A beautiful sermon of Imam Ali (A.S)

Maulana Ziyaur Rahman Alimi

A group of the Companions of the Prophet (M. A.B.P.W.H) were discussing the alphabet, they all said that the letter Alif (ﻒـــــــــــــــــــــــــﻟا) is the most used word in the language. At that time, Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (RA) stood up and delivered this extempore sermon , which is empty of Alif… This arabic sermon is called Khutbah al
Mu’anaqah or Khutbah Mahdhufut al-Alif.In this sermon, after praising Allah and testifying the Prophethood of the Prophet Mohammad, and his exalting status (P.B.U.H) emphasis is placed on following the Holy Quran and Sunnah and adopting piety. After that, the reality of worldly life, the journey of death, the scenes of the grave and fearsome stages of the hereafter are described in an effective style with end notes consisting of supplication and Istegfhfaar.This sermon is the best example of the linguistic skill and rhetorical power of our spiritual master Imam Ali . It is available in both Sunni and Shia sources. For Sufi Times readers it has been translated into English so they are benefited from this beautiful masterpiece of Imam Ali and live life accordingly.
For details go through:
1.Kanzul Ummal: Ali Muttaqi Hindi,16/208-213,Hadith no:44233.
2.Jameul Ahaadith: Soyouti,30/258, Hadith no:33194.
3.Bihaarul Anwaar: Majlisi,74/342.
4. Sharah Nahjul Balaghah, Ibne Abul Hadeed,19/140

Praising Allah, the almighty and Testifying Tauheed (Oneness of Allah:)
I praise the One whose favours are great and whose blessings are vast, whose mercy prevails over his anger, whose words are perfect and complete, whose will is valid, whose authority is mature and whose judgment is just.I praise Him like a servant who acknowledges His Lordship, bows down to His servitude, avoids sins, admits His Oneness, accepts His promises, seeks His protection from His punishment and hopes forgiveness of his Lord, by which a man will be saved on the day he forgets his family and children. We ask Him for help, we beg for His guidance, we believe in Him and we trust in Him.With a heart of sincerity and faith, like a staunch believer, I bear witness that I am convinced of His Oneness, and like an obedient servant, I declare His Monotheism, that there is no partner in His Kingdom, and there is no one to help him in his creation. He is free from the advisor and minister and He has no counterpart.He is all-knowing yet He hides, something is hidden yet He knows. He is the owner of everything. He is the Wrathful. He is disobeyed yet He forgives. If He is worshipped, He bestows rewards. He judges and gives justice, He gives grace, He provides pleasure, He has always been and will always be, there is nothing like Him. He is before everything and after everything.He is the Lord of such greatness who is unique in his power, He is the owner of everything by his power, He is free from all lowliness because of his attribute of exaltation, He is the one who has glory because of his loftiness, no eye can grasp him and no vision can seize him. He is mighty and powerful, He is all-hearing and all-seeing, He is Exalted and Wise, He is Merciful, He is mighty and all-knowing.Those who describe His glory are unable to describe His glory, those who know Him are lost in the description of His attributes. He is near while He is far away. He is far away while He is near. He accepts the supplications of the people who pray to Him. He provides sustenance to His servants. His bounties are hidden. He is absolute in his power, wide in mercy and He inflicts painful punishments. The spacious and the well-decorated paradise is the manifestation of His mercy, and the closed Hell full of the killing-fire is the manifestation of His punishment.

Testifying Prophethood of the beloved Mohammad:
I testify that Allah Almighty sent His beloved and friend, servant and Messenger Muhammad Mustafa (the chosen). Allah Almighty sent him in the best time. During the time of fatrah (a period of ignorance with no messenger present at that time) and disbelief. He sent the messenger, showing mercy to his servants and bestowing more favours. He ended the chain of prophethood with him. He established his argument firmly through him, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) warned people, preached his message, and endured hardships in the way.He is the one who has great compassion and mercy towards every believer. He is the guardian and the generous. He is intelligent and
beloved.May Allah the forgiver, merciful and the lord, the one who is very close to people and who listens to the prayers of his people, confer his mercy, peace, blessings and honour on the Prophet

