Nahjul Balagha — The Peak of Eloquence: Imam 'Ali's Collected Words

About the Compiler: Sharif al-Radi

Name: Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Musa al-Musawi, known as Sharif al-Radi

Born: 359 AH (970 CE) in Baghdad

Died: 406 AH (1016 CE)

Sharif al-Radi was a descendant of Imam ‘Ali (AS) and a distinguished Arabic poet and scholar of Baghdad. He was appointed poet laureate of the Buyid court. His brother, Sharif al-Murtada (‘Alam al-Huda), was one of the greatest Shi’i scholars of his era.

Sharif al-Radi spent years collecting the words of Imam ‘Ali from across hundreds of scattered sources — hadith collections, historical texts, letters preserved by families, and oral traditions — and compiled them into Nahjul Balagha. He completed the compilation around 400 AH (1010 CE).

His own description of the project: “I found scattered among different books references to words of Amir al-Mu’minin [‘Ali], which when I collected them I found to be the heights of Arabic eloquence — pearls of speech and marvels of rhetoric. I therefore gathered what I could find of them…”

Structure of Nahjul Balagha

Part One: Al-Khutab (Sermons and Discourses) — 239 Sermons

The sermons (khutab, singular khutba) delivered by Imam ‘Ali at various occasions — on the battlefield, in the mosque, before his Companions, addressing the people of Kufa — cover every major dimension of Islamic theology, spirituality, and community leadership.

The most significant sermons:

Sermon 1 — The Creation Sermon

One of the longest and most philosophically dense sermons, covering:

• The divine’s essence and attributes
• The creation of the heavens, earth, and angels
• The creation of Adam and the testing of Iblis
• The selection of the Prophets
• The coming of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and his family

Opening: “Praise belongs to Allah who neither speaker can describe in full, nor counter can count in full, nor those who strive can give due measure to…”

Sermon 3 — Al-Shiqshiqiyya (The Roaring Sermon)

The most famous and controversial sermon — Imam ‘Ali’s frank description of the political usurpation of the caliphate after the Prophet’s death:

“By Allah! Ibn Abi Quhafa [‘Abu Bakr’] dressed himself with it [the caliphate], and he certainly knew that my position in relation to it was the same as the position of the axis in relation to the hand-mill…”

The sermon describes each of the three caliphs who preceded Imam ‘Ali’s caliphate and ends with Imam ‘Ali’s description of his own situation: enduring patiently while watching the Prophet’s legacy being diverted.

The name Shiqshiqiyya comes from Imam ‘Ali’s comparison of his speech to the roaring (shiqshiq) of a camel — which, having come out forcefully, stopped when a companion interrupted him, and never resumed.

Sermon 83 — Sermon on the World’s Transience (Duniya)

One of Imam ‘Ali’s most celebrated discourses on the illusory nature of worldly attachment:

“O people! Indeed this world is a house of passage, and the next is a house of permanent abode. So take from your passage [enough] for your abode. Do not tear away your veil before the One who is aware of your secrets…”

Sermon 193 — Al-Muttaqin (The God-Fearing)

Delivered at the request of a companion (Hammam) who asked for a description of the people of taqwa (God-consciousness):

Imam ‘Ali’s response became this comprehensive portrait of the mu’min who has achieved inner spiritual refinement — their face, their speech, their night, their day, their relation to the world and to the divine. One of the most moving passages in Arabic religious literature.

Sermon 110 (or related) — Qasi’a (The Sermon on Pride)

On the danger of kibr (pride) — using the example of Iblis as the first creature to be destroyed by pride, Adam’s creation, and the prophetic lineage. One of the longest sermons.

The Khutbat al-Tatanjiyya

A profound mystical-cosmological sermon attributed to Imam ‘Ali, in which he declares his own cosmic station — a subject of intense theological and ta’wil analysis in the Ismaili tradition.

Sermon on Taqwa (appearing multiple times)

The Imam returns repeatedly to taqwa — divine-consciousness, the inner awareness of the divine that shapes all action — as the central virtue of the mu’min.

