Tuhaf Al-uqul ( the Masterpieces of the Mind )
Imam Ali's Admonition and Description of the Negligent
Do not be like him who hopes for (bliss in) the next life without action and delays repentance by lengthening desires, who utters words like ascetics in this world but acts like those who are eager for it. If he is allowed something from it he does not feel satisfied. If he is denied he is not content. He is not grateful for what begets and covets for increase in whatever remains with him. He refrains others but not himself. He commands others for what he himself does not do. He loves the virtuous but does not behave like them. He hates the vicious but he himself is one of them. He dislikes death because of the excess of his sins but adheres to that for which he is afraid of death. He says: why do I work and get tired? I should repose and wish. He wishes for forgiveness, but preserves in disobedience. He attained an age quite enough for remembrance. He says about what he missed: had I worked painstakingly, it would have been better for me. But he wastes time bravely and inadvertently. If he falls ill he feels sorry for his past negligence. When he recovers from illness he feels vain about himself; when he is afflicted he loses hope.
His whims overcome him in the suspected questions, but he does not overcome his whims in the certain questions. He is not satisfied with his provisions and does not trust what is guaranteed for him. He does not perform the imposed acts -of worship-. He doubts himself. If he becomes wealthy he becomes self-conscious and falls into vice. If he becomes poor he despairs and becomes weak. He has many sins and graces. He seeks more but does not show gratitude. He regards the sins of others as big but considers the same things for himself as small. When passion overtakes him he is quick in committing sin but delays repentance, and he does not how that will fall. His desire does not satisfy him, and his caution does not stop him. He goes too far when he is begging and he is too negligent in actions. He is tall in speaking but short in action. He hopes for winning the prizes of deeds that he did not do and is disregards the punishment of the ill deeds that he did. He aspires for -worldly- things that will perish and ignores things that will last for good. He fears death but does nothing in its anticipation. He deems excessive people's acts of obedience but he deems insignificant his acts of disobedience that are greater than people's. If he does something in obedience to Allah he considers it much but if others do the same he considers it small.
For others he is afraid of small sins, but for himself he expects more reward than his performance. He therefore rebukes others but flatters himself. He fulfills the obligations only when he is healthy and pleased, but he betrays when he is displeased and inflicted by misfortunes. If he is cured, he thinks that his repentance was accepted, but when a misfortune befalls him, he thinks he is punished. He delays fasting and hurries to sleep. He does not spend the night with worship and does not spend the day with fast. In morning, he cares only for the breakfast while he did not stay up last night. In evening, he cares only for the dinner while he was fasting. He seeks God's protection against them who are less powerful than him, but does not seek God's protection against the more powerful. He wants others to obey him but he himself disobeys God. Entertainment in the company of the wealthy is dearer to him than remembrance of God with the poor. He is angry when he is given little sustenance, but he commits many sins. He prefers himself to others but never prefers others to himself. He wants others to obey him and never disobey. He seeks fulfillment of obligations towards himself but does not fulfill his obligations towards others. He guides others and misguides himself. He fears the people and acts for other than his Lord and does not fear his Lord in his dealings with the people. He deems his wrongdoing and good and deems his good deeds as wrong. He neither praises his Lord for His graces nor thanks Him for the increase. He neither enjoins good nor forbids evil. He lives in confusion. If he is ill, he acts sincerely and shows repentance. If he is cured, he behaves severely and returns to his acts of disobedience. He always against himself and is never with it. He does not know where will his ill deeds take him. How long and until when will he be in such manners? O Allah, make us rear You.
