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SITE dESIGNED BY: KAZIM RAZA SYED
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INTRODUCTION
SERMON 1 - The Richest Treasure
SERMON 2 - The Common Man
SERMON 3 - The Counselors
SERMON 4 - The Different Classes of People
SERMON 5 - The Army
INTRODUCTION
Hazrat Ali's Famous Epistle To Malik Ashtar, Governor of Egypt
Translated By Rasheed Turabi
Graphics and electronic rendition by: Kazim Raza Syed
Graphic below is "Ali" rendered in Arabic
Note by the Translator.
Hazrat Ali, the Great Khalif of Islam, and the first in the line of the Imamat,
apart from his abiding contribution to spiritual thought, is known to the Arabic
world as a great jurist and man of letters. According to the historian Masudi
(Murooj-uz-Zahab Masudi Vol. II, p. 33. Egypt), Hazarat Ali is credited with not
less than 480 treaties, lectures and epistles on a variety of subjects dealing
with philosophy, religion, law and politics, as collected by Zaid Ibn Wahab in
the Imam's own life time. So highly valued are these contributions both for their
contents and their intrinsic literary worth that some of his masterpieces have
formed throughout the course of Islamic history subjects of study in centers of
Muslim learning. Indeed, his reputation seems to have traveled into Europe at
the time of the Renaissance; for we find that Edward Powcock (1604-1691) a
professor at the University of Oxford, published the first English translation
of his "Sayings" and delivered in 1639 a series of lectures on his "Rhetoric".
I have given below a translation from Arabic into English of Hazrat Ali's famous
letter of instructions addressed as Khalif to the then Governor of Egypt, Malik Ashtar.
This letter according to Fehrist-i-Tusi (p.33) was first copied in the time of Hazarat Ali
himself by Asbagh bin Nabata and later on reproduced or referred to in their writings by
various Arab and Egyptian scholars, chief of them being Nasr ibn Mazahim (148 A.H.),
Jahiz Basari (255 A.H.) Syed Razi (404 A.H.) Ibn-i-Abil Hidaid and Allama Mustafa Bek Najib,
the great living scholar of Egypt. The last named regards this letter "as a basic guide
in Islamic administration."
-- Rasheed Turabi --
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SERMON 1
The Richest Treasure
Be it known to you, O, Malik, that I am sending you as Governor to a country, which in
the past has experienced both just, and unjust rule. Men will scrutinize your actions
with a searching eye, even as you used to scrutinize the actions of those before you,
and speak of you even as you did speak of them. The fact is that the public speak well
of only those who do good. It is they who furnish the proof of your actions. Hence the
richest treasure that you may covet would be the treasure of good deeds. Keep your desires
under control and deny yourself that which you have been prohibited from, for, by such
abstinence alone, you will be able to distinguish between what is good to them and what is not.
Develop in your heart the feeling of love for your people and let it be the source of kindliness
and blessing to them. Do not behave with them like a barbarian, and do not appropriate to
yourself that which belongs to them. Remember that the citizens of the state are of two
categories. They are either your brethren in religion or your brethren in kind.
They are subject to infirmities and liable to commit mistakes. Some indeed do commit mistakes.
But forgive them even as you would like God to forgive you. Bear in mind that you are placed
over them, even as I am placed over you. And then there is God even above him who has given
you the position of a Governor in order that you may look after those under you and to be
sufficient unto them. And you will be judged by what you do for them. Do not set yourself
against God, for neither do you possess the strength to shield yourself against His displeasure,
nor can you place yourself outside the pale of His mercy and forgiveness. Do not feel sorry
over any act of forgiveness, nor rejoice over any punishment that you may mete out to any one.
Do not rouse yourself to anger, for no good will come out of it.
