MANY
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE
BIRTHDAY OF
IMAM ALI IBNE ABU TALIB (AS).
opportunity to
perfrom umrah during this special month
of Rajab.
Contributed by
Dr. Syed
Mahmood Hasnain
Sydney
=========================================
Following are
the sayings of Ameerul Momineen Imam Ali
Ibne Abu
Talib[as], gathered from Nahjulbalagha (Peak
of Eloquence),
a comprehensive collection of the
sermons &
letters of Imam Ali[as].
1. During
civil disturbance adopt such an attitude
that people do
not attach any importance to you - they
neither burden
you with complicated affairs, nor try
to derive any
advantage out of you.
2. He who is
greedy is disgraced; he who discloses his
hardship will
always be humiliated; he who has no
control over
his tongue will often have to face
discomfort.
3. Avarice is
disgrace; cowardice is a defect; poverty
often disables
an intelligent man from arguing his
case; a poor
man is a stranger in his own town;
misfortune and
helplessness are calamities; patience
is a kind of
bravery; to sever attachments with the
wicked world
is the greatest wealth; piety is the best
weapon of
defence.
4. Submission
to Allah's Will is the best companion;
wisdom is the
noblest heritage; theoretical and
practical
knowledge are the best signs of distinction;
deep thinking
will present the clearest picture of
every problem.
5. The mind of
a wise man is the safest custody of
secrets;
cheerfulness is the key to friendship;
patience and
forbearance will conceal many defects.
6. A conceited
and self-admiring person is disliked by
others;
charity and alms are the best remedy for
ailments and
calamities; one has to account in the
next world for
the deeds that he has done in this
world.
7. Man is a
wonderful creature; he sees through the
layers of fat
(eyes), hears through a bone (ears) and
speaks through
a lump of flesh (tongue).
8. When this
world favors somebody, it lends him the
attributes,
and surpassing merits of others and when
it turns its
face away from him it snatches away even
his own
excellences and fame.
9. Live
amongst people in such a manner that if you
die they weep
over you and if you are alive they crave
for your
company.
10. If you
overpower your enemy, then pardon him by
way of
thankfulness to Allah, for being able to subdue
him.
11.
Unfortunate is he who cannot gain a few sincere
friends during
his life and more unfortunate is the
one who has
gained them and then lost them (through
his deeds).
12. When some
blessings come to you, do not drive them
away through
thanklessness.
13. He who is
deserted by friends and relatives will
often find
help and sympathy from strangers.
14. Every
person who is tempted to go astray, does not
deserve
punishment.
15. Our
affairs are attached to the destiny decreed by
Allah, even
our best plans may lead us to destruction.
16. There is a
tradition of the Holy Prophet "With the
help of
hair-dye turn old age into youth so that you
do not
resemble the Jews". When Imam Ali was asked to
comment on
this tradition, he said that in the early
stage of Islam
there were very few Muslims. The Holy
Prophet
advised them to look young and energetic and
not to adopt
the fashion of the Jews (priest) having
long, white
flowing beards. But the Muslims were not
in minority
then, theirs was a strong and powerful
State, they
could take up any style they liked.
17. For those
who refused to side with any party, Imam
Ali or his
enemies, Imam Ali said: They have forsaken
religion and
are of no use to infidelity also.
18. One who
rushes madly after inordinate desire, runs
the risk of
encountering destruction and death.
19. Overlook
and forgive the weaknesses of the
generous
people because if they fall down, Allah will
help them.
20. Failures
are often the results of timidity and
fears;
disappointments are the results of bashfulness;
hours of
leisure pass away like summer-clouds,
therefore, do
not waste opportunity of doing good.
21. If the
right usurped from us is given back to us
we shall take
it, otherwise we shall go on claiming
it.
22. If
someone's deeds lower his position, his
pedigree
cannot elevate it.
23. To render
relief to the distressed and to help the
oppressed make
amends for great sins.
24. O son of
Adam, when you see that your Lord, the
Glorified,
bestows His Favors on you while you disobey
Him, you
should fear Him (take warning that His Wrath
may not turn
those very blessings into misfortunes).
25. Often your
utterances and expressions of your face
leak out the
secrets of your hidden thoughts.
26. When you
get ill do not get nervous about it and
try as much as
possible to be hopeful.
27. The best
form of devotion to the service of Allah
is not to make
a show of it.
28. When you
have to depart from this world and have
to meet death
(eventually), then why wish delay (why
feel nervous
about death).
29. Take
warning ! He has not exposed so many of your
sinful
activities that it appears as if He has
forgiven you
(it may be that He has given you time to
repent).
30. When Imam
Ali was asked about Faith in Religion,
he replied
that the structure of faith is supported by
four pillars
endurance, conviction, justice and jihad.
Endurance is
composed of four attributes: eagerness,
fear, piety
and anticipation (of death). so whoever is
eager for
Paradise will ignore temptations; whoever
fears the fire
of Hell will abstain from sins; whoever
practices
piety will easily bear the difficulties of
life and
whoever anticipates death will hasten towards
good deeds.
Conviction has
also four aspects to guard oneself
against
infatuations of sin; to search for explanation
of truth
through knowledge; to gain lessons from
instructive
things and to follow the precedent of the
past people,
because whoever wants to guard himself
against vices
and sins will have to search for the
true causes of
infatuation and the true ways of
combating them
out and to find those true ways one has
to search them
with the help of knowledge, whoever
gets fully
acquainted with various branches of
knowledge will
take lessons from life and whoever
tries to take
lessons from life is actually engaged in
the study of
the causes of rise and fall of previous
civilizations
.
Justice also
has four aspects depth of understanding,
profoundness
of knowledge, fairness of judgment and
dearness of
mind; because whoever tries his best to
under- stand a
problem will have to study it, whoever
has the
practice of studying the subject he is to deal
with, will
develop a clear mind and will always come
to correct
decisions, whoever tries to achieve all
this will have
to develop ample patience and
forbearance
and whoever does this has done justice to
the cause of
religion and has led a life of good
repute and
fame.
Jihad is
divided into four branches: to persuade
people to be
obedient to Allah; to prohibit them from
sin and vice;
to struggle (in the cause of Allah)
sincerely and
firmly on all occasions and to detest
the vicious.
Whoever persuades people to obey the
orders of
Allah provides strength to the believers;
whoever
dissuades them from vices and sins humiliates
the
unbelievers; whoever struggles on all occasions
discharges all
his obligations and whoever detests the
vicious only
for the sake of Allah, then Allah will
take revenge
on his enemies and will be pleased with
Him on the Day
of Judgment.