Imam Ali's Description of the God-Fearing
All praise and gratitude are due to God. The God-fearing in this world are the people of distinction. Their speech is to the point, their dress is moderate and their gait is humble. They submit to God with obedience. They keep their eyes closed to what Allah has made unlawful for them, and they put their ears to knowledge. They remain in the time of trials as though they remain in comfort due to their satisfaction with the act of God. If there had not been fixed periods of life ordained for each, their spirits would not have remained in their bodies even for the twinkling of an eye because of their eagerness for the reward and fear of chastisement. The greatness of the Creator is seated in their heart, and so, everything else appears small in their eyes. Thus, to them, Paradise is as though they see it and are enjoying its favors. To them, Hell is also as if they see it and are suffering punishment in it. Their hearts are grieved, they are protected against evils, their bodies are thin, their needs are scanty, their souls are chaste, and their supporting Islam is great. They endured hardship for a short while, and in consequence they secured comfort for a long time. It is a beneficial transaction that the Generous Lord made easy for them. The world aimed at them, but they did not aim at it. It captured them, but they freed themselves from it by a ransom.
During a night they are upstanding on their feet reading portions of the Quran and reciting it in a well-measured way, creating through it grief for themselves and seeking by it the cure for their ailments. Their griefs are stirred as they weep for their sins and the pains of their wounds and injuries. If they come across a verse creating eagerness for Paradise they pursue it avidly, and their spirits turn towards it eagerly, and they feel as if it is in front of them. And when they come across a verse, which contains fear of Hell they bend the ears of their hearts towards it, and feel as though the sound of Hell and its cries are reaching their ears. They bend themselves from their backs, prostrate themselves on their foreheads, their palms, and their toes, and beseech Allah the Sublime for their deliverance. During the day they are wise, learned, virtuous and God-fearing. Fear of Allah has made them thin like arrows. If any one looks at them he believes they are sick, although they are not sick, and he says that they have gone mad. In fact, great concern (i.e., fear) has made them mad. If they remember the sublimity of God the Exalted and the stability of His omnipotence, in addition to the mention of death and the horrors of the Day of Resurrection, their hearts are dreaded, their views are agitated, and their minds are bewildered. If they feel fearful, they hurry to God through good acts.
They are not satisfied with their meager good acts, and do not regard their major acts as great. They always blame themselves and are afraid of their deeds. When anyone of them is spoken of highly, he says: "I know myself better than others, and my Lord knows me better than I know. O Allah do not deal with me according to what they say, and make me better than they think of me and forgive me those shortcomings which they do not know. You are the All-Knowing of the unknown."
The peculiarity of anyone of them is that you will see that he has strength in religion, determination along with leniency, faith with conviction, eagerness in seeking knowledge, courtesy in lenience, clemency in almsgiving, understanding in awareness, knowledge in forbearance, moderation in riches, devotion in worship, gracefulness in starvation, endurance in hardship, mercy for the exhausted, fulfillment of the right, leniency in earning, desire for the lawful, pleasure in guidance, hatred from greed, piety in straightforwardness, and abstinence in appetites. The approval of him who ignores him does not deceive him. He does not stop judging his deeds. He performs virtuous deeds but still feels afraid. In the evening he is anxious to offer thanks to Allah. In the morning his anxiety is to remember Allah. He passes the night in fear and rises in the morning in joy-fear lest night is passed in forgetfulness, and joy over the favor and mercy received by him. If his self refuses to endure a thing, which it does not like, he does not grant its request towards what it likes. The coolness of his eye lies in what is to last forever, while from the things of this world that will not last he keeps aloof. He transfuses knowledge with forbearance, and speech with action.
You will see his laziness aloof, his activity uninterrupted, his hopes simple, his shortcomings few, heart fearing, his spirit contented, his ignorance absent, his affairs simple, his religion safe, his desires dead, his anger suppressed, his mannerism pure. He does not brief about what is kept secret with him. He does not conceal the testimony against he enemies. He does not do any practice ostentatiously. He does not leave anything shyly. Good alone is expected from him. Evil from him is not to be feared. Even if he is found among those who forget Allah he is counted among those who remember Him. He forgives him who is unjust to him, and he gives to him who deprives him. He behaves well with him who behaves ill with him.
