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Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

Date: Thu Jun 5, 2003 6:55 am
Subject: That Ever-Recurring Fever

http://www.sulekha.com/chpost.asp...ilosophy&show=0&cid=61704

We may satisfy the hunger of a man for five minutes, but he will be
hungry again. Every pleasure with which we supply a man may be seen
to be momentary. No one can permanently cure this ever-recurring
fever of pleasure and pain. Can any permanent happiness be given to
the world

- Vivekananda

The undisturbed state of being is bliss; the disturbed state is what
appears as the world. In non-duality there is bliss; in duality -
experience. What comes and goes is experience with its duality of
pain and pleasure. Bliss is not to be known. One is always in bliss,
but never blissful. Bliss is not an attribute.

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

God connected Spirit with a body, in order that the prophet or saint
might become a refuge for the whole world.

- Rumi

The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

- Judaism, Psalm 51 (Greek Septuagint, 50)

The sin which makes you sad and repentant is liked better by the Lord
than the good deed which turns you vain and conceited.

- Islam (Shiite), The Compilaton entitled "Nahjul Balagha" (compiled
by Syed Razi)

As was the will of God, so I ought to have thought;

As was the will of God, so I ought to have spoken;

As was the will of God, so I ought to have acted.

If I have not so thought, so spoken, so acted,

Then do I repent for the sin,

Do I repent by my thought, word, and deed.

Do I repent with all my heart and conscience.

-Zoroastrianism, Patet 6

==========================

http://www.irtp.com/Nahj-Al-Balgheh/COMPILOR.htm

THE COMPILOR

And Some Commentators The last compiler of the Sermons, Letters,
Orders and Sayings of Hazrath Ali was Syed Razi. His was the
compilation which came down to us in its entire form through ten
centurjes. He named this compilation as Nahjul Balagha.

His name was Abul Hussan Syed Mohammed Razi. Razi was his nickname
(Laqub). He was born in Baghdad (during the year 359 A.H.) in a
family famous all over the country for their connections with the
state, for their patronage of art and literature, and for their
interest in history, philosophy and religion, it was a time when
Baghdad was vying with Cario and Cardova for superiority over arts,
science, philosophy and languages.

His father Abu Ahmed Syed Hussain was appointed five times as Naqueeb
or chief of the members of the Family of Hazrath Ali (A.S.). His
family was held in great regards by Abbasite caliphs and by Alay
Abaweya Kings.

His father was descendant of Hazrath Imam Moosi-e-Kazim (A.S.) being
the great grandson of the Imam. His mother was the great grand
daughter of Hazrath Imam Zain-ul-Abideen (A.S.). She was a woman
famous for her piety and her literary talents.

His elder brother syed murtaza was grat theologian and poet. Syed
Murtaza's work (poems) are still being published in Cariro and
Bairuth and form part of the course of Arabic literature in the
universities of those two cities. Syed Murtaza has a great place
among the Shia Theologians and is nick-named Alam-ul-Hudda (standard
or way mark of the true path of religion).

His mother took keen interest in educating her two sons, Syed Murtaza
and Syed Razi. She personally took them both to the famous Shia
Theologian and Mujthahed, Abu Abdullah Shaikh Mofeed and requested
him to educate these children under his personal supervision and care.

Syed Razi under instructions of Shaikh Mofeed, received early
education in Arabic grammar, literature and lexicology from Hussan-
ibne-Abdullah Sairafee. There at the early stage of ten he was
considered as a finished product of that institution and a good poet.
Thence he joined educational institutions of Abu Ishaq-Ahmed-ibne-
Mohammed-Tabaree, Ali-ibne-Eesa Rubaee, Oosman-ibne-Jinny and
Aboobaker Mohammed-ibne-Moosa Khawrzami, and with them he studied the
Holy Book, The Traditions, Theology, History of Religions, Philosophy
and Literature. From early childhood his keen desire of acquiring
knowledge and concentrating on studies was noted and appreciated by
every one of those great scholars under whom he received his
training. As a matter of fact he was considered as a prodigy by many
of them.

At the age of twenty his merit was recognized and respected by all of
them and even Shaikh Mofeed regarded this youngman as his equal.

He died young at the age of fortyfive or fortyseven years, but during
this short period he had written many books, his commentary of the
Holy Quran is considered by the historianIbne- Khalakan as peerless,
and his explanation of the traditions of the Holy prophet (A.S.) is
still respected as a great source of meanings of the words used by
the Holy Apostle of God.

