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There is a tradition of the Holy Prophet, "With the help of hair-dye turn old age into youth so that you do not resemble the Jews." When Imam Ali was asked to comment on this tradition, he said that in the early stage of Islam there were very few Muslims. The Holy Prophet advised them to look young and energetic and not to adopt the fashion of the Jews (priest) having long, white flowing beards. But the Muslims were not in minority then, theirs was a strong and powerful State, they could take up any style they liked.
One who rushes madly after inordinate desire runs the risk of encountering destruction and death.
One, who adopts patience, will never be deprived of success though it may take a long time to reach him.
Imam Ali was asked the meaning of being well-off or well-provided for. Imam Ali replied, "Your welfare does not lie in your having enormous wealth and numerous children but it rests in your being highly educated and forbearing and in your being proud of your obedience to God. If you do a good deed then thank God for it and if you commit a sin then repent and atone for it. In this world there is a real welfare for two kinds of people, one is the person who, when commits a sin, atones for it and the other is anxious to do good as much as possible.
One should not obey anyone against the commands of God.
Imam Muhammad Baqir says that Imam Ali once said: "There were two things in this world which softened the Wrath of God and prevented its descent upon man: One has been taken away from you; hold the other stead- fastly. The one which has been taken away from men is the Holy Prophet and the one which is still left with them and which they must hold steadfastly is repentance and atonement for sins because God at one place in the Holy Book addressed the Holy Prophet and said God would not punish them while you were among them nor while they were asking for forgiveness. (Surah Anfal, 8 : 33)
A wise man first thinks and then speaks and a fool speaks first and then thinks.
Tongue is a beast, if it is let loose, it devours.
A virtuous person is better then virtue and a vicious person is worse than vice.
If a friend envies you, then he is not a true friend.
An ignorant person will always overdo a thing or neglect it totally.
O son of Adam, when you see that your Lord, the Glorified, bestows His Favors on you while you disobey Him, you should fear Him (take warning that His Wrath may not turn those very blessings into misfortunes).
This world is not a permanent place, it is a passage, a road on which you are passing. There are two kinds of people here: One is the kind of those who have sold their souls for eternal damnation, the other is of those who have purchased their souls and freed them from damnation.
Many persons get nothing out of their fasts but hunger and thirst, many more get nothing out of their night prayers but exertions and sleepless nights. Wise and sagacious persons are praiseworthy even if they do not fast and sleep during the nights.
One, who enters the places of evil repute has no right to complain against a man who speaks ill of him.
One who cannot benefit by patience will die in grief.
When Imam Ali was asked about Faith in Religion, he replied that the structure of faith is supported by four pillars endurance, conviction, justice and jihad.
Endurance is composed of four attributes: eagerness, fear, piety and anticipation (of death). so whoever is eager for Paradise will ignore temptations; whoever fears the fire of Hell will abstain from sins; whoever practices piety will easily bear the difficulties of life and whoever anticipates death will hasten towards good deeds.
Conviction has also four aspects to guard oneself against infatuations of sin; to search for explanation of truth through knowledge; to gain lessons from instructive things and to follow the precedent of the past people, because whoever wants to guard himself against vices and sins will have to search for the true causes of infatuation and the true ways of combating them out and to find those true ways one has to search them with the help of knowledge, whoever gets fully acquainted with various branches of knowledge will take lessons from life and whoever tries to take lessons from life is actually engaged in the study of the causes of rise and fall of previous civilizations .
Justice also has four aspects depth of understanding, profoundness of knowledge, fairness of judgment and dearness of mind; because whoever tries his best to under- stand a problem will have to study it, whoever has the practice of studying the subject he is to deal with, will develop a clear mind and will always come to correct decisions, whoever tries to achieve all this will have to develop ample patience and forbearance and whoever does this has done justice to the cause of religion and has led a life of good repute and fame.
Jihad is divided into four branches: to persuade people to be obedient to God; to prohibit them from sin and vice; to struggle (in the cause of God) sincerely and firmly on all occasions and to detest the vicious. Whoever persuades people to obey the orders of God provides strength to the believers; whoever dissuades them from vices and sins humiliates the unbelievers; whoever struggles on all occasions discharges all his obligations and whoever detests the vicious only for the sake of God, then God will take revenge on his enemies and will be pleased with Him on the Day of Judgment.
Wealth converts a strange land into homeland and poverty turns a native place into a strange land.
The best kind of wealth is to give up inordinate desires.
Deficiency will result in shame and sorrow but caution and foresight will bring peace and security.
How honorable is knowledge, that the one who does not have it, says he does. How dishonorable is ignorance, that the one who has it says he does not.