His forbearance is not absent. He does not neglect what adorns him. Indecent speech is far from him, his utterance is lenient, his evils are non-existent, his virtues are ever present, his good is ahead, and mischief has turned its face from him. He is dignified during calamities, patient in distresses, and thankful during ease. He does not commit excess over him whom he hates, and does not commit sin for the sake of him whom he loves. He does not claim the possession of things that are not his. He does not deny others' rights that are obligatory upon him. He admits truth before evidence is brought against him. He does not misappropriate what is placed in his custody. He does not call others bad names. He does not oppress or threaten others. He does not cause harm to his neighbor, he does not feel happy at others misfortunes. He hurries to the right. He fulfills the trusts. He is slow in ill deeds. He enjoins good and forbids evil. He does not enter into the worldly pleasures wrongly and does not go out of right.
If he is silent his silence does not grieve him, if he laughs he does not raise his voice. He satisfies with what is his. Malice does not agitate him. Whims do not overcome him. Stinginess does not prevail him. He does not desire for what is not his. He associates with people so as to learn. He keeps silent so as to be safe. He asks so as to understand. He does not listen to the good wording so that others will not find themselves neglectful in comparison with him. He does not speak of his good actions so as to avoid taking pride in it before others. If he is wronged he endures till Allah takes revenge on his behalf. His own self is in distress because of him, while the people are in ease from him. He puts himself in hardship for the sake of his next life, and makes people feel safe from himself. His keeping away from others is by way of asceticism and purification, and his nearness to those to whom he is near is by way of leniency and mercifulness. His keeping away is not by way of vanity or feeling of greatness, nor his nearness by way of deceit and cheating. He follows the example of the past men of virtue and he is the example of the coming people of virtue.
Imam Ali's sermon of faith
In this sermon, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) refers to faith and its supports and aspects, and atheism and its supports and aspects. When God began the matters, He chose for Himself what he willed and extracted what He liked. Within the matters that He liked was faith. He accepted it; therefore, he derived the name of faith from His Name and gifted it with whomever He loved among His creatures. He then showed it. Hence, He made its springs within reach for whoever wants to have it and made its supports difficult for the opposites to penetrate. He also made faith the fort of him whoever is loyal to it, the security of him whoever wants to enter into it, the guidance of him whoever betakes himself to it, the adornment of him whoever wants to have its beauty, the religion of him whoever braces it, the refuge of him whoever seeks its refuge, the bond of him whoever clings to it, the evidence of him whoever speaks of it, the honor of him who knows it, the wisdom of him whoever utters it, the light of him whoever seeks light from it, the proof of him whoever discusses about it, the claim of him whoever advances it as plea, the knowledge of him who understands, the narration of him who relates, the rule of him who judges, the forbearance of him who recounts, the reason of him who ponder over things, the understanding of him who meditates, the conviction of him who recognizes, the insight of him who determines, the sign of him who scrutinizes, the lesson of him who learns lessons, the salvation of him who believes in it, the Lord's love for him who is virtuous, the nearness of him who seeks nearness, the confidence of him who depends (upon God), the rest of him who entrusts (with God), the color of him who does charitably, the welfare of him who takes haste steps (toward God), the shelter of him who endures, the dress of him who fears (God), the purification of him who seeks right guidance, the safety of him who submits (to God), and the spirit of the honest.
Faith is the principal of right. Right guidance is the way of the principal of right. Righteousness is its quality and glory is its feat. The course of faith is bright. Its signpost is brilliant. Its lights are luminous. Its extreme is high. Its racetrack is easy. Its milking is ready. Its prize is very precious. Its people are old. Its knights are noble. The virtuous deeds are its signboard. Chastity is its lights. Death is its extreme. The world is its racetrack. The Resurrection is its milking. Paradise is its prize. Hell is its punishment. God-fearing is its equipage. The charitable are its knights. By way of faith, the virtuous deeds are shown. By way of the virtuous deeds, the understanding is gained. By way of understanding, death is feared. Death is the seal of the world. Through the world, the other life is approached. Through the Resurrection, Paradise is loomed. Paradise is the regret of the people of Hell. Hell is the admonition of God-fearing. God-fearing is the origin of charity. God-fearing is a purpose the follower of which will never lose. Likewise, he who applied God-fearing to himself will never be regret because it is the course through which the winners achieved triumph. The losers were beaten because of disobedience. Will the intelligent learn and the God-fearing ones remember? Faith stands on four supports: on endurance, conviction, justice, and jihad.
