English Text Khetabe Ghadir 

48. O people! The Light, by God Almighty, is put inside me, and then inside Ali, and then inside his lineage, until Mahdi, the Upright, who shall demand the Divine Right as well our right. For God has put us as an irrefutable Proof, before those who are careless, and disprove us; who are throughout the world as: traitors, usurpers, sinners, tyrants, and oppressors!

49. O people! I announce that I am God’s Messenger and before me, there were also other messengers. So, what if I should pass away, or be killed? Will you return backwards – turn on your heels? For one who turns backward, will not harm God, and God will reward those who are thankful and patient! (The Family of Imran: 3/144).

50. And know that indeed Ali, and after him my progeny, all from his linage, are perfect and deserve being praised.

51. O people! Do stop, and do not impress me the Islam you have embraced for your own, (The Chambers: 49/17), such action will indeed damage all your acts; and Almighty God will be annoyed with you. Then He will involve you in the Flame of Fire and the melted bronze, (The Mercy giving: 55/35), that is kept in store for you. For indeed God is on the look-out for you! (The Daybreak: 89/14).

52. O people! Soon after me, there will come to you some leaders, who will call you enter the Fire, then, on that Day of Judgement, there is no assistant to rise for their aid! (The Narration: 28/41).

53. O people! Know that both God and I detest such crowd.

54. O people! These men along with their disciples, and their companions and their followers, will be thrown in the lowest part of the Fire; see how horrible is the place of such proud! (The Bees: 16/29).

55. Know that they are the followers of ‘Manuscript’, thus, now each of you should look at his own manuscript.

56. O people! Now, I leave to you, [as documentation], the issue of the Leadership, and the succession, and its perpetuation in my lineage until the Day of Resurrection; I have passed on to you what I have been said to disclose, so that it becomes as a clear argument for those who are present and those who are absent; for those-who are here or not here-and those who are born, or even not born. Thus, those present today, should make this news known to those who are absent, that is, fathers [should tell it to] their sons, until the Day the Resurrection rises!

57. But soon after I am gone, there will be some who shall unfairly take the Leadership by force, then replace it with Monarchy. May God damn the usurpers and those who take [the trusteeships] by force, but, of course, when, at that moment, God unleashes the infernal Fire, and melted bronze on you, the jinn and Mankind, you will not have a helper to be kind to you! (The Mercy giving; 55 / 31-35).

58. O people! God will not leave you on your own, except He has separated the pure from the impure; and God will not let you know of the ‘Unseen’, (The Family of Imran: 3/179).

59. O people! There shall remain not a single land, which has not been destroyed by God’s Will before the coming of the Resurrection Day, it is for the abjurations and the denials that their inhabitants will have pronounced, and their places will be under the government of his holiness Mahdi, and God Almighty fulfills His Promise!

60. O people! Before your era, the most people of the older times went astray, and it was God’s will to destroy them all, and again it will be He Who will eliminate the on-coming generations. God Almighty, in His Book, has stated: ‘Did We not destroy the despots of the old? So shall We do with the later generations after them. Thus We deal with the men of errors. Ah! Woe that Day, to the Rejecters!’” (The Emissaries: 77/19).

61. “O people! God has stated me His exemption and restriction of certain things, and I also, by Divine Command, have ordained Ali the knowledge of it, and forbidden him [some things]. And [thus] the knowledge of ordaining and forbidding, remains with him; therefore, listen to his commands, so that to be safe, and obey him so as you may get on the course. Accept his Warning, so that to find the right direction, and walk on towards his ultimate destination! [Thus, beware] so as not to draw away from His Path into the diverted paths!” (Livestock: 6/153).

(7)

62. “O people! I am the Straight Path of God, whom He has ordained you to follow; and after me, it is Ali, and then my discordance, who shall be the Leaders of the Guidance and will guide you to the righteousness and beauty.”

Then the Messenger of God announced:
‘In the name of Allah, (Who’s) the most Merciful Bountiful
Praise be to God only Lord of the worlds,
The Source of Grace, Mercy, Fair, and the Force,
Ruler of the Day when Repayments begin,
Owner of the Day when the Decree’s given!
Alone You we worship, You only the Wise,
From You the Sublime we ask for the rise,
Lead us into Direct Path of all the roads,
The Path of the Right, for repayment, You chose,
Not of those who were dishonored, neither those
Disowned by Your anger; thrown off the course!’ (The Opening: 1-7).

