Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
191

SERMON 191

Known as "al-Khutbah
al-Qasiah"

(Sermon of Disparagement)

(It comprises disparagement of
Satan [Iblis] for his vanity and his refusing to prostrate before
Adam [pbuh], and his being the first to display bigotry and to act
through vanity; it comprises a warning to people treading in
Satan's path)

Praise be to Allah who
wears the apparel of Honour and Dignity and has chosen them for
Himself instead of for His creation. He has made them inaccessible
and unlawful for others. He has selected them for His own great
self, and has hurled a curse on him who contests with Him
concerning them.

Allah's trial and the
vanity of Iblis

Then He put His angels
on trial concerning these attributes in order to distinguish those
who are modest from those who are vain. Therefore, Allah, who is
aware of whatever is hidden in the hearts and whatever lies behind
the unseen said:
. . . "Verily I am
about to create man from clay," And when I have completed
and have breathed into him of My spirit, then fall ye
prostrating in obeisance unto him. And did fall prostrating in
obeisance the angels all together, Save lblis;... (Qur'an.
38:71-74)

His vanity stood in
his way. Consequently, he felt proud over Adam by virtue of his
creation and boasted over him on account of his origin. Thus, this
enemy of Allah is the leader of those who boast, and the
fore-runner of the vain. It is he who laid the foundation of
factionalism, quarreled with Allah about the robe of greatness,
put on the dress of haughtiness and took off the covering of
humility. Do you not see how Allah made him low on account of his
vanity and humiliated him for his feigning to be high? He
discarded him in this world and provided for him burning fire in
the next world.

If Allah had wanted to
create Adam from a light whose glare would have dazzled the eyes,
whose handsomeness would have amazed the wits and whose smell
would have caught the breath, He could have done so; and if He had
done so, people would have bowed to him in humility and the trial
of the angels through him would have become easier. But Allah, the
Glorified, tries His creatures by means of those things whose real
nature they do not know in order to distinguish (good and bad) for
them through the trial, and to remove vanity from them and keep
them and keep them aloof from pride and self-admiration.

You should take a
lesson from what Allah did with Satan; namely He nullified his
great acts and extensive efforts on account of the vanity of one
moment, although Satan had worshipped Allah for six thousand years
- whether by the reckoning of this world or of the next world is
not known. Who now can remain safe from Allah after Satan by
committing a similar disobedience? None at all. Allah, the
Glorified, cannot let a human being enter Paradise if he does the
same thing for which Allah turned out from it an angel. His
command for the inhabitants in the sky and of the earth is the
same. There is no friendship between Allah and any individual out
of His creation so as to give him license for an undesirable thing
which He has held unlawful for all the worlds.

Warning against Satan

Therefore, you should
fear lest Satan infects you with his disease, or leads you astray
through his call, or marches on you with his horsemen and footmen,
because, by my life, he has put the arrow in the bow for you, has
stretched the bow strongly, and has aimed at you from a nearby
position, and:
He (Satan) said:
"My Lord! because Thou hast left me to stray, certainly
will I adorn unto them the path of error, and certainly will I
cause them all to go astray." (Qur'an, 15:39)

Although he (Satan)
had said so only by guessing about the unknown future and by wrong
conjecturing, yet the sons of vanity, the brothers of haughtiness
and the horsemen of pride and intolerance proved him to be true,
so much so that when disobedient persons from among you bowed
before him, and his greed about you gained strength; and what was
a hidden secret turned into a clear fact, he spread his full
control over you and marched with his forces towards you.

Then they pushed you
into the hollows of disgrace, threw you into the whirlpools of
slaughter, and trampled you, wounding you by striking your eyes
with spears, cutting your throats, tearing your nostrils, breaking
your limbs and taking you in ropes of control towards the fire
already prepared. In this way he became more harmful to your
religion and a greater kindler of flames (of mischief) about your
worldly matters than the enemies against whom you showed open
opposition and against whom you marched your forces.

You should therefore
spend all your force against him, and all your efforts against
him, because, by Allah, he boasted over your (i.e., Adam's)
origin, questioned your position and spoke lightly of your
lineage. He advanced on you with his army, and brought his footmen
towards your path. They are chasing you from every place, and they
are hitting you at every finger joint. You are not able to defend
by any means, nor can you repulse them by any determination. You
are in the thick of disgrace, the ring of straitness, the field of
death and the way of distress.

You should therefore
put out the fires of haughtiness and the flames of intolerance
that are hidden in your hearts. This vanity can exist in a Muslim
only by the machinations of Satan, his haughtiness, mischief and
whisperings. Make up your mind to have humility over your heads,
to trample self-pride under your feet and to cast off vanity from
your necks. Adopt humility as the weapon between you and your
enemy, Satan and his forces. He certainly has, from every people,
fighters, helpers, footmen and horsemen. Do not be like him who
feigned superiority over the son of his own mother without any
distinction given to him by Allah except the feeling of envy which
his feeling of greatness created in him and the fire of anger that
vanity kindled in his heart. Satan blew into his nose his own
vanity, after which Allah gave him remorse and made him
responsible for the sins of all killers up to the Day of
Judgement.

