a study of poems on [imam ali’s] succession

designating imam ali (pbuh) as the successor of the messenger of allah (pbuh) is a source of shia-sunni split. to prove it, however, shia provides arguments found in the holy qur’an, hadith (tradition), wisdom, and history. it is worth to consider works of literature on the issue as well, yet little research has been done in this respect. this issue has been dealt with in the present article. a study of the arabic literature provides evidence of the fact that the succession of imam ali (pbuh) was certainly a notable event and reference to it can be found abundantly in the poetry of poets.