Died: 780 A.H.
1. Indeed Ali was the sword of Prophet, having a lofty rank of His
Eminence, such that majesty and greatness got loftiness through him. 2. Son-in-law and cousin of the chosen Prophet and father of Hasan and Husain,
who possessed every distinction. 3. The Lord of heavens performed his
marriage in the heavens and sufficient for you is the marriage, which began
at the Arsh. 4. The best of ladies of Paradise, with illuminated countenance
and leadership, which would make you needless of the leadership of
everyone else. 5. They lived while the embellishment of those two was dress
of piety and they sacrificed their own shares to whoever requested for charity. 6. Gardens of Paradise gave offering of its beauty upon the piety of
those two. 7. It caused no harm to one, who sleeps in woolen garments and
tomorrow on Judgment Day will be dressed in luxurious apparels. 8. The
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) said: I am city of knowledge and he is its gate
and whoever seeks knowledge should enter through the door. 9. Of
whomsoever I am the master, Ali is (also) his guardian (Wali) and master.
Then aim for the love of your master, so that you may be guided. 10. You are
from me, as Harun was to Moosa, except that you are not a Prophet. It is
sufficient for you, so thank God. 11. He was the first child, who embraced
faith and no one got precedence over him.1 12. The Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.a.), while he expressed his approval, came to him while he was away
from Zahra. 13. So he dusted his clothes and rose up while he preferred
solitude. 14. Prophet (s.a.w.a.) said in a soft tone: Arise, O Abu Turab. And
this was a statement of an affectionate and sincere person. 15. Mustafa
remarked about his two sons: They are chiefs of abode of success. 16. The
Prophet sent him as a missionary and entrusted only him for this task. 17.
He said: Is there anyone eligible to propagate my message other than Ahle
Bayt (a.s.)? So follow him. 18. Abdullah replied to one, who constantly
inquired about rightfulness of Ahle Bayt (a.s.). 19. Note, where is the house
of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) and house of Ali. Recognize him, so that you
may testify to his rightfulness. 20. Ali kept fasts all the time and always
remembered Almighty Allah. He rose up with truth and was always in
worship. 21. He was content with his share in the world and when material
wealth inclined to him, he distanced himself from it and practiced piety. 22.
Ali divorced the world three times and when he saw that the world was
coming towards him, he said: O world, keep away from Ali. 23. In the world,
he was nearest to the truth and all were owners of truth, but he was most
proximate to guidance.
After describing the merits of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.), he mentions Imam
Hasan and Imam Husain (a.s.) and says:
“On Judgment Day, when I become alone, I will seek mediation of my
chiefs, Hasnain and their grandfather. Hasan and Husain are the light of the
eyes of Prophet and chiefs of everlasting Paradise. The Prophet (s.a.w.a.)
said: Hasan and Husain are my two blossoms. I love those, who love them.
So indeed be affectionate to them that you may be successful.”
Till he says:
1. Husain is such a valiant one that he attacks even when warriors get
exhausted in the battle. 2. He is the facsimile of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.)
in battle and charity and he is the best of martyrs, who tasted the sword. 3.
Eyes weep for his fall into dust and recompense of these eyes is upon Almighty Allah, due to his sincerity and love. 4. So Yazid and Shimr, and
whoever treads this degraded path, is away from divine mercy.
Explanation of couplets
Our poet, Shamsuddin Maliki has hinted at some merits of our master,
Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) in these lines, which leaders and tradition scholars of
Ahle Sunnat have narrated from Prophet in their books. They are as follows:
1. Tradition of the marriage of Imam Ali (a.s.) with Lady Fatima Zahra (s.a.)
upon the command of Almighty Allah and dispersal of embellishments from
Paradise for this blessed marriage was mentioned in these lines.2
2. Tradition of I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate. We mentioned
before this,3 regarding knowledge of Imam Ali (a.s.) and there we hinted that
Tabari, Ibne Moin, Hakeem, Khatib, Suyuti etc. have regarded this tradition
authentic. Now, we shall discuss this in detail and show that this tradition is
recorded by a large number of scholars of traditions.
In Al-Ghadeer, the late Allamah Hilli has mentioned 143 scholars from 1306
writers listed in Abaqatul Anwar of Mir Hamid Husain Musawi Lakhnavi (1306),
who have quoted this tradition:
1. Founder of Hanbali school, Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 241 A.H.). He has
mentioned this tradition in his book of Fazail Ali.4
2. Hafiz Abu Isa Muhammad Tirmizi (d. 279 A.H.): He has mentioned this
tradition in his Sunan.5
3. Hafiz Abu Ja’far Muhammad bin Jarir Tabari (d. 310 A.H.). He has
quoted this tradition in Tahzibul Aathar and has deemed it to be authentic; and
numerous Ahle Sunnat scholar have narrated this traditional report from him.6
4. Abul Qasim Zamakhshari (d. 538 A.H.). In Al-Faiq, he has dedicated a
chapter to this report and entitled it: City of Knowledge (Medinatul Ilm).7
5. Hafiz Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Yusuf Ganji Shafei (d. 658 A.H.).
He has mentioned this tradition through a number of authorities in his Kifaya,8
after which he remarks:
We say: This tradition is good and exalted…and in this manner scholars
from companions and companions of companions and his Ahle Bayt have
accepted the excellence of Ali (a.s.) due his exceeding knowledge, perception and
extensive wisdom and good administration and correctness of verdicts; and indeed Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and other scholars from companions sought his
counsel regarding practical laws of Islam and derived Islamic laws through his
statements, and according to their confession he possessed knowledge, merits,
inclination to knowledge, perception and correctness of verdicts.
This tradition is not an exaggeration; because his rank near Allah,
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) and believers is more exalted than this.
Shahabuddin Abul Fazl Ahmad bin Ali, famous as Ibne Hajar Asqalani
(d. 852 A.H.).
He has mentioned this tradition in Tahzeeb9 and in Lesaanul Meezaan,10 he says:
“This tradition is narrated through many authorities in Mustadrak Hakeem11
and at least, it should be said that it has a base and it is not proper to consider it
spurious.”
7. Hafiz Jalaluddin Abdur Rahman bin Kamaluddin Suyuti (d. 911 A.H.). He
has quoted this tradition in Jamius Saghir12 and in his numerous other writings
and in most of them, he has deemed it to be good. In Jamaul Jawame he has
declared that it is authentic.13
8. Shahabuddin Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hajar Haithami Makki (d. 974
A.H.). He has included this tradition in Sawaiq.14