Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
234

SERMON 234

In (1)
this sermon Amir al-mu'minin has related his own condition after
the Prophet's immigration till his meeting with him.

I began following the
path adopted by the Prophet and treading on the lines of his
remembrance till I reached al-Arj.

as-Sayyid ar-Radi
says: Amir al-mu'minin's words "faata'u dhikrahu"
constitute the highest forms of brevity and eloquence. He means to
say that he was being given news about the Prophet from the
commencement of his setting out till he reached this place, and he
has expressed this sense in this wonderful expression.

(1).
Since the commencement of prophethood, the Prophet remained in
Mecca for thirteen years. For him, this period was of the severest
oppression and destitution. The unbelievers of the Quraysh had
closed all the doors of livelihood upon him, and had left no
deficiency in inflicting hardships upon him, so much so that in
order to take his life they began contriving how to do away with
him. Forty of their nobles assembled in the hall of audience (Dar
an-Nadwah) for consultation, and decided that one individual
should be picked out from every tribe and they should jointly
attack him. In this way, Banu Hashim would not dare to face all
the tribes, and the matter would quieten down on the payment of
blood price. To give a practical shape to this scheme, these
people sat in ambush near the house of the Prophet on the night of
the first of Rabi al-awwal, so that when the prophet slept in his
bed he would be attacked. On this side the preparation for killing
him was complete, and on the other side Allah informed him of all
the intrigues of the Quraysh unbelievers and commanded him to make
Ali (p.b.u.h.) sleep on his bed and himself to immigrate to
Medina. The Prophet sent for Ali (p.b.u.h.) and disclosing to him
his plan, said: "Ali, you lie on my bed." Amir
al-mu'minin enquired: "O' Messenger of Allah, will your life
be saved by my sleeping here?" The Prophet said:
"Yes." Hearing this Amir al-mu'minin performed a
prostration in thanks-giving and, exposing himself fully to the
danger, lay on the Prophet's bed while the Prophet left from the
rear door. The Quraysh unbelievers were peeping and getting ready
for the attack but Abu Lahab said: "It is not proper to
attack in the night because there are women and children also in
the house. When morning dawns you attack him, but keep watch
during night that he should not move anywhere." Consequently,
they kept their eyes on the bed throughout the night and soon, on
the appearance of the dawn, proceeded forward stealthily. Hearing
the sound of their footsteps, Amir al-mu'minin removed the
covering from his face and stood up. The Quraysh gazed at him with
stretched eyes as to whether it was an illusion or fact. After
making sure that it was Ali they enquired, "Where is
Muhammad?" and Ali replied, "Did you entrust him to me,
that now you are asking me?" They had no reply to this. Men
ran to chase him but found footprints only up to the cave of
Thawr. Beyond that there were neither footprints nor any sign of
hiding in the cave. They came back bewildered while the Prophet
after staying in the cave for three days left for Medina. Amir
al-mu'minin passed these three days in Mecca, returned to the
people their properties lying in trust with the Prophet and set
off towards Medina to join the Prophet. Upto al-Arj which is a
place between Mecca and Medina, he kept getting news about the
Prophet and he continued his anxious march in his search till he
met the Prophet at Quba on the twelfth of Rabi al-awwal, and
entered Medina with him. (at-Tabari, at-Tafsir, vol. 9, pp.
148-151; at-Tarikh, vol. 1, pp. 1232-1234; Ibn Sad, at-Tabaqat,
vol. 1, Part 1, pp. 153-154; Ibn Hisham, as-Sirah, vol. 2, pp.
124-128; Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-ghabah, vol. 4, p. 25; al-Kamil,
vol. 2, pp. 101-104; Ibn Kathir, at-Tafsir, vol. 2, pp. 302-303;
at-Tarikh, vol. 3, pp. 180-181; Ibn Abi'l-Hadid, vol. 13, pp.
303-306; as-Suyuti, ad-Durr al-manthur, vol. 3, pp. 179-180;
al-Allamah al-Majlisi, Bihar al-anwar, vol. 19, pp. 28-103).