It comprises a disparagement of Satan [Iblis] for his vanity, his refusal to prostrate before Adam (p.b.u.h.), and his being the first to display bigotry and behave with vanity. It contains a warning to people treading in Satan’s path.
Praise be to Allah Who wears the apparel of Honor and Dignity and has chosen them for Himself rather than for His creation. He has made them inaccessible and unlawful for others. He has selected them for His own great self and has hurled a curse on him who contends with Him concerning them.
Trial by Allah, Vanity of Iblis
Then He put His angels on trial concerning these attributes in order to distinguish those who were modest from those who were vain. Therefore, Allah, Who is aware of whatever is hidden in the hearts and whatever lies behind the unseen, said the following: “Verily, I am about to create man from clay. And when I have completed and breathed into him of My spirit, prostrate to him. And the angels, all of them, did prostrate [to Adam] save Iblis” (Holy Qur’an, 38: 71 - 74).
His vanity stood in his [Iblis’s] way! Consequently, he felt proud about Adam by virtue of his creation, boasted over him on account of his origin. Thus, this enemy of Allah is the leader of those who boast and the fore-runner of vanity. It is he who laid the foundation of factionalism, quarreled with Allah about the robe of greatness, put on the outfit of haughtiness and took off the covering of humility. Do you not see how Allah made him low on account of his vanity and humiliated him for his bid to be high? He discarded him in this world and provided for him burning fire in the next world.
Had Allah wanted to create Adam from a light whose glare dazzles the eyes, whose handsomeness would have amazed the wits and whose smell would have caught the breath, He would have done so. And if He had done so, people would have bowed down to him in humility, and the trial of the angels through him would have become easier. But Allah, the Glorified One, tries His creatures by means of those things the real nature of which they do not know. He does so in order to distinguish (what is good from what is bad) for them through the trial, to remove vanity from them, and to keep them away from pride and self-admiration.
You should learn a lesson from what Allah did with Satan. He nullified his great deeds and extensive efforts on account of the vanity of one moment, although Satan had worshipped Allah for six thousand years - whether by the reckoning of this world or by that of the next world is not known. Who now can remain safe from Allah after Satan by committing a similar disobedience? None at all. Allah, the Glorified One, will not let a human being enter Paradise if he does the same thing for which Allah turned an angel from it. His command for the inhabitants in the sky and the earth is the same. There is no friendship between Allah and any individual out of His creation so as to give him license for an undesirable thing which He has held unlawful for all the worlds.
Warning Against Satan
Therefore, you should fear lest Satan should infect you with his disease or lead you astray through his call or march on you with his horsemen and footmen because, by my life, he has put the arrow in the bow for you, has stretched the bow strongly and has aimed at you from a nearby distance and: “He (Satan) said the following: Lord! Because You let me stray, certainly will I adorn unto them the path of error, and certainly will I cause them all to go astray” (Holy Qur’an, 15: 39).
Although he (Satan) had said so only by guessing about the unknown future and by wrong conjecturing, yet the sons of vanity, the brothers of haughtiness and the horsemen of pride and intolerance proved him to be true, so much so that when disobedient persons from among you bowed before him and his greed about you gained strength, and what was a hidden secret turned into a clear fact..., he spread his full control over you and marched with his forces towards you.
Then they pushed you into the hollows of disgrace, threw you into the whirlpools of slaughter and trampled on you, wounding you by striking your eyes with spears, cutting your throats, tearing your nostrils, breaking your limbs and taking you in ropes towards the fire that is already prepared. In this way, he became more harmful to your religion and a greater kindler of flames (of mischief) about your worldly matters than the enemies against whom you showed open opposition and against whom you marched with your forces.
You should, therefore, spend all your force against him and all your efforts confronting him because, by Allah, he boasted over your (i.e. Adam’s) origin, questioned your status and spoke lightly of your lineage. He advanced on you with his army and brought his footmen towards your path. They are chasing you from every place and they are hitting you at every finger joint. You are not able to defend by any means, nor can you repulse them by any effort. You are in the thick of disgrace, the ring of straitness, the field of death and the way of distress. You should, therefore, put out the fires of haughtiness and the flames of intolerance that are hidden in your hearts. This vanity can exist in a Muslim only through the insinuations of Satan, his haughtiness, mischief and whisperings. Make up your mind to be humble, to trample on egotism and self-pride and to cast off vanity. Adopt humility as the weapon with which you fight your enemies, Satan and his forces. He certainly has, from every people, fighters, helpers, footmen and horsemen.
