George Jerdak and Imam Ali (PBUH) (Part 2)
Since Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib has been subjected to injustice, and there is no prophet among his people, the writers do justice to him. Also since poetry is from literature, faith is from knowledge, and knowledge is from Allah Almighty, who is the God of all humans and his love is like the sun, glorious and immoral, and so is the love of the believers in the humanity of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib. However, from that shining love as the sun rays one of the best human minds, created the encyclopedia (Imam Ali Voice of Human Justice), which is consisted of five parts, written by the poet, the giant author, and the recognized philosopher of the twentieth century, Professor Georges Jerdak.
As if George Jerdak was a treasure hunter, and the Imam’s philosophy was a hidden treasure that many did not discover or even pay attention to its humanistic thought, far from tribal and clan sectarian nervousness. Thus the treasure hunter found out the secret of the hidden treasure and gave birth to the miracle of presenting the humanistic aspects in the thought of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, who was the most prominent symbols of Islam in all its categories, by one of the most prominent Christian poets in the Arab East.
In addition between the end of the fifties and the beginning of the sixties of the twentieth century, the five volumes written by the lover of the Imam George Jerdak were published, and the author later included on them in a sixth part entitled (The Masterpieces of Nahj al-Balaghah)
From what was said regarding George Jaerdak composition that it had tapped into new issues that almost no one has preceded him, neither before nor after, thus deviating from the usual pattern, surpassing what was prevalent. So no one at that time preceded him in talking about issues such as the relationship between Imam Ali and human rights, between the Imam and the French Revolution, as well as the relationship with the famous Greek philosopher Socrates (470-399 BC).
Meanwhile Jerdak, with what he wrote, opened intellectual doors that were closed before him, providing a serious and important intellectual contribution that has become an indispensable reference for those who research the philosophy of the Imam.
Jeradak found that the talk about the Imam is always linked to historical events, so he wanted to break this siege on the Imam and enter the world of the Amir al-Mu’minin, indicating that he had preceded about fourteen centuries the thought of the reformists called modern human thought.
Jeradak also took this step out of a firm conviction that the Imam is not for Shiites, Muslims or Christians, but rather for all humanity, and that the Imam is not only for one human age, but for all ages extending from ancient times to these modern times and beyond.
However without this general human perspective that Jerdak discovered in the personality, thought, and literature of the Imam, he would not have given him all this attention that was evident in his encyclopedic book, recorded more than a thousand pages, and he would not have attached to him all this attachment that has remained continuous and has not been interrupted since he knew him young, and remained with him and knew among others that he adores the imam, which is the description chosen by the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar upon his departure.
The imam, according to Jeradak, is the giant of the human conscience, considered him as one of the great geniuses in history, one of the greatest foundations of humanity, and the voice of human justice is the strong name that he chose as the title of his great book.
Moreover the Lebanese writer Mikhail Naima (1889-1988 AD) considered that Jeradaks book contained new interpretations of some of the events that accompanied the Imams life, an interpretation that contrasts with the pattern that its historians have used to this day.
As for European history, it was attended and focused in the second volume when talking about Ali and the French Revolution. So Jeradak opened it with an expanded discussion of the history of ancient, middle, and modern humanities and how it developed in European history until it reached what it is today in advancing the issues of justice, freedoms, and human rights. Whereas the reforms called for by the French Revolution and its thinkers in relation to human rights were preceded by the Imam since about 14 centuries ago.
Regarding Jeradak and what he wrote, the Lebanese writer Sheikh Suleiman Zahir (1290-1380 AH / 1873-1960 AD) said:
“We do not exaggerate if we say that this book is one of the best production of Arab and Lebanese thought in various eras, and counted it as an advantage over all that was written on its subject, old and new, from the era of al-Jahiz, Ibn Abi al-Hadid, Maytham al-Bahrani and countless others after them, that it is the only book among hundreds of books written in thee life of the great Imam who amazes you.
The wise author, in his in-depth study of this, has values that he highlights on everyone who has dealt with this research from Arab scholars and their sages on the difference of nations and races, both old and modern, and among the Frankish scholars whose studies are known by its accurate consideration.”
On the other hand the Lebanese scholar Sheikh Muhammed Jawad Mughniyeh (1322-1400AH / 1905-1979AD) also spoke about it several times, praising it as well, its distinction, and raising its stature, saying: “I read this book many times and still do, so I felt as I read it that I discovered a treasure above the treasures combined. Collectively, the predecessors and the successors wrote about the personality of the Imam, and you can only take a stand of humility and arrogance from what they wrote and compiled, but where is everything that the first and others wrote, including Abbas Mahmoud Al-Akkad and Taha Hussein, from what was written by the young Lebanese writer Professor Jardak, who amazes you with the magic of the statement, the power of knowledge, and the greatness of art, until it seizes you and controls your mind and your feeling, and you no longer feel anything but the writer and the book.
My pen is unable to describe this great book and the eternal philosophy, just as it is unable to attain praise for its author, as befits his original art, abundant knowledge, and deep understanding. ”
In harmony with this trend came the impression of the Lebanese historian Sayyid Hassan Al-Amin (1908-2002 AD), who wrote about his friend, saying, “The first thing that terrifies you from Imam Ali’s book is this strong and original statement that puts George Jardak at the top among Arab writers, and when he penetrated into the book, it seems to you that none of the thinkers wrote about Ali before today, and that there was no book before this book written about the son of Abi Talib. Otherwise, where were these bright images that the creative pen of George Jardak revealed, and where were these hidden treasures revealed by the Jerdak statement the magician?!”
