Tuhaf Al-uqul ( the Masterpieces of the Mind )

Imam Ali's Commandment For Mohammed Bin Abi Bakr

when assigned him as governor of Egypt

This is the commandment of Ali Amirul-Muminin to Mohammed bin Abi Bakr when assigned him as the governor of Egypt. Fear God and obey Him secretly and openly. Devote to God in unseen and public situations. I order you to treat Muslims leniently, the sinful intensely, and Dhimmis fairly. I also order you to give back the wronged their rights, punish the wrong severely, pardon people, and do charitably as much as possible. God will reward the charitable and will punish the sinful. I order you to call people who are under his power to obey God and accede to union. If they do so, they will gain good health and reward that are too great to be estimated or realized.

I order you to behave with people modestly, give them the same estimation and meet them in the same way, regard the close and the remote equally, judge among people with fair, avoid pursuing the whims, and avoid caring for any blame for God's sake. God will surely be with him who fears Him, prefers obedience and commandment of Him to anything else. Abdullah bin Abi Rafi' was the writer of this commandment. Amirul Muminin, peace be upon him, then wrote to the people of Egypt the following commandment (We will refer to it briefly): From: God's slave; Ali Amirul Muminin. To: Mohammed bin Abi Bakr and people of Egypt: Peace be upon you.

So now, I have received your missive, understood your question, admired your interest in that of which it is obligatory upon you to take care and except which nothing will be the most appropriate for the Muslims, and believed that it was a well intention and innocent opinion that had driven you to ask such a question. Cling to God-fearing in your standing, sitting, secret, and public affairs. If you judge among people, you should treat them with gentleness, treat them leniently, relax your face before them, and use equal looks at them so that the chief will not expect your injustice for their sake and the weak will not despair of your fairness with them. Ask the claimant for evidence and the defendant to oath. Pass the reconciliation of two persons unless it includes the ban of a legal matter or the allowance of a prohibited matter. Favor the jurists, the honest, the faithful, the diffident, and the pious to the lecherous, the liars, and the cheaters. Betake the virtuous pious ones as brothers and the lecherous cheaters as enemies. The most favorable of my friends is the best engaged in mentioning God and the most fearful of Him. I hope I would be one of them, inshallah. I command you to fear God regarding the questions about which you will be asked and which you will be inevitably facing. God, in His Book, says: Every soul will be in captivity for its deeds.

He also says:

God warns you about Himself. To God do all things return. He also says: By the Lord, We will hold them all responsible for what they have done. Thus, adhere to God-fearing because it joins goodness together to you in an unprecedented way, and is the means of catching up with the whole good of this world and the world to come in a distinctive way. God says: The pious ones will be asked, "What did your Lord reveal to you?" They will reply, "He revealed only good." The share of the righteous ones is virtue in this world and greater virtue in the life to come. How blessed will be the dwelling of the pious ones! Know, O creatures of Allah, that the God-fearing have shared the joys of this transient world as well as the coming world, for they shared with the people of this world in their worldly matters while the people did not share with them in the matters of the next world. God the Majestic says: Ask them, "Who has made it unlawful to maintain beauty and to eat the pure foods which God has created for His servants? They are made for the believers in this world and are exclusively for them in the life hereafter." Thus do We explain Our revelations to the people who have knowledge. They lived in this world in the best manner of living and ate the choicest food.

Know, servants of Allah, if you fear God and respected His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) by way of regarding his family, then you will worship Him the best worship, refer to Him in the best mentioning, thank Him in the best way of thanking, pursue the best of tolerance and thank, practice the best diligence, even if others are offering prayers that are longer than yours, fasting during days more numerous than these during which you fast, and giving alms more than yours. This is because you are more loyal to God and more well-wisher to God's disciples and the people of authority among the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

Therefore, O creatures of Allah, be afraid of death and its imminence, dilemmas, and agonies. Keep ready all that is needed for it. It will come as a big event and a great affair, either as a good in which there will never be any evil, or an evil in which there will never be any good. Who is nearer to Paradise than he who works towards it, and who is nearer to Hell than he who works for it? Refer to death as much as possible whenever your souls drag you away from it. I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) say: "Mention the remover of the pleasures very often." You should know that for those whom God will not forgive and treat mercifully, what is after death will be bitterer than death itself. O Mohammad (bin Abi Bakr), know that I have given you charge of Egypt, which is my biggest force. So you are duty-bound to oppose your passions and serve as a shield against your religion even though you may get only an hour in the world; and do not enrage Allah for pleasing others because (Allah) is such that He may take the place of others, but others cannot take the place of Allah. Use severity with the oppressors and stop them. Be lenient to the charitable, draw them near to you, and select them as retinue and brothers.

Evaluate your prayer, because you are imam -leader of collective prayers-. The responsibility of any flaw that occurs in the prayers of the followers (of an imam) will be on their imam. Likewise, the imam will gain the same rewards of the imperfect or perfect performance of the followers' prayers, and they will receive their rewards completely. Evaluate your ablution, because it is the complementary of the prayers. The prayers of those whose ablution is rejected are rejected, too. Remember that every act of yours is dependent on your prayer. You should know also that he whoever neglects his prayer will surely neglect the other obligatory rites of Islam.

O people of Egypt, try your bests to apply your words to your deeds and your secret beliefs to your public deeds, and let your tongues not oppose you actions. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) has said: "In respect of my people I am afraid neither of a believer nor of an unbeliever. As for the believer, Allah will afford him protection because of his belief, and as for the unbeliever, Allah will humiliate him because of his unbelief. But I am afraid about every one of you who is hypocrite in his heart and learned of speech. He speaks what you hold good but does what you dislike." He is very clear. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) also said: "The true believer is he who feels pleased for his good deeds and feels unhappy for his ill deeds." "The hypocrites will not have two characters together: good humor and knowledgeability of a prophetic tradition."

You should also know, O Mohammed bin Abi Bakr, that the best of understanding is piety in God's religion and exercise the acts of obedience to God. God may help you and us to thank and mention Him, fulfill His obligatory acts, and exercise the acts of obedience to Him. He is surely All-Hearing and Near.

You should know that this world is the place of misfortune and extinction, while the life to come is the place of continuity and reward. If you can prefer what will remain to what will extinct, then do it. God may give us the ability to see what He shows us and understand what He makes us to understand so that we will not show shortcoming towards His commandments and will not commit what He forbids. You will inevitably gain your share from this world, but you need your share of the next life more. If you have to choose one of two matters-either a worldly affair or an affair regarding the next life, you should begin with the affair of the next life. If you can have a great desire for doing favors with pure intention, then do it. God surely gives a servant according to his intention if he likes charity and its people. If he cannot do it, then may God regard him as the doers of charity, if He wills.

I command you to fear God and other nine characters that are the comprehensive of Islam: fear God and do not fear people in questions related to God, the best wording is that which is confirmed by deeds, do not issue two different rules in the same case lest your affairs will be contrary and you will diverge from the right, like for your subjects whatever you like for yourself and household, settle the plea with God and lead your subject to righteousness, engage yourself in adversities for the sake of the right, do not fear any blame for the sake of God and perform God's duties, offer advise to the Muslim who seeks your counsel, be the example of the near and the remote Muslims, and make others do good. Prevent them from doing evil. Be patient in hardship. Patience comes from faith and determination. Peace and God's mercy and blessings be upon you.

Imam Ali's Words of Asceticism and Dispraise of this World and its Present Pleasures

I warn you against this world because it is sweet and dewy. It is surrounded by passions, preferred for its immediateness, built with hopes, and adorned with deceit. Its joy is impermanent and its disasters are befalling without any expectation. It is surely deceitful, harmful, transient, fleeting, destructive, and traitorous. In its ultimate nearness to those who desire and are satisfied with it, it is no more than being as God the Majestic says about it:

This world resembles the (seasonal) plants that blossom by the help of the water which God sends from the sky. After a short time all of them fade away and the winds scatter them (and turns them into dust). God has power over all things. Nevertheless, if it gives joy to somebody it will follow it up with distress. If it faces with ease it will turns the back with difficulty. If it comes with a drizzle of comfort, it will shock with a downpour of misfortunes. If it gives victory in the morning, it disappoints in the evening. If one side of it becomes sweet and pleasing, the other side will be bitter and unpleasing. If it covers somebody with security, it will put him under the most horrible fear. It is surely deceptive and everything in it is deception. It is surely passing and everything in it will pass away. Except God-fearing, nothing of its supplies is advantageous. He who takes as few as possible of its affairs will be having as much as possible security. He who takes much of its pleasures will not have them continuous and they will vanish shortly. Many were those who trusted the world, but it disillusioned them. Many were tranquil with it, but it defeated them. Many were cautious of it, but it cheated them. Many were masters in it, but it humiliated them. Many were proud in it, but it famished and impoverished them. Many were crowned in it, but it overthrew them. Its power is humility, its living is gloomy and grimy, its freshness is salty, and its sweetness is bitter. The alive in it is in the target of death, the healthy in it is in the target of ailment, and the secure in it is in the target of wronging and injustice. Its authority is usurped. The well-fortified in it is overpowered. Its security is ill-fated. Its fellow is beaten. After all, there is the death struggle, agonies of death, the horror of the resurrection, and the standing before the Just Judge so that "God will recompense the evil doers for their deeds and reward the righteous ones for their deeds."

