Nahj al-balagha (book): Difference between revisions

| name = Nahj al-Balagha

| caption = Nahj al-Balagha

| subject = Sayings of [[Imam Ali (a)]]

| translated_by = Ali Reza

'''''Nahj al-Balāgha''''' (Arabic: نهج البلاغه) is an anthology of sayings and writings of [[Imam Ali (a)]] which have been compiled by [[al-Sayyid al-Radi]] in late 4th century AH (finished in [[400]]/1009-1010). The criteria for selecting the sayings has been the eloquence of speech. The eloquence in this compilation is at such a high level that even though al-Sayyid al-Radi was a great poet and distinguished man of literature and had great works, regarded this compilation an honor for himself.

Throughout the sermons, Imam (a) calls people to obey God's orders and abandon prohibitions and in his letters advises his agents to observe the rights of people. Kalimat al-qisar [short sayings] of ''Nahj al-Balagha'' are a collection of wise sayings stated at the peak of eloquence.

== Al-Sayyid al-Radi's Intention out of Collecting Imam Ali's (a) Words ==

In the introduction of ''Nahj al-Balagha'', al-Sayyid al-Radi wrote:

:"In my early age at the dawn of youth I commenced writing ''[[Khasa'is al-a'imma]]'' on the characteristics of the [[Imams]] covering the account of their virtues and masterpieces of their utterances. The purpose of the compilation was stated by me in the beginning of the book. Therein I completed the portion relating to the account of [[Imam Ali (a)|Amir al-mu'minin]] Ali (peace be upon him) but I could not complete that part concerning the other Imams due to impediments of the time and obstacles of the days. I divided the book into several chapters and sections, in a manner for its last section to comprise whatever had been related to Ali's (a) short utterances such as counsels, maxims arid, proverbs but not long lectures and detailed discourses.

== Naming Nahj al-Balagha ==

:"Nahjul-Balagha, the pathway of rhetoric would be the appropriate title of the book, in that it would open the doors of eloquence for the reader and shorten its approach for him or her, the scholar and the student would meet their needs from it and the rhetoricians as well as the recluse would find their objectives in it. In this book will be found a wonderful discussion on [[Allah]]'s Oneness, Justness and His being free from body and form, that will quench every thirst (for learning), provide a cure for every malady (of unbelief) and remove every doubt."

== Content of Nahj al-Balagha ==

"In my view [[Imam Ali (a)|Amir al-mu'minin]]'s utterances are divisible in three categories;

He then continues, "Within this compilation, some repetition of words or subject matter are to be expected, as the utterances of [[Imam Ali (a)|Amir al-mu'minin]] have been known to be related in numerous forms. Sometimes it happened that a particular utterance was found in a particular form in a tradition and was taken down in that very form. There-after, the same utterance was found in some other tradition either with acceptable addition or in a more attractive style of expression. In such a case with a view to further the object of compilation and to preserve the beautiful utterance from being lost it was decided to repeat it elsewhere. It has also happened that a particular utterance had appeared earlier but due to remoteness it has been entered again. This is through omission, not by intent.

''Nahj al-Balagha'' is an encyclopedia of Islamic culture covering: theology, world of angels, creation of universe, nature of human being, Ummas [people of different times], good governments and oppressing ones. But the most important point is that [[Imam Ali (a)|Imam (a)]] did not want to teach natural sciences, zoology or explaining philosophical or historical points. His intention behind mentioning such issues was the same as the [[Qur'an]] which preaches using any tangible or rational concept which is understandable for their audiences and take them to the destination they need to arrive at, before [[God]] the Almighty.

Where the topic is creation of sky, earth, the sun, the moon, stars and mountains, [[Imam Ali (a)]] teaches that what God has blessed creatures with is mere goodness, but the ungrateful human being do not do justice towards these blessings turns from God toward [[Satan]] and uses divine grace in provoking evil and making mischief. When the topic is telling the story of the people in the past, he (a) teaches people that history is the reflection of what is experienced and the past can be seen it; but who takes heed from it? See the people of the past are gone and laid in the earth; what did they do? Emulate the good they did, and avoid the evil lead them to destruction!

Throughout these counsels, he (a) sometimes looked at his companions and thought about their destiny and suddenly a pile of sadness and grief fell on his heart and that is when he (a) turned his eyes from people back to the past when at the time of [[the Prophet (s)]] and his sincere [[:category:sahabas|Companion]]s, they prioritized their success in religion over worldly advantages through their beliefs in God and the [[Resurrection|Day of Resurrection]]. He (a) would then turn to his audience again and saw that just less than thirty years after those times, what happened that in such a short time, Muslim-like ones sat in the seat of true Muslims? People who forget God and disobeyed their Imam when this world attracted at them. Where did those go who kept their heads up and mention their honor that their relatives were martyred on the way of God? Why do these people who have gathered around me prefer comfort over being martyred on the way of religion and try to pass this religious task over to another? He (a) regarded equality and Muslims' sacrifice in the early Islam when people prioritized others over themselves and tried to keep themselves away from being attracted by worldly wealth. Now why are these people have become treasure keepers and worldly? These and tens of other points comprise the content of [[Imam Ali (a)]]'s sermons.

In this part of the book, a selection of wise sayings of [[Imam Ali (a)]] and his counsels and also the answers to his questions and his short sayings.

{{main|List of Translations of Nahj al-Balagha}}

# translation and commentary in Persian by [[AliNaqi Fayd al-Islam]]

# translation in English by Sayyid Ali Rida

# translation in Urdu by Sayyid Ali Naqi Naqawi

{{Main|List of Commentaries of Nahj al-Balagha}}

# ''Ma'arij Nahj al-balagha'' by Zahir al-Din Abi l-Hasan Ali b. Zayd al-Biyyhaqi (d. 565 AH) by Muhammad Taqi Danish Pazhuh.

