Creation of Universe

Age of Ignorance, Household of Muhammad, hypocrites

Shaqshaqiya (literally, "roar of the camel"), in which Alī lays out his claim to the caliphate and his superiority over his predecessors

His far-sightedness and his steadfastness in Islam

When Abbas and Abu Sufyan offered to pay allegiance to him for the caliphate after Muhammad''s death

On being advised not to chase Talha and Zubayr for fighting

The hypocrites

About Zubayr at a time for which it was appropriate

Cowardice of his enemies in the Battle of the Camel

Talha and Zubayr

When he gave the standard of the Battle of the Camel to his son Mohammad

When, after his victory in the Battle of the Camel, one of his comrades said, "I wish my brother had been present and he too would have seen what success and victory God had given you"

Condemning the people of Basra

Also in condemnation of the people of Basra

After resuming the land grants made by Uthman

Delivered when the people of Madina swore allegiance to him

About those who sit for dispensation of justice among people but are not fit for it

In disparagement of contradictory views among Muslim jurists

Treachery and hypocrisy of al-Ashath al-Kindi

Death and taking lessons from it

Advice to keep light in this world

About those who accused him of killing Uthman

Keeping aloof from envy, and good behavior towards kin

Exhorting people for jihad

When his men were overpowered by Muawiya''s men

People after Muhammad''s death, the settlement between Muawiya and Amr ibn al-As

The transient nature of this world and importance of the next world

About those who found pretexts at the time of jihad

In connection with Uthman''s killing

Before the Battle of the Camel, he sent Ibn Abbas to Zubayr to advise him back to obedience

Disparagement of the world and categories of people

At the time of setting for the Battle of the Camel

Exhorting people to fight against the people of Syria

After arbitration

Warning the people of Nahrawan of their fate

His steadfastness and precedence in Islam

In disparagement of those in doubt

In disparagement of those who shrink from fighting

In response to the slogan of Kharijites: "Judgment belongs to God alone"

In condemnation of treason

Heart''s desires and hopes

In response to a suggestion of war

When Masqala defected to Syria

The greatness of God and the lowliness of this world

When he decided to march towards Syria

Calamities befalling Kufa

At the time of marching towards Syria

God''s greatness and sublimity

Admixture of right and wrong

When his men were prevented from taking water from the River Euphrates

Reward and punishment in the next world

On the description of the Day of Sacrifice

On the swear of allegiance

When his men showed impatience on his delay in giving them permission to fight in Siffin

Steadiness on the battlefield

Muawiya swallows whatever he gets and craves for what he does not get

Addressing the Kharijites

When he was told that the Kharijites had crossed the bridge of Nahrawan

When he was told that the Kharijites had been totally annihilated

Do not fight the Kharijites after me!

When he was warned of being killed by deceit

Transience of this world

Decline and destruction of this world

Attributes of God

Ways of fighting

On hearing the account of what took place in Saqifah of Bani-Sa''ida

When Mohammad ibn Abi Bakr, governor of Egypt, was overpowered and killed

Admonishing his companions for careless behavior

In the morning of the day he was fatally struck with a sword

In condemnation of the people of Iraq

Praise for Muhammad

When Hasan and Husayn interceded on behalf of Marwan

When the elective committee (or shura) decided to swear allegiance to Uthman

When he learned that the Umayyads blamed him for killing Uthman

Preaching and counseling

Banu Umayyad

One of his supplications

Prophecy of astrologers

Shortcomings of women

Way of preaching and counseling

World and its people

Al-Gharra (literally, "the brilliant"), in which Ali enjoined people to piety

Amr ibn al-As

Perfection of God and counseling

Preparing for the hereafter by following God''s commandments

Faithful and unfaithful believers

Factions of community

Holy Prophet

God''s attributes and some advice

Al-Ashbaah (literally, "the skeletons"), in which Ali talked about the creation of the universe

When people decided to swear allegiance to him after the murder of Uthman

Annihilation of the Kharijites, mischief mongering of the Umayyads, vastness of his own knowledge

God''s praise and eulogy of the prophets

Age of Ignorance and Muhammad''s efforts to disseminate God''s message

In eulogy of Muhammad

Admonishing his companions

Oppression of the Umayyads

Abstinence of the world and vicissitudes of time

Muhammad and his descendants

ومن خطبة له (عليه السلام) في التنفير من الدنيا

Transience of the world and the helplessness of those in graves

دَارٌ بِالْبَلاَءِ مَحْفُوفَةٌ، وَبِالْغَدْرِ مَعْرُوفَةٌ، لاَ تَدُومُ أَحْوَالُهَا، وَلاَ يَسْلَمُ نُزَّالُهَا. أَحْوَالٌ مُخْتَلِفَةٌ، وَتَارَاتٌ مُتَصَرِّفَةٌ، الْعَيْشُ فِيهَا مَذْمُومٌ، وَالاْمَانُ مِنْهَا مَعْدُومٌ، وَإِنَّمَا أَهْلُهَا فِيهَا أَغْرَاضٌ مُسْتهْدَفَةٌ، تَرْمِيهِمْ بِسِهَامِهَا، وَتُفْنِيهِمْ بِحِمَامِهَا.

This is a house surrounded by calamities and well-known for deceitfulness. Its conditions do not last and those who inhabit it do not remain safe. Its conditions are variable and its ways changing. Life in it is blameworthy and safety in it is non-existent. Yet its people are targets; it strikes them with its arrows and destroys them through death.

