Born in Mecca, ‘Al¯ı ibn Ab¯ı T ¯alib was the sonin-
law of MUHAMMAD. He is venerated by Shi’ite
Muslims as the prophet’s rightful successor. The
poems, sermons, lectures, and sayings that are attributed
to Ali are esteemed by Shi’ites to this day.
‘Al¯ı was a cousin and foster brother of Muhammad,
the founder of Islam.He was among Muhammad’s
supporters, serving as his secretary and
marrying his daughter F¯atima. After Muhammad’s
death, a faction of Muslims supported ‘Al¯ı as his
rightful heir. ‘Al¯ı did become the fourth Caliph, or
leader of the faithful, in 656, only to be murdered
five years later; his sons Hasan and Huseyn were
later murdered as well.
‘Al¯ı is considered the first great writer of sermons
and an eloquent writer of aphorisms. As
caliph, he was patron of moralistic poetry and of
the first systematic Arabic grammarians, and he
was also known as an expert calligrapher.
‘Al¯ı’s sermons and other prose works were collected
in the 11th century by al-Sayyid al-Sharif ar-
Radi, an Islamic scholar, in Nahj al Balagha (Peak
of Eloquence). Al-Sharif divided ‘Al¯ı’s works into
three categories: sermons, letters, and short sayings.
In the first section, ‘Al¯ı stresses spirituality,
justice, ethics, and worship. The second section
consists of letters ‘Al¯ı wrote to friends and enemies,
as well as his instructions as Caliph to government
officials, stressing their role as servants and protectors
of the people. Finally, the third section is a collection
of ‘Al¯ı’s aphorisms, which serves as a set of
instructions on how to live “purely” and prosper. It
is the emotional depth and wisdom of these works
that have given ‘Al¯ı a place in world literature.
An English Version of a Work by
‘Al¯ı ibn Ab¯ı Ta¯ lib
Peak of Eloquence: Nahjul Balagha. Translated by
Askari Jafery. New York: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an,
1996.
Works about ‘Al¯ı ibn Ab¯ı Ta¯ lib
Ahmad, Abdul Basit. Ali Bin Ali Talib: The Fourth
Caliph of Islam. Houston, Tex.: Dar-Us-Salam
Publications. No publication date given.
Chirri, Mohamad Jawad. The Brother of the Prophet
Mohammad (the Imam Ali). Qum, Iran: Ansariyan
Publications, 1996.