Endurance again has four aspects: eagerness, fear, abstention (from the world) and anticipation (of death). So, whoever is eager for Paradise will ignore the passions; whoever fears the Fire (of Hell) will refrain from prohibited acts; whoever abstains from the world takes hardships lightly; and whoever anticipates death will hasten towards good deeds.
Conviction also has four aspects: prudent perception, intelligence and understanding, drawing lessons from instructive things and following the precedents of past people. So, whoever perceives with prudence, wise knowledge will be manifest to him, and to whomsoever wise knowledge becomes manifest he appreciates instructive objects, and whoever appreciates instructive objects he is just like past people. Justice also has four aspects: keen understanding, deep knowledge, good power of decision and firm forbearance. Therefore, whoever understands comes to acquire depth of knowledge; whoever acquires depth of knowledge drinks from the spring of judgment; and whoever exercises forbearance never commits evil actions in his affairs and leads a praiseworthy life among the people. Jihad also has four aspects: to ask others to do good, to keep away others from doing evil, to fight (in the way of Allah) sincerely and firmly on all occasions, and to detest the vicious. So, whoever asks others to do good provides strength to the believers; whoever desists others from evil humiliates the unbelievers; whoever fights sincerely on all occasions discharges all his obligations; and whoever detests the vicious and becomes angry for the sake of Allah, then Allah will be angry in favor of him and will keep him pleased on the Day of Judgment. Unbelief stands on four supports: on lechery, exaggeration, doubt, and sedition.
Lechery has four aspects - coarseness, blindness, inadvertence, and rebellion. The coarse will disgrace the believers, hate the jurists, and insist on guilt. The blind will disregard the remembrance, have ill mannerism, challenge the Creator, and be stirred by the Shaitan. The inadvertent will aggrieve themselves, turn over their backs, regard their seductions as rightness, be deceived by expectations, be befallen by regret, be uncovered, and will suffer what he has not supposed. He who rebels against God will doubt. God will exalt on anyone who doubts. Then He will humiliate him by His power and disgrace him by His Majesty. This is because he neglected and disregarded the Generous Lord. Exaggeration has also four aspects: hankering after whims, mutual quarrelling, deviation from the truth, and dissension. So, whoever hankers after whims does not incline towards right. Except sinking in the whims, he will not obtain anything more. Whenever a seditious matter leaves him, another will cover him. He is living in confusion. He whoever quarrels and disputes will be befallen by failure and his affairs will be ragged. He whoever deviates from truth, for him good becomes evil and evil becomes good and he remains intoxicated with misguidance. He whoever makes a breach (with Allah and His Messenger), his path becomes difficult, his affairs become complicated, and his way of escape becomes narrow. He who takes a course other than the believers will surely be apostatizing his religion.
Doubt has also four aspects: unreasonableness, fear, wavering, and undue submission to every thing. So, about which of the bounties of your Lord can the disputers persistently dispute? He who is afraid of what befalls him has to run on his heels. He who wavers in doubt the tardy will left him behind, the last will catch up with him, and the Shaitans will trample him under their feet. He who submits to the destruction of this and the next world will perish in them both. Only the bearers of conviction may be saved. Sedition has four aspects: fondness of the adornment, self-enticement, crooked interpretation, and confusion of the right and the wrong. Adornment will preclude evidence. Self-enticement leads to passion. Crookedness takes its adopter to a twisted inclination. Confusion is complicated groups of darkness. This is atheism and its supports and aspects.
Hypocrisy stands on four supports: whims, carelessness, rancor, and greed.
