A Lecture on Nahjul Balagha

8/10/2019 A Lecture on Nahjul Balagha

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a lecture on

nahju l-balghah

by:

allamah sayyid saeed akhtar rizvi

Published By :

BILAL MUSLIM MISSION OF TANZANIA

P.O.BOX 20033

DAR ES SALAAM

TANZANIA


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All Rights Reserved

Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania

Title:

A Lecture On Nahju l-Balghah

Author:

Allamah Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi

Printed and Published By:


Typeset By:

Ahlul~Bayt (a.s.) Assembly of Tanzania

First Edition: Copies: 2001 / 1422 2000

ISBN: 9987 620 18 3


P.O.Box 20033, Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaTel: 2120111 / 2112419 - Fax: 255 22 2116550


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content

1 Preface 2

2 A lecture on Nahju l-balghah 3

3 Note on miraculous sermons of Imm Ali (a.s) 25

4 e Sermon of Imm Ali (a.s) without dot 28

5 e Sermon of Imm Ali (a.s) without alif 30


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IN THE NAME OF ALLH,THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL.

All Praise belongs to Allh, the Lord of the worlds;

The Beneficient, the Merciful:

the Master of the Day of Judgement;

Thee only we worship, and Thee we beseech

for help;

Guide us to the straight path;

The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed

favours,

not of those inflicted by Thy wrath,nor of those gone astray.

* * * * *

O Allh! send your blessings to the head ofYour messengers and the last of

Your prophets Muhammad ,

and his pure and cleansed progeny.

Also send Your blessings to all the

Prophets and Imams.


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preface

This is a lecture on Nahju l-balghah, which also

clarifies some misunderstandings which some people

had shown about this august book.

In the end I have given two miraculous sermons ofImm Ali (a.s.) which the Imm (a.s.) had delivered

on two different occasions: the First, without dot and

the Second without the letter alif.

15/5/1422 Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi

4/8/2001 Dar-es-Salaam


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It was done in order that if any piece of that lecture

etc. was not available at that time and came to hand

at a later date, it could be inserted therein. This bookbecame a huge success from the day one, because

the writings and lectures of Amru l-muminn were

held in high esteem from the beginning of the Islam

era; and people used to collect them, learn them and

memorize them. Even in Sayyid Rais own time, a

scholar, Ali ibn an-Nasir, wrote a short commentary

on it which he called Alm Nahju l-balghah. Its

manuscript was preserved in the library of Mumtazu

l-ulam Sayyid Muhammad Taqi in Lucknow. Then

a detailed Sharwas written by Said ibn Hibatullah

ibn al-Hasan ar-Rwandi. However the most well-known and popular Sharwas written by Izzuddin

Abdu l-amd ibn Abi l-add al-Mutazili

al-Madini. He started writing it on 1st Rajab, 644

A.H. and completed it in the month of Safar 649 A.H.

and sent it as present it to Muayyiduddin al-Asadial-Alqami, who was the Minister of al-Mustaim

billah, the last Abbasid caliph. Before Ibn Abi

l-add, many well known Sunni scholars had

written commentaries on Nahju l-balghah, e.g.

Abu l-asan Ali ibn Abu l-Qsim al-Bayhaqi

(d. 565), al-Imm Fakhruddin ar-Rzi (606), Sadu


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d-Din Taftzni. In this way we see that upto 150

years after the compilation of Nahju l-balghah, no

serious doubt was expressed about the authenticity ofthe material collected in that book. Thefirst man who

tried to create some doubt about it was Ibn khallikn

who died in 681 A.H., who was not in Iraq or Egypt

nor in the centre of Islamic learning, but in Qairawan

and Cordova under the Umayyad kingdom of Spain.