Do not be like him who feigned superiority over the son of his own mother without any distinction given to him by Allah except the feeling of envy which his feeling of greatness created in him and the fire of anger that vanity kindled in his heart. Satan blew into his nose his own vanity following which Allah gave him remorse and made him responsible for the sins of all killers up to the Day of Judgment.
Cautioning Against Vanity and Ignorant Boasting
Beware! You strove hard in rebellioning and created mischief on earth in open opposition to Allah, challenging the believers over fighting. (You should fear) Allah in feeling proud; beware of your vanity and ignorant boasting over because this is the root of enmity and the design of Satan whereby he has been deceiving past people and bygone ages, with the result that they fell into the gloom of his ignorance and the hollows of his misguidance, submitting to his driving and accepting his leadership. In this matter, the hearts of all the people were similar. Centuries passed by, one after the other, in the same way, and there was vanity with which chests were tightened.
Cautioning Against Obeying Haughty Leaders and Elders
Beware! Beware of obeying your leaders and elders who feel proud of their achievements and boast about their lineage. They hurled the (liability for) things on Allah and quarreled with Him regarding what He did with them, contesting His decree and disputing His favors. Certainly, they are the main foundation of obstinacy, the chief pillars of mischief and the swords of pre-Islamic boasting over fore-fathers. Therefore, fear Allah, do not become antagonistic to His favors on you, nor jealous of His bounty over you and do not obey the claimants (of Islam) whose dirty water you drink along with your clean one, whose ailments you mix with your healthiness and whose wrongs you allow to enter into your rightful matters. They are the foundation of vice and the linings of disobedience. Satan has made them carriers of misguidance and the soldiers with whom he assaults men. They are interpreters through whom he speaks in order to steal away your wits, enter into your eyes and blow into your ears. In this way, he makes you the victim of his arrows, the treading ground of his footsteps and source of strength for his hands. Learn from how he brought wrath, violence, chastisement and punishment on those who were vain from among the past people. Take admonition from their lying on their cheeks and falling on their sides and seek Allah’s protection from the dangers of vanity, as you seek His protection from calamities.
Humbleness of the Holy Prophet, Peace be Upon Him
Certainly, if Allah were to allow anyone to indulge in pride, He will have allowed it to His selected prophets and vicegerents. But Allah, the Sublime, disliked vanity for them and likes to see them humble. Therefore, they laid their cheeks on the ground, smeared their faces with the dust, bent down for the believers and remained humble. Allah tried them with hunger, afflicted them with difficulty, tested them with fear and upset them with troubles. Therefore, do not regard wealth and progeny as the criterion for Allah’s pleasure and displeasure, as you are not aware of the chances of mischief and trials during richness and power as Allah, the Glorified One, the Sublime, has said the following: “What?! Do they think that what We aid them with wealth and children that We are hastening to them the good things? Nay! They (only) do not perceive it” (Holy Qur’an, 23: 55-56).
Certainly, Allah, the most Glorified One, tries His beings who are vain through His beloved persons who are humble in their eyes. When Musa son of Imran went to Pharaoh along with his brother Harun (Aaron) wearing (coarse) shirts of wool and holding canes in their hands, they guaranteed him retention of his country and continuity of his prestige only if he submitted. But he said the following: “Do you not wonder at these two men guaranteeing me the continuity of my prestige and the retention of my country although you see their poverty and lowliness?! Otherwise, why do they not have gold bangles on their wrists?!” He said so feeling proud of his gold and collected possessions and considering wool and its cloth as nothing.
Allah, the Glorified One, deputed His prophets to mankind. If He had wished to open for them treasures and mines of gold and (surround them with) planted gardens and collect around them the birds of the skies and the beasts of the earth, He could have done so. Had He had done so, there would have been no trial, nor recompense and no tidings (about the affairs of the next life). Those who accepted (His message) could not be given the recompense due after trial, and the believers could not deserve the reward for good deeds, and all these words will not have retained their meanings. But Allah, the Glorified One, makes His Prophets firm in their determination and gives them weakness of appearance as seen by the eyes, along with contentment that fills the hearts and eyes resulting from care-freeness and with want that pains the eyes and the ears.
Had the prophets possessed authority that could not be assaulted, or honor that could not be touched with harm or domain towards which the necks of people would turn and the saddles of mounts could be set, it will have been very easy for people to seek lessons and quite difficult to feel vain. They will have then accepted belief out of fear felt by them or inclination attracting them and their intention will have been the same, although their actions will have been different. Therefore, Allah, the Glorified One, decided that people should follow His prophets, acknowledge His books, remain humble before His Greatness, act upon His commands and accept His obedience with sincerity in which there should not be an iota of anything else. As the trial and tribulation will be stiffer, the reward and recompense, too, should be greater.
