Notes by the Arabic translator
1. When the maid opened the door, the sound of singing and clamour could be heard by the passers by.
2. Wasail’ush Shia, vol. 11, p. 124.
3. Nahjul Balagha. Imam Ali (a.s.) has an adage, serving the same theme, “It is not a winner whose sins catch up with him, and if the evil one overcame, he would eventually taste defeat.” Nahjul Balagha, Beirut new edition, Catalogued by Dr. Subhi as-Saleh, axiom No. 327, p. 533.
4. No doubt many champions, heroes, and ordinary people find in Imam Ali a role model, because, above all, he was fighting on two fronts – The external enemy and the enemy within, i.e. his tempting soul.
5. The reason why he earned that title is that he was in a caravan with other members of the tribe of Quraish. When the caravan reached the valley of Yelyel, near Badr, it was ambushed by a group of men of the tribe of Banu Bakr. Amr bin Abdi Wid asked his travelling companions to slip away. He single-handedly faced up to the attackers and defeated them. (at-Tabataba’ie, al-Mizan Qur’anic Commentary, Chapter 33, al-Ahzab vol. 16, p. 297).
6. The story we traced has been related by al-Majlisi in his Biharul Anwar, vol. 41, p. 51, Beirut new edition, that goes like this: When he gained the upper hand over Amr bin Abdi Wid, he did not deal him the final blow. The companions of the Prophet criticised Ali for not finishing him off. Huthaifa spoke in defence of Ali. The Prophet asked him to keep quiet, adding that Ali would put them in the picture as to why he paused before dealing his foe the last blow. When he finally killed bin Abdi Wid and went back to join the other combatants, the Prophet asked him about the delay in finishing his enemy off. Ali said that bin Abdi Wid called his mother names and spat in his face, and that had he killed him under the spur of the moment, it would have counted as though he killed him in revenge of his honour. Thus, he added, that he gave himself a respite to cool down in order that his killing him would be in the cause of God.
7. The story as it is told in Nahjul Balagha explains that this dialogue took place while the Imam was returning from Basrah after God granted him victory over the adversaries in the Battle of the Camel, and not after Siffeen, as the author had mentioned. (Nahjul Balagha, Beirut new edition, Catalogued by Dr. Subhi as-Saleh, vol. 1, p. 55).
8. “If they had intended to come out, they would certainly have made some preparation therefore; but God was averse to their being sent forth; so He made them lag behind, and they were told, "Sit ye among those who sit (inactive). If they had come out with you, they would not have added to your (strength) but only (made for) disorder, hurrying to and fro in your midst and sowing sedition among you, and there would have been some among you who would have listened to them. But God knoweth well those who do wrong.” (9/46-47).
This is in respect of the first group. As regards the second group, which the Imam made reference to, the Holy Qur’an describes them, thus:
“There is no blame on those who are infirm, or ill, or who find no resources to spend (on the cause), if they are sincere (in duty) to God and His Apostle: no ground (of complaint) can there be against such as do right: and God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. Nor (is there blame) on those who came to thee to be provided with mounts, and when thou said, "I can find no mounts for you," they turned back, their eyes streaming with tears of grief that they had no resources wherewith to provide the expenses.” (9/91-92).
In Sunan Ibn Majah, the Book of Jihad, vol. 2, p. 923, it has been related from the Prophet, after his return from expedition of Tabuk towards the approaches of Medina, “There are people in Medina, who, whatever distance you have covered, they would be with you.” They asked, “O Messenger of God! Even if they were in Medina?” He replied, “Yes, even if they were in Medina. They have a good reason for not being with us.”
9. Those words were Sa’ad bin Ma’ath’s in reply to a question put by the Prophet, who asked the opinion of the Ansar (Supporters, i.e. the people of Medina) about the proposition of taking on the army of the polytheists at the Battle of Badr. See Ibn Hisham’s Prophetic Biography, the Battle of Badr, in the closing pages of vol. 2 of the Beirut edition.
10. This is the text the author has quoted, however, what we found in the books of history is that Imam Husain (a.s.) gathered together his companions and members of his household on the eve of the tenth of Muharram and gave an oration, among whose contents were these words, “Now then, I am not aware of any companions more superior than my companions, neither a household that are more caring and loving than my family. May God reward you all on my behalf.”
11. The historiographers of battles assert that Sa’eed bin Abdullah al-Hanafi and a group of other combatants formed a circle around Imam Husain and his companions while they were saying their prayers. (Abdullah Shubbar’s Jala’ul Uyoon, the Chapter concerning His Arrival in Kerbala until His Martyrdom.)
12. It is worth noting that Sa’ad’s father was a companion of the Prophet. He was a consummate archer and had a good reputation among Arabs. He had a very good record in the battles of Islam and rendered noble services to Islam in this regard.
13. Abdullah Shubbar’s Jala’ul Uyoon, on which we relied heavily to cross-check the text relating to the Battle of Kerbala throughout the three lectures.
14. The type of moving around that is not commendable is that the person wanders aimlessly about just to be aloof from people, with the intention of retiring to remote areas and mountains for exclusive “worship”.
In Al-Hur al-Amili’s Wasa’il ush-Shia, vol, 11, p. 10, it has been reported that Othman bin Madh’oun approached the Prophet and expressed a wish to retire to the mountains. The Prophet said to him, “O Othman! Do not do it, the journeying of members of my ummah (community) is jihad. ”
Also, in Sheikh an-Nouri’s Mustadrakul Wasa’il, vol. 2, p.245 (lithograph) it is related that a man took to a mountain to retire for worship. His family brought him to the Messenger of God (s.a.w.), [complaining of his behaviour]. The Prophet discouraged him from so doing, and said, “If a believer shows resilience and perseverance in jihad for only one day, it is more meritorious for him than a forty-year worship”.
15. However, if we examine his statement from a spiritual perspective, we would find out that he was aspiring to shake off the yoke of materialism in order to roam in the noble world of spiritualism. In the metaphor, he likened the materialistic world to Alexander’s prison and the sublime spiritual life to the kingdom of Solomon.
16. He is one of the top Shia clerics who lived in Qom during the lifetime of Ayatollah as-Sayyid Husain al-Burujardi.
17. “Finds in the earth many a refuge, wide and spacious” means that the earth is vast, that is, it is not confined to the vicinity where the person lives. “Muragham”, which came in the context of the verse, means fine dust or sand. “Dipping one’s nose in the dust or the like” is a metaphor for the voluntary practice in prayer, as an expression of humility before God.
18. The power of the expression/argument in this verse lies in the fact that it dose not only set out to demolish the reasons “those who were deemed weak in the land” had put forward for going astray, i.e. the general decadence of society, but gives the alternative – the way out – to break free from the status quo. That is, commending the act of immigration in the cause of God, in that the immigrant’s reward would come from God; it also sets out the benefits arising from taking to immigration (hijra). That is, the immigrant would find in the land more space to observe one’s acts of worship.
19. The text is part of the letter Imam Ali (a.s.) sent to his governor of Basrah, Othman bin Hanif. (Vol. 4, p. 590, Darul Andulus, Beirut, annoted by Sheikh Mohammad Abdah). You may also look it up in Nahjul Balagha, Beirut new edition, Catalogued by Dr. Subhi as-Saleh, Letter No. 45.
20. Abdullah bin Ja’far, Zainab’s husband, had two sons who were martyred in the Battle of Kerbala. One was Awn, who was Zainab’s son and the second was by another wife.
21. Nahjul Balagha, Beirut new revised edition, catalogued by Dr. Subhi as-Saleh, Sermon No. 189.
No comments:
Post a Comment