He wrote while writing about as-Sayyid Murtaa,

the elder brother of ash-Sharf ar-Rai: People are

of different views about the book,Nahju l-balghah

which is a collection of the talks of Ali ibn Abilib,

whether it was compiled by him, i.e. Sayyid Murtaa

or his brother, Sayyid Rai. It is said that this is notfrom the speeches of Ali ibn Abi lib, but it was

compiled by the man who forged it; and Allh knows

better.

This short remark shows that Ibn Khallikn waseven unaware of who was the compiler of Nahju

l-balghah, and then he has used the word, It is

said, but does not mention who had said it that it

was not the speech of Ali ibn Abi lib; and then he

ends at the phrase, and Allh knows better. So in this

way he for the first time sowed the seed of suspicion


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and doubt about this book. Also he does not say that

the scholars or Ulam have different views; he just

says that people have different views. Now onecentury after Ibn khallikn came adh-Dhahabi whose

prejudice against the Shias is well-known and he

went even further. He writes in the life-history of

Sayyid Murtaa: Whoever would see this book,

Nahju l-balghah, will understand surely that it is

spurious and forged in the name of Amiru mumineen,

because in this book is open denunciation of the two

Sheikhs, Abu Bakr and Umar.

Is it not strange that for two hundred and fifty years

there was no controversy aboutNahju l-balghah. IbnKhallikn, sitting in al-Maghhrib, said that the people

had different views that whether it was compiled by

Sayyid Murtaa or Sayyid Rai, and then said that

it is said that it was not the speeches and writings

of Ali ibn Abi lib. Then one hundred years afterthat came adh-Dhahabi who tried to cast doubt and

suspicion on the ground that the book contained open

denunciation of Abu Bakr and Umar.

Before commenting on this view, a few things should

be mentioned before hand.First: It is not that Sayyid


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Rai was the first man to compile the lectures,

sermons and letters of Ali ibn Abi lib (a.s.).

al-Masdi (who died in 340 A.H. long before thebirth of Sayyid Rai, and who was a contemporary of

not only Shaykh Mufd, but even of Shaykh adq)

writes: The people had memorized his (i.e. Alis)

lectures and sermons and different epistles, and their

number reaches more than 480 lectures; they were

delivered extempore, but people momorized them and

continued to narrate them and teach them.1Now if

these more that 480 lectures could be found, they would

have made a bigger volume thanNahju l-balghah.

There was Abdu l-amd al-Ktib ibn Yay, who

died in 132 A.H., and Ibn Abi l-adid quotes him inhis Commentary that he said: I memorized 70 lectures

from the lectures of Ali, and its benefits continued

to grow and grow. Ibn al-Muqaffa, who died in 142

A.H., used to say: I drank from the sermons and

lectures of Ali and its pleasing benefi

ts grew andgrew. That is why Allama asan al-Nadubi writes

in his foot-notes of al-Bayn wat-tabyinof al-Ji:

Obviously he learned and acquired his rhetorics from

the lectures of Imam Ali. Ibn Nubtah, who died in

374 A.H., said: I memorized 100 pieces of sermons of

1Marju dh-dhahab, vol. 2 p. 33, Egypt ed.


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Abdullah Hasani, who was a companion

of Imam Ali an-Naqi (a.s.) had compiled

Kitabu Khutub-i Amri l-mumineen (a.s.)6

.5. Abu l-Khayr Sad ibn Abi ammd ar-Rzi, a

contemporary of the above-mentioned Abdu

l-Am. He had also collected a similar book7.

6. Ali ibn Muammad ibn Abdullah Madini

(d. 335 A.H.) He had also compiled lectures

and letters of Ali (a.s.).8

7. Abu Muammad Abdu l-Azz al-Jaldi (d.

330 A.H.). He had compiled several books

separately on lectures of Ali, Letters of Ali,

Sermons of Ali etc 9.

