ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Nahjul Balagha Part 2, Letters and Sayings Letter 31: Advice to one of his sons after returning from the Battle of Siffin He wrote this letter for al-Hasan ibn `Ali [^1] (his son - peace be upon them), when Amir al-mu'minin encamped at al-Hadirin on his way back from Siffin.

ومن وصيّته (عليه السلام) للحسن بن علي (عليه السلام)، كتبها إليه بـ "حاضرين" عند انصرافه من صفّين From the father who is (shortly) to die, who acknowledges the hardships of the times, who has turned away from life, who has submitted himself to the (calamities of) time, who realizes the evils of the world, who is living in the abodes of the dead and is due to depart from them any day; to the son who yearns for what is not to be achieved, who is treading the path of those who have died, who is the victim of ailments, who is entangled in the (worries of the) days, who is a target of hardships, a slave of the world, a trader of its deception, a debtor of wishes, a prisoner of mortality, an ally of worries, a neighbour of grief, a victim of distresses, who has been overpowered by desires, and who is a successor of the dead.

Now (you should know that) what I have learnt from the turning away of this world from me, the onslaught of time over me and the advancing of the next world towards me is enough to prevent me from remembering anyone except myself and from thinking beyond myself. But when I confined myself to my own worries leaving the worries of others, my intelligence saved me and protected me from my desires.

It clarified to me my affairs and led me to seriousness wherein there was no trickery and truth which was not tarnished by falsehood. Here, I found you a part of myself, rather I found you my whole, so much so that if anything befell you, it was as though it befell me and if death came to you it was as though it came to me. Consequently, your affairs meant to me what my own matters meant to me.