¬Aggression toward Godâs servants is your worst provision for the return to him. â3.206 â¬The noblest deed of the generous is to overlook. â3.207 â¬Wear the robe of modesty and conceal your flaws. â3.208 â¬Silence generates awe, justice multiplies friends, generosity elevates stature, humility completes blessings, providing for others brings glory, upright behavior vanquishes the enemy, and forbearance in the face of a fool increases your helpers against him. â3.209 â¬I wonder at the envierâs disregard for the harm he brings to his own health! â3.210 â¬The greedy are tethered to shame. â3.211 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked about faith, and he said: To believe is to recognize with your heart, acknowledge with your tongue, and act with your limbs. |
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â3.212 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said: Whoever laments the world is discontent with Godâs providence, whoever complains about an affliction complains about his Lord, whoever humbles himself before a rich man because he is rich forfeits two thirds of his religion, any Qurʾan reciter who dies and enters hellfire was one of those who mocked Godâs signs,1 and any heart that accustoms itself to loving the world will receive three gifts in return: worries that will not quit him, greed that will not forsake him, and aspirations he will never attain. â3.213 â¬Contentment is kingdom enough. Character is blessing enough. â3.214 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked about the meaning of Godâs words, «We shall grant him a good life»,2 and he said: A good life is a life of contentment. â3.215 â¬Partner with the prosperous and win a share of his riches and luck. â3.216 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« explained the meaning of Godâs words, «God commands justice and goodness»:3 Justice means balanced behavior. Goodness means bountiful giving. â3.217 â¬Whoever gives with a constrained hand will be recompensed by an open one. Raá¸Ä«: The meaning of this saying is that God will recompense whatever a man spends in the way of charity and benevolence, no matter how little, with a great and abundant reward. âHandsâ refers to âgifts,â and Ê¿AlÄ« differentiates between gifts given by Godâs servant and gifts given by the Lord, making one constrained (lit. short) and the other open (lit. long). Godâs gifts are always many times more than the gifts of his creatures. Godâs gifts are the source of all giftsâall gifts may be traced back to Godâs gifts and originate from them. â3.218 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said to his son, Ḥasan: Donât challenge someone to a duel,4 but if you are challenged, respond, for a challenger is a traitor, and a traitor will be felled. |
Reference to Qurʾan, JÄthiyah 45:9, Baqarah 2:231.
Qurʾan, Naḥl 16:97.
Qurʾan, Naḥl 16:90.
I.e., for frivolous issues. In contrast, and in a grave situation, Ê¿AlÄ« himself challenged MuÊ¿Äwiyah to a duel at á¹¢iffÄ«n. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 387.
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â3.219 â¬The best traits of women are the worst traits of men: pride, cowardice, and stinginess. If a woman is proud, she will not allow a strange man to touch her. If she is stingy, she will safeguard her property as well as her husbandâs. If she is a coward, she will draw back from dubious invitations. â3.220 â¬People asked Ê¿AlÄ«, âDescribe for us a man of reason,â and he said: One who puts things in their rightful place. They then asked him, âDescribe for us a man of ignorance,â and he replied, âI have already done so.â Raá¸Ä«: He means that the ignorant man is one who does not put things in their rightful place, describing him without actually describing him, for the description of an ignorant man is the reverse of the description of a man of reason. â3.221 â¬By God, this world of yours is worth less in my eyes than the bones of a pig in the hand of a leper.1 â3.222 â¬Some worship God out of desire for his rewardâthat is the worship of merchants. Others worship God from fear of his punishmentâthat is the worship of slaves. A third group worship God to give thanks for his favorsâthat is the worship of the free! â3.223 â¬Woman is utterly evil, and the evilest thing about her is that there is no doing without her! â3.224 â¬Whoever bows to languor squanders rights. Whoever listens to slander squanders friends. â3.225 â¬One stolen brick guarantees a homeâs destruction.2 Raá¸Ä«: This saying is also attributed to the Prophetâit is no surprise that the two sayings should resemble each other, for they are drawn from the same well and poured from the same bucket. |
á¹¢adÅ«q (AmÄlÄ«, 370) includes the line as part of the oration in which Ê¿AlÄ« also exclaims, âThis world of yours is worth less to me than a leaf being chomped in the mouth of a locust,â §â¯1.221.3, which was reportedly delivered in Kufa after the arbitration in 37/658 (see note at §â¯1.221).
Lit. âone stolen stone (ḥajar).â
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â3.226 â¬The day of the oppressed over the oppressor will be harsher than the day of the oppressor over the oppressed.1 â3.227 â¬Fear God, even if just a smidgen. Draw a curtain between you and God, even if almost sheer. â3.228 â¬Too many answers obscure the answer. â3.229 â¬God is due a share from your every blessing. If you render it to him, you are rewarded with more. If you fall short, you risk losing the original one. â3.230 â¬When opportunity increases, desire decreases. â3.231 â¬Beware lest blessings abscond, for not every runaway camel can be recovered. â3.232 â¬Generosity produces more affection than kinship does. â3.233 â¬If someone thinks you are good, prove them right!2 â3.234 â¬The most virtuous deeds are those you force yourself to do. â3.235 â¬I recognized the hand of God through broken resolves and dissolved compacts! â3.236 â¬Bitterness in this world leads to sweetness in the next, sweetness in this world leads to bitterness in the next. â3.237 â¬God has mandated belief to purify you from polytheism, the ritual prayer to repulse pride, the alms-levy to draw in sustenance, fasting to test peopleâs sincerity, the hajj to strengthen faith, jihad to fortify Islam, the commanding of good for the publicâs benefit, the forbidding of evil to restrain fools, and the fostering of relatives to increase numbers. He has mandated fair retribution to prevent bloodshed, criminal penalties to emphasize the gravity of his prohibitions, abstention from wine-drinking to preserve reason, desisting from thievery to promote temperance, refraining from fornication to safeguard lineage, |
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§â¯3.326 is similar.
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs lengthy testament of counsel for Ḥasan (§â¯2.31), written in ḤÄá¸irÄ«n after leaving á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657.
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refraining from sodomy to ensure an abundance of offspring, and the giving of testimony to curb false denials. He has mandated refraining from untruth to honor truth, and a plainly voiced peace-greeting to protect against fear. He has mandated the Imamate as a system of governance for the community,1 and obedience to the Imam to show the Imamateâs lofty status. â3.238 â¬When a criminal takes the oath at his testimony, have him swear that if he lies, he will be cut loose from Godâs strength and power. Then, if he lies, God will punish him soon. Whereas if he swears by God, there is no god but He, his punishment will be delayed because he has acknowledged the oneness of the Almighty. â3.239 â¬Son of Adam, execute your own will. Do with your property now what you wish to be done with it after you are gone. â3.240 â¬Rage is a kind of madness, and the perpetrator repents. If he does not repent, his madness still rages. â3.241 â¬Health increases when envy decreases. â3.242 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said to Kumayl ibn ZiyÄd al-NakhaÊ¿Ä«: Kumayl, teach your children to venture out every morning to perform noble deeds, and to go out every night to ease peopleâs travails while they sleep. I swear by the one whose hearing encompasses all sounds, that if anyone puts a bit of joy in anotherâs heart, God creates a grace from that joyâthen, if ever a calamity descends upon him, that grace flows to him like streaming water, driving away the calamity like a herdsman driving away trespassing camels. |
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Thus in all my primary manuscripts. The word âImamate (imÄmah)â is substituted in later manuscripts with the word âtrust (amÄnah),â which could be a deliberate corruption. See details in my Note on the Edition and Translation: Previous Editions (p. 48).
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â3.243 â¬If ever you fall into penury, make a deal with God by offering alms to the poor. â3.244 â¬Loyalty toward people of deception counts with God as deception. Deception toward people of deception counts with God as loyalty. |
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Section on Rare Words A selection from Ê¿AlÄ«âs sayings that need lexical explanations â3.245 â¬When that happens, religionâs queen bee will rest its abdomen on the ground, and people will gather around it like puffs of cloud gathering rapidly in autumn.1 Raá¸Ä«: âReligionâs queen bee (yaÊ¿sÅ«b al-dÄ«n)â denotes the great leader who will rule peopleâs affairs on that day. âPuffs (quzaÊ¿)â are wisps of waterless clouds. â3.246 â¬This swift-tongued orator.2 Raá¸Ä«: Ê¿AlÄ« means someone who is skilled and adept in oratory. A man who is adept in speech or travel is called âswift (shaḥshaḥ).â Shaḥshaḥ in other contexts can also mean stingy and tight-fisted. â3.247 â¬Quarrels are bucking steeds that hurl their riders into perils.3 Raá¸Ä«: By âhurling into perils (quḥam),â Ê¿AlÄ« means into pits of death, because quarrels often fling their riders into pits of death and perdition. The similar phrase, âthe peril into which the Bedouin are hurled (quḥmat al-aÊ¿rÄb),â denotes a year when drought strikes the Bedouin and emaciates their herds; that is what droughtâs bucking with them means. The latter phrase is alternatively explained as the desertâs hurling the Bedouin into farmlands, meaning that it forces them to enter settled locales when their nomadic pastures dry up. â3.248 â¬When a girl enters the life-phase of a three-year-old camel, her paternal relatives have greater right over her guardianship. Raá¸Ä«: The phrase is also narrated as naṣṣ al-ḥiqÄq, instead of naṣṣ al-ḥaqÄʾiq. Naṣṣ means the limit of things and their ultimate reach, like the limit in traveling, because that is the farthest a camel can go. You say âI pressed the man to the limit about that matterâ |
Explained as a prophecy about the Messiah (MahdÄ«) coming at the end of time. âResting its abdomen on the groundâ refers to the establishment of his rule. R 3:362â363; Ḥ 19:104â105.
Ê¿AlÄ« is praising (1) á¹¢aÊ¿á¹£aÊ¿ah ibn ṢūḥÄn (Ḥ 19:106); or (2), an unnamed young orator from the tribe of Qays, just before the Battle of the Camel outside Basra in 36/656 (ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh 4:492).
