About calamities befalling Kufah

Pearl of Wisdom

'Solomon, son of David (AS) one day said to his companions, 'Allah Almighty has endowed upon me a kingdom that no person after me will ever have. He has given me control of the wind, the humans, the jinn, the birds and the animals, and He has taught me the language of the birds. He has given me from everything, and with all that I possess, there has never been a day when my happiness has continued until night. I would like to enter my palace tomorrow and climb atop it and oversee my subjects. So, do not permit anyone to come to me for I do not want anyone to disturb my day.' They said, 'Yes.' When the next day came, he took his walking staff in his hand and went up to the highest point of his palace. He stood there leaning on his staff looking at his kingdom, happy for where he was and pleased with what had been given to him, when suddenly he saw a young man with a handsome face and neat clothes coming out to him from a corner of the palace. When Solomon saw him, he asked him, 'Who let you enter the palace when I wanted to be alone here for the day? And with whose per-mission did you enter?' The young man replied, 'The Lord of this palace let me enter it, and with His permission I entered.' Solomon said, 'Indeed its Lord is more rightful to it than me, so who are you?' He said, 'I am the angel of death.' Solomon asked, 'What has brought you here?' He said, 'I have come to take your soul.' Solomon said, 'Do what you have been commanded to do, for this is the day of my happiness, and Allah Almighty has refused for me to be happy but only in meeting Him.' So the angel of death took his soul, while he was leaning on his staff. Solomon stayed leaning on his staff while dead until Allah wished so, while the people continued to look at him [from below] thinking him to be alive. People then argued and differed among each other, some saying, 'Solomon has stayed leaning on his staff for all these days, nor eaten. Surely he must be our lord whom we must worship!' Others said, 'Solomon is a magician, and he is showing us that he can stand there leaning on his staff. He is conjuring our eyes, while it is not actually so!' The believers said, 'Solomon is a servant of Allah and His prophet, and Allah controls his affairs as He wishes.' So when they differed among each other Allah Almighty sent termites who crawled into Solomon's staff. When they had eaten the inside of the staff, it broke and Solomon (AS) fell from his palace onto his face.'

Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq [as]

Ilal al-Shara'i', p. 73, no. 2

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Library » Nahj ul Balagha » Sermons » About calamities befalling Kufah

About calamities befalling Kufah

Sermon 47 About calamities befalling Kufah

O' Kufah, as though I see you being drawn like the tanned leather of `Ukazi (1) in the market, you are being scraped by calamities and being ridden by severe troubles. I certainly (2) know that if any tyrant intends evil for you Allah will afflict him with worry and fling him with a killer (set someone on him to kill him).

(1). During pre-Islamic days a market used to be organised every year near Mecca. Its name was `Ukaz where mostly hides were traded as a result of which leather was attributed to it. Besides sale and purchase literary meetings were also arranged and Arabs used to attract admiration by reciting their works. After Islam, because of the better congregation in the shape of hajj this market went down.

(2). This prophecy of Amir al-mu'minin was fulfilled word by word and the world saw how the people who had committed tyranny and oppression on the strength of their masterly power had to face tragic end and what ways of their destruction were engendered by their blood-shedding and homicidal activities. Consequently, the end of Ziyad ibn Abih (son of unknown father) was that when he intended to deliver a speech for vilification of Amir al-mu'minin suddenly paralysis overtook him and he could not get out of his bed thereafter. The end of the bloodshed perpetrated by `Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad was that he fell a prey to leprosy and eventually blood thirsty swords put him to death. The ferocity of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ath-Thaqafi drove him to the fate that snakes cropped up in his stomach as a result of which he died after severe pain. `Umar ibn Hubayrah al-Fazari died of leucoderma. Khalid ibn `Abdillah al-Qasri suffered the hardships of prison and was killed in a very bad way. Mus`ab ibn az-Zubayr and Yazid ibn al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufrah were also killed by swords.