On Friday, January 31st 2025, the International Centre for Advanced Islamic Research (ICAIR) held an in-person seminar at The WF House, Moorhall Road, UB9 6NS, entitled “What is Nahj al-Balagha About?”
The session was presented by Dr George Warner, who guided attendees through a penetrating examination of Nahj al-Balagha—its scope, its silences, and the intentions of its compiler, al-Sharīf al-Raḍī.
Dr Warner invited the audience to consider what the collection includes and excludes, what it emphasises and what it leaves unsaid. In doing so, he situated Nahj al-Balagha within the historical and intellectual conditions of its compilation, tracing how al-Raḍī’s choices reflect broader ways in which the Imams were remembered, represented, and thought about.
Focusing on the ethical guidance contained within Nahj al-Balagha and the historical troubles it narrates, the discussion explored the kind of encounter with Imam ʿAlī (as) that al-Raḍī sought to create—for himself and for his readers—and how that vision has continued to resonate with timeless appeal.