8. Abu Muammad asan ibn Ali ibn Shubahal-alabi (d. 320 A.H.) He had narrated some

sayings, maxims and lectures of Ali (a.s.) in

his well-known book, Tuafu l-Uql. He

writes at the end: If we were to write here all

the sermons and sayings of Ali which he spokeon only one subject, Taweed, (leave aside all

other subjects), it would be equal in volume to

this book of ours.

6Ibid.

7Ibid.

8Mujamu l-udab, of Yaqb al-amawi, vol. 5; p. 313.9 a-si, al-Fihrist; an-Nijashi,Rijl.


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Also there are many books written before ash-Sharf

ar-Rai, in which many speeches and talks of Ali (a.s.)

have been quoted on various occasions. For example,al-Ji (d. 255 A.H.); al-Bayn wa t-tabyn, Ibn

Qutaybah Dnawari (d. 276 A.H.). Uyunu l-Akhbr

wa Gharibu l-Hadith; Ibn WiYqbi (d. 278):

Trikh Yqbi,Kitab al-Mubarradof Abu l-Abbs

al-Mubarrad (d. 286):Kitabu al-Kmil; the Historian,

Ibn Jarr a-abari (d. 310): Trkhabari; Ibn Durayd

(d. 321): Kitb al-Mujtan; Ibn Abd Rabbih, (d.

328): al-Iqd al-Fard; al-Kulayni (d. 329): al-Kfi;

al-Masdi (d. 346):Maruju dh-dhahab; Abu l-Faraj

Isfahni (d. 356):Kitab al-Aghni, Abu Ali al-Qri

(d. 356):Kitab an-Nawdir; ash-Shaykh A-adq (d.381)Kitb at-Tawhdand his many other collections

of traditions; as-Shaykh al-Mufd (d. 416):Kitb al-

IrshdandKitb al-Jamal.

If the lectures and sermons of Ali (a.s.) quoted inthe above-mentioned books are compared with those

collected in Nahju l-balghah, they appear to be

the same or almost the same, with minor verbal

differences.

Not only those who preceded ash-Sharf ar-Rai, but


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even his contemporaries or those who came soon after

him, had collected and committed many sermons and

speeches of Ali (a.s.) to memory, and some of themhave mentioned them in their books. For example,

Ibn Miskawayh (d. 421): Tajribu l-umam; fi

Abu Nuaym Ifahni (d. 430): ilyatu l-Awliy;

ash-Shaykh a-si (d. 460) at-Tahdhband al-Amli;

Abdu l-Wid ibn Muammad ibn Abdu l-Wid

al-midi (who was a contemporary of ash-Shaykh

a-si) collected short maxims and sayings of Ali

(a.s.), in a book which he named Ghuraru l-ikam

wa Duraru l-Kilamprinted in Egypt, Lebanon and

India, and which has also been translated in Urdu;

Abu Sad Manr ibn Husayn al-bi al-Wazr, (d.422):Nuzhatu l-adab wa nathru d-durar; and Qi

Abu Abdillah Muammad ibn Salmah ash-Shafii

(d. 453): his well-known book on this very subject,

Dasturu malimi l-ikam, has been printed in

Egypt. All these authors were almost contemporaryto Sayyid Rai, and except the book of abu Sad,

all other books are printed and well-known in the

Muslim word. Whatever is collected in those books,

is the same or has the same style as found inNahju

l-balghah. After that period, we come to those

who appeared centuries later, like Ibn Abi l-add


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(d. 655), Sib Ibn Jauzi (d. 606) and many others

who tried to collect the sayings and sermons of Ali

(a.s.) for completing what was left out by ash-Sharfar-Rai in Nahju l-balghah. ash-Sharf ar-Ras

main emphasis was on rhetorics, and therefore he

named the book The Path of Eloquence. That is why

he had not given whole sermons and lectures, but only

those pieces wich he considered of the top standard

in rhetorics and eloquence. There was another factor

which compelled ash-Sharf ar-Rai to leave out

many sermons and saying: It was either because of

unavailability of referrence books, or because the

copies in his hand were damaged or illegible. That is

why he could not write completely even many of thosesermons which are included in his book. That is why

