Nahj al-Balāgha

٣١٣. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): وَفِي الْقرْآنِ نَبَأُ مَا قَبْلَكُمْ، وَخَبَرُ مَا بَعْدَكُمْ، وَحُكْمُ مَا بَيْنَكُمْ.

313. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: The Qur’ān contains news about the past, foretellings about the future and commandments for the present.

٣١٥. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام) لِكَاتِبِهِ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِى رَافِعٍ: أَلِقْ دَوَاتَكَ وَأَطِلْ جِلْفَةَ قَلَمِكَ وَفَرِّجْ بَيْنَ السُّطُورِ وَقَرْمِطْ بَيْنَ الْحُرُوفِ فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَجْدَرُ بِصَبَاحَةِ الْخَطِّ.

315. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said to his secretary ‘Ubaydullāh ibn Abī Rāfi‘: Put cotton flake in the ink-pot, keep the nib of your pen long, leave space between lines and close up the letters because this is good for the beauty of the writing.

٣١٧. وَقَالَ لَهُ بَعْضُ الْيَهُودِ: مَا دَفَنْتُمْ نَبِيَّكُمْ حَتَّى اخْتَلَفْتُمْ فِيهِ. فَقَالَ (عليه السلام) لَهُ: إِنَّمَا اخْتَلَفْنَا عَنْهُ لَا فِيهِ وَلَكِنَّكُمْ مَا جَفَّتْ أَرْجُلُكُمْ مِنَ الْبَحْرِ حَتَّى قُلْتُمْ لِنَبِيِّكُمْ ﴿اجْعَل لَّنَا إِلَـٰهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ ۚ قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ﴾.

317. Some Jews said to Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him: You had not buried your Prophet when you picked up differences about him, when Amīr al-mu’minīn replied: We did not differ about him but we differed after him (i.e. about his succession); whereas you had not dried up your feet after coming out of the river (Nile) when you began asking your Prophet: Make you for us a god as they have gods of their own. Said he: ‘Verily you are a people behaving ignorantly.’ (Qur’ān, 7:138) [1]

٣١٨. وَقِيلَ لَهُ (عليه ‏السلام): بِأَيِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ غَلَبْتَ الْأَقْرَانَ، فَقَالَ (عليه السلام): مَا لَقِيتُ رَجُلًا إِلَّا أَعَانَنِى عَلَى نَفْسِهِ.

318. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, was asked: With what did you overpower your adversaries? He answered: Whenever I confronted a person he helped me against himself.

قال السيد الرضي: يومئ بذلك إلى تمكن هيبته فى القلوب.

as-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: Amīr al-mu’minīn is pointing out his striking of awe in the hearts. [1]

٣٢٠. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام) لِسَائِلٍ سَأَلَهُ عَنْ مُعْضِلَةٍ: سَلْ تَفَقُّهاً وَلَا تَسْأَلْ تَعَنُّتاً فَإِنَّ الْجَاهِلَ الْمُتَعَلِّمَ شَبِيهٌ بِالْعَالِمِ وَإِنَّ الْعَالِمَ الْمُتَعَسِّفَ شَبِيهٌ بِالْجَاهِلِ الْمُتَعَنِّتِ.

320. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, replied to a man who had asked him a difficult question: Ask me for understanding but do not ask me for confusion, because the ignorant person who tries to learn is like the learned man, but the learned man who tries to create confusion is like the ignorant.

٣٢٢. وَرُوِيَ أَنَّهُ (عليه السلام) لَمَّا وَرَدَ الْكُوفَةَ قَادِماً مِنْ صِفِّينَ مَرَّ بِالشِّبَامِيِّينَ فَسَمِعَ بُكَاءَ النِّسَاءِ عَلَى قَتْلَى صِفِّينَ، وَخَرَجَ إِلَيْهِ حَرْبُ بْنُ شُرَحْبِيلَ الشِّبَامِيِّ، وَكَانَ مِنْ وُجُوهِ قَوْمِهِ. فَقَالَ (عليه السلام): لَهُ أَ تَغْلِبُكُمْ نِسَاؤُكُمْ عَلَى مَا أسْمَعُ؟ أَ لَا تَنْهَوْنَهُنَّ عَنْ هذَا الرَّنِينِ،

322. When Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, returned to Kūfah from Ṣiffīn he passed by the residences of the Shibāmites (who belonged to the tribe of Shibām) and heard the women weeping over those killed in Ṣiffīn. At that time a Shibāmite, Ḥarb ibn Shuraḥbil ash-Shibāmi, who was one of the nobles of those people, came to him, and Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said to him: Do your women have control over you as regards the weeping that I hear? Do you not refrain them from this crying?

وَأَقْبَلَ حَرْبٌ يَمْشِي مَعَهُ، وَهُوَ (عليه السلام) رَاكِبٌ. فَقَالَ (عليه السلام) لَهُ: ارْجِعْ، فَإِنَّ مَشْيَ مِثْلِكَ مَعَ مِثْلِي فِتْنَةٌ لِلْوَالِي، وَمَذَلَّةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِ.

Ḥarb began to walk with him while Amīr al-mu’minīn was on horseback, so Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said to him: Get back because the walking of a man like you with one like me is mischief for the ruler and disgrace for the believer.

٣٢٤. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): اتَّقُوا مَعَاصِيَ اللهِ فِي الْخَلَوَاتِ، فَإِنَّ الشَّاهِدَ هُوَ الْحَاكِمُ.

324. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: Beware of disobeying Allāh in solitude, because the witness (of that situation) is also the judge.

٣٢٥. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام) لَمَّا بَلَغَهُ قَتْلُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ: إِنَّ حُزْنَنَا عَلَيْهِ عَلَى قَدْرِ سُرُورِهِمْ بِهِ، إِلَّا أَنَّهُمْ نَقَصُوا بَغِيضاً، وَنَقَصْنَا حَبِيباً.

325. When the news of killing of Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr [1] reached Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, he said: Our grief over him is as great as their (i.e. the enemy’s) joy for it, except that they have lost an enemy and we have lost a friend.