Part 1 INTRODUCTION - Islamic Mobility

1 Part 1 INTRODUCTION :2 ThisisthefirstpartofMartyrMutahhari'sboo kSayridarNahjal-bal-aghah, ,whichtheauthor,presumablywrotebeforegiv ingthebook to the publishers is dated Muharram 3, 1995 (January 15, 1975). INTRODUCTION :Perhapsitmayhavehappe nedtoyou,andifnot,youmaystillvisual-izei t:someonelivesonyourstreetorinyourneighb ourhoodforyears; ,until,oneday,accidentally,yougetanop-po rtunitytositdownwithhimandtobecomefamili arwithhisideas,viewsandfeelings, ,andneverthoughtthathewaswhatyoulater discovered him to ,wheneveryouseehim,hisface,somehow, , ,anewdepthandrespectinyourheart,asifhewe resomepersonotherthantheoneyouthoughtyou knewforyears.

2 You feel as if you have discovered a new ,andIcoulddistinguishitfromotherbooksont heshelvesinmyfather' ,duringmystudies,firstatthetheologicalsc hoolofMashhad,andlateratQum,whenIwasfini shingthelaststagesofthepreliminaryeducat ionintheologycalled"sutuh", I almost remembered them by ,Imustadmit,likeallofmycolleaguesattheth eologyschool(Hawzah'ilmiyyah), (1946)wheninordertoescapetheheatofQum, somewhat into the world of the Nahj , , , 'Abduh,theformermuftiofEgypt,whoeditedan dpublishedtheNahjal-balaghahwithabriefco m-mentary,andforthefirsttimeintroducedth isbooktotheEgyptians,saysthathehadnoknow ledgeofthisbookuntilheundertookitsstudyf ar from home in a distant.

3 WhatisamazingisthattheNahjal-balaghahsho uldbeastrangerandalieninitsownhomelandan damongtheShi'ahof'Ali('a)andthattoointhe Shi'itheologicalschoolsinthesamewayas' ,ifthecontentandideasofabookorthefeeling sandemotionsofapersondonotharmonizewitht hementalityofapeople,thatbookorpersonpra cticallyremainsisolatedasastrangerinanal ienworld,eventhoughthenameofsuchapersono rbookmaybementionedwithgreat respect and ,thetheologystudents, ,Icannotab-stainfromrecallingwithsorrowt hememoryofthatgreatmanwhoin-troducedmefo rthefirsttimeintotheworldoftheNahjal-bal aghah,andwhoseacquaintanceItreasureasone ofthemostpreciousexperiencesofmylife, ('alim-erabbani)

4 Inthetruesenseoftheword,thoughIdarenotcl aimthatIwas"alearnerofthepathofdeliveran ce"(muta'allim'alasabilal-najat).[1]Irem emberthatinmymeetingswithhim,Iwasalwaysr emindedofthefollowingverseof4Sa'di:The devout, the ascetic, and the Subi, All are toddlers on the path;If there is any mature man,It is none other than the 'alim-e was a faqih (jurisprudent)[2],aphilosopher,amanoflet tersandaphysician, (jurisprudence),philosophy,theArabicandP ersianliteratureandthetraditionalmedicin e, 'Ali'sal-Qanun,thetreatiseofIbnSinainmed icine,whichdoesnotfindateacherthesedays, ,itwasnotpossibleforhimtoconfinehimselft oone field and his spirit revolted against any kind of , ,havingmountedonitswings, ; ; , , 'Alifullyapply to Him insignificant in their eyes.

5 [3]Thisrefinedmanofletters,thespeculativ ephilosopher,thegreatfaqih,theadeptmanof medicineandtheexcellentmasteroftheologyw asthelateHajjMirza'AliAqaal-Shirazial-'I sfahani,sanctifiedbyGod,amanoftruthandwi sdom,whohadattaineddeliverancefromthefin iteselfand selfhood and had merged with the Infinite ,hissenseofcommitmenttosocietyandhisburn ingloveforal-Imamal-Husayn ('a) had impelled him to deliver sermons from the ,sincetheycamefromtheheart, ,thescholarsofthefirstrankwouldpersuade him to deliver sermons from the minbar.[4] ,but a spiritual state to be , ,duringtheholymonthofRamadan,aftermuchpe rsuasion, , 'atintheneighbourhoodmosques and he, too, did not , 'ulama' , 'ontheDayof , that part of the Nahj al-balaghah had been incarnated in his :theworldofzuhd(abstinence,piety)andtaqw a(God-fearing),theworldof'ibadah(worship ,devotion)and'irfan(mysticknowledge),the worldofhikmah(wisdom)andphilosophy,thewo rldofmoralpreachingandguidance,theworldo feschatology(malahim)andmysteries(mughay yabat),theworldofpoliticsandsocialrespon sibilities.

