أليس اولى من صلى لقبلتكم و أعلم الناس بالقرآن و السنن؟ و...

أليس اولى من صلى لقبلتكم و أعلم الناس بالقرآن و السنن؟ و أقرب الناس عهداً بالنبي ومن جبريل عون له في الغسل و الكفن؟ ما فيه و ما فيهم لا يمترون به و ليس في القوم ما فيه من الحسن ماذا الذي ردهم عنه فنعلمه ها ان ذاغبنا من اعظم الغبن I did not imagine that they would take away the matter of caliphate from the Banu Hashim and among whom from Abu’l-Hasan (‘Ali)! Is he not the first person to pray toward your qiblah and the most learned of people about the Qur’an and the Sunnah?

Was he not the last person to see the Prophet? And has he not been assistant of Jibra’il in bathing (for the dead) and enshrouding the Prophet? Why do you not think about the difference between you and ‘Ali? Among the people, no one possesses his good qualities. What has been the reason behind their deviation from him? Make him aware of this fact as this loss is the greatest of losses.

[^2] The pure Imams ( ‘a ), who were also aware of the utility and influence of poetry, used to satisfactorily appreciate and honor Shi‘ah poets. One day, Kumayt Asadi came to Imam al-Baqir ( ‘a ) and recited his elegy until he reached this couplet: و قتيل بالطف غودر منهم بين غوعاء أمّةٍ و طغام And the killed one among them in the land of Taf has been abjectly and miserably abandoned by people. Imam al-Baqir ( ‘a ) wept and said: “O Kumayt! If we only had wealth we shall give it to you.

Yet, I will tell you whatever the Messenger of Allah ( ‘a ) said to Hassan ibn Thabit: ‘So long as you defend us , you are confirmed by the Holy Spirit { ruh al-qudus }’.”[^3] Similarly, Imam as-Sadiq ( ‘a ) used to say: “O assembly of the Shi‘ah! Teach the poems of ‘Abdi[^4] to your children as he is with the religion of God.”[^5] For this reason, the truth-speaking Shi‘ah poets were held in high esteem and regard by the Shi‘ah and devotees of the Prophet’s (S) descendants.

As Ibn al-Mu‘tazil has narrated, “The people of Qum used to make it incumbent upon themselves to allocate fifty thousand dirhams for Da‘bal Khaza‘i, a Shi‘ah poet.”[^6] As such, the Shi‘ah poets were always subjected to persecution and harassment by the Umayyad and ‘Abbasid rulers.