The Sufferings of Hazrat Ali (part3)
O lord of the believers! Now can you tell me how many times have you ever been put on trial yourself by God Almighty, either during Muhammad’s lifetime {may God grant him and his family Peace and Glory! }, or after his decease, and how shall be “your” end?”
Ali got up calmly, got close to the man and said to him: “Get to your feet, so that I could answer you in private….”
By the manner that Ali Ibn Abi Taleb behaved, and by the answer he had given him, he showed his desire to take him to some other place, to be able to talk to him in private, and to make him some confidences, without the presence of the others.
At this moment, some of Ali’s enemies who for a long time, had a grudge against him, objected with high cries and said: “O lord of the believers! Take us with thee!”
Ali replied: “I fear that you could not bear my words…”
“Why is it so?!...”
“Because of the many inconvenient things that some of you have committed…”
Soon after, one of Ali’s friends got up too, and announced with great humility: “O lord of the believers! Favor us too! Tell us, thy friends! And those who wish thee well, about these sufferings and torments!
I swear to God that apart from thee, we do not know another successor for our Prophet, and we are very well aware of this fact, and we do know perfectly that God, after Muhammad, shall not produce another Prophet!
Thus, we confess that fact by obeying thee, and we know that it is a moral duty and a religious prescription, which is being done after the obedience that we had offered to our Prophet.”
After this humble request, Ali sat down once again on his pulpit. Those who had got up, sat down again, and the men were ready to listen to Ali Ibn Abi Taleb’s reply.
The lord of the believers, after praising God, and thanking the Divine Blessings, turned to the Jewish man and told him:” When the Prophet was alive, God put me on trial on seven occasions, and I do not wish to appear proud or conceited, but you shall see that in each and every occasion, I have always been absolutely obedient towards Muhammad {May God grant, Peace and Glory to him and his family!}”
The Jewish man asked him most respectfully:” May I ask in which occasions? “
And Ali Ibn Abi Taleb recounted his sufferings and torments, in two parts, each one, divided in seven stages. The first one, during the time in which the Prophet lived, and the other part, after the Prophet flew away to Heaven, to return near His Beloved Lord…
That is, from the time in which there was a house near Kaba’, until that sad dawn, when the mosque of Kufa got bloody, and Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, before rending his soul to God, sighed by saying: “I swear to the Lord of Kaba, that I am saved!”
Translated by :Sayed Farid Mohammadi
Other links:
Imam Ali (AS): The Kaba of Belief
Imam Ali (a.s) in the eyes of his enemies
Imam Ali (a.s) in the words of non Muslim Scholars
The Imam of Mankind
Ali, Son of Abu Talib
