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Sermon of Laylat al-Harir

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This article is an introduction to the Sermon of Laylat al-Harir; to read its text see Text:Sermon of Laylat al-Harir.
Sermon of Laylat al-Harir
SubjectEncourage his soldiers to continue fighting
Issued byImam Ali (a)
Shi'a sourcesAl-Futuh • Waq'at Siffin
Sunni sourcesAl-Imama wa al-Siyasa


The Sermon of Laylat al-Ḥarīr (Arabic:خُطبةُ لَيلةِ الهَريرِ) was delivered by Imam Ali (a) on one of the nights of the Battle of Siffin to encourage his soldiers to continue fighting against the army of Mu'awiya.[1] Laylat al-Harir was a night in which the troops of Mu'awiya, struck by the attacks of Imam Ali's forces, wailed like dogs.[2]

This sermon was delivered after the night prayer[3] on the Safar 12, 37/August 13, 657,[4] and according to another report, on the night of the 10th or 17th of Safar of the same year (August 11 or August 18, 657 CE).[5]

The sermon begins with praise and glorification of God.[6] Imam Ali (a) advises his companions to remember God, perform prayer, recite the Qur'an, and supplicate.[7] He also urges them to observe caution in battle, to be patient, steadfast, and truthful.[8] Then, referring to the weakness of the enemy, he encourages his soldiers not to lose their resolve at the end of the conflict, just as they exerted effort at the beginning, and to entrust the outcome to the divine decree.[9]

Transmission of the Sermon in Sources

The Sermon of Laylat al-Harir has been transmitted in both Shi'a[10] and Sunni[11] sources. The earliest known report is found in Kitab Sulaym b. Qays, attributed to Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilali (d. 76 AH|76/695).[12] After him, al-Nasr b. Muzahim (d. 212/827) included it in Waq'at Siffin,[13] and Ibn Qutayba al-Dinawari cited it in al-Imama wa al-Siyasa.[14] The complete text is also recorded in al-Futuh by Ibn A'tham al-Kufi, composed in the 10th century.

In Nahj al-Balagha, a sermon titled "Laylat al-Harir" is mentioned, but it differs from this sermon.[15] According to Ibn Abi al-Hadid, the commentator of Nahj al-Balagha, that sermon pertains to the day following Laylat al-Harir,[16] while according to Imad al-Din al-Tabari, a 12th-century historian,[17] it relates to the beginning of the Battle of Siffin.

Notes

  1. ↑ Ibn Aʿtham, al-Futūḥ, vol. 3, p. 171.
  2. ↑ Subḥānī, Furūgh-i wilāyat, p. 601.
  3. ↑ Ibn Aʿtham, al-Futūḥ, vol. 3, p. 171.
  4. ↑ Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 2, p. 323.
  5. ↑ Subḥānī, Furūgh-i wilāyat, p. 601.
  6. ↑ Ibn Aʿtham, al-Futūḥ, vol. 3, p. 171.
  7. ↑ Ibn Aʿtham, al-Futūḥ, vol. 3, p. 171.
  8. ↑ Ibn Aʿtham, al-Futūḥ, vol. 3, p. 171.
  9. ↑ Ibn Aʿtham, al-Futūḥ, vol. 3, p. 171.
  10. ↑ Minqarī, Waqʿat Ṣiffīn, p. 476.
  11. ↑ Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 7, p. 261.
  12. ↑ Hilālī, Kitāb Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilālī, vol. 2, p. 807.
  13. ↑ Minqarī, Waqʿat Ṣiffīn, p. 476.
  14. ↑ Dīnawarī, al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa, vol. 1, p. 143.
  15. ↑ Sayyid Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, p. 97.
  16. ↑ Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 5, p. 175.
  17. ↑ Ṭabarī Āmulī, Bishārat al-Muṣṭafā, p. 141.

References

  • Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Ansāb al-ashrāf. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1417 AH.
  • Dīnawarī, Aḥmad b. Dāwūd al-. Al-Imāma wa l-sīyāsa. Edited by ʿAlī Shīrī. 1st edition. Beirut: Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1410 AH.
  • Hilālī, Sulaym b. Qays. Kitāb Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilālī. Edited by Muḥammad Anṣārī Zanjānī. 1st edition. Qom: Al-Hadī, 1405 AH.
  • Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd, ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd b. Hibat Allāh. Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha. Edited by Muḥammad Abu l-faḍl Ibrāhīm. 1st edition. Qom: Maktabat Ayatullāh Marʿashī Najafī, 1404 AH.
  • Ibn Aʿtham, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Al-Futūḥ. Edited by ʿAlī Shīrī. Beirut: Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1411 AH.
  • Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, [n.d].
  • Minqarī, Naṣr b. Muzāhim al-. Waqʿat Ṣiffīn. Edited by ʿAbd al-Salām Muḥammad Hārūn. 2nd edition. Qom: Maktabat Āyatullāh Marʿashī al-Najafī, 1404 AH.
  • Sayyid Raḍī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Nahj al-balāgha. Edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣaliḥ. [n.p]: [n.n], [n.d].
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Furūgh-i Wilāyat: Tārīkh-i taḥlīlī-yi zindigānī-yi Amīr al-Muʾminīn ʿAlī (a). Qom: Muʾassisat al-Imām al-Ṣādiq, 1380 Sh.
  • Ṭabarī Āmulī, ʿImād al-Dīn al-. Bishārat al-Muṣṭafā li Shīʿat al-Murtaḍā. 2nd edition. Najaf: al-Maktaba al-Ḥaydarīyya, 1383 AH.
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