He is the wisest and the most knowing man who advises people not to lose hope and faith in the Mercy of God and not to be too sure and over-confident of immunity from His Wrath and Punishment.
Oppression and tyranny are the worse companions for the Hereafter.
Accept promises of only those persons who can stead- fastly-adhere to their pledges.
Everyone has an end, it may be pleasant or sorrowful.
A greedy man will always find himself in the shackles of humility.
Death is never very far.
Inability is a disaster; patience is bravery; abstinence is a treasure, self-restraint is a shield; and the best companion is submission to Divine Will.
We, Ahlul Bayt (chosen descendants of the Holy Prophet), hold such central and balancing position in religion that those who are deficient in understanding and acting upon its principles, will have to come to us for reformation, and those who are overdoing it have got to learn moderation from us.
There is no greater wealth than wisdom, no greater poverty than ignorance; no greater heritage than culture and no greater support than consultation.
Success is the result of foresight and resolution, foresight depends upon deep thinking and planning and the most important factor of planning is to keep your secrets to yourself.
O son of Adam, if you have collected anything in excess of your actual need, you will act only as its trustee for someone else to use it.
Imam Ali once said to his son Imam Hasan, My son, learn four things from me and through them you will learn four more. If you keep them in mind your actions will not bring any harm to you: The greatest wealth is Wisdom; the greatest poverty is stupidity; the worst unsociableness is that of vanity and self-glorification; and the best nobility of descent exhibits itself in politeness and in refinement of manner. The next four things, my son, are: "Do not make friendship with a fool because when he will try to do you good he will do you harm; do not make a miser your friend because he will run away from you at the time of your dire need; do not be friendly with a vicious and wicked person because he will sell you and your friendship at the cheapest price and do not make friend of a liar because like a mirage he will make you visualize very near the things which lie at a great distance and will make you see at the great distance the things which are near to you".
Every breath you take is a step towards death.
Conceit is a barrier to progress and improvement.
If you find that somebody is not grateful for all that you have done for him, then do not get disappointed because often you will find that someone else feels under your obligation though you have done nothing for him and thus your good deeds will be compensated, and God will reward you for your goodness.
When you have to depart from this world and have to meet death (eventually), then why wish delay? (i.e., why feel nervous about death?)
Every person who is tempted to go astray does not deserve punishment.
If you want to pray to God for better means of subsistence, then first give something in charity
Be a child of your times!
I define Islam for you in a way that nobody dared do it before me. Islam means obedience to God, obedience to God means having sincere faith in Him, such a faith means to believe in His Power, belief in His Power means recognizing and accepting His Majesty, acceptance of His Majesty means fulfilling the obligations laid down by Him and fulfillment of obligations means actions (Therefore, Islam does not mean mere faith, but faith plus deeds).
Only he who has the power to punish can pardon.
Failures are often the results of timidity and fears; disappointments are the results of bashfulness; hours of leisure pass away like summer-clouds, therefore, do not waste opportunity of doing good.
The source of success of a claimant is the mediator.
Endurance is composed of four attributes: eagerness, fear, piety and anticipation (of death). So whoever is eager for Paradise will ignore temptations; whoever fears the fire of Hell will abstain from sins; whoever practises piety will easily bear the difficulties of life and whoever anticipates death will hasten towards good deeds.
He who is greedy is disgraced; he who discloses his hardship will always be humiliated; he who has no control over his tongue will often have to face discomfort.
There are many educated people who have ruined their future on account of their ignorance of religion. Their knowledge did not prove of any avail to them.
To refrain from unlawful and impious source of pleasures is an ornament to the poor and to be thankful for the riches granted is the adornment of wealth.
Hearts of people are like wild beasts. They attach themselves to those who love and train them.
If matters get mixed up then scrutinize the cause and you will know what the effects will be.
One who hopes inordinately, impairs his deeds.
That knowledge which remains only on your tongue is very superficial. The intrinsic value of knowledge is that you act upon it.
If two opposite theories are propagated one will be wrong.
I want to teach you five of those things which deserve your greatest anxiety to acquire them: Have hope only in God. Be afraid of nothing but sins. If you do not know a thing never feel ashamed to admit ignorance. If you do not know a thing never hesitate or feel ashamed to learn it. Acquire patience and endurance because their relation with true faith is that of a head to a body, a body is of no use without a head, similarly true faith can be of no use without attributes of resignation, endurance and patience.
Often inordinate desire to secure a single gain acts as a hindrance for the quest of many profitable pursuits.
