Sermon 70

I was sitting when sleep overtook me. I saw the Prophet of Allah appear before me, and I said: "O Prophet of Allah! What crookedness and enmity I had to face from the people. "The Prophet of Allah said: "Invoke (Allah) evil upon them," but I said, "Allah may change them for me with better ones and change me for them with a worse one".

as-Sayyid ar-Radi says:"al-awad" means crookedness and "al-ladad" means enmity, and this is the most eloquent expression.

Arabic Text

وقال (عليه السلام) في سُحرة اليوم الذي ضرب فيه مَلَكَتْنِي عَيْنِي وَأَنَا جَالِسٌ، فَسَنَحَ لي رَسُولُ اللهِ (صلى الله عليه وآله( : يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، مَاذَا لَقِيتُ مِنْ أُمَّتِكَ مِنَ الاْوَدِ وَاللَّدَدِ؟ فَقَالَ: «ادْعُ عَلَيْهِمْ»، فَقُلْتُ: أَبْدَلَنِي اللهُ بِهمْ خَيْراً لي مِنْهُمْ، وَأَبْدَلَهُمْ بِي شَرّاً لَهُمْ مِنِّي. يعني(عليه السلام) بالاود: الاعوجاج، وباللدد: الخصام. وهذا من أفصح الكلام.

Alternative Sources

(1) Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat, III, 36; (2) Abu al-Faraj, Maqatil, 16; (3) Ibn 'Abd Rabbih, al-'Iqd, II, 298; (4) al-Qali, Dhayl al-'Amali, 190; (5) Ibn Qutaybah, al-'Imamah, I, 160; (6) Muhammad ibn Habib, al-Mughtalin, on the authority of Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Salami; (7) Ibn 'Abd al-Birr, al-'Isti'ab, III, 61; (8) al-Mufid, al-'Irshad, 9; (9) al-Murtada, Ghurar, IV, 78; (10) al-Baladhuri, Ansab, II, 495.