Ali’s generosity and Hospitality
The Arab saying “generous as Hatim” could well have been amended to “generous as Ali”, for Ali exceeded even that famous Bedouine chief in munificence. Ali would often work as a farm-labourer in order to carn money and, on getting wages in the evening, would immediately distribute all he had earned amongst the poor, going home empty-handed. He could not bear to refuse any supplicant and, on occasion would even borrow money in order to give it to others.
Ali used to say, “Woe to that man who spends his wealth in buying male and female slaves but spends not his money on the free-born who, with a little alms would become enslaved in gratitude to him for ever.”
Whenever Ali participated in any one’s funeral- prayers he used to ask his survivors if the deceased was in debt and if informed in the affirmative, Ali would and clear his debts.
pay One day, when Ali had no food in the house, he was forced to go out and sell his sword to raise money for provisions. On his way home with the money his path crossed that of a band of beggars, to whom he gave all the money he had, returning home empty-handed. On another occasion a supplicant went to the house of the Holy Prophet to beg for food and there was none in the house. On being told of this by his wives, the Holy Prophet asked, “Is there any one here who can give relief to this man. “At once Ali offered to take the beggar home to his house. There Fatima said that there was nothing in the house except a few cakes she had baked for the children. “But, said she,” give them to the beggar for I would rather see my children go hungry than refuse a supplicant. “According to the Shi’ite traditions the following verse of the Qur’an was then revealed:
“9. They prefer the supplicant to themselves, even though they may be hungry themselves. And whoso is rid of the covetousness of his own soul…it is these who will be successful.” (59:9)
Abul Tufail Naqil, a contemporary of Ali narrates, “I saw Ali putting honey in the mouth of orphans and speaking kindly to them in such a way that some of his
companions could not but exclaim, ‘Alas! We should have been orphans to beget the love of the Imam’.” On another occasion a supplicant approached Ali and asked him to give him some bread. Ali ordered his slave Qunbur to look to his requirements. Qunbur came to Ali and said, My Lord, the bread is in the saddle bag.” Then said Ali “Give him the saddle along with the bread. At this Qunbur said, “Sir, the saddle is on the camel.” “Then give him the camel as well” was the reply. “But, my Lord” said Qunbur”the camel is in the row of camels.” “Then” said Ali, “Give him all the camels that form the row”. Qanbur without a moment’s delay turned over the entire row of the camels to the supplicant murmuring that any further delay might actuate the Caliph to order that he
himself (Qunbur) should also be given to the supplicant. Thousands of such stories have been recorded in which Ali is said to have sold his coat of mail, sword, wearing apparel and the ornaments of his wives to fulfil the needs of a supplicant. Ali’s generosity frequently took the form of hospitality, his views on that subject being clearly expressed in his famous saying, “Verily that man is debased in the sight of God who seldom receives any guest.” One day, when Ali was sitting dispirited and dejected, somerone asked him the cause of his sadness. O! I have not received any guests since last week” was the reply. Ali himself lived on dry crusts of bread and so dined separately from his guests whom he caused to be served with more elaborate food. On the arrival of a guest Ali would rise up to receive him and would himself pour water on to the hands of the guest. He would make him sit down in the centre of the carpet and attend personally to his wants. Ali used to say that it gave him the greatest pleasure to serve his guest himself.
The Asceticism of Ali’s life
A letter written by Ali to his provincial governor, Sahl ibn Hanif, tells us much of the way in which Ali lived:
“You know very well that your Caliph has selected for himself two sheets of clothes as wearing apparel, two home-made cakes for his food, and excepting once a year during I’du’l Zuha (when the Muslim kill goats, lambs, cows as an offering to God) he has never taken meat, has broken his fast with only a dry crust of bread, and has failed to provide the amenities of life for his sons and daughter. It similarly behoves you to make your
life simple. By God, I have neither collected gold in this world nor hoarded any wealth from my share of booty nor have collected any wearing garments except the two sheets that I put on my person, nor do I possess an inch of land which I may call my own.”
Ali used to wear the coarsest and cheapest clothes which looked all the more shabby because of the number of patches on them. His worn-out shirts were far inferior to the wearing apparel of his servants and subordinates. Never in his life did he have more than two sets of clothing which he wore until they were in rags. When a courtier called Umar bin Qais, once asked Ali why he always wore such shabby and worn-out shirts he received the reply, “Verily such garments soften the heart and it behoves the believers to do the same.””
