English
In Praise of Imam Ali and the Proof of His Authority
Worthy of leadership in form and in essence is Ali, the guardian, who is king and master.
The world is like an eye and he is its pupil; the world is like a word and he is its meaning.
Faith needs him to come into being, just as raw matter needs form to take shape.
He is faithful and most faithful, the guardian and the most deserving; the knowing and the most knowing, the high and the highest.
Guardian of guardianship, heir of inheritance, guidance of guidance, both the highest and the nearest.
Were his being not the final cause, the first causes would have stood idle and useless.
Place in its settling and time in its passing both obey his haste and his delay.
Were his light not at the center, both worlds would remain like the eyes of a blind man.
From the restraint of his piety and the giving of his knowledge, the body grows lean while the mind of reason grows full.
On every mountain and every plain, look: the radiance of his face is revelation upon revelation.
The dust of his road and the print of his foot are the breath of Mary's Jesus and the hand of Moses.
His light is the secret of the world's creation; his essence is the power of God Most High.
Even if, by impossible supposition, he offered deadly poison, it would be better than manna and quail from anyone else.
When he charges, what are Rostam and Dastan? When he works a miracle, what are Moses and Jesus?
In his hand is the pen of the First Intellect; from his knowledge comes the writing of the Universal Soul.
Come to the quarter of his rank and glory and see revelation poured down layer upon layer.
A lane from his house is the First Body; a nurse in his dwelling is the First Soul.
If you saw his pure garden, the highest sun would seem small to your eyes.
All his servants are pure intellects; all his attendants are exalted souls.
Before him, by one measure, the commoner and the elite are the same; in one step, the heavenly and the earthly are equal.
How wretched is the one who, on the Day of Gathering, finds comfort in paradise while shut out from his door.
Were his nearness to the Prophet not so close, loving the kin would not have been made obligatory.
The whole substance of love for him is the love of the houris; the whole fruit of devotion to him is the harvest of the Tuba tree.
Without his guardianship, rising is falling; with his guardianship, falling is rising.
Whether day or night, to those who dwell at his door, what does it matter, west or east, who sits in the sun's house?
Captives of his face, lost in his hair, whether a plain full of Majnuns or a city full of Laylas.
Those who gird themselves to the lasso of his love, Azra on one side and Salma on the other.
At the gate of his eternal presence, longing is heaped upon longing.
Leadership befits the one who is adorned with virtues and emptied of vices.
Who but him is so emptied of vices? Who but him is so adorned with virtues?
If anyone else claimed his place, that claim would be empty of meaning.
When there is no meaning, speaking is mere dissent; when there is no proof, a claim is mere boasting.
Knowledge is made strong by his mind; piety is made precious by his company.
The dead heart is brought to life by his words; what better way is there to raise the dead?
Both knowledge and insight are sacrifices on his road; both this world and the next are subordinate to him.
A king whose qualities the Lord of Revelation has, out of honor, dictated in a hundred places.
The divine words, both earlier and later, are all praise of him, composed by God Himself.
You will not find a chapter or a verse in the Quran that does not point most clearly to his perfection.
God gave all the prophets of the nations a hundred kinds of glad tidings through his coming.
Gabriel was commissioned to proclaim him; the Prophet was forbidden to keep him hidden.
Prophethood is confirmed by proclaiming his rank; the mission is voided by concealing him.
What schemes the people of enmity devised to hide his worth from the whole world.
But from a handful of rising dust, the sun is never hidden in the heavens.
From the cold breath of the slandering envious, his light never went behind a veil of concealment.
Yes, can the torch of the blazing sun ever be put out by the wind of a breath?
He is the best of creation after the Prophet, since all the directions of virtue are folded within him.
In abundant knowledge and in manifest wisdom, in the manners of asceticism and the rites of piety.
In being first to Islam and in nearness to the Prophet, both in form and in essence.
His courage was such that, until the Day of Judgment, faith stands firm by the strength of his arm.
He tore every veil of disbelief and disobedience; he shattered all the splendor of Lat and Uzza.
The leaders of the community rely on him in every kind of knowledge and in the rules of religious verdicts.
The sea of wisdom is but a drop from his ocean; the mystic's unveiling is but a ray of his light.
Both reciter and preacher claim kinship with him; both grammarian and syntactician take pride in him.
He has been the source for interpreting the verses, the refuge for explaining the revelation.
The sayings of the elders rest on him; the displays of the masters are traced to him.
The arts of learning come from teaching his knowledge; the God-given sciences come from the guidance of his secret.
In every event his reason has been the guide; in every question his knowledge has been the verdict.
In the difficulties of every event, all who usurped the caliphate returned to him.
He never strayed a hair's breadth from God's command, nor wronged the people by even a grain.
The conditions of leadership were gathered in him by the explicit text of God's word.
Leadership draws its soundness from infallibility; by the text, infallibility is made complete.
The texts of purity descend upon him; the proofs of infallibility flow through him.
From the clear verses and the truthful traditions, each of which leads to piety as its aim.
Traditions reaching the level of mass transmission, both in their wording and in their meaning.
Not weakened or falsified by the transmitter, nor in need of verifying or vouching for the narrator.
First I will prove the point from the Quran, then complete the argument with the traditions.
For whom was 'so that He may remove' and 'and purify'? Whom does 'who recites it' bear witness to?
For what dwelling did 'Has there not come' descend? Why was the Prophet reproached over 'convey the message'?
Whom did God intend by 'indeed'? Who was it that gave his ring to the beggar?
Who was the one with whom, by God's command, the Prophet invoked mutual cursing against the Christians?
Who was commissioned to return the chapter of Acquittal? To whom did he give the banner as the foremost?
Who held the honor of brotherhood with the Prophet? Who was equal in rank to the resolute messengers?
For whose sake did Gabriel say 'there is no youth like him'? For whom did the Prophet say 'you are of me'?
On the day of Ghadir, for whom did the Prophet say from the pulpit, 'Am I not nearer to you?'
For whom was the tradition issued that is recorded about the roasted bird?
Why did he command that he be greeted with the title of leadership? Why was the reward for the mission love of the kin?
One for whom these virtues are firmly established, one in whom these proofs are made to flow,
He was foremost over all others in leadership; he was more deserving than any other of the caliphate.
It is pure ignorance and sheer misery to make anyone else his equal.
How can it be right for anyone of knowledge to say that someone else is worthier than him?
I cannot believe that any person of learning has dared this in his heart,
Unless, to gain rank and station, he sought favor with the masters of this world.
What loss is there in such trade, when one sees a man sell the rewards of the next world for this one?
Leave aside the next world: what shame for one who must abide near that king's dwelling.
My God, You know that the generous sinner has no refuge but the threshold of that king.
Forgive him his known shortcomings for his sake; forgive him these great sins for his sake.
For even if I am not worthy, You can grant for his sake a hundred thousand servants like me.
A dog can be looked upon for its master's sake; one can be pardoned, the servant for the lord's sake.
Do not lessen for me the blessing of his love, for in both worlds this is reward enough for me.