اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَعْدِيكَ عَلَى قُرَيْش،
O My God! I beseech Thee to take revenge on the Quraysh and those who are assisting them,
فَإِنَّهُمْ قَدْ قَطَعُوا رَحِمِي،
for they have cut asunder my kinship
وَأَكْفَأُوا إِنَائِي،
and over-turned my cup
وَأَجْمَعُوا عَلَى مُنَازَعَتِي حَقّاً
and have joined together to contest a right
كُنْتُ أَوْلَى بِهِ مِنْ غَيْرِي،
to which I was entitled more than anyone else.
وَقَالُوا:
They said to me:
أَلاَ إِنَّ فِي الْحَقِّ أَنْ تَأْخُذَهُ،
“If you get your right, that will be just,
وَفِي الْحَقِّ أَنْ تُمْنَعَهُ،
but if you are denied the right, that too will be just.
فَاصْبِرْ مَغْمُوماً،
Endure it with sadness
أَوْ مُتْ مُتَأَسِّفاً.
or kill yourself in grief.”
فَنَظَرْتُ فَإِذَا لَيْسَ لِي رَافِدٌ،
I looked around but found no one to shield me,
وَلاَ ذَابٌّ وَلاَ مُسَاعِدٌ،
protect me or help me
إِلاَّ أَهْلَ بَيْتِي،
except the members of my family.
فَضَنِنْتُ بِهِمْ عَنِ الْمَنِيَّةِ،
I refrained from flinging them into death
فَأَغْضَيْتُ عَلَى الْقَذى،
and therefore closed my eyes despite the dust,
وَجَرِعْتُ رِيقِي عَلَى الشَّجَا،
kept swallowing saliva despite (the suffocation of) grief
وَصَبَرْتُ مِنْ كَظْمِ الغَيْظِ عَلى أَمَرَّ مِنَ العَلْقَمِ،
and endured pangs of anger although it was more bitter than colocynth
وَآلَمَ لِلْقَلْبِ مِنْ خَزِّ الشِّفَارِ
and more grievous than the bite of knives.
قال الشريف رضي الله عنه: وقد مضى هذا الكلام في أثناء خطبة متقدمة، إلاّ أنّني كرّرتُهُ هاهنا لاختلاف الروايتين.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: This utterance of Amir al-mu’minin has already appeared in an earlier Sermon (172), but I have repeated it here because of the difference of versions.
ومنه: في ذكر السائرين إلى البصرة لحربه (عليه السلام)
A part of the same sermon about those who went to Basrah to fight Amir al-Mu’minin
فَقَدِمُوا عَلَى عُمَّالِي،
They marched on my officers
وَخُزَّانِ بَيْتِ مَالِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ الَّذِي في يَدَيَّ،
and the custodians of the public treasury which is still under my control
وَعَلى أَهْلِ مِصْر،
and on the people of a metropolis,
كُلُّهُمْ فِي طَاعَتِي وَعَلَى بَيْعَتِي،
all of whom were obedient to me and were in allegiance to me.
فَشَتَّتُوا كَلِمَتَهُمْ،
They created division among them,
وَأَفْسَدُوا عَلَيَّ جَمَاعَتَهُمْ،
instigated their party against me
وَوَثَبُوا عَلى شِيعَتِي،
and attacked my followers.
فَقَتَلُوا طَائِفَةً مِنْهُمْ غَدْراً،
They killed a group of them by treachery,
وَطَائِفَةٌ عَضُّوا عَلى أَسْيَافِهِمْ،
while another group took up swords against them
فَضَارَبُوا بِهَا حَتَّى لَقُوا اللهَ صَادِقِينَ.
and fought with the swords till they met Allah as adherents to truth
Alternative Sources for Sermon 217: Al-Kulayni, al-Rasa'il, see Ibn Tawus, Kashf, 173; Ibn Qutaybah, al-'Imamah, I, 154; al-Thaqafi, al-Gharat; al-Tabari, al-Mustarshid, 95; Safwah, Jamharah.
