“I Was Waiting For This Day”

O mourners!

When Ibn Muljim, the accursed one hit Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (A) on his head with the sword, a slash was made in the skull till his eyebrows. Imam (A) said:

By Allah! Sudden death and sudden attack are not something that I dislike. My case is like that of a lover who has reached his beloved.1

In the words of a poet:

“Do you know the happiness of meeting a lost friend?
The happiness is like that of a thirsty person in a desert when a cloud starts raining on him.”

The Commander of the Faithful gave an example, which was well- known among the Arabs. The Arabs living in deserts were nomads. They used to settle down wherever they found water and vegetation. When the resources got over, they shifted from that place. In sUmmr, they traveled during nights in search of a place where water was available. The Commander of the Faithful told his companions:

My state is like that of a person who has reached his beloved. My state of happiness is like that of a person that searches for water during nights in lonely forests and becomes overjoyed on finding it.

It is quoted very well as below:

“I was given freedom from grief yesterday morning and in the darkness tonight I was given the elixir of life.”2

In the name of Allah and by Allah, and on the religion of the Messenger of Allah (S)

• 1. Bihar Al-Anwar, Vol. 42, Pg. 254; Nahjul Balagha, Faiz ul-Islam, Sermon 23, Pg. 865; Sharh Nahjul Balagha, Ibn Abil Hadid, Vol. 15, Pg. 143; the words of the master of faithful, in which he cursed Ibn Muljim after he was attacked and before his martyrdom are presented excerpts
• 2. Hamasa Husayni, Vol. 1 (the Urdu version of this book is published by Dar al- Thaqafiyat ul-Islamiya, Karachi)