وَاعْلَمُوا عِبَادَ اللهِ أَنَّكُم وَمَا أَنْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ هذِهِ الدُّنْيَا عَلَى سَبِيلِ مَنْ قَدْ مَضَى قَبْلَكُمْ، مِمَّنْ كَانَ أَطْوَلَ مِنْكُمْ أَعْمَاراً، وَأَعْمَرَ دِيَاراً، وَأَبْعَدَ آثَاراً، أَصْبَحَتْ أَصْوَاتُهُمْ هَامِدَةً، وَرِيَاحُهُمْ رَاكِدَةً، وَأَجْسَادُهُمْ بِالِيَةً، وَدِيَارُهُمْ خَالِيَةً، وَآثَارُهُمْ عَافِيَةً،

Know, O creatures of Allāh, that, certainly, you and all the things of this world that you have are (treading) on the lines of those (who were) before you. They were of longer ages, had more populated houses and were of more lasting traces. Their voices have become silent, their movements have become stationary, their bodies have become rotten, their houses have become empty and their traces have been obliterated.

فَاسْتَبْدَلُوا بِالْقُصُورِ الْمُشَيَّدَةِ، وَالـنَّمارِقِ الْمُمَهَّدَةِ، الصُّخُورَ وَالاْحْجَارَ الْمُسَنَّدَةَ، وَالْقُبُورَ اللاَّطِئَةَ الْمُلْحَدَةَ، الَّتي قَدْ بُنِيَ عَلَى الْخَرَابِ فِنَاؤُهَا، وَشُيِّدَ بِالتُّرَابِ بِنَاؤُهَا، فَمَحَلُّهَا مُقْتَرِبٌ، وَسَاكِنُهَا مُغْتَرِبٌ، بَيْنَ أَهْلِ مَحَلَّة مُوحِشِينَ، وَأهْلِ فَرَاغ مُتَشَاغِلِينَ، لاَيَسْتَأْنِسُونَ بِالاْوْطَانِ، وَلاَ يَتَوَاصَلُونَ تَوَاصُلَ الْجِيْرَانِ، عَلَى مَا بَيْنَهُمْ مِنْ قُرْبِ الْجِوَارِ، وَدُنُوِّ الدَّارِ، وَكَيْفَ يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُمْ تَزَاوُرٌ، وَقَدْ طَحَنَهُمْ بِكَلْكَلِهِ الْبِلَى، وَأَكَلَتْهُمُ الْجَنَادِلُ وَالثَّرَى؟

Their magnificent places and spread-out carpets were changed to stones, laid-in-blocks and cave-like dug out graves whose very foundation is based on ruins and whose construction has been made with soil. Their positions are contiguous, but those settled in them are like far flung strangers. They are among the people of their area but feel lonely, and they are free from work but still engaged (in activity). They feel no attachment with homelands nor do they keep contact among themselves like neighbours despite nearness of neighbourhood and priority of abodes. And how can they meet each other when decay has ground them with its chest, and stones and earth have eaten them.

وَكَأَنْ قَدْ صِرْتُمْ إِلَى مَا صَاروا إِلَيْهِ، وَارْتَهَنَكُمْ ذلِكَ الْمَضْجَعُ، وَضَمَّكُمْ ذلِكَ الْمُسْتَوْدَعُ، فَكَيْفَ بِكُمْ لَوْ تَنَاهَتْ بِكُمُ الاْمُورُ، وبُعْثِرَتِ الْقُبُورُ؟ ﴿هُنَالِكَ تَبْلُو كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا أَسْلَفَتْ ۚ وَرُدُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ مَوْلَاهُمُ الْحَقِّ ۖ وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ﴾

It is as though you too have gone where they have gone, the same sleeping place has caught you and the same place has detained you. What will then be your position when your affairs reach their end and graves are turned upside down (to throw out the dead)? “There shall every soul realise what it hath sent before, and they shall be brought back to Allāh, their true Lord, and what they did fabricate (the false deities) will vanish (away) from them.” (Qur’ān, 10:30)

Extrait d’un discour où il enseigne l’aversion du monde

Le monde est une demeure entourée de malheurs et connue par la tromperie. Il est éphémère et ceux qui y séjournent ne sont pas en sécurité. Ses états sont changeants et ses conditions permutantes. La vie mondaine est blâmable et sa sécurité est nulle. Ceux qui vivent sont les cibles des malheurs et de la mort.

Sachez, adorateurs de Dieu, que votre vie en ce monde s’écoule comme celle de vos devanciers dont l’espérance de vie était plus longue, les demeures plus florissantes et les vestiges plus importants. Leurs voix sont devenues silencieuses, leurs actions et mouvements paralysés, leurs corps consumés, leurs habitations vides et leurs vestiges effacés.

Ils ont substitué les roches, les pierres soutenues et les tombes aux palais érigés et aux tapis. Les parvis de ces tombes ne sont que ruines et leurs murs ne sont que de la terre. Celui qui les habite se sent étranger parmi des gens solitaires qui n’ont plus de rapports ni entre eux, ni avec les vivants, malgré leur proximité et leur voisinage. Comment peuvent-ils se visiter les uns les autres alors que l’anéantissement les a écrasés et les pierres et les poussières les ont ingérés ?

C’est comme si vous étiez dans le même cas qu’eux, comme si vous couchiez comme eux sur le côté du réceptacle qu’est la tombe : «Là, chaque âme éprouvera (les conséquences de) ce qu’elle a précédemment accompli. Et ils seront ramenés vers Allah leur vrai Maître; et leurs inventions (idoles) s’éloigneront d’eux» (10,30).

Nahj al-Balāgha

Book 1, Chapter 226