Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
215

SERMON 215

Delivered at the battle of
Siffin

Mutual rights of the ruler and
the ruled

So now, Allah, the
Glorified, has, by placing me over your affairs,created my right
over you, and you too have a right over me like mineover you. A
right is very vast in description but very narrow in equitability
of action. It does not accrue to any person unless it accrues
against him also, and right does not accrue against a person
unless it also accrues in his favour. If there is any right which
is only in favour of a person with no (corresponding) right
accruing against him it is solely for Allah, the Glorified, and
not for His creatures by virtue of His might over His creatures
and by virtue of the justice permeating all His decrees. Of
course, He the Glorified, has created His right over creatures
that they should worship Him, and has laid upon Himself (the
obligation of) their reward equal to several times the recompense
as a mark of His bounty and the generosity that He is capable of.

Then, from His rights,
He, the Glorified, created certain rights for certain people
against others. He made them so as to equate with one another.
Some of these rights produce other rights. Some rights are such
that they do not accrue except with others. The greatest of these
rights that Allah, the Glorified, has made obligatory is the right
of the ruler over the ruled and the right of the ruled over the
ruler. This is an obligation which Allah, the Glorified, has
placed on each other. He has made it the basis of their (mutual)
affection, and an honour for their religion. Consequently, the
ruled cannot prosper unless the rulers are sound, while the rulers
cannot be sound unless the ruled are steadfast. If the ruled
fulfil the rights of the ruler and the ruler fulfils their rights,
then right attains the position of honour among them, the ways of
religion become established, signs of justice become fixed and the
sunnah gains currency.

In this way time will
improve, the continuance of government will be expected, and the
aims of the enemies will be frustrated. But if the ruled gain sway
over the ruler, or the ruler oppresses the ruled, then difference
crops up in every word, signs of oppression appear, mischief
enters religion and the ways of the sunnah are forsaken. Then
desires are acted upon, the commands (of religion) are discarded,
diseases of the spirit become numerous and there is no hesitation
in disregarding even great rights, nor in committing big wrongs.
In such circumstances, the virtuous are humiliated while the
vicious are honoured, and there are serious chastisements from
Allah, the Glorified, onto the people.

You should therefore
counsel each other (for the fulfilment of your obligations) and
co-operate with each other. However extremely eager a person may
be to secure the pleasure of Allah, and however fully he strives
for it, he cannot discharge (his obligation for) obedience to
Allah, the Glorified, as is really due to Him, and it is an
obligatory right of Allah over the people that they should advise
each other to the best of their ability and co-operate with each
other for the establishment of truth among them. No person,
however great his position in the matter of truth, and however
advanced his distinction in religion may be, is above co-operation
in connection with the obligations placed on him by Allah. Again,
no man, however small he may be regarded by others, and however
humble he may appear before eyes, is too low to co-operate or to
be afforded co-operation in this matter.

One of Amir
al-mu'minin's companions replied to him by a long speech wherein
he praised him much and mentioned his own listening to him and
obeying him, whereupon Amir al-mu'minin said:

If a man in his mind
regards Allah's glory as being high and believes in his heart that
Allah's position is sublime, then it is his right that on account
of the greatness of these things he should regard all other things
small. Among such persons he on whom Allah's bounty is great and
Allah's favours are kind has a greater obligation, because Allah's
bounty over any person does not increase without an increase in
Allah's right over him.

In the view of
virtuous people, the worst position of rulers is that it may be
thought about them that they love glory, and their affairs may be
taken to be based on pride. I would really hate that it may occur
to your mind that I love high praises or to hear eulogies. By the
grace of Allah I am not like this. Even If I had loved to be
mentioned like this, I would have given it up in submissiveness
before Allah, the Glorified, rather than accept greatness and
sublimity to which He is more entitled. Generally, people feel
pleased at praise after good performances; but do not mention for
me handsome praise for the obligations I have discharged towards
Allah and towards you, because of (my) fear about those
obligations which I have not discharged and for issuing
injunctions which could not be avoided, and do not address me in
the manner despots are addressed. Do not evade me as the people of
passion are (to be) evaded, do not meet me with flattery and do
not think that I shall take it ill if a true thing is said to me,
because the person who feels disgusted when truth is said to him
or a just matter is placed before him would find it more difficult
to act upon them. Therefore, do not abstain from saying a truth or
pointing out a matter of justice because I do not regard myself
above erring (1). I do not escape
erring in my actions but that Allah helps me (in avoiding errors)
in matters in which He is more powerful than I. Certainly, I and
you are slaves owned by Allah, other than Whom there is no Lord
except Him. He owns our selves which we do not own. He took us
from where we were towards what means prosperity to us. He altered
our straying into guidance and gave us intelligence after
blindness.

(1).
That the innocence of angels is different from the innocence of
manneeds no detailed discussion. The innocence of angels means
that they do not possess the impulse to sin, but the innocence of
man means that, although he has human frailties and passions, yet
he possesses a peculiar power to resist them and he is not
over-powered by them so as to commit sins. This very ability is
called innocence and it prevents the rising up of personal
passions and impulses. Amir al-mu'minin's saying that "I do
not regard myself above erring" refers to those human
dictates and passions, and his saying that "Allah helps me in
avoiding 'errors'" refers to innocence. The same tone is
found in the Qur'an in the words of Prophet Yusuf that:

I exculpate not myself,
verily (one's) self is wont to bid (him to) evil, except such as
my Lord hath had mercy on; verily my Lord is Oft- forgiving,
All-merciful. (12:53)

Just as in this verse,
because of the existence of exception, its firstpart cannot be
used to argue against his innocence, similarly, due to the
existence of the exception "but that Allah helps me in
avoiding errors" in Amir al-mu'minin's saying, its first part
cannot be used to argue against his innocence, otherwise the
Prophet's innocence too will have to be rejected. In the same way,
the last sentence of this sermon should not be taken to mean that
before the proclamation of prophethood he had been under the
influence of pre-Islamic beliefs, and that just as others had been
unbelievers he too might have been in darkness and misguidance,
because from his very birth Amir al-mu'minin was brought-up by the
Prophet and the effect of his training and up-bringing permeated
him. It cannot therefore be imagined that he who had from infancy
trod in the foot-prints of the Prophet would deviate from guidance
even for a moment. Thus, al-Masudi has written:
Amir al-mu'minin never
believed in any other god than Allah so that there could be the
question of his accepting Islam. He rather followed the Prophet
in all his actions and (virtually) initiated him, and in this
very state he attained majority. (Muruj adh-dhahab, vol. 2, p.
3).

Here, by those whom
Allah led from darkness into guidance, the reference is to the
persons whom Amir al-muíminin was addressing. Ibn Abiíl-Hadid
writes in this connection:
The reference here is
not to his own self because he had never been an unbeliever so
as to have accepted Islam after that, but in these words he is
referring to those group of people whom he was addressing.
(Sharh Nahj al-balaghah, vol. 11, p. 108)