أَرْسَلَهُ عَلَى حِينِ فَتْرَةٍ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ،
Allah sent the Prophet after the mission of other Prophets had stopped
وَطُولِ هَجْعَةٍ مِنَ الاْمَمِ،
and the peoples were in slumber for a long time.
وَاعْتِزَامٍ مِنَ الْفِتَنِ،
Evils were raising heads,
وَانْتَشَارٍ مِنَ الاْمُورِ،
all matters were under disruption
وَتَلَظٍّمِنَ الْحُرُوبِ،
and in flames of wars,
والدُّنْيَا كَاسِفَةُ النُّورِ،
while the world was devoid of brightness,
ظَاهِرَةُ الْغُرُورِ،
and full of open deceitfulness.
عَلَى حِينِ اصْفِرَارٍ مِنْ وَرَقِهَا،
Its leaves had turned yellow
وَإِيَاسٍ مِنْ ثَمَرِهَا،
and there was absence of hope about its fruits
وَاغْوِرَارٍ مِنْ مَائِهَا،
and its water had gone underground.
قَدْ دَرَسَتْ أعْلامُ الْهُدَى،
The minarets of guidance had disappeared
وَظَهَرَتْ أَعْلاَمُ الرِّدَى،
and signs of destruction had appeared.
فَهِيَ مُتَجَهِّمَةٌ لاِهْلِهَا،
It was stern to its people
عَابِسَةٌ فِي وَجْهِ طَالِبِهَا،
and frowned in the face of its seeker.
ثَمَرُهَا الْفِتْنَةُ وَطَعَامُهَا الْجِيفَةُ
Its fruit was vice and its food was carcass.
وَشِعَارُهَا الْخَوْفُ، وَدِثَارُهَا السَّيْفُ.
Its inner dress was fear and outer cover was sword.
فَاعْتَبِرُوا عِبَادَ اللهِ،
So take lesson, O creatures of Allah,
وَاذْكُرُوا تِيكَ الَّتي آبَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ بِهَا مُرْتَهَنُونَ،
and recall that (evil doing) with which your fathers and brothers are entangled,
وَعَلَيْهَا مُحَاسَبُونَ.
and for which they have to account.
وَلَعَمْرِي مَا تَقَادَمَتْ بِكُمْ وَلاَ بِهِمُ الْعُهُودُ،
By my life, your time is not much behind theirs,
وَلاَ خَلَتْ فِيَما بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمُ الاَحْقَابُ وَالْقُرُونُ،
nor have long periods or centuries lapsed between you and them,
وَمَا أَنْتُمُ الْيَوْمَ مِنْ يَوْمَ كُنْتُمْ فِي أَصْلاَبِهِمْ بِبَعِيد.
nor are you much distant from when you were in their loins.
وَاللهِ مَا أَسْمَعَكُمُ الرَّسُولُ (صلى الله عليه وآله) شَيْئاً إِلاَّ
By Allah, whatever the Prophet told them,
وَهَا أَنَا ذَا الْيَوْمَ مُسْمِعُكُمُوهُ،
I am here telling you the same
وَمَا أَسْمَاعُكُمُ الْيَوْمَ بِدُونِ أَسْمَاعِكُمْ بِالاْمْسِ،
and whatever you hear today is not different from what they heard yesterday.
وَلاَ شُقَّتْ لَهُمُ الاْبصَارُ،
The eyes that were opened for them
وَجُعِلَتْ لَهُمُ الاْفْئِدَةُ في ذلِكَ الاْوَانِ،
and the hearts that were made for them at that time,
إِلاَّ وَقَدْ أُعْطِيتُمْ مِثْلَهَا فِي هذَا الزَّمَانِ.
just the same have been given to you at this time.
وَوَاللهِ مَا بُصِّرْتُمْ بَعْدَهُمْ شَيْئاً جَهِلُوهُ،
By Allah, you have not been told anything that they did not know
وَلاَ أُصْفِيتُمْ بِهِ وَحُرِمُوهُ،
and you have not been given anything which they were deprived.
وَلَقَدْ نَزَلَتْ بِكُمُ الْبَلِيَّةُ
Certainly you have been afflicted by a calamity (which is like a she-camel)
جَائِلاً خِطَامُهَا،
whose nose-string is moving about
رِخْواً بِطَانُهَا،
and whose strap is loose
فَلاَ يَغُرَّنَّكُمْ مَا أَصْبَحَ فِيهِ أَهْلُ الْغُرُورِ،
So in whatever condition these deceitful people are should not deceive you,
فَإِنَّمَا هَوَ ظِلٌّ مَمْدُودٌ،
because it is just a long shadow
إِلَى أَجَل مَعْدُود.
whose term is fixed.
Alternative Sources for Sermon 89: Al-Kulayni, ‘Usul al-Kafi, I, 60; al-Sayyid al-Yamani, al-Taraz, I, 342; Ali ibn Ibrahim, Tafsir, p.3.