When appointing his nephew Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn JaÊ¿far as his deputy in resolving a dispute. Ḥ 19:107.
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if you pushed him on a question to extract all the information that he had about it. Naṣṣ al-ḥiqÄq means reaching physical maturity, because that is the limit of childhood, the point at which a child becomes an adult. This is among the most eloquent and marvelous of expressions that connote this transformation. Ê¿AlÄ« is saying: When a girl reaches that stage, her paternal relativesâclose blood relatives such as brothers and unclesâhave a greater right to her than her mother does, and they have a right to contract the girlâs marriage if they choose to do so. ḤiqÄq is the dispute (muḥÄqqah) in which the mother engages against the girlâs paternal relatives, i.e., the clash and the quarrel, each of the two parties saying to the other, âI have more right (anÄ aḥaqq) in this matter than you.â From this comes the phrase, âI contested with him for a right (ḥÄqaqtuhu ḥiqÄqan),â which is similar to, âI disputed with him (jÄdaltuhu jidÄlan).â It is also said that naṣṣ al-ḥiqÄq refers to the development of the mind, and that is what is meant by maturity, because Ê¿AlÄ« meant the final stage of mental development, after which an individual can be trusted to look after her own rights and obligations. As for those who narrate the phrase with the variant naṣṣ al-ḥaqÄʾiq, they take ḥaqÄʾiq to be the plural of ḥaqÄ«qah (a reality). The above paragraph constitutes AbÅ« Ê¿Ubayd al-QÄsim ibn SallÄmâs explanation of the phrase.1 In my view, what is meant here by the phrase naṣṣ al-ḥiqÄq is a womanâs reaching the stage at which she can be married and when she can be allowed to administer her own rights. Ê¿AlÄ« compares young women at that stage to ḥiqÄq, the plural of ḥiqqah and of ḥiqq, namely, a camel that has ended three years and begun its fourth. At this age, its back is strong enough to ride, and it can be pushed hard on a journey. The word in the variant narration, ḥaqÄʾiq, is also a plural of ḥiqqah, and thus, both variants in the narration have the same meaning. This explanation conforms better with the ways of the Arabs than the first one given by AbÅ« Ê¿Ubayd.2 â3.249 â¬Faith begins as a shining spot in the heart. As faith increases, the light expands. Raá¸Ä«: âA shining spot (lumáºah)â is a fleck of white or something like a fleck. From this comes the phrase âa horse with a shining spot (farasun almaáº),â when it has a fleck of white on its lip. |
AbÅ« Ê¿Ubayd, GharÄ«b al-ḥadÄ«th, s.v. âḤ-Q-Q.â
Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 19:109â110) also finds problems with AbÅ« Ê¿Ubaydâs grammatical and lexical parsing. He prefers Raá¸Ä«âs explanations overall, but corrects the last part, saying that the Arabic word ḥaqÄʾiq is the âplural of the pluralâ (jamÊ¿ al-jamÊ¿) of ḥiqqah, the plural being ḥiqÄq.
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â3.250 â¬If a man recovers a dubious debt, he should pay any past levies due on it. Raá¸Ä«: A âdubious (áºanÅ«n)â debt is one whose owner is not sure whether he will recover it from the borrower or not. He vacillates, at one point hopeful, and at another losing heart. This is among the most eloquent of expressions. Similarly, everything you seek but do not know where you stand regarding it is âdubious.â AÊ¿shÄâs verses are relevant to this explanation:1
âWell (judd)â means a borehole, and âdubious (áºanÅ«n)â describes a well which one cannot be certain contains water. â3.251 â¬As Ê¿AlÄ« bade farewell to a military contingent he was sending on a raid, he said to them: Abstain as much as possible from the sweetness of women. Raá¸Ä«: This means desist from brooding over your women and occupying your hearts with thoughts about them; do not have intimacy with them either. These things dampen zeal, undo the knots of resolve, delay expeditious travel, and distract from committed fighting. A person who refrains from something has âdesisted from it (aÊ¿dhaba Ê¿anhu).â2 âA person who desists (Ê¿Ädhib or Ê¿adhÅ«b)â is one who refrains from eating and drinking. â3.252 â¬Like the successful gambler who awaits his first winning arrow.3 |
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AÊ¿shÄ, DÄ«wÄn, 141, verses 19â20.
Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 19:114) agrees with Raá¸Ä«âs explanation overall, but he says the verb in this explanatory phrase should be in Form I (Ê¿adhaba), not Form IV (aÊ¿dhaba).
Part of oration §â¯1.23 (see context and note on drawing arrows to divide camel meat there).
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Raá¸Ä«: âGamblers (yÄsirÅ«n)â are those who draw arrows to divide a slaughtered camelâs meat. A âsuccessful (fÄlij)â person is one who conquers and is victorious. It is said, âHe was victorious over them (falaja Ê¿alayhim)â or âHe successfully overpowered them (falajahum).â A rajaz-poet has said, â¨When I saw a successful man who was victorious (fÄlijan qad falajÄ).â©1 â3.253 â¬When the fighting raged red-hot, we would seek help from the Messenger, and when that happened, no one engaged the enemy more closely than he did. Raá¸Ä«: This means that when fear of the enemy was greatest and the battle sank its teeth into us, the Muslims beseeched help from Godâs Messenger, who then entered the fray in person. When that happened, God sent them victory and they were secured against what they had feared, because of the Messengerâs closeness to God. Ê¿AlÄ«âs words, âWhen the fighting raged red-hot (idhÄ á¸¥marra l-baʾs),â connotes the severity of the battle. Many explanations have been given for this metaphor, and the best of them holds that Ê¿AlÄ« compared the heat of battle to fire because it combines burning and redness, thus, action and color. This explanation is supported by some words the Prophet spoke when he observed the impassioned fighting against the HawÄzin in the Battle of Ḥunayn: â¨Now the furnace burns (al-Äna ḥamiya l-waá¹Ä«s)!â©2 A furnace is the place where fire is stoked, and the Prophet compared the heat of the fighting to the flames of a fire and its intense blaze. The section on rare words ends here. We return now to the chapterâs original thread. |
Rajaz is a poetic meter used, in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, for spontaneous verse recited in battle or otherwise, in the form mustafÊ¿ilun mustafÊ¿ilun mustafÊ¿ilun. The line is grammatically incomplete, and the second hemistich is not recorded in the commentaries. I have not been able to identify the poet: the line is not in the published DÄ«wÄns of the famous Umayyad rajaz poets Ê¿AjjÄj (d. ca. 90/715) or his son Ruʾbah (d. 145/762).
Hadith cited by SuyÅ«á¹Ä«, JÄmiÊ¿, §â¯3012.
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â3.254 â¬When news reached Ê¿AlÄ« that MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs militia had raided Anbar, he stormed from the town and walked all the way to Nukhaylah. People caught up with him there and entreated him, âStay back, Commander of the Faithful, let us take care of them for you!â He exclaimed:1 By God, you are not even able to protect me against yourselves, how will you protect me against others? In the past, people used to complain of the injustice of their rulers. I complain of the injustice wrought by my subjects! I seem to be the one being led, they the leaders. I seem to be the one under command, they the commanders. Raá¸Ä«: When Ê¿AlÄ« spoke these linesâfollowed by a long oration (of which a selection is included in our chapter on orations)2âtwo men from among his supporters stepped forward, and one of them declared, â«I have jurisdiction only over myself and my brother»3 so give us your command, Commander of the Faithful, and we shall execute it forthwith.â Ê¿AlÄ« replied, âWhat can the two of you accomplish? You are far short of what I need!â â3.255 â¬It is narrated that al-ḤÄrith ibn Ḥawá¹ came to Ê¿AlÄ« and challenged him, âAre you asking me to believe that the people who fought you at the Battle of the Camel were misguided?â Ê¿AlÄ« replied:4 |
In 39/660, led by SufyÄn ibn Ê¿Awf al-GhÄmidÄ«, in which he killed Ê¿AlÄ«âs governor, ḤassÄn al-BakrÄ«. After the event described in our text, Ê¿AlÄ« set up camp at Nukhaylah, preparing to march against MuÊ¿Äwiyah, but when evening came, most people returned to Kufa and Ê¿AlÄ« was left with only his family and a handful of his staunch supporters, and he was forced to return to Kufa (F 443). Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration at Nukhaylah is recorded in §â¯1.27.
§â¯1.27, §â¯1.94.1.
Qurʾan, MÄʾidah 5:25.
ḤÄrith ibn Ḥawá¹ challenged Ê¿AlÄ« thus while orating on the pulpit, presumably in Kufa, before marching to á¹¢iffÄ«n in 36/356. JÄḥiáº, BayÄn, 3:211. There are various speculations about ḤÄrithâs fatherâs name, which indicate that ḤÄrith was not well known. Most likely the name is âḤawá¹,â following MSS Sh and N, and the commentaries R 3:374, and Ḥ 19:147, 148, as well as JÄḥiáº, BayÄn, 3:211, who adds âal-LaythÄ«.â R 3:368 and Ḥ 19:148 also record the variant âKhÅ«á¹,â and state that Raá¸Ä« wrote the name thus in his own hand, âwith the letter âKhâ, dotted, and vocalized as âÅ«â (khÄʾ muÊ¿jamah maá¸mÅ«mah).â MS Y says the same, but adds that the correct spelling according to the hadith scholars, however, is âḤawá¹.â Other variants of the name are âḤawtâ and âḤūtâ (B 993).