31. There are
four causes of infidelity and loss of
belief in
Allah: hankering after whims, a passion to
dispute every
argument, deviation from truth; and
dissension,
because whoever hankers after whims does
not incline
towards truth; whoever keeps on disputing
every argument
on account of his ignorance, will
always remain
blind to truth, whoever deviates from
truth because
of ignorance, will always take good for
evil and evil
for good and he will always remain
intoxicated
with misguidance. And whoever makes a
breach (with
Allah and His Messenger) his path becomes
difficult, his
affairs will become complicated and his
way to
salvation will be uncertain.
Similarly,
doubt has also four aspects absurd reason-
ing; fear;
vacillation and hesitation; and
unreasonable
surrender to infidelity, because one who
has accustomed
himself to unreasonable and absurd
discussions
will never see the Light of Truth and will
always live in
the darkness of ignorance. One who is
afraid to face
facts (of life, death and the life
after death)
will always turn away from ultimate
reality, one
who allows doubts and uncertainties to
vacillate him
will always be under the control of
Satan and one
who surrenders himself to infidelity
accepts
damnation in both the worlds.
32. A virtuous
person is better then virtue and a
vicious person
is worse than vice.
33. Be
generous but not extravagant, be frugal but not
miserly.
34. The best
kind of wealth is to give up inordinate
desires.
35. One who
says unpleasant things about others, will
himself
quickly become a target of their scandal.
36. One who
hopes inordinately, impairs his deeds.
37. When Imam
Ali, marching at the head of his army
towards Syria,
reached Ambar, the landlords of the
place came out
to meet him in zeal of their love,
faithfulness
and respect, no sooner had they seen Imam
Ali they got
down from their horses and started
running in
front of him. Imam Ali asked the reason of
their strange
actions. They replied that it was their
custom to show
their love and respect in that way.
Imam Ali
replied: "By Allah, by your action you do no
good
whatsoever to your rulers but you tire yourself
and put
yourself in toils in this world and in trouble
in the next.
How unfortunate is that exertion, which
brings harm
here and in the Hereafter and how useful
is that ease
which keeps you in comfort in this world
and away from
the Hell in the next.
38. Imam Ali
once said to his son Imam Hasan, My son,
learn four
things from me and through them you will
learn four
more. If you keep them in mind your actions
will not bring
any harm to you: The greatest wealth is
Wisdom; the
greatest poverty is stupidity; the worst
unso-
ciableness is that of vanity and
self-glorification;
and the best nobility of descent
exhibits
itself in politeness and in refinement of
manner. The
next four things, my son, are: "Do not
make
friendship with a fool because when he will try
to do you good
he will do you harm; do not make a
miser your
friend because he will run away from you at
the time of
your dire need; do not be friendly with a
vicious and
wicked person because he will sell you and
your
friendship at the cheapest price and do not make
friend of a
liar because like a mirage he will make
you visualize
very near the things which lie at a
great distance
and will make you see at the great
distance the
things which are near to you".
39.
Recommended prayers cannot attain the pleasures of
Allah for you
when obligatory prayers are left
unattended.
40. A wise man
first thinks and then speaks and a fool
speaks first
and then thinks.
41. A fool's
mind is at the mercy of his tongue and a
wise man's
tongue is under the control of his mind.
42. One of the
companions of Imam fell ill. Imam Ali
called upon
him and thus advised him: "Be thankful to
Allah. He has
made this illness a thing to atone your
sins because a
disease in itself has nothing to bring
reward to
anyone, it merely expiates one's sins and so
far as reward
is concerned, one has to earn it with
his good words
and good deeds. The Almighty Lord
grants
Paradise to his creatures on account of their
piety and
noble thoughts".
43. May Allah
Bless Kabbab bin Aratt. He embraced
Islam of his
own freewill and immigrated (from Makkah)
cheerfully. He
lived a contented life. He bowed
happily before
the Will of Allah and he led the life
of a mujahid.
44. Blessed is
the man who always kept the life after
death in his
view, who remembered the Day of Judgment
through all
his deeds, who led a contented life and
who was happy
with the lot that Allah had destined for
him.
45. If I cut a
faithful Muslim into pieces to make him
hate me, he
will not turn into my enemy and if I give
all the wealth
of this world to a hypocrite to make
him my friend
he will not befriend me. It is so
because the
Holy Prophet has said: " O Ali! No
faithful
Muslim will ever be your enemy and no
hypocrite will
ever be your friend. "
46. The sin
which makes you sad and repentant is more
liked by Allah
than the good deed which turns you
arrogant.
47. Value of a
man depends upon his courage; his
veracity
depends upon his self-respect and his
chastity
depends upon his sense of honor.
48. Success is
the result of foresight and resolution,
foresight
depends upon deep thinking and planning and
the most
important factor of planning is to keep your
secrets to
yourself.
49. Be afraid
of a gentleman when he is hungry, and of
a mean person
when his stomach is full.
50. Hearts of
people are like wild beasts. They attach
themselves to
those who love and train them.
51. So long as
fortune is favouring you, your defects
will remain
covered.
52. Only he
who has the power to punish can pardon.
53. Generosity
is to help a deserving person without
his request,
and if you help him after his request,
then it is
either out of self-respect or to avoid
rebuke.
54. There is
no greater wealth than wisdom, no greater
poverty than
ignorance; no greater heritage than
culture and no
greater support than consultation.
55. Patience
is of two kinds: patience over what pains
you, and
patience against what you covet.
56. Wealth
converts a strange land into homeland and
poverty turns
a native place into a strange land.
57.
Contentment is the capital which will never
diminish.
58. Wealth is
the fountain head of passions.
59. Whoever
warns you against sins and vices is like
the one who
gives you good tidings.
60. Tongue is
a beast, if it is let loose, it devours.
61. Woman is a
scorpion whose grip is sweet.
62. If you are
greeted then return the greetings more
warmly. If you
are favoured, then repay the obligation
manifold; but
he who takes the initiative will always
excel in
merit.
63. The source
of success of a claimant is the
mediator.
64. People in
this world are like travelers whose
journey is
going on though they are asleep. ( Life's
journey is
going on though men may not feel it ).
65. Lack of
friends means, stranger in one's own
country.
66. Not to
have a thing is less humiliating than to
beg it.
67. Do not
feel ashamed if the amount of charity is
small because
to refuse the needy is an act of greater
shame.
68. To refrain
from unlawful and impious source of
pleasures is
an ornament to the poor and to be
thankful for
the riches granted is the adornment of
wealth.
69. If you
cannot get things as much as you desire
than be
contented with what you have.