# ''A'lam Nahj al-balagha'' by Ali b. Nasir al-Sarakhsi (6th century AH); researched by Aziz Allah al-'Atarudi

# ''Sharh Nahj al-balagha'' by [[Kamal al-Din Maytham b. Ali b. Maytham al-Bahrani]]

# ''Ikhtiyar misbah al-salikin: min kalam mawlana wa imamina Amir al-Mu'minin Ali b. Abi Talib (a)'' (Sharh Nahj al-balagha al-wasit), Maytham b. Ali b. Meytham al-Bahrani researched and written marginal notes by Muhammad Hadi al-Amini

== References of Nahj al-Balagha ==

:"disagreements have been found among people about ''Nahj al-balagha'', compiled of the sayings of [[Imam Ali (a)]]) over whether [[Al-Sharif al-Murtada|al-Sayyid al-Murtada]] compiled it or his brother [[al-Sayyid al-Radi|al-Radi]]; they also say that they are not sayings of Imam Ali (a) or they belong to the one who compiled them; and [[God]] knows better."

:"Al-Sayyid al-Murtada is the compiler of ''Nahj al-balagha'', the words of which are attributed to Imam Ali (a), May God is pleased with him, for which there is no evidence; and some of them are correct and some are false and some are correct, but may they be far from Imam saying such…; some people also say that they have been compiled by his brother al-Radi."

:"In 603/1206-1207, I heard from my teacher Musaddiq b. Shabib al-Wasiti that said, 'I recited this sermon (Shiqshiqiyya sermon ) for Abd Allah b. Ahmad known as Ibn Khashab… then I told him, 'do you consider attribution of this sermon to [[Imam Ali (a)]] false?' He said, 'I swear to God, I believe it is his words like I know you are Musaddiq.' Then I told him, 'many people say this belongs to al-Sayyid al-Radi, God's mercy be with him.' He said, 'al-Radi or anyone else are far from this style of speech! We have seen al-Radi's treatises and we know his style in prose; he has not added anything to this, bad or good.' Then he continued, 'I swear to God, I have seen this sermon in the books written 200 years before al-Sayyid al-Radi was born and I know the handwriting of the author and I know to which of scholars or men of literature it belongs before Abu Ahmad, father of Radi, was born.'"

In addition to above definite answers among commentaries of ''Nahj al-balagha'', such as Ibn Abi l-Hadid's answer, many scholars have tried to write independent books about the references of all sayings of ''Nahj al-Balagha''. These references list Imam Ali's (a) sayings in books before [[al-Sayyid al-Radi]] and [[al-Sayyid al-Murtada]], contemporary with them or after them and this way it has become clear that the mentioned doubts are baseless the same as doubts about the compiler of the sayings, whether it has been al-Sayyid al-Radi or al-Sayyid al-Murtada. Some works which have collected references for ''Nahj al-Balagha'' are listed below:

# ''Istinad Nahj al-Balagha'' by Alikhan 'Arshi, translation and marginal notes by Murteza Ayatullah zadih Shirazi.

== Mustadrakat [Supplements to] Nahj al-Balagha ==

Since ''Nahj al-balagha'' is just a selection of [[Imam Ali (a)]]'s sayings not all of them; therefore, some researchers tried to collect all of them. Such efforts are listed below:

# Tamam Nahj al-balagha mimma awradah al-Sharif al-Radi athar mawlana al-Imam Amir al-Mu'minin Ali b. Abi Talib (a), researched and completed by Sadiq al-Musawi, raised to prove the authenticity of Muhammad 'Assaf's book; referenced and corrected by Farid al-Sayyid.

== Effects of Imam Ali's (a) Sayings in Arabic Literature ==

Arab speakers after first century AH used to read [[Imam Ali (a)]]'s sayings and sentences in order to enrich and decorate their speeches and avoid wrong usages so that their habit of eloquence is formed in their speeches and writings and their words are accepted by everyone. Studying sermons and treatises of Arab men of literature and poets after Islam, a researchers can see that very few of them have not benefited from Imam Ali (a)'s  words.

Abd al-Hamid b. Yahya 'Amiri, murdered in 132/749-750, was the scribe of Marwan b. Muhammad, the last caliph of Marwan rule. They say that writing skill [in Arabic] begins with him. He says that, "I memorized 70 sermons of Aslah ("a person whose front hair is recessed" and he meant Imam Ali (a)) and they flew in my mind like springs one after another."

He quoted some sermon of [[Imam Ali (a)]] in [[al-Bayan wa al-tabyin''.

Before [[al-Sayyid al-Radi]], Jahiz selected 100 sayings of Imam Ali (a) about which later Rashid Watwat and [[Ibn Maytham al-Bahrani]] and others wrote commentaries. He describes these sayings as, "every which of these equals a thousand sayings of most beautiful Arabic sayings." A book called ''Mi'at-u min amthal Ali (a)'' is mentioned among the works of Jahiz which seems to be the one he refers to.

:"I memorized a treasure of speeches, from which whatever I use, they are not decreased, and rather increase and most of what I memorized is a hundred chapters of Ali b. Abi Talib's (a) counsels."

In ''al-Nathr al-fanni'', when Zaki Mubarak talks about the style of Abu Ishaq Sabi (d. 380/990-991), he quotes a phrase of Sabi and writes, "If we compare this phrase with a similar one which [[al-Sharif al-Radi]] quotes from [[Ali (a)]], we see Sabi and al-Sharif al-Radi have both achieved it from the same origin."

About the eloquence of Imam Ali (a), [[Ibn Abi l-Hadid]] says,