Peak of Eloquence Nahjul Balagha By Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib - English Translation - Sermon 193

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Describing the Hypocrites

We praise Allah for the succor which He has given us in carrying out the obligations of being obedient to Him and in preventing us from disobedience. We ask Him to complete His favors (to us) and to make us hold on to His rope. We testify that Muhammad (h) is His slave and

Messenger. He entered every hardship in pursuit of Allah’s pleasure and endured for its sake every grief. His near relatives changed their attitudes towards him, and those who were distant (in kinship) united against him. The Arabs let loose the reins (of their horses to quicken their march) against him and struck the bellies of their mounts to fightt him, so much so that enemies came to his threshold from the remotest places and most distant areas.

I admonish you, O servants of Allah, to fear Allah, and I warn you of the hypocrites because they themselves are misguided and have misguided others as well. They have slipped and will cause others to slip, too. They change into many colors and adopt various ways. They support you with all means but lie in ambush for you at every post. Their hearts are sick while their faces look clear. They walk stealthily and tread like the approach of sickness (over the body). Their words speak of cure, but their deeds are like incurable diseases. They are jealous of ease; they intensify distress and destroy hopes. Their victims are found lying in ambush on every path, while they have means to approach every heart. They have (false) tears for every grief.

They eulogize each other and expect rewards from each other. When they ask something, they insist on it. If they reprove (any one), they disgrace (him), and if they pass a verdict, they commit excesses. They have adopted for every truth a wrong way, for every erect thing a bender, for every living being a killer, for every (closed) door a key and for every night a lamp. They covet, but with despair, in order to maintain with it their markets and propagate for their “handsome” merchandise. When they speak, they create doubts. When they describe, they exaggerate. First they offer easy paths but (afterwards) they make them narrow. In short, they are the party of Satan and the stings of the Fire. “Satan has gained hold on them, so he makes them forget the remembrance of Allah; they

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are Satan’s Party; Beware! Verily, the party of Satan are the losers” (Holy Quran, 58: 19).