70. An
ignorant person will always overdo a thing or
neglect it
totally.
71. The wiser
a man is, the less talkative will he be.
72. Time wears
out bodies, renews hopes, brings death
nearer and
takes away aspirations. Whoever gets
anything from
the world lives in anxiety for holding
it and whoever
loses anything passes his days grieving
over the loss.
73. Whoever
wants to be a leader should educate
himself before
educating others. Before preaching to
others he
should first practice himself. Whoever
educates
himself and improves his own morals is
superior to
the man who tries to teach and train
others.
74. Every
breath you take is a step towards death.
75. Anything
which can be counted is finite and will
come to an
end.
76. If matters
get mixed up then scrutinize the cause
and you will
know what the effects will be.
77. Zirar bin
Zamra Zibabi, known as Zirar Suda'i, was
a companion of
Imam Ali. When, after the martyrdom of
Imam Ali, he
went to Damascus, Muawiya called him and
asked him to
say something about Imam Ali. Zirar,
knowing that
Muawiya hated Imam Ali intensely tried to
avoid this
topic, but Muawiya forced him to speak.
Thereupon,
Zirar said: "O Amir, I had often seen Imam
Ali in the
depth of nights, when people were either
sleeping or
engrossed in amusements, he would be
standing in
the niche of the Masjid, with tears in his
eyes and he
would beseech Allah to help him maintain a
pious, a
virtuous and a noble character and to forsake
the world. He
would then address the world, saying 'O
vicious world!
Be away from me, why do you come in
front of me
like this ? Do you want to allure me ?
Allah forbid
that I should be allured and tempted by
you and your
pleasures. It is not possible. Go and try
your
allurements on somebody else. I do not desire to
own you and do
not want to have you. I have forsaken
you thrice. It
is like divorcing a woman thrice after
which act she
cannot be taken back as a wife. The life
of pleasures
that you offer is of a very little
duration.
There is no real importance in what you
offer, the
desire of holding you is an insult and a
humiliation to
sober minds. Sad is the plight of those
who want to
acquire you. They do not provide for the
Hereafter.
They have to pass through a long journey
over a very
difficult road towards a sat destination'.
Zirar says
that when he stopped, there were tears in
the eyes of
Muawiya who said, 'May peace of Allah be
upon Abul
Hasan Ali bin Abi Talib, he was undoubtedly
like that. Now
tell me, Zirar! How do you feel his
separa- tion?'
Zirar replied, "My sorrow and grief is
like that of
woman whose only child has been murdered
in her
lap". With this remark Zirar walked out of the
court of
Muawiya and left the city.
78. After the
Battle of Siffin, somebody asked Imam
Ali whether
they had been destined to fight against
the Syrians.
Imam Ali replied if by destiny you mean a
compulsion
(physical or otherwise) through which we
are forced (by
nature) to do a thing then it is not
so. Had it
been an obligation of that kind there would
have been no
question of reward for doing it and
punishment for
not doing it (when you are physically
forced to do a
thing, like breathing, sleeping,
eating,
drinking etc. then there can be no reward for
doing it and
no retribution for not doing it. In such
cases nature
forces you to do a thing and you cannot
but do it),
then the promised blessings and
punishments in
life after death will have no meaning.
The Merciful
Lord has given his creatures (human
beings)
complete freedom to do as they like, and then
prohibited
them from certain actions and warned them
of the
consequences of such actions (His Wrath and His
Punishments).
These orders of Allah carry in them the
least trouble
and lead us towards the most convenient
ways of life
and the rewards which He has promised for
good deeds are
many times more than the actions
actually
deserve. He sees people disobeying Him and
tolerates them
not because He can be overruled or be
compelled to
accept human supremacy over Him. He did
not send His
prophets to amuse Himself or provide
amuse- ment
for them. He did not reveal His orders
without any
genuine reason nor has He created the
galaxies and
the earth without any purpose. The
Universe
without plan, purpose and program is the idea
of infidels
and the pagans, sorry will be their plight
in the leaping
fires of Hell. Hearing this the man
asked Imam
Ali, "Then what kind of destiny was it that
we had?"
Imam Ali replied: "It was an order of Allah
to do it like
the order He has given in His Holy Book:
You are
destined by Allah to worship none but Him,
here
'destined' means 'ordered' it does not mean
physical
compulsion".
79. Acquire
wisdom and truth from whomever you can
because even
an apostate can have them but unless they
are passed
over to a faithful Muslim and become part
of wisdom and
truth that he possesses, they have a
confused
existence in the minds of apostates.
80. Knowledge
and wisdom are really the privilege of a
faithful
Muslim. If you have lost them, get them back
even though
you may have to get them from the
apostates.
81. Value of
each man depends upon the art and skill
which he has
attained.
82. I want to
teach you five of those things which
deserve your
greatest anxiety to acquire them: Have
hope only in
Allah. Be afraid of nothing but sins. If
you do not
know a thing never feel ashamed to admit
ignorance. If
you do not know a thing never hesitate
or feel
ashamed to learn it. Acquire patience and
endurance
because their relation with true faith is
that of a head
to a body, a body is of no use without
a head,
similarly true faith can be of no use without
attributes of
resignation, endurance and patience.
83. A man
hypocritically started praising Imam Ali,
though he had
no faith in him and Imam Ali hearing
these praises
from him said "I am less than what you
tell about me
but more than what you think about me".
84. Those who
have come alive out of a blood-bath live
longer and
have more children.
85. One who
imagines himself to be all-knowing will
surely suffer
on account of his ignorance.
86. I
appreciate an old man's cautious opinion more
than the valor
of a young man.
87. I wonder
at a man who loses hope of salvation when
the door of
repentance is open for him.
88. Imam
Muhammad Baqir says that Imam Ali once said:
"There
were two things in this world which softened
the Wrath of
Allah and prevented its descent upon man:
One has been
taken away from you; hold the other
stead- fastly.
The one which has been taken away from
men is the
Holy Prophet and the one which is still
left with them
and which they must hold steadfastly is
repentance and
atonement for sins because Allah at one
place in the
Holy Book addressed the Holy Prophet and
said Allah
would not punish them while you were among
them nor while
they were asking for forgiveness.
(Surah Anfal,
8 : 33)
89. Whoever
keeps in order his affairs with Allah
(follows His
orders sincerely), Allah will also put
his affairs
with men in order. Whoever makes
arrangement
for his salvation, Allah will arrange his
worldly
affairs; whoever is a preacher for himself,
Allah will
also protect him.
90. He is the
wisest and the most knowing man who
advises people
not to lose hope and faith in the Mercy
of Allah and
not to be too sure and over-confident of
immunity from
His Wrath and Punishment.