The Holy Ka`ba
Do you not see that Allah, the Glorified One, has tried all the people who came with Adam, up to the last ones in this world, with stones which yield neither benefit nor harm, which neither see nor hear? [Yet] He made those stones into His sacred House which He made as a place of worship for people. He placed it in the most rugged stony part of the earth, on a highland with the least soil, among the most narrow valleys between rough mountains, soft sandy plains, springs of scanty water and scattered inhabitants, where neither camels nor horses nor cows nor sheep can prosper.
Then He commanded Adam and his sons to turn towards it. In this way, it became the center of their journey in seeking pasture, the rendezvous for the meeting of their beasts of burden, so that human spirits would hasten towards it from distant waterless deserts, deep and low lying valleys and scattered islands in the seas. They shake their shoulders in humbleness, recite the slogan of having reached His audience, march with swift feet and have disheveled hair and dusted faces. They throw their pieces of cloth on their backs. They have marred the beauty of their faces by leaving the hair uncut as a matter of great test, severe tribulation, open trial and extreme refining. Allah has made it a means to His mercy and an approach to His Paradise.
If Allah, the Glorified One, had placed His sacred House and His great signs among plantations, streams, soft and level plains, plenty of trees, an abundance of fruits, a thick population, close habitats, golden wheat, lush gardens, green land, watered plains, thriving orchards and crowded streets..., the amount of recompense will have decreased because of the lightness of the trial. If the foundation on which the House is built and the stones with which it has been raised had been of green emerald and red rubies, and had there been brightness and glory, then this will have lessened the action of doubts in the breasts, will have dismissed the effect of Satan’s activity from the hearts and will have stopped the surging of misgivings in people. But Allah tries His servants with means of different troubles. He wants them to render worship through hardship and involves them in distress, all in order to extract vanity from their hearts, to settle down humbleness in their spirits and to make all this an open door for His favors and an easy means for His forgiveness (of their sins).
Cautioning Against Rebellion and Oppressiveness
(Fear) Allah from the immediate consequence of rebellion and the eventual consequence of weighty oppressiveness (to accrue in the next world) and from the evil result of vanity. Vanity is the great trap of Satan and his big deceit which enters the hearts of the people as fatal poison does. It is never wasted, nor does ti miss anyone, neither the learned on account of their knowledge, nor the destitute in their rags. This is the thing against which Allah has protected His believing servants by means of prayers and alms-giving and suffering the hardship of fasting in the days in which it has been made obligatory, in order to provide their limbs with peacefulness, to cast fear in their eyes, to humble their spirits, to give their hearts humility and to remove haughtiness from them. All this is achieved through the covering of their delicate cheeks with dust in humility, prostrating their limbs on the ground in humbleness and retracting their bellies so as to reach to their backs due to fasting by way of lowliness (before Allah), besides giving all sorts of products of the earth to the needy and the destitute by way of alms.
Look what these deeds contain of curbing the appearance of pride and suppressing the traces of vanity. I cast my glance and noticed that no one in the world, except you, feel vanity for anything without a cause which may appeal to the ignorant, or a reason which may cling to the minds of the fools because you feel vanity for something for which no reason is discernable, nor any ground.
As for Satan, he felt proud about Adam because of his origin and taunted at him about his creation. He said, “I am created of [smokeless] fire whereas you are created of clay.” Likewise, the rich among the prosperous communities have been feeling vanity because of their riches, as (Allah) said the following: “And they said, ‘We are more (than you) in wealth and in children, and we shall not be chastised’” (Holy Qur’an, 34:35).
Enthusiasm for Attractive Manners,
Respectable Status and Taking Lessons from the Past
In case you cannot avoid vanity, your vanity should be for good qualities, praiseworthy deeds and admirable merits with which the dignified and noble chiefs of the Arab families distinguished themselves. Such merits include attractive manners, high thinking, respectable status and commendable feats. You, too, should show vanity in praiseworthy habits like protection of the neighbor, fulfillment of agreements, obedience of the virtuous, opposition to the haughty, extending generosity to others, abstention from dissension, keeping aloof from bloodshed, doing justice to people, suppressing anger and avoiding trouble on earth. You should also fear what calamities befell nations before you on account of their evil deeds and detestable conduct. Remember, during good or bad times, what happened to them and be cautious lest you should become like them.
