THE TREATISE ON RIGHTS OF IMAM ALI IBN AL-HUSSEIN (A.S)

In the Name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful

Know - may Allah have mercy upon you - certainly there are encompassing rights for Allah upon you in every movement you move, every rest through which you rest, every station in which you reside, every limb which you employ and every implement which you put to work. Some of these rights are greater than the other.

The greatest of Allah’s rights upon you is the right which He made incumbent upon you for Himself and it is the root of all roots, and through which the others branch out. Then those which He made incumbent upon you in your self from your crown to your foot in keeping with the difference of your organs. He made a right for your sight upon you, for your hearing, your tongue, your hand, your leg, your abdomen, and your private parts. These are the seven organs through which acts take place.

Then He (Glorified and Exalted be He) made some rights for your acts upon you; so He made a right for your prayers upon you, for your fasting, your charity, your sacrifice (offering) and your acts.

Then – these rights keep on extending out from you to others who have rights upon you. The most incumbent of them upon you are the rights toward your Imams (leaders). Then the rights toward your subjects, then rights toward your relatives. From these rights, others branch out. The rights of your leaders are three:- the most incumbent upon you is the right of him who trains you through authority, then who trains you through knowledge and through property. And every trainer is a leader. The rights of your subjects are three;- the most incumbent upon you is the right of your subjects through authority. Then the right of your subjects through knowledge, since the ignorant are the scholar’s subjects. Then the right of your subjects through property such as wives and those owned by the right hand. And the rights of your relatives are many; they are connected to you due to the connection of the womb relationship.

The most incumbent upon you is the right of your mother, then the right of your father, then the right of your child, then the right of your brother, then the next nearest and then the next nearest, (the most worthy, then the next most worthy).

Then there is the right of your master who bestows upon you, then the right of the slave whom your favours extend to him, then the right of him who acts graces upon you, then the right of one who calls you to the ritual prayer mu’adhin, then the right of the Imam who leads you in the prayer, then the right of your sitting companion, then the right of your neighbour, then the right of your companion, then the right of your partner, then the right of your property, then the right of your debtor whom you demand, then the right of your creditor who claims to be paid.

Then comes the right of your associate, then the right of your adversary who is a claimant against you, then the right of your adversary whom you are claimant against him, then the right of him who asks you for advice, then the right of whom you ask for advice, then the right of  him who asks your counsel, then the right of him who counsels you, then the right of him who is older than you, then the right of him who is younger than you, then the right of him who asks from you, then the right of him from whom you ask, then the right of him who says or does something evil to you, or him who makes you happy intentionally or unintentionally, then the right of the people of your creed in general, then the right of the tributaries, then all the rights in the measure of the causes of the states and the occurance of events.

So, prosperous and happy is he whom Allah helps in the rights which He has made incumbent upon him and whom He gives prosperity therein and points in the straight direction.