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. 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.

2 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)inthetruesenseoftheword, thoughIdarenotclaimthatIwas"alearnerofth epathofdeliverance"(muta'allim'alasabila l-najat).[1]Irememberthatinmymeetingswit hhim,Iwasalwaysremindedofthefollowingver seof4Sa'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.

3 [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.

4 '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; 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), ,Ihadde-liveredfivelecturesonthistopicat theHusayniyyahIrshad.

5 [5]Later,Itookupwiththeideaofwritingaser iesofarticlestodealwiththesub-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].Andsincehumb leattemptsopenthewayforgreattasks, , ,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.

6 '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). ,itisofprimaryimportancethatthesourcesbe pre-cisely specified; otherwise, little credence can be given to ,however,liesinitsintrinsicbeauty,subtle ty, ,itisnotpossibletoassertthatal-Sayyidal- Radiwasentirelyobliviousofthehistoricalv alueandotherdimensionsofthissacredwork,o rthathisattentionwasexclusivelyab-sorbed by its literary ,afteral-Sayyidal-Radi, 'adahfimustadrakNahjal-balaghahbyMuhamma dBaqiral-Mahmudi,adistinguishedShi' ,allof'Ali'sextantspeeches,sermons,decre es,epistles,prayers, ,exceptforsomeoftheaphorisms,theoriginal sourcesofallthecontentsoftheNahjal-bal-a ghah have been determined.

7 [11]Itshouldbementionedthatal-Sayyidal-R adiwasnottheonlymantocompileacollectiono f'Ali'sutterances;others,too, ,onwhichMuhaqqiqJamalal-Dinal-Khunsariha swrittenacommentaryinPersianandwhichhasb eenrecentlyprintedbytheUniversityofTehra nthroughtheeffortsoftheeminentscholarMir Jalalal-Dinal-Muhaddithal-'Urumawi.'Alia lJundi,thedeanofthefacultyofsciencesatth eCairoUniversity,intheintroductiontotheb ook'AliibnAbiTalib,shi'ruhuwahikamuhcite sanumberofthesecollectionssomeofwhichhav enotyetappearedin print and exist as manuscripts. These are:1. Dustur ma'alim al-hikam by al-Quda'i, the author of the al-Khutat; 'ali';thisbookhasbeentranslatedandpublis hedbyaRus-sian Orientalist in one bulky ' , Dar al-Kutub Distinctive Characteristics:11 Fromtheearliesttimes,twodistinctmeritsha vebeenrecognizedascharacterizing'Ali'sdi scourses:firstly,literaryelegance(fasaha h)andeloquence(balaghah);secondly, 'Ali'swordsasvaluable,butthecombinationo fthesetwoqualities( ,literaryelegance,andtheirmulti-dimensio nalnature-inthattheydealwithdiverseandoc casionallyincompatiblespheresoflife) ,'Ali' ,ithasbeensaidofitthat'itisabovethespeec hofcreaturesandbelow the Word of the Creator.

8 " [12]Literary Beauty and , ,evenafternearlyfourteencenturies,hasret ainedthesameattractiveness,freshness,cha rm, proof of this ,asapartofourdiscourse,weshallbrieflydes cribethemarvellouspowerof'Ali' 'Ali'sowntimesandfol-lowtheeffectofhisdi scoursesthroughthechangesandvariationsin tastes,outlooks,andmodesofthoughtduringd ifferentsuccessiveagesup to the present 'Ali('a),particularlythosewhohadatastefo rlan-guageandliterarygrace,greatlyadmire dhimasanorator.'AbdAllahibnal-'Abbasison eofthem,whohimself,asalJahizpointsoutinh isal-Bayanwaal-tabyin,[13]wasapowerfulor atorHedidnotconcealhispassionforlistenin gto' ,when'Aliwasdeliveringhisfamoussermoncal ledal-Shiqshiqiyyah,[14]Ibnal-' 'Ali('a)wasspeaking,anor-dinarymanofKufa hhandedhimapapercontainingsomequestions, 12thuscausing'Alitodiscontinuehisspeech. 'Ali,afterreadingtheletter,didnotcontinu ehisspeechinspiteofIbnal-'Abbas' 'Abbaslaterexpressedthedeepregrethefelto nthatocca-sion,saying,"NeverinlifewasIev ersosorryforinterruptionofaspeech as I was for the interruption of this sermon.

9 "[15]Referringtoacertainletterthat'Aliha dwrittentoIbnal-'Abbas,heusedtosay:"Exce ptthespeechoftheHolyProphet,Ididnotderiv esomuchbenefit from any utterance as from this one."[16]Mu'awiyahibnAbiSufyan,'Ali'smos tcontumaciousenemy, 'AliandjoinedMu'awiyah,inordertopleaseMu 'awiyah,whoseheartsurgedwithill-willandb itternesstowards'Ali,hetoldhim,"Ihavelef tthedumbestofmenandcometoyou."Theflagran cyofthiskindofflatterywassoobviousthatMu 'awiyahhimselfreproachedhim,saying:"Woet oyou!Youcall'Alithedumbestofmen? art of eloquence."Influence of 'Ali's Oratory:Thosewhoheard' ,whocanhearorread'Ali'ssermonswithoutatr emorpassingthroughhisheart?Al-Sayyidal-R adi,afternarrating'Ali's famous sermon al-Gharra', [17] says:As'Alideliveredhissermon,tearsflowe dfromtheeyesofthelistenersand hearts quivered with ,oneof'Ali'scompanions,wasamanwithaheart fullofGod' ,herequested'Alitodescribethequalitiesof piousandGod-fearingmen.'Ali,ontheonehand ,didnotwanttoturndownhisrequest,andonthe other,hewasafraidthatHammammightnotbeabl etobearwhat'Ali13would , ,butalsohiseagernessisheightenedandhebes eeches'Alitospeakwithgreaterelaboration.

10 ' [18] 'Ali'swordsflowinfierysequence, to the furthest limits of , , ,'Ali'sremark,whichcarriesbotheulogyandr egret,was:" ,yetthisishoweffect-ive admonition affects sensitive hearts."[19]Thisisanexampleofthekindofin fluence'Ali'ssermonshadoverthe minds and hearts of his Opinions of Ancient and Modern Scholars:AftertheHolyProphet(S),'Ali('a) alonehasthedistinctionofbeingonewhosespe echesandsayingswererecordedandpreservedb ythepeoplewith particular 'Abdal-Hamidal-Katib,thegreatmasterofAr- abicprose[20]wholivedduringtheearlyparto fthesecondcenturyoftheHijrah,assaying,"I learntbyheartseventysermonsof'Ali,andfro mthat time onwards my mind always overflowed [ with inspiration ]."'AlialJundialsorelatesthatwhen'Abdal- Hamidwasaskedaboutwhathadhelpedhimmostin attainingliteraryexcellence,hereplied,"M emorizing of the discourses of the 'bald one'."[21]14 IntheIslamicperiodofhistorythenameof' ' quotes him as saying:Icommittedtomemoryaboutahundreddi scoursesof'Ali;sincethenthis has served me as an inexhaustible treasure [of inspiration].