After you have thought over the conditions of these people, attach yourself to everything with which their status became honorable, on account of which enemies kept away from them, thus safety spread over them, by reason of which riches bowed before them and, as a result, distinction connected itself to their rope. These things were: abstention from division, sticking to unity, calling each other to it and advising each other about it. You should avoid everything which broke those nations’ backbone and weakened their power, such as malice in the heart, hatred in the chest, turning away (from each other’s help) and abstaining from one another’s assistance.
Think about the condition of people from among the believers who passed by before you. What distresses and trials they were in! Were they not the most over-burdened among all the people and in the most strained circumstances in the whole world? The Pharaohs took them as slaves. They inflicted on them the worst punishments and bitter sufferings. They continuously remained in this state of ruinous disgrace and severe subjugation. They found no method for escape and no way for protection. Allah, the Glorified One, noticed that they were enduring troubles in His love and bearing distresses out of fear of Him, He provided escape routes from the distress of trials. So, He changed their disgrace into honor and fear into safety. Consequently, they became ruling kings and conspicuous leaders. Allah’s favors over them reached limits to which their own wishes had not reached.
See how they were when their groups were united, their views were unanimous, their hearts were moderate, their hands used to help one another, their swords were intended for assisting one another, their visions were sharp, and their aims were uniform. Did they not become masters of the corners of earth and rulers over the necks of all the worlds? Thereafter, also see what happened to them towards the end when division overtook them, unity became fractured and differences arose between their words and hearts. They divided into various groups and were scattered fighting among themselves. Then Allah took away from them the apparel of His honor and deprived them of the prosperity produced by His favors. Only their stories have remained among you for the guidance of those who may learn lessons from them.
You should learn a lesson from the fate of the progeny of Isma’il, the children of Isaac and the children of Israel. How similar their affairs and how akin their examples are! With regard to the details of their division and disunity, think of the days when Kisras of Persia and the Caesars of Rome had become their masters. They turned them out of their pastures, the rivers of Iraq and the fertility of the world, towards thorny forests, the passages of (hot) winds and hardships in livelihood. In this way, they turned them into just camel herders. Their houses were the worst in the world and their places of stay were the most droughtstricken. There was not one single voice towards which they could turn for protection, nor any shade of affection on whose strength they could place their trust.
Their condition was full of distress. Their energies were scattered. They were mostly divided, disunited. They were in great anguish and in pathetic ignorance. They buried their daughters alive, worshipped idols, disregarded kinship and practiced robbery. Now, look at the various favors of Allah upon them! He deputed to them a Prophet (p.b.u.h.) who got them to pledge their obedience to him and made them unite under his call.
(Look) how (Allah’s) bounty spread the wings of its favors over them and streams of its blessing flowed for them; the whole community became wrapped in blissful prosperity. Consequently, they were submerged under its bounty and enjoyed its lush life. Their affairs were settled under the protection of a powerful ruler. Circumstances offered them lofty honor, and all things became easy for them within one united and strong country. They became rulers over the world and kings in the (various) parts of earth. They became masters of those who were formerly their masters and began issuing commands over those who used to command them. They were so strong that neither their spears needed testing nor did their weapons have any flaw.
Condemning His People
Beware! You have shaken your hands loose from the rope of obedience and broken the Divine fort around you by (resorting to) jahili (pre-Islamic) customs. Certainly, it is a great blessing of Allah, the Glorified One, that He has promoted among them unity through the cord of affection in whose shade they walk and are sheltered. This is a blessing the value of which none in the whole world realizes because it is more valuable than any price and more precious than any material wealth.
You should know that you have again reverted to the status of Bedouin Arabs after migration (to Islam) and have become different parties after having been once united. You do not possess anything of Islam except its name and know nothing of belief except its outer cover. You say, “The Fire, yes, but no shameful status,” as if you will throw down Islam on its face in order to defame its honor and break its pledge (of brotherhood) which Allah gave you as a sacred trust on His earth and (a source of) peace among the people. Rest assured that if you incline towards anything other than Islam, the unbelievers will fight you. Then there will be neither Gabriel nor Michael, neither Muhajiran nor Ansar to help you, only the clashing of swords, till Allah settles the matter for you.
Certainly, there are examples before you of Allah’s wrath, punishment, days of tribulations and serious events. Therefore, do not disregard His promises, ignoring His punishment, underestimating His wrath and not expecting His violence. Allah, the Glorified One, did not curse the past generations except because they had forsaken enjoining others to do good deeds and to refrain from doing bad deeds. In fact, Allah cursed the foolish ones for committing sins and the wise for giving up on curbing others from committing evil deeds. Beware! You have broken the shackles of Islam, transgressed its limits and destroyed its commands.