Whim has four aspects: oppression, aggression, passion, and insubordination. For those whoever oppress, their problems will be increasing and they will be disappointed and defeated. For those who aggress against other, they will not be secured against misfortunes, and their hearts will not be sound. He who does not stop against his whims will plunge into griefs. He who disobeys (God) will be intentionally deviating lacking any excuse or evidence.
The aspects of carelessness are arrogance, pride, negligence, and excessive expectation. Arrogance takes away from the right. Taking pride in the present leads to negligence of the coming. Negligence is an involvement in blindness. Because of expectation, man will have knowledge of the account of his present manners. If he knows the account of his present manners, he will die secretly due to the horror and fear that he concludes. The aspects of rancor are conceit, boast, zeal, and tribalism. The conceited will fall behind. The boastful are dissolute. The zealous are stubborn. The tribalist is unfair. How bad is the matter that is lying among falling behind, dissolution, and stubbornness. The aspects of greed are complacency, fun, disputation, and haughtiness. Complacency is abominated for God. Fun is vanity. Disputation is misfortune for it drives to sinning. Haughtiness is ill amusement, play, engagement, and substituting the bad for the good. That was hypocrisy with its supports and aspects.
God is prevailing over His servants. His mentioning is exalted, His authority is upright, His power is firm, His blessing is widespread, His wisdom is luminous, His claim is evident, His religion is pure, His word is accurate, His ranks are present, His attribution is wholesome, His scales is fair, His messages are conveyed, and His keeping angels are attendant. He then made the sin as guilt, the guilt as sedition, and the sedition as profanity. He also made kindness as profit, apology as repentance, and repentance as purity. He whoever repents to God will be guided. He whoever follows seditious matters will surely be deviant unless he repents to God, confesses of his guilt, and believes in the kindness. God will not ruin except the perishing.
What great is God! How extensive are his repentance, mercy, good tidings, and forbearance! How intense are the fetters, fire, power, omnipotence, and vengeance the He has! He whoever wins obedience to God will choose for His honor, and he whoever is keeping himself in disobedience to Him will taste the harsh torture of His punishment. There is lying the blissful end.
Imam Ali's Words to Kumayl bin Ziyad
O Kumayl, these hearts are containers. The best of them is that which preserves (its contents). So, preserve what I say to you. People are of three types: One is the scholar and divine. Then the seeker of knowledge who is also on the way to deliverance. Then (lastly) the common rot who run after every caller and bend in the direction of every wind. They seek not light from the effulgence of knowledge so as to be guided, and do not take protection of any reliable support so that they will be saved. O Kumayl, knowledge is better than wealth. Knowledge guards you, while you have to guard the wealth. Wealth decreases by spending, while knowledge multiplies by spending. Knowledge is the ruler while wealth is ruled upon. O Kumayl, adoration to the knowledgeable is belief, which is acted upon. With it man acquires obedience during his life and a good name after his death. The benefit of wealth vanishes when wealth vanishes. Those who amass wealth are dead even though they may be living while those endowed with knowledge will remain as long as the world lives. Their bodies are not available but their figures exist in the hearts. Look, here is a heap of knowledge (and Amirul-Muminin pointed to his bosom). I wish I could get someone to bear it. Yes, I did find (such a one); but either he was one who could not be relied upon. He would exploit the religion for worldly gains, and by virtue of Allah's favors on him he would domineer over the people and through Allah's pleas he would lord over His devotees. Or he was one who was obedient to the hearers of truth but there was no intelligence in his bosom. At the first appearance of doubt he would entertain misgivings in his heart.