And then he continued:
‘This Verse has been sent down regarding me, and the Imams are appointed and included in it. They are God’s Friends, and indeed they do not fear nor will they grieve! (Jonah: 10/62).
Ah, of course the party of God is victorious! (The Heavenly Food: 5/56).

63. Know that the enemies of the Imams are nothing but ignorant, who have been led astray from the Direct Path; they are the Demons’ allies, who bring nothing to people but bothering, insignificant and useless things, (Livestock: 6/112).

64. Know that God, in His Book, has expressed about the friends of the Imam, thus: ‘(O Prophet,) you find not a people believing in God, and the Last Day, yet showing love for those who oppose God, and His Messenger– even if they are their own fathers, sons, their brothers or anyone from their family connection. With such [people], God has engraved faith on their hearts. Assisted them with the spirit of His Own, and He will admit them into the gardens where streams flow by their trees, to live in [forever]. God will be pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. They are the lovers of God. Ah! Victorious are the lovers of God!’ (The Pleading Woman: 58/22).

65. Know that the friends of the Imams are those believers who have been described in the Qur’an, as: ‘Those who have believed and not cloaked their faith in transgressing will feel more secure and will be guided.’ (Livestock: 6/82).

66. “Know that their friends are those who have achieved firm faith, and they have never doubted. (The Chambers: 49/15).

67. Know that the Imam’s friends are these who shall enter Paradise in peace, in great security, and the Angels will move humbly to their encounter to greet them thus: ‘Peace upon you! You are purified, so then enter forever into Paradise!’ (The Rocky Tract: 15/46).

68. Know that Paradise is the reward of their friends, where they shall receive extra provision. (The Believer: 40/40).

69. Know that their enemies will enter the Fire, (The Woman: 4/10),

70. and will hear the moaning and groaning flames, while the infernal Flames roars and blazes; they will hear afflicting horrible cries. (The Kingdom: 67/7).

71. Know that God has stated about their enemies, ‘Every time, when a nation enters the Fire, it will curse its own kind,’ as the Qur’an says, ‘Until when they have all caught up with one another, the last ones will say about the first ones: Lord, these (people) have misled us, so give them double chastisement from the Fire!’ [O Prophet,] say: ‘Each will have double, but you do not realize it.’ (The Heights: 7/38).

72. Know that the enemies of the Imams are those about whom God has stated as this: ‘When a group of them is cast into Fire, the Hell keepers, will ask them: “Did a Warner not come to you?” They will reply: ‘yes indeed, a Warner came to us, but we denied any of them, saying: “God has not revealed you anything and you are in a gross error.’” Then they say: ‘Had we listened to their advice and used our reason, we would have not been among the inhabitants of this Hell!’
After confessing their sins, it will be said to them: ‘So away with the abiders of the blazing Fire!’ (The Kingdom: 67/8-11).

73. Know that their friends fear their Lord in secret, thus, there will be immense reward for them. (The Kingdom: 67/12).

74. O people! How great is the gap between the Fire, and the great reward!

75. O people! God has damned and degraded our enemies but, He loves and praises our [close] friends.

76. O people! Know that I am here to warn you, and Ali is the man who will guide you!

77. Know that, I am a Warner and Ali is a Guide.

78. O people! Know that I am a Messenger, and Ali is my immediate successor.

79. O people! Know that I am the Messenger, and Ali is, after I am gone, my successor, and the holy Imams following him, his descendants are all of them.
And let it be known that I am their father, and they are Ali’s lineage, one after another!”

(8)

80. “Know that the last Imam, Mahdi, the Upright, is from us,
He shall dominate over the entire religions.
Lo! As he shall take revenge from the oppressors, therefore,
he is the victorious destroyer of the castles!
Lo! He is the conqueror of all the-lack-of-religion, and their Guide!

81. Lo! He takes revenge for blood shed from the men of God!
Lo! He will assist the religion of God!

82. Know that, upon great measure, he shall seize [the Divine Knowledge] from the deep sea!
Know that! He shall reward every well-informed, by measure of his knowledge, and does so with the uninformed, by the measure of his ignorance!
Lo! He is great, and has been chosen by God!
Lo! He is the heir of all Knowledge, and he seizes upon all comprehension.

83. Know that he breaks the news from His God, and elevates the Divine Verses [in proud]!
Know that he is upright and pride.
Lo! It is he that the entire authorities have been given to.

84. Lo! All ‘bygones’ had foretold of his “Revelation”.

85. Lo! It is he who shall remain as an irrefutable Proof, for there will be, after him, not any proof. Faith and honesty, and light and glint are with him only.