The story is told of how, one day Ali, accompanied by his household page Qunbur, went to the central bazar of Kufa where they bought two pieces of cloth, the one at two dirhems and the other at three dirhems per yard. When he returned home, he offered Qunbur the dearer piece of cloth, to which the latter took objection, saying “My Lord! You must have the dearer piece of cloth because you receive ambassadors, hold courts, address the congregation and perform the multifarious duties of a Caliph”. At this Ali smiled and said, “O Qunbur! Young as you are, the dearer cloth will suit you better than me. So saying he gave the cloth to Qunbur. 35
We are told too, how one cold evening when Ali lay shivering wrapped in an old linen sheet, one of his courtiers came to him and said, “O Commander of the Faithful, God has ordianed an equal share for you and your family from the “Bait-ul-Mal” (House of Public Property) then why do you not take your fair share from it, as other men do, rather than suffer these unnecessary privations”. Ali replied, “By God, I do not want to take anything from the Public Treasury. This sheet in which I am wrapped is the one which I brought from Medina at the time when I first came to Kufa.
We are further informed that, at the time of Ali’s marriage with Leila, daughter of Masud, the bride’s. father prepared a luxurious room for the bridegroom. Ali on entering the room, ordered all the refinements to be removed, “For” said he, “I will feel better (at home) in the state in which I am (accustomed to live).
was When Abdullah ibn Abbas, a cousin of Ali, visiting him one day he found Ali sitting on the floor busily patching a shoe. Abdullah asked the Caliph what would be the price of a new pair of shoes, to which Ali replied, “This shoe is dearer to me than all the things of this world, because it pinches me if I do anything wrong. It tells me to stick to the right. The Holy Prophet used to put patches on his own clothes, mend his own shoes, and ride on a mule to which he gave fodder with his own hands, and often times made another person sit behind him on the camel.”
Another story tells how once, when Saweed bin Ghufla went to see Ali, he found his Caliph sitting on an old worn-out rug. After saluting Ali Saweed said, “O thou Imam of the Believers, the sovereign of the Muslims, the owner of “Bait-ul-Mal”, the Commander of the Faithful, who receives ambassadors from foreign countries, have you nothing better in the house to sit on than this torn piece of matting.” Ali replied, “O Saweed! The wise are never beguiled by the charms of a temporary abode… a sojourn from which one has to depart soon. My eyes can well picture that house where one has to live for ever and it is for the decoration of that place I am shifting my goods. In a short time indeed I will migrate to that house to live there for ever.” At this Saweed wept bitterly. depart
Ali would never, under any circumstances, from the ascetic discipline which he imposed on himself. A courtier of his, Umar bin Harees related how once, when he was having the evening meal with Ali a sealed bag was brought to the Caliph. Ali himself broke th seal of the bag, which proved to contain nothing but some stale crusts of breads, as dry and hard as stone.
At the sight of such unpalatable food Umar reprimanded Ali’s maidservant, Fida, who was serving the meal. “Are you not ashamed”, said he, “to serve such bad food to the Commander of the Faithful?”” Fida said, “I could easily have prepared dainty dishes for my master but he has ordered me never to prepare sumptuous meals for him. My master collects all the crusts of bread and puts them in that bag. I used, stealthily to slip in some pieces of fresh bread, which would be tasty and more easily digestible, but my master soon detected what I was doing. Eversince he has collected the crusts himself, put them in this bag and sealed it so that no one could tamper with it.”
Umar bin Harees goes on to report how Ali took the crusts, softened them in a bowl of water, sprinkled them with salt and, after eating them, offered thanks to God, saying “Praised be God for his favours.” To his courtier’s question as to whether he could long survive on such a meagre diet Ali replied, “Such food fills my belly very adequately. God forbid that I should indulge in sumptuous repasts, which are bound to take one to hell.”
One scorching day in Summer, Ali refused a glass of “Sherbat” for similar reasons, saying, “Though God has not decreed this drink unlawful for men, refrain from taking it for fear of becoming accustomed to such dain- ties”.
On another occasion Saweed bin Ghufla advised Ali’s maidservant Fida to take pity on the Caliph’s old age and to give him something more nourishing. Ali overheard this talk and said, “O Saweed! This food (of crusts) is good enough for me. The Holy Prophet used to take similar food. If I become accustomed to dainties, how can I hope to enter Paradise, there to live with the Apostle of God. The Holy Prophet never took fresh wheat cakes, and brown barley-flour was his chief diet. I remember how I was hungry on a certain day and I went out and did labourer’s work on an adjoining farm for a woman who agreed to give me a date for each bucket of water that I fetched for her. I carried sixteen buckets of water for her, earning sixteen dates which I shared with the Prophet. I prefer such food.”
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 