So, neither this nor that was good enough. Either the man is eager for pleasures, easily led away by passions, or is covetous for collecting and hoarding wealth. Neither of them has any regard for religion or wisdom and conviction in any matter. The nearest example of these is the loose cattle. This is the way that knowledge dies away with the death of its bearers. O my Allah, Yes; but the earth is never devoid of those who maintain Allah's plea either openly and reputedly or being afraid. As hidden in order that Allah's pleas, proofs, and relaters of His Book should not be rebutted. Where are they? By Allah, they are few in number, but they are great in esteem before Allah. Through them Allah guards His pleas and proofs till they entrust them to others like themselves and sow the seeds thereof in the hearts of those who are similar to them. Knowledge has led them to true understanding and so they have associated themselves with the spirit of conviction. They take easy what the easygoing regard as hard. They endear what the ignorant take as strange. They live in this world with their bodies here but their spirits resting in the high above.
O Kumayl, they are the trustees of God on His creatures, and the vicegerents of Allah on His earth, His lamps in His countries, and callers to His religion. Oh, oh, how I yearn to see them! I seek God's forgiveness for you and me.
Imam Ali's Brief Commandment for Kuayl bin Ziyad
O Kumayl, begin every day with mentioning God's Name and saying, "All might and power belong to God." Depend upon God. Mention us, utter our names, and seek God's blessings for us. With the previous sayings, encircle yourself and whatever is under your custody so that you will be saved from the evil of that day.
O Kumayl, God educated the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family); he educated me and I educate the believers and leave behind me the good education to the honorable people.
O Kumayl, I am the originator of every aspect of knowledge and Al-Qa'im (peace be upon him) will be the sealer. O Kumayl, we are the offspring of one another. God is All-hearing and All-seeing. O Kumayl, follow no one but us, and you will be one of us.
O Kumayl, you need knowledge in every movement.
O Kumayl, before you have food, mention the Name of Him whose Name bans every malady and presents remedy for any ailment.
O Kumayl, share others with you on dining tables generously, because you will never endow anything to people. If you do so, God will reward you widely. When others sit with you for a meal, use good traits, relieve your sitter, and do not blame your servant.
O Kumayl, when you are on a dining table, take as long as possible time so that your companion will have his sufficiency and others will be bestowed from your food.
O Kumayl, when you have enough food, praise God for His provisions to you raising your voice, so that others will imitate you and your reward will be doubled.
O Kumayl, do not fill in your stomach with food, and leave a place for water and flatus. Do not leave a meal unless you still covet it. This will bring you health, since the source of physical health is few food and water.
O Kumayl, blessing is in the wealth of him who defrays zakat, offers to the believers what they need, and regards the relatives.
O Kumayl, give your faithful relatives more than what you give to the other faithful believers. In addition, treat them more compassionately and more kindly. Give alms to the poor.
O Kumayl, never disappoint a beggar. Give him even a grain of grapes or a half single date. With God, the almsgiving are growing.
O Kumayl, modesty is the best dress of the believers, chastity is his best beauty, learning is his honor, and negligence of gossips is his dignity.
O Kumayl, there is a degree of superiority with every people. Beware of discussing with the lowly even if they invite you to a discussion. Be tolerant and be one of those whom God describes in His saying: "When addressed by the ignorant ones, their only response is, 'Peace be with you.'"
O Kumayl, say the truth in every situation. Cherish the God-fearing ones, desert the sinful ones, avoid the hypocrites, and dissociate with the traitors.
O Kumayl, do not knock the doors of the unjust for associating with them and earning from them. Beware of respecting them or attend their sessions for God's wrath will befall you. If you have to attend there, you should mention God uninterruptedly, depend upon Him, and seek His guard against them. Turn the head down, deny their deeds secretly, and glorify God openly so that you will be supported and saved against their evils. 17. Chastity, tolerance, and patience are the most favorable characters that the servants offer to God after their faith in Him and His vicegerents.
O Kumayl, do not show your poverty to people. Forbear it for God's sake dignifiedly and secretly.
O Kumayl, you can inform your brotherly friend of your secret. Who is your true brotherly friend? He is that who does not disappoint you in misfortunes, does not leave you alone in troubles and sins, does not wait until you ask him for help, and does not let you inform him of your problem. You may lead him to straightforwardness when he is leaning.
O Kumayl, the believers should be the mirrors of each other; when they look at others, they should meet the needs and settle the problems.
