A sermon of 'Amir al-Mu'minin, Ali AS

‘Amir-ul-Momineen (asws) gave a sermon’. (And someone else has also reported it without the above chain and mentioned that he (asws) gave the sermon as Zeeqaar). So he (asws) Praised Allah (azwj) and Extolled Him (azwj), then said: ‘Having said that, Allah (azwj) Blessed and High Sent Muhammad (saww) to take His (azwj) servants out from worshipping His (azwj) servants to worship Him (azwj), and from the covenants of His (azwj) servants to His (azwj) Covenant, and from obedience to His (azwj) servants to be in obedience to Him (azwj), and from the Wilayah of His (azwj) servants to His (azwj) Wilayah by good news and warnings. And he (saww) called to Allah (azwj) by His (azwj) Permission, and was an illuminating lamp, promising, and beginning, and excusing, and warning by the Judgements that he (saww) had decided, and decided what he (saww) had judged, and a Criterion which differentiated, and a Quran which Proved Him (azwj), so the servants would come to know their Lord (azwj) which they were ignorant of, and accept by it which they struggled against, and Establish Him (azwj) after having denied Him (azwj). So He (azwj) illustrated to them His (azwj) Glory in His (azwj) Book without them having seen Him (azwj). So he (azwj) Showed them His (azwj) Forbearance, how He (azwj) Forbears, and Showed them His (azwj) Forgiveness how He (azwj) Forgives, and Showed them His (azwj) Power and how Powerful He (azwj) is, and Frightened them from His (azwj) Authority, and how He (azwj) Created what He (azwj) Created from the Signs, and how He (azwj) Destroys the one whom He (azwj) Destroys from the disobeyers by the examples. And how he (azwj) Repelled the one whom He (azwj) repelled by the Torments, and how he (azwj) Sustained and Guided, and Granted, and Showed them His (azwj) Wisdom how Wise He (azwj) is, and Patient until they heard what they heard and saw. So Allah (azwj) Sent Muhammad (saww) with that. Then there will come upon you, from after me (asws) an era, and there will be nothing in that era which will be more hidden than the truth, nor anything more apparent than the falsehood, and nothing more numerous than the lies against Allah (azwj) the High and His (azwj) Messenger (saww). And there will be nothing in that era which will be more worthless than the Book when it is recited as it deserves to be recited, nor anything more worthy of selling and expensive in price than the Book if it is altered from its places. And there will be nothing in the servants nor in the cities anything which is more prevented than the good nor anything more recognised than the evil. And there will be nothing considered to be more immoral and evil, and no worse penalty than for the guidance in the presence of misguidance. During that era, those who bear the Book will be rejected and the memorizers will forget to the extent that they will interpret it in accordance with their own desires, and they would have inherited that from their forefathers, and they will act with alterations in the Book, lying and rejecting. So they will sell it for a cheap price, and they would be from the ascetics. So the Book and the People of the Book during that era would be two castaway fugitives, and two accompanying companions in one road not finding any protector or shelter. They are both good for each other and Whom (azwj) they work for. So the Book and the People of the Book during that era would be in the people but not be among (part of) them, and will be with them but still not be with them, and that is because the misguidance is not in harmony with the guidance. And if they meet, and the people would have met upon the sectarianism, and would separate from the group. They would give the rule of the matters of their Religion to the one who acts with regards to them by plotting, and the evil, and the bribery, and the murder, as if they are the imams (leaders) of the Book then the Book is not their imam (leading them). There will not remain in their possession from the truth except for its name, and they will not recognise anything from the Book except for its calligraphy and design. The entering one will enter (the religion) when he hears for the Judgements of the Quran, but he will not be satisfied in gatherings until he exits from the Religion. He will transfer from a Religion of a king to a Religion of a king, and from the wilayah of a king to a wilayah of a king, and from obedience of a king to the obedience of a king, and from the covenant of a king to a covenant of a king. So Allah (azwj) Lures them away from where they do not know, with good expectations and the hope until they give birth in the disobedience, and they make a religion with the tyranny, and the Book did not benefit them anything, and they will be wandering and straying, for they would have made a religion without the Religion of Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic, and for the sake of other than Allah (azwj). Their Masjid during that era would be constructed from misguidance, ruination of guidance. So its reciters and its builders would be the most failed ones among the creatures of Allah (azwj) and His (azwj) creatures. It is from their presence that misguidance would flow and return back to them. Thus, presence in their Masjids, and walking towards them would be blasphemy (Kufr) with Allah (azwj) the Magnificent, except for the one who walks towards it while being aware of their misguidance. Therefore, due to their actions upon that way, their Masjids would have become ruination of the guidance, and well-built in the misguidance, for the Sunnah of Allah (azwj) would have been changed, and His (azwj) Limits