Ghurar Al-Hikam Wa Durar Al-Kalim Exalted Aphorisms And Pearls Of Speech

 A collection of Aphorisms and short sayings of Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) The book is a late fifth or early sixth century work by Al-Amudi, translated from Arabic, original title غرر الحکم و درر الکلم. The sayings that are more than 11000 in number contain words of wisdom and advice that can benefit everyone in their daily lives. The book contains Arabic text and its English translation.

Ghurar Al-Hikam Wa Durar Al-Kalim, Exalted Aphorisms And Pearls Of Speech A Collection of Aphorisms of Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib Compiled by: Qadhi Nasih al-Deen Abu al-Fath ‘Abd al-Wahid Ibn Muhammad Al-Tamimi al-Amudi (d. 510 AH) Translated by: Tahir Ridha Jaffer.

Ghurar al-Ḥikam wa Durar al-Kalim is a late fifth or early sixth century work that comprises of the aphorisms and short sayings of Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib(‘a). The sayings, which number more than eleven thousand, contain words of wisdom and advice that can benefit everyone in their daily lives. It is for this reason that we embarked on translating this work. We hope that, God-willing, it will be a source of inspiration to all those who read it. There are many different extant copies of this book1 and in one recent edition, the original alphabetical listing of sayings have been rearranged and categorized subject-wise. It is the translation of this version of the work that we present before you. Translating a work such as this poses numerous challenges. Firstly, this work is comprised of traditions in the form of aphorisms and short sayings, many of which have been extracted from other longer traditions, sermons and letters.2 As such, in many cases the context of the narration is missing and needs to be investigated. 

Another challenge is that in many cases it is evident that there have been changes inadvertently made by the narrators or the scribes and hence other possible forms of the sayings are mentioned in brackets. Here we have translated the other possible forms in parenthesis and have included what we have inferred from the text in square brackets for the sake of clarification and fluidity. Alternative translations and explanatory notes have been included in the footnotes. In addition, there are certain sayings that are difficult to comprehend and accept. An example of this can be seen in the section on the sayings about women. Here we would urge the readers to refer to what the scholars and commentators have said about such narrations and how they should be interpreted.

Though all effort has been made to present an accurate translation of the sayings, we take full responsibility for any mistakes and errors in the translation and seek forgiveness from the Almighty for the same.