Caution against vanity
and boasting about ignorance

Beware! you strove
hard in revolting and created mischief on the earth in open
opposition to Allah and in challenging the believers over
fighting. (You should fear) Allah! Allah! in feeling proud of your
vanity and boasting over ignorance, because this is the root of
enmity and the design of Satan wherewith he has been deceiving
past people and bygone ages, with the result that they fell into
the gloom of his ignorance and the hollows of his misguidance,
submitting to his driving and accepting his leadership. In this
matter the hearts of all the people were similar, and centuries
passed by, one after the other, in just the same way, and there
was vanity with which chests were tightened.

Caution against
obeying haughty leaders and elders

Beware! beware of
obeying your leaders and elders who felt proud of their
achievements and boasted about their lineage. They hurled the
(liability for) things on Allah and quarrelled with Allah in what
He did with them, contesting His decree and disputing His favours.
Certainly, they are the main foundation of obstinacy, the chief
pillars of mischief and the swords of pre-Islamic boasting over
forefathers. Therefore, fear Allah, do not become antagonistic to
His favours on you, nor jealous of His bounty over you(1)
and do not obey the claimants (of Islam) whose dirty water you
drink along with your clean one, whose ailments you mix with your
healthiness and whose wrongs you allow to enter into your rightful
matters.

They are the
foundation of vice and the linings of disobedience. Satan has made
them carriers of misguidance and the soldiers with whom he attacks
men. They are interpreters through whom he speaks in order to
steal away your wits, enter into your eyes and blow into your
ears. In this way he makes you the victim of his arrows, the
treading ground of his footsteps and source of strength for his
hands. Take instruction from how he brought Allah's wrath,
violence, chastisement and punishment on those who were vain among
the past people. Take admonition from their lying on their cheeks
and falling on their sides, and seek Allah's protection from the
dangers of vanity, as you seek His protection from calamities.

The humbleness of the
Holy Prophet

Certainly. if Allah
were to allow anyone to indulge in pride He would have allowed it
to his selected prophets and vicegerents. But Allah, the Sublime,
disliked vanity for them and liked humbleness for them. Therefore,
they laid their cheeks on the ground, smeared their faces with
dust, bent themselves down for the believers and remained humble
people. Allah tried them with hunger, afflicted them with
difficulty, tested them with fear, and upset them with troubles.
Therefore, do not regard wealth and progeny the criterion for
Allah's pleasure and displeasure, as you are not aware of the
chances of mischief and trials during richness and power as Allah,
the Glorified, the Sublime, has said:
What! Think they that
what We aid them with of wealth and children, We are hastening
unto them the good things? Nay! they (only) perceive not.
(Qur'an, 23:55-56)

Certainly, Allah the
Glorified, tries His creatures who are vain about themselves
through His beloved persons who are humble in their eyes.

When Musa son of
Imran went to Pharaoh along with his brother Harun (Aaron)
wearing (coarse) shirts of wool and holding sticks in their hands,
they guaranteed him retention of his country and continuity of his
honour if he submitted; but he said: "Do you not wonder at
these two men guaranteeing me the continuity of my honour and the
retention of my country although you see their poverty and
lowliness. Otherwise, why do they not have gold bangles on their
wrists?" He said so feeling proud of his gold and collected
possessions, and considering wool and its cloth as nothing.

When Allah, the
Glorified, deputed His prophets, if He had wished to open for them
treasures and mines of gold and (surround them with) planted
gardens and to collect around them birds of the skies and beasts
of the earth, He could have done so. If He had done so then there
would have been no trial, nor recompense and no tidings (about the
affairs of the next world). Those who accepted (His message) could
not be given the recompense falling due after trial and the
believers could not deserve the reward for good acts, and all
these words(2) would not have retained
their meanings. But Allah, the Glorified, makes His Prophets firm
in their determination and gives them weakness of appearance as
seen from the eyes, along with contentment that fills the hearts
and eyes resulting from care-freeness, and with want that pains
the eyes and ears.

If the prophets
possessed authority that could not be assaulted, or honour that
could not be damaged or domain towards which the necks of people
would turn and the saddles of mounts could be set, it would have
been very easy for people to seek lessons and quite difficult to
feel vanity. They would have then accepted belief out of fear felt
by them or inclination attracting them, and the intention of them
all would have been the same, although their actions would have
been different. Therefore, Allah, the Glorified decided that
people should follow His prophets, acknowledge His books, remain
humble before His face, obey His command and accept His obedience
with sincerity in which there should not be an iota of anything
else; and as the trial and tribulation would be stiffer the reward
and recompense too should be larger.