See also: Tawalli Wa Tabarra, Imamah, Understanding Walayah

Part Two: Al-Rasa’il (Letters and Writings) — 79 Letters

Letter 53 — To Malik al-Ashtar al-Nakh’i (Governor of Egypt)

The most celebrated letter in Nahjul Balagha and one of the most important documents in Islamic political thought. When ‘Ali appointed Malik al-Ashtar as governor of Egypt, he sent him this comprehensive guide to governance:

”…Know, O Malik, that I am sending you to a country where governments before you have been just and unjust. People will look at your actions with the same critical eye with which you used to look at the actions of governments before you…”

The letter covers:

• The purpose of governance: serving the people, not using them
• The rights of the governed, especially the poor
• The selection of advisors and ministers
• The qualities of judges
• The treatment of enemies, prisoners, and allies
• Economic policy and the avoidance of oppression
• The ruler’s responsibility to Allah above all

Letter 53 has been cited by the United Nations as a significant document in the history of human governance and rights.

Letter 31 — To His Son, Imam al-Hasan (AS) The Imam’s will and testament to his son — a comprehensive spiritual and practical guide. Among the most tender and wisdom-dense letters in Arabic:

“O my child! I had a care for you that one person can have for another, and I realized that the more comprehensive nature of this care that looks to the future, the better. I found most of my advice to be precautionary — to guard against misguidance…”

Covers: the nature of the divine, the reality of death, the soul’s journey, the proper conduct of life, the traits of nobility.

Letter 47 — To ‘Uthman ibn Hunayf (Governor of Basra) On hearing that his governor had attended a lavish dinner:

”…Be it known to you that every follower has a leader whom he follows and from the effulgence of whose knowledge he takes light. Know that your Imam has contented himself with two shabby pieces of cloth out of the worldly (things) and two loaves for his meal…”

A letter on the duty of a leader to live simply and not exploit his position.

Letter 45 — To ‘Uthman ibn Hunayf (again) A more extended meditation on the world’s transience and the Imam’s own lifestyle of voluntary poverty.

See also: Adl, Tawadu, Sifat Al Dai

Part Three: Al-Hikam (Wise Sayings and Aphorisms) — 489 Sayings

The third section of Nahjul Balagha contains short, memorable aphorisms — Imam ‘Ali’s compressed wisdom on every aspect of life. These have been memorized and quoted throughout the Islamic and Persianate literary traditions:

On self-knowledge: “Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord.” (Man ‘arafa nafsahu, fa-qad ‘arafa rabbahu)

On the soul’s medicine: “Your medicine is within you, but you do not know it. And your ailment is from you, but you do not perceive it. You think that you are a small world, while the great cosmos is hidden within you. You are the book that makes visible, through its letters, what is hidden. Therefore, there is no need for you to look outside yourself.”

On the world: “The world is a carcass. Whoever wants a piece of it must be patient with dogs.”

“The world came forward smiling and then turned away frowning. It has known no faithfulness, and it has never been trusted.”

On enemies: “He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, and he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.”

On knowledge: “Knowledge is power and can command obedience. A man of knowledge during his lifetime can make people obey and follow him and he is praised and venerated after his death.”

“The worth of a man is what he knows.”

On justice: “Justice is to put each thing in its proper place.”

On character: “If you want to safeguard your piety, then reduce your speech.”

On the imam’s loneliness: “I am amazed at the person who searches for what he has lost and all the while his soul is being lost and he does not search for it.”

On tawakkul (trust in the divine): “Place your affairs in the hands of Allah. He will provide.”

On the Day of Judgment: “I am afraid of two things for you: following desires and over-extending hope. Following desires turns one away from truth; over-extending hope causes one to forget the hereafter.”

See also: Maqamat Spiritual Stations, Ikhlas Sincerity, Sabr Patience, Adl, Muhasaba

The Significance of Nahjul Balagha in Islamic Thought

Literary Stature

Arabic literary scholars unanimously regard the prose of Nahjul Balagha as among the highest achievements in the language — ranking just below the Quran in literary quality (the Quran being inimitable, mu’jiz) and above all other Arabic prose. The combination of:

• Metaphysical depth
• Clarity of expression
• Emotional power
• Rhythmic prose (saj’)
• Structural elegance

…makes the Nahjul Balagha a work of extraordinary literary as well as theological value.

