SERMON 16
Delivered when allegiance was sworn to him
at Medina
The
responsibility for what I say is guaranteed and I am answerable for it. He
to whom experiences have clearly shown the past exemplary punishments
(given by Allah to peoples) is prevented by piety from falling into
doubts. You should know that the same troubles have returned to you which
existed when the Prophet was first sent.
By Allah
who sent the Prophet with faith and truth you will be severely subverted,
bitterly shaken as in sieving and fully mixed as by spooning in a cooking
pot till your low persons become high and high ones become low, those who
were behind would attain forward positions and those who were forward
would become backward. By Allah, I have not concealed a single word or
spoken any lie and I had been informed of this event and of this time.
Beware
that sins are like unruly horses on whom their riders have been placed and
their reins have been let loose so that they would jump with them in Hell.
Beware that piety is like trained horses on whom the riders have been
placed with the reins in their hands, so that they would take the riders
to Heaven. There is right and wrong and there are followers for each. If
wrong dominates, it has (always) in the past been so, and if truth goes
down that too has often occurred. It seldom happens that a thing that lags
behind comes forward.
ash-Sharif
ar-Radi says: In this small speech there is more beauty than can be
appreciated, and the quantity of amazement aroused by it is more than the
appreciation accorded to it. Despite what we have stated it has so many
aspects of eloquence that cannot be expressed nor can anyone reach its
depth, and no one can understand what I am saying unless one has attained
this art and known its details.
. . . No
one appreciates it except those who know (Qur'an, 29:43)
From the same Sermon
He who has
heaven and hell in his view has no other aim. He who attempts and acts
quickly, succeeds, while the seeker who is slow may also entertain hope,
and he who falls short of action faces destruction in Hell. On right and
left there are misleading paths. Only the middle way is the (right) path
which is the Everlasting Book and the traditions of the Prophet. From it
the sunnah has spread out and towards it is the eventual return.
He who
claims (otherwise) is ruined and he who concocts falsehood is
disappointed. He who opposes(1)
right with his face gets destruction. It is enough ignorance for a man not
to know himself. He who is strong rooted(2)
in piety does not get destruction, and the plantation of a people based on
piety never remains without water. Hide yourselves in your houses and
reform yourselves. Repentance is at your back. One should praise only
Allah and condemn only his own self.
(1).
In some versions after the words "man abda safhatahu lilhaqqi halaka:" the
words "`inda jahalati'n-nas" also occur. In that case the meaning of this
sentence would be that he who stands in face of right dies in the
estimation of the ignorant.
(2).
Piety is the name of heart and mind being affected and impressed by the
Divine Greatness and Glory, as an effect of which the spirit of man
becomes full of fear of Allah, and its inevitable result is that
engrossment in worship and prayer increases. It is impossible that heart
may be full of Divine fear and there be no manifestation of it in actions
and deeds. And since worship and submission reform the heart and nurture
the spirit, purity of heart increases with the increase of worship.
That is why in the Qur'an
"taqwa" (piety) has been applied sometimes to fear, sometimes to worship
and devotion and sometimes to purity of heart and spirit. Thus in the
verse "wa iyyaya fattaqun" (and Me you fear [16:2]) taqwa implies fear, in
the verse, "ittaqu'l-laha haqqa tuqatihi" (worship Allah as He ought to be
worshipped [3:102]), taqwa implies worship and devotion and in the verse
"wa yakhsha'l-laha wa yattaqhi faulaika humu'l-faizun" (24:52) taqwa
implies purity of spirit and cleanliness of heart.
In the traditions taqwa has
been assigned three degrees. The first degree is that a man should follow
the injunctions and keep aloof from prohibitions. The second degree is
that recommended matters should also be followed and disliked things
should be avoided. The third degree is that for fear of falling into
doubts one may abstain from the permissible as well. The first degree is
for the common men, the second for the nobles and the third for high
dignitaries. Allah has referred to these three degrees in the following
verse:
On those who believe and do
good, is no blame for what they ate, (before) when they did guard
themselves and did believe, and did good, still (furthermore) they guard
themselves and do good; and Allah loveth the doers of good. (Qur'an, 5:93)
Amir al-mu'minin says that
only action based on piety is lasting, and only that action will blossom
and bear fruit which is watered by piety because worship is only that
wherein the feeling of submission exists. Thus, Allah says:
Is he therefore better who
hath laid his foundation on fear of Allah and (His) goodwill or he who
layeth his foundation on the brink of a crumbling hollowed bank so it
crumbled down with him into the fire of Hell... (Qur'an, 9:109)
Consequently, every such
belief as is not based on knowledge and conviction is like the edifice,
erected without foundation, wherein there is no stability or firmness
while every action that is without piety is like the plantation which
withers for lack of watering.
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