we see in many places that he gives a part of a sermon

and then adds wa minh (and the following

also is a part of that sermon). This prompted the later

scholars to write al-Mustadrakand al-Mustadrak alaal-MustadrakofNahju l-balghah, to complete what

was omitted or left out by ash-Sharf ar-Rai. That is

why we find in the Sharof Nahju l-balghah(by

Ibn Abi l-add) that wherever possible he writes

complete sermons and lectures, and gives also the

occasion and background of that lecture. These


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attempts to complete the collection had continued upto

the last century, when Allamah Shaykh Hdi Kshifu

l-ghi wroteMustadraku Nahji l-balghah, whichwas printed in Najaf.

We also find that the contemporaries of as-Sayyid

ar-Rai had paid attention to Nahju l-balghah,

and the late-comers, most of them Sunnis like Imam

Fakhru d-Din ar-Rzi, Ibn Abi l-add and others,

wrote its Commentaries. We know how the scholars

usually attempt to attack or belittle the books of their

contemporaries; yet none of them ever said that those

lectures, sermons or sayings of Ali (a.s.) were forged

by as-Sayyid ar-Rai which he had wrongly attributedto Ali (a.s.). Also no one ever said that, because

the lectures and writings attributed to Ali (a.s.) in

Nahju l-balghahwere spurious, therefore we are

collecting his genuine and authentic lectures, sermons,

and letters in order to remove the misunderstandingscreated by as-Sayyid ar-Rai.

Also ninety percent of the sermons etc. of Nahju

l-balghah are found in earlier books which are

extant. Allamah Shaykh Hdi Kshifu l-ghi wrote

Madariku Nahji l-balghah, i.e. Sources of Nahju


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l-balghah. Then Allamah Sayyid Sibu l-asan

Hanswi of India wroteMinhaj Nahji l-balghahin

Urdu. In this book the learned scholar also dealt withall the objections levelled againstNahju l-balghah

by Khali. Then Mr. Imtiaz Ali Arshi, the librarian

of the Raza Library, Rampur, (India), a reputed Sunni

scholar, wroteIstindu Nahji l-balghah, in which

he quoted most of the material ofNahju l-balghah

and their references from earlier books. Latest attempt

in this field was made by Allamah Abdu z-Zahr

al-Kabi, who wrote Madiru Nahji l-balghah

in three volumes. All these books are printed and

are easily available. In this way, we find that the

objections of some misguided people against thisnoble book have no leg to stand upon.

The fact remains that the main reason of this attempt

to discreditNahju l-balghahlies in the third sermon,

known as ash-Shiqshiqiyahin which Ali (a.s.) hasscathingly criticised his three predecessors and

showed defects of them and their methods. Just to

show what is involved in this lecture, I quote here a

few lines from it. He begins:

Well, by Allah! the son of Abu Qafah (i.e. Abu

Bakr) dressed himself with it (i.e. the caliphate) and


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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.

Then after commenting on the first caliphate, he turns

to the second. He says:

It is strange that during his lifetime he [i.e. Abu

Bakr] wished to be released from the caliphate but

he confirmed it for the other one after his death. No

doubt these two shared its udders strictly among

themselves. This one put the caliphate in a tough

enclosure where the utterance was haughty and the

touch was rough. Mistakes were in plenty and so also

the excuses therefore.

Thus commenting on that era, he comes to the third

caliphate. He says:

Nevertheless, I remained patient despite length

of period and stiffness of trial, till when he went hisway (of death) he put the matter (of caliphate) in a

group and regarded me to be one of them. But good

Heavens! what had I to do with this consultation?

Where was any doubt about me with regard to the first

of them that I was now considered akin to these ones?

