Nahj al-Balagha

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Ali
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Hadith of the pond of Khumm
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Nahj al-Balagha · Qalam-e-Mowla
Zulfiqar · Imam Ali Mosque
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The Nahj al-Balagha (Arabic: نهج البلاغة; Transliteration: Nahj ul-Balāġa, Arabic pronunciation: [nahdʒ ul bælɑːɣa]; "Peak of Eloquence") is the most famous collection of sermons, letters, tafsirs and narrations attributed to Ali (Ali ibn Abi Talib), cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad. It was collected by Sharif Razi, a Shia scholar in the tenth century.[2]

Known for its eloquent content, it is considered a masterpiece of literature in Shi'a Islam, second only to the Qur'an and Prophetic narrations.

Nahj means open way, road, course, method or manner. Balaghah means eloquence, art of good style and communication, rhetoric etc.

Contents

Introduction

Nahj al Balagha is a collection of 241 sermons, 79 letters, and 489 utterances. As per each new publishing versus past volumes, the number of sermons, letters and utterances has varied from 238 to 241, 77 to 79, and 463 to 489, respectively.

The book narrates from Ali on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the creation of the world, the creation of Adam, end of the Universe and the arrival of Imam al-Mahdi.

Authenticity

Since the book is a literary work meant to demonstrate Ali's eloquence, it does not gather all of Ali's sermons. Instead, only segments deemed to possess greater literary value are included. The book also lacks an exact sourcing of this content. As a result, in recent years some researchers have focused their work on finding the exact source of these sermons and letters. Masadir Nahj al-Balagha wa asaniduh written by ‘Abd az-Zahra' al-Husayni al-Khatib introduces some of these.[1] An alternative sourcing of the book's content by Muhammad Baqir al-Mahmudi represents all of ‘Ali's extant speeches, sermons, decrees, epistles, prayers, and sayings that are found in Nahj al-Balagha. Thus, except some aphorisms, the original source of all the content of Nahj al-balaghah has been determined.[2]

The Shi‘a

Part of a series on
Hadith collections
Primary
Sunni collections
Al-Sihah al-Sittah
Shia collections
Al-Kutub Al-Arb'ah (The Four Books)
Sunni collections
Al-Muwatta
Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855)
Sunan al-Darimi (868)
Shamaail Tirmidhi ((9th Century)
Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah (923)
Sahih Ibn Hibbaan (965)
Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain (1014)
Mawdu'at al-Kubra (1128–1217)
Riyadh as-Saaliheen (1233–1278)
Mishkat al-Masabih (1340)
Talkhis al-Mustadrak (1274–1348)
Majma al-Zawa'id (1335–1405)
Bulugh al-Maram (1372–1449)
Kanz al-Ummal (16th century)
Muntakhab Ahadith (20th Century)
Shia collections

Book of Sulaym ibn Qays (7th century)
Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya (678–713)
Wasael ush-Shia (17th century)
Bihar al-Anwar (17th century)
Haqq al-Yaqeen (17th century)
Ain Al-Hayat (17th century)
Sharh Usul al-Kafi (?–1081) -->Qalam-e-Mowla

-->Daim al-Islam
Mu'tazila collections
'Sharh Nahj al-Balagha (?–1258)

The collection is regarded by the Shi‘ah as authentic, although it is not included in their Hadith books. Ibn Abi al-Hadid's (d. 656/1258) commentary and collection, Sharh Nahj al-Balagha, is widely disseminated.

Sunni

Although some Sunni scholars do not regard the book as an authentic work, many scholars and jurists of repute do attest to the authenticity of some sermons included in the book. According to one Shi‘i source,[2] the first person to raise doubts about its attribution to Ali was Ibn Khallikan - A Sunni scholar (d. 1211/1282).

Imam Muhammed Abduh, the late head of Al Azhar (a prominent Sunni institution), wrote a commentary on the book which was published in Egypt.

Sermons

In total Nahj al Balagha has a collection of 245 sermons of Ali.

The following is an incomplete list of summaries on each sermon in the collection.

Ali also describes four main types of people:

    • "Firstly there are those, who abstain from vice, villainy and violence because they are timid and cowards, and have neither means nor enough wealth."
    • "Then there are those, who have drawn their swords, have openly declared their evil intentions and have gathered armies around them." (possibly referring to Muawiyah I)
    • "And there are some, who instead of trying to gain blessings of Allah with sincere good deeds, want to secure a high place in this world with pretense of piety and holiness."
    • "Lastly there are people weak in mind and depraved in character. They can neither create resources, nor can secure assistance from others, and thus find themselves deprived of wealth and social status. ... cover their humility and poverty under the guise of a religious and contended life ...".

Then Ali mentions a fifth group of people:

    • "...there is also an insignificant minority of those pious people, whom the true conception of His Divine Greatness and Might does not allow to be cruel, villainous, and haughty; and whom the fear of the Day of Judgment does not permit to lead a frivolous life."

"By Allah! The Lord will never grant victory to those whom you support (the third Sunni caliph)."

Letters

Nahj al Balagha also contains a collection of 79 letters, including letters to Muawiyah I. The following is a short summary to each letter, relevant quotes have been used out of the original letters.

Sayings

Translations of Nahj al-Balagha

English

French

Romanian

Russian

Spanish

See also

Notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ a b The Glimpses of Nahj al Balaghah Part I - Introduction

External links