ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Glimpses of the Nahj Al-balaghah Part V -moral Lectures and Aphorisms Inimitable Moral Teaching: Moral and spiritual teachings constitute the greater part of the Nahj al-balaghah making up almost half of the book. More than anything else the fame of the Nahj al-balaghah is due to the sermons, exhortations, and aphorisms on ethical and moral subjects.

Aside from the moral teachings of the Quran and a number of the sermons and sayings of the Holy Prophet ('s), which are to be considered the source and antecedent of the Nahj al-balaghah, the teachings of the Nahj al-balaghah are without a match in the Arabic and Persian languages.

For more than a thousand years these sermons have played an influential role serving as a matchless source of inspiration, and yet retained their original power to quicken the heart, to sublimate emotions, and to bring tears to the eyes. It seems that as long as there remains any trace of humanity in the world, these sermons shall continue to exercise their original power and influence.

A Comparison: The literature of Arabic and Persian is replete with works containing spiritual and moral teachings of highest sublimity and elegance though mainly in the form of poetry. There is, for example, the famous qasidah by Abu al-Fath al-Busti (360-400/971-1010), which begins with the verse: Worldly profit and achievement is loss, And the gain unmarked by the seal of pure goodness.

There is also the elegiacal qasidah of Abu al-Hasan al-Tihami, which he wrote on the early death of his youthful son. It begins with these lines: The law of fate governs the destiny of creation, And this world is not a place to settle in. Every one of these works is an everlasting masterpiece of its kind and shines like a star on the horizons of the Arabic literature of Islamic era, never to lose its freshness and charm.

In Persian, the Gulistan and the Bustan of Sa'di and his qasaid serve as an unusually attractive and effective means of moral advice and are masterpieces of their own kind. To give some examples, there are those famous verses of the Gulistan which start with the verse: Every breath is a fraction of life gone, And when I see, not much has remained of it.

Or in his qasa'id where he says: O people, the world is not a place for leisure and repose; To the wise man, the world is not worth the effort of acquiring it.