But I remained low when they were low and flew high


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when they flew high. One of them turned against me

because of his hatred and the other got inclined the

other way due to his in-law relationship and this thingand that thing, till the third man of these people stood

up with heaving breasts between his dung and fodder.

With him the children of his grand-father, (Umayyah)

also stood up swallowing up Allhs wealth like a

camel devouring the foliage of spring, till his rope

broke down, his actionsfinished him and his gluttony

brought him down prostrate.

So actually this is the reason of all these attacks

against the book, as adh-Dhahabi has let the cat out of

the bag. He thinks thatNahju l-balghahis spuriousbecause there are in it scathing remaks against Abu

Bakr and Umar.

However, let us see whether this sermon was really

forged by ash-Sharf ar-Rai. I think I can do no betterthan to quote here views of some Sunni scholars of

old days:

Shah Waliyullah Dehlawi comments on this tendency

of the Sunnis in his famous book, at-Tafhmt al-

Ilhiyah: He says: There are many people who


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claim that there was no difference among the abah

and that all of them were friends to each other. This

thinking is against the historical facts and against thereality. Of course, they had quarrelled with each other,

fought with each other and disparaged each other. But

we should not say any thing against them, because

what they did was not based on bad intentions; it was

rather in good faith.

Ibn Abi l-add al-Mutazili has written at length

about this sermon in his Shar. He writes that his

Master, Abu l-Khayr Muaddiq ibn Shabb al-Wsii

(d. 605) stated that he heard this sermon from his

Shaykh Abu Muammad Abdullah ibn Amad al-Baghddi (d. 567), known as Ibn al-Khashshb; and

when he reached the place where Ibn Abbas expresses

his sorrow on this sermon remaining incomplete, Ibn

al-Khashshb said to him: If I had heard this expression

of sorrow from Ibn Abbas, I would have certainlyasked him, if there had remained with his cousin any

further unsatisfied desire at all, because excepting

the Prophet he had spared neither predecessors nor

the followers and had uttered all that he wished to

utter. Why should therefore be any sorrow that he

could not say what he wished. Muaddiq says that Ibn


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al-Khashshb was a man of jolly nature and decent

taste. I enquired from him whether he too regarded

this sermon to be a fabrication. He replied: By Allah!I believe it to be Amiru l-mumineens words, as I

believe you to be Muaddiq ibn Shabb. I said. Some

people regard it as a fabrication of as-Sayyid ar-Rai.

He replied: How can ar-Rai have such touch and

such style of writing? I have seen as-Sayyid ar-Ras

writing and know his style of composition. Nowhere

is his writing like this one; and I have seen it in the

books written 200 years before the birth of as-Sayyid

ar-Rai; and I have seen it in familiar hand writings

about which I know by which scholar or which man

of letter they were compiled; at that time not onlyar-Rai, but even his father, Abu Amad an-Naqb

was not born.

Thereafter, Ibn Abi l-add writes: I saw this sermon

in the compilation of my Master, Abu l-QsimAbdullah ibn Amad al-Balkhi (d. 317); he was the

Imam of the Mutazilites in the reign of al-Muqtadir

Billh [295-320 A.H.], which was much earlier than

the birth of as-Sayyid ar-Rai.

He further writes: I saw this sermon in Abu Jafar


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Muammad ibn Abdu r-Ramn ibn Qibahs book,

al-Inf. He was a student of Abul Qsim al-Balkhi

and a theologian of Imamiah sect10

.

