Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Sermons
Sermon
5

SERMON
5

Delivered when the Holy
Prophet died and Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Abu
Sufyan ibn Harb offered to pay allegiance to Amir
al-mu'minin for the Caliphate

O' People! (1)

Steer clear
through the waves of mischief by boats of deliverance,
turn away from the path of dissension and put off the
crowns of pride. Prosperous is one who rises with wings
(i.e. when he has power) or else he remains peaceful and
others enjoy ease. It (i.e. the aspiration for Caliphate)
is like turbid water or like a morsel that would suffocate
the person who swallows it. One who plucks fruits before
ripening is like one who cultivated in another's field.

If I speak out
they would call me greedy towards power but if I keep
quiet they would say I was afraid of death. It is a pity
that after all the ups and downs (I have been through). By
Allah the son of Abu Talib (2)
is more familiar with death than an infant with the breast
of its mother. I have hidden knowledge, if I disclose it
you will start trembling like ropes in deep wells.

(1).
When the Holy Prophet died Abu Sufyan was not in Medina.
He was coming back when on his way he got the news of this
tragedy. At once he enquired who had become the leader and
Chief. He was told that people had paid allegiance to Abu
Bakr. On hearing this the acknowledged mischief-monger of
Arabia went into deep thought and eventually went to
Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib with a proposal. He said to
him, "Look, these people have by contrivance made
over the Caliphate to the Taym and deprived Banu Hashim of
it for good, and after himself this man would place over
our heads a haughty man of Banu Adi. Let us go to Ali
ibn Abi Talib and ask him to get out of his house and
take to arms to secure his right." So taking Abbas
with him he came to Ali and said: "Let me your hand;
I pay allegiance to you and if anyone rises in opposition
I would fill the streets of Medina with men of cavalry and
infantry." This was the most delicate moment for Amir
al-mu'minin. He regarded himself as the true head and
successor of the Prophet while a man with the backing of
his tribe and party like Abu Sufyan was ready to support
him. Just a signal was enough to ignite the flames of war.
But Amir al-mu'minin's foresight and right judgement saved
the Muslims from civil war as his piercing eyes perceived
that this man wanted to start civil war by rousing the
passions of tribal partisanship and distinction of birth,
so that Islam should be struck with a convulsion that
would shake it to its roots. Amir al-mu'minin therefore
rejected his counsel and admonished him severely and spoke
forth the words, whereby he has stopped people from
mischief mongering, and undue conceit, and declared his
stand to be that for him there were only two courses -
either to take up arms or to sit quietly at home. If he
rose for war there was no supporter so that he could
suppress these rising insurgencies. The only course left
was quietly to wait for the opportunity till circumstances
were favourable.

Amir
al-mu'minin's quietness at this stage was indicative of
his high policy and far-sightedness, because if in those
circumstances Medina had become the centre of war its fire
would have engulfed the whole of Arabia in its flames. The
discord and scuffle that had already begun among muhajirun
(those who came from Mecca) and ansar (the locals of
Medina) would have increased to maximum, the wire-pullings
of the hypocrites would have had full play, and Islam's
ship would have been caught in such a whirlpool that its
balancing would have been difficult; Amir al-mu'minin
suffered trouble and tribulations but did not raise his
hands. History is witness that during his life at Mecca
the Prophet suffered all sorts of troubles but he was not
prepared to clash or struggle by abandoning patience and
endurance, because he realised that if war took place at
that stage the way for Islam's growth and fruition would
be closed. Of course, when he had collected supporters and
helpers enough to suppress the flood of unbelief and curb
the disturbances, he rose to face the enemy. Similarly,
Amir al-mu'minin, treating the life of the Prophet as a
torch for his guidance refrained from exhibiting the power
of his arm because he was realising that rising against
the enemy without helpers and supporters would become a
source of revolt and defeat instead of success and
victory. Therefore, on this occasion Amir al-mu'minin has
likened the desire for Caliphate to turbid water or a
morsel suffocating the throat. Thus, even where people had
forcibly snatched this morsel and wanted to swallow it by
forcible thrusting, it got stuck up in their throat. They
could neither swallow it nor vomit it out. That is, they
could neither manage it as is apparent from the blunders
they committed in connection with Islamic injunctions, nor
were they ready to cast off the knot from their neck.

He reiterated
the same ideas in different words thus: "If had I
attempted to pluck the unripe fruit of Caliphate then by
this the orchard would have been desolated and I too would
have achieved nothing, like these people who cultivate on
other's land but can neither guard it, nor water it at
proper time, nor reap any crop from it. The position of
these people is that if I ask them to vacate it so that
the owner should cultivate it himself and protect it, they
say how greedy I am, while if I keep quiet they think I am
afraid of death. They should tell me on what occasion did
I ever feel afraid, or flew from battle-field for life,
whereas every small or big encounter is proof of my
bravery and a witness to my daring and courage. He who
plays with swords and strikes against hillocks is not
afraid of death. I am so familiar with death that even an
infant is not so familiar with the breast of its mother.
Hark! The reason for my silence is the knowledge that the
Prophet has put in my bosom. If I divulge it you would get
perplexed and bewildered. Let some days pass and you would
know the reason of my inaction, and perceive with your own
eyes what sorts of people would appear on this scene under
the name of Islam, and what destruction they would bring
about. My silence is because this would happen, otherwise
it is not silence without reason."

A Persian
hemistch says:
"Silence
has meaning which cannot be couched in words."

(2).
About death Amir al-mu'minin says that it is so dear to
him that even an infant does not so love to leap towards
the source of its nourishment while in its mother's lap.
An infant's attachment with the breast of its mother is
under the effect of a natural impulse but the dictates of
natural impulses change with the advance of age. When the
limited period of infancy ends and the infant's
temperament changes, he does not like even to look at what
was so familiar to him but rather turns his face from it
in disgust. But the love of prophets and saints for union
with Allah is mental and spiritual, and mental and
spiritual feelings do not change, nor does weakness or
decay occur in them. Since death is the means and first
rung towards this goal their love for death increases to
such an extent that its rigours become the cause of
pleasure for them and its bitterness proves to be the
source of delight for their taste. Their love for it is
the same as that of the thirsty for the well or that of a
lost passenger for his goal. Thus when Amir al-mu'minin
was wounded by Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muljam's fatal attack,
he said, "I was but like the walker who has reached
(the goal) or like the seeker who has found (his object)
and whatever is with Allah is good for the pious."
The Prophet also said that there is no pleasure for a
believer other than union with Allah.