Are you not occupying the houses of those who were older, more far-reaching, more numerous, more powerful, and more stubborn than you? They worked for the world so excessively and preferred it so extremely to anything else. Then they had to leave it with their humility. Do you prefer this one? Or do you care for it? Or do you trust in it? God says: Those who choose the worldly life and its pleasures will be given proper recompense for their deeds in this life and will not suffer any loss. Such people will receive nothing in the next life except Hell fire. Their deeds will be made devoid of all virtue and their efforts will be in vain. How bad this lodging is for those who are not watchful and do not beware of it! You should know -yet, you do know- that you will unquestionably be leaving it. It is just like God's saying:

The worldly life is only a game, a temporary attraction, a means of boastfulness among yourselves and a place for multiplying your wealth and children. Learn lessons from those who used to build on every height a monument out of frivolity and make strong fortresses that perhaps they may live forever and those who said: "Who is more powerful than we are?" In addition, learn lessons from your friends whom you have noticed how they are taken to their graves; no one offer to reach them and put to the ground and no one offer to receive them as guests. Their graves are their houses, dust is their coffin, and the mortal remains are their neighbors. They are surely neighbors who do not answer a call, protect against aggression, or exchange visits. They became clement as their rancor went away and became ignorant as their malice faded away. Their evil is not anticipated and their support is not expected. They became as if they had not existed. They are just as God says about them:

Those are their homes which were not inhabited thereafter except for a short time. Only We were their heirs.

They substituted the interior of the earth for its surface, the narrowness for the extent, the strangers for their family, and the darkness for the light. They left the world as same as they came to it; barefooted and naked. They moved away from it with their deeds to the permanent life and endless eternity. God the Most High says:

We roll up the heavens as if it were a written scroll and bring it back into existence just as though We had created it for the first time. This is what We have promised and We have always been true to Our promise. Imam Ali's Sermon When Some People Protested Against His having Distributed Booty Equally Among People

So now, O people, we praise our Lord; Allah and the source of our clear and unknown boons, which we obtain not for our efforts and endeavors, but for His favor and grace so as to test us whether we would thank or show ingratitude. He will give more to those who thank, while He will punish him whoever shows ingratitude. I declare there is no god but Allah uniquely without any associate. He is One and Absolute. I also declare that Mohammed is His servant and messenger. God sent him as mercy for the slaves, lands, beasts, and animals. He offers this mercy out of His grace and favor. Peace and blessings be upon Mohammed and his family.

O people, the best of people with God are the most regardful for Him, the most submissive to His commandment, the most painstaking in the obedience to Him, the best follower of the Sunna of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and the best compliant with God's Book. No one of God's creature has a preference to another except through the obedience to God and His Apostle and the compliance with God's Book and the Prophet's Sunna. This is God's Book among us. The Prophet's commandments and traditions are with us. Only the ignorant, apostate, and rebellious, no one is unaware of them. God says:

People, We have created you all male and female and have made you nations and tribes so that you would recognize each other. The most honorable among you in the sight of God is the most pious of you.

He who fears God is the true honorable, dignified, and favored. The same thing is said about the obedient to God and His Apostle. God says: If you love God, follow me. God will love you and forgive your sins. God is All-forgiving and All-merciful. Tell them, "Obey God and the Messenger." If they turn away (let it be known) that God does not love the unbeliever. Then Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) shouted:

O Muhajirs, Ansar, and Muslims, do you think God owes you a great deal for your embracing Islam? It is surely you who owe God and His Apostle a great deal if you are truthful.

We will apply the rules of the Quran and the shares of Islam to everyone who turns the face towards our kiblah, has only the meat of the animals that are slaughtered according to our rites, and declares there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is His servant and messenger. Except by the means of fearing and obeying God, no one is preferred to another. God may reckon you and us with the God-fearing ones, His disciples, and His dears who will not be subjected to fear and will not be aggrieved.

Certainly, this world for which you desire and covet while it admonishes and discards you is not your home or house for which you were created and invited. It will not last for you and you will not stay in it forever. Do not be deceived by its immediate pleasures after you were warned against it, it was described for you, and you did try it. Thus, you are not expecting for it a good end. Vie with each other -God's mercy may be upon you- to reach your abodes, which you are ordered to construct, because they are the constructive that will never ruin and the never-ending that will never fade away. God has aroused your interests in these abodes, invited you to them, and settled your rewards there. O Muhajirs, Ansar, and people of God's religion, consider the attributes that are ascribed to you in God's Book, the rank that you attained with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and the efforts that you exerted for the sake of God. Do you think you have won so because of your ancestry and lineage? Or was it because of your efforts and acts of obedience to God? Seek the perfection of God's graces upon you -God's mercy may be upon you- through preserving yourselves and keeping God's Book that He ordered you to keep. If you carry out God's commandments and adhere to God-fearing, nothing of the humiliation of your life will harm you. If you do not abide by God-fearing, then nothing of the worldly pleasures that you pursue will benefit you. O servants of God, adhere to submission to God's commandment, satisfaction with His act, and steadfastness against His misfortunes.

Regarding this booty, no one should enjoy precedence in the shares of the booty. God the Majestic has completed its distribution. It is God's possession, and you are the Muslim servants of Him. This is the Book of God; we recognize it, declare it, and submit to it. Our Prophet's covenant is with us. Hence, submit to the matter -God's mercy may be upon you- because he whoever does not yield to this matter may leave us in any way he chooses. He whoever acts upon God's obedience and judges according to God's rules will not feel alone. They will have neither fear nor grief. Those are the successful. We beseech to our Lord and God to include you and us with the people of His obedience and dedicate your and our desires to His rewards. In the end, I seek God's forgiveness for you and me.

Imam Ali's Wording about Equal Distribution of Wealth

As they noticed how Muawiya gave those who joined his army generously, some of the soldiers of Amirul Muminin -in the battle of Siffine- suggested to him to offer assets to the chiefs and the individuals that he anticipated their mutiny and flight exclusively. When matters would be settled, he would return to his course of equal distribution. As Imam Ali (peace be upon him) heard this suggestion, he spoke: Do you command me that I should seek support by oppressing those over whom I have been placed? By Allah, I will not do so as long as the world goes on and as long as one star follows another in the sky. Even if it were my property, I would have distributed it equally among them, then why not when the property is that of Allah.

He then paused for a while, and went on:

I warn them who have a property against corruption. Certainly, that giving of wealth without any right for it is wastefulness and lavishness. It honors him before people, but disgraces him with Allah. If a man gives his property to those who have no right for it or do not deserve it, Allah deprives him of their gratefulness, and their love too would be for others. Only the slavish flatterers and the liars will show him false gratitude. These two individuals do so only for obtaining the same previous gifts. Then if he fell on bad days and needed their help, they would prove the worst comrades and ignoble friends. They will address to him the sayings of the ignorant as long as he gifts them while he closes the hand with God. Is there then any fate more ill-omened than this? And is there such a profitless and losing favor? He who receives some money should use it for regarding the relatives, receiving the guests hospitably, releasing the pauper and the prisoners, and relieving the indebted, the wayfarers, the poor, and the emigrants. He should also be clement for winning the rewards and the rights. If he follows so, he will win a good reputation in this world and the rewards of the world to come.

Imam Ali's Description of the World for the God-Fearing

Jabir bin Abdillah al-Ansari related: We were mentioning the defects of this world when Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) came to us, after midnight, and asked about our question of discussion after he had finished from fighting his enemies in Basra. As he knew we had been dispraising this world, he said:

All praise and thanks be to God. So now, why are some people dispraising this world? Is it for they pursued asceticism from it? This world is the lodging of honesty for them who act honestly with it. It is the lodging of good health for them who understand it. It is the lodging of richness for them who supply themselves with it. It is the place of the prostration of God's prophets (peace be upon them), the place of the descend of God's revelation, the place of the Angels' prayers, the house of the God's adorers, and the place of the trade of God's disciples. In this world, the disciples acquire God's mercy and win Paradise. Who can then offend this world, Jabir? It declared its departure, informed of its discontinuity, announced its vanishing, exhibited its misfortune in the exhibition of misfortune, urged pleasure through its pleasure, ended its day with a misfortune, and began it with grace and good health as a signs of frightening and attraction of desires. Some people are dispraising it after they felt sorry. It served them honestly, reminded them and they remembered, admonished them and they learned, frightened them and they feared, and attracted their desires and they were desirous. O you who dispraise the world but you are deceived by its deception, in which situations did the world deserve your dispraise? In which situations did it attract your desire towards it? Was it when your forefathers were changed into tatter? Or was it when your foremothers laid their heads on dust? Very often you were the nurse of many people as you watched for their cure, prescribed medicine for them, and fetched them physicians. But you could not achieve your request, and your hopes did not come true.

In fact, the world represented the truth for you in the situation of such people and presented that your manner would be like them when your dearest people will not benefit you, your calls will be not answered. This is when agonies of death attain their climax when moaning is useless and wailing is ineffectual. When the mediastinum presses them forcibly and the throat suffocates with them. Then, no call you will hear and no tune will terrify. How long grief will occur when the deadline falls. Then you will be carried in a casket by four hands to settle in the grave forever in a narrow place. Thus, the power has gone, the period -of life- come to end, the kind people left, and the amicable brothers interrupted. In addition, the close friends have no longer approached, the visitors have no longer attended, the house has no longer extended. The practices are no longer possible and the news are no longer available. The heirs hurried to have their shares of the heritage, the woe is falling, and the sins are encircling. If you did good acts during your life, your prize will be pleasant. If you did evil, then the result will be anguish. How is it useful for souls to settle when death is the inevitable result and grave is the inevitable house? This is surely a sufficient admonisher.

