the Sermon of ash-Shiqshiqiyah1

Beware! By Allah, the son of Abu Quhafah (Abu Bakr)2 dressed himself with it (the caliphate) and he certainly knew that my position in relation to it was the same as the position of the axis in relation to the hand-mill. The flood water flows down from me and the bird cannot fly upto me. I put a curtain against the caliphate and kept myself detached from it.

Then I began to think whether I should assault or endure calmly the blinding darkness of tribulations wherein the grown up are made feeble and the young grow old and the true believer acts under strain till he meets Allah (on his death).

Alternative Sources for Sermon 3

(1) Al-Mufid, al-Jamal, 62;

(2) Ibn Qubbah, al-‘Insaf, see Ibn Abi al-Hadid, Sharh, I, 69, see also ‘Abd al-Zahra’, I, 309-310;

(3) al-Saduq, Ma’ani, 344;

(4) al-Hasan ibn ‘Abd Allah al-’Askari, from him al-Saduq in Ma’ani;

(5) Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih, al-’Iqd, IV, see ‘Abd al-Zahra’, I, 311-312 and al-Majlisi, Bihar, vol.8, 160;

(6) al-Ka’bi (d.319/931) – see Ibn Abi al-Hadid, Sharh, I, 69;

(7) Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Manaqib, see Bihar, vol.8, 160; and ‘Abd al-Zahra’, I, 310-11;

(8) al-Mufid, al-‘Irshad, 135;

(9) al-Qadi ‘Abd al-Jabbar, al-Mughni, see al-Ghadir, VII, 83;

(10) al-Saduq, ‘Ilal, bab al-’illat allati min ajliha taraka Amir al-Mu’minin (A) mujahadat ahl al-khilaf;

(11) Abu Sa’id al-‘Abi, Nathr al-durar and Nuzhat al-‘adib, see ‘Abd al-Zahra’, I, 313;

(12) al-Murtada, al-Shafi, 203, 204;

(13) al-Haffar, al-‘Insaf from him al-Tusi in al-‘Amali;

(14) al-Tusi, al-‘Amali, I, 392;

(15) Qutb al-Din Rawandi, Sharh, from Ibn Mardawayh and al-Tabarani;

(16) Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, Tadhkirah, 133;

(17) al-Harrani, Tuhaf, 313;

(18) al-Murtada, Sharh al-Khutbat al-Shiqshiqiyyah, seeA’yan al-Shi’ah, vol. 41, p. 195;

(19) al-Tabarsi, al-‘Ihtijaj; I, 95; for a detailed discussion of sources, see ‘Abd al-Zahra’, I, 309-324.