O Kumayl, the believers are brothers. Brothers should never prefer anything to each other.
O Kumayl, if you do not like your brother, then you are not his brother. The true believer is he who follows our sayings. He who fails to reach him is acting imperfectly to us. He whoever acts imperfectly to us will not catch up with us. He whoever is not with us will be in the lowest class of Hell.
O Kumayl, every concealed matter should be divulged in some way. If we divulge one of our secrets to you and order you to keep it, you should never show it to others. If you do so, then no repentance will promote you. When no repentance will promote you, your fate will be Laza -a class of Hell-.
O Kumayl, the divulgement of the secrets of Mohammed's family (peace be upon them) is unforgivable and intolerable. Except the faithful believers, do not narrate their sayings to anyone.
O Kumayl, in problems, say: "All might and power belong to God," so that they will be solved. In graces, say: "All praise is due to God," so that they will be doubled for you. If your sustenance is slowed, you should seek God's forgiveness so that it will be increased to you. 26. O Kumayl, by being loyal to us, save yourself from letting the Shaitan have a share in your wealth and sons.
O Kumayl, faith is either steady or shaky. Beware of having shaky faith. You will have steady faith only if you fit tightly to the patent path that will not lead you to a bend and will not take you away from the course.
O Kumayl, in obligatory acts, there is no permission. In recommendable acts, there is no force.
O Kumayl, your sins are more than your good deeds. Your oblivion is more than you reference to God. God's graces to you are more than your deeds.
O Kumayl, there is no single piece in you empty of God's graces and bestowment of good health. You should never neglect commending, glorifying, praising, thanking, and mentioning Him in every situation.
O Kumayl, do not be one from them about whom God says:
They forget about God. He will make them forget themselves.
Hence, He ascribes sinfulness to them. He says: These are the sinful people.
O Kumayl, the high ranks will not be obtained through offering the prayers, fasting, and giving alms. The most important is to offer the prayer with pure intendment, acceptable act, and sound submission. You should regard when and what for you are offering the prayer. If it is not offered correctly and legally, it will not be accepted.
O Kumayl, the tongue receives from the heart, and the heart supplies the soul. Consider that with which you feed your heart and body. If the source is illegal, God will not accept your praising and thanking Him.
O Kumayl, you should realize and know that we do not permit anybody to breach the trust of anybody. He whoever relates that I have permitted anybody to breach the trust is surely wrong and sinful and his result will be Hell. I swear I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) say to me frequently just one hour before his death: "O Abul-Hasan, give back what you are entrusted to its owner, whether he is pious or sinful, in big and small things even if it is a thread or a needle." He repeated this thrice each time he said it.
O Kumayl, jihad should be only under the leadership of the just imam and spoils are legal only if a virtuous imam gives.
O Kumayl, without the advent of a prophet, the advocacy to God of any person including the pious believers will be either right or wrong. Moreover, it will be surely wrong unless God selects him for such an advocacy.
O Kumayl, the religion is God's; therefore, He does not accept for anyone to call for it except the apostles, prophets, and successors of prophets.
O Kumayl, God is certainly generous, clement, great, and merciful. He attracts our attentions to His traits and orders us to follow them and invite people to adopt them. We did perform without slackness, put them into practice without hypocrisy, believe in them without disloyalty, and accept them without doubt.
O Kumayl, by God I am not slavish flatterer so as to be obeyed, I am not awakener of desires so as not to be disobeyed, and I am not coveting the food of the Bedouins -money of zakat- so as to be called and given the name of 'Amirul-Muminin' (Leader of the believers).
O Kumayl, the seekers of the worldly pleasures will gain a vanishing and ending life, while we will gain a steady and continuous life.
O Kumayl, the all will be to the next life. We only hope for God's assent and the high ranks of Paradise that He gives to the God-fearing only.
O Kumayl, he who will not live in Paradise will surely suffer a painful agony and permanent shame.
O Kumayl, thank God for His giving you success and for everything.