ثم قال...

ثم قال: معاشر الناس نزهوا ربّكم و لا تشيروا إليه، فمن حد الخالق فقد كفر بالكتاب الناطق، ثم قال: طوبى لأهل ولايتي الذين يقتلون فيّ، و يطردون من أجلي، هم خزّان اللّه في أرضه، لا يفزعون يوم الفزع الأكبر، أنا نور اللّه الذي لا يطفى، أنا السرّ الذي لا يخفى (Then said) O people, sanctify the Lord -azwj your Allah -azwj from all similitude(s), for every reference to Him -azwj fails, and whosoever tries to limit the Creator by description or comparison has verily disbelieved in His -azwj Book, which is the Book of Allah -azwj ‘s Own Utterance.

[2] Oblique reference to the Thamud, their Prophet Salíh and the She-Camel so often referred to in the Holy Qur’án (11:61-65) [3] In Islamic tradition, Khizar was a servant of Allah who had been taught special knowledge and was sent to be a companion and teacher to Moses (see Qur’án 18:65-82; Bukharí, Vol. 1, Bk 3, #74, 78, 124 and also Vol. 9, Bk. 93, #570). Khizar may not be a reference to a person, but, rather, to the inspirational Source.

In this sermon, the Imám ‘Alí -asws is, in a sense, the Muse to all those inspired before, similar to Gabriel in the Qur’án ( 2:97). [4] See Qur’án 97:1-3. [5] The first Súrah in the Holy Qur’án and endowed with amazing powers. [6] Seth is named in Genesis as the son of Adam, and he lived for 912 years. (See Gen. 4:25-5:8.) Here, however, the reference is to the notion that Companion (Sahib), in a sense, means that the Eternal “I” was with Seth (in Arabic, Shayth, the son of Adam).

In Luke, Seth is an ancestor to Christ [7] The family of Abbas, the uncle of Muhammad.(S.A) [8] A city near the Euphrates River, 177km south of Baghdád. Formerly a Mesopotamian city, Kúfa was re-founded by the Arabs in 638, and was the capital of the Islamic Empire during the caliphate of the Imám ‘Alí. -asws For a time, it also served as the centre for the ‘Abbasid caliphate. This and the following references are to catastrophes and spiritual reverses in the fortunes of truth.