هذَا مَا أَمَرَ بِهِ عَبْدُ اللهِ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِب أمِيرُالْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي مَالِهِ،
This is what `Ali ibn Abi Talib, the slave of Allah has laid down about his property,
ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللهِ،
in pursuance of seeking Allah's pleasure
لِيُولِجَني (1) بِهِ الْجَنَّةَ،
so that He may by virtue of it give him entry into Paradise
وَيُعْطِيَني الاَمَنَةَ
and accord him peace.
منها:
A part of the same
فَإِنَّهُ يَقُومُ بِذلِكَ الْحَسنُ بْنُ علِيّ،
It will be administered by Hasan ibn `Ali.
يأْكُلُ مِنْهُ بِالْمعْروفِ،
He will take from it a suitable portion for his livelihood
وَيُنْفِقُ مِنْهُ فِي المَعْروفِ،
and spend it on charity.
فَإِنْ حَدَثَ بِحَسَن حَدَثٌ وَحُسَيْنٌ حَيٌّ،
If something happens to Hasan, and Husayn survives
قَامَ بِالاْمْرِ بَعْدَهُ،
he will adminster it after Hasan,
وَأَصْدَرَهُ مَصْدَرَهُ.
and deal with it accordingly.
وَإِنَّ لاِبْنَيْ فَاطِمَةَ مِنْ صَدَقةِ عَلِيّ مِثْلَ الَّذِي لِبَنِي عَلِيّ،
In the charitable estate of the two sons of Fatimah they have the same rights as the all (other) sons of `Ali.
وَإِنِّي إِنَّمَا جَعَلْتُ الْقِيَامَ بِذلِكَ إِلَى ابْنَيْ فَاطِمَةَ ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللهِ،
I have laid down the (functions of) administration of the two sons of Fatimah in order to seek the pleasure of Allah
وَقُرْبَةً إِلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ (صلى الله عليه وآله)،
and nearness to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and his descendants)
وَتَكْرِيماً لِحُرْمَتِهِ،
with due regard for his honour
وَتَشْرِيفاً لِوُصْلَتِهِ
and consideration of his kinship.
وَيَشْتَرِطُ عَلَى الَّذِي يَجْعَلُهُ إِلَيْهِ أَنْ يَتْرُكَ الْمَالَ عَلَى أُصُولِهِ،
It is obligatory on him who administers it that he retains the estate as it is,
وَيُنْقفِقَ مِنْ ثَمَرِهِ حَيْثُ أُمِرَ بِهِ وَهُدِيَ لَهُ،
and spends the usufruct as he has been ordered and instructed.
أَلاَّ يَبِيعَ مِنْ أَوْلاَدِ نَخِيلَ هذِهِ الْقُرَى وَدِيَّةً
He should not sell the seedlings in the plantations of these villages
حَتَّى تُشْكِلَ أَرْضُهَا غِرَاساً.
till the land changes its face by turning them into plants.
وَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْ إِمَائِي ـ
As for those of my slave girls who were under me,
اللاَّتِي أَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِنَّ ـ لَهَا وَلَدٌ،
if any one of them has a child or is pregnant,
أَوْهِيَ حَامِلٌ، فَتُمْسَكُ عَلَى وَلَدِهَا
she will be retained for the sake of the child
وَهِيَ مِنْ حَظِّهِ،
and will form part of his share.
فَإِنْ مَاتَ وَلَدُهَا وَهِيَ حَيَّةٌ فَهِيَ عَتِيقَةٌ،
If the child dies and she survives, then she is free,
قَدْ أَفْرَجَ عَنْهَا الرِّقُّ،
bondage is removed from her
وَحَرَّرَهَا الْعِتْقُ.
and liberty is given to her. (1)
قال الشريف: قوله (عليه السلام) في هذه الوصية: "وألا يبيع من نخلها وَدِيَّةً"، الوَدِيَّةُ: الفَسِيلَةُ، وجمعها وَدِيٌّ. وَقوله (عليه السلام): "حتى تشكل أرضها غراساً" هو من أفصح الكلام، والمراد به: أن الارض يكثر فيها غراس النخل حتّى يراها الناظر على غير تلك الصفة التي عرفها بها فيشكل عليه أمرها ويحسبها غيرها.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: In this will in Amir al-mu' minin's phrase "alla yabi`a min nakhliha wadiyyatan", the word "wadiyyah" means seedling of date-palm and its plural is "wadiyy". And his words "hatta tushkila arduha ghirasan”, is one of the most eloquent form of expression and it means that when a number of date plants grow on the land then he who had seen it before the growth would regard it as a different land.
1. The life of Amir al-mu'minin was that of a labourer or a cultivator. He worked in fields of other persons, cultivated barren and untilled lands, providing means of irrigating them, made them cultivable and planted orchards therein. Since these lands were cultivated by him they were his Property but he never paid heed to property, and, declaring them a trust, gave up his proprietorship; but in consideration of the Prophet's kinship he assigned the management rights of this trust to Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn one after the other. Yet he did not tolerate any additional rights for them but like other children gave them merely the right to take from it only for their livelihood, while the balance he ordered to be spent for the common good of the Muslims and for charitable purposes. Thus, Ibn Abi'l-Hadid writes: Everyone knows that in Medina, Yanbu' and Suwayqah, Amir al-mu'minin had dug several springs from under the land and brought under cultivation many barren and uncultivable lands. Thereafter, he gave up rights over them and declared them as trusts for the Muslims. When he left the world, nothing was owned by him. (Sharh Nahjul Balaghah al-balaghah, vol.15, p.146)