86. Know that no one could defeat him, and those who are facing him, won’t be assisted.
Know that! He is the representative of God on Earth, so is he the Judge among His creatures, and he is the Honest Trustee of His over the hidden and manifest.”

(9)

87. “O people! I have illuminated you of God’s Meaning, and made you comprehend everything, and after I am gone, it is Ali’s duty to make you know [how to do your duty].

88. Now, after my sermon is ended, I shall invite you, as a sign of your faithfulness, to shake my hand, then Ali’s hand, as a sign of surrendering to him and accepting his ‘Leadership’!

89. Know that I have sworn with God an allegiance and Ali has sworn with me an allegiance; and now, on behalf of God the Mighty, Majestic [Himself], I shall ask for your allegiance with Ali:
“[O Messenger!] For sure, those who swear allegiance with you, in fact, they swear allegiance with God: God’s Hand is above their hands; for any person, who breaks his oath, he does harm to his own soul; and anyone who fulfills his oath with God, he will be bestowed a great reward by God.’”

(10)

90. “O people! Pilgrimage to the House or visiting it is among God’s religious rites; so let the pilgrims to Hajj or Umreh go round about them more. Anyone who voluntarily does some more good and decent deeds, God is indeed All-aware Appreciative. (The Cow: 2/158).

91. O people! Set out for the Pilgrimage in the House of God! For no one would enter the God’s House, without becoming free of needs, and rejoicing; and no one would turn away from It, without becoming poor and abolished!

92. O people! No believer shall stop at the Regions [of Arrafat-Mash’ar and Mina to fulfill the rites], unless God forgives his previous sins, but fate is that when his Pilgrimage, [Hajj], is completed, he makes a new start.

93. O people! Upon the Hajj pilgrims, the pilgrims are bestowed help, and they are compensated whatever they spend, for indeed, God does not waste away the reward of the virtuous!
O people! Journey to visit the House of God as pilgrims, with a perfect faith, and with a great grasp and knowledge! And do not ever come back from such holy Land, unless feeling quite repentance [in heart], and promising to stop committing sins:

94. O people! Perform prayer, and pay the due welfare tax, as God Almighty has ordained you to act; but if a long time has passed, and you have neglected or forgotten [them], then, Ali is your master, and he shall explain to you what to do. He is the very man that God Almighty has set up as His certain trustee after I am gone. He is from me, so am I from him.
He, as well as all those who will come to the world from my lineage, will answer to all your needs, and will let you know whatever you do not know.

95. Know that ‘the count of permissible and forbidden things’ is much more than I could reckon, and to present them to you in one single session: [but only know that] the permissible things are ordained to you, and the prohibited things are forbidden.
Therefore, I have been commanded to take your allegiance, and that you swear it with me, and shake hands with me, so that what I have declared you about Ali, the Lord of the believers, on God’s behalf, and his successors who will follow him. The ones who shall be coming from my lineage, but also from the ‘Leadership’ and his lineage; this Leadership is designated alone for them; and the last ‘Leader’ will be ‘His Holiness Mahdi’, until the Day he shall meet the Lord of the Providence and Fate!

96. O people! In regard with all permissible things I have guided you to follow, and the forbidden things that I have prohibited you, there is no change at all, nor have I ever transformed them to other detail. Remember it well, keep it in your mind, and talk about this subject, and give councils to one another about it and try not to change, nor transform it!
I repeat what I have just told you: perform your prayer, and do pay the due welfare tax, encourage one another to do deeds which are good, and forbid whatever is forbidden and not good.

97. But let it be known that the greatest act of goodness is to understand deeply what I have just expressed, and to relay this to those who have not been present here today, and to invite them to accept this from me, and to forbid them to oppose or object to me! For, this is a Command coming from God Almighty, and from me; and no invitation to do good, nor any prohibition of unlawful deeds will be accomplished or done, unless with the presence of an innocent Imam!

98. O people! The Holy Qur’an makes it known to you that the Imams, who shall come after Ali, will be his progeny descendants, as I told you before, they are Ali’s or my dependants – all are from him and I. For He has put it in His Book thus: ‘He assigned the creed of Leadership among those who will follow him,’ (The Ornament: 43/28). I have also said that as long as you seize these two, ‘the Imams and the Qur’an’ you shall you go astray!

99. O people! Take care of your piety, [again] piety! And beware of the Hour of the Resurrection Day, as God Himself has said: ‘The Shaking of that awful Hour is a terrible thing’… (Pilgrimage: 22/1).

