[وفيها حال الناس قبل البعثة وصفة آل النبي ثمّ صفة قوم آخرين]
أحْمَدُهُ اسْتِتْماماً لِنِعْمَتِهِ، وَاسْتِسْلاَماً لِعِزَّتِهِ، واسْتِعْصَاماً مِنْ مَعْصِيَتِهِ، وَأَسْتَعِينُهُ فَاقَةً إِلى كِفَايَتِهِ، إِنَّهُ لاَ يَضِلُّ مَنْ هَدَاهُ، وَلا يَئِلُ مَنْ عَادَاهُ، وَلا يَفْتَقِرُ مَنْ كَفَاهُ; فَإِنَّهُ أَرْجَحُ ما وُزِنَ، وَأَفْضَلُ مَا خُزِنَ.
وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ، شَهَادَةً مُمْتَحَناً إِخْلاَصُهَا، مُعْتَقَداً مُصَاصُهَا ، نَتَمَسَّكُ بها أَبَداً ما أَبْقانَا، وَنَدَّخِرُهَا لاَِهَاوِيلِ مَا يَلْقَانَا، فَإِنَّها عَزيمَةُ الاِْيمَانِ، وَفَاتِحَةُ الاِْحْسَانِ، وَمَرْضَاةُ الرَّحْمنِ، وَمَدْحَرَةُ الشَّيْطَانِ .
وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، أرْسَلَهُ بِالدِّينِ المشْهُورِ، وَالعَلَمِ المأْثُورِ، وَالكِتَابِ المسْطُورِ، وَالنُّورِ السَّاطِعِ، وَالضِّيَاءِ اللاَّمِعِ، وَالاَمْرِ الصَّادِعِ، إزَاحَةً لِلشُّبُهَاتِ، وَاحْتِجَاجاً بِالبَيِّنَاتِ، وَتَحْذِيراً بِالايَاتِ، وَتَخْويفاً بِالمَثُلاَتِ ، وَالنَّاسُ في فِتَن انْجَذَمَ فِيها حَبْلُ الدِّينِ، وَتَزَعْزَعَتْ سَوَارِي اليَقِينِ، وَاخْتَلَفَ النَّجْرُ ، وَتَشَتَّتَ الاَْمْرُ، وَضَاقَ
الْـمَخْرَجُ، وَعَمِيَ المَصْدَرُ، فَالهُدَى خَامِلٌ، واَلعَمَى شَامِلٌ.
عُصِيَ الرَّحْمنُ، وَنُصِرَ الشَّيْطَانُ، وَخُذِلَ الاِْيمَانُ، فَانْهَارَتْ دَعَائِمُهُ، وَتَنكَّرَتْ مَعَالِمُهُ، وَدَرَسَتْ سُبُلُهُ، وَعَفَتْ شُرُكُهُ .
أَطَاعُوا الشَّيْطَانَ فَسَلَكُوا مَسَالِكَهُ، وَوَرَدُوا مَنَاهِلَهُ ، بِهِمْ سَارَتْ أَعْلامُهُ، وَقَامَ لِوَاؤُهُ، في فِتَن دَاسَتْهُمْ بِأَخْفَافِهَا ، وَوَطِئَتْهُمْ بأَظْلاَفِهَا ، وَقَامَتْ عَلَى سَنَابِكِهَا ، فَهُمْ فِيهَا تَائِهُونَ حَائِرونَ جَاهِلُونَ مَفْتُونُونَ، في خَيْرِ دَار، وَشَرِّ جِيرَان، نَوْمُهُمْ سُهُودٌ، وَكُحْلُهُمْ دُمُوعٌ، بأَرْض عَالِمُها مُلْجَمٌ، وَجَاهِلُها مُكْرَمٌ.
ومنها: ويعني آل النبي(صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
هُمْ مَوْضِعُ سِرِّهِ، وَلَجَأُ أَمْرِهِ، وَعَيْبَةُ عِلْمِهِ، وَمَوْئِلُ حُكْمِهِ، وَكُهُوفُ كُتُبِهِ، وَجِبَالُ دِينِه، بِهِمْ أَقَامَ انْحِناءَ ظَهْرِهِ، وَأذْهَبَ ارْتِعَادَ فَرَائِصِهِ .
منها: يعني بها قوماً آخرين
زَرَعُوا الفُجُورَ، وَسَقَوْهُ الغُرُورَ، وَحَصَدُوا الثُّبُورَ ، لا يُقَاسُ بِآلِ مُحَمَّد(عليهم السلام)مِنْ هذِهِ الاُمَّةِ أَحَدٌ، وَلا يُسَوَّى بِهِمْ مَنْ جَرَتْ نِعْمَتُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ أبَداً.
هُمْ أَسَاسُ الدِّينِ، وَعِمَادُ اليَقِينِ، إِلَيْهمْ يَفِيءُ الغَالي ، وَبِهِمْ يَلْحَقُ التَّالي، وَلَهُمْ خَصَائِصُ حَقِّ الوِلايَةِ، وَفِيهِمُ الوَصِيَّةُ وَالوِرَاثَةُ، الاْنَ إِذْ رَجَعَ الحَقُّ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ، وَنُقِلَ إِلَى مُنْتَقَلِهِ.