The Holy Kabah

Do you not see that
Allah, the Glorified, has tried all the people among those who
came before, beginning with Adam, upto the last ones in this world
with stones which yield neither benefit nor harm, which neither
see nor hear. He made those stones into His sacred house which He
made a standby for the people. He placed it in the most rugged
stony part of the earth and on a highland with least soil thereon,
among the most narrow valleys between rough mountains. soft sandy
plains, springs of scanty water and scattered habitants, where
neither camels nor horses nor cows and sheep can prosper.

Then He commanded Adam
and his sons to turn their attention towards it. In this way it
became the centre of their journey in seeking pastures and the
rendezvous for meeting of their carrier-beasts, so that human
spirits hasten towards it from distant waterless deserts, deep and
low lying valleys and scattered islands in the seas. They shake
their shoulders in humbleness, recite the slogan of having reached
His audience, march with swift feet, and have dishevelled hair and
dusted faces. They throw their pieces of cloth on their backs,
they have marred the beauty of their faces by leaving the hair
uncut as a matter of great test, severe tribulation, open trial,
and extreme refining. Allah has made it a means to His mercy and
an approach to His Paradise.

If Allah, the
Glorified, had placed His sacred House and His great signs among
plantations, streams, soft and level plains, plenty of trees, an
abundance of fruits, a thick population, close habitats, golden
wheat, lush gardens, green land, watered plains, thriving orchards
and crowded streets, the amount of recompense would have decreased
because of the lightness of the trial. If the foundation on which
the House is borne and the stones with which it has been raised
had been of green emerald and red rubies, and there had been
brightness and effulgence, then this would have lessened the
action of doubts in the breasts, would have dismissed the effect
of Satan's activity from the hearts, and would have stopped the
surging of misgivings in people. But Allah tries His creatures by
means of different troubles, wants them to render worship through
hardships and involves them in distresses, all in order to extract
out vanity from their hearts, to settle down humbleness in their
spirits and to make all this an open door for His favours and an
easy means for His forgiveness (for their sins).

Caution against
rebellion and oppressiveness

(Fear) Allah! Allah!
from the immediate consequence of rebellion (to accrue in this
world), and the eventual consequence of weighty oppressiveness (to
accrue in the next world), and from the evil result of vanity,
because it is the great trap of Satan and his big deceit which
enters the hearts of the people like a fatal poison. It never goes
waste, nor misses anyone - neither the learned because of his
knowledge, nor the destitute (3) in
his rags. This is the thing against which Allah has protected His
creatures who are believers by means of prayers, and alms-giving,
and suffering the hardship of fasting in the days in which it has
been made obligatory, in order to give their limbs peacefulness,
to cast fear in their eyes, to make their spirits humble, to give
their hearts humility and to remove haughtiness from them. All
this is achieved through the covering of their delicate cheeks
with dust in humility, prostrating their main limbs on the ground
in humbleness, and retracting of their bellies so as to reach to
their backs due to fasting by way of lowliness (before Allah),
besides giving all sorts of products of the earth to the needy and
the destitute by way of alms.

Look what there is in
these acts by way of curbing the appearance of pride and
suppressing the traces of vanity. I cast my glance and noticed
that no one in the world, except you, feels vanity for anything
without a cause which may appeal to the ignorant, or a reason
which may cling to the minds of the foolish, because you feel
vanity for something for which no reason is discernible, nor any
ground.

As for Satan, he felt
proud over Adam because of his origin and taunted at him about his
creation, since he said "I am of fire while you are of
clay." In the same way the rich among the prosperous
communities have been feeling vanity because of their riches, as
(Allah) said:
And said they: "We
are more (than you) in wealth and in children, and we shall not
be chastised." (Qur'an, 34:35)

Enthusiasm for
attractive manners, respectable position, and taking lessons from
the past

In case you cannot
avoid vanity, your vanity should be for good qualities,
praiseworthy acts, and admirable matters with which the dignified
and noble chiefs of the Arab families distinguished themselves, as
attractive manners, high thinking, respectable position and good
performances. You too should show vanity in praiseworthy habits
like the protection of the neighbour, the fulfilment of
agreements, obedience to the virtuous, opposition to the haughty,
extending generosity to others, abstention from rebellion, keeping
aloof from blood-shed, doing justice to people, suppressing anger
and avoiding trouble on the earth. You should also fear what
calamities befell peoples before you on account of their evil
deeds and detestable actions. Remember, during good or bad
circumstances, what happened to them, and be cautious that you do
not become like them.

