Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
146

SERMON 146

The purpose of the deputation
of the Holy Prophet and the condition of the time when people
would go against the Qur'an

Allah deputed Muhammad
(p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) with Truth so that he may take out His people
from the worship of idols towards His worship and from obeying
Satan towards obeying Him and sent him with the Qur'an which He
explained and made strong, in order that the people may know their
sustainer (Allah) since they were ignorant of Him, may acknowledge
Him since they were denying Him, and accept Him since they were
refusing (to believe in) Him. Because He, the Glorified, revealed
Himself to them through His Book without their having seen Him, by
means of what He showed them out of His might and made them fear
His sway. How He destroyed those whom He wished to destroy through
His chastisement and ruined those whom He wished to ruin through
His retribution!

On the future

Certainly, a time will
come upon you after me when nothing will be more concealed than
rightfulness, nothing more apparent than wrongfulness and nothing
more current than untruth against Allah and His Prophet. For the
people of this period nothing will be more valueless than the
Qur'an being recited as it ought to be recited, nor anything more
valuable than the Qur'an being misplaced from its position. And in
the towns nothing will be more hated than virtue, nor anything
more acceptable than vice.

The holders of the
book will throw it away and its memorisers would forget it. In
these days the Qur'an and its people will be exiled and expelled.
They will be companions keeping together on one path, but no one
will offer them asylum. Consequently at this time the Qur'an and
its people will be among the people but not among them, will be
with them but not with them, because misguidance cannot accord
with guidance even though they may be together. The people will
have united on division and will therefore have cut away from the
community, as though they were the leaders of the Qur'an and not
the Qur'an their leader. Nothing of it will be left with them
except its name, and they will know nothing save its writing and
its words. Before that, they will inflict hardships on the
virtuous, naming the latter's truthful views about Allah false
allegations, and enforcing for virtues the punishment of the vice.

Those before you
passed away because of the lengthening of their desires and the
forgetting of their death, till that promised event befell them
about which excuses are turned down, repentance is denied and
punishment and retribution is inflicted.

About Ahlu'l-bayt

O' people, he who
seeks counsel from Allah secures guidance and he who adopts His
word as guide is led towards what is more straight, because
Allah's lover feels secure and His opponent feels afraid. It does
not behove one who knows His greatness to assume greatness, but
the greatness of those who know His greatness is that they should
know before Him, and the safety for those who know what His power
is lies in submitting to Him. Do not be scared away from the truth
like the scaring of the healthy from the scabbed person, or the
sound person from the sick.

You should know that
you will never know guidance unless you know who has abandoned it,
you will never abide by the pledges of the Qur'an unless you know
who has broken them, and will never cling to it unless you know
who has forsaken it. Seek these things from those who own them
because they are the life spring of knowledge and death of
ignorance. They are the people whose commands will disclose to you
their (extent of) knowledge, their silence will disclose their
(capacity of) speaking and their outer appearance will disclose
their inner self. They do not go against religion, and do not
differ from one other about it, while it is among them a truthful
witness and a silent speaker.