First Volume
Ali (AS) said: “I strike the sword for Allah. I am His servant, not a mere employee of flesh! I am His lion, not a lion driven by desires… My actions bear witness to my faith. I am the recipient of the secret, ‘It was not you who struck, but Allah.’ I am like a sword; it is the sunlight that strikes.”
“I abandoned my possessions and declared everything other than Allah nonexistent. I am a shadow of the sun’s essence – veiled, yet not an obstacle to its light. I am filled with pearls of union through strife; I revive in battle, I do not kill. The preciousness of my sword is never obscured by blood. How can the wind uproot my cloud? I am not mere chaff; I am a distribution of forbearance, justice, and equity. Can a storm move a mountain? It is like a piece of chaff blown away by the wind – for there are countless opposing winds!”
“The winds of passion, lust, and greed sweep away those who do not observe prayer. I am a mountain; their existence is my foundation. Even if I were to resemble chaff, my wind would be theirs. My movement is only through His wind.”
“My leader in battle is the love of the one God alone. Wrath reigns over kings, but it is our servant. I have bridled my wrath and mounted upon it. My forbearance is my sword, striking down the neck of my anger. To me, Allah’s wrath is mercy. My ceiling and roof collapsed, yet I was immersed in light.”
“Though I became the father of dust (Abu Turab), I was pruned like a garden. During battle, a whisper, a sense of self arose; I deemed it fitting to conceal my sword. Thus, I desired that it be said, ‘His love is for Allah.’ Yet, one must only show enmity towards someone for Allah’s sake.”
“I wished for the generosity of my actions to be in the path of Allah, and for my being to remain preserved for Him. My preservation is also only for Allah. And my giving… it is entirely His. I belong to Allah alone, not to another. Whatever I do for Allah is not imitation; nor is it through delusion or doubt.”
“I perform and execute what I see, and I see and execute it. I have escaped judgment and searching. My hand clings to the hem of Allah’s garment. When I fly, I see where I am flying; when I turn, I see where I am turning. If I carry a burden, I know where I will take it.”
“I am the moon, with the sun before me – my guide. There is no possibility of saying more to the people than this; the sea cannot fit into a stream. I speak in accordance with what the minds can comprehend from the lower ranks. This is not shameful; it is the work of the Prophet.”
“I am free from malice; the testimony of one who is free is heard by the servant, but the testimonies of slaves are worth less than two grains of wheat!”
“In Shari’ah, in lawsuits and judgments, the testimony of a slave has no value. Even if thousands of slaves testify against you, the Shari’ah will not accept their testimonies as much as a piece of chaff. He who is a slave to desire is worse than a slave or captive in Allah’s sight.”
“For a slave can become free with a single word; but he who is enslaved to desire revives with sweetness and dies with bitterness. A slave of desire cannot be freed from servitude unless through the mercy, special grace, and blessing of Allah. He has fallen into a pit that is his own fault – it is not coercion or diversion for him!”
“He has thrown himself into a pit such that I cannot find a rope to reach its bottom. Enough! If I prolong this speech, what becomes of the liver? Even marble turns to blood. May this liver’s blood not be cut off.”
“If the testimony of slaves is unacceptable, then they say to him, ‘Do not be a slave of a robber.’ It has been said to the Prophet in the Quran, ‘We have made you a witness.’ For he is free from existence.”
“Since I am free, how can wrath bind me, how can it make me its servant? There are no attributes here other than those of Allah – turn away! Turn away so that Allah’s grace may liberate you. For His mercy surpasses and purifies His anger.”
“Turn away now, for you have escaped danger; chemistry has transformed you into a jewel. You have escaped from disbelief and my thorns; now blossom like a rose in Allah’s garden! O noble person, you are me, and I am you. How can I kill Ali if I am Ali?”
“You have committed such a sin that through it you have traversed the heavens from one end to another in a single moment. What a blessed sin is the sin of that man! Do rose petals grow from thorns? Did not Omar’s attempt on the Prophet’s life draw him all the way to the door of acceptance?”
“Did Pharaoh not summon magicians and sorcerers because of their magic? And did not this very reason fail to aid them, prevent them from attaining power? If they had not denied and been obstinate, would that stubborn Pharaoh have received them, and would they have seen the staff and miracles?”
“O rebellious people! Sin has become worship. Allah has struck down despair. For sin and transgression have become worship through Allah’s decree. That is why Satan is stoned; he cracks with envy.”
“Satan seeks to create a sin and, with it, cast us into a pit. ‘He saw that the sin was worship!’ – such a moment is unbearable for Satan. Turn away; I have opened a door for you; you spat in my face, and I offered you a gift.”
“I treat even those who inflict injustice with kindness, and if those who stumble upon my path were to place their feet on it, what gifts would I bestow upon one who is faithful? Understand! I grant eternal realms in Paradise.”
“I am such a man that even my killer receives the sweetness of grace from me; my wrath is not poison. The Prophet told my servant’s ear that he would separate this head from my neck. The Prophet foretold through the revelation of his beloved that my death would be at his hand.”
“He constantly says, ‘O most generous one, divide me in two by Allah’s right so that I may not suffer this misfortune; may my soul not grieve.’ And I always say, ‘Go on, for the pen of fate has written it, and its ink has dried. What is meant to be will be. Countless banners are overturned by the wind of destiny.’”