After you have thought
over both the conditions of these people, attach yourself to
everything with which their position became honourable, on account
of which enemies remained away from them through which safety
spread over them, by reason of which riches bowed before them and
as a result of which distinction connected itself with their rope.
These things were abstention from division, sticking to unity,
calling each other to it and advising each other about it. You
avoid everything which broke their backbone and weakened their
power, such as malice in the heart, hatred in the chest, turning
away (from each other's help) and withholding the hand from one
another's assistance.

Think about the
condition of people from among the believers who passed before
you. What distresses and trials they were in! Were they not the
most over-burdened among all the people and in the most straitened
circumstances in the whole world? The Pharaohs took them as
slaves. They inflicted on them the worst punishments and bitter
sufferings. They continuously remained in this state of ruinous
disgrace and severe subjugation. They found no method for escape
and no way for protection. Till when Allah, the Glorified, noticed
that they were enduring troubles in His love and bearing
distresses out of fear for Him, He provided escape from the
distress of trials. So, He changed their disgrace into honour and
fear into safety. Consequently, they became ruling kings and
conspicuous leaders. and Allah's favours over them reached limits
to which their own wishes had not reached.

Look, how they were
when their groups were united, their views were unanimous, their
hearts were moderate, their hands used to help one another, their
swords were intended for assisting one another, their eyes were
sharp and their aims were the same. Did they not become masters of
the corners of the earth and rulers over the neck of all the
worlds? Thereafter, also see what happened to them towards the end
when division overtook them, unity became fractured, and
differences arose between their words and their hearts. They
divided into various groups and were scattered fighting among
themselves. Then Allah took away from them the apparel of His
honour and deprived them of the prosperity produced by His
favours. Only their stories have remained among you for the
guidance of those who may learn the lesson from them.

You should take a
lesson from the fate of the progeny of Ismael, the children of
Isaac and the children of Israel. How similar are their affairs
and how akin are their examples. In connection with the details of
their division and disunity, think of the days when Kisras of
Persia and the Caesars of Rome had become their masters(4).
They turned them out from the pastures of their lands the rivers
of Iraq and the fertility of the world, towards thorny forests,
the passages of (hot) winds and hardships in livelihood. In this
way they turned them into just herders of camels. Their houses
were the worst in the world and their places of stay were the most
drought-stricken. There was not one voice towards which they could
turn for protection, nor any shade of affection on whose strength
they could repose trust.

Their condition was
full of distress. Their hands were scattered. Their majority was
divided. They were in great anguish and under layers of ignorance.
They buried their daughters alive, worshipped idols, disregarded
kinship and practised robbery.

Now, look at the
various favours of Allah upon them, that He deputed towards them a
prophet who got them to pledge their obedience to him and made
them unite at his call. (Look) how (Allah's) bounty spread the
wings of its favours over them and flowed for them streams of its
blessing, and the whole community became wrapped in blissful
prosperity. Consequently, they were submerged under its bounty and
enjoyed its lush life. Their affairs were settled under the
protection of a powerful ruler, and circumstances offered them
overpowering honour, and all things became easy for them under the
auspices of a strong country. They became rulers over the world
and kings in the (various) parts of the earth. They became masters
of those who were formerly their masters, and began issuing
commands over those who used to command them. They were so strong
that neither did their spears need testing nor did their weapons
have any flaw.

Condemning his people

Beware! You have
shaken your hands loose from the rope of obedience, and broken the
divine fort around you by (resorting to) pre-Islamic rules.
Certainly, it is a great blessing of Allah, the Glorified, that He
has engendered among them unity through the cord of affection in
whose shade they walk and take shelter. This is a blessing whose
value no one in the whole world realises, because it is more
valuable than any price and higher than any wealth.

You should know that
you have again reverted to the position of the Bedouin Arabs after
immigration (to Islam), and have become different parties after
having been once united. You do not possess anything of Islam
except its name, and know nothing of belief save its show. You
say, "The Fire yes. but no shameful position," as if you
would throw down Islam on its face in order to defame its honour
and break its pledge (for brotherhood) which Allah gave you as a
sacred trust on His earth and (a source of) peace among the
people. Be sure that if you incline towards anything other than
Islam. the unbelievers will fight you. Then there will be neither
Gabriel nor Michael, neithermuhajirun nor ansar to help you, but
only the clashing of swords, till Allah settles the matter for
you.

Certainly, there are
examples before you of Allah's wrath, punishment, days of
tribulations and happenings. Therefore, do not disregard His
promises, ignoring His punishment, making light His wrath and not
expecting His violence, because Allah, the Glorified, did not
curse the past ages except because they had left off asking others
to do good acts and refraining them from bad acts. In fact Allah
cursed the foolish for committing sins and the wise because they
gave up refraining others from evils. Beware! You have broken the
shackles of Islam, have transgressed its limits, and have
destroyed its commands.

