Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
194

SERMON 194

Allah's praise, advice about
fear of Allah and details about the Day of Judgement

Praise be to Allah who has
displayed such effects of His authority and the glory of His sublimity
through the wonders of His might that they dazzle the pupils of the eyes
and prevent the minds from appreciating the reality of His attributes. I
stand witness that there is no god but Allah by virtue of belief,
certainty, sincerity and conviction. I also stand witness that Muhammad is
His slave and His Prophet whom He deputed when the signs of guidance were
obliterated and the ways of religion were desolate. So, he threw open the
truth, gave advice to the people, guided them towards righteousness and
ordered them to be moderate. May Allah bless him and his descendants.

Know, O' creatures of Allah,
that He has not created you for nought and has not left you free. He knows
the extent of His favours over you and the quantity of His bounty towards
you. Therefore, ask Him for success and for the attainment of aims. Beg
before Him and seek His generosity. No curtain hides you from Him, nor is
any door closed before you against Him. He is at every place, in every
moment and every instance. He is with every man and jinn. Giving does not
create any breach in Him. Gifting does not cause Him diminution. A beggar
cannot exhaust Him and paying (to others) cannot take Him to the end.

One person cannot turn His
attention from another, one voice does not detract Him from another voice,
and one grant of favour does not prevent Him from refusing another favour.
Anger does not prevent Him from mercy, mercy does not prevent Him from
punishing; His concealment does not hide His manifestness and His
manifestness does not prevent Him from concealment. He is near and at the
same time distant. He is high and at the same time low. He is manifest and
also concealed. He is concealed yet well-known. He lends but is not lent
anything. He has not created (the things of) creation after devising, nor
did He take their assistance on account of fatigue.

I advise you, O' creatures of
Allah, to have fear of Allah, for it is the rein and the mainstay (of
religion). Hold fast to its salient points, keep hold of its realities. It
will take you to abodes of easiness, places of comfort, fortresses of
safety and houses of honour on the Day (of Judgement) when eyes will be
wide open, (Qur'an, 14:42), when there will be darkness all round, when
small groups of camels pregnant for ten months will be allowed free
grazing, and when the Horn will be blown, then every living being will
die, every voice will become dumb the high mountains and hard rocks will
crumble (to pieces) so that their hard stones will turn into moving sand
and their bases will become level. (On that day) there will be no
interceder to intercede and no relation to ward off (trouble), and no
excuse will be of avail.