Nahj al-balagha (book): Difference between revisions

{{unreferenced}}

:The object of this compilation is to bring forth Amir almu'minin's greatness and superiority in the art of rhetorics, in addition to his countless qualities and innumerable distinctions, and to show that he had risen to the highest pinnacle of this attainment; was singular among all those predecessors whose utterances are quoted here and there, whereas his own utterances are such an on-rushing stream that its flow cannot be encountered and such a treasure of delicacies that cannot be matched."

"Nahj" means "clear path". Therefore, Nahj al-balagha means the "clear path of eloquence". In the preface of the book, [[al-Sayyid al-Radi]] said:

:"Nahj al-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."

[[Shaykh Muhammad 'Abduh]], the previous Mufti of [[Egypt]] who is a [[Sunni]] scholar wrote in the introduction to his commentary on ''Nahj al-balagha'' that, "I do not know a name which better addresses the meaning than this name. It is not in my competence to describe this book more than what this name suggest…"

In spite of all this I do not claim that I have collected Amir al-mu'minin's utterances from all sources and that no single sentence of any type or construction has been left out. In fact I do not rule out the possibility that whatever has been left out might be more than what has been collected, and what has been in any knowledge and use is far less than what has remained beyond my reach. My task was to strive to the best of my capacity and it was [[Allah]]'s part to make the way easy and guide me to the goal; Allah may will so."

Therefore, ''Nahj al-balagha'' is divided in three parts: sermons, letters and maxims. Regarding the differences between scribes in numbering these parts, there is a slight disagreement in the number of items in these parts. According to the numbering in ''[[al-Mu'jam al-mufahras li alfaz Nahj al-balagha]]'', the number of sermons is 241, letters 79 and maxims 480. The table for comparing different versions is available at the end of the book.

''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.

Letters are mostly orders to rulers about: how to treat with people and how to guard people's treasure; and that how in their expenses, they observe the benefits of the society. However, the content of these letters is not the orders of the ruler of half of the world at that time to his agents; rather it is letters of a kind, old and experienced father who teaches his young children how to fight problems in their lives.

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.

# ''Nahj al-balagha'', sharh [[Muhammad 'Abduh]] (1849 – 1905), researches supervised and written by Abd al-Aziz Sayyid al-Ahl