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ḤÄrith, you have looked below you and not above you, which is why you have strayed.1 You havenât recognized right, else you would have recognized its deniers, and you havenât recognized wrong, else you would have recognized its perpetrators. Raá¸Ä«: ḤÄrith responded, âI will sit out the fighting, alongside SaÊ¿d ibn MÄlik and Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn Ê¿Umar,â2 and Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed: But SaÊ¿d and Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn Ê¿Umar refused to aid right or fight wrong! â3.256 â¬A ruler rides a lion. People envy his status, but he knows his situation. â3.257 â¬Be kind to orphans, and others will care for yours.3 â3.258 â¬When the learned speak truth, their words heal. When they speak falsehoods, they cause disease. â3.259 â¬A man asked Ê¿AlÄ« to define faith for him, and Ê¿AlÄ« directed him:4 Come back tomorrow and I will inform you when others are present to hear me. Then, if you forget my words, others will remember them. Words are like runaway camelsâthis person catches them, another person loses them. Raá¸Ä«: I have recorded the answer Ê¿AlÄ« gave to this man in a text earlier in this chapter, which begins, âFaith has four branches.â5 â3.260 â¬Son of Adam, add not the worries of a day that has yet to arrive to the burdens of the day that is here! If your lifespan extends to tomorrow, God will provide sustenance.6 |
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The line is interpreted as follows: (1) You have followed those who broke the pledge of allegiance at the Battle of the Camel and not followed your rightful Imam (B 993); or, (2) you have followed the Syrians and MuÊ¿Äwiyah and not the majority of the Prophetâs Companions (F 443). YÄ á¸¤Äri (O ḤÄrith), with the final letter âThâ dropped, is the apocopated (murakhkham) form of the vocative, YÄ á¸¤Ärith.
SaÊ¿d ibn MÄlik is better known as SaÊ¿d ibn AbÄ« WaqqÄá¹£.
Ibn Ê¿AsÄkir (TÄrÄ«kh, 42:497â498) places this line within oration §â¯1.63, that Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in á¹¢iffÄ«n, in 37/657.
Excerpt from oration that Ê¿AlÄ« delivered in his home, either in Medina or Kufa, additional parts of which are as §â¯1.69, §â¯1.103 (details in note), §â¯3.26.
§â¯3.26.
Similar lines in §â¯3.358.
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â3.261 â¬Love your friend but hold back someâsomeday he could be your foe. Hate your foe but hold back someâsomeday he could be your friend.1 â3.262 â¬Those who labor in this world are of two kinds. The first is a man who labors in this world for this world. This world has distracted him from the hereafter. He fears leaving his family without means but thinks himself safe from want, and he uses his life only to provide profit to others. The second is a man who labors in this world for the hereafter and this worldâs benefits come to him without effort. He wins both fortunes and secures both abodes. He has earned a place of honor in Godâs eyesâwhatever he asks for, God grants him. â3.263 â¬It has been narrated that the many precious objects inside the KaÊ¿bah were brought to Ê¿Umar ibn al-Khaá¹á¹Äbâs attention, and someone suggested to him, âWhy donât you sell these ornaments to equip the Muslim armies? That would win you greater reward from God, for what does the KaÊ¿bah want with jewels!â The idea appealed to Ê¿Umar, and he asked the Commander of the Faithful for his opinionâÊ¿AlÄ« replied:2 At the time when the Qurʾan was revealed to the Prophet, there were four kinds of property: property that belonged to Muslims that the Prophet distributed among their heirs according to the mandated shares; war gains that he distributed to whomever they accrued; the fifth share that God assigned where he did; and the alms-levy that he allocated where he did. These precious objects were present then inside the KaÊ¿bah, and God left them as they were. It was not that he forgot to legislate about them, nor was their presence unknown to himâyou too must keep them where God and his Prophet kept them. Ê¿Umar exclaimed, âBut for you, I would have been disgraced!â and he left the precious objects as they were. â3.264 â¬It is narrated that two men who had stolen from the public treasury were brought before Ê¿AlÄ«. One was a slave, himself belonging to the public treasury, and the other was a member of the public. Ê¿AlÄ« pronounced:3 As for this one, he comes from Godâs treasury and no corporal punishment accrues to him. In his case, part of Godâs property consumed another part of Godâs property. The other, however, is warranted the criminal penalty. |
Reportedly spoken on the day that Ê¿UthmÄn was killed, in Medina in 35/656. BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 5:588.
Presumably in Medina, sometime during Ê¿Umarâs caliphate, 13â23/634â644.
Presumably in Kufa, sometime during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661.
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Accordingly, he ordered the second thiefâs hand to be cut off. â3.265 â¬If my feet had gained a foothold on this slippery path, I would have changed many things. â3.266 â¬People, know with full certainty that God never gives to any of his servantsâno matter how great his intrigues, how intense his passions, or how strong his maneuversâmore than what is ordained for him in the Wise Remembrance.1 God also never withholds from any of his servantsâno matter how weak his form, or how paltry his wilesâwhat is ordained for him in the Wise Remembrance. The person who recognizes this truth and acts on it enjoys the greatest comfort and the most abundant gains. The person who rejects and doubts it is beset with the greatest preoccupations and much harm. Some who have been given many blessings are deceived by their blessings. Others who are burdened with many afflictions are given much good through their trials. So multiply your thanks, O listener, and lessen your haste. Do not stretch your hand beyond your share of sustenance. â3.267 â¬Donât exchange knowledge for ignorance or certainty for doubt. If you have knowledge, then act. If you are certain, go forward. â3.268 â¬Greed drives people to the pools of death, from which there is no return, and it promises success but breaks its pledgeâa man drinking water could choke before his thirst is quenched. Moreover, the greater the value of a thing, the greater the grief over its loss. Desire blinds the eyes of the discerning, while fortune comes to those who donât chase after it. â3.269 â¬God, I seek refuge in you! Let me not present a beautiful appearance to peopleâs eyes, while concealing from you an ugly heart. Let me not try to save face before them, when you know everything about me. Let me not show a beautiful form to them, while approaching you with wicked deeds. Let me not seek closeness to your servants, while distancing myself from your pleasure.2 |
The Wise Remembrance (al-Dhikr al-ḥakīm) is the Qurʾan, believed by Muslims to contain knowledge of all things.
Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih (Ê¿Iqd, 3:174) ascribes this supplication to Ê¿AlÄ«âs grandson Ê¿AlÄ« Zayn al-Ê¿ÄbidÄ«n. Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (Ḥ 6:178â187) explainsâwith examples, including the famous Eid supplicationâthat Zayn al-Ê¿ÄbidÄ«n often recited his grandfatherâs supplications, and some of them became part of the latterâs collection of supplications, al-á¹¢aḥīfah al-SajjÄdiyyah.
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â3.270 â¬No, I swear by the one in whose protection we spent the black night, a night that smiled to reveal the brightness of dayâthat such-and-such a thing never happened! â3.271 â¬Doing a little often is better than tiring of a lot.1 If supplemental deeds of worship cause you to neglect mandatory ones, stop doing them.2 One who ponders the journeyâs length will be prepared. True sight is not just seeing with your eyes. Eyes can lie, but the intellect never deceives those who seek its counsel. Negligence veils you from counsel. The ignorant among you do more of this and put off that.3 Knowledge severs excuses. Those who are summoned early ask for more time. Those who are given time indulge and procrastinate. â3.272 â¬Never have people exclaimed, âWhat joy!â without fate setting up their secret day of doom. â3.273 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked about destiny, and he warned: Itâs a dark road, donât tread it. Itâs a deep sea, donât enter it. Itâs Godâs mystery, donât torment yourself trying to understand it. â3.274 â¬When God wants to debase a man, he denies him knowledge. â3.275 â¬In a time now past, I had a brother whom I loved in Godâs name.4 What made him great in my eyes was the smallness of the world in his. He was not controlled by his stomachâhe neither craved what he could not have, nor indulged in what he had obtained. Mostly, he was silent. When he spoke, he quietened all who spoke and quenched the thirst of any who sought. He was frail, and people considered him weak, but when battle approached, he was a |
Similar to §â¯3.414.
Similar to §â¯3.34.
I.e., they continue to sin and delay repentance. Ḥ 19:175; B 998.
Lit. âbrother in Godâ (akhun fi-llÄh). The reference could be to the Prophet Muḥammad, or AbÅ« Dharr al-GhifÄrÄ«, or MiqdÄd ibn al-Aswad, or Ê¿UthmÄn ibn MaáºÊ¿Å«n; or to an ideal, rather than real, brother (Ḥ 19:184; B 999). The text has also been attributed to Ê¿AlÄ«âs son Ḥasan. (B 999 and R 3:385, after Ibn al-MuqaffaÊ¿; ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 234â235, and others); it is presented in the edition of Ibn al-MuqaffaÊ¿âs al-Adab al-kabÄ«r, 314, without attribution, perhaps a copyist error.
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lion of the thicket, a viper of the ravine. He never presented an argument unless it was decisive. He never censured anyone for what might be excused until he had heard them out. He never complained of an ailment until he had recovered. He preached only what he practiced, and never what he did not. He may have been overcome in words, but he was never overcome in silenceâhe was more eager to listen than to speak. If two options presented themselves to him, he would look to see which appealed to his passions and do the opposite. You, too, should emulate these character traits. Stay with them, race to acquire them. If you cannot do them all, then know that doing a little is better than renouncing a lot. â3.276 â¬Even if disobedience were not subject to punishment, you should never disobey God, in gratitude for his many blessings. â3.277 â¬Offering condolences to al-AshÊ¿ath ibn Qays on the death of his son, Ê¿AlÄ« said:1 AshÊ¿ath, it is fitting that you mourn your sonâhis relationship to you makes it right that you should mourn. But if you can bear his loss with fortitude, know this: you can find consolation for every loss in God. AshÊ¿ath, if you bear your affliction with fortitude, fate will have assailed you, yes, but you will be rewarded, whereas if you break down in shock, fate will have assailed you anyway, and you will be punished. Your sonâs life made you happy, but he was a trial for you then and a test.2 His death has caused you grief, but it is a means for you now to earn Godâs mercy and reward. â3.278 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« spoke these lines at the Messenger of Godâs grave, just after burying him:3 Patience is beautiful except in our loss of you. Shock is loathsome except in our loss of you. The calamity brought by your death is enormous, while deaths before and after you mean nothing. â3.279 â¬Donât spend time with a fool. He will lure you to his ways and try to turn you into him. |
See also Ê¿AlÄ«âs expressions of condolence to AshÊ¿ath on the death of his brother in §â¯3.89, and to an unnamed relative, in §â¯3.385. AbÅ« al-Ê¿AtÄhiyah paraphrased this theme in a line of condolence, âYou will no doubt be subject to the flow of destiny, and either you will be rewarded for your response or a sinnerâ (â®
Reference to Qurʾan, TaghÄbun 64:15.
