gt8145a@prism.gatech.edu (FADEL,AYMAN HOSSAM) (04/11/91)
What follows is my poor translation of some portions of nahj al-balaagha, a book of sayings, speeches and writings attributed to `ali ibn abi Talib, radiy allahu `anh. The edition i'm using is that of daar al-andalus from Beirut (undated.) p. 87. "So let the world be in your eyes smaller than (huthaalat al-qaraZ) and (quraaDat al-jalam). Take admonishment from those who were before you before those who come after you take admonishment from you. Reject the world and think lowly of it, for it has rejected before you those who were more enamored with it than you are." p. 134 "O people, asceticism is being of little hope (qiSar al-amal), being thankful when receiving blessings, and shuddering at the impermissible. If that is impossible for you, then don't let the impermissible overwhelm your steadfastness and don't forget to thank God when you receive blessings. For God has by sending you clear, brilliant proofs and outstanding, clear books denied you the right to make excuses [on the day of judgement.] p. 135. "How can I describe an abode the beginning of which is tribulation and the end of which is nothingness? You are taken to account for its permissible things, and you are punished for its forbidden things. Whoever is poor in it becomes sad, and it slips out of the hands of whoever chases it. It provides ease to whoever sits removed from it. It makes see he who looks at it, but blinds he who looks towards it. (wa man 'abSara bihaa baSSarathu wa man 'abSara ilaihaa 'a`mathu) p. 191 "O servants of God, I enjoin upon you the rejection of this world which will reject you, even if you don't wish to leave it. I enjoin upon you the rejection of this world which will disintegrate your bodies, even if you should hope that they would be renewed. You are like a group of travellers travelling down a path. They near the end and are going towards their goal. Then they reach it. And how many a runner to a goal has wished to reach it until he finally does! Permanence is not possible for him who has a day past which he cannot cross and for him whom the relentless pursuit of death follows and traps. So don't compete with each other for the glory of the world and its pride. Don't be impressed with its bounties and don't dwell on its disasters and calamities. For its glory and pride will be cut off; its beauty and bounties will end; its disasters and calamities will come to naught; every time period in it will find its last; and every living thing in it will pass. Do you not find in the ruins of the ancients a lesson? Do you not find in what befell your forefathers enlightenment and something from which you should take heed? Do you not see that those among you who passed away do not come back? Do you not see that the ones who stayed do not stay for long? Do you not see that the people of the world wake up and go to sleep in multiple states: a dead man, over whom people cry, or another the relatives of whom people console, or a wounded sufferer, or (`aa'id ya`uud= a returner? --please help), or another who has realized the imminence of death and has begun to make light of his own self, or the one who pursues the world while death pursues him, or the one is oblivious but not all are oblivious to him (maghfuulin wa laakin ghairi maghfuulin `anh). You can rest assured that the future will be like the past. So remember the destroyer of sensual pleasures, the crusher of vain desires and the cutter of wishes when you are trapped in despicable deeds. Seek God's help in fulfilling His rights upon you, for His acts of bounty and kindness upon you cannot be counted. p. 197 "May God have mercy on a man who ponders and then takes heed and then sees. Because whatever exists now in the world will shortly cease to exist, and whatever exists in the hereafter will shortly not cease to exist. Anything that can be sensed is fated to pass. (kullu ma`duudin munqaDin) Everything that can be expected will come, and everything that comes is near and close. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The transcriber of these words is terribly far from acting upon them. wassalaam, ayman