Ibn Maytham al-Barani (d. 679) writes in his Shar

that he had seen one copy of this sermon which bore

the handwriting of Al-Muqtadir Billahs minister, Abu

l-asan Ali ibn Muammad ibn al-Furt (d. 312)11.

ash-Shaykh Qutbu d-Dn ar-Rwandi (whose

Commentary ofNahju l-balghah, namedMinhju

l-barah, is earlier than that of Ibn Abi l-add),

gives his chain of narrators of this sermon. He

narrates it from ash-Shaykh Abu Nar al-asanibn Muammad ibn Ibrhm, from Al-fiAbu

l-Waf Muammad ibn al-Badi, al-usayn ibn

Amad ibn al-Bai and al-usayn ibn Amad ibn

Abdu r-Ramn, and also from al-j Abu Bakr

Amad ibn Musa ibn Marduwayh al-Ifahni (d. 416),from Al-fiz Abu l-Qsim Sulaymn ibn Amad

a-abarni (d. 360), from Amad ibn Ali al-Abbs,

from al-fiSad Abu Salmah ad-Dimashqi, from

Junayd ibn Thalab, from A ibn Abi Rab, from

10 SharNahju l-balghah of Ibn Abi l-add, vol. 1, pp. 205-206.11 SharNahju l-balghah of Ibn Maytham, vol. 1, pp. 252-253.


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Ibn Abbas. This chain of narrators has been quoted

by al-Majlisi inBiru l-anwrvol. 8, pp. 160-161.

Allamah Majlisi also writes that this sermon is alsofound in the compilations of Abu Ali Muammad ibn

Abdu l-Wahhb al-Jubbi (d. 303). Also he says:

al-Qi Abdu l-Jabbr ibn Amad Asadbdi (d.

415), a staunch Mutazilite, has tried to re-interpret

some expressions of this sermon in his book,

al-Mughni, but he does not deny its being of Alis

composition (Ibid, p.161). ash-Shaykh a-adq

gives his own chain of narrators of this sermon:

Muammad ibn Ibrhm ibn Isq a-liqni, from

Abdu l-Azz ibn Yay al-Jaldi (d. 332), from

Abu Abdillah Amad ibn Ammr ibn Khlid, fromYayibn al-amd al-immni (d. 228), from s

ibn Rshid, from Ali ibn udhayfah, from Ikrimah,

from Ibn Abbas12.

as-Sayyid Nimatullh al-Jaziri writes: Theauthor of Kitb al-Ghrt, Abu Isq Ibrhm ibn

Muammad ath-Thaqafial-Kfi(d. 283) has related

this sermon through his own chain of narrators. The

date of completion of writing this book is Tuesday,12Ilalu sh-Sharaye, vol. 1, ch. 122 p. 144;Mani l-akhbr,ch. 22,

pp. 330-361. He also gives another chain of narrators in the same bookon p. 146 & 361, respectively.


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13thShawwl, 255 A.H., and it is the same year when

as-Sayyid Murtaa al-Msawi (the elder brother of

as-Sayyid ar-Rai) was born13

.

Likewise, Abu Uthmn Amr ibn Bar al-Jihas

recorded the following words of Ali (a.s.) in his

book, which are no less witty than the criticism of the

sermon of ash-Shiqshiqiyah. He quotes:

Those two basterdized and the third one rose

like a crow whose courage is confined to the bit. It

would have been better if his wings had been cut and

his head severed.

Leaving aside many other authorities and scholars ofthe Sunni faith, we come to our own times and meet

ash-Shaykh Muammad Abduh, the Grand Mufti

of Egypt, recognizing it as Alis composition and

writing its Commentary. Professor Muammad Muyi

d-Dn Abdu l-amd of al-Azhar University (Cairo)has added notations on the Explanations of Nahju

l-balghahwritten by Muammad Abduh; adding

a Foreword in the beginning, where he recognizes

all such sermons which contain disparaging remarks

against the previous caliphs and companions, as being

13 al-Anwr an-Numniyah, p. 37


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the composition of Ali (a.s.).

In the light of all these references, is it not absurd toclaim that this Sermon was forged by as-Sayyid Rai,

when it is found in the books written centuries before

the birth of as-Sayyid Rai?

Now we come to a new objection levelled against

Nahju l-balghahby al-Khali. His main objection

is that the Sermons and talks containsaj, i.e. rhymed

prose. He thinks that the ancient Arabs did not speak

in hymed prose; it was a style developed in later days.

