قَالَ عليه السلام: وَ قَدْ سَمِعَ رَجُلًا يَذُمُّ الدُّنْيَا
Amir al-mu'minin, peace be upon him, heard a man abusing the world and said:
أَيُّهَا الذَّامُّ لِلدُّنْيَا
O you who abuse the world,
الْمُغْتَرُّ بِغُرُورِهَا
O you who have been deceived by its deceit
الْمَخْدُوعُ بِأَبَاطِيلِهَا
and cheated by its wrongs.
أَ تَغْتَرُّ بِالدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ تَذُمُّهَا
Do you covet the world and then abuse it?
أَنْتَ الْمُتَجَرِّمُ عَلَيْهَا أَمْ هِيَ الْمُتَجَرِّمَةُ عَلَيْكَ
Do you accuse it or it should accuse you?
مَتَى اسْتَهْوَتْكَ أَمْ مَتَى غَرَّتْكَ
When did it bewilder you or deceive you
أَ بِمَصَارِعِ آبَائِكَ مِنَ الْبِلَى
whether by the decay and fall of your forefathers,
أَمْ بِمَضَاجِعِ أُمَّهَاتِكَ تَحْتَ الثَّرَى
or by the sleeping places of your mothers under the ground?
كَمْ عَلَّلْتَ بِكَفَّيْكَ
How much you looked after them in their illness
وَ كَمْ مَرَّضْتَ بِيَدَيْكَ
and nursed them during sickness,
تَبْتَغِى لَهُمُ الشِّفَاءَ
desiring them to be cured
وَ تَسْتَوْصِفُ لَهُمُ الْأَطِبَّاءَ غَدَاةَ
and consulting physicians for them in the morning
لَا يُغْنِى عَنْهُمْ دَوَاؤُكَ
when your medicine did not avail them
وَ لَا يُجْدِى عَلَيْهِمْ بُكَاؤُكَ
and your wailing for them did not benefit them.
لَمْ يَنْفَعْ أَحَدَهُمْ إِشْفَاقُكَ
Your mourning over them did not prove useful to them
وَ لَمْ تُسْعَفْ فِيهِ بِطَلِبَتِكَ
and you could not achieve your aims.
وَ لَمْ تَدْفَعْ عَنْهُ بِقُوَّتِكَ
You could not ward off (death) from them with all your power.
وَ قَدْ مَثَّلَتْ لَكَ بِهِ الدُّنْيَا نَفْسَكَ
In fact, through the dying man the world presented an illustration for you
وَ بِمَصْرَعِهِ مَصْرَعَكَ.
and showed you by the example of his falling down how you would (also) fall.
إِنَّ الدُّنْيَا دَارُ صِدْقٍ لِمَنْ صَدَقَهَا
Certainly, this world is a house of truth for him who appreciates it;
وَ دَارُ عَافِيَةٍ لِمَنْ فَهِمَ عَنْهَا
a place of safety for him who understands it;
وَ دَارُ غِنًى لِمَنْ تَزَوَّدَ مِنْهَا
a house of riches for him who collects provision from it (for the next world);
وَ دَارُ مَوْعِظَةٍ لِمَنِ اتَّعَظَ بِهَا
and a house of instructions for him who draws instruction from it.
مَسْجِدُ أَحِبَّاءِ اللَّهِ
It is the place of worship for the lovers of Allah;
وَ مُصَلَّى مَلَائِكَةِ اللَّهِ
the place of praying for the angels of Allah;
وَ مَهْبِطُ وَحْيِ اللَّهِ
the place where the revelation of Allah descends;
وَ مَتْجَرُ أَوْلِيَاءِ اللَّهِ
and the marketing place for those devoted to Allah.
اكْتَسَبُوا فِيهَا الرَّحْمَةَ
Herein they earned mercy
وَ رَبِحُوا فِيهَا الْجَنَّةَ.
and herein they acquired Paradise by way of profit.
فَمَنْ ذَا يَذُمُّهَا
Therefore, who can abuse it
وَ قَدْ آذَنَتْ بِبَيْنِهَا
when it has announced its departure
وَ نَادَتْ بِفِرَاقِهَا
and called out that it would leave!
وَ نَعَتْ نَفْسَهَا
It had given news of its own destruction
وَ أَهْلَهَا
and the death of its people.
فَمَثَّلَتْ لَهُمْ بِبَلَائِهَا الْبَلَاءَ
By its hardship it set an example of their hardships.
وَ شَوَّقَتْهُمْ بِسُرُورِهَا إِلَى السُّرُورِ
By its pleasures it created eagerness for the pleasures (of the next world).
رَاحَتْ بِعَافِيَةٍ
It brings ease in the evening
وَ ابْتَكَرَتْ بِفَجِيعَةٍ
and grief in the morning
تَرْغِيباً
by way of persuasion,
وَ تَرْهِيباً
dissuasion,
وَ تَخْوِيفاً
alarm
وَ تَحْذِيراً
and warning.
فَذَمَّهَا رِجَالٌ غَدَاةَ النَّدَامَةِ
People abuse it on the morning of their repentance
وَ حَمِدَهَا آخَرُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ
but there are others who will praise it on the Day of Judgement.
ذَكَّرَتْهُمُ الدُّنْيَا فَتَذَكَّرُوا
The world recalled to them the next life and they bore it in mind.
وَ حَدَّثَتْهُمْ فَصَدَّقُوا
It related to them (things of the next life) and they acknowledged them.
وَ وَعَظَتْهُمْ فَاتَّعَظُوا .
It preached to them and they took lesson therefrom. 33
33. Every speaker and preacher manifests the force of his speaking in subjects in which he is well-versed. If he has to change the subject neither will his mind move nor will his tongue be able to speak out. But he whose intellect has the capability of adaptation and whose mind has the power of imagination can turn round his utterances in whatever manner he likes, and can show the excellence of speaking on whatever subject he desires. Consequently, when the tongue which had for so long been abusing the world and unveiling its deceitfulness starts praising the world it shows the same mastery of speaking and power of arguing that had ever been its chief distinction And then, the use of commendatory words does not alter the principle and although the ways are different the object remains the same.