In Medina, 11/632.
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â3.280 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked, âWhat is the distance between East and West?â and he answered: The sunâs day-long trek. â3.281 â¬You have three friends and three enemies. Your friends are your friend, the friend of your friend, and the enemy of your enemy. Your enemies are your enemy, the enemy of your friend, and the friend of your enemy. â3.282 â¬A man bore down on an enemy, putting himself in harmâs way. Seeing this, Ê¿AlÄ« said to him:1 You are like one who pierces himself with a spear to kill the man riding pillion behind. â3.283 â¬How many lessons and how few heeded! â3.284 â¬To argue too much is to sin, and to argue too little is to lose, but it is impossible for a man who argues all the time to remain godfearing. â3.285 â¬As long as I can pray for forgiveness, I donât fear punishment for past sins. â3.286 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked, âHow will God judge people when there are so many?â and he replied:2 Just as he feeds them though there are so many! He was then asked, âHow will he judge them when they cannot see him?â and he replied: Just as he feeds them though they cannot see him! â3.287 â¬Your envoy is your intellectâs interpreter, your letter your most effective spokesman. â3.288 â¬A man who is afflicted, whose hardship is severe, is not more in need of prayer than a man who has been spared but has no guarantee of safety. |
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ṬabarÄ« (TÄrÄ«kh, 4:277) narrates a version of this line as Ê¿AlÄ«âs words to a group of people in Medina who were criticizing Ê¿UthmÄn in the affair of his governor in Kufa, WalÄ«d ibn Ê¿Uqbah, in 30/651.
The man who asked is reported to be SalmÄn al-FÄrisÄ«, presumably in Medina, before SalmÄn left for Iraq in Ê¿Umarâs caliphate (r. 13-23/634-644). Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 4:288.
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â3.289 â¬People are children of the world, and a man canât be blamed for loving his mother. â3.290 â¬A beggar is Godâs messenger, whoever refuses him, refuses God, whoever gives to him, gives to God.1 â3.291 â¬A man with a jealous sense of honor never fornicates. â3.292 â¬My allotted lifespan is protection enough!2 â3.293 â¬A man may sleep when bereaved, but he canât find sleep when looted. Raá¸Ä«: This means that a man might endure if his sons are killed, but he cannot endure when his wealth is plundered. â3.294 â¬Affection among fathers produces kinship among their sons. Kinship needs affection more than affection needs kinship. â3.295 â¬Beware lest you arouse suspicions in believersâ hearts, for God has placed truth on their tongues! â3.296 â¬A personâs faith is not sincere until he trusts Godâs gifts more than his own possessions.3 |
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Narrated by Ê¿AlÄ« from the Prophet in NuÊ¿mÄn, DaÊ¿Äʾim, 1:243.
Spoken at á¹¢iffÄ«n when Ê¿AlÄ«âs associates asked him to be wary of MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs assassins. á¹¢adÅ«q, Tawḥīd, 368.
MasÊ¿Å«dÄ« (MurÅ«j, 2:417â418) reports that a suppliant came to Ê¿AlÄ«âs door, and Ê¿AlÄ« instructed his son Ḥasan to fetch a dirham from his mother, FÄá¹imah (this would presumably be shortly before FÄá¹imah died, in 11/632, when Ḥasan was a young child). Ḥasan came back with her caution that they had only six dirhams, which were needed to buy flour. Ê¿AlÄ« responded with the line at hand, and told Ḥasan to bring all six dirhams, which he proceeded to give to the beggar. The next morning, Ê¿AlÄ« bought a camel on credit for 140 dirhams, which he then resold for 200, thus coming home with a profit of 60 dirhams, and he said to FÄá¹imah that this was a fulfilment of Godâs promise, â®ï´¿
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â3.297 â¬When Ṭalḥah and Zubayr marched on Basra, Ê¿AlÄ« sent Anas ibn MÄlik to remind them of something he, Anas, had heard about the two of them from Godâs Messenger. Anas wanted to evade this task, and he came back to Ê¿AlÄ«, saying, âI forgot what it was I had heard.â Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed:1 If you are lying, may God mar your face with a bright white patch that your turban cannot conceal! Raá¸Ä«: He meant vitiligo (baraá¹£). Shortly thereafter, Anas contracted this disease, and was never seen thereafter without a veil on his face. â3.298 â¬Hearts are sometimes receptive and sometimes withdrawn. When they are receptive, urge them to the supplementary rites of worship. When they are withdrawn, let them stay with the mandatory rites.2 â3.299 â¬The Qurʾan contains reports about what happened before you, prophecies about what will come after you, and laws about what is present among you.3 â3.300 â¬Cast back the stone to whence it came. Only evil repels evil. |
Some commentators (R 3:390; B 1000) say that this line, with Raá¸Ä«âs contextualization, refers to Ê¿AlÄ«âs sending Anas to Ṭalḥah and Zubayr before the Battle of the Camel outside Basra in 36/656, to remind them of Muḥammadâs prophetic warning, â¨You will fight Ê¿AlÄ« in battle, and you will be in the wrong.â© Disagreeing with the etymology, Ibn AbÄ« al-ḤadÄ«d (19:217â218, citing Ibn Qutaybah, MaÊ¿Ärif, chapter on vitiligo, baraá¹£) says the histories do not report that Ê¿AlÄ« ever sent Anas to speak with Ṭalḥah and Zubayr. Rather, they report that Ê¿AlÄ« once called out to people in the gathering space of Kufa (sometime during his caliphate between 36/656 and 40/661), and said, âWhoever has heard Godâs Messenger say about me, while he was returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, â¨For whomsoever I am master, Ê¿AlÄ« is his master; God, love those who love him, and hate those who hate himâ©, I ask him in Godâs name to step forward and testify!â Some men stepped forward and testified that they had been present and heard. Ê¿AlÄ« said to Anas, âYou were there too! What is the matter with you?â Anas replied, âCommander of the Faithful, I have grown old, and what I have forgotten is more than what I remember.â It was then that Ê¿AlÄ« spoke the lines in the text above.
Similar to §â¯3.177.
MasÊ¿Å«dÄ« (MurÅ«j, 3:106) reports that ḤÄrith al-HamdÄnÄ« complained to Ê¿AlÄ« that people had forsaken the Qurʾan and were following specious hadith. Ê¿AlÄ« replied that the Prophet had informed him about upcoming seditions and instructed that people should cleave in such times to the Qurʾan, and the saying at hand is from the Prophetâs words that Ê¿AlÄ« quoted.
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â3.301 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« instructed his scribe, Ê¿UbaydallÄh ibn AbÄ« RÄfiÊ¿, as follows: Thicken the ink in your inkpot, lengthen the nib of your reed-pen, keep spaces between the lines, and bring the letters close together. Your lettering will then be beautiful. â3.302 â¬I am the queen bee of the believers.1 Money is the queen bee of the depraved. Raá¸Ä«: This means that while the depraved follow money, believers follow me, just as honeybees follow the queen. The âqueen bee (yaÊ¿sÅ«b)â is the leader of the honeybees. â3.303 â¬A Jew taunted Ê¿AlÄ«, âHardly had you buried your Prophet, when you fell into disagreement!â and Ê¿AlÄ« retorted: We disagreed after him, not about him. But your feet had not dried from the sea when you demanded of your Prophet, «âMake for us a god like their gods!â whereby he castigated you saying, âyou are an ignorant people!â»2 â3.304 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked, âWhat force did you use to overthrow your adversaries?â and he replied: I never met a man who didnât help me against himself! Raá¸Ä«: Ê¿AlÄ« is alluding to the terror he would strike deep into their hearts. â3.305 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« counseled his son Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah: My dear son, I fear for you if you ever fall into poverty, so ask God to protect you from it. Poverty harms the faith, bewilders the mind, and incites to malice. â3.306 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« replied thus to a man who asked him about a complicated matter:3 Ask to understand, not to challenge. An ignorant man who seeks knowledge is almost like the learned, whereas a learned man who is overly aggressive is almost an ignoramus. |
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ʿIzz al-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr (Usd, 5:287) states that the Prophet made this statement about ʿAlī.
Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:138.
In Kufa, to a man named Ibn al-KawwÄʾ, who later became one of the leaders of the Kharijites. MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 146; JurjÄnÄ«, IÊ¿tibÄr, 587.
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â3.307 â¬Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs offered Ê¿AlÄ« counsel in a certain matter. Ê¿AlÄ«, who had a different opinion, replied:1 You have the right to offer counsel, and I shall give it thought. But if I decide against it, then you will need to obey. â3.308 â¬It is related that when Ê¿AlÄ« arrived in Kufa from á¹¢iffÄ«n, he passed by the lodgings of the ShibÄm clan and heard women weeping loudly over their fallen warriors. One of their leaders, Ḥarb ibn ShuraḥbÄ«l al-ShibÄmÄ«, came out to greet Ê¿AlÄ«, who said to him:2 Do your women rule you? What is this I hearâcanât you stop their wailing? Ḥarb then began to walk alongside Ê¿AlÄ«, who was on horseback, and Ê¿AlÄ« said to him: Go back inside! A man like you, walking beside a man like me, bodes nothing but sedition for the ruler and shame for the believer.3 â3.309 â¬Following the Battle of NahrawÄn, Ê¿AlÄ« walked out among the Kharijitesâ corpses, and he addressed them as follows:4 What misfortune you have earned! The one who deceived you is the one who injured you. Asked, âWho deceived them, Commander of the Faithful?â he answered: Satan the great deceiver and their own evil-inciting passions. The two together deceived them with false hopes, opened their path to sin, promised them conquest and victory, and then pitched them into hellfire. â3.310 â¬Beware of disobeying God in private, for the witness is himself the judge. |
When the Muslims had pledged allegiance to Ê¿AlÄ« in 35/656 in Medina, Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs advised him to appoint Ṭalḥah as governor of Basra and Zubayr as governor of Kufa. Ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs also advised Ê¿AlÄ« to reaffirm MuÊ¿Äwiyah as governor of Damascus, and then, when MuÊ¿Äwiyah had pledged allegiance, to affirm him if he continued to obey, and replace him if he stirred up dissent. Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed, âGreat God! Should I corrupt my faith with anotherâs worldliness!â then spoke the lines in our text. F 452; B 1004; ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh 4:441.
