In Praise of the Prophet

Knowledge and faith will truly set you free; you must go seeking the gate of salvation. If you don't want your heart to be broken, if you don't want to be forever miserable, then find your way through the Prophet's words, and wash the darkness from your heart with this water. What did he say, that lord of scripture and revelation, the master of what is commanded and what is forbidden? That after the great messengers, the sun shone on no one better than Abu Bakr. Omar brought Islam into the open and adorned the world like a garden in spring. After those two, the chosen one was Osman, a man of modesty and a man of faith. Fourth was Ali, husband of Fatima, whom the Prophet praised for his goodness. He said: 'I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate.' These words are truly the Prophet's own. I bear witness that these words are his; it is as though both my ears are filled with his voice. He spoke like this of Ali, and of the others too, for through them the faith grew strong in every way. The Prophet is the sun, his companions like the moon, bound to one another on a single straight road. I am a servant of the Prophet's household, one who praises the dust beneath his heir's feet. The wise man likened this world to a sea, with fierce winds stirring up its waves. Seventy ships were built upon it, all of them with their sails raised high. One broad ship, lovely as a bride, decked out and bright as a rooster's eye. Muhammad was aboard it, and Ali, and with them the household of the Prophet and his heir. The wise man, seeing the sea from afar, its shore invisible and its depths unseen, knew that its waves would rise and strike, and that no one would escape from drowning. He said in his heart: if I must drown, let it be with the Prophet and his heir, two faithful friends. Surely then my rescuer will be the lord of the crown, the banner, and the throne, the lord of the stream of wine and honey, of the fountain of milk and the pure flowing water. If you set your eyes on the other world, take your place beside the Prophet and Ali. If this offends you, then the fault is mine; so be it, for this is my faith and my way. On this I was born and on this I will pass; know that I am the dust beneath Ali's feet. If your heart leans toward the wrong path, then your own heart is your enemy in this world. None but the fatherless would be his enemy, one whose body God will burn in fire. Whoever holds hatred for Ali in his soul, who in this world is more wretched than he? Take care not to treat the world as a game, and not to turn away from good companions. You must begin all your goodness now, if you would travel alongside people of good name. How long can I keep speaking on this subject? In truth, I can find no end to it.