One day, a heated discussion arose among the Arabs and Muslims, during which it was said that no alphabet recurs in speech more often than the “aleef” (“A”). All attendees agreed. At that moment, the magnificent lantern of language, its deep ocean and precise philosopher, Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (ع), stood up and delivered a lengthy sermon that included praise of Allah Almighty and prayers and salutations upon His Prophet, Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul-Muttalib (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny).

This letter of the Arabic alphabet is undoubtedly the most commonly occurring character in the language. If composing a few meaningful sentences without dots is hard enough, how about delivering a sermon, one full of wisdom and many times the length of the one you have just seen, without ever using a single aleef?

This sermon is usually called al-Khutbah al-Muniqah and is recorded by many Muslim scholars. Among the Sunni scholars who quote it are:
– Muhammad b. Muslim al-Shafi, Kifayat al-Talib, p. 248
– Ibn Abil Hadid al-Mutazili, Sharh Nahj al-Balaghah, vol. 19, p. 140