In 37/657. Details in ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:62; MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 531 (with this text).
I.e., it puffs up the ruler and humiliates the believer, because his chest and face are close to the mounted riderâs feet. Ḥ 19:234.
In 38/658. Details and text in ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:88.
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â3.311 â¬When the report of Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakrâs slaying reached Ê¿AlÄ«, he exclaimed:1 Our grief for him equals their joy at his death! They have dispatched an enemy and we have lost someone we loved! â3.312 â¬Anyone to whom God has granted sixty years of life has no excuse left.2 â3.313 â¬A person who is conquered by sin can never win. A person who prevails through evil will be crushed. â3.314 â¬God has mandated food for the poor from the wealth of the rich. Whenever a poor man goes hungry, it is because a rich man has refused to give, and God will surely hold him accountable. â3.315 â¬Not needing to give an excuse is even better than giving a genuine one. â3.316 â¬The least you owe God is not to use his gifts to sin against him. â3.317 â¬God has made obedience to him a prize for the wise at a time when the weak are remiss. â3.318 â¬The ruler is Godâs custodian on earth.3 â3.319 â¬Describing the believer, Ê¿AlÄ« said:4 A believer shows his joy in his face and hides his sorrow in his heart. His generosity is vast, his humility is deep. He dislikes fame and detests praise. His grief is long lasting, his aspirations reach far. He stays mostly silent and spends his time well. He always gives thanks and is patient in adversity. He remains immersed in thought and is cautious when making friends. His temperament is mild and his nature is easygoing. He is stronger than a rock yet humbler than a slave. |
In Kufa, 38/658. Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr, Ê¿AlÄ«âs ward and his governor in Egypt, was tortured and killed by Ê¿Amr ibn al-Ê¿Äá¹£. Text and details of the news reaching Ê¿AlÄ« from Egypt of Muḥammadâs death and from Syria of the Syrianâs rejoicing, in ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 5:108.
Similar saying attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯2.66.
Narrated within Ê¿AlÄ«âs epistle to commanders, presumably sent from Kufa at the beginning of his caliphate in 36/656. MinqarÄ«, WaqÊ¿at á¹¢iffÄ«n, 125â126.
KulaynÄ« (KÄfÄ«, 2:226â230) presents this saying as part of the HammÄm Oration (§â¯1.191) in which Ê¿AlÄ« describes the pious.
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â3.320 â¬If a man saw his end and his final destination, he would scorn all desires and their deadly deception. â3.321 â¬Every manâs wealth is shared by two partners: heirs and accidents. â3.322 â¬A person who prays without deeds is like an archer who shoots with an unstrung bow. â3.323 â¬Knowledge is of two kinds, innate and acquiredâthe acquired gives no benefit in the absence of the innate. â3.324 â¬Good judgment turns on preordained revolutions of power. It comes when they come, and leaves when they leave. â3.325 â¬Temperance adorns poverty, gratitude adorns wealth.1 â3.326 â¬Justiceâs day against the oppressor will be harsher than tyrannyâs day against the oppressed.2 â3.327 â¬Words are remembered, intentions are tested, and «every soul is mortgaged to what it has earned.»3 Most peopleâexcept those whom God has protectedâare flawed and weak-minded. The one who asks questions asks only to object, the one who answers pretends to know the answer. Even the person who possesses judgment is in danger of being subverted by desire or annoyance. Even the person who has inner strength is in danger of being injured by a look or altered by a word. O people, remain conscious of God! How many a person hopes for what he will not attain! How many a person builds what he will not inhabit! How many a person amasses what he will soon abandon! And perhaps he amassed it from illicit sources or by denying someoneâs rights. Perhaps he seized it unlawfully and loaded his back with a burden of sin. He then returns to the hereafter with his heavy load and arrives before his Lord filled with guilt and pain, «having lost this world and the hereafterâthat is the most catastrophic loss!»4 â3.328 â¬One way to protect from sinning is to deny access to its means. |
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration titled WasÄ«lah (ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 90). The first half of this saying is similar to §â¯3.60.
§â¯3.226 is similar.
Qurʾan, Muddaththir 74:38.
Qurʾan, Ḥajj 22:11.
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â3.329 â¬Think of the dignity of your countenance as water frozen in place until melted away by solicitationâto whom will you offer its droplets? â3.330 â¬Praise beyond a personâs worth is flattery. Praise below a personâs worth is impotence or envy. â3.331 â¬The worst sin is one its perpetrator thinks inconsequential. â3.332 â¬Those who perceive their own faults are too preoccupied to notice the faults of others. Those who are happy with the sustenance God has given them are not saddened by what they donât have. Those who draw the sword of treachery are slain by it. Those who pitch themselves against fate perish. Those who rush blindly into the deep sea drown. Those who enter places of vice invite suspicion. When words multiply, errors multiply; when errors multiply, modesty decreases; when modesty decreases, restraint decreases; when restraint decreases, the heart diesâand whoeverâs heart has died enters the Fire. If you remark on the faults of others while tolerating your own, you are the epitome of the fool. Contentment is wealth that never runs out.1 Contemplate death, and you will want little from this world. If you realize that words are deeds, you will speak only when it benefits you. â3.333 â¬An oppressor is identified in three ways: he oppresses those above him by his disobedience, he oppresses those below him by his brutality, and he supports the faction of oppressors. â3.334 â¬When suffering becomes intense, deliverance will arrive. When an ordealâs noose tightens, its grip will slacken. |
§â¯3.50 is identical.
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â3.335 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said to one of his associates: Donât devote the major part of your life to your spouses and children. If they are Godâs devotees, God will take care of them. And if they are Godâs enemies, well then, why should you occupy yourself with caring for Godâs enemies? â3.336 â¬Your biggest fault is faulting others for a fault you too possess. â3.337 â¬A man congratulated another on the birth of a son in Ê¿AlÄ«âs presence, saying, â¨May the warrior bring you joy!â©1 Ê¿AlÄ« rebuked him:2 Donât say that! Say instead: May you thank your divine benefactor, may his heavenly grace encompass this child who is his gift, may the child grow to full strength, and may you be blessed with his devotion! â3.338 â¬One of Ê¿AlÄ« governors built a grand mansion, and Ê¿AlÄ« said to him in rebuke: Here are silver dirhams displaying their faces! The mansion speaks loudly of your wealth. â3.339 â¬Asked, âIf a manâs door is locked with him inside, from where does his sustenance enter?â Ê¿AlÄ« replied: The same place from where his death will enter. â3.340 â¬Offering condolences to some persons upon the death of a loved one, Ê¿AlÄ« said: This matter has not begun with you and will not end with you. Your friend used to travel, so think of him as being away on one of his journeys. If he does not come back to you, you will go forward to meet him. â3.341 â¬People! Let God see you vigilant in times of ease, just as he sees you wary in times of hardship. Whoever fails to see the test when his hands fill with blessings is complacent about the impending terror. Whoever fails to see the trial when his hands straiten, squanders the reward he could have received. â3.342 â¬Prisoners of craving, desist! Anyone who fixes his hopes on the world fails to take warning until calamity, gnashing her teeth, approaches. People, restrain yourselves, turn away from your rapacious ways! |
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Preferred felicitation used in the pre-Islamic period at the birth of a son. Ḥ 19:270; R 3:403.
MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ« (Nuzhah, 394) records Ê¿AlÄ«âs line (without the rebuke) as having been addressed to Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs, congratulating him on the birth of a son, upon whom Ê¿AlÄ« then proceeded to bestow, at Ê¿AbdallÄhâs request for a name, the name Ê¿AlÄ« and the patronymic AbÅ« al-Ḥasan, after his own.
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â3.343 â¬Donât regard a statement as spiteful if you can find a way to interpret it as good. â3.344 â¬If you wish to ask God for something, begin by asking him to bless the Prophet, then put forward your petition. When God is asked for two things, he is too generous to grant the one and deny the other. â3.345 â¬Anyone who wishes to preserve his dignity should not quarrel. â3.346 â¬The one who rushes in before the time is right and the one who hesitates when the opportunity arrives are both fools. â3.347 â¬Donât ask about what is not going to happen. You have enough to preoccupy you in dealing with what has happened.1 â3.348 â¬Thought is a polished mirror. A lesson learned counsels best. To shun doing what you dislike in others is discipline enough!2 â3.349 â¬Knowledge is linked with actionâwhoever knows should act. In fact, knowledge calls out to actionâif action steps forward, good, otherwise, knowledge will depart. â3.350 â¬People! The stuff of this world is like rotten grass, so stay away from its pastures! Leaving it is better than residing in it, obtaining basic rations here is more wholesome than finding great wealth. He who covets its riches is destined for poverty, while he who is content is at peace, and he who is drawn to its glitter finds both his eyes blinded. In fact, he who is enamored of it finds his heart crowded with sorrows that dance inside its dusky core, one sorrow giving him worry, another causing him pain, continuing in this manner until his breathing stops, his arteries puncture, and he is thrown into an empty strip of earth. God feels no compunction in taking his life, and his brothers feel no guilt in tossing him into the grave. Beware! A true believer looks at the world with eyes that reflect on it, swallows a bit of its food into a belly compelled to consume it, and hears its sounds with ears that hate and abhor their frivolity. A man may get |
Or, âDonât yearn for forbidden things, for what you have is enough to stop you from withholding acts of obedience to Godâ (RÂ 3:408). Or, âDonât yearn for more and more worldly thingsâwhat you have should be enough to satisfy youâ (BÂ 1011).