Do not say: " I am your overlord and dictator, and that you should, therefore, bow to my
commands", as that will corrupt your heart, weaken your faith in religion and create disorder
in the state. Should you be elated by power, ever feel in your mind the slightest symptoms of
pride and arrogance, then look at the power and majesty of the Divine governance of the Universe
over which you have absolutely no control. It will restore the sense of balance to your wayward
intelligence and give you the sense of calmness and affability. Beware! Never put yourself against
the majesty and grandeur of God and never imitate His omnipotence; for God has brought low every
rebel of God and every tyrant of man. Let your mind respect through your actions the rights of
God and the rights of man, and likewise, persuade your companions and relations to do likewise.
For, otherwise, you will be doing injustice to yourself and injustice to humanity. Thus both man
and God will turn unto your enemies. There is no hearing anywhere for one who makes an enemy of
God himself. He will be regarded as one at war with God until he feels contrition and seeks forgiveness.
Nothing deprives man of divine blessings or excites divine wrath against him more easily than
cruelty. Hence it is, that God listens to the voice of the oppressed and waylays the oppressor.
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SERMON 2
The Common Man
Maintain justice in administration and impose it on your own self and seek the consent of the
people, for, the discontent of the masses sterilizes the contentment of the privileged few and
the discontent of the few looses itself in the contentment of the many. Remember the privileged
few will not rally round you in moments of difficulty: they will try to side-track justice, they
will ask for more than what they deserve and will show no gratitude for favors done to them.
They will feel restive in the face of trials and will offer no regret for their shortcomings.
It is the common man who is the strength of the State and Religion. It is he who fights the
enemy. So live in close contact with the masses and be mindful of their welfare.
Keep at a distance him who peers into the weaknesses of others. After all, the masses are not
free from weaknesses. It is the duty of the ruler to shield them. Do not bring to light that
which is hidden, but try to remove those weaknesses, which have been brought to light. God is
watchful of everything that is hidden from you, and He alone will deal with it. To the best of
your ability cover the weaknesses of the public, and God will cover the weaknesses in you,
which you are anxious to keep away from their eye. Unloose the tangle of mutual hatred between
the public and the administration and remove all those causes, which may give rise to strained
relations between them. Protect yourself from every such act as may not be quite correct for you.
Do not make haste in seeking confirmation of tale telling, for, the taleteller is a deceitful
person appearing in the garb of a friend.
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SERMON 3
The Counselors
Never take counsel of a miser, for he will vitiate your magnanimity and frighten you of poverty.
Do not take counsel of a coward also, for, he will cheat you of your resolves. Do not take counsel
of the greedy too: for he will instill greed in you and turn you into a tyrant. Miserliness,
cowardice and greed deprive man of his trust in God.
The worst of counselors is he who has served as a counselor to unjust rulers and shared their
crimes. So, never let men who have been companions of tyrants or shared their crimes be your
counselors. You can get better men than these, men gifted with intelligence and foresight, but
unpolluted by sin, men who have never aided a tyrant in his tyranny or a criminal in his crime.
Such men will never be a burden on you. On the other hand, they will be a source of help and
strength to you at all times. They will be friends to you and strangers to your enemies. Choose
such men alone for companionship both in privacy and in the public. Even among these, show
preference to them who have a habitual regard for truth however trying to you at times their
truth may prove to be, and who offer you no encouragement in the display of tendencies, which
God does not like his friends to develop.
Keep close to you the upright, and the God fearing, and make clear to them that they are never
to flatter you and never to give you credit for any good that you may not have done: for, the
tolerance of flattery and unhealthy praise stimulates pride in man makes him arrogant.
Do not treat the good and the bad alike. That will deter the good from doing good, and encourage
the bad in their bad pursuits. Recompense every one according one's deserts. Remember that
mutual trust and good will between the ruler and the ruled are bred only through benevolence,
justice and service. So, cultivate good-will amongst the people; for their good-will alone will
save you from troubles. Your benevolence to them will be repaid by their trust in you, and your
ill-treatment by their ill-will.
Do not disregard the noble traditions set by our forbearers which have promoted harmony and progress
among the people; and do not initiate anything which might minimize their usefulness. The men who
had established these noble traditions have had their reward; but responsibility will be yours
if they are disturbed. Try always to learn something from the experience of the learned and the
wise, and frequently consult them in state matters so that you might maintain the peace and good-will
which your predecessors had established in the land.
