Peak Of Eloquence

''Nahj al-Balagha'' ( ar, نَهْج ٱلْبَلَاغَة ', 'The Path of Eloquence') is the best-known collection of sermons, letters, and sayings attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, fourth Rashidun Caliph, first Shia Imam and the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. It was collected by al-Sharif al-Radi, a renowned Shia scholar in the tenth century AD (fourth century AH).. Known for its moral aphorisms and eloquent content, ''Nahj al-Balagha'' is widely studied in the Islamic world and has considerably influenced the field of Arabic literature and rhetoric. Ibn Abil-Hadid, the author of an in-depth commentary on the book, believes that ''Nahj al-Balagha'' is "above the words of men and below the words of God." The authenticity of ''Nahj al-Balagha'' has long been the subject of lively polemic debates, though recent scholarship suggests that most of the content can indeed be attributed to Ali.

Overview

''Nahj al-Balagha'' is a collection of more than 200 sermons, nearly 80 letters, and almost 500 sayings.

The sermons and letters in ''Nahj al-Balagha'' offer a commentary on Ali's political career and have served as an ideological basis for Islamic governance. Notably, Ali's letter of instructions to the governor of Egypt has been viewed as a model of just Islamic governance, "where justice and mercy is shown to human beings irrespective of class, creed and color, where poverty is neither a stigma or disqualification and where justice is not tarred with nepotism, favoritism, provincialism or religious fanaticism.". . In particular, ''Nahj al-Balagha'' includes an in-depth discussion of social responsibilities, emphasizing that greater responsibilities result in greater rights. ''Nahj al-Balagha'' also contains more sensitive material, including criticism of Ali's predecessors in its Shaqshaqiya Sermon, and disapproval of Talha and Zubayr, who took up arms against Ali in the Battle of the Camel. ''Nahj al-Balagha'' remains at the heart of the ongoing clerical debate about the role and status of women in modern societies.

''Nahj al-Balagha'' also contains passages about morality and doctrine, notably about the sovereignty of God and the significance of the Quran and Muhammad. The letter of life advices, addressed to Ali's eldest son, Hasan, has received considerable attention.

''Nahj al-Balagha'' has been the focus of numerous commentaries, translations, and studies by both Sunni and Shia scholars. The commentary written by the Mu'tazila scholar Ibn Abil-Hadid remains the most important. With its eight volumes, this commentary has amplified the influence of ''Nahj al-Balagha'' on theological speculation, philosophical thought, and literally scope, according to Shah-Kazemi.

Authenticity

The compilation of ''Nahj al-Balagha'' is often credited to al-Sharif al-Razi, a renowned tenth-century Shia scholar, over three hundred years after Ali. In view of its sometimes sensitive content, the attribution of this book to Ali or al-Sharif has long been the subject of Sunni-Shia debates, as with the majority of the works about Shia theology. Ibn Khallikan might have been the first to question the authenticity of the book in the thirteenth century and his view has been echoed by most Sunni authors to date. On the other hand, the Mu'tazila scholar Ibn Abil-Hadid, who authored a major commentary on ''Nahj al-Balagha'', has no doubts that it is the work of Ali and compiled by al-Sharif.

''Nahj al-Balagha'' is regarded by the Shia as authentic. According to the Shia scholar Motahhari, in compiling the book, al-Sharif was primarily interested in the literary value of Ali's inheritance. As a result, Motahhari continues, al-Sharif preserved those passages which he found literary valuable and paid little attention to recording his sources. After al-Sharif, other scholars took up the task of collecting the chains of transmission ( ''isnads'') for ''Nahj al-Balagha''. For instance, Muhammad Baqir al-Mahmudi collected all of Ali's extant speeches, sermons, decrees, epistles, prayers, and sayings. Motahhari adds that this collection includes the content of ''Nahj al-balagha'' and other discourses which were not incorporated by al-Sharif or were not available to him. According to Motahhari, except for some aphorisms, the contents of ''Nahj al-Balaghah'' have over time been traced back to Ali.

In support of Ali's authorship, some of the material in ''Nahj al-Balagha'' is also listed in ''al-Fihrist'' or can be found in earlier works attributed to Ali. More recently, Veccia Vaglieri verified that a large portion of ''Nahj al-Balagha'' can indeed be attributed to Ali, although it was difficult to gauge the authenticity of the more apocryphal sections. Djebli has been able to identify a considerable number of passages, accompanied by chains of transmission dating back to the time of Ali, which were recounted by ancient scholars, such as al-Tabari. In his book, Modarressi, an expert in Islamic law, refers to ''Madarek-e Nahj al-Balagha'' by the Shia scholar Ostadi which, in turn, links ''Nahj al-Balagha'' to Ali. Another notable work was done by the Indian Sunni scholar Imtiyaz Ali Arshi, who succeeded in tracing back the early sources of 106 sermons, 37 letters and 79 dispersed sayings of Ali in his book ''Istinad-e Nahj al-balaghah'', originally written in Urdu

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