Al-Tawhid
Glimpses
of the Nahj al-Balaghah
Martyr Ayatullah Murtada Mutahhari
Translated from the Persian by 'Ali Quli Qara'i
This is the translation of sections from Martyr Mutahhari's book Sayri
dar Nahj al-balaghah. This book consists of seven sections. In
the first section the author discusses the two main characteristics of
the Nahj al-balaghah; its literary excellence and its multidimensionality,
quoted various opinions expressed about Imam Ali's eloquence in general
and about the Nahj al-balaghah in particular. In the second section,
the author discusses the theological and metaphysical ideas propounded
in the Nahj al-balaghah and compared them with the parallel notions
familiar to the Muslim mutakallimun and philosophers. The third
section deals with ibadah (worship) and its various levels. The
fourth section deals with Islamic Government and Social Justice. The fifth,
dealing with the controversial issue of caliphate (khilafah) and
the superior status of the Ahl al-Bayt (A), has been deleted in this translation.
The sixth and the seventh sections discuss the Nahj al-balaghah's
ethical teachings, in particular the Islamic Concept of zuhd (abstinence);
the meaning of the world (dunya), so often condemned in the Nahj
al-balaghah; and the meaning of the contradiction between the world
and the hereafter, which is also recurring theme.