Nahjul Balagha - An English Reading of Imam Ali’s sermons and sayings by Seyyed Aleem Naqvi

Commentry

Mountains may move from their position but you should not move from yours. Grit your teeth. Lend to Allah your head (in fighting for Allah, give yourself to Allah). Plant your feet firmly on the ground. Have your eye on the remotest foe and close your eyes (to their numerical majority). And keep sure that succour is but from Allah, the Glorified.

Sermon 10 - Commentary

“Beware! Satan has gathered his party and mustered his cavalry and infantry. Yet with me is my penetrating insight (firāsa). I have never deceived myself, nor have I ever been deceived. By Allah! I shall fill to the brim for them a cistern from which I alone will draw water. They will neither turn away from it, nor return to it.”

Commentary

“They thunder like clouds and flash like lightning, yet despite both these things they displayed cowardice. As for us, we do not thunder until we have pounced upon the enemy, nor do we let our words flow until we have truly rained (upon them).”

Regarding az-Zubayr's Allegiance "He asserts that he swore allegiance to me with his hand but did not swear with his heart. So he does admit allegiance. As regards his claiming it otherwise than with his heart, he should come forward with a clear argument for it. Otherwise, he should return to wherefrom he has gone out."

They (1) have made Satan the master of their affairs, and he has taken them as partners. He has laid eggs and hatched them in their bosoms. He creeps and crawls in their laps. He sees through their eyes, and speaks with their tongues. In this way he has led them to sinfulness and adorned for them foul things like the action of one whom Satan has made partner in his domain and speaks untruth throug...

Sermon 6 - Commentary

Sermon 6: On Pursuing Talhah and az-Zubayr "By Allah, I shall not be like the badger that feigns sleep amidst the ceaseless pelting of stones until the seeker finds it or the watcher overpowers it. Nay, I shall ever strike those who deviate from the truth with the aid of those who advance toward it, and the sinners and doubters with the support of those who heed and obey me, until my appointed day...

Sermon 5. - Commentary

Translation of Sermon 5 Sermon 5: On the Offer of Allegiance after the Prophet’s Death "O People! Navigate through the waves of mischief aboard the ships of salvation, turn away from the path of discord, and cast aside the crowns of pride. Prosperous is he who rises with wings of strength or remains tranquil, granting ease to others. The quest for power is like turbid water or a morsel that chokes...

Sermon 4 - Commentary

Sermon 4: Amir al-Mu'minin’s Far-Sightedness and Steadfast Conviction in Faith "Through us, you found guidance in the darkness and attained lofty heights; through us, you emerged from the gloom of night. Ears that heed not the resounding calls may turn deaf. How can one who ignored the mighty cries of the Qur’an and the Prophet hear my faint voice? A heart that has trembled with the fear of Allah...

NEED FOR THE PROPHET'S CALIPH AND THE MODE OF HIS APPOINTMENT.

Among these scholars some are those before as-Sayyid ar-Radi's period, some are his contemporaries and some are those who came after him but they all related it through their own chain of authority. 1) Ibn Abi'l-Hadid al-Mu`tazili writes that his master Abu'l-Khayr Musaddiq ibn Shabib al-Wasiti (d. 605 A.H.) stated that he heard this sermon from ash-Shaykh Abu Muhammad `Abdullah ibn Ahmad al-Baghd...

Beware! By Allah the son of Abu Quhafah (Abu Bakr)(2) dressed himself with it (the caliphate) and he certainly knew that my position in relation to it was the same as the position of the axis in relation to the hand-mill. The flood water flows down from me and the bird cannot fly upto me. I put a curtain against the caliphate and kept myself detached from it. Then I began to think whether I should...

1). The Preserved Record. (2). Good House means 'Mecca' while the bad neighbours mean the 'Unbelievers of Quraysh.' (3). About the Progeny of the Prophet Amir al-mu'minin has said that no person in the world can be brought at par with them, nor can any one be deemed their equal in sublimity, because the world is overladen with their obligations and has been able to secure eternal blessings only th...

Delivered on return from Siffin Arabia before proclamation of Prophethood I praise Allah seeking completion of His Blessing, submitting to His Glory and expecting safety from committing His sins. I invoke His help being in need of His Sufficiency (of protection). He whom He guides does not get astray, He with whom He is hostile gets no protection. He whom He supports does not remain needy. Praise...

About the Qur'an, Amir al-mu'minin says that it contains description of the permitted and the forbidden acts such as "Allah has allowed sale and purchase but prohibited usury." It clarifies obligatory and optional acts such as "when you have finished the prayer (of fear) remember Allah rising, sitting or lying and when you feel safe (from the enemy) then say the prayers (as usual)." Here prayer is...

(1). "The foremost in religion (din) is His knowledge." The literal meaning of din is obedience, and its popular sense is code, whether literal sense is taken or the popular one, in either case, if the mind is devoid of any conception of Divinity, there would be no question of obedience, nor of following any code; because when there is no aim there is no point in advancing towards it; where there...

The Holy Qur'an and Sunnah But the Prophet left among you the same which other Prophets left among their peoples, because Prophets do not leave them untended (in dark) without a clear path and a standing ensign, namely the Book of your Creator clarifying its permission and prohibitions, its obligations and discretion, its repealing injunctions and the repealed ones, its permissible matters and com...

Allah chooses His Prophets From his (Adam's) progeny Allah chose prophets and took their pledge for his revelation and for carrying His message as their trust. In course of time many people perverted Allah's trust with them and ignored His position and took compeers along with Him. Satan turned them away from knowing Him and kept them aloof from His worship. Then Allah sent His Messengers and seri...

Sermon 1 continued . The creation of the Angels Then He created the openings between high skies and filled them with all classes of His angels. Some of them are in prostration and do not kneel up. Others in kneeling position and do not stand up. Some of them are in array and do not leave their position. Others are extolling Allah and do not get tired. The sleep of the eye or the slip of wit, or la...

Sermon 1- In this sermon he recalls the creation of Earth and Sky and the birth of Adam. Praise is due to Allah whose worth cannot be described by speakers, whose bounties cannot be counted by calculators and whose claim (to obedience) cannot be satisfied by those who attempt to do so, whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate, and the divings of understanding cannot reach; He for...