Imam Ali Ibn Aba Talib’s High
Status and Wonderful Deeds in Islam
Beware! Surely Allah has commanded me to fight those who rebellion or break their pledge or create trouble in the land. As regarding pledge-breakers, I have fought them. As regarding those who shrunk from the truth, I have waged a holy war against them. And as regarding those who have abandoned the creed, I have put them in (serious) disgrace. As for Satan of the Pit, he, too, has been dealt with by me through the loud cry with which the scream of his heart and shaking of his chest was also heard. Only a small portion of the rebels has remained. If Allah allows me one more chance over them I will annihilate them except a few remnants that may remain scattered in the suburb of the cities.
Even in my boyhood, I had lowered the chest of (famous men) of Arabia and broken the horn points (i.e. defeated the chiefs) of the tribes of Rabi`ah and Mudar. Certainly, you know my status of close kinship and special relationship with the Prophet of Allah (p.b.u.h.). When I was only a child, he took charge of me. He used to press me to his chest and put me beside him in his bed, bringing his body close to mine and letting me smell his fragrance. He used to chew something then feed me with it. He found no lie in my speech, nor weakness in any deeds.
From the time of my weaning, Allah had put a mighty angel with the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) to take him along the path of high character and good behavior through the day and the night, while I used to follow him like a young camel following in the footprints of its mother. Every day, he would show me in the form of a banner some of his high traits, commanding me to follow it. Every year he used to go in seclusion to the hill of Hira’, where I saw him but no one else saw him. In those days, Islam was not recognized in any house except that of the Prophet of Allah (p.b.u.h.) and Khadija, while I was the third after these two. I used to see and watch the glory of the Divine revelation and message, and I breathed the scent of Prophethood.
When the revelation descended on the Prophet of Allah (p.b.u.h.), I heard the moan of Satan. I said, “O Prophet of Allah! What is this moaning?” He replied, “This is Satan who has lost all hope of being worshipped. O Ali! You see all that I see and hear all that I hear, except that you are not a prophet; you are a vicegerent and you are surely on (the path of) virtue.”
I was with him when a party of the tribesmen of Quraish came to him and said, “O Muhammad! You have made a big claim which none of your forefathers or those of your family has made. We ask you one thing; if you give us an answer to it and show it to us, we will believe that you are a prophet and a messenger, but if you cannot do it, we will know that you are a sorcerer and a liar.”
The Messenger of Allah said the following: “What do you ask for?” They said, “Ask this tree to move towards us, even with its roots and stop before you.” The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said, “Verily, Allah has power over everything. If Allah does it for you, will you then believe and testify to the truth?” They said, “Yes.” Then he said, “I shall show you whatever you want, but I know that you will not bend towards virtue, and there are among you those who will be thrown into the pit and those who will form parties (against me).” Then the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said the following: “O tree! If you do believe in Allah and in the Day of Judgment and know that I am the Prophet of Allah, come up with your roots and stand before me with the permission of Allah.” By the One Who deputed the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) with the truth, the tree did remove itself with its roots and came with a great humming sound and a flapping like the flapping of the wings of birds, till it stopped before the Messenger of Allah while some of its twigs came down onto my shoulders and I was on the right side of the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.).
When the people saw this, they said by way of pride and vanity, ‘Now you order half of it to come to you and the other half of it to remain (in its place).” The Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) ordered the tree to do the same. Half of the tree advanced towards him in an amazing manner and with a grater humming. It was about to touch the Prophet of Allah (p.b.u.h.). Then they said in their disbelief and rebellion, “Ask this half to get back to its other half and be as it was.” The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) ordered it and it returned. Then I said, “O Prophet of Allah! I am the first to believe in you and to acknowledge that the tree did what it did just now with the command of Allah, the Sublime One, in testimony to your Prophethood and to strengthen your word.” Upon this all the people shouted, ‘Rather a sorcerer, a liar, you are! This is wonderful sorcery! He is very adept in it. Only a youth like this (pointing to me) can stand testimony to you in your affairs.”
Certainly, I belong to the group of people who care not for the reproach of anybody in matters concerning Allah. Their countenance is the countenance of the truthful and their speech is the speech of the virtuous. They are wakeful during the nights (in devotion to Allah) and over beacons (of guidance) in the day. They hold fast to the rope of the Holy Qur’an, revive the traditions of Allah and of His Prophet (p.b.u.h.). They do not boast nor indulge in self-conceit, nor misappropriate, nor create mischief. Their hearts are in Paradise while their bodies are busy in (good) deeds.