§â¯3.385 is similar.
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rich in this world, but then he is reduced to penury; people may rejoice at his living, but soon they must grieve at his death; and this is but little, for the day of despair is yet to come!1 God has promised reward for those who obey him and punishment for those who disobey him, in order to caution them against his Fire and tempt them toward his Garden. â3.351 â¬It is said that Ê¿AlÄ« rarely ascended the pulpit to deliver an oration without opening with these lines:2 People, be conscious of God at all times! Humans are not created in vain3âdonât waste your lives in the pursuit of pleasure! You are not given an indefinite reprieve4âdonât squander your time in idle chatter! This world that you find so pleasing is no substitute for the hereafter that you find so distasteful. Indeed, the fool who wins the largest share of this world falls far short of the man who wins the smallest part of the hereafter. â3.352 â¬There is no honor more exalted than Islam.5 There is no might more powerful than piety. There is no refuge more shielding than restraint. There is no intercessor more effective than repentance. There is no treasure more precious than contentment. No wealth alleviates poverty faster than satisfaction with oneâs basic rations. If you content yourself with basic rations, you will attain tranquility and peace of mind. Desire is the key to fatigue and the steed of exhaustion. Greed, pride, and envy invite you to rush blindly into sin. Gluttony combines all the worst faults.6 |
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Reference to Qurʾan, Muʾminūn 23:77, Rūm 30:12.
Presumably in Medina and Kufa throughout his caliphate, 35â40/656â661.
Reference to Qurʾan, Muʾminūn 23:115.
Reference to Qurʾan, QiyÄmah 75:36.
These sayings are from Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration titled WasÄ«lah. ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 93.
Ar. sharah, after ḤarrÄnÄ«, Tuḥaf, 93, thus similar to §â¯3.357: âStinginess (bukhl) combines all the worst faults.â My Nahj al-BalÄghah primary manuscripts all have âsharr,â lit. âevil,â thus, âEvil combines all the worst faults,â which appears to be a tautology, and thus a mistranscription from sharah.
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â3.353 â¬The world is sustained by four types of people: the learned who act according to their knowledge, the ignorant who are not reluctant to learn, the generous who are not stingy with acts of charity, and the poor who donât trade in their share of the hereafter for worldly chattels. But if the learned squander their knowledge, the ignorant will be reluctant to learn, and if the wealthy are stingy with their charity, the poor will trade in their share of the hereafter for worldly chattels. Know that when Godâs blessings increase for a person, peopleâs petitions to him also increase. The one who shares his blessings as he ought to do for the sake of God earns their continuance and perpetuity. The one who does not share them as he ought to do for the sake of God exposes them to cessation and termination.1 â3.354 ⬠â3.354.1 â¬Believers, whoever sees wrong enacted and evil propagated and condemns them with his heart is cleared and absolved. Whoever also condemns them with his tongue earns greater reward. Whoever also condemns them with his sword in order that «Godâs word may be the most lofty» and the oppressorsâ «word the most lowly»2 has walked the way of guidance, stayed true to the path, and illuminated his heart with certainty.3 â3.354.2 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« spoke similar words in another address:4 One of them condemns evil with his hand, his tongue, and his heartâthis man has perfected all the traits of virtue. Another condemns evil with his tongue and his heart, but not with his handâthis man has grasped two aspects of virtue but has squandered the third. A third condemns evil with his heart, but not with his hand or his tongueâthis man has squandered the two noblest aspects while still holding on to one. Finally, there is the man who fails to condemn evil at all, be it with tongue, heart, or handâthat man is the living dead. Know this: |
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Reportedly addressed to (1) JÄbir ibn Ê¿AbdallÄh al-Aná¹£ÄrÄ«, when he went to visit Ê¿AlÄ« during an illness (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 173; KhwÄrazmÄ«, ManÄqib, 368; MSS Y and H); and/or (2) JarÄ«r ibn Ê¿AbdallÄh al-BajalÄ« (Sibá¹, Tadhkirah, 168).
Reference to Qurʾan, Tawbah 9:40.
§â¯3.354.1 is said to be part of an oration by Ê¿AlÄ« at á¹¢iffÄ«n in 37/657, cited by Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn ibn AbÄ« LaylÄ to rouse the Qurʾan reciters in his army in the fight against ḤajjÄj and the Umayyads at Dayr al-JamÄjim, in central Iraq in 83/702. ṬabarÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh, 6:357.
§â¯3.354.2 is cited as an answer given during an oration in the mosque in Basra, a few days after the Battle of the Camel (MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 228). Other parts of the same oration as cited in ibid., 221â233 are listed in note to §â¯1.23.
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Compared to fighting in the path of God, compared to commanding good and forbidding evil, all other deeds together are like ephemeral foam «upon the deep ocean».1 Commanding good and forbidding evil never bring your death closer, nor do they cause your sustenance to lessen. Best of all is a just word spoken in the face of a tyrannical ruler. â3.354.3 â¬AbÅ« Juḥayfah related: I heard the Commander of the Faithful say: In the fight against evil, the first thing to be overcome is the hand, then the tongue, then the heart. Once the heart stops recognizing good or condemning evil, it is upended and turned topsy-turvy. â3.355 â¬Right is heavy but wholesome. Wrong is light but pestilent.2 â3.356 â¬Donât suppose even the best of this community secure against Godâs punishment, for the Almighty says, «Only losers feel secure against Godâs reckoning».3 Donât suppose that even the worst of this community is without hope of receiving Godâs grace, for the Almighty says, «Only unbelievers despair of Godâs grace».4 â3.357 â¬Stinginess combines all the worst faultsâits halter is used to lead people to evil acts. â3.358 â¬Sustenance is of two types: one that seeks and one that is sought.5 If you donât find it, it will find you. Donât add the worries of the coming year to the burdens of the present dayâthe present day has worries enough of its own. If your life extends to the rest of the year, God will provide you with his ordained sustenance in each new day, but your life may not extend to the rest of the year, in which case, why worry about a time when you may not be alive? Know this: No seeker can outrace you to your sustenance, no oppressor can seize your share, and nothing ordained for you will be slow in coming. |
Qurʾan, NÅ«r 24:40. Note that âfighting in Godâs path (jihÄd)â is equated with âcommanding good and forbidding evilâ twice in the subsequent lines.
To Ê¿UthmÄn, who had lost control of the populace and summoned his governors to strategize. BalÄdhurÄ«, AnsÄb, 5:533; Ibn AÊ¿tham, Futūḥ, 2:395.
Qurʾan, AÊ¿rÄf 7:99.
Qurʾan, Yūsuf 12:87.
This first line identical to §â¯3.402. The next few lines are similar to §â¯3.260.
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Raá¸Ä«: This text was recorded above, but this version is clearer and more detailed. That is why I have replicated it here, following the method I outlined in the bookâs Introduction.1 â3.359 â¬Many begin a day they will not survive. Many enter a night joyful and end it dead and mourned.2 â3.360 â¬Words are in your control until you let them go. Once you let them go, you are bound by their tether. Guard your tongue as you guard your gold and silver, for many a careless word has caused the loss of a great blessing! â3.361 â¬Donât say things that you donât know to be true. God has assigned duties to each of your limbs, and he will hold you accountable on the day of resurrection.3 â3.362 â¬Beware lest God see you where he is disobeyed and not find you where he is obeyed, else you will be one of the losers. Be strong in your obedience to God. Be weak in your transgression of his prohibitions. â3.363 â¬To depend on this world despite everything you see of her is reckless. To fall short in doing good when you are certain of Godâs reward is stupid. To trust everyone before putting them to the test is naive. â3.364 â¬The worldâs low worth in Godâs eyes is clear from the fact that it is only in her that he is disobeyed, and only by forsaking her that his are blessings obtained. â3.365 â¬Whoever seeks something obtains it or at least a part of it. |
§â¯3.358 was transcribed in a variant version earlier in §â¯3.260. Raá¸Ä« explained in his Introduction §â¯0.7 that he would record variant renderings of text if their language or content adds something new or noteworthy.
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs testament of counsel to his son Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah (á¹¢adÅ«q, Man lÄ yaḥá¸uruhu, 4:386). A similar line is attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯3.18.
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs testament of counsel to his son Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah. á¹¢adÅ«q, Man lÄ yaḥá¸uruhu, 2:626.
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â3.366 â¬How can a thing be good if it leads you into the Fire? How can a thing be bad if it leads you into the Garden? Compared to the Garden, every blessing is contemptible. Compared to the Fire, every trial is a comfort. Hark! A trial may come in the form of povertyâbut worse than poverty is disease of the body, and worse than disease of the body is disease of the heart. Hark! A blessing may come in the form of abundant wealthâbut better than abundant wealth is soundness of the body, and better than soundness of the body is piety of the heart. â3.367 â¬The believer divides his time into three parts: in one part, he communes with his Lord, in another, he seeks his livelihood, and in the third, he allows himself to enjoy pleasures that are licit and good. The man of reason sets out for no purpose other than these three: to seek his livelihood, to take a step forward on the path of return to God, or to enjoy pleasures that are not forbidden.1 â3.368 â¬Renounce the world and God will show you her flaws. Donât remain heedless for you go not unheeded. â3.369 â¬Speak and you will be knownâa man is concealed behind his tongue. â3.370 â¬Take what comes to you of this world and turn away from what turns away. If you canât bring yourself to do so, be moderate in your ventures. â3.371 â¬Many a word pierces deeper than a sword. â3.372 â¬What you are content with is enough. â3.373 â¬Death, not shame! Poverty, not begging! Someone who doesnât receive while sitting will not receive when standing. Life consists of two days: one day is for you, another day is against you. When things are working in your favor, donât swagger. When things are going against you, be patient. |
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs testament of counsel to his son Ḥasan. BarqÄ«, MaḥÄsin, 2:345.
