Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
189

SERMON 189

Importance of fear of Allah,
desolateless of the grave, and about the death of the lover of
Ahlu'l-bayt being like that of a martyr

I praise Him out of
gratefulness for His reward, and I seek His assistance in
fulfilling His rights. He has a strong army. His dignity is grand.
I stand witness that Muhammad - peace and blessing of Allah be
upon him and his progeny - is His slave and His Prophet. He called
(people) to His obedience and overpowered His enemies by fighting
for the sake of His religion. People's joining together to falsify
him and their attempt to extinguish His light did not prevent him
from it.

You should therefore
exercise fear of Allah because it has a rope whose twist is strong
and its pinnacle is lofty and invulnerable. Hasten toward death in
its pangs (by doing good acts) and be prepared for it before its
approach, because the ultimate end is the Day of Judgement. This
is enough preaching for one who understands and enough of a lesson
for one who does not know. What idea do you have, before reaching
that end, of the narrowness of grave, the hardship of loneliness,
fear of the passage towards the next world, the pangs of fear, the
shifting of ribs here and there (due to narrowing of the grave),
the deafness of ears, the darkness of the grave, fear of the
promised punishment, the closing of the receptacle of the grave
and the laying of stones?

Therefore, (fear)
Allah, (fear) Allah, O' creatures of Allah, because the world is
behaving with you in the usual way and you and the Day of
Judgement are in the same rope (close to each other). As though it
has come with its signs, has approached with its pleas and has
made you stand in its way; and as though it has come forward with
all its quakings and has settled down with its chest on the ground
while the world has parted from its people and has turned them out
of its lap. It was like a day that has passed or a month that has
gone by. Its new things have become old and the fat ones have
become thin.

They are in a narrow
place, in very complicated affairs and in a fire whose pain is
sharp, cries are loud, flames are rising, sound is trembling,
burning is severe, abatement is remote; its fuel is burning, its
threats are fearful, its hollows are hidden, its sides are dark,
its vessels are aflame, and everything about it is abominable.
And shall be conveyed
those who feared (the wrath of) their Lord, in companies unto
the garden. . . (Qur'an. 39:73)

They are safe from
chastisement, away from punishment, and kept aloof from fire.
Their abode will be peaceful and they will be pleased with their
longing and their place of stay. These are the people whose acts
in this world were chaste, their eyes were tearful, their nights
in this world were like days because of fearing and seeking
forgiveness, and their days were like nights because of feeling of
loneliness and separation. Therefore, Allah made Paradise the
place of their (eventual) return and a reward in recompense....
They were most eligible and suitable for it;... (Qur'an, 48:26) in
the eternal domain and everlasting favours.

Therefore, O'
creatures of Allah, pay regard to all that by being regardful of
which one will succeed and by ignoring which one will incur loss,
and hasten towards your death by means of your (good) acts,
because you are bound by what you have done in the past and you
have to your credit only what (good acts) you have sent forward.
(Behave in such a way) as though the feared event (death) has come
upon you, so that you cannot return (to do good acts) nor can you
be cleared of evil acts. Allah may prompt us and you for His
obedience and obedience of His Prophet, and forgive us and you by
His great mercy.

Stick to the earth,
keep patient in trials, do not move your hands and swords after
the liking of your tongues, and do not make haste in matters in
which Allah has not asked for haste because any one of you who
dies in his bed while he had knowledge of the rights of Allah and
the rights of His Prophet and members of the Prophet's house, will
die as martyr. His reward is incumbent on Allah. He is also
eligible to the recompense of what good acts he has intended to
do, since his intention takes the place of drawing his sword.
Certainly, for every thing there is a time and a limit.