This claim is really astonishing; and one has a right to

ask whether Mr. Khali had ever read the Quran!!Did not he know that all the chapters revealed at

Mecca are in rhymed prose? In fact, even the Medinite

chapters end on rhymed prose, although they seem

less pronounced because the Medinite verses are

lengthier. In fact, in the words of Rodwel, Arabicis a language in which it is difficult not to speak in

rhym. And Ali (a.s.) was brought up in the lap of the

Prophet from his early childhood, and he drank from

the springhead of the Quran from before his teen age;

because the Quran was revealed in his presence and

he went on memorizing it. Would it be very surprising


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if his way of speech were so saturated withsaj; and

is it really surprising that we findsaj, rhymed prose,

in his sermons, when every one who was in contactwith him whether friend or foe knew that it was

his style of talking. When Alis daughter, Zaynab,

was brought into the court of Ubaydullah ibn Ziyd

in Kufa, and she replied to some disparaging remarks

of Ibn Ziyd against Imam Husayn and his family, she

refuted his comments in such a forceful way that Ibn

Ziyd had to say:

She speaks in hymed prose and her father too spoke

in rhymed prose.

Then Mr. Khali says: There are some words usedin the sermons ofNahju l-balghahwhich were not

used in ancient Arabic; and he has given a list of such

words, which according to him prove late origin of

these sermon. Sayyid Sibul Hasan Hanswi has clearly

shown in his book,Minhaj Nahju l-balghah, fromthe quotations of Islamic literature that those words

were in common use in old Arabic language.

Mr. Khalis third objection: Some of these sermons

contain terminologies of philosophy; while the

philosophical terms did not enter Arabia before the


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Now we propose to adorn this booklet with two

miraculous sermons of Ali (a.s.) not found in

Nahju l-balghah. First is his sermon which is free

from diacritical point the whole sermon does

not contain a single letter with dot. It is narrated in

al-Manqib from Ibn Shahr shb, al-Kalbi and

Ibn Babuwayh, through his chains from Imam Ali

ar-Ri (a.s.) that he narrated this eternal miracle

of his forefather, Amiru l-mumineen (a.s.), i.e. the

blessed sermon, free from dot.

It has been narrated by Abu Hshim al-Jubbi from

his father Abu Ali, from Abu Yaqb ash-Sham,

from Abu l-Hudhayl al-Allf, from Abu Uthmn

a-awl, from Wil ibn A, from Abu Hshim

Abdullah ibn Muammad ibn Ali, from his father,Muammad ibn al-anafyah, from Ali (a.s.)

It is also given by ash-Shaykh Muammad Ri

al-akmi in his book, Salni Qabla an Tafqidni,

vol. 2, pp. 442-443.

0


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The second is his sermon which is free from the letter

alif. Some people had gathered around him, and were

discussing writing method. They all agreed that noletter is more prevalent in speech than alif , and that

it is very difficult to speak without using it. At this

juncture Ali (a.s) delivered this sermon extempore,

without any preparation, and it is totally free of alif .

It is given by al-Kafami, ash-Shaykh Taqyu d-Dn

Ibrhm al-mili in his al-Mib, vol. 2, pp. 849-

852 (which was written in 895 A.H.)

Also it is narrated from other sources by al-Majlisi

(d. 1110 A.H.) inBiru l-anwr(new ed.) vol. 74p. 242.

We have copied it from Bir; there are minor

variations in wordings in al-Mibwhich have been

given here in brackets.

It should be recorded here that my teacher, Ayatullah

Sayyid Zafru l-asan Rizvi (Jawadia, Benaras) had

translated it in Urdu, in the same style, i.e. without alif.


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the serman without dot

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ISBN 9987 620 18 3

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A Lecture on Nahjul Balagha

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Transcript of A Lecture on Nahjul Balagha