Testament of Ali

After the Battle of Siffin, Ali wrote a detailed testament in favor of his son Imam Hasan. It is a brilliant code of counsel, which provides guidance for every Muslim. The testament is found in Nahj-ul-Balagha, and its running translation is given hereunder: "Son, I enjoin on you that you should fear God. Follow His commandments. Enliven your heart with His remembrance. Hold fast to His rope. No relationship is stronger than the relation that exists between you and God."

The Hereafter

O son, enlighten the heart with prayers. Suppress all lust with piety. Strengthen your heart with faith. Brighten it with wisdom. Overpower it with the remembrance of death. Let it beware of its mortality. Frighten it with the vicissitudes of the times. Make it take lesson from the fate of the dead. Wander through the ruins of the settlements of the past. Ask these ruins: what did these people do, where have they gone, where they have settled now. This will make you realize that they have departed from their friends and relatives, and that they now rest in the wilderness of the graveyard where you will also have to go sooner or later. Rectify your lapses. Do not sell the Hereafter for the world. Do not speak in the state of ignorance. Refrain from unnecessary talk. Do not tread the path from which you can apprehend the danger of running astray. Withhold your step from evil for that is the way to safety.

Virtue and faith

If you will preach virtue, you will be among the virtuous. Counteract the evil with your tongue. Keep aloof from the wicked. Undertake Jihad in the way of God. In the affairs of God do not be afraid of the accusations of the evil mongers. For the vindication of the truth do not hesitate to face the storm of difficulties. Seek protection in faith.

Protection of God

In all that you do, seek the protection of God, for thereby you will be in a citadel which is strongly fortified and invincible. In seeking anything do not make any partner with God, for all bounty is in the hands of God in all matters. Pursue the right. Do not covet what is undesirable.

The elders

Son, show no lapse in the fulfillment of your obligations. Follow in the footsteps of your elders. As you see yourself today they saw themselves likewise yesterday. As you think, they also thought. Experience taught them that they should tread the right path.

Your own way

If you are inclined to follow your own way as a result of your own experience you may do so but it should be done with due care and wisdom. Do not get yourself involved in doubts and debates. Before embarking on such adventure seek the support and help of God. Step into this valley only when you are convinced that your heart is receptive, your intelligence has matured, and your intellect is sufficiently developed to distinguish the right from the wrong. Without such pre-requisites the way will be dark, and you will be liable to stray. It is necessary for the seeker of truth that he should neither stray from the right path, nor be assailed by any doubts.

Tests of God

Son, understand that He in Whose Hand is death has control over life as well. He Who brings about birth brings about death as well. He tests you by putting you to troubles. He is our final refuge. See that you do not fail in His test. Believe that the world is subject to the well-established law of God that in the world man is awarded bounty as well as subjected to trials and tribulations. The final award is made in the Hereafter of which we have no knowledge.

Resignation to the Will of God

Son, if there is anything which you cannot comprehend do not repudiate it, but you should meditate over it and attribute your failure to understand it to the limitations of your intellect. It may be appreciated that when you are born you are devoid of understanding, and knowledge comes to you steadily as you grew up. Even when grown up, it cannot be said how many things there are still, of which you are ignorant. There are things, which excite your wonder, but knowledge about them dawns on you gradually. Therefore your attachment should be to that Being who has created you, and who has given you sustenance. Your prayers should be for Him, and you should resign yourself to His Will. Son, no one has taught about God as the Holy Prophet. Make him your guide, and seek your salvation through him.

Allah is One

Son, if there had been any god other than Allah, their prophets would have also come, and they would have also established their dominions. There is, however, no sign of any such dominion. Verily Allah is one. He has no partner. He exists since eternity and will live forever. He is the first and the last. He has no beginning and no end. He is almighty, omnipotent and omniscient. Thus you should act in such way as a humble servant would act with reference to his mighty master. Remember that God has enjoined you to do good things, and refrain from bad things.