Spiritual instructions and advices:
Assembly attendees! My commandment to you is to fear Allah the Almighty. I remind you to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Fear Allah the Almighty, this will give peace to your heart. Instil his greatness in your heart, it will make you cry, and hold on to piety, it will be your saviour and source of success on the day of negligence and on the day of success for those who kept the scale of good deeds heavy and the weight of sins light. In your prayers, there should be humbleness and submission, praise, thanksgiving,
obedience, repentance and regret.Let everyone make the most of his health before his illness, his youth before his old age, his wealth before his poverty, his leisure before his busyness, his stay time at home before his journey. Before he grows old and sick, before the doctor is tired of his disease, before his beloved ignores him, his intellect deteriorates and his life thread is cut off. At that stage, he is told that his health has now worsened, his body has become weak, after that he reaches a se hard state of Nazaa (death time), his near and distant relatives come to him. At that time, he looks upwards, while his forehead is sweaty, his eagerness is appeased, his life is taken away, his wife is mourning, his body is buried, his children is orphaned, his power has dissipated and his legacy has been divided.
Before his sight and hearing are lost, he is shrouded, he is made to lie facing the Qibla, he is bathed, his old clothes are removed, his body is wiped and wrapped, his shroud is spread over him, his chin is tied around it, and he is clothed, turbaned, and wrapped, he is bid farewell, he is greeted, and he is carried on a bed, his funeral prayer is performed, he is taken out of the colourful houses, the magnificent palaces and the strong rooms to a strong narrow house made of raw bricks, having a roof made of heavy stones, then his grave has been levelled by putting soil on it, and at that time he is in a state of fear and his memories have been forgotten. His relatives, friends, family members have all returned, his best friend has also left him, his companions, friends, lovers, loyalists have all changed, now he has become the food of the grave, confined in the chattel field, grave worms are running in his body, blood and pus are coming out of his nostrils, his clothes are torn into pieces, his flesh is dismembered, his blood is completely drained and His bones have crumbled.He will remain in this state until the day of resurrection, then he will be raised from the grave, the trumpet will be blown, he will be called for the judgment. At a time when graves have been opened and every good and bad hidden in the chest will be revealed, every prophet, righteous person, martyr and eloquent man will be brought, Allah the almighty, who is aware of His servants and is watching them, will judge. In that terrible place, in that horrible scene, near the Lord, who is aware of every small and big thing, many sighs will weaken him and many tears will cause him pain, he will be drenched in a sweat that will make him unable to walk. His grief will be distressing for him, but he will not be shown mercy because of his tears, there will be no one to listen to his cry, and no argument will be of any use, his deeds will be revealed, his sins will be manifested, every limb will bear witness to his evil deeds. The eyes will bear witness to the things he saw, the hands will bear witness to the things he held, His feet will bear witness to the things he moved towards, his body will bear witness to the things he touched and his private part will bear witness to how it did used, the two angels Munkar and Nakeer will frighten him, his eyes will be wide-opened, his neck and hands will be shackled, he will be thrown, dragged alone and brought to hell in a state of severe pain, he will be tormented there, will be poured boiling water with which his face will be burnt and his skin will come off, the angels of hell will hammer him with iron rod, the skin of the body will be renewed after being burnt, he will cry out but the angels will pay no attention to his cry, he will continue to cry and be eternally in hell with regret and sorrow

End notes and prayers:
I come to the protection of the Lord almighty from the evil of the end, I seek from the almighty God for the forgiveness, like those servants with whom He is pleased, I seek for the pardon like those
servants whose excuses He accepts. He who hears my supplications, He who fulfils my request. The one who stays away from the punishment of his Lord, becomes a dweller of His Paradise near Him, and enters eternally in the lofty palaces, there he will be surrounded by beautiful-eyed Hoors and servants. Delicious drinks will be served there. He will live in the Firdous (paradise), he will move about in bliss, and he will be given drinks from the river of Tasneem. He will be served drinks from a spring of Salsabil, mixed with ginger and sealed with a fragrance of musk having lasting pleasure, he will drink wines in a bright and green park. He who drinks it, will not suffer, nor will he bleed. This is the status of one who fears his Lord and warns himself, and this is the punishment of one who disobeys his Creator and from bad things his Nefs (bad soul) has incited him to disobey his lord.The holy Quran is a decisive word and a just ruling, the best story to tell. This is a text revealed through Sacred angel Gabriel from the Wise, the Praiseworthy Allah to the guided honourable prophet. May honourable and righteous angels send Salutations upon him.I seek refuge with a Merciful Lord from the evil of every accursed one. Everyone should pray and suplicate to Him. We seek forgiveness from the Lord of all things for myself and for you too.

• Maulana Ziyaur Rahman Alimi
  Alim & Fazil: Darul Uloom Alimia Jamda Shahi, UP.
  M.A: A.M.U Aligarh
  M.Phil: J.N.U, New Delhi, India
  Teacher: Jamia Arifia, Saiyed Sarawan, India
  Member: Shah Safi Academy, Saiyed Sarawan, India