Peak of Eloquence Nahjul Balagha By Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib - English Translation - Letter 172

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On the Eligibility for Caliphate

The Prophet (h) is the trustee of Allah’s revelation, the Last of

His Prophets, the giver of tidings of His mercy and the warner of His chastisement.

O people! The most rightful of all persons for this matter (the caliphate) is he who is most competent among them to maintain it and he who best knows Allah’s commands in its regard. If any mischief is created by a mischief-monger, he will be called upon to repent. If he refuses, he will be fought. By my life, if the question of Imamate was not to be decided unless all the people were present, then there would be no

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such case. But those who agreed about it imposed the decision on those who were absent, so much so that he who was present could not dissent, and the one who was absent could not choose (any one else). Be informed that I shall fight two persons: one who claims what is not his, and the other who ignores what is obligatory upon him.

The Need for Wisdom in Fighting Against Muslims

O servants of Allah! I admonish you to fear Allah because it is the best advice to be mutually given by persons and the best of all things before Allah. The door of war has been opened between you and the other Muslims. And this banner will be borne only by him who is a man of foresight, of endurance, and of knowing the status of rightfulness. Therefore, you should go ahead with that whereby you are ordered and desist from what you are required to refrain. Do not make haste in any matter till you have clarified it. In the case of every matter which you dislike, we have the right to change it.

The Behavior of this World with those who Cling to it

Be informed that this world which you have started to covet, and in which you are interested, and which sometimes enrages you and sometimes pleases you, is not your (permanent) abode, nor is it the place of your stay for which you might have been created, nor is it the one to which you have been invited. Be informed that it will not last for you, nor will you live along with it. If anything out of this world deceives you (i.e. attracts you), its own evils warn you, too. You should give up (the objects of) its deceit in favor of (the objects of) its warning and (the objects of) its attraction in favor of (the objects of) its horrors. And while being in it, advance towards that house to which you have been called and turn your hearts away from the world. None of you should cry like a bondmaid over anything which she has been deprived of. Seek the perfection of Allah’s bounty over you through endurance in obeying Allah and in safeguarding what He has asked you to safeguard, namely His Book.

Be informed that the loss of anything of this world will not harm you so long as you have guarded the principles of your religion. Know also that after the loss of your religion, nothing of this world, for which you have cared, will ever benefit you. May Allah carry our hearts and yours towards what is right, and may He grant you and ourselves endurance.