Amir al-mu'minin's
high position and wonderful deeds in Islam

Beware! surely Allah
has commanded me to fight those who revolt, or who break the
pledge, or create trouble on the earth. As regards
pledge-breakers, I have fought them, as regards deviators from
truth, I have waged holy war against them, and as regards those
who have gone out of the faith, I have put them in (serious)
disgrace (5). As for Satan of the pit, (6)
he too has been dealt with by me through the loud cry with which
the scream of his heart and shaking of his chest was also heard.
Only a small portion of the rebels has remained. If Allah allows
me one more chance over them I will annihilate them except a few
remnants that may remain scattered in the suburb of the cities.

Even in my boyhood I
had lowered the chest of (the famous men) of Arabia, and broken
the horn points (i.e., defeated the chiefs) of the tribes of
Rabiah and Mudar. Certainly, you know my position of close
kinship and special relationship with the Prophet of Allah - peace
and blessing of Allah be upon him and his descendants. When I was
only a child he took charge of me. He used to press me to his
chest and lay me beside him in his bed, bring his body close to
mine and make me smell his smell. He used to chew something and
then feed me with it. He found no lie in my speaking, nor weakness
in any act.

From the time of his
weaning, Allah had put a mighty angel with him to take him along
the path of high character and good behaviour through day and
night, while I used to follow him like a young camel following in
the footprints of its mother. Every day he would show me in the
form of a banner some of his high traits and commanded me to
follow it. Every year he used to go in seclusion to the hill of
Hira', where I saw him but no one else saw him. In those days
Islam did not exist in any house except that of the Prophet of
Allah - peace and blessing of Allah be upon him and his
descendants - and Khadijah, while I was the third after these two.
I used to see and watch the effulgence of divine revelation and
message, and breathed the scent of Prophethood.

When the revelation
descended on the Prophet of Allah - peace and blessing of Allah be
upon him and his descendants - I heard the moan of Satan. I said,
"O' Prophet of Allah, what is this moan?" and he
replied, "This is Satan who has lost all hope of being
worshipped. O' Ali, you see all that I see and you hear all that
I hear, except that you are not a Prophet, but you are a
vicegerent and you are surely on (the path of) virtue."

I was with him when a
party of the Quraysh came to him and said to him, "O'
Muhammad, you have made a big claim which none of your
fore-fathers or those of your family have made. We ask you one
thing; if you give us an answer to it and show it to us, we will
believe that you are a prophet and a messenger, but if you cannot
do it, we will know that you are a sorcerer and a liar."

The Messenger of Allah
said: "What do you ask for?" They said: "Ask this
tree to move for us, even with its roots, and stop before
you." The Prophet said, "Verily, Allah has power over
everything. If Allah does it for you, will you then believe and
stand witness to the truth?" They said "Yes". Then
he said, "I shall show you whatever you want, but I know that
you won't bend towards virtue, and there are among you those who
will be thrown into the pit, and those who will form parties
(against me)." Then the Holy Prophet said: "O' tree, if
you do believe in Allah and the Day of Judgement, and know that I
am the Prophet of Allah, come up with your roots and stand before
me with the permission of Allah." By Him who deputed the
Prophet with truth, the tree did remove itself with its root and
came with a great humming sound and a flapping like the flapping
of the wings of birds, till it stopped before the Messenger of
Allah while some of its twigs came down onto my shoulders, and I
was on the right side of the Holy Prophet.

When the people saw
this they said by way of pride and vanity. "Now you order
half of it to come to you and the other half of it remain (in its
place)." The Holy Prophet ordered the tree to do the same.
Then half of the tree advanced towards him in an amazing manner
and with greater humming. It was about to touch the Prophet of
Allah. Then they said, disbelieving and revolting, "Ask this
half to get back to its other half and be as it was." The
Prophet ordered it and it returned. Then I said, "O' Prophet
of Allah, I am the first to believe in you and to acknowledge that
the tree did what it did just now with the command of Allah, the
Sublime, in testimony to your Prophethood and to heighten your
word. Upon this all the people shouted, "Rather a sorcerer, a
liar; it is wonderful sorcery, he is very adept in it. Only a man
like this (pointing to me) can stand testimony to you in your
affairs."

Certainly, I belong to
the group of people who care not for the reproach of anybody in
matters concerning Allah. Their countenance is the countenance of
the truthful and their speech is the speech of the virtuous. They
are wakeful during the nights (in devotion to Allah), and over
beacons (of guidance) in the day. They hold fast to the rope of
the Qur'an. revive the traditions of Allah and of His Prophet.
They do not boast nor indulge in self conceit, nor misappropriate,
nor create mischief. Their hearts are in Paradise while their
bodies are busy in (good) acts.

(1).
The intention is that "you should not create conditions by
which you may be deprived of Allah's favours, like the jealous who
aims at harming him of whom he is jealous."