91. Like your
body your mind also gets tired so
refresh it by
wise sayings.
92. That
knowledge which remains only on your tongue
is very
superficial. The intrinsic value of knowledge
is that you
act upon it.
93. Take care
and do not pray to the Lord, saying,
"Lord! I
pray to You to protect and guard me from
temptations
and trials", for there is none who is not
tempted and
tried. But beseech Him to guard you
against such
temptation as may lead you towards
wickedness and
sins because Allah says in His Holy
Book, Know
that your wealth and children are
temptations.
(Surah al-Anfal, 8: 28) it means Allah
tried people
through wealth and children so that it
may be tested
as to who is content with what he gets
honestly and
who is thankful to Allah for the position
he is placed
in with regard to his children. Though
Allah knows
them better than even they know
themselves,
yet those trials and tests are for the
purpose of
their realizing and knowing those deeds
which merit
reward or which deserve punishment. There
are some
people who love to have male children and
hate daughters
and there are some who simply crave for
wealth and
hate poverty.
94. Imam Ali
was asked the meaning of being well-off
or
well-provided for. Imam Ali replied, "Your welfare
does not lie
in your having enormous wealth and
numerous
children but it rests in your being highly
educated and
forbearing and in your being proud of
your obedience
to Allah. If you do a good deed then
thank Allah
for it and if you commit a sin then repent
and atone for
it. In this world there is a real
welfare for
two kinds of people, one is the person
who, when
commits a sin, atones for it and the other
is anxious to
do good as much as possible.
95. Importance
of the deeds that you have done with
fear of Allah
cannot be minimized and how can the
deeds which
are acceptable to Allah be considered
unimportant.
96.
"Nearest to the prophets are those persons who
have to those
prophets and obey them". Saying this,
Imam Ali cited
a passage from the Holy Qur'an 'Best
liked by
Abraham and nearest to him were the people
who obeyed
him'. He further said, "That the present
times are the
times of our Holy Prophet and his
faithful
followers. The best friend of our Holy
Prophet is he
who, though not related to him, obeys
the orders of
Allah and his greatest enemy is the man
who though
related to him, disobeys Allah '.
97. Imam Ali
was told of a Kharijite that he got up in
the night to
pray and recite the Holy Book. Imam Ali
said, "To
sleep with having sincere faith in religion
and Allah is
better than to pray with wavering faith".
98. Whenever a
tradition of the Holy Prophet is
related to
you, scrutinize it, do not be satisfied
with mere
verbatim repetition of the same because
there are many
people who repeat the words containing
knowledge but
only few ponder over them and try to
fully grasp
the meaning they convey.
99. Imam Ali
heard somebody reciting the passage of
the Holy Qur'an
we belong to Allah and our return is
towards Him,
Imam Ali said, "How true it is ! Our
declaring that
we belong to Allah indicates that we
accept Him as
our Master, Owner and Lord. And when we
say that our
return is towards Allah indicates that we
accept our
mortality".
100. Some
people praised Imam Ali on his face. He
replied,
"Allah knows me very well and I also know
myself more
than you. Please, Lord ! make me better
than what they
imagine me to be and please excuse
those
Weaknesses of mine which they are not aware of".
101. To secure
for you fame, credit as well as
blessings, the
help that you give to men in need,
should possess
the following attributes: whatever its
extent, it
should be considered by you as trifling so
that it may be
granted a high status; it should be
given
secretly, Allah will manifest it; and it must be
given
immediately so that it becomes pleasant.
102. Your
society will pass through a period when
cunning and
crafty intriguers will be favoured by
status, when
profligates will be considered as
well-bred,
well-behaved and elegant elites of the
society, when
just and honest persons will be
considered as
weaklings, when charity will be
considered as
a loss to wealth and property, when
support and
help to each other will be considered as
favour and
benevolence and when prayers and worship to
Allah will be
taken up for the sake of show to gain
popularity and
higher status, at such times regimes
will be run
under the advice of women and the
youngsters
will be the rulers and counselors of the
State.
103. Imam
Ali's garment was very old with patches on
it. When
somebody drew his attention towards it, he
replied,
" Such dresses, when worn by men of status
make them
submissive to Allah and kind-hearted towards
others and the
faithful Muslims can conveniently
follow the
example ". Vicious pleasures of this world
and salvation
are like two enemies or two roads
running in
opposite directions or towards opposite
poles, one to
the North and the other to the South.
Whoever likes
to gain the pleasures and pomps of this
world will
hate austerity in life which is necessary
to gain
salvation. Reverse will be the attitude of a
man desirous
of achieving Eternal Bliss. One has to
adopt either
of the two ways of life, and as they both
cannot be
brought together, a man has to choose one of
them.
104. Nawf bin
Fizala Bakali, the famous scholar of the
early Islamic
days says that one night he was with
Imam Ali. In
the middle of the night, Imam Ali got up
from his bed,
looked for sometime at the stars and
inquired of
Nawf whether he was awake. Nawf said: "I
got from my
bed replying, "Yes, Amirul Mo'minin
(Commander of
the Faithful) ! I am awake".
Imam Ali said
Nawf ! Those are the fortunate people
who adopt
piety as the principle of their lives and
are fully
attentive to their welfare for the
Hereafter.
They accept bare earth as the most
comfortable
bed and water as the most pleasant drink.
They adopt the
Holy Qur'an and prayers as their guide
and protector
and like Prophet Jesus Christ (Isa) they
forsake the
world and its vicious pleasure.
Nawf ! Prophet
David (Daud) once got up at such an
hour in the
night and said this was the hour when
prayers of
everyone who prayed were accepted except of
those who forcibly
collected revenues or who were
scandal-
mongers or were persons in the police force
of a despotic
regime or were musicians".
105. Those who
give up religion to better their lot in
life seldom
succeed. The Wrath of Allah makes them go
through more calamities
and losses than the gains they
gather for
themselves.
106. There are
many educated people who have ruined
their future
on account of their ignorance of
religion.
Their knowledge did not prove of any avail
to them.