transgressed against. They will not be calling to the guidance, nor distribution the booty (Al-Fey), nor fulfilling the responsibilities. They will be calling the one from among them who would be killed upon that as a martyr, thus forging a lie against Allah (azwj), and the struggle, and they would be needless from the knowledge due to their ignorance, and from before they mutilated the righteous ones with every mutilation, and named their truthfulness to Allah (azwj) as libel, and apply the punishment for the sins to the good deeds. And Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic has Sent to you all a Messenger (saww) from yourselves. It grieves him (saww) to see you suffering, and he (saww) is kind and merciful to the Believers. And He (azwj) Revealed upon him (saww) a Mighty Book. “[41:42] Falsehood shall not come to it from before it nor from behind it; a revelation from the Wise, the Praised One” “[39:28] An Arabic Quran without any crookedness, that they may guard (against evil)” “[36:70] That it may warn him who would have life, and (that) the word may prove true against the unbelievers”. So do not let your hopes to distract you, nor consider the term (of life) to be prolonged, for the ones before you were destroyed for having long hopes against their approaching deadline until the Promised time (of death) descended upon them, and repulsed from them the excuses, and raised from them the repentance, and brought with it the calamity and the resentment. And Allah (azwj) has Preached to you with the Promise, and Made Decisive for you the speech, and Taught you the Sunnah, and Explained for you the Program to remove the illness, and Urged upon the Remembrance, and Evidence to the Salvation. And the one who act for the sake of Allah (azwj) and take His (azwj) Words as Evidence, would be Guided until he is strong, and Made to understand the right way, and Guided and facilitated to the good. So the one under the Protection of Allah (azwj) is safely preserved, and His (azwj) enemies would be in fearful and pretentious. So be cautious of Allah (azwj) through the frequency of the Remembrance, and be fearful from Him (azwj) by the piety, and get closer to Him (azwj) by the obedience, for He (azwj) is Close by and Answers. Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic Said: “[2:186] And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way”. So you must respond to Allah (azwj) and believe in Him (azwj), and Magnify Allah (azwj). It does not befit one who recognises the Greatness of Allah (azwj) to consider himself as significant. So the highest of the recognition of the Greatness of Allah (azwj) is being modest to Him (azwj), and the highest honour of the one who knows the Majesty of Allah (azwj) is to be humble to Him (azwj), and the most secure is the one who knows the Power of Allah (azwj) and submits to Him (azwj). So you will not be denying yourselves after the Guidance of the understanding, nor will you be going astray after the Guidance. So do not flee from the truth like the fleeing of the healthy ones from the one with the scabies, and the healthy ones from the sick. And know that you will never recognise the guidance until you recognise the ones who have left it, and will never take to the Covenant of the Book until you recognise the ones who broke it, and will never attach yourselves to it until you recognise the ones who have abandoned it, and will never be able to recite the Book as it deserves to be recited until you recognise the ones who altered it, and will never recognise the misguidance until you recognise the Guidance, and will never recognise the piety until you recognise the ones who abused it. So when you recognise that, you will recognise the innovations, and the impersonations, and you will see the fabrications against Allah (azwj) and against His (azwj) Messenger (saww), and the alterations to His (azwj) book, and you will see how Allah (azwj) Guided the one whom He (azwj) Guided. So do not let those who have no knowledge keep you ignorant. The Knowledge of the Quran cannot be known as to what it is except by the one (asws) who has tasted its food. So it was by the knowledge that his ignorance got to know, and his blindness got to visualise, and his deafness got to hear, and gained awareness of what knowledge had passed by and got revived by it after its death. And he established the good deeds in the Presence of Allah (azwj) and deleted the sins by it. And it was by it (knowledge) that he realised the Pleasure from Allah (azwj) Blessed and High. So, seek that from its special people, for they (asws) are the specialists, lights to be illuminated by, and the Imams (asws) to be followed. And they (asws) are the life for the knowledge and death for the ignorance. They (asws) are the ones (asws) whose Judgements inform you of their (asws) knowledge, and their (asws) silence about their (asws) speech, and their (asws) apparent about their (asws) hidden. They (asws) do not oppose the religion nor do they (asws) differ with regards to it. For it (knowledge) is a truthful witness between them (asws), and a silent speaker. It is from their (asws) glories to testify to the truth, and to be truthful reporters, neither opposing the truth nor differing with regards to it. The Precedence is for them (asws) from Allah (azwj), and Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic has Passed a Truthful Judgement for them (asws). And in that is a reminder for the speakers. So bear in mind the truth if you hear it with a caring mind and not with a narrative mind, for the narrators of the Book are many, and its guardians are few. And Allah (azwj) is the Best Supporter’.