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SERMON 4
The Different Classes of People
Remember that the people are composed of different classes. The progress of one is dependent on
the progress of every other; and none can afford to be independent of the other. We have the
Army formed of the soldiers of God, we have our civil officers and their establishments, our
judiciary, our revenue collectors and our public relation officers. The general public itself
consists of Muslims and Zimmis and among them of merchants and craftsmen, the unemployed and
the indigent. God has prescribed for them their several rights, duties and obligations. They
are all defined and preserved in the Book of God and in the traditions of his Prophet.
The army, by the grace of God, is like a fortress to the people and lends dignity to the state.
It upholds the prestige of the Faith and maintains the peace of the country. Without it the
state cannot stand. In its turn, it cannot stand without the support of the state. Our soldiers
have proved strong before the enemy because of the privilege God has given them to fight for
Him; but they have their material needs to fulfil and have therefore to depend upon the income
provided for them from the state revenue. The military and civil population who pay revenue,
both need the co-operation of others -the judiciary, civil officers and their establishment.
The Qazi administers civil and criminal law; the civil officers collect revenue and attend to
civil administration with the assistance of their establishment. And then there are the
tradesmen and the merchants who add to the revenue of the state. It is they who run the markets
and are in a better position than others to discharge social obligations. And then there is the
class of the poor and the needy, whose maintenance is an obligation on the other classes. God
has given appropriate opportunity of service to one and all; and then there are the rights of
all these classes over the administration which the administrator has to meet with an eye on
the good of the entire population, a duty which he cannot fulfill properly unless he takes
personal interest in its execution and seeks help from God. Indeed it is obligatory on him to
impose this duty on himself and to bear with patience the inconveniences and difficulties
incidental to his task.
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SERMON 5
The Army
Be particularly mindful of the welfare of those in the army who in your opinion, are staunchly
faithful to their God and Prophet and loyal to their chief, and who in the hour of passion can
restrain themselves and listen coolly to sensible remonstrance, and who can succor the weak and
smite the strong, whom violent provocation will not throw into violent temper and who will not
falter at any stage.
Keep yourself in close contact with the families of established reputation and integrity with a
glorious past, and draw to yourself men brave and upright in character, generous and benevolent
in disposition; for such are the salt of society. Care for them with the tenderness with which
you care for your children, and do not talk before them of any good that you might have done to
them, nor disregard any expression of affection which they show in return; for, such conduct
inspires loyalty, devotion and goodwill. Attend to every little of their wants not resting content
with what general help that you might have given to them, for sometimes, timely attention to a
little want of theirs brings them immense relief. Surely these people will not forget you in your
own hour of need. It behooves you to select for your Commander-in-chief one who imposes on himself
as a duty, the task of rendering help to his men, and who can excel in kindness every other officer
who has to attend to the needs of the men under him, and look after their families when they are
away from their homes; so much so, that the entire army should feel united in their joys and in
their sorrows. The unity of purpose will give them added strength against the enemy. Continue to
maintain a kindly attitude towards them so that they might feel attached to you. The fact is
that the real happiness of the administrators and their most pleasant comfort lies in establishing
justice in the state and maintaining affectionate relations with the people. Their sincerity of
feeling is expressed in the love and regard they show to you, on which alone depends the safety of
the administrators.
Your advices to the army will be of no avail, unless and until you show affection to both men and
officers, in order that they might not regard the Government as an oppressive burden or contribute
to its downfall. Continue to satisfy their needs and praise them over and over again for what
services they have rendered. Such an attitude, God willing will inspire the brave to braver actions
and induce the timid to deeds of bravery. Try to enter into the feelings of others and do not foist
the mistake of one over another and do not grudge dispensing appropriate rewards. See to it you do
not show favors to one who has done nothing but merely counts on his family position; and do not
withhold proper rewards from one who has done great deeds simply because he holds a low position in life.
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