Nahj al-Balagha Hadith n. 469

Selections from The Sayings and Preaching of Amir al-Muminin Ali ibn Abi Talib (Peace Be Upon Him) Including His Replies to Questions and Maxims Expressed for Various Purposes.
Translated by Sayyid Ali Reza

وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام):

Amir al-mu'minin, peace be upon him, said:

يَهْلِكُ فِيَّ رَجُلاَنِ:

Two types of persons will fall into ruin over me:

مُحِبٌّ مُفْرِطٌ،

The one who loves exaggerates

وَبَاهِتٌ مُفْتَرٍ.

and the other who lays false and baseless blames.

وهذا مثل قوله (علیه السلام): يَهْلِكُ فِيَّ رَجُلاَنِ: مُحِبٌّ غالِ، وَ مُبغِض قالِ.

As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: This is on the lines of Amir al-mu’minin’s own saying which runs as: ‘‘Two categories of persons will be ruined over me: the one who loves exaggeratingly and the hater and malice-bearer.’’ 99

 

99. The Holy Prophet used often to urge and order the ummah to love Amir al-mu’minin and forbid them to bear any hatred against him. Moreover, the Holy Prophet used to regard the love of Amir al-mu’minin as the sign of Faith (iman) and the hatred of him as the sign of hypocracy (nifaq) (as we have already mentioned on the foot-note of No.45). Now, we quote one of the traditions of the Holy Prophet with regard to this subject. It has been narrated through fourteen companions that the Holy Prophet said : Whoever loves ‘Ali, he surely loves me; and whoever loves me, he surely loves Allah, and whoever loves Allah, He will cause him to enter Paradise. Whoever hates ‘Ali, he surely hates me; and whoever hates me, he surely hates Allah, and whoever hates Allah, He will cause him to enter the Fire. And whoever hurts ‘Ali, he surely hurts me, and whoever hurts me, he surely hurts Allah, (surely, those who hurt Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in the present world and the world to come, and has prepared for them a humbling chastisement [Qur’an, 33 :57] ). (al-Mustadrak, vol.3, pp.127—128; 130; Hilyah al-awliya’, vol.l, pp.66-67; al-Isti‘ab, vol.3, p.1101; Usd al-ghabah, vol.4, p. 383; al-Isabah, vol.3, pp.496-497; Majma‘ az-zawa’id, vol.9, pp. 108—109, 129, 131, 132, 133; Kanz al-‘ummal, vol.12, pp.202, 209, 218—219; vol.15, pp.95—96; vol.17, p.70; ar-Riyad an-nadirah, vol.2, pp.166, 167, 209, 214; al-Manaqib, Ibn al-Maghazili, pp.103,196, 382) At the same time, the Holy Prophet used to caution the ummah against exaggeration in (Amir al-mu’minin’s) love of him in exceeding the bounds of Islam in love for him. One who does so is called ghali, i.e. he who believes that the Holy Prophet or Amir al-mu’minin or any of the Shi‘ite Imams is god, or attributes to them the special attributes of Allah, or believes that the twelve Imams are prophets, or makes any claim which they (the Holy Prophet and Imams) did not make about themselves. On the contrary, the Holy Prophet had also forbidden any offence or denigration concerning them (Imams); and he used to blame those who lay false and baseless accusations against them as well as those who hate and bear malice. It was for this reason that the Holy Prophet sometimes used to refrain from mentioning some of the excellent qualities of Amir al-mu’minin as Jabir ibn ‘Abdillah al-Ansari narrates: When Amir al-mu’minin approached the Holy Prophet with the news of the conquering of Khaybar by himself (Amir al-mu’minin), the Holy Prophet said to him: ‘‘O’ ‘Ali, had it not been for some groups of my ummah who may say about you, what the Christians say about ‘Isa, son of Maryam. I would have said (something) about you so that you would not pass before any Muslim but that he would seize the dust from the tracks of your feet demanding blessing from it. But it suffices to say that you hold the same position in relation to me as Harun held in relation to Musa except that there shall, in all certainty, be no prophet after me.’’ (Majma‘ az-zawa’id, vol.9, p. 131; Ibn Abi’l-Hadid, vol.5, p.4; vol.9, p.168; vol.18, p.282; Manaqib ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn al-Maghazili, pp.237—239; Manaqib ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, al-Khwarazmi, pp.75—76, 96, 220; Kifayah at-talib fi manaqib ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, al-Ganji, pp.264—265; Arjah al-matalib, pp.448, 454; Yanabi‘ al-mawaddah, pp.63—64, 130—131) The Holy Prophet had also informed the Muslim ummah that there will appear two types of deviated groups among the Muslims who will exceed the bounds of Islamic principles towards understanding Amir al-mu’minin, as he himself has related: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his descendants, called upon me and said: ‘‘O’ ‘Ali, there is a resemblance between you and ‘Isa son of Maryam, whom the Jews hated so much that they laid a false accusation against his mother, and whom the Christians loved so much that they assigned to him the position which is not for him.’’ (Then, Amir al-mu’minin continues) Beware ! two types of persons will fall into ruin over me: The one who loves (me) who will eulogize me for what is not in me; and the one who hates (me) whose detestation against me will lead him to lay false and baseless accusations on me. Beware ! I am not a prophet, and nothing has been revealed to me. But I act according to the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Prophet as far as I can. (al-Musnad, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, vol.1, p.160; al-Mustadrak, al-Hakim, vol.3, p.123; Mishkat al-masabih, vol.3, pp.245—246; Majma‘ az-zawa’id, vol.9, p.133 ; Kanz al-‘ummal, vol.12, p.219; vol.15, p.110; Ibn Kathir, vol.7, p.356) The above mentioned sayings of Amir al-mu’minin (in this foot-note) as well as in the text have been reported from the Holy Prophet when he said to Amir al-mu’minin: O’ ‘Ali, two types of persons will fall into ruin over you: The one who loves exaggeratingly and the liar who lays false accusation. (al-Isti‘ab, vol.3, p.1101) Also, he said to him: Two categories will be ruined over you: The one who loves exaggeratingly and the hater who bears malice. (Ibn Abi’l-Hadid, vol.5, p.6) The famous scholar of tradition ‘Amir ibn Sharahil ash-Sha‘bi (19/ 640 — 103/721) has confirmed this saying that these two categories appeared and both became disbelievers and were ruined. (al-Isti‘ab, vol.3, p.1130; al-‘Iqd al-farid, vol.4, p.312)