Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
197

SERMON 197

Allah's attribute of
Omniscience

Allah knows the cries
of the beasts in the forest, the sins of the people in seclusion,
the movements of the fishes in the deep seas and the rising of the
water by tempestuous winds. I stand witness that Muhammad is the
choice of Allah, the conveyor of His revelation and the messenger
of His mercy.

Advantages of fear of
Allah

Now then, I advise you
to fear Allah, Who created you for the first time; towards Him is
your return, with Him lies the success of your aims, at Him
terminate (all) your desires, towards Him runs your path of right
and He is the aim of your fears (for seeking protection).
Certainly, fear of Allah is the medicine for your hearts, sight
for the blindness of your spirits, the cure for the ailments of
your bodies, the rectifier of the evils of your breasts, the
purifier of the pollution of your minds, the light of the darkness
of your eyes, the consolation for the fear of your heart and the
brightness for the gloom of your ignorance.

Therefore, make
obedience to Allah the way of your life and not only your outside
covering, make it your inner habit instead of only outer routine,
subtle enough to enter through your ribs (up to the heart), the
guide for all your affairs, the watering place for your getting
down (on the Day of Judgement), the interceder for the achievement
of your aims, asylum for the day of your fear, the lamp of the
interior of your graves, company for your long loneliness, and
deliverance from the troubles of your abodes. Certainly, obedience
to Allah is a protection against encircling calamities. expected
dangers and the flames of burning fires.

Therefore, whoever
entertains fear of Allah, troubles remain away from him after
having been near, affairs become sweet after their bitterness,
waves (of troubles) recede from him after having crowded over him,
difficulties become easy for him after occurring, generosity rains
fast over him after there had been famine, mercy bends over him
after it had been loath, the favours (of Allah) spring forth on
him after they had been dried, and blessing descends over him in
showers after being scanty. So, fear Allah Who benefits you with
His good advice, preaches to you through His Messenger, and
obliges you with His favours. Devote yourselves to His worship,
and acquit yourselves of the obligation of obeying Him.

About Islam

This Islam is the
religion which Allah has chosen for Himself, developed it before
His eyes, preferred it as the best among His creations,
established its pillars on His love. He has disgraced other
religions by giving honour to it. He has humiliated all
communities before its sublimity; He has humbled its enemies with
His kindness and made its opponents lonely by according it His
support. He has smashed the pillars of misguidance with its
columns. He has quenched the thirst of the thirsty from its
cisterns, and filled the cisterns through those who draw its
water.

He made Islam such
that its constituent parts cannot break, its links cannot
separate, its construction cannot fall, its columns cannot decay,
its plant cannot be uprooted, its time does not end, its laws do
not expire, its twigs cannot be cut, its parts do not become
narrow, its ease does not change into difficulty, its clarity is
not affected by gloom, its straightness does not acquire
curvature, its wood has no crookedness, its vast paths have no
narrowness, its lamp knows no putting off and its sweetness has no
bitterness.

It consists of columns
whose bases Allah has fixed in truthfulness and whose foundation
He has strengthened, and of sources whose streams are ever full of
water and of lamps, whose flames are full of light, and of beacons
with whose help travellers get guidance, and of signs through
which a way is found to its highways and of watering places which
provide water to those who come to them. Allah has placed in Islam
the height of His pleasure, the pinnacle of His pillars and the
prominence of His obedience. Before Allah, therefore, its columns
are strong, its construction is lofty, its proofs are bright, its
fires are aflame, its authority is strong, its beacons are high
and its destruction is difficult. You should therefore honour it,
follow it, fulfil its obligations and accord the position due to
it.

About the Holy Prophet

Then, Allah, the
Glorified, deputed Muhammad - the peace and blessing of Allah be
upon him and his descendants - with truth at a time when the
destruction of the world was near and the next life was at hand,
when its brightness was turning into gloom after shining, it had
become troublesome for its inhabitants, its surface had become
rough, and its decay had approached near. This was during the
exhaustion of its life at the approach of signs (of its decay),
the ruin of its inhabitants, the breaking of its links, the
dispersal of its affairs, the decay of its signs, the divulging of
its secret matters and the shortening of its length. Allah made
him responsible for conveying His message and (a means of) honour
for his people, a period of bloom for the men of his days, a
source of dignity for the supporters and an honour for his
helpers.

About the Holy Qur'an

Then, Allah sent to
him the Book as a light whose flames cannot be extinguished, a
lamp whose gleam does not die, a sea whose depth cannot be
sounded, a way whose direction does not mislead, a ray whose light
does not darken, a separator (of good from evil) whose arguments
do not weaken, a clarifier whose foundations cannot be dismantled,
a cure which leaves no apprehension for disease, an honour whose
supporters are not defeated, and a truth whose helpers are not
abandoned. Therefore, it is the mine of belief and its centre, the
source of knowledge and its oceans, the plantation of justice and
its pools, the foundation stone of Islam and its construction, the
valleys of truth and its plains, an ocean which those who draw
water cannot empty, springs which those who draw water cannot dry
up, a watering place which those who come to take water cannot
exhaust, a staging place in moving towards which travellers do not
get lost, signs which no treader fails to see and a highland which
those who approach it cannot surpass it.

Allah has made it a
quencher of the thirst of the learned, a bloom for the hearts of
religious jurists, a highway for the ways of the righteous, a cure
after which there is no ailment, an effulgence with which there is
no darkness, a rope whose grip is strong, a stronghold whose top
is invulnerable, an honour for him who loves it, a peace for him
who enters it, a guidance for him who follows it, an excuse for
him who adopts it, an argument for him who argues with it, a
witness for him who quarrels with it, a success for him who argues
with it, a carrier of burden for him who seeks the way, a shield
for him who arms himself (against misguidance), a knowledge for
him who listens carefully, worthy story for him who relates it and
a final verdict of him who passes judgements.