Taqwa (purity), Zuhd (piety) and Sympathy (kindness) According To Nahjul Balaghah

The Nahj al-balaghah's Recurring Themes

Out of the 241 fragments collected under the title 'Khutab ' by al-Sayyid al-Radi (though not all of them areKhutab or sermons) about 86 can be classed asmawa'iz or at least contain a series of spiritual advices. Some of them, however, are elaborate and lengthy, like thekhutbah 176, which opens with the sentence (Avail of the Divine expositions ), thekhutbah named 'al-Qasi'ah ; (which is the longest of the sermons of theNahj al-balaghah ), and thekhutbah 93 (calledkhutbat al-muttaqin , the 'Sermon of the Pious').

Out of some seventy-nine passages that are classed as 'kutub ' letters, (which not all of them are) about twenty-five, either completely or partially, consist of spiritual and moral teachings. Some of them are quite lengthy and elaborate-like letter 31, which constitutes 'Ali's advice to his son al-Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba ('a), and the lengthiest of all, except the famous directive sent to Malik al-'Ashtar. Another one is letter 45, the well-known epistle of 'Ali ('a) to Uthman ibn Hunayf, his governor in Basrah.