He should not forget the relation between him and the Apostle of Allah...

He should not forget the relation between him and the Apostle of Allah, may Allah bless him and his family. Moreover, he should not ignore his Imamate. That was the Divine Imamate that did not accept any change nor did it imply any weakness and desertion. Rather it was the victorious Imamate in spite of the hostile traitorous attempts. It was the Imamate that became strong through the might of Allah. It became steadfast through the steadfastness of the truth.

Moreover, it has become outspread among generations as Prophethood has become outspread among nations. This Imamate has glory and strong respect in the full sense of the word. Meanwhile it urges the people to scorn the conceit of the enemies. That stage was critical in the history of Islam. For it led to the separation between the true caliphate and supreme authority (i.e., between the religious Imamate and supreme authority), and between the temporal power and spiritual authority.

Apparently, the early Muslims did not know this separation during the lifetime of the Prophet. Rather the Muslims after the death of the Apostle of Allah, may Allah bless him and his family, knew that gradually. Then the religious rulers yielded to this separation and regarded it as a reformatory obligatory way when they feared for the entity of Islam (baydat al-Islam).

To be quite frank with you about this matter, I (i.e., the author) say: Indeed, Imam al-Hasan took an attitude towards Mu'awiya as his father, the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, did towards Abu Bakr and his two companions (i.e., 'Umar and 'Uthman). This was the meaning of the words of al-Hasan when his brother al Husayn, peace be on him, asked him: "What made you hand over the authority?" "The thing that had made your father hand it over before me," replied al-Hasan.

Each of the two Imams (i.e., al-Hasan and al-Husayn), during his special condition, had his own sacrifice through which he preserved Islam. According to this rule, al-Hasan erased the map of his material kingdom from the earth to draw instead the map of his spiritual greatness in both the earth and the sky. Then al-Hasan turned to the borders of his kingdom in the new immortal authority.

Suddenly, they were the borders between the kingdom of the truth and the kingdom of falsehood, between ideal humanity and tyrannical selfishness. Such were the spiritual qualities of the Imam. He lived and died, while the words of Allah were on his tongue.