Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
47

SERMON 47

About calamities befalling
Kufah

O' Kufah, as though I
see you being drawn like the tanned leather of Ukazi (1)
in the market, you are being scraped by calamities and being
ridden by severe troubles. I certainly (2)
know that if any tyrant intends evil for you Allah will afflict
him with worry and fling him with a killer (set someone on him to
kill him).

(1).
During pre-Islamic days a market used to be organised every year
near Mecca. Its name was Ukaz where mostly hides were traded as a
result of which leather was attributed to it. Besides sale and
purchase literary meetings were also arranged and Arabs used to
attract admiration by reciting their works. After Islam, because
of the better congregation in the shape of hajj this market went
down.

(2).
This prophecy of Amir al-mu'minin was fulfilled word by word and
the world saw how the people who had committed tyranny and
oppression on the strength of their masterly power had to face
tragic end and what ways of their destruction were engendered by
their blood-shedding and homicidal activities. Consequently, the
end of Ziyad ibn Abih (son of unknown father) was that when he
intended to deliver a speech for vilification of Amir al-mu'minin
suddenly paralysis overtook him and he could not get out of his
bed thereafter. The end of the bloodshed perpetrated by
Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad was that he fell a prey to leprosy and
eventually blood thirsty swords put him to death. The ferocity of
al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ath-Thaqafi drove him to the fate that snakes
cropped up in his stomach as a result of which he died after
severe pain. Umar ibn Hubayrah al-Fazari died of leucoderma.
Khalid ibn Abdillah al-Qasri suffered the hardships of prison and
was killed in a very bad way. Musab ibn az-Zubayr and Yazid ibn
al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufrah were also killed by swords.