107. More
wonderful than man himself is that part of
his body which
is connected with his trunk with
muscles. It is
his brain (mind). Look what good and
bad tendencies
arise from it. On the one hand it holds
treasures of
know- ledge and wisdom and on the other
it is found to
harbour very ugly desires. If a man
sees even a
tiny gleam of success, then greed forces
him to
humiliate himself. If he gives way to avarice,
then
inordinate desires ruin him, if he is
disappointed,
then despondency almost kills him. If he
is excited,
then he loses temper and gets angry. If he
is pleased,
then he gives up precaution. Sudden fear
makes him dull
and nervous, and he is unable to think
and find a way
out of the situation. During the times
of peace and
prosperity he becomes careless and
unmindful of
the future. If he acquires wealth, then
he becomes
haughty and arrogant. If he is plunged in
distress, then
his agitation, impatience and
nervousness
disgrace him. If he is overtaken by
poverty, then
he finds himself in a very sad plight,
hunger makes
him weak, and over-feeding harms him
equally. In
short every kind of loss and gain makes
his mind
unbalanced.
108. We, Ahlul
Bayt (chosen descendants of the Holy
Prophet), hold
such central and balancing position in
religion that
those who are deficient in understanding
and acting
upon its principles, will have to come to
us for
reformation, and those who are overdoing it
have got to
learn moderation from us.
109. A Divine
rule can be established only by a man,
who, where
justice and equity are required, neither
feels
deficient nor weak and who is not greedy and
avaricious.
110. Sohayl
bin Hunayf Ansari was a favourite
companion of
Imam Ali. At the time of Imam Ali's
return from
Siffin, he died at Kufa of the wounds
sustained in
the battle. His death left Imam Ali very
sad and he
said: "Even if a mountain loves me it will
be crushed
into bits". (it means people are tested
with my love,
and to prove it they have to pass
through loss
and calamities).
111. Anyone
who loves us Ahlul Bayt must be ready to
face a life of
austerity.
112. No wealth
is more useful than intelligence and
wisdom; no
solitude is more horrible than when people
avoid you on
account of your vanity and conceit or
when you
wrongly consider yourself above everybody to
confide and
consult; no eminence is more exalting than
piety; no
companion can prove more useful than
politeness; no
heritage is better than culture; no
leader is
superior to Divine Guidance; no deal is more
profitable
than good deeds; no profit is greater than
Divine Reward;
no abstinence is better than to
restrain one's
mind from doubts (about religion); no
virtue is
better than refraining from prohibited
deeds; no
knowledge is superior to deep thinking and
prudence; no
worship or prayers are more sacred than
fulfillment of
obligations and duties, no religious
faith is
loftier than feeling ashamed of doing wrong
and bearing
calamities patiently; no eminence is
greater than
to adopt humbleness; no exaltation is
superior to
knowledge; nothing is more respectable
than
forgiveness and forbear- ance; no support and
defense are
stronger than consultation.
113. When a
community is composed of honest, sober and
virtuous
people, your forming a bad opinion about
anyone of its
members, when nothing wicked has been
seen of him,
is a great injustice to him. On the
contrary in a
corrupt society to form good opinion of
anyone of them
and to trust him is to harm yourself.
114. When
somebody asked Imam Ali as to how he was
getting on, he
replied: "What do you want to know
about a person
whose life is leading him towards
ultimate
death, whose health is the first stage
towards
illness and whom society has forced out of his
retreat".
115. There are
many persons whom constant grants of
His Bounties
turn them wicked and fit for His
punishment and
there are many more who have become
vain and self-
deceptive because the Merciful Allah
has not
exposed their weaknesses and vices to the
world and the
people speak highly about them. All this
is an
opportunity. No trial of the Lord is more severe
than the time
He allows (in which either you may
repent or get
deeper into vices).
116. Two kinds
of people will be damned on my account
Those who form
exaggerated opinion about me and those
who
under-estimate me because they hate me.
117. To lose
or to waste an opportunity will result in
grief and
sorrow.
118. She world
is like a serpent, so soft to touch,
but so full of
lethal poison. Unwise people are
allured by it
and drawn towards it, and wise men avoid
it and keep
away from its poisonous effects.
119. When
asked about Quraysh, Imam Ali replied that
amongst them
Bani Mukhzum are like sweet scented
flower of
Quraysh; their men are good to talk to and
their women
prove very good wives; Bani Abdush Shams
are very
intelligent and very prudent but we (of Bani
Hashim) are
very generous and very brave to face
death. Bani
Abdush Shams are more in numbers, ugly and
intriguers but
Bani Hashim are beautiful, good
speakers and
orators and very faithful as friends.
120. What a
difference is there between a deed whose
pleasure
passes away leaving behind it the pangs of
pain and
punishment and the deed whose oppressive
harshness
comes to an end leaving behind Divine
rewards !
121. Imam Ali
was following a funeral and as it was
passing along
a road, somebody laughed loudly ( a sign
of discourtesy
and lack of manner ). Hearing this
laugh, Imam
Ali remarked, " Some of us feel that death
is meant for
everybody except themselves or it is
destined to
others and not to themselves or those whom
we see dying
around us are only travelers going on a
journey and
will come back to us. It is a sad sight to
see that in
one moment we commit them to earth and in
the next we
take hold of the things left by them as if
we are going
to remain permanently in this world after
them. The fact
is that we forget sensible advice given
to us and
become victim of every calamity.
122. Blessings
are for the man who humbles himself
before Allah,
whose sources of income are honest,
whose inten-
tions are always honorable, whose
character is
noble, whose habits are sober, who gives
away in the
cause and in the Name of Allah, the wealth
which is lying
surplus with him, who controls his
tongue from
vicious and useless talk, who abstains
from
oppression, who faithfully follows the traditions
of the Holy
Prophet and who keeps himself away from
innovation in
religion.
123. Jealousy
in woman is unpardonable but in man it
is a sign of
his faith in religion (because Islam has
permitted
polygamy and prohibited polyandry).
124. I define
Islam for you in a way that nobody dared
do it before
me. Islam means obedience to Allah,
obedience to
Allah means having sincere faith in Him,
such a faith
means to believe in His Power, belief in
His Power
means recognizing and accepting His Majesty,
acceptance of
His Majesty means fulfilling the
obligations
laid down by Him and fulfillment of
obligations
means actions (Therefore, Islam does not
mean mere
faith, but faith plus deeds).
125. I wonder
at the mentality of a miser, fearing
poverty he
takes to stinginess and thus hastily pushes
himself head-
long into a state of want and
destitution,
he madly desires plenty and ease, but
throws it away
without understand- ing. In this world
he, of his own
free will, leads the life of a a beggar
and in the
next world he will have to submit an
account like
the rich.
I wonder at
the arrogance of a haughty and vain
person.
Yesterday he was only a drop of semen and
tomorrow he
will turn into a corpse. I wonder at the
man who
observes the Universe created by Allah and
doubts His
Being and Existence. I wonder at the man
who sees
people dying around him and yet he has
forgotten his
end. I wonder at the man who understands
the marvel of
genesis of creation and refuses to
accept that he
will be brought back to life again. I
wonder at the
man who takes great pains to decorate
and to make
comfortable this mortal habitat and
totally
forgets his permanent abode.