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â3.374 â¬Coming closer to peopleâs ways protects you from their malice.1 â3.375 â¬One who seeks contradictory goals will not find a way to achieve them. â3.376 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked about the meaning of the creed, â¨There is no power or strength save from Godâ©, and he replied: We are not masters of anything in partnership with God, nor are we masters of anything without him having made us its master. When he makes us master over his possessions, he gives us a burden to carry, and when he takes it from us, he relieves us of the burden. â3.377 â¬Hearing Ê¿AmmÄr ibn YÄsir arguing with al-MughÄ«rah ibn ShuÊ¿bah, Ê¿AlÄ« said:2 Leave him, Ê¿AmmÄr! MughÄ«rah has never accepted any aspect of religion that didnât bring him worldly benefit. He deliberately creates doubts for himself so he can use them to excuse his blunders. â3.378 â¬How wonderful when the rich, seeking Godâs reward, are humble before the poor! How even more wonderful when the poor, placing their trust in God, are dignified before the rich! â3.379 â¬If God has bestowed a man with reason, he will use it to save him someday. â3.380 â¬If you wrestle with truth, you will be felled by it. â3.381 â¬The heart is the register of the eye. â3.382 â¬Consciousness of God is the chief of all virtues. |
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MSS Y, H, and M (in margin) add another saying here, with accompanying commentary, thus: Rebuking a person who said something that was not his place to say, Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed: âYou fly when you still have a fledglingâs down, and bellow when you are but a calf!â Raá¸Ä«: âA fledglingâs down (shakÄ«r)â are the first feathers just appearing on a bird before they have strengthened and toughened. A âcalf (saqb)â is the young of a camel, and it does not bellow until it has become a stallion.
In Medina, soon after Ê¿AlÄ« became caliph in 35/656, when Ê¿AmmÄr urged MughÄ«rah to pledge allegiance to Ê¿AlÄ« and MughÄ«rah refused, saying he would wait until the confusion about Ê¿UthmÄnâs death cleared. Ibn Ê¿AsÄkir, TÄrÄ«kh, 60:44; Ibn Qutaybah, ImÄmah, 1:69.
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â3.383 â¬Donât use the sharpness of your tongue against the one who gave you speech, nor the eloquence of your words against the one who gave you direction. â3.384 â¬To avoid doing what you dislike in others is discipline enough.1 â3.385 â¬Endure with the free or grow fat with the heedless. Another report states that Ê¿AlÄ«, offering his condolences, said the following to al-AshÊ¿ath ibn Qays: You can endure like the noble or grow fat like sheep.2 â3.386 â¬Describing the world, Ê¿AlÄ« said: The world betrays, and harms, and passesâGod has rejected her both as reward for his devotees and as punishment for his enemies. People in the world are like a band of travelersâno sooner do they set up camp than the cameleer gives the call to depart. â3.387 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said to his son Ḥasan:3 My dear son, do not leave your wealth for others to inherit, for your heir will be one of two men: a man who will use it to obey God, in which case he will earn happiness where you earned only misery, or a man who uses it to disobey God, in which case you will have aided him in his disobedience. Neither deserves more consideration from you than you give to yourself. |
§â¯3.348 is similar.
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs expressions of condolence to al-AshÊ¿ath ibn Qays on the death of his son (Ibn Ê¿Abd Rabbih, Ê¿Iqd, 3:255). See also Ê¿AlÄ«âs expressions of condolence to AshÊ¿ath on the death of his brother in §â¯3.89, and of his son in §â¯3.277. âTo be fat like sheep (istalÄ)â is said of one who does not take a lesson from seeing death and prepare more diligently for the hereafter. Another translation is âto be forgetful like sheep.â The commentators note that the Abbasid poet AbÅ« TammÄm echoed this saying explicitly citing Ê¿AlÄ« in his verse: âÊ¿AlÄ« said to AshÊ¿ath in condolence, fearing that he may otherwise sin: Will you take solace and endure this trialâand if you do, you shall be rewardedâor will you be heedless and grow fat like sheepâ
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KulaynÄ« (KÄfÄ«, 8:72) cites part of this text in a letter from Ê¿AlÄ« to his freedman, who, dissatisfied with Ê¿AlÄ«âs offer to help him financially from his personal stipend, went to MuÊ¿Äwiyah to ask for money. Similar line in §â¯3.400.
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This text is also narrated in the following variant rendering: All the worldly riches your hands possess have had other masters before you and will pass to other masters after you. You gather riches for one of two men: a man who will use it to obey God, in which case he will earn happiness where you earned only misery, or a man who will use it to disobey God, in which case you will have aided him in his disobedience. Neither deserves more consideration from you than you give to yourself. Neither is worth your carrying their sins on your back. Instead, beseech Godâs mercy for those who have passed, and solicit Godâs sustenance for those who remain. â3.388 â¬A man uttered the dictum, â¨I beg Godâs forgiveness!â© in Ê¿AlÄ«âs presence, and Ê¿AlÄ« rebuked him, saying: May your mother be bereaved! Do you know what it means to beg Godâs forgiveness? That is the lofty state of the angels, and it requires six actions: The first is to regret what you have done. The second is to resolve never to do it again. The third is to give back to all Godâs creatures what you owe them, so that you can meet God with a smooth and unburdened back. The fourth is to make up for every mandated act that you have squandered and give it its full due. The fifth is to target the unlawfully nourished flesh in your body and melt it away by grieving, until, after your skin touches your bones, new flesh grows and fills it out. The sixth is to force your body to taste the pain of good deeds, just as you let it taste the sweetness of sin. Then you can truthfully say: I beg Godâs forgiveness! â3.389 â¬Clemency generates kinship. â3.390 â¬How wretched is the son of Adam! Lifespan unknown, ailments concealed, actions recorded; he hurts from the sting of a gnat, chokes from a sip of water, and stinks from a drop of sweat. â3.391 â¬It is related that Ê¿AlÄ« was sitting among his associates when a beautiful woman passed. The menâs eyes followed her, and Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed:1 O how covetous the eyes of these virile stallionsâthey stare and they throb! If your eyes fall on an attractive woman, people, go home and embrace your wife, for a woman is a woman! |
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Presumably in Kufa, between the emergence of the Kharijitesâwho are mentioned hereâin 37/657 and the Battle of NahrawÄn in 38/658 when they were killed.
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A Kharijite muttered, âMay God fight this heretic, how well he understands!â People jumped on him to slay him, and Ê¿AlÄ« held them back, saying: Slow down! You can either return his curse with another curse or pardon his offence. â3.392 â¬Your intellect gives you enough guidance if it distinguishes error from direction. â3.393 â¬Do good and donât think any deed too humble, for a small deed is large in value and though little it counts for a lot. No one among you should say that so-and-so is better able to do good than I, else, by God, it will be so. Both good and evil have their adherentsâwhatever you leave off doing, others will step forward to do. â3.394 â¬If someone sets right his thoughts, God sets right his behavior. If someone strives for his religion, God takes care of his needs. If someone steps forward to serve God, God helps him in his dealings with people. â3.395 â¬Forbearance is a curtain that conceals, and intelligence is a keen bladeâveil your flaws by exercising forbearance and fight your passions by using your intelligence. â3.396 â¬God has singled out some servants for particular blessings to use for the benefit of allâhe leaves them in their hands as long as they do. If they donât, he takes them back and entrusts them to others. â3.397 â¬There are two things no one should take for granted: health and wealth. You see a man healthy one day and suddenly he is taken ill. You see a man wealthy one day and suddenly he loses all his money. â3.398 â¬To complain to a believer is to complain to God. To complain to an unbeliever is to complain about God. â3.399 â¬On a certain feast day, Ê¿AlÄ« declared: The blessing of Eid is for those whose fast God accepts and whose worship he rewards. In fact, every day in which God is not disobeyed is Eid. |
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â3.400 â¬The greatest remorse on judgment day will be felt by a man who earned his wealth through Godâs disobedience and bequeathed it to an heir who spent it in his obedienceâthe heir will enter the Garden, the man will enter the Fire.1 â3.401 â¬The biggest loser, the worst failure, is a man who wears down his body to satisfy his desires, but destiny does not side with himâhe leaves the world with only remorse and arrives in the hereafter with a burden of sin. â3.402 â¬Sustenance is of two types: one that seeks and one that is sought. Seekers of the world are sought by death, and death will expel them from her. Seekers of the hereafter are sought by the world, and she will give them her full share.2 â3.403 â¬Godâs special devotees are those who perceive the worldâs reality when others are deceived by her appearance. They occupy themselves with what is coming when others occupy themselves with the present. They kill desires they fear will kill them and reject pleasures they know will reject them. They find wealth of meager benefit, and other menâs gain as loss. They deem the world an enemy when others deem it an ally. They deem the hereafter an ally when others deem it an enemy. Godâs Book is recognized through them, and they are recognized through Godâs Book. Godâs Book is established through them, and they are established through Godâs Book. They see nothing more desirable than what they desire and nothing more terrifying than what they fear.3 â3.404 â¬Remember that pleasures pass, and consequences remain. â3.405 â¬Put people to the test and you will come to hate them. Raá¸Ä«: Some people attribute these lines to Godâs Messenger, but what supports its attribution to the Commander of the Faithful is ThaÊ¿labâs narration on the authority of Ibn al-AÊ¿rÄbÄ«, who reported: MaʾmÅ«n stated: If Ê¿AlÄ« had not said âPut people to the test and you will come to hate them (ukhbur taqlih),â I would have said, âHate people and you will have an incentive to test them (aqlih takhbur).â4 |
Similar line in §â¯3.387.