“There is no animosity in my heart towards you, for I do not know that from myself. You are Allah’s instrument; His hand is the one who acts. How can I condemn what comes from Allah, how can I object to Allah’s instrument?”
“Then he said, ‘So why retribution?’ Ali replied: ‘That too is from Allah, and it is a hidden secret. If Allah were to object to His own work, that objection would loosen the bonds and bring forth gardens. Objection to his own work is only His wisdom. For He is singular in wrath as well as grace.’”
“In this city of events, reason is its master, and prudence is its measure. If he breaks his instrument, he can repair what is broken.”
“Noble person, know the symbol ‘We have not altered anything in the decree, lest We bring something better in its place.’ Whenever Allah abolishes the ruling of a law, He uproots the weed and plants a rose. Night ends the preoccupation of day; then the light of day appears again, and thus the dullness from that fiery blaze disappears.”
“That sleep is that insensitivity but isn’t it in darkness? Doesn’t reason refresh itself with that darkness? Doesn’t the pause of the female voice give strength to the sound?”
“Opposites emerge from opposites… Allah created a perpetual light in the heart.”
“The Prophet’s war led to peace. This peace in the end times is because of that war. That beloved (the Prophet) who softens hearts, cut off thousands of heads so that the people of the world might find safety. The gardener prunes thorny branches so that the sapling may grow and bear fruit.”
“The knowledgeable gardener uproots weeds in the garden so that the garden and its fruits may flourish. The physician draws out a rotten tooth so that the patient may be freed from pain. There are countless excellences in deficiencies.”
“When martyrs are deprived of life, the enjoyment of sustenance is realized. When the throat of one who eats sustenance is cut, the throat of another develops. That animal enters the human body and becomes a man; his virtue increases.”
“What happens when a person’s throat is cut? To what degree does their virtue reach? Reflect on this. Then a third throat is born that is nourished and developed with Allah’s sherbet and Allah’s lights. The cut throat drinks that sherbet, but it is a throat freed from ‘La,’ dead to ‘Bela!’”
“O short-fingered, narrow-minded person! Until when will the life of your soul be bread? Because you have shed tears for white bread, there are no fruit trees like willow trees!”
“If your feeling soul cannot endure this bread, then acquire chemistry and turn brass into gold!”
“If you want to wash the garment, do not turn away from the neighborhood of those who wash clothes! If bread has broken the fast, cling to the mender, be exalted! His hand, if it does mend fractures, surely makes them.”
“He who knows how to repair also knows how to tear. He sells what he sells and acquires something better in its place. He demolishes a house, destroys it with right; but at once brings it into a more magnificent state.”
“When he cuts off a head from a body, immediately hundreds of thousands of heads are displayed in its place. If he did not command retribution, or if he did not say, ‘There is life in retribution,’ who would have the right to strike at the neck of another, even his own son?”
“For Allah has opened the eyes of whom He wills; that man knows that the killer is a slave of destiny. Whoever’s neck is bound by that destiny has struck his own son’s head. Go on, fear and lightly censure the wicked; know your impotence against the trap of fate!”
“Adam, may peace be upon him, suddenly looked down at Iblis, who was inherently wretched. He boasted of himself and laughed at the work of that cursed Satan. Allah’s might roared: ‘O pure man! You do not know hidden secrets. If Allah were to wear a fur coat inside out, he would uproot even mountains from their foundations.’”
“Then hundreds of Adams would tear down veils, and hundreds of new Muslims would be created from Iblis! Adam said, ‘I repent of this arrogant view. I will not fall into such arrogance again.’ ”
“O helper of those who seek help, guide us. There is no room for boasting with knowledge or wealth. Do not let the heart that You have guided stray; dispel from us the evils that you have decreed; protect us from misfortunes; do not separate us from our brothers in faith!”
“There is nothing more bitter than Your separation… If we do not seek refuge in You, then You will withhold Your grace. For it is only through You that our possessions and wealth are cut off! It is only through You that our bodies are stripped bare!”
“If our hands and feet were to turn against us, who could save his life without Your grace? Even if he saves his life, what he has saved is nothing but a capital of danger.”
“For the soul does not reach its beloved until it is blind; it is perpetually sorrowful. If You do not show favor, the soul is like a captive; a soul that is not alive through You is to be considered dead.”
“If you are displeased with your servants and reproach them, O Allah, then You act. For You alone is it possible to turn deficiencies into perfections and bring them to fruition. For in You there is no deficiency or need; You create the deficiencies and deliver them from that need.”
“You nurture, and You also know how to burn; for he who mends a tear knows how to sew. Every beauty burns and scorches the garden. Then He renews the gardens with red roses.”
“‘O burning and scorching one, appear, be renewed; become beautiful-voiced again,’ He creates them all anew. The narcissus’ eye loses its sight, then it opens again… He cuts the reed’s throat, then caresses it again, drawing melodies from it. We are masnu’ (created), not sani (creator) – so we are only slaves and submissive.”
“We all say ‘My soul, my soul,’ we all think only of ourselves. But do not be generous with us; You have made us blind, You have opened our eyes. Because you are the one who guides those who seek guidance, we have escaped from Satan.”
“For him who is alive, you are his crutch, his guide. What is a blind man without a crutch? No matter whether you are pleased or displeased, everything burns with the same fire.”
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