notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
Dear teacher, in Sermon 103, section 3 of Nahj al-Balagha, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him), speaks of the future and says: “O people, a time will come upon you when Islam will be like an overturned vessel, with everything inside it spilling out.” What does this mean?
The image of Islam as an overturned vessel, with everything inside spilling out, refers to the period of the Greater Occultation and the present age—an age of immense trial for people everywhere, especially the Muslim community and the faithful. God will not wrong you, but He has not spared you from being tested.
O people! A time will soon come upon you when Islam will be overturned, like a vessel turned upside down, spilling out all that it contains.
O people! God has protected you from being wronged, but He has not promised to spare you from being tested. The Exalted has said: «إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ وَإِن كُنَّا لَمُبْتَلِينَ»
Nahj al-Balāgha, translated by Dashti, p. 192
A vessel overturned: like an account emptied, a sea run dry, a garden stripped of flowers and plants, a sky without stars, a body without a soul, a flower without fragrance, honey without sweetness, medicine without a cure, a scholar who does not practise what he knows, a bow without an arrow, knowledge bereft of reason, a mosque empty of worship … Like the age of the Greater Occultation: the present age, with the Imam in concealment …
This age is a great trial for all the people of the world, and especially for the community of Islam and faith. Who is seeking the signet stone of religion? Who is searching for pure, life-giving water? Who is striving to reach the spirit of the Qur’an and the Household? Who grieves that God’s religion has been set aside? Who is searching for the spirit, the master and the guardian of our age?!!!