First line identical in §â¯3.358.
This text is attributed to Jesus in Abū Nuʿaym, Ḥilyat, 1:10.
§â¯3.405 is attributed to the Prophet in Quá¸ÄÊ¿Ä«, ShihÄb, §â¯4.8. ThaÊ¿lab and Ibn al-AÊ¿rÄbÄ« were grammarians. MaʾmÅ«n was an Abbasid caliph.
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â3.406 â¬When God has opened the door of gratitude for you, he will not close the door of increase. When he has opened the door of prayer for you, he will not close the door of fulfillment. When he has opened the door of repentance for you, he will not close the door of forgiveness.1 â3.407 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked, âWhich is better, justice or generosity?â and he replied: Justice puts things in their rightful place, while generosity takes things out of their proper sphere. Justice is a universal motivator, while generosity is a particular aspect. Justice is thus the nobler and better of the two. â3.408 â¬People hate the unfamiliar.2 â3.409 â¬The whole of renunciation is encompassed in two injunctions from the Qurʾan: «Do not weep over what you have lost, and do not exult over what you have gained.»3 Those who donât weep over the past or exult over what they have gained have grasped renunciation from both sides. â3.410 â¬Rulership is the racecourse where men show their mettle. â3.411 â¬How completely does sleep crush the resolutions of the day!4 â3.412 â¬No land is better for you than anotherâthe best land is one that sustains you. â3.413 â¬When news arrived of MÄlik al-Ashtarâs death, Ê¿AlÄ« exclaimed:5 MÄlik, O MÄlik, O what a man! If he were a mountain, he would be a towering peak that no hoof could ascend, no bird fly over. Raá¸Ä«: âA towering peak (find)â is a mountain that soars above all others. â3.414 â¬A little done often is better than a lot you tire of.6 |
Similar to §â¯3.407. Reference to Qurʾan, NisÄʾ 4:60, 110, IbrÄhÄ«m 14:7.
§â¯3.156 is identical.
Qurʾan, Ḥadīd 57:23.
From Ê¿AlÄ«âs oration §â¯1.237 (one of the early additions to Raá¸Ä«âs original Nahj a-balÄghah), presumably delivered in Kufa, after the arbitration in 37/658.
In Kufa, 38/658. Ê¿AlÄ« had sent Ashtar to replace Muḥammad ibn AbÄ« Bakr as governor of Egypt and he was poisoned en route by MuÊ¿Äwiyahâs agent. MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 282â283.
§â¯3.271 is similar.
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â3.415 â¬If a man possesses one brilliant quality, expect to see others. â3.416 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said to GhÄlib ibn á¹¢aÊ¿á¹£aÊ¿ah, Farazdaqâs father, during a longer conversation:1 What happened to your large herd of camels? GhÄlib replied, âThe winds of duty have scattered them, Commander of the Faithful,â and Ê¿AlÄ« responded: That is the most admirable path they could have taken.2 â3.417 â¬If someone makes much ado about small trials, God will afflict him with large ones. â3.418 â¬The self-respecting donât follow their passions. â3.419 â¬Each time a man spurts out a joke, he spits out a bit of his brain. â3.420 â¬If you spurn a person who wants you, you reduce your designated share. If you want a person who spurns you, you humiliate yourself. â3.421 â¬How, O son of Adam, are you entitled to conceit? You began as a drop of semen and will end as a rotting corpse. You cannot sustain your life, nor can you fight off your death.3 â3.422 â¬Who is wealthy and who is poor will be known after Godâs accounting. â3.423 â¬Asked who was the best poet, Ê¿AlÄ« replied: Poets donât all race on the same track, so we canât speak about who reached the goalpost first. But if you insist on an answer, I choose the Wandering King. Raá¸Ä«: He meant Imruʾ al-Qays. |
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In Kufa, sometime during Ê¿AlÄ«âs caliphate, 35â40/656â661 (Ḥ 20:96). Farazdaq is the famous poet.
MS Y adds another saying here: âWhoever trades without knowing the law becomes mired in usury.â
Mubarrad, KÄmil, 2:11: AbÅ« al-Ê¿AtÄhiyah (DÄ«wÄn, 178) paraphrased this saying in four verses:
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â3.424 â¬Is there no free man who will leave these chewed-up scraps for the gluttons? There is no price high enough for your souls except paradiseâdonât sell them for anything less. â3.425 â¬True belief is this: to prefer a truth that hurts you over a falsehood that benefits you, to ensure that your words donât outpace your deeds, and to fear God when speaking about others. â3.426 â¬The fates vanquish allâsometimes too much planning can lead to pain. Raá¸Ä«: This saying was recorded earlier with some variant words.1 â3.427 â¬Clemency and patience are twins born of lofty aspirations.2 â3.428 â¬Slander is the enterprise of the weak. â3.429 â¬Many are seduced by praise. |
§â¯3.12.
In praise of the Persian emperor AnÅ«shÄ«rwÄn. MÄmaá¹Ä«rÄ«, Nuzhah, 380; Muwaffaq biʾllÄh, IÊ¿tibÄr, 576.
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Additional Sayings1 â3.430 â¬The world was created not for herself but for another. â3.431 â¬The Umayyads have a short stretch in which to race ahead. Once they quarrel, the hyenas will strike. Raá¸Ä«: âReprieve (mirwad)â is the mifÊ¿al form derived from the verbal noun irwÄd, which means âdelay (imhÄl)â and ârespite (ináºÄr).â This is among the most eloquent of usages and the most wondrous. Ê¿AlÄ« compared the reprieve they have been given to a racecourse in which they race toward the goal; once they reach it, their government will collapse. â3.432 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said in praise of the Allies: By God, they nurtured Islam as one would a prize colt, with generous hands and eloquent tongues. |
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An additional seventeen sayingsâperhaps added by Raá¸Ä«, or by othersâare transcribed in some of our primary and secondary manuscripts and commentaries (details in footnote to the present edition, and in the Note on the Edition and Translation)
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â3.433 â¬The eye is a leather strap fastening the buttocks. Raá¸Ä«: This is among the most wondrous of metaphors, as though he likened the buttocks to a vessel and the eye to a leather strapâif the strap is loosened (i.e., if the eye is closed in sleep), the vessel is not held fast (i.e., it can emit involuntary secretions). In most narrations, this saying is attributed to the Prophet, but some have attributed it to the Commander of the Faithful, such as Mubarrad, in his Book of Extemporaneous Discourse (KitÄb al-Muqtaá¸ab), in the chapter on speech with single syllables. I have also discussed this metaphor in my book, Figurative Language of Prophetic Hadith (MajÄzÄt al-ÄthÄr al-nabawiyyah). â3.434 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« said in an oration: Then a certain ruler came to rule them. He stood them upright and he himself stayed upright, until religion, like a docile camel, laid its neck flat on the earth. â3.435 â¬A time like a gnashing camel will come upon the people, when the rich will grip onto their wealth by their teeth, even though they have been commanded otherwise, for God has said, «Do not forget to be generous to one another»â¯.1 At this time, the wicked will rise, while the virtuous will be humiliated, and the helpless will be forced to sell their goods for a pittance, despite the prohibition by Godâs Messenger. â3.436 â¬Two kinds of men are damned because of how they feel about me: one who praises too lavishly, and one who slanders and lies. Raá¸Ä«: This is similar to his saying: Two kinds of men are damned because of how they feel about me: one is excessive in his love, the other is extreme in his hatred.2 â3.437 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« was asked about Godâs oneness and justice, and he replied: Declaring Godâs oneness means not imagining him, and declaring his justice means never accusing him. â3.438 â¬There is no benefit in keeping silent when you can offer wisdom, just as there is no benefit in speaking words of ignorance.3 |
Qurʾan, Baqarah 2:237.
§â¯3.107.
Similar to §â¯3.166.
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â3.439 â¬Ê¿AlÄ« intoned in a prayer for rain: God, send us docile rainclouds, not unruly ones that bolt. Raá¸Ä«: This is an amazingly eloquent saying. He likened rainclouds that have thunder, lightning, and hail with unruly camels that hurl off their saddles and throw off their riders. He likened clouds that do not bring these frightening phenomena to docile camels that are easy to milk and pleasant to ride. â3.440 â¬Someone asked Ê¿AlÄ«, Commander of the Faithful, why donât you dye your white hair? (meaning in battle), and he replied: Dyeing your hair is a form of adornment, and we are a people in mourning. Raá¸Ä«: He means after the death of Godâs Messenger. â3.441 â¬Contentment is wealth that never runs out.1 Raá¸Ä«: Some people attribute this saying to the Prophet. â3.442 â¬When Ê¿AlÄ« replaced Ê¿AbdallÄh ibn al-Ê¿AbbÄs with ZiyÄd ibn AbÄ«hi as governor of Fars and its environs, he had a lengthy conversation with ZiyÄd in which he forbade him from collecting the land tax before it came due, and he warned: Practice justice and beware violence or misappropriation, for violence leads to people fleeing en masse, and misappropriation calls people to arms. â3.443 â¬The worst sin is one its perpetrator thinks insignificant.2 â3.444 â¬God has not required the ignorant to learn without first requiring the learned to teach. â3.445 â¬The worst friend is one in whose company you feel constrained. â3.446 â¬If a believer shames his brother, he has disowned him. |
Identical to §â¯3.50 and §â¯3.332.
Similar to §â¯3.331.
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Raá¸Ä«âs Conclusion I come here to the end of my selection from the words of the Commander of the Faithful. I praise Almighty God who, by his immense grace, has guided me to gather from these words what was scattered here and there, and to collect what was dispersed far and wide. I have carried out my resolveâas I had stated in the beginningâto leave blank pages at the end of each chapter, so that I may capture therein any strays and add any additional discoveries, including anything that becomes clear to me after having been obscure or falls into my hands after being out of sight.
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