لِيَتَأَسَّ صَغِيرُكُمْ بِكَبِيرِكُمْ،
The young among you should follow the elders
وَلْيَرأَفْ كَبِيرُكُمْ بِصَغيرِكُمْ،
while the elders should be kind to the young.
وَلاَ تَكُونُوا كَجُفَاةِ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ:
Do not be like those rude people of the pre-lslamic (al-jahiliyyah) period
لاَ في الدِّينِ يَتَفَقَّهُونَ،
who did not exert themselves in religion
وَلاَ عَنِ اللهِ يَعْقِلُونَ،
nor use their intellects in the matter of Allah.
كَقَيْضِ بَيْض في أَدَاح يَكُونُ كَسْرُهَا وِزْراً،
They (1) are like the breaking of eggs in the nest of a dangerous bird, because their breaking looks bad,
وَيُخْرِجُ حِضَانُهَا شَرّاً.
but keeping them intact would mean the production of dangerous young ones.
منها: في بني أمية
A part of the same sermon about the autocracy and oppression of the Umayyads and their fate
افْتَرَقُوا بَعْدَ أُلْفَتِهِمْ،
They will divide after their unity
وَتَشَتَّتُوا عَنْ أَصْلِهِمْ،
and scatter away from their centre.
فَمِنْهُمْ آخِذٌ بِغُصْن
Some of them will stick to the branches,
أَيْنَما مَالَ مَالَ مَعَهُ،
and bending down as the branches bend,
عَلَى أَنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى سَيَجْمَعُهُمْ لِشَرِّ يَوْم لِبَنِي أُمَيَّةَ،
until Allah, the Sublime, will collect them together for the day that will be worst for the Umayyads
كَمَا تَجْتَمِعُ قَزَعُ الْخَرِيفِ
just as the scattered bits of clouds collect together in the autumn.
يُؤَلِّفُ اللهُ بَيْنَهُمْ،
Allah will create affection among them.
ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُمْ رُكَاماً كَرُكَامِ السَّحَابِ،
Then He will make them into a strong mass like the mass of clouds.
ثُمَّ يَفْتَحُ لَهُمْ أَبْوَاباً،
Then he will open doors for them
يَسِيلُونَ مِنْ مُسْتَثَارِهِمْ كَسَيْلِ الْجَنَّتَيْنِ،
to flow out from their starting place like the flood of the two gardens (of Saba')
حَيْثُ لَمْ تَسْلَمْ عَلَيْهِ قَارَةٌ وَلَمْ تَثْبُتْ عَلَيْهِ أَكَمَةٌ،
from which neither high rocks remained safe nor small hillocks,
وَلَمْ يَرُدَّ سَنَنَهُ رَصُّ طَوْد،
and its flow could be repulsed neither by strong mountains
وَلاَ حِدَابُ أَرْض،
nor by high lands.
يُذعْذِعُهُمُ اللهُ فِي بُطُونِ أَوْدِيَتِهِ،
Allah will scatter them in the low lands of valleys
ثُمَّ يَسْلُكُهُمْ يَنَابِيعَ فِي الاْرْضِ،
and then He will make them flow like streams throughout the earth,
يَأَخُذُ بِهِمْ مِنْ قَوْم حُقُوقَ قَوْم،
and through them He will arrange the taking of rights of one people by another people
وَيُمَكِّنُ لِقَوْم فِي دِيَارِ قَوْم.
and make one people to stay in the houses of another people.
وَايْمُ اللهِ،
By Allah,
لَيَذُوبَنَّ مَا فِي أَيْدِيهمْ بَعْدَ الْعُلُوِّ وَالتَّـمْكِينِ،
all their position and esteem will dissolve
كَمَا تَذُوبُ الاْلْيَةُ عَلَى النَّارِ.
as fat dissolves on the fire.
الناس آخر الزمان
The cause of tyranny
أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ،
O people!
لَوْ لَمْ تَتَخَاذَلُوا عَنْ نَصْرِ الْحَقِّ،
If you had not evaded support of the truth
وَلَمْ تَهِنُوا عَنْ تَوْهِينِ الْبَاطِلِ،
and had not felt weakness from crushing wrong
لَمْ يَطْمَعْ فِيكُمْ مَنْ لَيْسَ مِثْلَكُمْ،
then he who was not your match would not have aimed at you
وَلَمْ يَقْوَ مَنْ قَوِيَ عَلَيْكُمْ،
and he who overpowered you would not have overpowered you.
لكِنَّكُمْ تِهْتُمْ مَتَاهَ بَنِي إسْرَائِيلَ.
But you roamed about the deserts (of disobedience) like Banu Isra'il (Children of Israel).
وَلَعَمْرِي،
I swear by my life
لَيُضَعَّفَنَّ لَكُمُ التِّيهُ مِنْ بَعْدِي أَضْعَافاً،
that after me your tribulations will increase several times,
بِمَا خَلَّفْتُمُ الْحَقَّ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِكُمْ،
because you will have abandoned the truth behind your backs,
وَقَطَعْتُمُ الاْدْنى،
severed your connection with your near ones
وَوَصَلْتُمُ الاْبْعَدَ.
and established relations with remote ones.
وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّكُمْ إِنِ اتَّبَعْتُمُ الدَّاعِيَ لَكُمْ،
Know that if you had followed him who was calling you (to guidance)
سَلَكَ بِكُمْ مِنْهَاجَ الرَّسُولِ،
he would have made you tread the ways of the Prophet,
وَكُفِيتُمْ مَؤُونَةَ الاعْتِسَافِ،
then you would have been spared the difficulties of misguidance,
وَنَبَذْتُمُ الثِّقْلَ الْفَادِحَ عَنِ الاْعْنَاقِ.
and you would have thrown away the crushing burden from your necks.
Alternative Sources for Sermon 166: Kitab Sulaym ibn Qays, 89; al-Kulayni, Rawdah, 62; al-Mufid, al-'Irshad, 373; Ibn al-'Athir, al-Nihayah, I, 46.
1. The implication is that the outer Islam of these people required that they should not be molested, but the consequence of sparing them in this way was that they would create mischief and rebellion.
