Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
190

SERMON 190

Praise of Allah

Praise be to Allah
Whose praise is wide-spread, Whose army is over-powering and Whose
dignity is grand. I praise Him for His successive favours and His
great gifts. His forbearance is high so that He forgives and is
just in whatever He decides. He knows what is going on and what
has already passed. He crafted all creation by His knowledge and
produced it by His intelligence without limitation, without
learning, without following the example of any intelligent
producer, without committing any mistake and without the
availability of any group (for help); I stand witness that
Muhammad - the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him and his
descendants - is His slave and His messenger whom He deputed (at a
time) when people were collecting in the abyss and moving in
bewilderment. The reins of destruction were dragging them, and the
locks of malice lay fixed on their hearts.

Advice about fear of
Allah and an account of this world and its people

I advise you, O'
creature of Allah, that you should have fear of Allah because it
is a right of Allah over you and it creates your right over Allah,
and that you should seek Allah's help in it, and its help in
(meeting) Allah. Certainly, for today fear of Allah is a
protection and a shield, and for tomorrow (the Day of Judgement)
it is the road to Paradise. Its way is clear and he who treads it
is the gainer. Whoever holds it, guards it. It has presented
itself to the people who have already passed and to those coming
from behind, because they will need it tomorrow (on the Day of
Judgement) when Allah will revive His creation again, take back
what He has given and take account of what He has bestowed. How
few will be those who accept it and practise it as it ought to be
practised. They will be very few in number, and they are the
people who correspond to the description given by Allah, the
Glorified, when He says:
... And very few of My
creatures are grateful! (Qur'an. 34:13)

Therefore, hasten with
your ears towards it and intensify your efforts for it. Make it a
substitute for all your past (short-comings) to take their place
as a successor, and make it your supporter against every opponent.
Turn your sleep into wakefulness by its help, and pass your days
with it. Make it the equipment of your hearts, wash your sins with
it, treat your ailments with it and hasten towards your death with
it. Take a lesson from him who neglects it, so that others who
follow it should not take a lesson from you (i.e., from your
neglecting it). Beware, therefore; you should take care of it and
should take care of yourselves through it.

Keep away from this
world and proceed towards the next world infatuatedly. Do not
regard humble he whom fear Allah has given a high position, and do
not accord a high position to him whom this world has given a high
position. Do not keep your eyes on the shining clouds of the
world, do not listen to him who speaks of it, do not respond to
him who calls towards it, do not seek light from its glare, and do
not die in its precious things, because its brightness is
deceitful, its words are false, its wealth is liable to be looted,
and its precious thing are to be taken away.

Beware, this world
attracts and then turns away. It is stubborn, refusing to go
ahead. It speaks lies and misappropriates. It disowns and is
ungrateful. It is malicious and abandons (its lovers). It attracts
but causes trouble. Its condition is changing, its step shaking,
its honour disgrace, its seriousness jest, and its height
lowliness. It is a place of plunder and pillage, and ruin and
destruction. Its people are ready with their feet to drive, to
overtake and to depart. Its routes are bewildering, its exits are
baffling, and its schemes end in disappointment. Consequently,
strongholds betray them, houses throw them out and cunning fails
them.

Some of them are like
hocked camel, some like butchered meat, some like severed limbs,
some like spilt blood, some are biting their hands (in pain) some
are rubbing their palms (in remorse), some are holding their
cheeks on their hands (in anxiety), some are cursing their own
views and some are retreating from their determination. But the
time for action has gone away and the hour of calamity has
approached, while (there was no longer) the time to escape
(Qur'an, 38:3). Alas! Alas! what has been lost is lost! what has
gone is gone! The world has passed in its usual manner.
So wept not on them the
heavens and the earth nor were they respited. (Qur'an, 44:29)