At the age of twentyone he was elected in place of his father as
Naqueed of the Family of Abu Talib and was appointed by the state as
Amir of Pilgrimage to Mecca.

He was a man of strong character, free will and independent views.
During his time the Abbastites caliphate of Baghdad was on war with
the Fatemite caliphate of Egypt, and had persuaded Sunni and Shia men
of importance to sign a Mahzur (public attestation) depicting Non-
muslims tendencies and activities of the Fatemite caliphs. Even the
elder brother of syed Razi and his father were forced to sign it, but
Syed Razi point blank refused to sign such a decree. This brought him
under the bad-books of the government, but he cheerfully accepted the
loss of political privilege and status. Four times during his life he
refused to accept financial aid from the government.

In his early age he had come across sayings, sermons and letters of
Hazrath Ali. He had found them scattered in various books of
philosophy, religion, history, biography, literature and commenteries
of the Holy Quran and the Traditions of the Holy prophet (A.S.). He
had also found that the collections of Hazrath Ali's work as carried
on by great scholars of the first four centuries, on account of the
unsettled political condition of the centers of learning in the
peninsula, were lost. He therefore decided to re-collect them once
again. The desire became a passion with him. He toured all over the
peninsula to collect these sermons, sayings and letters, gathered all
the various books containing them and classified them into sermons,
letters and sayings. The letters also included orders of Hazrath Ali
to his officer and two of his wills. In fact, the classification was
on the basis of what Hazrath Ali preached, what he wrote and what he
said. Some biogrophists say that for years he devoted eighteen hours
a day for this work. It was a labour of love for him. His health was
failing yet he continued the work without abetment of intensity.

To him this compilation was a sacred duty and he carried it out with
the devotion and diligence that it deserved. He was particularly and
sincerely careful not to add and not to substract a word from the
tests which he found. So much so that if he found a sermon divided
into many parts he did not join these pieces into a continuous whole
but let them remain as two or three or four disjointed parts. Such
system of compilation annoyed the later commentators of Nahjul
Balagha, like Ibne-Maisum, and they have in a way complained about
it. Some times he found the middle part of a sermon missing, he left
the two remaining parts as two separate sermons.

As he was collecting from a pile of books and manuscripts on various
subjects and he had come across those books at various periods of his
work, naturally there could not be any chronological order in his
collection. The sermons which are supposed to be delivered in Madina
or in the early period of Hazrath Ali's temporal rulership are found
in the later part of the book and sermons on the events of Siffcen
and Nahrwan in early part. Similarly the sermon which is considered
as the last sermon of Hazrath Ali preceeds many discourses which by
their test may rightly be their test may rightly be considered to be
delivered in Madina during the periods of the first and second
caliphate. At places we find that the Syed had copied the same sermon
in different places as quoted by different authors. All these
discrepancies jar upon the minds of the readers. But they stand as
iron clad irrefutable proof of the honest and sincere desire of Syed
Razi to present the thing as he found it and not to interfere with it
in any way however essential it might be.

Some historians and biographists are of the opinion that Syed Razi
was helped in this work by his elder brother Syed Murtaza. But had
this been a fact the noble minded Syed would have willingly mentioned
it in his preface, because he has tried to mention all the sources
from which he found these sermons etc.

Syed Razi died in the month of Mohurram 404 A.H. at the age of 45
years. Some biographists are of the opinion that the year of his
death was 406 A.H., his age at the time of death was 47 years. His
elder brother Syed Murtaza and his teacher Shaikh Mofeed were so
grief stricken that they could not lead the funeral service of that
great man and the service was lead by the Prime Minister Abu Ghalib
Fukhrul Mulk.

Syed Razi has left about 40 books as his memorial, some of them are
great works, they consist of commentaries of the Holy Quran on
religion and phiosophy, yet his masterpiece was the collection of the
sermons, letters and saying of Hazrath Ali.

As soon as the noble Syed compiled this book (The Nahjul Balagha) his
contemporaties started writing commentaries on it, and this work of
commenting on the text and explanation of meanings of the words used
by Hazrath Ali, and the historical events mentioned therein is
continued till today. I am citing herein the names of some of the
famous commentators of Nahjul Balagha.

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