126. Whoever
is not diligent in his work, will suffer;
who- ever has
no share of Allah in his wealth and in
his life then
there is no place for him in His Realm.
127. Be very
cautious of cold in the beginning of
winter and
welcome it at the close of the season
because cold
season effects your bodies exactly as it
effects the
trees; in the early season its severity
makes them
shrivel and shed their leaves and at the
end it helps
them to revive.
128. If you
understand Allah's Majesty, then you will
not attach any
importance to the creatures.
129. While
returning from Siffin, Imam Ali passed
along the
cemetery of Kufa. Addressing the graves he
said: "O
you, who are lying in horrible and deserted
houses. O you,
who are shut up in the dark graves, who
are alone in
their abodes, strangers to the places
assigned to
them; you have gone ahead and preceded us,
while we are
also following your steps and shall
shortly join
you. Do you know what has happened aver
you? Your
houses and property was taken up by others,
your widows
have remarried, this is what we can tell
you of this
world. Can you give us some news about
things around
you?" Saying this, Imam Ali turned to
his companions
and said, "If they are permitted to
speak they
will inform you that the best provision for
the next world
is piety and virtue".
130. Imam Ali
heard someone abusing and blaming the
world and said
to him, "O you, who are blaming the
world, who
have been allured and enticed by it, and
have been
tempted by its false pretenses. You allowed
yourself to be
enamored of, to be captivated by it and
then you
accuse and blame it. Have you any reason or
right to
accuse it and to call it a sinner and
seducer? Or is
the world not justified in calling you
a wicked knave
and a sinning hypocrite? When did it
make you lose
your intelli- gence and reasoning? And
how did it
cheat you or snake false pretenses to you?
Did it conceal
from you the fact of the ultimate end
of everything
that it holds, the fact of the sway of
death, decay
and destruction in its domain? Did it
keep you in
the dark about the fate of your fore-
fathers and
their final abode under the earth? Did it
keep the
resting-place of your mothers a secret from
you? Do you
not know that they have returned to dust?
Many a time
you must have attended the sick persons
and many of
them you must have seen beyond the scope
of medicine.
Neither the science of healing nor could
your nursing
and attendance nor your prayers and
weeping
prolonged the span of their lives, and they
died. You were
anxious for them, you procured the best
medical aid,
you gathered famous physicians and
provided best
- medicines for them. Death could not be
held back and
life could not be pro- longed. In this
drama and in
this tragedy did the world not present
you with a
lesson and a moral?
Certainly,
this world is a house of truth for those
who look into
it carefully, an abode of peace and rest
for those who
understand its ways and moods and it is
the best
working ground for those who want to procure
rewards for
life in the Hereafter. It is a place of
acquiring
knowledge and wisdom for those who want to
acquire them,
a place of worship for the friends of
Allah and for
Angels. It is the place where prophets
received
revelations of Allah. It is the place for
virtuous
people and saints to do good deeds and to be
assigned with
rewards for the same. Only in this world
they could
trade with Allah's Favors and Blessings and
only while
living here they could barter their good
deeds with His
Blessings and Rewards. Where else could
all this be
done? Who are you to abuse the world when
it has openly
declared its mortality and mortality of
everything
connected with it, when it has given
everyone of
its inha- bitants to understand that all
of them are to
face death, when through its ways it
has given them
all an idea of calamities they have to
face here, and
through the sight of its temporary and
fading
pleasures it has given them glimpses of eternal
pleasures of
Paradise and suggested them to wish and
work for the
same. If you study it properly you will
find that
simply to warn and frighten you of the
consequences
of evil deeds and to persuade you towards
good actions,
every night it raises new hopes of peace
and prosperity
in you and every morning it places new
anxieties and
new worries before you. Those who passed
such lives are
ashamed of and repent the time so
passed abuse
this world. But there are people who will
praise this
world on the Day of Judgment that it
reminded them
of the Hereafter and they took advantage
of these
reminders. It informed them of the effects of
good deeds and
they made correct use of the
information it
advised them and they were benefited by
its
advice".
131. An Angel
announces daily: "Birth of more human
beings means
so many more will die, collection of more
wealth means
of much more will be destroyed, erection
of more
buildings means so many more ruins will come".
132. This
world is not a permanent place, it is a
passage, a
road on which you are passing. There are
two kinds of
people here: One is the kind of those who
have sold
their souls for eternal damnation, the other
is of those
who have purchased their souls and freed
them from
damnation.
133. A friend
cannot be considered a friend unless he
is tested on
three occasions: in time of need, behind
your back and
after your death.
134. Anyone
who has been granted four attributes will
not be
deprived of their (four) effects; one who prays
to Allah and
implores to Him will not be deprived of
granting of
his prayers; one who repents for his
thoughts and
deeds will not be refused acceptance of
the
repentance; one who has atoned for his sins will
not be
debarred from salvation and one who thanks
Allah for the
Blessings and Bounties will not be
denied the
increase in them.
The truth of
these facts is attested by the Holy
Qur'an As far
as prayers are concerned He says Pray to
Me and I shall
accept your prayers. About repentance
He says:
Whoever has done a bad deed or has indulged
in sin and
then repents and asks for His forgiveness
will find
Allah most Forgiving and Merciful. About
being thankful
He says if you are thankful for what
you are given,
I shall increase My Bounties and
Blessings.
About atonement of sin He says Allah
accepts the
repentance of those who have ignorantly
committed vice
and then soon repent for it, Allah
accepts such
repentance's, He is Wise and Omniscient.
135. Daily
prayers are the best medium through which
one can Seek
the nearness to Allah. Hajj is Jihad
(Holy War) for
every weak person. For everything that
you own there
is Zakat, and Zakat of your body is
fasting. The
Jihad of a woman is to afford pleasant
company to her
husband.
136. If you
want to pray to Allah for better means of
subsistence,
then first give something in charity
137. When
someone is sure of the returns, then he
shows
generosity.
138. Aid (from
Allah) is in proportion to the trouble.
139. He who
practices moderation and frugality will
never be
threatened with poverty.
140. One of
the conveniences in life is to have less
children.
141. Loving
one another is half of wisdom.
142. Grief is
half of old age.
143. Grant of
patience (from Allah) is in proportion
to the extent
of calamity you are passing through. If
you exhibit
fretfulness, irritation, and despair in
calamities,
then your patience and your exertions are
wasted.
