The Sayings And Preaching of Al-Imam Ali (p.b.u.h)
Hadith n. 258
258. Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, said: When you fall into destitution, trade with Allah through charity.
Hadith n. 259
259. Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, said: Faithfulness with faithless people is faithlessness with Allah, while faithlessness with faithless people is faithfulness with Allah.
Hadith n. 260
260. Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, said: There is many a man being gradually brought towards punishment by good treatment with him; many a man who remains in deceit because his evils are covered; and many a man who is in illusion because of good talk about him, while there is no greater ordeal by Allah, the Glorified, than the giving of time.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: This saying has appeared earlier as well but here it contains a beautiful and useful addition.
Section Wherein We Have Included Selections From Wonderful Sayings Of Amir Al-Mu’minin, Peace Be Upon Him, Which Require Explanation
I. A tradition related from Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, says: When the situation is like this, then the head of the religion will rise and people will gather around him as pieces of rainless cloud collect during autumn.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: “Ya’sub” 64 is the great chief who is in charge of the people’s affairs, and “quza`” means the pieces of cloud which have no rain.
II. A tradition of Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, says: He is a versatile speaker. 65
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: “shahshah” means one expert and free in speech, and every one who is free in speech or walking is called “shahshah”, while in another sense this word means a miserly and niggardly person.
III. A tradition from Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, says: Quarrels bring about ruin.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: “quhm” means ruin because quarrels often drive men into ruin and grief. In the same way, it is said “quhmatu’l-A ‘rab” which means the period (of drought) when the cattle owned by the nomad desert Arabs are reduced to bones, and this is their being driven to it. Another argument is also advanced in this matter; namely that the situation drives them to green areas, in other words the hardship of the desert life drives them to hadar (a civilized region with town and villages and a settled population [as opposed to desert] ).
IV. A tradition of Amir al-mu’niinin, peace be upon him, says: When girls reach the stage of (realizing) realities, relations on the father’s side are preferable.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: Instead of “nassa’l-hiqaq “the combination “nassa’l-haqa’iq” has also been related. “nass” means the last end of things or their remotest limit, such as “an-nassi fi’s sayr” means the maximum a beast can walk. Or you say “nasastu’r-rajula ‘ani’l-amri” when you have questioned a man to the extreme to make him utter all he has. Thus, “nassu’l-haqa’iq” means prudence because it is the last limit of childhood and is the time when a child crosses childhood into majority, and this is a very eloquent reference to the point, and strange too. Amir al-mu’minin intends to say: When girls reach this stage their relations on father’s side have a better right than their mother, provided they are those with whom marriage is prohibited like brothers and uncles, to arrange for their marriages if they so desire. “al-hiqaq” also means the quarrelling of the mother with a girl’s paternal relations. This quarrel is that everyone of them says he has a better ‘right for her. That is why it is said “haqatuhu hiqaqan” on the lines of “jadaltuhu jidalan”. It has also been said that “nassu’l-hiqaq” means acquiring understanding and this is prudence, because Amir al-mu’minin refers to the stage when rights and duties become applicable. The person who has related the word as “haqa’iq” intends to signify the plural of “haqiqah” (reality).
The above is what Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam has stated (in Gharib al-hadith, vol.3, pp.456 -458); but I think that the intention here by the word “nassu’l-hiqaq ” is a girl’s reaching the stage when it is possible to marry her and to allow her to dispose of her rights herself on the analogy of “bil hiqaqi mina ‘1-ibili” (a camel’s attaining majority) wherein “hiqaq is the plural of “hiqqah” or “hiqq ” and it means completion of three years (of age) and entry into the fourth, which is the time when it reaches the age when it is possible to ride on its back and to exert it in walking. “haqa’iq” too is the plural of “hiqqah”. Thus, both the versions point to the same meaning, and this interpretation is more in keeping with the way of the Arabs than the other one stated earlier.
V. A tradition of Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, says: Faith produces a “lumzah” in the heart. As faith develops, the “lumzah” also increases.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: “lumzah” is a white spot or something like that. On that analogy if a horse has a white spot on its lower lip it is called “farusun almaz”, that is, a white-spotted horse.
VI. A tradition of Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him) says: If a man has a “ad-daynu’z-zanun” (i.e. doubtful loan) it is his duty to pay zakat thereon for all the past years when he recovers it.
as-Sayyid ar-Radi says: “az-zanun” is the loan about which the lender does not know whether he will be able to recover it from the borrower. He is like the one who hopes as well as loses hope. This is the most eloquent way of expression. In this way everything about which you do not know where you stand would be zanun. In the same strain poet al-A’ sha (Maymun ibn Qays al-Wa’ili [d. 7/629] )says:
The az-zanun well (i.e., the one that may or may not have water) which is also deprived of the rain of the raining clouds cannot be compared to the Euphrates whose waves are rising high and which is pushing away the boat as well as the adept swimmer.
“Judd” means the well (situated in a wilderness), while zanun is that about which it is not known whether or not it has water.
VII. A tradition of Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, relates that he arranged a force for advancing for jihad and said: i’dhibu (turn away) from women so far as you can.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: It (i’dhibu) means that “keep off” from thoughts of women and from clinging your heart to them, and do not have union with them; because all this produces weakness in enthusiasm, affects the firmness of determination, weakens against the enemy and prevents from exerting in fighting. Whatever prevents from something is called ” ‘adhaba ‘anhu” i.e., turned away from it. Thus, “al-‘adhib” and “al-‘adhub” mean one who gives up eating and drinking.
VIII. A tradition of Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, says: Like the successful shooter (al-yasir al-falij) who looks forward to achieving success at his first shot.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: “al-ya~sirun’ (pl. of al-yasir) means those who shoot with arrows on the slaughtered camel by way of gambling; while “al-falij” means successful or victorious. For example, it is said: ‘falaja ‘alayhim” or ‘falajahum” (that is, he got victory over them or overpowered them). A poet has said by way of war recital:
When I noticed a successful person securing victory.
IX. A tradition of Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, runs: When the crisis became red-hot we sought refuge with the Messenger of Allah (peace-be upon him and his descendants), arid none of us was closer to the enemy than he himself.
as-Sayyid ar-Radi says: This means that when fear of the enemy increased and fighting became serious, the Muslims would begin to think that since the Messenger of Allah had taken up fighting himself, Allah must give them victory through him and that therefore they would be safe from all the dangers because of his existence.
And the words “idha’hmarra’l-ba’su” (when the crisis became red-hot) refers to the seriousness of the matter. For this purpose several expressions have been used out of which this is the best one, since Amir al-mu’minin has likened war with fire which combines heat and redness both in action as well as colour. This is confirmed by the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his descendants) when on the day of Hunayn he noticed people of Hawazin (tribe) fighting he said, “Now ‘watis’ has heated up” and ‘watis’ is the place where fire is lighted. In this way, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his descendants) likened the seriousness of fighting by men to the seriousness of the fire and its flames.
Source: https://www.al-islam.org/nahjul-balagha-part-2-letters-and-sayings