(2).
The intention is to say that if belief is accepted under force of
awe and fear and worship is offered under the influence of power
and authority then neither will it be belief in the true sense nor
worship in real spirit. This is because belief is the name of
inner testimony and heart-felt conviction. The conviction produced
by force and compulsion can be only verbal but not heart-felt.
Similarly, worship is the name of open acknowledgement of one's
position of servitude. Worship which is devoid of the feeling of
servitude or the sense of devotion and which is performed only in
view of authority or fear cannot be real worship. Therefore, such
belief and such worship would not present their correct
connotation.

(3).
The reason for specifying the learned and the poor is that the
learned has the light of learning to lead him, which the
destitution of the poor may deny to him. In spite of this, both
the learned and the poor fall into his deceit.

Then how can the
ignorant save himself from his clutches, and how can the rich who
has all the means to get into wrong ways, defend himself against
him.
Nay! Verily man is wont
to rebel!
As the deemeth himself
needless!

(4).
If a glance is cast at the rise and fall and events and happenings
of the past people this fact will shine like daylight that the
rise and fall of communities is not the result of luck or change,
but that, to a great extent, it is affected by their acts and
deeds. And of whatever type those deeds are, their results and
consequences are in accord with them. Consequently, the stories
and events of past people openly reflect that the result of
oppression and evil deeds has always been ruin and destruction,
while the consequence of virtuous action and peaceful living was
always good luck and success. Since time and people make no
difference, if the same conditions appear again and the same
actions are repeated the same results must accrue which had
appeared in the earlier set of circumstances, because the accrual
of the results of good or bad actions is sure and certain like the
properties and effects of everything. It this were not so it would
not be possible to kindle hope in the minds of the oppressed and
the afflicted by presenting to them past events and their effects,
nor could the oppressors and tyrants be warned of the ill-effects
of their deeds, on the ground that it was not necessary that the
same would accrue now as had accrued earlier. But it is the
universality of causality which makes past events the object of a
lesson for posterity. Consequently, it was for this purpose that
Amir al-mu'minin provoked thinking and consideration and mentioned
the various events of Banu Ismail, Banu Ishaq and Banu Isra'il
and their affliction at the hands of the kings of Persia and Rome.

The progeny of Ismael,
the elder son of Ibrahim (Abraham), is called Banu Ismail while
the progeny of his younger son Issac is called Banu Ishaq which
later continued to divide into various off-shoots and acquired
different names. Their original abode was at Canaan in Palestine,
where Ibrahim had settled after the immigration from the plains of
the Euphrates and the Tigris. His son Ismail had settled in the
Hijaz, where Ibrahim had left him and his mother Hajar (Hagar).
Ismail married as-Sayyidah bint Mudad a woman of the tribe of
Jurhum which also inhabited this very area. His progeny sprang
from her and spread throughout the world. The other son of Ibrahim
namely Ishaq remained in Canaan. His son was Yaqub (Jacob/lsrael)
who married Liya the daughter of his mother's brother and after
her death married his other daughter.

Both of them bore him
progeny which is known as Banu Isra'il. One of his sons was Yusuf
(Joseph), who reached the neighbouring country, Egypt, through an
accident, and, after suffering slavery and imprisonment,
eventually became the ruler and occupier of the throne.

After this change, he
sent for all his relations and kith and kin and in this way Egypt
became the abode of Banu Isra'il. For some time they lived there
in peace and safety, and led a life of respect and esteem, but by
and by the locals began to view them with disdain and hatred and
made them the target of all sorts of tyrannies, so much so that
they used to kill their children and retained their women as
slave-maids, as a result of which their determination and courage
was trampled and their spirit of freedom was completely subdued.
At last, conditions changed and the period of their troubles came
to an end, after four hundred years of the shackles of slavery;
when Allah sent Musa to deliver them from the oppression of the
Pharaoh. Musa set off with them to leave Egypt, but in order to
destroy the Pharaoh, Allah turned them towards the Nile where
there was all flood in front, and on the rear the huge forces of
the Pharaoh. This bewildered them much, but Allah commanded Musa
to enter the river without fear. Thus, when he went forward, there
appeared in the river not only one but several courses to pass
through and Musa crossed to the other side of the river along with
Banu Isra'il. Pharaoh was closely following. When he saw them
passing he too advanced with his arm but when they reached the
middle of the stream the still water began moving and, engulfing
Pharaoh and his army in its waves, finished them. About them the
Qur'an says:
And (remember ye) when
We delivered you from Pharaoh's people who afflicted you with
grievous torment, slaying your sons and by letting your women
alive, and in that was a great trial from your Lord. (2:49)