100. Do remember the Death, and the Divine Balances, and ‘Reckoning’ in the presence of the Lord of the Reward, and Punishment! Whosoever brings good deeds with him, shall receive his share of Reward, and whosoever with him brings his sins, will not have any share [to enjoy] in Paradise.”

(11)

101. “O people! You are too many to shake hands with me now! On the other hand, my Lord has commanded me to receive your oath and “word” regarding with Ali, Lord of believers, that I have declared; and about the Imams who shall come after him, as well those from my lineage and his lineage then – as I already defined it to you: they are my descendants, and are his lineage.

102. Therefore, say it altogether: ‘We did indeed hear your word and obey thus, and we are quite pleased, and shall submit us to what you have made known to us, with respect from our Lord, and from your part, about this subject of Ali, the Lord of the believers, and the Imams who will be born from his ‘Breed’. We swear allegiance with you, with our hearts, souls, tongues and our hands that we will live with this belief, and leave this world with this belief, and so will we rise on the Day of Judgement!
And we will not change it, nor will we transform it; we will not have any doubt, nor will we deny it; we will not let doubts or hesitations enter our heart, nor will we turn away from this oath, or break our covenant regarding what you have advised us with the Divine Preaching, Ali, Lord of the believers, and the Imams who will come after him; Hassan and Husseyn; and the ones whom God has appointed to come after them.
Thus, a pledge and a covenant have been taken from us, and we have done it with our hearts, souls, tongues, minds and hands. Then, one who was able, pledged by shaking hands, but if not, with his tongue. And never shall we change this oath, or God may not Witness any transformation from us…! We shall make this news from you known to all those who are [either] close to us, or far from us: to our kids and relatives; and we shall take God as our Witness! And God is Sufficient in this evidence, and you are, in this oath, our witness.’”

103. “O people, what do you say now? God indeed hears every single call, and is aware of any hidden thought going on in your minds! Thus, whosoever receives guidance, it is for his benefit, and whosoever goes astray, it is only to his deficit. (The Throngs: 39/41).
And those who swear allegiance to you, they swear allegiance to God, for God’s hand rests above their hands, (The Victory: 48/10).

104. O people, now, swear allegiance with God, and swear so with me; and swear allegiance with Ali, the Lord of the believers, and do swear allegiance with Hassan and Hosseyn, as well with the Imams who will surely follow them – those who hold ceaseless commands in this world and the world to come.
God certainly destroys those who tread on their oath, but He bestows His Grace upon those who are loyal and true. Therefore, one who breaks his oath, he abuses his soul, but one who fulfills his oath with God, God bestows on him a great Reward [of His]! (The Victory: 48/10).

105. O people! Repeat what I have told you to do, and greet Ali, as a great man who is ‘The Lord of the believers’, and confess: ‘We heard and obeyed! O our Lord, so, we beg Your Forgiveness, and our return is toward You!’ (The Cow: a part of 285).
And say: “All praise is to God Who led us to this; or else, we would never have been guided if God had not led us on. Surely the messengers brought (us) the Truth.”… (The Heights: 7/43).

106. O people! The virtues of Ali, the Son of Talib, with God Almighty, Who has counted in the Holy Qur’an, are in certainly too many for me to cite them to you in this gathering! So, you should approve and confirm those who ground you of these qualities, and have the grasp of them!

107. O people! Whoever obeys God and His Messenger, and Ali, and the Imams, whom I have mentioned to you earlier, will achieve the greatest salvation! (The Coalition: 33/71).

108. O people! Those who anticipate, [being the first candidate], to swear him allegiance and to accept his Guardianship, and to greet him as the ‘Lord of the Believers’, will attain Salvation, and will dwell in the Gardens of Blessings!

109. O people! Say such a word that it satisfies God, for even if you, and all dwellers on the Earth, become unbelievers, no harm approaches God.

110. O God! Forgive those believers who believe in what I have commanded them to! And be wrathful against all those who deny, and the heretic sinners and:
Praise belongs to the Lord of all beings!”

In the quarter of the Masculine Proper,
Amid the rain of affection and favour,
There is no way to the immoral,
But only to the Reverent and Moral!

 

Fair copied and proofread:
on the Assigned Day of the Commander of the faithful,
and the Highness Zahra (upon her be peace)
Aghdaseiie, Tehran.
At 9 am, 15/11/1385

S. Hosein Hoseiny