Nahjul Balagha Part 1, The Sermons

Sermon 136: Your allegiance to me was not without thinking….

About the sincerity of his own intention and support of the oppressed (regarding the allegiance paid to him)

Your allegiance to me was not without thinking,[^1] nor is my and your position the same. I seek you for Allah's sake but you seek me for your own benefits. O people! Support me despite your hearts’ desires. By Allah, I will take revenge for the oppressed from the oppressor and will put a string in the nose of the oppressor and drag him to the spring of truthfulness even though he may grudge it.

Alternative Sources for Sermon 136

(1) Al-Mufid, al-'Irshad, 142;

(2) Ibn al-'Athir, III, 467 (f.l.t).

[^1]: Here Amir almu'minin points to the view of `Umar ibn al-Khattab which he had on the allegiance of Abu Bakr on the day of Saqifah when he said: " . . . let me clarify this to you that the allegiance with Abu Bakr was a mistake and without thinking (faltah) but Allah saved us from its evil. Therefore, whoever (intends to) acts like this you must kill him. . ." (as-Sahih, al-Bukhari, vol. 8, p. 211; as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah, Ibn Hisham, vol. 4, pp. 308309; at-Tarikh, at-Tabari, vol. l, p. l822; al-Kamil, Ibn al-Athir, vol. 2, p. 327; at-Tarikh, Ibn Kathir, vol. 5, pp. 245246; al-Musnad, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, vol. l, p. 55; as-Sirah al-Halabiyyah, vol. 3, pp. 388, 392; al-Ansab, al-Baladhuri, vol. 5, p. l5; at-Tamhid, al-Baqilani, p. l96; ash-Sharh, Ibn Abi'l-Hadid, vol. 2, p. 23)