Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
16

Delivered when allegiance was
sworn to him at Medina

The responsibility for
what I say is guaranteed and I am answerable for it. He to whom
experiences have clearly shown the past exemplary punishments
(given by Allah to peoples) is prevented by piety from falling
into doubts. You should know that the same troubles have returned
to you which existed when the Prophet was first sent.

By Allah who sent the
Prophet with faith and truth you will be severely subverted,
bitterly shaken as in sieving and fully mixed as by spooning in a
cooking pot till your low persons become high and high ones become
low, those who were behind would attain forward positions and
those who were forward would become backward. By Allah, I have not
concealed a single word or spoken any lie and I had been informed
of this event and of this time.

Beware that sins are
like unruly horses on whom their riders have been placed and their
reins have been let loose so that they would jump with them in
Hell. Beware that piety is like trained horses on whom the riders
have been placed with the reins in their hands, so that they would
take the riders to Heaven. There is right and wrong and there are
followers for each. If wrong dominates, it has (always) in the
past been so, and if truth goes down that too has often occurred.
It seldom happens that a thing that lags behind comes forward.

ash-Sharif ar-Radi
says: In this small speech there is more beauty than can be
appreciated, and the quantity of amazement aroused by it is more
than the appreciation accorded to it. Despite what we have stated
it has so many aspects of eloquence that cannot be expressed nor
can anyone reach its depth, and no one can understand what I am
saying unless one has attained this art and known its details.
. . . No one
appreciates it except those who know (Qur'an, 29:43)

From the same Sermon

He who has heaven and
hell in his view has no other aim. He who attempts and acts
quickly, succeeds, while the seeker who is slow may also entertain
hope, and he who falls short of action faces destruction in Hell.
On right and left there are misleading paths. Only the middle way
is the (right) path which is the Everlasting Book and the
traditions of the Prophet. From it the sunnah has spread out and
towards it is the eventual return.

He who claims
(otherwise) is ruined and he who concocts falsehood is
disappointed. He who opposes(1) right
with his face gets destruction. It is enough ignorance for a man
not to know himself. He who is strong rooted(2)
in piety does not get destruction, and the plantation of a people
based on piety never remains without water. Hide yourselves in
your houses and reform yourselves. Repentance is at your back. One
should praise only Allah and condemn only his own self.

(1).
In some versions after the words "man abda safhatahu lilhaqqi
halaka:" the words "inda jahalati'n-nas" also
occur. In that case the meaning of this sentence would be that he
who stands in face of right dies in the estimation of the
ignorant.

(2).
Piety is the name of heart and mind being affected and impressed
by the Divine Greatness and Glory, as an effect of which the
spirit of man becomes full of fear of Allah, and its inevitable
result is that engrossment in worship and prayer increases. It is
impossible that heart may be full of Divine fear and there be no
manifestation of it in actions and deeds. And since worship and
submission reform the heart and nurture the spirit, purity of
heart increases with the increase of worship. That is why in the
Qur'an "taqwa" (piety) has been applied sometimes to
fear, sometimes to worship and devotion and sometimes to purity of
heart and spirit. Thus in the verse "wa iyyaya fattaqun"
(and Me you fear [16:2]) taqwa implies fear, in the verse,
"ittaqu'l-laha haqqa tuqatihi" (worship Allah as He
ought to be worshipped [3:102]), taqwa implies worship and
devotion and in the verse "wa yakhsha'l-laha wa yattaqhi
faulaika humu'l-faizun" (24:52) taqwa implies purity of
spirit and cleanliness of heart.

In the traditions
taqwa has been assigned three degrees. The first degree is that a
man should follow the injunctions and keep aloof from
prohibitions. The second degree is that recommended matters should
also be followed and disliked things should be avoided. The third
degree is that for fear of falling into doubts one may abstain
from the permissible as well. The first degree is for the common
men, the second for the nobles and the third for high dignitaries.
Allah has referred to these three degrees in the following verse:
On those who believe
and do good, is no blame for what they ate, (before) when they
did guard themselves and did believe, and did good, still
(furthermore) they guard themselves and do good; and Allah
loveth the doers of good. (Qur'an, 5:93)

Amir al-mu'minin says
that only action based on piety is lasting, and only that action
will blossom and bear fruit which is watered by piety because
worship is only that wherein the feeling of submission exists.
Thus, Allah says:
Is he therefore better
who hath laid his foundation on fear of Allah and (His) goodwill
or he who layeth his foundation on the brink of a crumbling
hollowed bank so it crumbled down with him into the fire of
Hell... (Qur'an, 9:109)

Consequently, every
such belief as is not based on knowledge and conviction is like
the edifice, erected without foundation, wherein there is no
stability or firmness while every action that is without piety is
like the plantation which withers for lack of watering.