6 'AliAqaal-Shirazihadexploredonlyapartoft his great ocean and knew it al-balaghah and the Present-Day Islamic Society:ThealienationfromtheNahjal-balag hahwasnotconfinedtomeorotherslikeme, , ,itmaybesaid,theIslamicworldhasbeguntoex ploretheNahjal-balaghah,orinotherwords, ,bothinShi'iteIranandArabcountries,wasfi rstdiscoveredeitherbyatheistsornon-Musli mtheists, ,thepurposeofmostorallofthemwastoutilize theNahjal-balaghahof'Ali('a)forjustifyin gandconfirmingtheirownsocial views; but the outcome was exactly opposite of what they ,forthefirsttimetheMuslimsrealizedthatth eviewsexpressedgrandiloquentlybyothersha dnothingnewtoofferandthattheycannotsurpa sswhatissaidintheNahjal-balaghahof'Ali(' a),ortranslatedintoactionthroughthechara cter(sirah)of'AliandhisdiscipleslikeSalm anal-Farsi,AbuDharr,and' al-balaghah, 'Ali and his book defeated their ,itmustbeacceptedthatbeforethisoccurred, 'Ali to Malik al-'Ashtar al-Nakh'i.

7 Nobody had paid attention to ,theNahjal-balaghahisacollectionofsermon s,precepts,prayers,epistlesandaph-orisms of'Ali('a) ,neithertherecordedwordsofMawla'Aliareco nfinedtothosecollectedbyal-Sayyidal-Radi , ,wholivedahundredyearsbeforeal-Sayyidal- Radi,inthesecondvolumeofhisworkMurujal-d hahab,writes:"Atpresentthereareover480se rmonsof'Aliinthehandsofthepeople,"wherea sthetotalnumberofsermonsin-cluded by al-Sayyid al-Radi in his collection is 239 ,atpresent,twokindsofworkthatmustbeaccom plishedwithrespecttotheNahjal-balaghah,s othat'Ali'sthoughtandhisviewsonvariousim portantissuesexpressedintheNahjal-balagh ah,whicharestillrelevantandaredirelyneed edbythepresent-dayIslamicsociety, (asnad) ,wehearthatMuslimscholarsinvariouspartso ftheIslamicworldaredevotingthemselvestob othofthese important (1972-73)

8 , ,Ihadde-liveredfivelecturesonthistopicat theHusayniyyahIrshad.[5]Later,Itookupwit htheideaofwritingaseriesofarticlestodeal withthesub-ject in greater ,whenIchosetocallit"SayridarNahjal-balag hah"('AjourneyintotheNahjal-balaghah'),I wasawarethatmyattemptdoesnotdeservetobec alledmorethanajourney, ,by no means, can deserve to be called a research , ,aprofoundandcomprehens-iveresearchstudy ofthecontentsoftheNahjal-balaghah,explor ationofthethoughtof'Ali,and,besidesit,re searchaboutdocumentationofitscontents, ,thatwhichcannotbeattainedinentiretyisno ttobeabandonedinentirety[6].

9 Andsincehumbleattemptsopenthewayforgreat tasks, , ,andwhichthereadershallfindmentionedinth ethirdchapter, to do A LITERARY MARVELTheNahjal-balaghahisamagnificentco llectionoftheinimitableser-mons,invocati ons(du'a),willsoradvices,epistlesandapho rismsofAmiral-mu'minin,Imam'AliibnAbiTal ib('a),compiledbyal-SayyidalSharifal-Rad i(mayGodbepleasedwithhim) ,buthaveaddedconstantlytoitsvalueasnewco ncepts and ideas have emerged.'Ali('a) , ,especiallyduringthedaysofhiscaliphate, 'udi( ),wholivedalmostahundredyearsbeforeal-Sa yyidal-Radi( ),inthesecondvolumeofhisMurujal-dhahab,u ndertheheading "Fi dhikr luma' min kalamihi, wa akhbarihi, wa zuhdih, says:Thatwhichhasbeenpreservedbypeopleof 'Ali'ssermons,deliveredonvariousoccasion s,exceeds480innumber.

10 'Ali('a) [7] his words and practically derived benefit from [8]Thetestimonyofaninformedresearcherand scholarlikeal-Mas'udibearsoutthelargenum berof'Ali' ,whereastheirnumber,asmentionedbyal-Mas' udi,wasmorethan ,al-Mas'udiinformsusabouttheextraordinar ydedicationandardourofvariousgroupsofpeo pleinrecordingandpreserving'Ali' al-Radi and the Nahj al-balaghah:Al-Sayyidal-Sharifal-Radi,or al-Sayyidal-Radi,asheiscommonlycalled,wa sanardentadmirerof'Ali' , 'alibi,hiscontemporary, , , surpass him would not be an exaggeration. [9]Itwasonaccountofal-Sayyidal-Radi'sear nestloveofliteratureingen-eral,andadmira tionfor'Ali'sdiscoursesinparticular,that hisinterestwasmainlyliteraryincompiling' Ali' , "Nahj al-balaghah",[10]whichmeansthe"pathofelo quence"givinglittleimportancetomentionin ghissources,apointrarelyignoredbycompile rsofhadith(traditions).