Jabir said: Then Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) asked me to visit the graves. There, he spoke: O occupants of dust, O occupants of strangeness, your houses have been abided, your heritage has been distributed, and your wives have been married. There are the news that we carry for you. What are the news that you have for us? The Imam spoke after a considerable while:

I swear by Him Who raised the heavens and they were exalted, and extended the earth and it was extended, if they are permitted to speak, they will say: We found that the best supplies is God-fearing. O Jabir, you may return.

Imam Ali's Sermon of Faith, Spirits, and Variety of Spirits

A man said to Imam Ali, peace be upon him: There are some people claiming that faithful servants will not commit fornication, drink intoxicants, use usury, or shed forbidden blood. I could not accept so. It is surely difficult for me to claim that the servant, who offers prayers and will burry me when I die and I will burry him when he is dead, is unfaithful just because he committed an insignificant sin. Imam Ali, peace be upon him, said: Yes, it is. This is true. I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) say: "God created people on three characters, and made them three classes." This is God's saying:

The people of the right hand. How happy they will be! The people of the left hand. How miserable they will be! The foremost ones will be the nearest ones to God. The foremost ones to whom God refers are the prophets -whether messengers or not-. God supplied them with five spirits: spirit of holiness, spirit of faith, spirit of power, spirit of passion, and physical spirit. With the spirit of holiness, they were sent as prophets and messengers. With the spirit of faith, they worshipped God exclusively without betaking any associate with Him. With the spirit of power, they fought their enemies and made their livings. With the spirit of passion, they enjoyed the sweetness of food and drink and married women legally. With the physical spirit, they grew up and took their courses. Those are forgiven and their sins are overlooked. For them, God says: We gave some of Our Messengers preference over others. To some of them God spoke and He raised the rank of some others. We gave authoritative proofs to Jesus, son of Mary, and supported him by the Holy Spirit.

About them, God also says:

… And supported them by a Spirit from Himself. By this spirit, God honored and favored them to the others. They are forgiven. God then refers to the people of the right hand. They are the faithful believers. God supplied them with four spirits: spirit of faith, spirit of power, spirit of passion, and physical spirit.

A servant is still keeping these four spirits perfectly until he encounters some manners. "What are these manners?" asked the man. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered: The first manner is that to which God refers in His saying:

Some of you will grow to an extremely old age and lose your memory. God is All-knowing and Almighty. Thus, all the spirits will disappear due to such an extreme old age. However, he does not desert faith, because it is God who caused him to encounter such an extreme old age due to which he could not recognize the times of prayers, practice the night worship, or fast during days. This is a reduction of the spirit of faith although it will not harm, God willing.

The spirit of passion is also reduced to the degree that even if the most beautiful woman passes by him he will not any desire towards her. The physical spirit, by which he moves and advances in age until death overcomes, only remains. This is the good manner, because it is God who does this to him. He may pass by manners in his power and youth. When he intends to commit a sin, the spirit of power encourages him, the spirit of passion makes it attractive, and the physical spirit leads him to commit the sin. If he commits it, he will separate from faith and faith will separate from him. He will not regain the faith unless he repents. If he repents and recognizes the (obligatory) loyalty -to the Prophet and his family-, God will accept his repentance. If he commits the sin again, he then will be in Hell because he will be disloyal -to the Prophet and his family-. The people of the left hand are the Jews and the Christians. God the Majestic says: Those to whom We have given the Book (Bible), know you -i.e. they know the obligatory loyalty to the Prophet and his family that is recorded in the Torah and the Bible- just as a well as they know their sons -in their houses-. It is certain that some of them deliberately hide the truth. Never doubt that the essence of truth comes from your Lord.

When they denied what they had known, God punished them for so. He seized the spirit of holiness from them and made their bodies carry three spirits only: spirit of power, spirit of passion, and physical spirit. God then attached them to the animals. He says: They are like cattle… This is because animals carry things with the spirit of power, eat with the spirit of passion, and walk with the physical spirit. "You have surely enlivened my heart," said the asker.

Imam Ali's Commandment for Ziyad bin Annadr when assigned him as the commander of his army in the Battle of Siffine

Fear God in every morning and evening. Be cautious of being deceived. Do not feel secured from misfortunes. You should know that if you do not deprive yourself of many of your desires, as fear of the bad result, your whims will drive you into many injuries until you move away. Prevent yourself from oppression, tyranny, aggression, and hostility. I have given you the commandment of this army. Do not humiliate them or use arrogance against them. Certainly, the best of you is the most God-fearing. Acquire knowledge from the scholars among them, teach the ignorant among them, and show clemency to the foolish. You will gain welfare only through knowledge and abstinence from harm and ignorance. The Imam (peace be upon him) then sent another missive of commandment and admonition: You should know that the vanguards are the overseers, and the overseers are the front. If

you leave your country and approach your enemy, you should not feel weary from addressing the front to every side and to some of the defiles, woods, and secret places as well as every area so that your enemies will not raid or trap you. Do not give the orders of directing the battalions and tribes from morning to evening unless there are covering powers beyond them. If a matter occurs or a trouble befalls you, you will have covering powers. If you raid your enemies or if they raid you, your camp should be on the heights, versants of mountains, or in rivers so that they will form fortresses for you and will prevent your enemies from reaching you. Your fighting should be in one and two faces. Order the overseers to settle on the summits of mountains, heights, and on the edges of rivers. They should oversee for you so that the enemies will not attack you from an expected or secured place. If you want to reside, you should reside collectively, and when you want to continue your march, you should continue collectively. When you reside at night, you should encompass your camp with spears and armors. The archers should protect the carriers of armors so that you will not be taken surprisingly or inattentively. Guard your army yourself. Beware, you should not sleep unbrokenly and should not pass a night with deep sleep. You should keep up this tradition until you meet your enemy. You should be slow in fighting. You may hurry only when a good opportunity is granted for you. Do not fight before the enemy attacks you or you receive my order. Peace and God's mercy and blessings be upon you.

Imam Ali's Description of the Relaters of Narratives

Sulaim bin Qais said to Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him): I have heard Salman, Abutharr, and al-Miqdad speaking of matters regarding the exegesis of the Quran and the sayings and narratives of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). Then I hear you testifying so. I also noticed many other matters regarding the Quranic exegeses and the prophetic narratives in people's hands, but they opposed them while others were forging lies willfully and interpreting the Quran out of their own impressions. What is the reality of this matter? Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered:

You have asked; so, listen to the answer. Certainly, what is current among the people are right and wrong, true and false, repealing and repealed, general and particular, definite and indefinite, exact and surmised. Even during the Prophet's days false sayings had been attributed to him, so much so that he had to say during his sermon: "Whoever attributes falsehoods to me makes his abode in Hell." However, many forged lies against him after his death. Those who relate traditions are of four categories, no more: The hypocrite is a person who makes a show of faith and adopts the appearance of a Muslim; he does not hesitate in sinning nor does he keep aloof from vice; he willfully attributes false things against the Messenger of Allah - may Allah bless him and his descendants. If people knew that he was a hypocrite and a liar, they would not accept anything from him and would not confirm what he says. Rather they say that he is the companion of the Prophet, has met him, heard (his sayings) from him and acquired (knowledge) from him. They therefore do not recognize his reality when they acceded to his knowledge. Allah too had warned well about the hypocrites and described them fully. He says: "Their physical appearance attracts you when you see them and when they speak, you carefully listen to them."

They have continued after the Holy Prophet as they spread in many countries. They gained positions with the leaders of misguidance and callers towards Hell through falsehoods and slanderings. So, they put them in high posts and judiciary positions, made them officers over the heads of the people, and amassed wealth through them. People are always with the rulers and after this world that they regard as their goal, except those to whom Allah affords protection. This is the first of the four categories.

Then there is the individual who heard (a saying) from the Holy Prophet but did not memorize it as it was, but surmised it. He does not lie willfully. Now, he carries the saying with him and relates it, acts upon it and claims that: "I heard it from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)." If the Muslims come to know that he has committed a mistake in it, they will not accept it from him, and if he himself knows that he is on the wrong he will give it up.

The third man is he who heard the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) ordering to do a thing and later the Prophet refrained the people from doing it, but this man did not know it, or he heard the Prophet refraining people from a thing and later he allowed it, but this man did not know it. In this way he retained in his mind what had been repealed, and did not retain the repealing tradition. If he knew that it had been repealed he would reject it, or if the Muslims knew, when they heard it from him, that it had been repealed they would reject it. This is the third category. The last, namely the fourth man, is he who does not speak a lie against Allah or against His Prophet. He hates falsehood out of fear for Allah and respect for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and does not commit mistakes, but retains (in his mind) exactly what he heard (from the Prophet), and he relates it as he heard it without adding anything or omitting anything. He heard the repealing tradition, he retained it and acted upon it, and he heard the repealed tradition and rejected it. The traditions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) are as same as the Quran in the face that some of them are repealed and some are repealing. Likewise, some of them are decisive and some are allegorical. Like the Quran, the wording of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is of two kinds-one is particular and one is general. God the Majestic says:

Take only what the Messenger gives to you and desist from what he forbids you.

