Ar Fa

selection from glimpses of the nahj al-balaghah

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (10)

The Contradiction Between the World and the Hereafter The problem of the conflict between the world and the Hereafter and the contradiction between them as two opposite poles, such as the north and the south, which are such that proximity to the one means remoteness from the other-is related to the world of human heart, conscience, human attachment, love and worship.

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (9)

Zuhd, Spirituality, Love, and Worship Another fountainhead of zuhd and renunciation of hedonism is the aspiration to avail of spiritual bounties. Presently we do not intend to undertake any argument to the effect that man and the universe possess an undeniable spiritual aspect. It is another story by itself.

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (8)

Zuhd and Freedom Another ingredient of zuhd is love of freedom and independence. The union between zuhd and freedom is as primordial as it is indissoluble.

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (7)

Sympathy and Kindness The sympathy and the willingness to share the suffering of the needy and the deprived is another ingredient of zuhd.

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (6)

The Zahid and the Monk We said that Islam encourages zuhd but condemns monasticism. Both the zahid and the ascetic monk seek abstinence from pleasures and enjoyments.

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (5)

Islamic Zuhd and Christian Asceticism In the last section we said that zuhd, as defined by the Nahj al-balaghah, is a spiritual state that makes the zahid, on account of his spiritual and other worldly aspirations, indifferent towards the manifestations of material existence.

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (4)

Taqwa is Immunity not Restraint We have already mentioned some of the various elements found in the spiritual advices (mawa'iz) of the Nahj al-balaghah. We began with taqwa and saw that taqwa, from the viewpoint of the Nahj al-balaghah, is a sublime spiritual faculty which is the cause of certain attractions and repulsions; i.e. attraction towards edifying spiritual values and repulsion towards degrading materialistic vices.

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (3)

Taqwa (Piety) Taqwa is one of the most frequent motifs of the Nahj al-balaghah. In fact, it would be hard to find another book that emphasizes this spiritual term to the extent of this book. Even in the Nahj al-balaghah, no other term or concept receives so much attention and stress as taqwa.

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (2)

Maw'izah and Khitabah (Exhortation and Oratory) Maw'izah also differs from khitabah (oratory, rhetoric). Although oratory also deals with emotions, but it seeks to stir and agitate them.

Nahj al-Balaghah and It's Spiritual Teachings (1)

Inimitable Moral Teaching Moral and spiritual teachings constitute the greater part of the Nahj al-balaghah making up almost half of the book. More than anything else, the fame of the Nahj al-balaghah is due to the sermons, exhortations, and aphorisms on ethical and moral subjects.

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