144. Many
persons get nothing out of their fasts but
hunger and
thirst, many more get nothing out of their
night prayers
but exertions and sleepless nights. Wise
and sagacious
persons are praiseworthy even if they do
not fast and
sleep during the nights.
145. Defend
your faith (in Allah) with the help of
charity.
Protect your wealth with the aid of Zakat.
Let the
prayers guard you from calamities and
disasters.
146. Kumayl
bin Ziyad Nakha'i says that once Imam Ali
put his hand
in his hand and took me to the
grave-yard.
When he passed through it and left the
city behind,
he heaved a sigh and said "Kumayl, these
hearts are
containers of the secrets of knowledge and
wisdom and the
best container is the one which can
hold the most
and what it holds, it can preserve and
protect in the
best way. Therefore, remember carefully
what I am
telling you. Remember that there are three
kinds of
people: one kind is of those learned people
who are highly
versed in the ethics of truth and
philosophy of
religion, second is the kind of those
who are
acquiring the above knowledge and the third is
that class of
people who are uneducated. They follow
every
pretender and accept every slogan, they have
neither
acquired any knowledge nor have they secured
any support of
firm and rational convictions.
Remember,
Kumayl, knowledge is better than wealth
because it
protects you while you have to guard
wealth. It
decreases if you keep on spending it but
the more you
make use of knowledge the more it
increases.
What you get through wealth dis- appears as
soon as wealth
disappears but what you achieve through
knowledge will
remain even after you.
O Kumayl !
Knowledge is power and it can command
obedience. A
man of knowledge during his lifetime can
make people
obey and follow him and he is praised and
venerated
after his death. Remember that knowledge is
a ruler and
wealth is its subject.
O Kumayl !
Those who amass wealth, though alive, are
dead to
realities of life, and those who achieve know-
ledge, will
remain alive through their knowledge and
wisdom even
after their death, though their faces may
disappear from
the community of living beings, yet
their ideas,
the knowledge which they had left behind
and their
memory, will remain in the minds of people".
Kumayl says
that after this brief dissertation, Imam
Ali pointed
towards his chest and said, "Look Kumayl!
Here I hold
stores and treasures of knowledge. I wish
I could find
somebody to share it with me. Yes, I
found a few,
but one of them, though quite
intelligent,
was untrustworthy, he would sell his
salvation to
get hold of the world and its pleasures,
he would make
religion a pretence to grasp worldly
power and
wealth, he would make this Blessing of Allah
(knowledge)
serve him to get supremacy and control
over friends
of Allah and he would through knowledge
exploit and
suppress other human beings. The other
person was
such that he apparently obeyed truth and
knowledge, yet
his mind had not achieved the true
light of
religion, at the slightest ambiguity or doubt
he would get
suspicious of truth, mistrust religion
and would rush
towards skepticism. So neither of them
was capable of
acquiring the superior knowledge that I
can impart.
Besides these two I find some other person
One of them is
a slave of self and greedy for
inordinate
desires, which can easily drag him away
from the path
of religion, the other is an avaricious,
grasping and
acquisitive miser who will risk his life
to grasp and
hold wealth, none of these two will be of
any use to
religion or man, both of them resemble
beasts having
appetite for food. If sensible trustees
of knowledge
and wisdom totally disappear from human
society then
both knowledge and wisdom will suffer
severely, may
bring harm to humanity and may even die
out. But this
earth will never be without those
persons who
will prove the universality of truth as
disclosed by
Allah, they may be well-known persons,
openly and
fearlessly declaring the things revealed to
them or they
may, under fear of harm, injury or deaths
hide
themselves from the public gaze and may carry on
their mission
privately so that the reasons proving
the reality of
truth as preached by religion and as
demonstrated
by His Prophet may not totally disappear.
How many are
they and where could they be found? I
swear by Allah
that they are very few in number but
their worth
and their ranks before Allah are very
high. Through
them Allah preserves His Guidance so
that they,
while departing, may hand over these truths
to persons
like themselves. The knowledge which they
have acquired
has made them see the realities and
visualize the
truth and has instilled into them the
spirit of
faith and trust. The duties which were
decreed as
hard and unbearable by them. They feel
happy in the
company and association of things which
frighten the
ignorant and uneducated. They live in
this world
like everybody else but their souls soar to
the heights of
Divine Eminence. They are media of
Allah on this
earth and they invite people towards
Him. How I
love to meet them O Kumayl ! I have told
you all that I
have to say, you can go back to your
place whenever
you like".
147. A man can
be valued through his sayings.
148. One who
does not realize his own value is
condemned to
utter failure. (Every kind of complex,
superiority or
inferiority is harmful to man).
149. Somebody
requested Imam Ali to advise him how to
lead a useful
and sober life. Imam Ali thereupon
advised him
thus: "Do not be among those people who
want to gain
good returns without working hard for
them, who have
long hopes and keep on postponing
repentance and
penance, who talk like pious persons
but run after
vicious pleasures. Do not be among those
who are not
satisfied if they get more in life and are
not content if
their lot in life's pleasures is less
(they are
never satisfied), who never thank Allah for
what they get
and keep on constantly demanding
increase in
what is left with them; who advise others
to such good
deeds that they themselves refrain from;
who appreciate
good people but do not follow their
ways of life;
who hate bad and vicious people but
follow their
ways of life; who, on account of their
excessive sins
hate death but do not give up the
sinful ways of
life; who, if fallen ill, repent their
ways of life
and on regaining their health fearlessly
readopt the
same frivolous ways; who get despondent
and lose all
hopes, but on gaining health, become
arrogant and
careless; who, if faced with misfor-
tunes, dangers
or afflictions, turn to Allah and keep
on beseeching
Him for relief and when relieved or
favoured with
comfort and ease they are deceived by
the
comfortable conditions they found themselves in
and forget
Allah and forsake prayers; whose minds are
allured by day
dreams and forlorn hopes and who abhor
to face
realities of life; who fear for others the
enormous
repercussions of vices and sins but for their
own deeds
expect very high rewards or very light
disciplinary
actions. Riches make such people
arrogant,
rebellious and wicked, and poverty makes
them
despondent and lethargic. If they have to work,
they work
lazily and if they put up a demand they do
it stubbornly.
Under the
influence of inordinate cravings, they
commit sins in
quick succession and keep on postponing
repentance.
Calamities and adversities make them give
up the
distinguished characteristics of Muslims
(patience,
hope in future and work for improvement of
circumstances).
They advise people with narration's of
events and
facts but do not take any lesson from them.
