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34

SERMON 34

To prepare the people for
fighting with the people of Syria (ash-Sham)(1)
Amir al-mu'minin said:

Woe to you. I am tired
of rebuking you. Do you accept this worldly life in place of the
next life? Or disgrace in place of dignity? When I invite you to
fight your enemy your eyes revolve as though you are in the
clutches of death, and in the senselessness of last moments. My
pleadings are not understood by you and you remain stunned. It is
as though your hearts are affected with madness so that you do not
understand. You have lost my confidence for good. Neither are you
a support for me to lean upon, nor a means to honour and victory.
Your example is that of the camels whose protector has
disappeared, so that if they are collected from one side they
disperse away from the other side.

By Allah, how bad are
you for igniting flames of war. You are intrigued against but do
not intrigue (against the enemy). Your boundaries are decreasing
but you do not get enraged over it. Those against you do not sleep
but you are unmindful. By Allah, those who leave matters one for
the other are subdued. By Allah, I believed about you that if
battle rages and death hovers around you, you will cut away from
the son of Abi Talib like the severing of head from the trunk. (2)

By Allah, he who makes
it possible for his adversary to so overpower him as to remove the
flesh (from his bones), crush his bones and cut his skin into
pieces, then it means that his helplessness is great and his heart
surrounded within the sides of his chest is weak. You may become
like this if you wish. But for me, before I allow it I shall use
my sharp edged swords of al-Mushrafiyyah which would cut as under
the bones of the head and fly away arms and feet. Thereafter,
Allah will do whatever He wills.

O' people, I have a
right over you and you have a right over me. As for your right
over me, that is to counsel you, to pay you your dues fully, to
teach you that you may not remain ignorant and instruct you in
behaviourism that you may act upon. As for my right over you, it
is fulfilment of (the obligation of) allegiance, well-wishing in
presence or in absence, response when I call you and obedience
when I order you.

(1).
The word "ash-Sham" was a name used for a vast
geographical area occupied by Muslim countries in those days. This
area included present-day Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. Its
capital was Damascus. Wherever the word Syria is mentioned (in
this book) it should be understood in its larger meaning.

(2).
This sentence is employed for such severance after which there is
no occasion or possibility of joining. The author of Durrah
Najafiyyah has quoted several views in its explanation:

i)
Ibn Durayd's view
is that it means that. "Just as when the head is severed
its joining again is impossible, in the same way you will not
join me after once deserting me."
ii)
al-Mufaddal says
ar-ra's(head) was the name of a man, and a village of Syria,
Bayt ar-ra's is named after him. This man left his home and
went away somewhere and never again returned to his village
after which the proverb sprang up "you went as ar-ra's
had gone."
iii)
One meaning of it
is that "Just as if the joints of the bones of the head
are opened they cannot be restored, in the same way you will
not join me after cutting from me.
iv)
It has also been
said that this sentence is in the sense of separating
completely. After copying this meaning from the Sharh of
ash-Shaykh Qutbu'd-Din ar-Rawandi, the commentator Ibn
Abi'l-Hadid has written that this meaning is not correct
because when the word "ar-ra's" is used in the sense
of whole it is not preceded by "alif" and
"lam"
v)
It is also taken to
mean that "You will so run away from me as one (fleeing
for life) to save his head." Besides this, one or two
other meanings have also been stated but being remote they are
disregarded.

First of all it was
used by the philosopher of Arabia Aktham ibn Sayfi while teaching
unity and concord to his children. He says:
O' my children do not
cut away (from each other) at the time of calamities like the
cutting of head, because after that you will never get together.