لطفا منتظر باشید ...
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.
.Forward to Sermon 17.Back to Sermon 15.