They are good
at preachings but bad at practice,
therefore they
always talk of lofty deeds but their
actions belie
their words. They are keen to acquire
temporal
pleasures but are careless and slow to
achieve
permanent (Divine) benefits. They think good
for themselves
the things which are actually injurious
to them and
regard harmful the things which really
benefit them.
They are afraid of death but waste their
time and do
not resort to good deeds before death
overtakes
them. The vices which they regard as
enormous sins
for others, they consider as minor
shortcomings
for themselves. Similarly, they attach
great
importance to their obedience to the orders of
Allah and
belittle similar actions in others.
Therefore,
they often criticize others and speak very
highly of
their own deeds. They are happy to spend
their time in
society of rich persons, wasting it in
luxuries and
vices but are averse to employing for
useful
purposes in company of the poor and pious
people: They
are quick and free to pass verdicts
against others
but they never pass a verdict against
their own
vicious deeds. They force others to obey
them but they
never obey Allah. They collect their
dues carefully
but never pay the dues they owe. They
are not afraid
of Allah but fear powerful men".
150. Everyone
has an end, it may be pleasant or
sorrowful.
151. Everyone,
who is born, has to die and once dead
he is as good
as having not come into existence.
152. One, who
adopts patience, will never be deprived
of success
though it may take a long time to reach
him.
153. One who
assents or subsribes to the actions of a
group or a
party is as good as having committed the
deed himself.
A man who joins a sinful deed makes
himself
responsible for two-fold punishments, one for
doing the deed
and the other for assenting and
subscribing to
it.
154. Accept
promises of only those persons who can
stead-
fastly-adhere to their pledges.
155. You are
ordained to recognize the Imams (the
right
successors of the Holy Prophet) and to obey
them.
156. You have
been shown, if you only care to see; you
have been
advised if you care to take advantage of
advice; you
have been told if you care to listen to
good counsels.
157. Admonish
your brother (comrade) by good deeds and
kind regards, and
ward off his evil by favouring him.
158. One, who
enters the places of evil repute has no
right to
complain against a man who speaks ill of him.
159. One, who
acquires power cannot avoid favouritism.
160. One, who
is willful and conceited will suffer
losses and
calamities and one who seeks advice can
secure advan-
tages of many counsels.
161. One, who
guards his secrets has complete control
over his
affairs.
162. Poverty
is the worst form of death.
163. One, who
serves a person from whom he gets no
reci- procal
performance of duties, in fact, worships
him.
164. One
should not obey anyone against the commands
of Allah.
165. Do not
blame a man who delays in securing what
are his just
rights but blame lies on him who grasps
the rights
which do not belong to him.
166. Conceit
is a barrier to progress and improvement.
167. Death is
near and our mutual company is short.
168. There is
enough light for one who wants to see.
169. It is
wiser to abstain then to repent.
170. Often
inordinate desire to secure a single gain
acts as a
hindrance for the quest of many profitable
pursuits.
171. People
often hate those things which they do not
know or cannot
understand.
172. One, who
seeks advice learns to realize his
mistakes.
173. One who
struggles for the cause of Allah secures
victory over
His enemies.
174. When you
feel afraid or nervous to do a thing
then do it
because the real harm which you may thus
receive is
less poignant than its expectation and
fear.
175. Your
supremacy over others is in proportion to
the extent of
your knowledge and wisdom.
176. The best
way to punish an evil-doer is to reward
handsomely a
good person for his good deeds.
177. If you
want to remove evil from the minds of
others then
first give up evil intentions yourself.
178. Obstinacy
will prevent you from a correct
decision.
179. Greed is
permanent slavery.
180.
Deficiency will result in shame and sorrow but
caution and
foresight will bring peace and security.
181. To keep
silent when you can say something wise
and useful is
as bad as keeping on propagating foolish
and unwise
thoughts.
182. If two
opposite theories are propagated one will
be wrong.
183. When
truth was revealed to me I never doubted it.
184. I never
lied and the things revealed to me were
not false I
never misled anybody nor was I misled.
185. One, who
starts tyranny, will repent soon.
186. Death is
never very far.
187. One who
forsakes truth earns eternal damnation.
188. One who
cannot benefit by patience will die in
grief.
189. In this
world, man is a target of death, an easy
prey to
calamities, here every morsel and every
draught is
liable to choke one, here one never
receives a
favour until he loses another instead, here
every
additional day in one's life is a day reduced
from the total
span of his existence, when death is
the natural
outcome of life, how can we expect
immortality?
190. O son of
Adam, if you have collected anything in
excess of your
actual need, you will act only as its
trustee for
someone else to use it.
191. Hearts
have the tendency of likes and dislikes
and are liable
to be energetic and lethargic,
therefore,
make them work when they are energetic
because if
hearts are forced (to do a thing) they will
be blinded.
192. When I
feel angry with a person how and when
should I
satisfy my anger, whether at a time when I am
not in a
position to retaliate and people may advise
me to bear
patiently or when I have power to punish
and I forgive.
193. Minds get
tired like bodies. When you feel that
your; mind is
tired, then invigorate it with sober
advice.
194. If you
find that somebody is not grateful for all
that you have
done for him, then do not get
disappointed
because often you will find that someone
else feels
under your obligation though you have done
nothing for
him and thus your good deeds will be
compensated,
and Allah will reward you for your
goodness.
195. The first
fruit of forbearance is that people
will
sympathize with you and they will go against the
man who
offended you arrogantly.
196. One who
takes account of his shortcomings will
always gain by
it; one who is unmindful of them will
always suffer.
One who is afraid of the Day of
Judgment, is
safe from the Wrath of Allah. One who
takes lessons
from the events of life, gets vision,
one who
acquires vision becomes wise and one who
attains wisdom
achieves knowledge.
197. Bear
sorrows and calamities patiently, otherwise
you will never
be happy.
198. One who
comes into power often oppresses.
199.
Adversities often bring good qualities to the
front.
200. If a
friend envies you, then he is not a true
friend.
201. Avarice
dulls the faculties of judgment and
wisdom.
202.
Oppression and tyranny are the worse companions
for the
Hereafter.
203. The best
deed of a great man is to forgive and
forget.
204. Silence
will create respect and dignity; justice
and fairplay
will bring more friends; benevolence and
charity will
enhance prestige and position; courtesy
will draw
benevolence; service of mankind will secure
leadership and
good words will overcome powerful
enemies.
205. A greedy
man will always find himself in the
shackles of
humility.
206. There are
people who worship Allah to gain His
Favors, this
is the worship of traders; while there
are some who
worship Him to keep themselves free from
His Wrath,
this is the worship of slaves; a few who
obey Him out'
of their sense of gratitude and
obligations,
this is the worship of free and noble
men.