نهج البلاغه پیش و پس از حجیت بخشی از شاهکار ادبی تا مرام نامة اس

Undoubtedly, Nahj al-Balāgha stands out as one of the most distinguished and enduring works of the Islamic intellectual heritage, specifically within the Twelver Shiʿi tradition. Compiled in 400 AH/1010 CE, this anthology remains unsurpassed in presenting an authoritative selection of Imam ʿAli’s eloquent sayings. Yet, noteworthy is the absence of chains of transmission (isnads) to substantiate the attribution of these teachings to Imam ʿAli. The omission of documentary transmission chains by Sharif al-Razi, the compiler, posed a challenge for Muslim scholars, with some regarding the reports contained in Nahj al-Balāgha as mursal (unattributed traditions) and therefore unsuitable as legal evidence in jurisprudential discussions. Others, however, have defended al-Razi’s editorial method by arguing that the sources of these traditions were widely known in his own time, making explicit citation unnecessary. Moreover, they maintain that his primary objective was not to compile a work of hadith for legal or historical purposes, where the inclusion of isnads would have been indispensable, but rather to collect the finest examples of Imam ʿAli’s eloquent sayings in order to demonstrate the principles of Arabic rhetoric and eloquence to aspiring orators. Therefore, documenting the transmission of each tradition fell outside the scope of his literary enterprise. Nevertheless, numerous scholars have since sought to establish the authenticity of Nahj al-Balāgha by tracing the chains of transmission of its sermons, letters, and aphorisms to earlier authoritative sources and assembling them as documentary evidence for the work’s attribution to Imam ʿAli.