Intratextual Evidence of Authenticity of Nahj al-Balaghah

A misgiving concerning Nahj al-Balaghah، claimed shortly after its compilation and fuelled by some people whether intentionally or inadvertently، was the reliability of the information and its reference to Imam Ali (PBUH). The present paper aims to show that even if no strong evidence is found، still it can be firmly claimed that all the words and sentences in this book have been set forth by Imam Ali (PBUH). The reason is a set of evidence proving that the truths and knowledge presented in such innovative and attractive forms cannot be stated by an ordinary man. The evidence includes the eminence and comprehensiveness of the content، innovative forms، great effectiveness and attractiveness، eloquence and rhetoric، referring to seeing angels as well as seeing and hearing signs of nature (Āfāq) and soul (Anfus)، announcement of the invisible world and predicting the future، the challenging aspect in the field knowledge، and consistency of the events in Nahj al-Balaghah with history. This paper shows that the text of Nahj al-Balaghah، in spite of being silent، testifies its authenticity and reference to Imam Ali (PBUH).