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Gentleness as long as There Is no Conspiracy
455. Imām Ali (a.s.): “Gentleness will soften the roughness of opposition and defiance.”1
456. Imām Ali (a.s.) – in the aphorisms attributed to him: “Get close to your enemy to the extent that you may fulfill your need; and do not get too close to him lest you should debase your companions and yourself. Look at the stick erected before the sun. If you tilt it, the shadow will get longer and if you go to extremes in tilting the stick, the shadow will diminish.”2
457. Tārikh al-Tabari – narrating from `Abd al-Malik ibn Abi Hurrah al-Hanafi: “One day Ali (a.s.) went out to give a sermon. He was lecturing while the Khawārij were chanting in a corner of the mosque ‘there is no Sovereignty save for God’ (lā hukm illā li’llāh)!
Ali (a.s.) said: “God is the Greatest (Allah Akbar)! It is a true word but falsehood is intended. If they keep silent, we will abandon them; if they go on talking, we will debate with them; and if they rise against us, we will fight them.”3
458. al-Sunan al-Kubrā – narrating from Kathir ibn Namir: “While I was attending the Friday prayer and Ali (a.s.) was on the pulpit when a man rose and said, ‘there is no Discretion belong only to God’ (lā hukm illā li’llāh)!”
Another person rose and said, ‘there is no Sovereignty save for God’! Then the Khawārij stood up from around the mosque. Ali (a.s.) requested them to sit down and he said: “Yes, Sovereignty belongs to God alone; a word by which a falsehood is intended. We will deal with you according to the judgment of God. Let it be known that there are three issues regarding you that matters for me:
So long as you are with us, we will not prevent you from
the mosque in which you may utter the name of God;
So long as your hands are in ours, we will not deprive you of the public assets; and we will not fight against you unless you fight against us.” Then he went on with his sermon.”4
1.. Ibid, p. ۵۶۰.
2.. Sharh Nahj al-Balāghah, vol. ۲۰, p. ۳۴۲, h. ۹۲۳.
3.. Tārikh al-Tabari, vol. ۵, p. ۷۲, al-Kāmil fi al-Tārikh, vol. ۲, p. ۳۹۸, Ansāb al-Ashrāf, vol. ۳, p. ۱۳۵.
4.. al-Sunan al-Kubrā, vol. ۸, p. ۳۱۹, h. ۱۶۷۶۳, Tārikh al-Tabari, vol. ۵, p. ۷۳, al-Kāmil fi al-Tārikh, vol. ۲, p. ۳۹۸.
