Fourteen Thousand Historic Days

A piece of writing by His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Saafi Golpaygani.

On the occasion of the demise anniversary of His Holiness Abu Talib (peace be upon him).

In the name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.

The lives of mankind’s majority has remained specific for affairs that are personal and individual but there are such reformers and servants of humanity, men of God, the apostles and Allah’s friends, whose lives are spent for the entire society, for history and above all, for Allah (s.w.t.). They serve as a source of pride and honor, dignity and good, development and progress, and for historic reformations. All that we have today as divine, social welfare and deliverance of people from ignorance, invitation towards success and salvation, truth and justice, manifestation of guidance, will remain eternal and everlasting.

The commemoration and remembrance of these days is the commemoration of truth and support of faith. In the history of Islam, these bright and historic days have their own manifestation and the Islamic history is adorned by such days. Among those men who played a significant role in Islam for safeguarding it on extremely sensitive and important circumstances, who should themselves and the day associated to them, rather all the days of their lives and memories must be revived, among them is the Sayyid of Bat’ha, the chief of Mecca and the head of the tribe, one who possessed all the ethical values, who was honored by everyone and praised by all; “the features of kings and the majesty of sages depicted from his face”. Indeed! He is none other than Abu Talib (a.s.), father of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him). He is someone for whom the famous Arab sage “Uktum bin Saifi” said when asked, ‘From whom did you learn wisdom and leadership, commandership and mastership?’ He replied, ‘From the expert of knowledge and ethics, the master of Arabs and non-Arabs, Abu Talib the son of Abdul Muttalib’. He was the one who stood in support of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) at the most sensitive time of Islamic history, i.e. the early phase of revelation and the time of Islam’s appearance. His role as the protector and supporter was the most crucial, fundamental and significant one for the deliverance and establishment of Islam as a religion.

He has a right upon the entire Islamic nation and all Muslims are indebted to him. Those 42 years in which he has supported, helped and served the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) is more than fourteen thousand days; each year among which is historic and divine; every single day among the days in which this historic man has supported Islam, the religion of Monotheism and the great movement which guided the human society towards development, progress, self-recognition and the cognition of Allah (s.w.t.), is a day of Allah and a day of Islam.

No one has supported the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) and supported the message of divine invitation as much as him. Abu Talib (peace be upon him), through his astonishing sacrifices and firm confrontation with the enemies of Allah’s religion, forbade them from putting off the divine light.

All his days and all his actions deserve to be remembered and are worthy of taking lessons from. Fourteen thousand days of support and service to the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny), are all days of Allah (s.w.t.). Fourteen thousand days of steadfastness, fourteen thousand days of enduring difficulties, deprivations, sanctions and all kinds of pressures and conspiracies by the infidels, provided insurance for Islam.

It was Abu Talib, only Abu Talib and Abu Talib once again whose significant position and immense honor in the society protected the divine religion and supported the holy Prophet in propagating his message in the foremost days and initial years of invitation towards Islam.

The Qasida (ode/laudatory) of Lamiyah written by Abu Talib (a.s.) praising Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him and his progeny) is an example of the height of faith, purity of intention, loyalty and complete support extended by him for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny). This Qasida, as confessed by some senior literary men and eloquent Arabs, as well as Sunni scholars, is at the height of eloquence and exquisiteness and they consider it better and stronger than the seven Mu’allaqaat (a group of seven long Arabic poems that are considered the best work of pre-Islamic Arabia – The Hanging Poes) and none other than Abu Talib had the ability to write such a marvelous ode. This poetry depicts to what extent Abu Talib (a.s.), that man of firm belief and remarkable determination, was certain and determined in his support of the divine Apostleship of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) and how strong, fierce and veracious he was against the enemies that he stood alone in the defense of Islam and placed this religion on such a firm path from which it could not be removed.

Just like the days in which Abu Talib (a.s.) accompanied the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) are the brightest days of history, similarly, this poetry is also the most outstanding, unique and fundamental one among the thousands of poetries written by Arabs and non-Arabs praising the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny). It is appropriate that religious students and scholars memorize this poetry which comprises of almost a hundred couplets.

The young generation and the current Islamic society must consider the life of His Eminence, Abu Talib (a.s.) as their role-model and milestone, and learn the great historic lessons from him. This precious and meaningful history must be added in the syllabus of schools and religious institution. It is unfortunate that a personality like Abu Talib (a.s.), which is one that cannot be detached from the advent of Islam and the time of invitation of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), is unknown to our youth.

According to the two books named Misbah, Misbah of Sheikh Tusi (r.a.) and Misbah of Kaf’ami (r.a.), the day of demise of this historic man is 26^th of Rajab. It is appropriate that we all commemorate this day and conduct programs on this occasion in his memory, and through mourning sessions, lectures and by writing articles on the rights of this man over all Muslims, one must praise this great personality of Islamic history.