However, when, after
leaving the boundaries of Egypt, they entered their motherland
Palestine, they established their own state and began to live in
freedom, and Allah changed their lowliness and disgrace into the
greatness and sublimity of rule and power. In this connection,
Allah says:
And made We inheritors
the people who were deemed weak (to inherit) the eastern parts
of the earth and the western parts of it, which we had blessed
therein (with fertility) and the good word of thy Lord was
fulfilled in the children of Israel for what they did endure;
and destroyed We, what Pharaoh and his people had wrought, and
what shade they did make. (Qur'an, 7:137)

On occupying the
throne of rule and regaining prosperity and peacefulness, Banu
Isra'il forgot all the ignominies and disgraces of the period of
slavery, and instead of being thankful to Allah for the favours
granted by Him they took to rebellion and revolt. Consequently,
they shamelessly indulged in vices and misconduct and partook in
mischiefs and evil deeds to the maximum, made lawful things
unlawful and unlawful things lawful by false excuses and disobeyed
the prophets who tried to preach and correct them under the
command of Allah, and even killed them. The natural consequence of
their vicious activities was that they were caught in punishment
for their deeds. Consequently, Nebuchadnezzar, who was ruling in
Babylon (Iraq) in 600 B.C., rose to march against Syria and
Palestine and killed seventy thousand Banu Isra'il with his
blood-thirsty swords, devastated their towns, drove away the
survivors with him like sheep and goats and threw them in the
abyss of ignominy by turning them into slaves.

Although after this
ruination there seemed no way for them to regain position and
power, yet nature gave them still another chance to recover. When
Nebuchadnezzar died and power came in the hands of Belshazzar he
started all sorts of oppression on the people. Being disgusted
with this, they sent word to the ruler of Persia that they were
tired of enduring the oppression of their ruler and that he should
rescue them from him, and free them from the oppression of
Belshazzar. Cyrus the Great, who was a just and upright ruler,
rose up in response to this request and, with the co-operation of
the local population, overturned the government, as a consequence
of which the yoke of slavery on Banu Isra'il's necks was also
removed, and they were allowed to return to Palestine.

Thus, after seventy
years of subjugation they again set foot in their homeland and
took over the reins of government. If they had taken their lesson
from the past events they would not have committed the same evils
as a consequence of which they had to suffer slavery; but the
mental constitution of this community was such that whenever they
achieved prosperity and freedom from care they lost themselves in
the intoxication of riches and in the enjoyment of pleasure,
mocked the laws of religion, derided the prophets and even killing
them did not mean anything serious to them. Thus, when their ruler
Herod at the request of his sweetheart, beheaded the Prophet Yahya
(John) and presented his head to her, none of them raised any
voice against this brutality or was affected by it in any manner.
This was the state of their unruliness and fierceness when Isa
made his appearance. He stopped them from evil deeds and exhorted
them to adopt good habits, but they opposed him too and gave him
troubles of various sorts, so much so that they tried to end his
life. However, Allah foiled all their devices and made Isa safe
against their approach.

When their
disobedience reached this stage and their capacity to accept
guidance was completely wiped out, fate decided to ruin them and
made full arrangements for their annihilation and destruction. The
ruler of Roma (Byzantia) Vespasianus sent his son Titus to attack
Syria, he laid siege round Jerusalem, demolished the houses and
broke down the walls of the Synagogue as a result of which
thousand of Banu Isra'il left their houses and became scattered
abroad, while thousands died of hunger; and those who remained
were put to sword. Most of them settled in Hijaz, but because of
their rejecting Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) their unity was
so disturbed that they could never again converge on any one
centre of honour and could never regain a life of prestige and
dignity in place of disgrace and ignominy.

In the same way the
ruler of Persia made serious attacks on Arabia and subjugated the
inhabitants of those places. Thus, Shapur ibn Hurmuz, at the age
of sixteen, took with him four thousand combatants and attacked
Arabs who resided within the boundaries of Persia and then
advanced towards Bahrayn, Qatif and Hajar and ruined Banu Tamim,
Banu Bakr ibn Wa'il and Banu Abd al-Qays and cut through the
shoulders of seventy thousand Arabs, after which his nickname
became "Dhu'l-Aktaf" (the shoulderer). He forced the
Arabs that they should live in tents built of hair, should grow
long hair on their heads, should not wear white clothes and should
ride unsaddled horses. Then he settled twelve thousand people of
Isfahan and other cities of Persia in the area between Iraq and
Syria.

In this way he drove
the inhabitants of those places from fertile lands to waterless
forests which had neither any of the conveniences of life nor
means of livelihood, and for long these people remained the
victims of other's oppression due to their own disunity and
division. At last, Allah deputed the Prophet and raised them out
of disgrace to the highest pinnacle of progress and sublimity.

