Nahj al-Balāghah: The Wisdom and Eloquence of ʿAlī

Reviewed by: Amina Inloes – The Islamic College, London, UK

Published by: Leiden and Boston: Brill, 1010 pp. ISBN: 978-9004682597.

Tahera Qutbuddin has filled a serious lacuna in English-language writings on Islam and Arabic literature through her exacting translation and critical edition of Nahj al-Balāghah.

Nahj al-Balāghah (often rendered as “The Peak of Eloquence”) – for those not yet familiar with it – is a compendium of orations, letters, and sayings attributed to ʿAlī ibn Abi Ṭālib (d. 661). ʿAlī needs little introduction: a close relative and confidante of the Prophet Muḥammad (blessings and peace be upon him), he was a steadfast early Muslim at a time when the Muslims were mocked, tortured, and exiled. Ultimately, he would serve as the fourth caliph of the Muslim polity, navigating the community through the treacherous waters of civil war, until his assassination during the dawn prayer. He is celebrated for his wisdom, spirituality, eloquence, piety, learning, asceticism, compassion, valour, and justice, and the contents of Nahj al-Balāghah span these domains. For instance, we read “God is a being but not by coming into being. He is existent but not after non-existence” (p. 107) and that “no one prospers until taxpayers prosper” (p. 635). While some of Nahj al-Balāghah addresses the political circumstances of his time, other utterances are proverbial, such as: “How completely does sleep crush the resolutions of the day!” (p. 813)