Sometimes a man would hear him but he would not know what Allah, the Glorified, meant by it or what the Messenger of Allah meant by it. In this way the listener carries it and memorizes it without knowing its meaning and its true intention, or what was its reason. Among the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) all were not in the habit of putting him questions and ask him the meanings, indeed they always wished that some Bedouin or stranger might come and ask him (peace be upon him) so that they would also listen. I used to visit him once a day and he used to keep me alone with him to plunge in everything in which he plunged. All the companions knew that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) did this only to me exclusively. Sometimes, he used to come to my house. Whenever I was before him, he used to ask the others to leave and ask his wives to let him alone. Whenever I asked, he answered me. Whenever I kept silent or had my questions finished, he opened a matter of discussion with me. Whenever a Verse was revealed to him, whether at night or daylight, in a heaven or the earth, in the world or the world to come, in Paradise or Hell, in a plain or a mountain, or in light or gloom, he used to recite it before me, teach me its interpretation, exegesis, repealing, repealed, decisive, allegorical, particular, and general matters. He also used to teach me where and what for was it revealed until the Day of Resurrection.

Imam Ali's Wording of Grounds of Islam and the Reality of Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness

Kumayl bin Ziyad related: I asked Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) about the grounds of Islam. He answered:

The grounds of Islam are seven. The first of them is the mind on which tolerance is based. The second is the preservation of the honor and the truthfulness. The third is reciting the Quran properly. The fourth is to love and hate for God's sake. The fifth is the recognition of the family of Mohammed (peace be upon him and his family) and the loyalty to their leadership. The sixth is the fulfillment of the friends' rights and the protection of them. The seventh is to show good neighborhood with people. Kumayl bin Ziyad said: I asked, "It happens that a servant -of God- commits a sin then seeks the forgiveness of God. What is the limit of seeking God's forgiveness?" Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered: "It is repentance, son of Ziyad." "Only?" wondered I. "No," answered he. "How then?" I asked. He answered, "When a servant commits a sin, he says, 'I seek God's forgiveness,' by movement." "What is that movement?" asked I. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered, "It is the movement of the two lips and the tongue. He should attach the reality to that movement." "What is that reality?" I asked. "It is a certification in the heart and a determination of avoiding committing the sin from which it was repented," answered the Imam. "If I do so, will I be regarded as one of the repentant?" asked I. "No," answered the Imam. "How is that?" wondered I. "This is because you have not attained the origin yet," explained the Imam. "What is the origin of seeking God's forgiveness, then?" asked I. The Imam replied: The origin of seeking forgiveness of God is to refer to the repentance from the sin from which you have sought God's forgiveness. This is the first grade of the worshippers. The abandonment of sins and the seeking of God's forgiveness have six indications. First is to feel sorry for the past deeds. Second is to determine not to commit that sin ever again. Third is to fulfill the rights of the other creatures that are obligatory upon you. Fourth is to fulfill the rights of God in every obligatory matter. Fifth is to dissolve the flesh, which was composed due to forbidden and ill-gotten things, until the skin touches the bones. Only then you may start to build new flesh. Sixth is to cause your body to suffer the pain of acts of obedience of God as harshly as that when you caused it to taste the pleasures of acts of disobedience to God.

Imam Ali's Will to Al-Hasan His Son

This is the will of Ali bin Abi Talib:

I advise the believers to declare that there is no god but Allah exclusively without any associate and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. He sent him with guidance and the right religion so as to make it prevail all the other religions even if the polytheists detest it. Allah's blessings and compliments be upon Mohammed. Then my prayer, sacrifice, life, and death are all for God, the Lord of the universe. Nothing is equal to Him. Thus are the commandments, which I have received and I am the first Muslim (submitted to the will of God.) I advise you, O Hasan, as well as all my sons, family members, and every believer who receives this will, to fear Allah your Lord and do not die before you are Muslims. Cling to the tie of God altogether and do not be discrepant for I have heard the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) saying: "Settlement of mutual differences is better than the general prayers and fasting, while the true fatal thing, which is also the shaver of the religion, is the rupture of the mutual relations." All power belongs to God.

Look after your relatives and build good relations with them and God will make your trial -on the Day of Resurrection- easy. (Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of orphans. So, they should not be ruined in your presence. I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) saying: "For him whoever provides for an orphan till he attains independency, God will make Paradise his inevitable abode as He will make Hell the inevitable abode of those who wrongfully consume the property of orphans."

(Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of the Quran. No one should excel you in acting upon it. (Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of your neighbors, because they were the subject of the Prophet's advice. He went on advising in their favor till we thought he would allow them a share in inheritance.

(Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of your Lord's House (Kaaba). Do not forsake it so long as you live, because if it is abandoned you will not be spared. The least thing that the pilgrim will gain after returning from hajj is the forgiveness of all his past sins. (Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of prayer, because it is the best of the deeds and the pillar of your religion. (Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of the zakat because it extinguishes the wrath of your Lord. (Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of fasting for the month of Ramadan because it is a protection against the fire of Hell. (Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of the paupers and the poor. You should make them have shares in your livings. (Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of jihad with the help of your property, lives and tongues in the way of Allah. Those who practice jihad are only two categories-either an imam of guidance or an obedient of an imam who pursues his guidance. (Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of the progeny of your Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). They should never let them be wronged among you when you are able to protect them.

(Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of the companions of your Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) who neither commit a dissent nor did they succor a heretic. the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) ordered to keep them and cursed those who commit a dissent or succor a heretic whether among them or among others. (Fear) Allah (and) keep Allah in view in the matter of your women and bondmaids. The last word of your Prophet was his saying: "I advise you to keep the two weak- women and bondmaids." Keep the prayers, keep the prayers, keep the prayers. Do not care for any blame from anybody in the sake of God so that God will protect you against whoever intends to hurt or wrong you. Use good wording with people as God ordered you. Do not give up bidding for good and forbidding from evil lest the mischievous gain positions over you, and then if you will pray to God against them, the prayers will not be granted. O my sons, You should keep to a respect for kinship, spending for others, and mutual collaboration. Avoid turning away from one another, severing mutual relations, and discrepancy. Cooperate with each other in righteousness and piety, not in sin and hostility. Have fear of God; He is stern in His retribution. May God save you, as a household, and save your Prophet among you. I deposit you with God and recite upon you peace and God's mercy and blessings.

He then kept saying: "There is no god but Allah," till he passed away.

Imam Ali's Preference of Knowledge

O people, you should know that the perfection of the religion is the seeking of knowledge and exercising it. The seeking of knowledge is more incumbent than seeking earnings. As a matter of fact, the earnings are already distributed among you and guaranteed for you. They were distributed and guaranteed by the Just One Who will unquestionably fulfill the distribution and the guarantee. Knowledge is hoarded with its people and you are asked to seek it from them. Seek it and know that the abundance of wealth will ruin the religion and harden the heart. The abundance of knowledge and its application will improve the religion and lead to Paradise. Expenditure reduces the wealth while knowledge increases when it is spent -carried to others-. The expenditure of knowledge is to reach it to its retainers and relaters. You should know also that the association and the pursuance of the knowledgeable is a followed religion. As well, the obedience to the knowledgeable yields the good advantages and erases the bad advantages. It is also a supply for the believers as it raises them to a high rank during their lifetimes and grants them a good reputation after their death. Knowledge has many advantages. Modesty is its head, acquittal of envy is its eye, perception is its ear, truthfulness is its tongue, scrutiny is its memory, well intention is its heart, the recognition of the causes of things is its mind, mercy is its hand, safety is its determination, visiting the knowledgeable is its foot, piety is its wisdom, salvation is its settlement, good health is its captain, loyalty is its ship, nice wording is its weapon, satisfaction is its sword, courtesy is its string, discussion with the knowledgeable is its army, good mannerism is its wealth, avoidance of committing sins is its hoard, favor is its provisions, amicability is its succor, right way is its guide, and association with the pious is its companion.

Short Maxims of Imam Ali

1. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

Piety, concealment of the good actions, steadfastness against disasters, and suppression of the misfortunes are within the treasures of Paradise. 2. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The best friend is good mannerism. It is the title of the believers' record books.

3. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The true abstinent in this world is he whose tolerance is not overcome by the ill-gotten matters and whose gratitude is not engaged by the legal gotten matters.

4. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) wrote to Abdullah bin Abbas: So then, a man becomes delighted if he catches up the things that he would never miss and becomes unhappy if he misses the things that he would never catch up. You should be delighted only for the things of the next life that you have caught up, and should be sorry only for the things of the next life that you have missed. Do not be excessively happy for gaining a worldly pleasure and do not be excessively unhappy for missing it. All your concern should be for that which will occur to you after death.

5. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said about the censure of this world: It begins with hardship and ends with decline. Judgment will be set for its legally gotten things and punishment will be sentenced for its ill-gotten things. If somebody is healthy in it, he will feel secure, and if he becomes ill, he will be sorrowful. If he becomes wealthy, he will be seditious and if he becomes poor, he will be sad. He whoever runs for it will miss it, and he whoever disregards it will gain it. It will blind him whoever gazes at it and will teach him whoever looks at it properly.

6. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: When you cherish someone you should cherish him moderately for he may be your enemy someday, and when you hate someone you should hate him moderately for he may be your friend someday.

7. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: No wealth like intelligence and no poverty harsher than ignorance.

8. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The value of a man is what he does expertly.

9. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Fear is attached to disappointment, and pudency is attached to deprivation. Wisdom is the lost of the believer who should seek it even if it is found with the evil ones.

10. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Had the scholars carried knowledge properly, God and the angels as well as all people of obedience would have cherished them. Unfortunately, they carried knowledge for seeking worldly pleasures; therefore, God abominated them and people disgraced them.

11. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Tolerance, silence, and expecting the Relief are the best of worship.

12. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Each crisis has an end at which it will definitely fade away. If you are encountering a crisis, you should submit and be patient until it passes away. Any attempt to find a solution will not solve the problem. It will make it worse.

13. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said to Malik al-Ashtar: O Malik, retain and understand the following wording: O Malik, the owners of weak conviction are disregarding their personality. He whoever takes greed as his slogan is disgracing himself. He whoever publicizes his problem is satisfied with humility. He whoever shows others his secrets is disrespecting himself. He whoever makes his tongue as his leader is perishing himself. Greed is the butcher of the personality. He who intrudes himself in various sorts of acts will surely be disappointed by his desire. Stinginess is dishonor. Cowardice is shortcoming. Piety is a shelter. Thankfulness is fortune. Patience is bravery. The poor is strange in his homeland. Poverty prevents the intelligent from providing his arguments. Satisfaction is the best comrade. Good manners are new garments. The rank of a man is his mind. A man's chest is the store of his secrets. Verification is prudence. Thinking is a fine mirror. Forbearance is a virtuous character. Almsgiving is an effective medicine. The current actions will be in front of their doers later on. Learning examples is a good warner. Good humor is the trap of amiability.

14. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The rank of patience to faith is as same as the rank of the head to the body. Hence, the impatient are faithless.

15. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: You are in respite followed by a deadline. With you there is the hope that precludes you from acting -good deeds-. Seize the opportunity of respite, take the initiative to the deadline, distrust the hope, and do as much as possible. Is there an opportunity of avoidance, escape, getaway, shelter, or refuge or not? How are you then turned away?

16. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: I command you to adhere to God-fearing because it is surely the delight of the suppliant seeker -of God's mercy and favors- and the confidence of the homeless seeker of asylum. Betake God-fearing as a hidden slogan and mention God so purely that you will have the best life and will be lead to the courses of safety. Look at this world with the eye of the abstinent that is about to leave it, because it surely dislodges the relaxed resident and distresses the secure luxurious. Whatever passes away from it is no longer expected and whatever is to come is not realized so that it will be awaited. Its comfort is connected to its trouble and its survival is connected to its bereavement. Its pleasure is mixed with grief and its survival is mixed with weakness and feebleness.

17. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Vanity comes from tyranny. Tyranny comes from arrogance. Arrogance comes from conceit. The Shaitan is a present enemy who promises falsely. Muslims are brothers. Do not disappoint each other and do not impute dishonor to each other. The canons of the religion are the same and its courses are clear. He who embraces these courses will catch up, he who departs them will surely fall behind, and he who leaves them will surely apostatize. A Muslim should never say untruth when he speaks, never breach when he promises, and never betray when something is deposited with him.

18. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Intelligence is the intimate friend of the believer, clemency is his supporter, clemency is his father, and lenience is his brother. The intelligent must enjoy three characters-he must think of his affairs, control his tongue (against saying bad wording), and realizes the nature of the time he is living in. Certainly, poverty is a branch of misfortune. Illness of bodies is harsher than poverty. Ill-heartedness is harsher than illness of body. Certainly, financial prosperity is one of the graces. Physical soundness is better than financial prosperity. The true God-fearing is better than physical soundness.

19. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: A believer should divide his time into three parts-he should supplicate to his Lord secretly in one, settle an account with himself in the second, and permit himself to enjoy the good and legal pleasures in the third. The intelligent should not be attentive except in three manners - when he tries to improve his livelihood, when he tries to step forward for the life to come, and when he tries to gain a lawful pleasure.

20. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Many are those whom are tempted by receiving graces, many are those whom are trapped by the concealment of their flaws, and many are those whom are cheated by wording of praise. God has never used a means of test more infelicitous than respite. God the Majestic says: We only give them time to let them increase their sins.

21. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: You should gather in your heart the need for people and the dispensing with them. You may have the need for people through showing good wording and good humor with them, and you may have the dispensing with them through the candor of your honor and the continuity of your power.

22. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Do not be angry and do not enrage others. Exchange greetings and use good wording.

23. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The generous becomes lenient when his clemency is beseeched, but the mean becomes more severe when he is treated kindly.

24. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: May I tell you of the true scholar? He is that who does not permit people to act disobediently to God and does not make them despair of His mercy, does not make them feel secure from God's retribution and does not substitute anything for the Quran. Adoration without comprehension, knowledge without pondering (over things), and recitation without understanding-all these are valueless.

25. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: When God will gather people -for judgment- a caller will declare: O people, today, the most favorable to God will be the most fearful of Him. The most preferable to God will be the best doers of good acts. The closest to God will be the most desirous for gaining what He has in possession through acting. The most honorable to God will be the most God-fearing.

26. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: I wonder at those who protect themselves against having harmful food, how do they not protect themselves from committing sins so that they will be saved from Hell? I wonder at those who purchase slaves with their money, why do they not purchase the free through doing favors to them? Good and evil cannot be recognized with any means other than people. If you want to recognize good, you should do it so as to know its people, and if you want to recognize evil, you should do it so as to know its people.

27. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: For you, I am only afraid of two things-prolonged hope and pursuance of passions. The prolonged hope makes you forget the life to come, and the pursuance of passions precludes you from the right

28. A man from Basra asked Imam Ali (peace be upon him) about the qualifications of friends. He answered: There are two kinds of friends-friends of confidence and friends of grimace. The friends of confidence are the refuge, the wing, the folks, and the wealth. If you confide in your friend, you should provide your wealth and help to him. You should also befriend him who befriends him and antagonize him who antagonizes him. You should keep his secrets and defects and publicize his good conducts. You should know, O asker, that the friends of confidence are as scanty as red sulfur. Regarding the friends of grimace, you gain from them only your pleasure; therefore, you should not deprive them of your pleasure. Do not ask them for any further thing. Give them happy mien and good wording as long as they give you their happy mien and good wording.

29. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Do not befriend the enemy of your friend lest you become the enemy of your friend.

30. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Do not desert your friend due to suspicion and do not leave him before you blame him.

31. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: A Muslim should avoid befriending three categories of people: the sinful, the foolish, and the liars. The sinful shows you his evildoings as good deeds, wants you to be like him, and does not help you in the affairs of your religion and your life to come. It is rude and tough to befriend such an individual whose visit to you brings you dishonor. The foolish does not advise you of good and is not expected to save you from any problem even if he does his best. Moreover, he may harm you as he intends to benefit you. His death is better than his life, his silence is better than his words, and his remoteness is better than his closeness. The liar will deprive you of any pleasant life with him. He tells others of your conducts and relates to you the others' conducts. Whenever he finishes from telling a lie, he invents another to the degree that even his true sayings cannot be believed. He sows enmity between people to plant malice in their hearts. Fear God and consider for yourselves.

32. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Do not care when you associate with the intelligent even if you are deprived of his generosity. You may benefit by his intelligence, but be cautions of his ill manners. Do not neglect associating with the generous even if you are deprived of benefiting by his intelligence. You may benefit by his generosity for your mind. Escape as remote as possible from the mean foolish individuals.

33. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Steadfastness is of three sorts-steadfastness against misfortunes, steadfastness in (performing) the acts of obedience to God, and steadfastness by the avoidance of the acts of disobedience to Him.

34. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: It will be quite worthy for those who are able to prevent themselves from enjoying the following four characters to be saved from encountering any detestable matter. These four characters are rashness, disputation, self-conceit, and indolence.

35. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Deeds are either obligatory, recommendable, or acts of disobedience. Regarding the obligatory deeds, the servants -of God- practice them under God's order, will, satisfaction, knowledge, and arrangement. Hence, they save themselves -from God's punishment- through carrying out such obligatory deeds. The recommendable deeds are not God's order, yet they are done under His will, satisfaction, knowledge, and arrangement. As the servants act such deeds, they are rewarded for them. Regarding the acts of disobedience (to God), they are done not for God's order, will, and satisfaction. Yet, they are done under His knowledge and arrangement. He arranges their times but the servants commit them optionally; therefore, God punishes them for committing such acts of disobedience. This is because God has warned the servants against them, but they did not obey.

36. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: O people, God enjoys a right (that is incumbent upon you) in every favor He bestows. He will increase them who thank Him (for that favor), while those who do not show gratitude are risking the removal of these favors and dragging God's punishment nearer to them. You should show God that you are fearful of the removal of the favors and terrible for committing sins.

37. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: He who encounters poverty and does not believe that such a situation has been God's favor to him is surely wasting an expected errand. He who is given wealth but does not believe that it has been a means of test is feeling secure from an alarmed matter.

38. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: O people, supplicate to God to provide you with conviction and beseech to Him to grant you good health. Good health is surely the best of graces, and Conviction is the best thing that perpetuates in the heart. The true wronged is that who wrongs his religion. The true happy is that whose conviction is proper.

39. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: No one can find the true taste of faith before he believes that whatever befalls him would never miss him and whatever missed him would never befall him.

40. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The harshest misfortunes that a believer may suffer are the deprivation of three things-the consolation with wealth, self-equity, and very much reference to God. I do not mean that you mention God by phrases such as 'Praise to God' and 'Glory to God', but you should refer to Him by adhering to the halal and refraining from the haram.

41. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: He who satisfies himself with only what suffices him from the worldly affairs will be sufficed with the least of it, but whoever is dissatisfied with what suffices him nothing at all will suffice him.

42. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Death is preferred to meanness and endurance is preferred to anxiety. This life consists of two days -one for you and one against you. On the day that is for you, you should not behave vainly, and on the day that is against you, you should not be grieved because both days are tests for you.

43. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Do favor to whomever you want and he will be your prisoner. 44. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Flattery and envy are not within the characters of a believer except when they are used for seeking studies.

44. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The supports of atheism are four. They are desire -for the worldly pleasures-, fear -from missing any worldly pleasure-, dissatisfaction -with the acts of God-, and anger.

45. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Patience is the key to the achievement, and success is the end result of the patient. For every seeker of a matter there is a definite time that is controlled by the destiny.

46. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Tongue is a measure that is lowered by ignorance and outweighed by mind.

47. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: For those who avenge themselves improperly, God will inflict humility upon them. Certainly, God is the enemy of whatever He detests.

48. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: He who seeks good will never feel perplexed and he who seeks -others'- consult will never feel sorry.

49. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Countries were constructed because of patriotism. 51. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: He who observes the following three matters will be happy: You should thank God for every grace that you gain, you should seek God's forgiveness whenever your earnings fail to reach you, and you should say, 'All power and might belong to God' whenever a misfortune inflicts you. 52. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Sciences are three-jurisprudence for the knowledge of religions, medicine for the cure of the bodies, and grammar for the correction of the language.

50. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: God's rights (that are incumbent upon His servants) in difficulty are satisfaction and patience, and His rights in ease are praise and gratitude. 54. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Avoidance of sins is easier than seeking (the acceptance of) repentance. Often a one-hour passion may bring about a time-consuming grief. Death is the sign of the scandal and valueless of this world. It did not leave any moment of happiness for the intelligent and did not leave any moment of pleasure for the attentive.

51. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Knowledge is the leader, act is the driver, and the soul is balky. 56. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: You should hope for the unexpected more than the expected. As he went for fetching a kindle of fire for his family, Moses (peace be upon him) was back with prophecy after God had spoken with him. As she went out, the queen of Sheba converted to Islam with Solomon the prophet (peace be upon him). Similarly, the sorcerers of the Pharaoh went for supporting the king, but they went back with faith. 57. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: People's similarity to their rulers is more than their similarity to their fathers. 58. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

O people, you should know that he who is upset because of a false wording that is said about him is not intelligent, and whoever is satisfied with the praise of the ignorant is not wise. People are the sons of what they do expertly. The value of every man is what he does expertly. Discuss matters of knowledge so that your posts will be recognized. 59. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

God's mercy be upon him who observes his Lord, abstains from committing sins, challenges his passions, distrusts his expectations, ties himself to God-fearing with reins, and binds himself to the fear of the Lord with bridles to lead it to the obedience with its reins and prevents it from committing acts of disobedience with its bridle. He raises his sight to the world to come, expects death in any moment, thinks ceaselessly, stays up for nights, abstains from the worldly pleasures, works hard for the life to come, and betakes patience as the pack animal of his safety and God-fearing as the provisions of his death and the remedy of his malady. As he pondered and measured, he knew the reality of this world and people. He learns for understanding and opting for straightforwardness. His heart is pierced by the mention of the world to come; therefore, he folded his bed and deserted his pillow. His desire for what is there with God is so great, and his fear from God is so intense. He shows less than what he conceals and suffices with less than what he knows. Such individuals are surely God's deposits on the earth and the means by whom He saves the servants from misfortunes. They fulfill their pledges with God so perfectly. The last of their prayer is 'All praise is due to Allah the Lord of the worlds.'

60. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Earnings are given the authority on foolishness, deprivation is bound to mind, and misfortune is bound to patience. 61. As a consolation for the death of Abdurrahman, Al-Ash'ath's brother, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said to him: If you show impatience, then you are fulfilling the right of Abdurrahman (that is incumbent upon you). But if you show patience then you are fulfilling the right of God. Nevertheless, if you show patience, you will suffer the matter while you are praised, and if you show impatience, you will suffer it while you are dispraised.

Al-Ash'ath said: We are Allah's and to Him we will return. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) asked: Do you know the interpretation of your saying? Al-Ash'ath replied: You are surely the utmost and best of knowledge. The Imam (peace be upon him) said: Your saying, 'We are Allah's,' is a confession of God's possession -of everything-, while your saying, 'To Him we will return,' is a confession of death.

62. One day, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) rode a pack animal and some people walked with him. As he noticed so, he said: Do you not know that walking with the rider ruins the -manners of- the rider and humiliate the walker? Leave me now. 63. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

Matters are of three kinds: a matter the guidance of which is clear; hence, you should follow it, a matter the misguidance of which is clear; hence, you should avoid it, or a matter that is confused; hence, you should refer to those who can solve its confusion. 64. One day, Jabir asked Imam Ali (peace be upon him): "How was your morning, Amirul Muminin?" He answered: We began this morning with the innumerable graces of our Lord while we have innumerable acts of disobedience to Him. We do not know whether we should first thank Him for the nice graces that He is dispersing on us or for our bad deeds that He is covering up. 65. As he consoled Abdullah bin Abbas for the death of one of his babies, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: A misfortune that inflicts someone other than you while its reward is yours is better for me than a misfortune that inflicts you while its reward is another's. Hence, the reward is yours not by you, and the consolation is said to you not because of you, and God may recompense you in the same way that He recompensed from you.

66. As he was asked about he pure repentance, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: A pure repentance is feeling of sorrow in the heart, seeking forgiveness with the tongue (by utterance), and the intention not to do so ever again. 67. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

You have been created by ability and you have (been under the power of) the Lord compulsorily. You will inevitably lean in graves, become debris, be resurrected individually, and be condemned in judgment. God's mercy be upon the servant who confesses of his commitment (of sins), acts due to his fear (of God), watches out and takes the initiative (in doing good deeds), notices the examples and learns lessons from them, listens to the warning and abstains (from doing evil), responds and returns (to God), seeks guidance and patterns (after the example), searches by means of seeking, escapes by means of running away, takes supplies, has relaxed conscience, readies for the day to come, equips himself for the day of his departure, direction of his course, manner of his need, and place of his poverty, and supplies himself with what he will need for his eternal abode. Arrange for yourselves. The people of the youth's opulence should not wait for anything other than the bending of senility, people of good health should wait for nothing other than the mishaps of ailment, and people of survival should not wait for anything other than the surprise of termination, nearness of the deadline, and the imminence of doom.

68. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Fear God like the fear of him who disrobes everything and prepares himself for it, strives distinctively, shrinks leisurely, worries fearfully, and regards the unavoidable turn, the end result, and the consequence of the deeds. God is surely sufficient punisher and supporter, Paradise is sufficient reward and attainment, Hell is definite punishment and example, and God's Book is sufficient arguer and adversary. 69. As a man asked Imam Ali (peace be upon him) about Sunna, heresy, discrepancy, and congruity, he answered: The Sunna is the traditions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). Heresy is whatsoever opposes the Sunna. Discrepancy is the wrong party regardless of their great numbers. Congruity is the right party regardless of their little number. A servant -of God- should not hope for anything other than his Lord and should not fear anything other than his guilt. Scholars should not be embarrassed by saying, 'God is the most knowledgeable,' when they cannot find an answer for the question that is addressed to him. The rank of patience for faith is as same as the rank of the head for the body.

69. As a man asked him for an advice, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said to him: I advise you not to state a limit for the numerousness of deeds of charity and not to state a limit for the scantiness of acts of disobedience to God.

70. As a man asked him for an advice, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said to him: Do not think of poverty and longevity. 72. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The religious people enjoy certain distinctive features: truthfulness, custody of deposits, fulfillment of pledges, regard of the relatives, merciful treatment for the weak, lack of copulation -with their wives-, doing favors, good mannerism, broad-mindedness, and pursuance of knowledge as well as whatever brings near to God. They will receive abundant blessings and the best eternal dwelling. 73. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Long hope will unavoidably lead to the negligence of acting -good deeds-. 74. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The most similar thing to son of Adam -man- is the scales, since people are either imperfect due to ignorance or outbalancing due to knowledge. 75. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

To revile at the believers is defection, to fight them is atheism, and their wealth is as sacred as their blood (soul). 76. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Offer your soul and wealth to your friend, offer your equity and fairness for your enemy, and offer your courtesy and charity for people. Greet people so that they will greet you.

77. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: In this world, the masters of people are the openhanded, while in the world to come the God-fearing will be the masters. 78. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

Definitely, I encounter one of two things. One is not mine. It was not given to me in the past and I will not hope for it in the future. The other thing is mine. I will never obtain it in other than its proper time even if I use the entire power of the heavens and the earth. Then, why should I cause my life to fade away for any of these two matters? 79. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

The true believer is that who learns lessons from what he sees, ponders over things when he is silent, mentions God when he speaks, thanks (God) when he is rich, and becomes patient when a trouble befalls him. He is near to satisfaction and far from discontent. He is pleased with the few gifts of God and does not show frustration for the many troubles. His good intentions are too many to be applied. He intends a lot of good but can do only a part of them and sighs for the good deeds that he missed.

The hypocrite, on the other hand, is that who plays when he sees, omits when he is silent, talks nonsense when he speaks, exceeds the bonds when he is rich, and wails when a misfortune befalls him. He is near to discontent and far from satisfaction. He is displeased when he receives few gifts from God and is not satisfied with the much. He intends many evildoings but he can do only a part of them and sighs for the ill deeds that he missed. 80. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: This world and the next world are two hostile antagonists and two opposing courses. He whoever loves and accedes to this world will hate and antagonize the world to come. They are like east and west. He whoever walks between them will be remoter and remoter from one of them when he draws near to the other.

81. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: He who fears the threat -of God- will see the remote as close to him. He who is not satiated with the food of this world will not be sufficient with whatever he collects. He who runs after this world will surely miss it and whoever leaves it will surely catch it. This world is just like a shadow that is extended to a limited time. God's mercy be upon the servant who comprehends the wording of wisdom that he listens to, draws near to the guidance to which he is called, clings to the neck of a true guide to save himself, provides well-intended deeds, acts good deeds, supplies for himself, avoids the inconvenience, hits the target, gains a remuneration, challenges his passion, distrusts his hope, takes patience as the pack animal of his safety and God-fearing as the equipment of his death, adheres to the venerable course and the clear way, seizes the opportunity, prepares or the time to come, and supplies himself with as much as possible deeds. 82. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) asked a man about his manner. The man answered, "We hope and fear." The Imam (peace be upon him) spoke: He who hopes for something should seek it, and whoever fears something should escape it. I do not know the reality of the fear of a man who does not neglect the passion that he faces and I do not know the reality of the hope of a man who does not show steadfastness against a misfortune that befalls him for the sake of obtaining what he hopes for.

82. Abaya bin Rab'i asked Imam Ali (peace be upon him) about the ability by which we can stand erect, sit, and do things. The Imam (peace be upon him) answered, "You asked about the ability. Do you possess it with or without God?" Abaya could not find any answer. The Imam then said, "If you claim you possess it without God, I will kill you. And if you claim you possess it with God, I will kill you, too." "What should I say, then?" asked Abaya. The Imam said:

You possess it by the way of God who possesses it exclusively. If He gives you a part of it, then He is bestowing upon you, and if He seizes it from you, that will be a kind of His test. He is the possessor of the ability that He gives to you and He is the prevailing on the matters that you can do.

84. Al-Asbagh bin Nubata said: I heard Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) saying, "I will speak of the wording that every Muslim should comprehend." He then approached us and said:

Allah is too generous and glorious to punish anew the believer that He punishes in this world. Likewise, He is too generous and glorious to cancel the forgiveness that He provides for a believer in this world when He covers up his defect. God may strike a misfortune in the body, wealth, or family member. He then recited God's saying:

Whatever hardship befalls you is the result of your own deeds. God pardons many of your sins. Before he recited the last statement, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) contained his hands and repeated the statement three times. 85. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Shutting the mouth is the first stage of rupture of relations. Never feel sorry for the bored. The ugliest reward is the bad turn.

86. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

The first of self-conceitedness is the ruin of the mind. He who can control his tongue will be safe from the problems that it originates. He who cannot amend his manners will suffer many defects. He whose manners are ill will be detested by his family members. A single word often spoils the grace. Thanks is a shelter against sedition. Dignity is the head of personality. Submission is the interceder of the guilty. The origin of determination is the avoidance of going into suspicious matters. The treasures of provisions lie in the broadness of mannerism.

87. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Misfortunes are distributed among the creatures equally. Do not despair because of your sin while the portals of repentance are open. Right guidance lies in the opposition of passions. Death is the history of hope. Looking at the stingy causes hard-heartedness. Looking at the foolish darkens the eye. Generosity is intelligence and meanness is inadvertence.

88. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Poverty is the grand death. Fewness of the dependants is one of the two facilities. It is the half of the livelihood. Care is the half of senility. The moderate will never be needy and the seeker of others' consult will never fail. Favors are worthless unless they are done to the highborn or the religious. The very happy is that who learns lessons from others. The wronged is neither praised nor rewarded. Piety is everlasting and the sin will not be overlooked. 89. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Do favors and you will gain admiration. Carry gratefulness as slogan and the intelligent will perceive you. Avoid curiosity and the foolish will leave you. Respect your sitters and your sessions will be full (of attendants). Protect the foreigner and your neighborhood will be desirable. Treat people fairly and you will be trusted. Adhere to the high traits because they are exaltation. Beware of the mean manners because they humiliate the masters and ruin the glory.

89. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Satisfy yourself and you will gain dignity.

90. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Patience is a shelter against poverty. Care is the sign of destitute. Moderation is the avoidance of indigence. Admonition is the haven of him who seeks its refuge.

91. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: He whose dress is chosen by knowledge will have his defects screened from people.

92. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The envious cannot enjoy nice life. The bored cannot be given amiability. The liars are lacking personality.

93. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Keep your dignity up by means of loneliness.

94. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Every powerful that is under -God's- control is humble. 96. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: People perish due to two things-fear of poverty and seeking of pride.

95. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: O people, beware of fondness of this world, because it is the head of every sin, the door to every misfortune, the companion of every sedition, and the caller to every disaster. 98. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The whole good is gathered in three characters-consideration, silence, and wording. Every consideration that lacks learning lessons is inattention, every silence that lacks thinking is inadvertence, and every wording that lacks the mention of God is nonsense. Blessed are those whose consideration teaches them lessons, whose silence causes them to think, whose wording is mention of God, who weep for their sins, and save people from their evil. 99. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

How strange is this man! He becomes happy when he gains that which would never miss him, and becomes sad when he misses that which he would never catch. Had he thought, he would have realized that everything is planned and his earnings are predestined. He would have also sufficed with the available and would not have gone into the hard. 100. As he passed by marts, Imam Ali Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) used to say: O tradesmen, seek good from God before doing anything else, seek blessing by dealing with people leniently, come near to the purchasers, adorn yourselves with clemency, avoid swearing, avoid telling lies, be away from oppression, be fair with the oppressed, do not approach usury, give a full measure, weigh (things) with a right balance, do not wrong men of their things, and do not act corruptly in the earth, making mischief. 101. As he was asked about the best and the worst creations of God, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered: Wording is the best and the worst thing that God created. By means of wording, some faces become white and by means of wording, some faces become black.

102. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Say good wording and it will be your distinctive feature. Do good deeds and you will be reckoned with its people.

103. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: When a misfortune befalls you, sacrifice your wealth for your souls. When a disaster befalls you, sacrifice your souls for your religion. You should realize that the very perishing one is that who causes his religion to spoil and the very usurped one is that whose religion is stolen from him. It is surely there will be no poverty after Paradise and no prosperity after Hell.

104. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: No one will find the true taste of faith before he neglects telling lies whether seriously or jokingly.

105. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: A Muslim should avoid associating with the liars, because the liars will not be believed even when they tell truths. 106. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The gravest sin is to seize the wealth of a Muslim wrongly. 107. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: He who fears retaliation will abstain from oppressing people.

106. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: I have never seen like the wrong envious who is most similar to the wronged.

107. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The wrongdoer, his supporter, and the one who desires for wrongdoing are three partners of the same evil.

108. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Steadfastness is of two forms: steadfastness against misfortunes. It is good and fair. Steadfastness that is better and fairer is the ability to avoid what God has forbidden for you. Similarly, the reference to God is of two forms. There is the mention of God when a misfortune befalls. It is surely good and fair. The mention of God that is better and fairer is to mention Him before matters that He has forbidden you to do. Therein, the mention of God will screen you from committing such deeds. 111. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: O Allah, do not cause me to need any of the evils. When I need, make my need with the most good humored, the most generous, the most eloquent, and the less referrer to the favor that he has done to me.

109. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Blessed are those who exchange intimate terms with people for the sake of obedience to God.

110. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: A form of the true faith is that a servant should prefer honesty until he stops telling lies totally even in situations when lie is helpful. A man should not say anything with which he does not have full knowledge.

111. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Keep the deposits even if their owners were the murderers of the prophets' sons.

112. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: God-fearing is the origin of faith. 116. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The humiliation of obedience to God is more favorable than the honor of the disobedience to God.

113. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Wealth and sons are the harvest of this world, and the good deed is the harvest of the world to come. God has given some people the both. 118. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

On a page of the Torah, the following words are inscribed: He who begins his day with grief for a worldly affair is surely dissatisfied with God's act. Any believer who complains a misfortune that befalls him to a person of another belief is surely complaining against his Lord to the enemies. Two thirds of the religion of him who behaves humbly before a rich man so as to get his prize. The dead reciters of the Quran whom are sent to Hell are certainly those who mock the Verses of God. On another page (of the Torah), the following words are inscribed: He who does not seek the advice of others will surely be sorry. He who prefers money to everything else is destroying himself. Poverty is the grand death. 119. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

The core of a man is his tongue, his mind is his religion, and his personality is the situation that he chooses for himself. Earnings are distributed. Days are changeable. To Adam, all people return equally. 120. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said to Kumayl bin Ziyad: Slow down and you will not suffer scandals. Hide your personality and you will not be mentioned. Learn and you will know. Keep silent and you will be safe. When God guides you to the religion, you should not care whether people know you or you know them. 121. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: He who does not humor those who he has to humor is not wise. 122. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: You should hope for no one other than the Lord, not fear anything other than your guilt, not be embarrassed to say, 'I do not know' when you do not know, and you should not feel too haughty to learn what you do not know. These four matters are so great that it is so easy for you to ride for long time so as to get them. 123. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) wrote to Abdullah bin Al-Abbas: So then, seek only what concerns you and leave what does not concern you. Through leaving what does not concern you, you will get what concerns you. You will be tried for what you have done, not what you have left behind you. Opt for the deeds by the results of which you will benefit in the morrow. Peace be upon you. 124. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The best things that cause people love each other and remove hatred from the hearts of the enemies are showing good humor in meetings, asking about them when they are absent, and receiving them with happy miens when they are present. 125. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: No one can find the true taste of faith before he believes that whatever befalls him would never miss him and whatever missed him would never befall him.

126. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: O Lord, how unlucky is he whose eye and heart do not consider the greatness of Your royalty and power beside the greatness of Your royalty and power that his eye and heart did not see! The more unlucky is surely that whose eye and heart do not belittle Your royalty and power that he saw and did not see beside Your greatness and glory. Lord, You are the Only God Whom I glorify. I have certainly done wrong to myself. 127. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: This world is only termination, suffering, raids, and lessons. As a form of its termination is that you see that the bows of time are strung, its arrows are put to use, its spears are not missing the target, and its wounds are incurable. It hits the healthy with ailment and hits the alive with death. As a form of the suffering of this world is that man gathers while he will not have what he gathers and builds but he will not reside in what he builds. Then he leaves to God without being able to carry the wealth or use his building. As a form of the raids of this world is that you imminently see the lucky change into unlucky and the unlucky change into lucky. Between the two, there is nothing more than the luxury that vanished and the misery that befell. As a form of the lessons of this world is that a man becomes very near to achieve his expectation but suddenly death captures him. Thus, neither the expectation is achievable nor the hopeful is left free. Glory be to God! Its pleasure is so cheating, its satiation is so thirsting, and its shade is so unattainable, as if whatever is in it did not exist, and whatever will occur in it had already occurred. However, the life to come is the abode of the eternal residence and settlement where there is Paradise and Hell. Due to patience, the disciples of God will obtain their rewards and will achieve their hopes through their good deeds.
127. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

The most favorable way to God is two doses: the does of ire that is refuted by clemency and the dose of grief that is refuted by patience. The most favorable way to God is two drops: a drop of tear in midnight and a drop of blood (that is offered) for God's sake. The most favorable way to God is two steps: a step of the Muslim towards strengthening the rows of the fighters for God's sake and a step to regard the relatives. This step is preferred to the first. 129. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

A true friend is that who regards in misfortunes, absence, and after death. 130. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The hearts of the ignorant are stirred up by greed, captured by hopes, and locked up by trickeries. 131. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: I will pardon him who enjoys a good character, but I will not pardon those who lose their mind or religion. This is because the loss of religion means the loss of security. Life with fear is worthless. Likewise, loss of mind means loss of life. Hence, the losers of life are compared only to the dead.

132. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: He who puts himself in situations of accusation should not blame those who doubt him. He who conceals his secrets will have his decisions in the hand. 133. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: God will punish the Arabs for their extremism, the lords for their arrogance, the rulers for their inequity, the scholars for their envy, the tradesmen for their fraud, and the villagers for their ignorance. 134. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

O people, fear God. The steadfastness in God-fearing is surely more acceptable than God's punishment. 135. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: The ascesis in this world is to neglect expectation, thank (God) for every grace, and refrain from whatever God has forbidden. 136. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: When things were combined, indolence and incapacity combined and produced poverty. 137. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

Days are surely three. One passed and you do not hope for it, the second is present and you will unavoidably meet it, and the third is the day to come and you cannot trust it. Yesterday was admonition, today is a good opportunity, and tomorrow is unknown who will live for it. Yesterday was an accepted witness, today is faithful keeper, and tomorrow will leave you as soon as you catch it. Its absence will be long. It will come to you and you will not go to it. O people, survival will certainly come after termination. It is just we have inherited those who preceded us and we will be inherited by the coming ones. By means of that which you will surely leave, reform that which you will surely come to encounter. Take the courses of good and do not feel lonely because of the fewness of the people who take such courses. Remember God's good companionship in such courses. The loans should be given today so that the prizes will be gained tomorrow. We are only the branches of those origins that departed. How can the branches continue after their origins?

O people, if you prefer this world to the life to come you will take quick steps towards responding to the lowermost vanities, and the mounts of your hopes will take you to the endless point to water you from these springs which cause you sorrow and make you suffer the same pains of the past nations and the bygone ages who underwent the changes of manners and the punishments. 138. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

Prayer is the offertory of the pious. Hajj is the jihad of the weak. Everything has its tax, and the tax of bodies is fasting. The best deed of a man is the expectation of the Relief. The instructors who do not apply their instructions to themselves are like those who try to shoot without having a string. He who is certain of the reward will give generously. Seek earnings through almsgiving. Protect your wealth by defraying the zakat. The moderate will never suffer neediness. Moderation is the half of livelihood. Amicability is the half of intelligence. Care is the half of senility. Fewness of dependants is one of the two facilities. To depress the parents is impiety to them. As for those who beat the hand on the thigh in misfortunes, their rewards will be cancelled. Favors are worthless unless they are done to the highborn or the religious. God endows with patience inasmuch as the (measure of) misfortune. God will endow the moderate with earnings and will deprive the squanderer of them. Keeping of the trusts brings about earnings and treachery brings about poverty. If God wants the good of an ant, He will not create a wing for it. 139. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

The pleasures of this world are trash and its heritage is only a jumble. Subsistence in this world is better than amassment. To neglect it is safer than to feel secure of it. Poverty is the sentence of those who seek excessive pleasures from it. Rest is the result of those who desert it. It will cause blindness to anyone who is admired by its beauty, and will fill in the heart of anyone who feels fond of it with griefs that dance on the core of his heart like the dancing of butter on the edges of a water skin. He will suffer a grief that saddens him and another that engages him until he loses forbearance and the aortas of his heart are incised. Then he will be laid on the ground and it is surely easy for God to catch his soul and for the pious to find him a place of burial. The believer should look at this world with the eye of learning lessons, have from its food like the obliged, and lend it the ear of hatred.

140. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

Show clemency, for it is the intimate friend and the supporter of the believer. Likewise, knowledge is his guide, lenience is his brother, intelligence is his comrade, and patience is the commander of his troops.

141. As he noticed a man who exceeded the limits of asceticism, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said to him: O you, have not heard God's saying: "And proclaim the bounties of your Lord?" By God I swear, to thank God's favors by means of deeds is certainly better than thanking them by means of words. 142. Imam Ali said to his son Al-Hasan (peace be upon them):

I command you to fear God, offer the prayers in their proper time, and defray the zakat in their proper forms. I also command you to pardon the wrong, control your anger, regard your relatives, possess yourself before the ignorant, learn the religious affairs, verify (matters), lean to the Quran, opt for good neighborhood, bid good, forbid evil, and avoid all the evildoings and the acts of disobedience to God. 143. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

This world rests upon four supports: a scholar who applies his knowledge (to himself), a rich man who does favors generously, an ignorant who is not too arrogant to learn, and a poor man who does not vend his life to come with others' worldly pleasures. Woe are the scholars who suspend acting upon their knowledge, the rich men who withhold giving, the ignorant who feel arrogant against learning, and the poor men who vend their lives to come with others' worldly pleasures.

144. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:

It will be quite worthy for those who are able to prevent themselves from enjoying the following four characters to be saved from suffering any detestable matter. These four characters are rashness, disputation, self-conceit, and indolence. 145. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: O servants of God, you should know that God-fearing is a well-fortified garrison while wickedness is an unprotected garrison that is too short to defend its people or save anyone who seeks its succor. Through God-fearing, the stings of sins are healed, through steadfastness in the obedience to God, His rewards are attained, and through conviction, the furthest target is hit. O servants of God, as He attracted the attentions of His disciples to the ways of salvation, God has not banned them from attaining such ways. Likewise, He has not made them despair of His mercy for their commitment of acts of disobedience to Him if they show repentance to Him.

146. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Silence is wisdom, abstinence from speaking is safety, and concealment is a part of happiness.

147. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: All matters are submissive to the predestined until defect occurs to the management.

148. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: A man's personality is imperfect before he learns the religious questions, manages the affairs of his livelihood moderately, tolerates the misfortunes that befall him, and finds sweet the bitterness of his friends.

149. As he was asked about personality, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Personality is to avoid doing a matter secretly if you feel embarrassed to do it openly.

150. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Seeking God's forgiveness along with the insistence on committing the sin -from which you seek forgiveness- are additional sins.

151. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Settle the acknowledgement of what you worship in yourselves so that the movements of your organs will benefit you in the worship of what you acknowledge. 152. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: For him who dedicates his religion to the obtainment of his worldly pleasures, his reward will be only that which he has benefited through his religion. 153. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Faith is accepted saying, applied action, and acknowledgement in the minds.

152. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Faith stands on four supports: they are dependence upon God, entrustment with God, submission to the decision of God, and satisfaction with the acts of God.

Disbelief stands on four supports: they are the desire for the worldly pleasures, fear from missing any worldly pleasure, anger, and passion. 155. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: As for those who abstain from receiving the worldly pleasures, show steadfastness against the worldly humiliation, and do not compete with others on the worldly reputation, God will guide them without the mediation of anybody, instruct them directly, fix wisdom in their hearts, and make them speak of wisdom.

156. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: There are the servants of God who acted with their Lord purely secretly; therefore, He thanked their efforts purely appreciatively. On the Day of Resurrection, the records of those groups will pass empty. Then they stand before God, He will fill in them with what they acted with Him purely secretly.

157. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Master your manners by the high traits, drive them into the nobilities of character, familiarize them with clemency, be steadfast against preferring others to your selves in the things that you most like, do not doubt people while you deal with them, raise your personalities by means of negligence of the mean affairs, keep the weak barely alive by the means of your positions and your support if you are unable to supply them with what they hope from you, do not investigate the hidden lest many people will investigate what is hidden from your affairs, keep yourselves away from lying for it is the meanest manner. It is also a sort of evil and a form of meanness. Elevate yourselves against analyzing matters that do not concern you.

158. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Term of death is certainly a sufficient protector. For every human being, God has assigned some angels to keep him so that he will not fall in a well, a wall will not fall on him, or a beast will not raven him. When his term of death falls, the keeping angels will leave him.