ومن وصية له (عليه السلام) بما يعمل في أمواله كتبها بعد منصرفه من صفين
Amīr al-mu’minīn’s will as to how his property should be dealt with. He wrote it on return from Ṣiffīn.
هذَا مَا أَمَرَ بِهِ عَبْدُ اللهِ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي مَالِهِ، ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللهِ، لِيُولِجَهُ بِهِ الْجَنَّةَ، وَيُعْطِيَهُ الْأَمَنَةَ.
This is what ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, the slave of Allāh has laid down about his property, in pursuance of seeking Allāh’s pleasure so that He may by virtue of it give him entry into Paradise and accord him peace.
منها : فَإِنَّهُ يَقُومُ بِذلِكَ الْحَسنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ، يأْكُلُ مِنْهُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ، وَيُنْفِقُ مِنْهُ فِي بِالْمَعْرُوفِ، فَإِنْ حَدَثَ بِحَسَنٍ حَدَثٌ وَحُسَيْنٌ حَيٌّ، قَامَ بِالْأَمْرِ بَعْدَهُ، وَأَصْدَرَهُ مَصْدَرَهُ.
A part of the same : It will be administered by Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī. He will take from it a suitable portion for his livelihood and spend it on charity. If something happens to Ḥasan, and Ḥusayn survives he will adminster it after Ḥasan, and deal with it accordingly.
وَإِنَّ لِابْنَيْ فَاطِمَةَ مِنْ صَدَقَةِ عَلِيٍّ مِثْلَ الَّذِي لِبَنِي عَلِيٍّ، وَإِنِّي إِنَّمَا جَعَلْتُ الْقِيَامَ بِذَلِكَ إِلَى ابْنَيْ فَاطِمَةَ ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللهِ، وَقُرْبَةً إِلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ (صلى الله عليه وآله)، وَتَكْرِيماً لِحُرْمَتِهِ، وَتَشْرِيفاً لِوُصْلَتِهِ
In the charitable estate of the two sons of Fāṭimah they have the same rights as the all (other) sons of ‘Alī. I have laid down the (functions of) administration of the two sons of Fāṭimah in order to seek the pleasure of Allāh and nearness to the Messenger of Allāh (may Allāh bless him and his descendants) with due regard for his honour and consideration of his kinship.
وَيَشْتَرِطُ عَلَى الَّذِي يَجْعَلُهُ إِلَيْهِ أَنْ يَتْرُكَ الْمَالَ عَلَى أُصُولِهِ، وَيُنْقفِقَ مِنْ ثَمَرِهِ حَيْثُ أُمِرَ بِهِ وَهُدِيَ لَهُ، وَأَنْ لَّا يَبِيعَ مِنْ أَوْلاَدِ نَخِيلَ هذِهِ الْقُرَى وَدِيَّةً حَتَّى تُشْكِلَ أَرْضُهَا غِرَاساً.
It is obligatory on him who administers it that he retains the estate as it is, and spends the usufruct as he has been ordered and instructed. He should not sell the seedlings in the plantations of these villages till the land changes its face by turning them into plants. [1]
وَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْ إِمَائِي ـ اللاَّتِي أَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِنَّ ـ لَهَا وَلَدٌ، أَوْ هِيَ حَامِلٌ، فَتُمْسَكُ عَلَى وَلَدِهَا وَهِيَ مِنْ حَظِّهِ، فَإِنْ مَاتَ وَلَدُهَا وَهِيَ حَيَّةٌ فَهِيَ عَتِيقَةٌ، قَدْ أَفْرَجَ عَنْهَا الرِّقُّ، وَحَرَّرَهَا الْعِتْقُ.
As for those of my slave girls who were under me, if any one of them has a child or is pregnant, she will be retained for the sake of the child and will form part of his share. If the child dies and she survives, then she is free, bondage is removed from her and liberty is given to her.
قال السيد الرضى: قوله (عليه السلام) في هذه الوصية: «وألا يبيع من نخلها وَدِيَّةً»، الوَدِيَّةُ: الفَسِيلَةُ، وجمعها وَدِيٌّ. وَقوله (عليه السلام): «حتى تشكل أرضها غراساً» هو من أفصح الكلام، والمراد به: أن الارض يكثر فيها غراس النخل حتّى يراها الناظر على غير تلك الصفة التي عرفها بها فيشكل عليه أمرها ويحسبها غيرها.
as-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: In this will in Amīr al-mu’minīn’s phrase “allā yabī‘a min nakhlihā wadiyyatan”, the word “wadiyyah” means seedling of date-palm and its plural is “wadiyy”. And his words “ḥattā tushkila arḍuhā ghirāsan”, is one of the most eloquent form of expression and it means that when a number of date plants grow on the land then he who had seen it before the growth would regard it as a different land.
Footnote :
[1] The life of Amīr al-mu’minīn was that of a labourer or a cultivator. He worked in fields of other persons, cultivated barren and untilled lands, providing means of irrigating them, made them cultivable and planted orchards therein. Since these lands were cultivated by him they were his property but he never paid heed to property, and, declaring them a trust, gave up his proprietorship; but in consideration of the Prophet's kinship he assigned the management rights of this trust to Imām Ḥasan and Imām Ḥusayn one after the other. Yet he did not tolerate any additional rights for them but like other children gave them merely the right to take from it only for their livelihood, while the balance he ordered to be spent for the common good of the Muslims and for charitable purposes. Thus, Ibn Abi’l-Ḥadīd writes: Everyone knows that in Medina, Yanbu‘ and Suwayqah, Amīr al-mu’minīn had dug several springs from under the land and brought under cultivation many barren and uncultivable lands. Thereafter, he gave up rights over them and declared them as trusts for the Muslims. When he left the world, nothing was owned by him. (Sharḥ Nahj al-balāghah, vol. 15, p. 146)
[1] The life of Amīr al-mu’minīn was that of a labourer or a cultivator. He worked in fields of other persons, cultivated barren and untilled lands, providing means of irrigating them, made them cultivable and planted orchards therein. Since these lands were cultivated by him they were his property but he never paid heed to property, and, declaring them a trust, gave up his proprietorship; but in consideration of the Prophet's kinship he assigned the management rights of this trust to Imām Ḥasan and Imām Ḥusayn one after the other. Yet he did not tolerate any additional rights for them but like other children gave them merely the right to take from it only for their livelihood, while the balance he ordered to be spent for the common good of the Muslims and for charitable purposes. Thus, Ibn Abi’l-Ḥadīd writes: Everyone knows that in Medina, Yanbu‘ and Suwayqah, Amīr al-mu’minīn had dug several springs from under the land and brought under cultivation many barren and uncultivable lands. Thereafter, he gave up rights over them and declared them as trusts for the Muslims. When he left the world, nothing was owned by him. (Sharḥ Nahj al-balāghah, vol. 15, p. 146)
