بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
اَلْحَمْدُ
لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا اَلْحَمْدُ
لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ
دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ
عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ
عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
ثم
الصلاه و السلام علی محمد عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین
کله و لو کره المشرکون
اوصیکم
عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه.
Sermon of the righteous
We said that “sermon of the
righteous” is the speech from Amir al-Mu minin in Nahj al-Balaghah, which
refers to the characteristics of righteous. This sermon is also known as the
” Himam
Sermon “. Hemam bin Abadeh or Hemam bin Sharih, a follower of Amir
al-Mu minin, that these words are mentioned in response to his request. After
the insistence of Hemam on the expression of the virtues of the pious, after some
prayers and salutations to the Prophet, with reference to the monotheistic
belief, he begins his speech and states:
اَمّا بَعْدُ، فَاِنَّ اللّهَ سُبْحانَهُ وَ تَعالى خَلَقَ الْخَلْقَ
حينَ خَلَقَهُمْ غَنِيّاً عَنْ طاعَتِهِمْ، آمِناً مِنْ مَعْصِيَتِهِمْ، لِأنَّهُ
لاتَضُرُّهُ مَعْصِيَةُ مَنْ عَصاهُ، وَ لاتَنْفَعُهُ طاعَةُ مَنْ اَطاعَهُ. فَقَسَمَ بَيْنَهُمْ مَعايِشَهُمْ، وَ وَضَعَهُمْ مِنَ الدُّنْيا
مَواضِعَهُمْ.
Now then, Allah the
Glorified, the Sublime, created the things of creation. He created them
without any need for their obedience or being safe from their sinning, because
the sin of anyone who sins does not harm Him nor does the obedience of anyone
who obeys Him benefit Him. He has distributed among them their livelihood, and
has assigned them their positions in the world.
In this part, Amir
al-Mu minin refers to three attributes of the Lord s Creation, God s grace, and
God s righteousness, which is not our point of discussion, so we will not enter
to it. Then the Imam Ali entered the discussion of righteous and said:
فَالْمُتَّقُونَ فيها هُمْ اَهْلُ الْفَضائِلِ؛
Thus, the God-fearing, in
it are the people of distinction.
The First
Virtue: speaking the truth and right
مَنْطِقُهُمُ الصَّوابُ،
Their speech is to the
point.
The importance of the
word is so much considered in verses and traditions. They have also spoken a
lot of it in literature like the poem from Nasir al-Din Tusi.
Amir al-Mu minin, in the
words quoted to him, introduces a religous brother who has a high spiritual
status, and he uses the interpretation of “friend of allah” for him.
Nahj al-Balāghah; wisdom 286 .
Nahj al-Balagh s
commentators have identified this person as Abu Zar or Osman ibn Mazoon. Amir
al-Mu minin mentioned the four qualities associated with speaking in the
specifications for this divine brother, saying:
كَانَ أَكْثَرَ دَهْرِهِ صَامِتاً فإِنْ قَالَ بَذَّ الْقَائِلِينَ وَنَقَعَ
غَلِيلَ السَّائِلِينَ،
In Most of his life he
was silent. If he spoke, he would have prevailed over the speakers and would
quench the thirst of the questioners.
كَانَ يقُولُ مَا يَفْعَلُ وَلاَ يَقُولُ مَا لاَ
يَفْعَلُ،
He said something that himself did it and didn’t say
anything that him self wouldn’t done it.
كَانَ إذَا غُلِبَ عَلَى الْكَلاَمِ لَمْ
يُغْلَبْ عَلَى السُّكُوتِ،
If he was defeated in
speaking, in silence, no one would overcome him,
كَانَ عَلَى مَا يَسْمَعُ
أَحْرَصَ مِنْهُ عَلَى أَنْ يَتَكَلَّمَ.
He was greedier to hear
than to say.
Speech and word can have
a very devastating impact on society. Many conflicts and family or social
disputes are due to the word that has been spoken by some people and disrupted
a specific group. The Holy Quran says About Prophet Muhammad:
فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ ۖ
وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لَانفَضُّوا مِنْ حَوْلِكَ ۖ آل
عمران:159
It is by of
grace from God that you were gentle with them. Had you been harsh, hardhearted,
they would have dispersed from around you.
It is not enough to just
say the truth, but it is also important at the right time to speak. As Undesirable lying is, saying truth in inappropriate situation is too
and also has many destructive effects. It has been also mentioned by Rumi in
one of his poems.
Amir al-Muminin says in
the virtues of Ahlul-Bayt:
«إِنْ نَطَقُوا صَدَقُوا، وَإِنْ صَمَتُوا لَمْ يُسْبَقُوا» نهج
البلاغه؛ خطبه154
When they speak they
speak the truth, but when they keep quiet no one can speak unless they speak.
Man must have authority
over himself and to dominate his own self. At the time when speaking would lead
to pride or with being silence no ones right will be violated, man should keep
silence. And at the time when being silecnce would be understood as being
educated and talking would lead to rightfulness, man should talk. The Holy
Prophet is quoted as saying:
لَا يَسْتَقِيمُ إِيمَانُ عَبْدٍ حَتَّى يَسْتَقِيمَ
قَلْبُهُ وَلَا يَسْتَقِيمُ قَلْبُهُ حَتَّى يَسْتَقِيمَ لِسَانُهُ كنز العمّال:
24925
Belief does not come to
anyone until he’s heart came to true, and his heart does not come true until
his speaking is fixed.
Loghman Hakim told his
son:
«يا بني إن كنت زعمت ان الكلام من فضه فإن السكوت من ذهب الكافي ط
– الإسلاميه ، ج 2، ص: 114
My son! If you re
thinking of talking as silver, so silent is real gold.
Many of the sins are
rooted in misguided speech, and there of lot of sins that they relate to
speaking, such as lie, absenteeism, too much talking, and if anyone cares about
his language and words, he will be safe from many sins. Amir al-Mu minin says:
وَلْيَخْزُنِ الرَّجُلُ لِسَانَهُ؛… وَاللَّهِ
مَا أَرَى عَبْداً يَتَّقِي تَقْوَى تَنْفَعُهُ حَتَّى يَخْزُنَ لِسَانَهُ نهج
البلاغه؛ خطبه 176
A man should control his
tongue,… I do not find that fear of Allah benefits a man who practises it
unless he controls his tongue.