Al-Gharat’s letter as a source for ShaqShaqiyyah's sermon

Imam Ali's relations with the caliphs have been the subject of a growing divide in Shiite-Sunni Islam history. In historical sources, these relations have been portrayed as very hot or vice versa in such a way as to pave the way for judgment. One of the cases that Imam Ali (AS) has explicitly stated about the caliphs is the sermon 3 of Nahj al-Balagha, known as ShaqShaqiyyah. Because of this, some Sunnite scholars and historians have considered this sermon to be cursed and made by Sayyid Radhi (d. 406 AH) However, the content of this sermon is more fully stated in the letter of Imam Ali (as) to some of his companions late in his caliphate in the Book of Al-Gharat Thaqafi (d. 283 AH), which not only shows the accuracy of the content of the sermon on ShaqShaqiyyah Rather, its documentary history goes back 100 years. The letter was written at the end of the Imam's caliphate and addressed to a number of his companions.