Saturday Series

GOOGLE.COM -- Imam Jafar Sadiq said, "In this matter [of acknowledging the Imam of his time], our relations and others are all alike. It is the duty of the relatives of the Imam to know the true position of the Imam and set an example to others by submitting themselves to his will.... They should never allow themselves to be carried away by the idea that because of their relationship with the Imams they are superior to others. They should never imagine that because of their relationship they are exempted from the duties which are imposed on us all alike. On the contrary they should realize that their responsibility in the matter of devotion to the Imam is much heavier than that of any one else. ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- [One who moves about with the Imam] should not look upon this position as a permanent affair. He should always wait for the orders of the Imam. He should look upon it as nothing but a favour from the Imam. If he is deprived of this honour, he should not be forgetful of the previous favours of the Imam. He should not look upon his not being selected for the job as a discredit to him or a wrong move on the part of the Imam. This is as much a favour on him as the former favours of the Imam. ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- Every word [the Imam] utters is full of wisdom, full of knowledge and full of sense. The Imam never utters a word which is light, superfluous or meaningless. If a listener finds a single word of this type he must know that there is something wrong with him. God has made the Imams free from these defects. If we imagine that a particular word uttered by the Imam is not fruitful, the fault lies with us. We are too dull to detect the proper meaning of the words uttered by th Imam. ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- When we pay a visit to the Imams we should take the necessary precaution in the matter of cleanliness and decency of dress. If we do not take this precaution we shall be belittling the dignity of the Imams.... He should put on the best dress and use the best possible perfume that he can get. Let him exhibit the blessings of God which He has conferred on him. If he has received some consideration at the hands of the Imams then it is his duty to make a demonstration of it by visiting them in a ceremonious dress. This is out of respect for the position they hold. ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- Forbearance, calmness, respectfulness and forgiveness are the peculiar characteristics of good 'momins'.... Nothing can be more desirable and more worthy of our attainment than the practice of these virtues which will entitle us to a reward from God and which will increase our reputation in our life time and after our death and will make us secure on the day of judgement. It is equally desirable for those who know themselves and know the proper position of the Imams and ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- Oppression is a sort of disobedience to God. He who obeys the Imams obeys God and His Prophet and he who disobeys them disobeys God and His Prophet. To oppress the 'momins' and the friends of the Imams is as bad as to oppress the Imams. It is a horrible sin. It is forbidden by God in general. His threat is always hanging on the head of the oppressor.... Hostility, fighting, slandering or harming are the different forms of oppression. Calumniating person by spreading false news against him is also included in the category of oppression. Those who speak the truth and are fair minded, never fabricate scandalous things about others and indulge in this kind of oppression. ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- It is the duty of the followers of the Imams that they should train themselves to do things openly and secretly, which are agreeable to the Imams. They should refrain themselves from doing what is disagreeable to them. God has linked our obedience to the Imams with our obedience to Himself and has made it as obligatory on us to obey the Imams as to obey Him.... We must bear in mind that if the Imams tolerate our misconduct they do so with an uneasy mind. It is a great hardship on them to stand it and a great burden on their minds. ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- We should befriend those who are the friends of the Imams and be hostile to those who are hostile to the Imams. With regard to the weak-minded and indecisive people let us try to guide them and show them the right path. If they hear the truth they will accept it and will apply their minds to it. With regard to our enemies let us attract them to our side by our good deeds and leave no room for their excuse. Let us give up discussing with them. If we prolong the discussion with them it will end in a fiasco. ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- Submission is not to be mistaken for a mere lip profession of obedience. It is based on conviction. It is this kind of submission to the Imams that is enjoined on the 'momins'. We have no right to probe into their affairs. We are not allowed to disapprove of anything that they do. We have to show our satisfaction openly and in secret by faith and conviction, in words and in our actions. For God has linked our obedience to the Imams with our obedience to the Prophet and He has made them his vice-regents on earth after the Prophet. ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- Patience and gratitude are two great virtues. He who is devoted to God and to His Imams, discharges all the obligations that he owes to them and relies on them in prosperity and adversity. He puts up with discomforts in the discharge of these duties for the sake of God and for the sake of the Imams. He belongs to that group of 'Sabirs' i.e. those who bear hardships with patience about whom God says in His holy book "God rewards the 'Sabirs' beyond one's calculations." ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- It is said that once Imam Jafar, greetings of God be on him, said to some of his followers, "You should be our silent propagandists." When the people asked him as to how they should carry on the propaganda by silence, he said in reply, "Carry it on by your good deeds." He gave a long sermon on this topic and said in the end, "When people find you doing the right things they will know that it is we who have guided you in this matter. Thus they will run to us and you will prove to be the medium of their coming to us." ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- Let us then pay full attention to the words of the Imams when we listen to them. Let us be all ears when they talk and let us ponder over the matter when they finish their talk. ... If any one of us finds the words of the Imam's highly complicated and beyond his depth, if he does not understand the meaning or dislikes some part of it or finds it useless or meaningless then let him realise that the fault lies with him. He should admit his inefficiency ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- If it is obligatory on us to return the 'amanat' [what is trusted to us] to all sorts of people, how many times more obligatory does it become on us that we should return the 'amanat' which belongs to the Imams? To commit a breach of trust in your dealings with the Imams is a dreadful affair and the worst possible sin. God says, "O momins don't commit breach of trust in your dealings with God and the Prophet." Thus he who deceives the Prophet, deceives God. God says, "Those who make covenant with you make covenant with God." ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- It behoves those who know the true position of the Imams to love them sincerely. They should see that their faith in them is prompted by love and not by the expectation of a worldly gain from them. If one's love is prompted by a worldly consideration it ceases with the loss of consideration. Let the love be love for the sake of love and let it continue to be the same whether one is favoured or disfavoured by the Imams and whether one is in prosperous or adverse circumstances. ...

