Peak of Eloquence Nahjul Balagha By Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib - English Translation - Sermon 190

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Praising Allah

Praise be to Allah Whose praise is wide-spread, Whose army is over-powering and Whose dignity is grand. I praise Him for His successive favors and great boons. His forbearance is high, so He forgives, and He is just in whatever He decides. He knows what is going on and what has already passed. He crafted all creation with His knowledge and produced it with His intelligence without being limited to

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anything, without learning [from anyone or anything], without following the example of any intelligent producer, without committing any mistake and without the availability of any group (for help). I testify that Muhammad (k) is His slave and His Messenger whom He deputed (at a

time) when people were collecting in the abyss and moving in bewilderment. The reins of destruction were dragging them and the locks of malice lay fixed on their hearts.

Advice about fear of Allah and an account of this world and its people

I admonish you, O servants of Allah,to fear Allah because it is a right of Allah over you; it creates your right over Allah, and that you should seek Allah’s help in it and help in (meeting) Allah. Certainly, for today, fear of Allah is a protection and a shield for tomorrow (the Day of Judgement); it is the road to Paradise. Its way is clear and he who treads it is the winner. Whoever holds it must safeguards it. It has presented itself to the people who have already passed and to those coming into being because they will need it tomorrow (on the Day of Judgement) . It is then that Allah will revive His creation again, take back what He has given and take account of what He has bestowed. How few will be those who accept it and practice it as it ought to be practiced! They will be very few in number; they are the people who fit the description provided by Allah, the Glorified One, when He says: “And very few of My creatures are grateful!” (Holy Quran, 34: 13).

So make haste towards it; intensify your efforts for it. Make it a substitute for all your past (shortcomings) as a successor. Make it your supporter against every opponent. Turn your sleep into wakefulness by its help and pass your days in its company. Make it the tool of your hearts, wash your sins with it, treat your ailments with it and hasten towards your death with it... Learn a lesson from him who neglects it, so that others who follow it should not learn a lesson from you (i.e. from your neglecting it). Beware, therefore; you should take care of it and should take care of yourselves through it.

Keep away from this world and proceed towards the next with infatuation. Do not regard humbly one whom fear of Allah has given a high status, and do not accord a high status to him whom this world has given a high status. Do not keep your eyes on the shining clouds of the world. Do not listen to him who speaks of it, do not respond to him who calls you towards it, do not seek light from its glare and do not die for its precious things because its glitter is deceitful, its words are false, its

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wealth is a liability to be looted, and its precious things are to be taken away.

Beware! This world attracts then turns away. It is stubborn, refusing to go ahead. It speaks lies, and it misappropriates. It disowns and is ungrateful. It is malicious and abandons (its lovers). It attracts but causes trouble. Its condition is changing, its step shaking, its honor disgraceful, its seriousness a jest and its height is lowliness. It is a place of plunder and pillage, ruin and destruction. Its people are ready with their feet to drive, to overtake, then to depart. Its routes are bewildering, its exits are baffling and its schemes end in disappointment. Consequently, strongholds betray them, houses throw them out and cunning fails them.

Some of them are like hocked camels, some like butchered meat, some like severed limbs, some like spilt blood, some bite their hands (in pain), some rub their palms (in remorse), some hold their cheeks on their hands (in anxiety), some curse their own views and some retreat from their determination. But the time for action has gone by, and the hour of calamity has approached. This is so while (there is no longer) time to escape (Holy Quran, 38: 3). Alas! Alas! What is been lost is lost! What is gone is gone! The world has passed in its usual manner.

“So the heavens and the earth did not mourn them, nor were they given a respite” (Holy Quran, 44: 29).