Picture of the world

Son, I have presented to you a picture of the world. I have given you an account of its insignificance. So it is for you to keep this in mind and act accordingly. The people who have tested the world do not feel distressed on leaving it they are in fact like persons who migrate from a famine struck land to land of plenty. These people bear the ordeal of the journey, and separation from friends and relatives so that they may arrive at a land where they can enjoy plenty. Their every step is a step forward bringing them closer to their destination. The people who are attached to the world cannot bear separated from it. They are like those people who leave a land of plenty for a famine struck land. Their journey would be most troublesome and their end would be most tragic.

Balance between yourself and the people

Son, make yourself a balance between yourself and the people. Whatever you like for yourself, like it for others. Whatever is undesirable to you, consider it undesirable for others as well. If you do not want to be oppressed by any one, do not oppress anybody. Treat others as you wish to be treated by them. If the people behave with you as you behave with them, consider this to be a proper state of affairs. Do not say any thing without proper knowledge. Do not say anything, which you do not like to be heard against yourself.

Self adulation

Self-adulation is a folly and a cause of destruction for self. Do not become a treasurer for others. Seek enlightenment from God and fear God alone. Son, you have before you a long and hazardous journey. During this journey, good conduct should be your greatest asset. During this journey you should not carry with you a burden larger than what is necessary. If you carry a burden which is heavier than what you can bear that will be a source of great embarrassment for you. Do as much good as you can. If while you are rich someone asks for a loan from you, give it so that it is returned to you when you are in straitened circumstances.

The journey to the Hereafter

Son, you have a steep rock to ascend. For climbing such height, a man without burden is at an advantage as compared with a person carrying a heavy burden. Thereafter there will be hell or paradise. Before reaching your destination send your goods in advance to insure a comfortable accommodation when you arrive at your destination.

Access to God

After death, no apology will avail, nor any return to the world would be possible. Have faith that He Who holds the treasures of the earth and the heavens has permitted you to ask for anything you want. Whatever you ask for, you will get. If you seek mercy you will have it. You can have free access to Him. No functionary stands in the way between you and Him. Worldly goods are of little value. They are for you; you are not for them.

Preparations for death

Son, you are born for the Hereafter. Death lies in wait for you. Howsoever you may run from it, it will overreach you. You have to fall a victim to death sooner or later. Therefore be careful lest death comes to you before you have had the opportunity to repent. In that case you will be deemed to destruction. Son, you should be well prepared so that when death comes you have no regret.

Temptations of the world

Son, do not be tempted by the world for God has revealed its worthlessness. Even the world itself is aware of its transitory nature. Those who are devoted to the world are like barking dogs and ferocious animals who fall at one another, the strong devouring the weak. Some of such beasts are tied down, and are devoid of the power to harm. Some of them run amuck like camels, which roam about causing mischief. They are devoid of intelligence. They tread the path of destruction, and are enveloped in darkness. They cannot see light. They have got themselves lost in the labyrinths of the world. They are enamoured of the world and have made it their God. The world is playing with them and they are playing with the world. They have completely forgotten the Hereafter.

Counsels to follow

Son, all your hopes cannot be realized. You cannot live for a period longer than what has been ordained for you. You have to tread the way, which was trodden by the people before you. Be moderate in your desires. Do not transgress the limits. Do not become a slave of your desires. That good is no good, which leads to evil. That wealth is no wealth, which brings dishonor. Take care that ambition and greed do not lead you to destruction. Do not seek the favor of any one for whatever is ordained for you, you will get it at all cost.

Speech and silence

Whatever harm accrues because of silence can be remedied, but whatever harm is done by speech cannot be remedied. Have you not seen that water is kept in the water skin by tying the mouth of the water skin. It is better to restrain your desires then to stretch your hand before others. A little that is earned because of honest labor is better than larger amount gained through dishonest means. Guard well your secret. Sometimes one is apt to harm himself by his own act. He who speaks more than what is necessary indulges in error.