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GOOGLE.COM -- A firm faith in the 'Wilayat' [authority] of the Imams, submission to the Imamat and devotion to the Imams are the ground work of this book. They are the basic principles which deserve our foremost attention. Those who are well acquainted with the true position of the Imams and have a firm faith in their Imamat, look upon the duties they owe to them and obedience to their commands as the duties enjoined on them by God.... The Imam of the time has as much claim on the followers of his time as the Prophet had on the followers of his time ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- Young sire Siyouni becomes the leading second season sire of his generation, thanks notably to the classy filly Ervedya. A magnificent hat-trick of Group 1 triumphs from Ervedya in 2015 signaled the arrival of Siyouni as a leading sire in Europe. Born from Siyouni's first season at the Haras de Bonneval, Ervedya proved to be a fantastic flag-bearer for her sire. The elegant ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- After many decades of success standing homebred stallions, the Aga Khan Studs widened their horizons from 2010 through a series of partnerships, allowing their Irish and French studs to stand some of the world's best reproductors. Sea The Stars marked the racing world in 2009 when he remained unbeaten to win six Group 1 contests including the Epsom Derby and Prix de l'Arc ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- 2010 marked an important milestone in the existence of the Aga Khan Studs, the 50th anniversary of His Highness the Aga Khan IV at its helm. Back in 1960, on the sudden death of his father Aly Khan, H.H. the Aga Khan had had little involvement in the family racing and breeding empire. He remembers, " I was very much aware of the ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- Despite all that has gone before, the successes of the Aga Khan Studs have recently reached new heights that give the full measure of the work that has been done in the 50 years since the Aga Khan decided to take on the family tradition and make it his own. Zarkava, foaled in Ireland in 2005, was sired by Zamindar out of Zarkasha. ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- Jean-Luc Lagardère, a well-known French captain of industry, was also a passionate breeder and owner of horses. He had frequent contacts in this area with the Aga Khan, including their work together on the modernisation of the Chantilly racecourse. Lagardère, was the first President of France Galop, from its creation in 1995 until his death in 2003. Though the Lagardère operation was ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- A quartet of homebred sires joined the Aga Khan Studs roster around the turn of the 21st century, and have made an indelible mark both on the breeding operation and European bloodstock at a wider level. The late Kahyasi was already a proven sire from his Irish base at Gilltown Stud when he was transferred to the newly-reopened Bonneval in 2001. With ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- The late Aga Khan III tasted Classic success within two years of his first European winners in 1922. He won the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket with Diophon, the St. Leger at Doncaster with Salmon Trout, and the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly with Pot Au Feu. Twelve months later he had his first Classic win at The Curragh with Zionist in ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- Princess Zahra Aga Khan, the eldest of the Aga Khan's four children, became the first member of the new generation to achieve turf success when at Saint-Cloud on June 11th 1996 Daralbayda won the Prix Flossie. She did not score again but acquired "black type" through being placed in the Prix Minerve, a Group III race won by her dam Daralinsha. By a ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- Any owner-breeder anxious to compete at the highest level will invariably take a special interest in the ability displayed on the racecourse by his future stock of broodmares. In this sphere the Aga Khan and all those who work on his farms have plenty to cheer about. In France for instance he was the first to match the longstanding 20th century record of ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- Meanwhile, in France in the 1980's, the Aga Khan won three stagings of the Prix du Jockey Club with Darshaan, Mouktar, and Natroun. The best of these horses was Darshaan, according to the compilers of the International Classification. In the hands of Yves Saint-Martin, Darshaan wore down Sadler's Wells by one and a half lengths with Rainbow Quest half a length away ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- While the Dupré and Boussac stock was being assimilated, the old Aga Khan families showed that they were still a potent force. In the early summer of 1978, Nishapour, like his predecessor Kalamoun, a grey son of Zeddaan from the Mumtaz Mahal family, defeated Rusticaro by two and a half lengths in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains. In the autumn of 1979 the ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- Although an opportunity for a first English Derby for the Aga Khan IV may have slipped away with Blushing Groom, 1977 marked the start of a three-year period that would transform the Aga Khan's entire stud and stable operation. This was the year in which he undertook the planning and development of the training centre at Aiglemont on the outskirts of Gouvieux, ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- The first Classic win for the new partnership with François Mathet came in 1968 with Zeddaan. The previous season he had also shown great speed winning the Group I Prix Robert Papin at Maisons-Laffitte. Now he surprised many pundits by staying a mile in the mud at Longchamp to take the Poule d'Essai des Poulains on his first run of the year. ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- There had been a brief hiccup in the run of success the weekend previous to Prince Aly Khan's death on the 12th of May, 1960, including the short-head defeat of Sheshoon by Le Loup Garou in the Prix du Cadran. However, everything quickly reverted to normal and the wins occurred with wonderful regularity. At this point the new Aga Khan pondered whether, ...

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AGAKHANSTUDS.COM -- The Aga Khan had to wait another five years before getting started on the Epsom Derby winning trail - and then it was the stable outsider Blenheim (Harry Wragg), rather than the second favourite Rustom Pasha in 1930. He was as surprised as everyone at the outcome but that did not dampen his enthusiasm at his win. Two years later he had ...

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