SERMON 147
The purpose of the deputation of the Holy
Prophet and the condition of the time when people would go against the
Qur'an
Allah deputed Muhammad
(p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) with Truth so that he may take out His people from the
worship of idols towards His worship and from obeying Satan towards
obeying Him and sent him with the Qur'an which He explained and made
strong, in order that the people may know their sustainer (Allah) since
they were ignorant of Him, may acknowledge Him since they were denying
Him, and accept Him since they were refusing (to believe in) Him.
Because He, the Glorified,
revealed Himself to them through His Book without their having seen Him,
by means of what He showed them out of His might and made them fear His
sway. How He destroyed those whom He wished to destroy through His
chastisement and ruined those whom He wished to ruin through His
retribution!
On the future
Certainly, a time will come
upon you after me when nothing will be more concealed than rightfulness,
nothing more apparent than wrongfulness and nothing more current than
untruth against Allah and His Prophet. For the people of this period
nothing will be more valueless than the Qur'an being recited as it ought
to be recited, nor anything more valuable than the Qur'an being misplaced
from its position. And in the towns nothing will be more hated than
virtue, nor anything more acceptable than vice.
The holders of the book will
throw it away and its memorisers would forget it. In these days the Qur'an
and its people will be exiled and expelled. They will be companions
keeping together on one path, but no one will offer them asylum.
Consequently at this time the Qur'an and its people will be among the
people but not among them, will be with them but not with them, because
misguidance cannot accord with guidance even though they may be together.
The people will have united
on division and will therefore have cut away from the community, as though
they were the leaders of the Qur'an and not the Qur'an their leader.
Nothing of it will be left with them except its name, and they will know
nothing save its writing and its words. Before that, they will inflict
hardships on the virtuous, naming the latter's truthful views about Allah
false allegations, and enforcing for virtues the punishment of the vice.
Those before you passed away because of the
lengthening of their desires and the forgetting of their death, till that
promised event befell them about which excuses are turned down, repentance
is denied and punishment and retribution is inflicted.
About Ahlu'l-bayt
O' people, he who seeks
counsel from Allah secures guidance and he who adopts His word as guide is
led towards what is more straight, because Allah's lover feels secure and
His opponent feels afraid.
It does not behove one who
knows His greatness to assume greatness, but the greatness of those who
know His greatness is that they should know before Him, and the safety for
those who know what His power is lies in submitting to Him. Do not be
scared away from the truth like the scaring of the healthy from the
scabbed person, or the sound person from the sick.
You should know that you
will never know guidance unless you know who has abandoned it, you will
never abide by the pledges of the Qur'an unless you know who has broken
them, and will never cling to it unless you know who has forsaken it. Seek
these things from those who own them because they are the life spring of
knowledge and death of ignorance.
They are the people whose
commands will disclose to you their (extent of) knowledge, their silence
will disclose their (capacity of) speaking and their outer appearance will
disclose their inner self. They do not go against religion, and do not
differ from one other about it, while it is among them a truthful witness
and a silent speaker.
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