The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam `Ali

Imam `Ali, who was a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), was the first man to accept Islam, when he was still a young boy, and for the next twenty-three years he was one of the Prophet's closest companions. Imam `Ali was constantly at the side of the Prophet, learnt from him, and also married his daughter Fatima. The Prophet said of Imam `Ali: 'I am the city of knowledge, and `Ali is the gate'.

Although a great many of Imam `Ali's sayings and letters were accurately remembered and recorded during his lifetime, they have until now remained virtually inaccessible to the English-speaking world. The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam `Ali is a selection of this great man's recorded sayings -- gathered together from authentic and reliable sources and arranged in easily accessible sections in Arabic by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri. These have been carefully translated into modern English, a great effort having been made to remain true to the intended meaning of the original Arabic text.