I praise Allah seeking completion of His Blessings; submitting to His Glory and expecting protection from committing sins. I invoke His help being in need of His Sufficient protection.
He whom He guides does not go astray; He with whom He is hostile gets no protection. He whom He supports does not remain needy. Praise is the heaviest of all that is weighed and the most valuable of all that is treasured.
I stand witness that there is no god but Allah the only One. He has no likeness. My testimony has been tested in its frankness and its essence is our belief. We shall cling to it for ever till we live and shall store it facing the tribulations that overtake us because it is the corner stone of our Belief (Iman) and the first step towards good actions and Divine pleasure. It is the means to keep Satan away.
I also stand witness that Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) is Allah's slave and His Prophet. Allah sent him with the illustrious religion, effective emblem, written Book, (1) effulgent light, sparkling gleam and decisive injunctions in order to dispel doubts, present clear proofs, administer warning through signs and to warn of punishments. At that time people had fallen in vices whereby the rope of religion had been broken, the pillars of belief had been shaken, principles had been sacrileged, the system had become topsy turvy, openings were narrow, the passage was dark, guidance was unknown and darkness prevailed.
Allah was being disobeyed, Satan was given support and Belief had been forsaken. As a result the pillars of religion fell down, its traces could not be discerned, its passages had been destroyed and its streets had fallen into decay. People obeyed Satan and treaded his paths. They sought water from his watering places. Through them Satan's emblems got flying and his standard was raised in vices which trampled the people under their hoofs, and treaded upon them with their feet. The vices stood on their toes (in full stature) and the people immersed in them were strayed, perplexed, ignorant and seduced as though in a good house (2) with bad neighbors. Instead of sleep they had awake and for the antimony they had tears in the eyes. They were in a land where the learned were in bridle (keeping their mouths shut) while the ignorant were honored.
In the same sermon the Commander of the faithful referred to Prophets as under:
The Prophets are the trustees of God's secrets, shelter for His affairs, the source of knowledge about Him, the centre of His wisdom, valleys for His books and mountains of His religion. With them Allah straightened religion's bend back and removed the trembling of its limbs.
In the same Sermon he spoke about the
hypocrites
The hypocrites sowed vices, watered them with deception and harvested destruction.
About Progeny of Muhammad
None in the Islamic community can be taken at par with the Progeny (3) of the Prophet Muhammad. One who was under their obligation cannot be matched with them. They are the foundation of our religion and the pillar of Belief.
The fore runner has to turn back to them, while the follower can not overtake them. They possess the chief characteristics for vice regency. In their favor exists the will and succession (of the Prophet Muhammad). This is the time when the right has returned to its owner and diverted to its centre of return.
(1).
The Preserved Record.
(2). Good House means 'Mecca' while the bad neighbors
mean the 'Unbelievers of Quraysh.'
(3). About the Progeny of the Prophet Amir al-mu'minin
has said that no person in the world can be brought at par with them, nor can
any one be deemed their equal in sublimity, because the world is over laden
with their obligations and has been able to secure eternal blessings only
through their guidance. They are the corner stone and foundation of religion
and the sustenance for its life and survival.
They are such strong pillars of knowledge and belief that they can turn away the stormy flow of doubt and suspicion. They are such middle course among the paths of excess and backwardness that if some one goes far towards excess and exaggeration or falls behind then unless he comes back or steps forward to that middle course he cannot be on the path of Islam.
They possess all the characteristics which give the superiority in the right for vicegerency and leadership. Consequently, no one else in the ummah enjoys the right of patronage and guardianship. That is why the Prophet declared them his vicegerents and successors. About will and succession the commentator Ibn Abi'l-Hadid Mu`tazili writes that there can be no doubt about the vicegerency of Amir al-mu'minin but succession cannot imply succession in position although the Shiite sect has so interpreted it.
It rather implies succession of learning. Now, if according to him succession is taken to imply succession in learning even he does not seem to succeed in achieving his object, because even by this interpretation the right of succeeding the Prophet does not devolve on any other person. When it is agreed that learning is the most essential requirement of khilafah (caliphate) because the most important functions of the Prophet's Caliph consist of dispensation of justice, solving problems of religious laws, clarifying intricacies and administration of religious penalties. If these functions are taken away from the Prophet's deputy his position will come down to that of a worldly ruler.
He cannot be regarded as the pivot of religious authority. Therefore either we should keep governmental authority separate from Prophet's vicegerency or accept the successor of Prophet's knowledge to suit that position. The interpretation of Ibn Abi'l-Hadid could be acceptable if Amir al-mu'minin had uttered this sentence alone, but observing that it was uttered soon after `Ali's (p.b.u.h.) recognition as Caliph and just after it the sentence "Right has returned to its owner" exists, this interpretation of his seems baseless. Rather, the Prophet's will cannot imply any other will except that for vicegerency and caliphate, and succession would imply not succession in property nor in knowledge because this was not an occasion to mention it here but it must mean the succession in the right leadership which stood proved as from Allah not only on the ground of kinship but on the ground of qualities of perfection.