Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Delivered when the Holy Prophet died
and Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Abu Sufyan ibn Harb offered to pay allegiance to Amir
al-mu'minin for the Caliphate

O' People! ⁽¹⁾

Steer clear through the waves of mischief by boats
of deliverance, turn away from the path of dissension and put off the crowns of pride.
Prosperous is one who rises with wings (i.e. when he has power) or else he remains
peaceful and others enjoy ease. It (i.e. the aspiration for Caliphate) is like turbid
water or like a morsel that would suffocate the person who swallows it. One who plucks
fruits before ripening is like one who cultivated in another's field.

If I speak out they would call me greedy towards
power but if I keep quiet they would say I was afraid of death. It is a pity that after
all the ups and downs (I have been through). By Allah the son of Abu Talib ⁽²⁾ is more familiar with death than an infant with the breast of its
mother. I have hidden knowledge, if I disclose it you will start trembling like ropes in
deep wells.
⁽¹⁾.
When the Holy Prophet died Abu Sufyan was not in Medina. He was coming back when on his
way he got the news of this tragedy. At once he enquired who had become the leader and
Chief. He was told that people had paid allegiance to Abu Bakr. On hearing this the
acknowledged mischief-monger of Arabia went into deep thought and eventually went to
Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib with a proposal. He said to him, "Look, these people have
by contrivance made over the Caliphate to the Taym and deprived Banu Hashim of it for
good, and after himself this man would place over our heads a haughty man of Banu Adi.
Let us go to Ali ibn Abi Talib and ask him to get out of his house and take to arms to
secure his right." So taking Abbas with him he came to Ali and said: "Let me
your hand; I pay allegiance to you and if anyone rises in opposition I would fill the
streets of Medina with men of cavalry and infantry." This was the most delicate
moment for Amir al-mu'minin. He regarded himself as the true head and successor of the
Prophet while a man with the backing of his tribe and party like Abu Sufyan was ready to
support him. Just a signal was enough to ignite the flames of war. But Amir al-mu'minin's
foresight and right judgement saved the Muslims from civil war as his piercing eyes
perceived that this man wanted to start civil war by rousing the passions of tribal
partisanship and distinction of birth, so that Islam should be struck with a convulsion
that would shake it to its roots. Amir al-mu'minin therefore rejected his counsel and
admonished him severely and spoke forth the words, whereby he has stopped people from
mischief mongering, and undue conceit, and declared his stand to be that for him there
were only two courses - either to take up arms or to sit quietly at home. If he rose for
war there was no supporter so that he could suppress these rising insurgencies. The only
course left was quietly to wait for the opportunity till circumstances were favourable.

Amir al-mu'minin's quietness at
this stage was indicative of his high policy and far-sightedness, because if in those
circumstances Medina had become the centre of war its fire would have engulfed the whole
of Arabia in its flames. The discord and scuffle that had already begun among muhajirun
(those who came from Mecca) and ansar (the locals of Medina) would have increased to
maximum, the wire-pullings of the hypocrites would have had full play, and Islam's ship
would have been caught in such a whirlpool that its balancing would have been difficult;
Amir al-mu'minin suffered trouble and tribulations but did not raise his hands. History is
witness that during his life at Mecca the Prophet suffered all sorts of troubles but he
was not prepared to clash or struggle by abandoning patience and endurance, because he
realised that if war took place at that stage the way for Islam's growth and fruition
would be closed. Of course, when he had collected supporters and helpers enough to
suppress the flood of unbelief and curb the disturbances, he rose to face the enemy.
Similarly, Amir al-mu'minin, treating the life of the Prophet as a torch for his guidance
refrained from exhibiting the power of his arm because he was realising that rising
against the enemy without helpers and supporters would become a source of revolt and
defeat instead of success and victory. Therefore, on this occasion Amir al-mu'minin has
likened the desire for Caliphate to turbid water or a morsel suffocating the throat. Thus,
even where people had forcibly snatched this morsel and wanted to swallow it by forcible
thrusting, it got stuck up in their throat. They could neither swallow it nor vomit it
out. That is, they could neither manage it as is apparent from the blunders they committed
in connection with Islamic injunctions, nor were they ready to cast off the knot from
their neck.
He reiterated the same ideas in
different words thus: "If had I attempted to pluck the unripe fruit of Caliphate then
by this the orchard would have been desolated and I too would have achieved nothing, like
these people who cultivate on other's land but can neither guard it, nor water it at
proper time, nor reap any crop from it. The position of these people is that if I ask them
to vacate it so that the owner should cultivate it himself and protect it, they say how
greedy I am, while if I keep quiet they think I am afraid of death. They should tell me on
what occasion did I ever feel afraid, or flew from battle-field for life, whereas every
small or big encounter is proof of my bravery and a witness to my daring and courage. He
who plays with swords and strikes against hillocks is not afraid of death. I am so
familiar with death that even an infant is not so familiar with the breast of its mother.
Hark! The reason for my silence is the knowledge that the Prophet has put in my bosom. If
I divulge it you would get perplexed and bewildered. Let some days pass and you would know
the reason of my inaction, and perceive with your own eyes what sorts of people would
appear on this scene under the name of Islam, and what destruction they would bring about.
My silence is because this would happen, otherwise it is not silence without reason."
A Persian hemistch says:
"Silence has meaning which
cannot be couched in words." ⁽²⁾.
About death Amir al-mu'minin says that it is so dear to him that even an infant does not
so love to leap towards the source of its nourishment while in its mother's lap. An
infant's attachment with the breast of its mother is under the effect of a natural impulse
but the dictates of natural impulses change with the advance of age. When the limited
period of infancy ends and the infant's temperament changes, he does not like even to look
at what was so familiar to him but rather turns his face from it in disgust. But the love
of prophets and saints for union with Allah is mental and spiritual, and mental and
spiritual feelings do not change, nor does weakness or decay occur in them. Since death is
the means and first rung towards this goal their love for death increases to such an
extent that its rigours become the cause of pleasure for them and its bitterness proves to
be the source of delight for their taste. Their love for it is the same as that of the
thirsty for the well or that of a lost passenger for his goal. Thus when Amir al-mu'minin
was wounded by Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muljam's fatal attack, he said, "I was but like the
walker who has reached (the goal) or like the seeker who has found (his object) and
whatever is with Allah is good for the pious." The Prophet also said that there is no
pleasure for a believer other than union with Allah.

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Forward to Sermon 6.

Back to Sermon 4.