Man and God

God is most merciful, when you violate your repentance He does not take any vengeance. When you turn to Him again He does not taunt you, nor does He take cognizance of your faults. He does not hesitate in accepting repentance. He does not make you despair of His mercy. He regards repentance as a virtue. Any dereliction minor or grave is counted as one, but every good deed is treated as ten virtues. Lie has kept the door of repentance open. He listens to your plaint. When you praise Him, He listens to you. It is He to Whom you tell your difficulties and afflictions and seek health, longevity, and the fulfillment of desires. No one other than Him can fulfil your desires. If there is any delay in the acceptance of your prayer, do not give way to despair. The acceptance of the prayer depends on your bona fides. Sometimes there is delay in the acceptance of the prayer so that you may have a greater reward. Sometimes your prayer is not accepted for what you ask for is not in your interests. Therefore you should ask for such things which are really to your advantage.

Company

Keep the company of the virtuous. Refrain from the company of the wicked. To oppress the weak is the worst tyranny. When softness becomes hardness, hardness becomes softness. Sometimes cure becomes malady and malady becomes cure. Sometimes an evil wisher does what is good for you, and a well wisher does what is harmful to you. Do not bank on false hopes for that is the capital of the dead. Intelligence is the application of experience. The best experience is that which bears a lesson. Avail of the opportunity before it turns against you.

The fate

Everyone who goes on a journey may not return. Do not waste things. Do not spoil your prospects of the Hereafter. The fate of man is previously ordained. Whatever is the decree of your destiny will come to pass. A trader is a gambler in some way. Sometimes scarcity may be more beneficent than plenty.

The times

As long as the times favor you, march with the times. Beware that ambition does not blind you, and enmity does not deprive you of your intelligence. If a friend loosens the bond of friendship, you should strengthen such bond. If he keeps distance from you, you should try to come closer to him. If he adopts a stiff attitude against you, you should adopt a gentler attitude towards him. If he makes a mistake you should find an excuse for him. Behave with a friend as if he is your master, and you are his slave. Do not befriend the enemy of your friend. Do not refrain from tendering advice to your friend even though it might be bitter. Do not give way to anger. He who is harsh with you, be kind to him. He who has a good opinion about you, see that such opinion is not falsified. Do not ignore the rights of a friend under the false notion that he is a friend, for where rights are ignored, friendship suffers. Do not despair because of the oppression of a tyrant, for by such oppression he digs his own grave.

Sustenance

Son, sustenance is of two types, one that you seek, and the other that seeks you. Thus if you do not seek sustenance it will seek you. In the world your share is to that extent which can stand you in good stead in the Hereafter. If you grieve even what you have lost, then you should grieve over everything, which you have not got. Do not be like those people who are not impressed by any advice, but are moved by accusations. A wise man takes a lesson from even an ordinary lapse.

Patience and faith

Overpower desires and suspicions by patience and faith. He who does not take the middle course strays. A friend is like a relative. A true friend is he who looks after your interests in your absence. A stranger is he who has no friend.

Words of counsel

He who leaves the path of the truth treads the dark way. He who lives within his means keeps his honor safe. The strongest bond is that which binds man to God. He who does not care for you is your enemy. When hopes are frustrated, despair becomes the way of life. Every lapse may not be noticed. Nor can every opportunity be availed of. Sometimes he who has eyes may stumble, while the blind may tread without any mishap. He who trusts the world, the world betrays him. When there is a change in the ruler, the times also change. Before undertaking a journey look at the persons who are to be your companions. Before occupying a house, look to the persons who are to be your neighbors. Take care that in your talk you do not indulge in ridiculing anyone. Do not consult women. Their intelligence is limited and their resolves lack strength. Keep them in seclusion. Let no stranger come in contact with them. Do not encourage them to take recommendations. Treat your servants well. Allot them distinct jobs, so that each servant knows his duty. Respect your clan. It is the source of strength for you.

Conclusion

Son, I entrust your world and your Hereafter to God and pray for your welfare both in this world and the Hereafter. "