Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
29

SERMON 29

About those who found pretexts
at the time of jihad

O'' people, your bodies
are together but your desires are divergent. Your talk softens the
hard stones and your action attracts your enemy towards you. You
claim in your sittings that you would do this and that, but when
fighting approaches, you say (to war), "turn thou away"
(i.e. flee away). If one calls you (for help) the call receives no
heed. And he who deals hardly with you his heart has no solace.
The excuses are amiss like that of a debtor unwilling to pay. The
ignoble can not ward off oppression. Right cannot be achieved
without effort. Which is the house besides this one to protect?
And with which leader (Imam) would you go for fighting after me?

By Allah! deceived is
one whom you have deceived while, by Allah! he who is successful
with you receives only useless arrows. You are like broken arrows
thrown over the enemy. By Allah! I am now in the position that I
neither confirm your views nor hope for your support, nor
challenge the enemy through you. What is the matter with you? What
is your ailment? What is your cure? The other party is also men of
your shape (but they are so different in character). Will there be
talk without action, carelessness without piety and greed in
things not right? ! ⁽¹⁾

⁽¹⁾.
After the battle of Nahrawan, Muawiyah sent ad-Dahhak ibn Qays
al-Fihri with a force of four thousand towards Kufah with the
purpose that he should create disorder in this area, kill whomever
he finds and keep busy in bloodshed and destruction so that Amir
al-mu''minin should find no rest or peace of mind. He set off for
the achievement of this aim, and shedding innocent blood and
spreading destruction all round reached upto the place of
ath-Thalabiyyah. Here he attacked a caravan of pilgrims (to
Mecca) and looted all their wealth and belongings. Then at
al-Qutqutanah he killed the nephew of Abdullah ibn Masud, the
Holy Prophet''s companion, namely Amr ibn Uways ibn Masud
together with his followers. In this manner he created havoc and
bloodshed all round. When Amir al-mu''minin came to know of this
rack and ruin he called his men to battle in order to put a stop
to this vandalism, but people seemed to avoid war. Being disgusted
with their lethargy and lack of enthusiasm he ascended the pulpit
and delivered this sermon, wherein he has roused the men to feel
shame and not to try to avoid war but to rise for the protection
of their country like brave men without employing wrong and lame
excuses. At last Hujr ibn Adi al-Kindi rose with a force of four
thousand for crushing the enemy and overtook him at Tadmur. Only a
small encounter had taken place between the parties when night
came on and he fled away with only nineteen killed on his side. In
Amir al-mu''minin''s army also two persons fell as martyrs.