A thousand keys, a thousand doors.
Harith Al Hamdani entered the presence of Amirul Mu’minin, where Asbagh ibn Nubatah had already gathered with others. Harith was ill, and had a pain in his feet that made it so he used a cane when he walked. Amirul Mu’minin felt particular affection with Harith Al Hamdani and so asked him, “Harith, what has befallen you?”
Harith said, “Amirul Mu’minin, I have been seized by old age and my health has been taken. The quarrel among your disciples and followers, and their fighting at your own backdoor has frustrated me, and taken my patience.”Ali asked him what they were quarreling about and Harith replied, “They quarrel about you and the three who were before you. There are those who support you, but exaggerative in much that concerns you. There is a second group who are also loyal to you, but they are moderate and because of that they are subject to the hostilities of the first spoken of.
There are others, and they are in doubt. They are not certain if they should rise for you, or remain quiet and aside.”
Ali answered, “Brother, know that the best of my followers are those who are moderate and take al namat al awsat (the middle path). The other two groups must follow this path. Harith, you are a man who knows the truth. The religion of Allah is not known but by those who follow truth. You must first know truth and then judge others in accordance with the principles it establishes. Once you know truth, you can know the men of truth. Harith, speaking the truth is the best of speech, and those who uphold the truth struggle on the path of Allah. Let me tell you of truth.
Indeed, I am Allah’s servant and the brother of His Messenger, and I was the first to believe in him, before the creation of Adam. In your community, I was the first to have believed him. We are the first and the last who believed in him, truly. I am chosen by Allah’s Messenger, and I am his successor, his friend and he who possesses his sayings and secrets. He gave me knowledge of the Book, of the past and the future. He gave me a thousand keys that open a thousand doors, of the mysteries and secrets of all time.”
- Al Amali (Al Tusi)