Theological Breadth

The Nahjul Balagha addresses:

• Tawhid (divine unity): Some of the most sophisticated Arabic discussions of the divine’s nature and attributes
• The created world: Its transience, its deception, the soul’s proper relation to it
• Prophethood: The Prophet’s character, mission, and the continuity of Imamate
• Social ethics: Justice, governance, the rights of the poor
• Spiritual development: Taqwa, dhikr, zuhd (detachment from the world), inner purification

An Independent Theological Source

The Nahjul Balagha stands as the Imam’s own testimony to the content of his teachings — not hadiths reported by others, but the Imam’s own words collected as closely as possible. For the Shi’i and Ismaili traditions, this is uniquely authoritative: it is not what others said the Imam said, but (as closely as the compilation can achieve) what the Imam actually said.

The Ismaili Significance of Nahjul Balagha

Imam ‘Ali as the First Imam

In the Ismaili tradition, Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) is the first Imam — the one designated by the Prophet at Ghadir Khumm as his successor in walayah. The Nahjul Balagha is therefore not merely the recorded wisdom of a historical figure but the living ‘ilm of the first Imam — the fountainhead of the da’wa’s inner teaching.

The Imam’s words in the Nahjul Balagha are understood not merely as historical discourse but as ta’wil of the prophetic mission: where the Prophet (SAW) brought the zahir (the Quran), the Imam’s words bring the batin (the inner meaning).

The Imam’s Self-Disclosure in the Nahjul Balagha

The Imam’s cryptic statements about his own cosmic station — in the Khutbat al-Tatanjiyya and in scattered sayings throughout the Nahjul Balagha — have been the subject of deep ta’wil in the Ismaili and Sufi traditions:

“I am the first and the last, the apparent and the hidden. I am the signs and the indicators. I am the side of Allah and I am the gate.”

These statements, understood through the ta’wil lens, describe the Imam as the manifestation of the First Intellect in human form — consistent with the Ismaili cosmological framework articulated in Ten Intellects Fatimid Cosmology.

Letter 53 as Governance Ta’wil

Letter 53’s comprehensive ethical guide for governance is read in the Ismaili tradition not merely as practical political advice but as a ta’wil of the Imam’s own function: the Imam governs the cosmos of the human soul exactly as Malik al-Ashtar is commanded to govern Egypt — with justice, accountability, mercy toward the weak, and governance that serves rather than exploits.

See also: Imamah, Eid Al Ghadir, Ahl Al Bayt, Tawalli Wa Tabarra, Understanding Walayah, Adl, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution

Key Theological Themes Across Nahjul Balagha

Access and Study

The full text of Nahjul Balagha is widely available online and in print. An English translation and the Arabic text are available at the duas.org resource that the user referenced. Multiple English translations exist — among the most complete and annotated:

• Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Nahjul Balagha, trans. Syed Ali Reza (Tahrike Tarsile Quran) — widely cited
• Translation by Farouk Whittingham — available online
• The Arabic original with scholarly commentary exists in multiple editions

For students of the Ismaili and Bohra tradition, reading Nahjul Balagha alongside Qadi al-Nu’man’s Ta’wil al-Da’a’im al-Islam provides the zahir-batin pairing: the Imam’s words in Nahjul Balagha as the batin of the Imam’s wisdom, and the Da’im al-Islam as the zahir of the community’s practice.

See also: Imamah, Eid Al Ghadir, Ahl Al Bayt, Tawalli Wa Tabarra, Understanding Walayah, Adl, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution, Daim Al Islam Reference, Fatimid Caliphate, Ten Intellects Fatimid Cosmology, Al Insan Al Kamil, Maqamat Spiritual Stations, Ikhlas Sincerity, Sabr Patience, Muhasaba, Husn Al Khuluq