(5).
Amir al-mu'minin, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Jabir ibn Abdullah
al-Ansari, Abdullah ibn Masud, Ammar ibn Yasir, Abu Said
al-Khudri and Abdullah ibn Abbas narrated that the Holy Prophet
commanded Ali ibn Abi Talib to fight those who are
pledge-breakers (nakithin), deviators from truth (qasitin) and
those who have left the faith (mariqin). (al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, p.
139; al-Istiab, vol. 3, p. 1117; Usd al-ghabah, vol. 3, pp.
32-33; ad-Durr al-manthur, vol. 6, p. 18; al-Khasa'is al-kubra,
vol. 2, p. 138; Majma az-zawa'id, vol. 5, p. 186; vol. 6, p. 235;
vol. 7, p. 238; Kanz al-ummal, vol. 6, pp. 72, 82, 88, 155, 215,
319, 391, 392; Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 8, p. 340; vol. 13, pp.
186-187; al-Tarikh, Ibn Asakir, vol. 5, p. 41; at-Tarikh, Ibn
Kathir, vol. 7 pp. 304-306; ar-Riyad an-nadarah, vol. 2, p. 240;
Sharh al-mawahib al-ladunniyyah, vol. 3, pp. 316-317; Muwaddah
al-awham, vol. 1, p. 386).

Ibn Abi'l-Hadid says:
"It has been proved (by right ascription) from the Holy
Prophet that he said to Ali (p.b.u.h.):
You will fight after me
those who are pledge-breakers, deviators from truth and those
who have gone out of the faith.

"The
pledge-breakers were the people of Jamal, because they broke their
allegiance with him. The deviators from truth were the people of
Syria (ash-Sham) at Siffin. Those who have gone out of the faith
were the Kharijites at an-Nahrawan. Regarding these three groups,
Allah says (about the first one):
Verily, those who swear
their fealty unto thee do but swear fealty unto Allah; the hand
of Allah is above their hands; so whosoever violateth his oath,
doth violate it only to the hurt of his (own) self;... (Qur'an,
48:10)

(About the second
group) Allah says:
And as for the
deviators, they shall be for the hell, a fuel. (Qur'an,
72:15)"

Concerning the third
group, Ibn Abi'l-Hadid has referred to the following tradition
(hadith) that al-Bukhari (in as-Sahih, vol. 4, pp. 166-167, 243),
Muslim (in as-Sahih, vol. 3, pp. 109-117), at-Tirmidhi (in
al-Jami as-Sahih, vol. 4, p. 481), Ibn Majah (in as-Sunan, vol.
I, pp. 59-62), an-Nasa'i (in as-Sunan, vol. 3, pp. 65-66), Malik
ibn Anas (in al-Muwatta', pp. 204-205), ad-Dar'qutni (in as-Sunan,
vol. 3, pp.131-132), ad-Darimi (in as-Suman, vol. 2, p. 133), Abu
Dawud (in as-Sunan, vol. 4, pp. 241-246), al-Hakim (in
al-Mustadrak, vol. 2, pp. 145-154; vol. 4, p. 531), Ahmad ibn
Hanbal (in al-Musnad, vol. 1, pp. 88, 140, 147; vol. 3, pp. 56,
65) and al-Bayhaqi (in as-Sunan al-kubra', vol. 8, pp. 170-171)
have narrated through a group of the companions of the Holy
Prophet that he said about Dhu'l-Khuwaysirah (the surname for
Dhu'th-Thudayyah Hurqus ibn Zuhayr at-Tamimi, the chief of the
Kharijites):
From this very person's
posterity there will arise people who will recite the Qur'an,
but it will not go beyond their throat, they will kill their
followers of Islam and will spare the idol-worshippers. They
will glance through the teaching of Islam as hurriedly as the
arrow passes through its prey. If I were to ever find them I
would kill them like Ad.

Then Ibn Abi'l-Hadid
continues:
This is the sign for
his (Holy Prophet's) prophethood and his prophecy of the secret
knowledge. (Sharh Nahj al-balaghah, vol. 13, p.183)

(6).
By "Satan of the pit" the reference is to
Dhu'th-Thudayyah (whose full name already mentioned in footnote
no. 5) who was killed in Nahrawan by the stroke of lightning from
the sky, and there was no need to kill him by sword. The Holy
Prophet had foretold his death. Therefore, after the annihilation
of the Kharijites at Nahrawan, Amir al-mu'minin came out in
search, but could not find his body anywhere. In the meantime,
ar-Rayyan ibn Sabirah saw forty to fifty bodies in a pit on the
bank of the canal. When they were taken out the body of
Dhu'th-Thudayyah was also found among them. He was called
Dhu'th-Thudayyah because of a mass of flesh on his shoulder. When
Amir al-mu'minin saw his body he said, "Allah is Great,
neither I spoke lie nor was I told wrong." (Ibn Abi'l-Hadid,
vol. 13, pp. 183-184; at-Tabari, vol 1, pp. 3383-3384; Ibn
al-Athir vol. 3, p. 348)