Whoever is not diligent in his work, will suffer; who- ever has no share of God in his wealth and in his life then there is no place for him in His Realm.
These are the orders issued by the creature of Allah, Ali, the son Abu Taalib (a) to Maalik, the son of Ashtar when he appointed Maalik as the Governor of Egypt to collect Zakat there, to combat the enemies of Islam and Egypt, to work for the welfare of its people and to look after its prosperity.
Whenever a tradition of the Holy Prophet is related to you, scrutinize it, do not be satisfied with mere verbatim repetition of the same because there are many people who repeat the words containing knowledge but only few ponder over them and try to fully grasp the meaning they convey.
When I feel angry with a person how and when should I satisfy my anger, whether at a time when I am not in a position to retaliate and people may advise me to bear patiently or when I have power to punish and I forgive.
Obstinacy will prevent you from a correct decision.
Knowledge and wisdom are really the privilege of a faithful Muslim. If you have lost them, get them back even though you may have to get them from the apostates.
When you feel afraid or nervous to do a thing then do it because the real harm which you may thus receive is less poignant than its expectation and fear.
Blessings are for the man who humbles himself before God, whose sources of income are honest, whose inten- tions are always honorable, whose character is noble, whose habits are sober, who gives away in the cause and in the Name of God, the wealth which is lying surplus with him, who controls his tongue from vicious and useless talk, who abstains from oppression, who faithfully follows the traditions of the Holy Prophet and who keeps himself away from innovation in religion.
The best way to punish an evil-doer is to reward handsomely a good person for his good deeds.
A conceited and self-admiring person is disliked by others; charity and alms are the best remedy for ailments and calamities; one has to account in the next world for the deeds that he has done in this world.
Your society will pass through a period when cunning and crafty intriguers will be favoured by status, when profligates will be considered as well-bred, well-behaved and elegant elites of the society, when just and honest persons will be considered as weaklings, when charity will be considered as a loss to wealth and property, when support and help to each other will be considered as favour and benevolence and when prayers and worship to God will be taken up for the sake of show to gain popularity and higher status, at such times regimes will be run under the advice of women and the youngsters will be the rulers and counselors of the State.
What a difference is there between a deed whose pleasure passes away leaving behind it the pangs of pain and punishment and the deed whose oppressive harshness comes to an end leaving behind Divine rewards !
Poverty is the worst form of death.
There is enough light for one who wants to see.
One who does not realize his own value is condemned to utter failure. (Every kind of complex, superiority or inferiority is harmful to man).
I never lied and the things revealed to me were not false I never misled anybody nor was I misled.
One who takes account of his shortcomings will always gain by it; one who is unmindful of them will always suffer. One who is afraid of the Day of Judgment, is safe from the Wrath of God. One who takes lessons from the events of life, gets vision, one who acquires vision becomes wise and one who attains wisdom achieves knowledge.
He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare,
while he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.
Some people praised Imam Ali on his face. He replied, "God knows me very well and I also know myself more than you. Please, Lord ! make me better than what they imagine me to be and please excuse those Weaknesses of mine which they are not aware of".
One, who seeks advice learns to realize his mistakes.
Not to have a thing is less humiliating than to beg it.
Two kinds of people will be damned on my account Those who form exaggerated opinion about me and those who under-estimate me because they hate me.
You have been shown, if you only care to see; you have been advised if you care to take advantage of advice; you have been told if you care to listen to good counsels.
Aid (from God) is in proportion to the trouble.
Blessed is the man who always kept the life after death in his view, who remembered the Day of Judgment through all his deeds, who led a contented life and who was happy with the lot that God had destined for him.
One of the conveniences in life is to have less children.
The sin which makes you sad and repentant is more liked by God than the good deed which turns you arrogant.
One who comes into power often oppresses.
One, who is willful and conceited will suffer losses and calamities and one who seeks advice can secure advan- tages of many counsels.
Those who have come alive out of a blood-bath live longer and have more children.
Time wears out bodies, renews hopes, brings death nearer and takes away aspirations. Whoever gets anything from the world lives in anxiety for holding it and whoever loses anything passes his days grieving over the loss.
Wealth is the fountain head of passions.
Surely the likeness of this world is that of a snake: it is soft to touch, and deadly poisonous. The ignorant child is distracted by it, and the one with understanding and intellect is cautious of it. So turn away from what fascinates you in it, for how little of it stays with you.
When somebody asked Imam Ali as to how he was getting on, he replied: "What do you want to know about a person whose life is leading him towards ultimate death, whose health is the first stage towards illness and whom society has forced out of his retreat".
Grief is half of old age.
If you overpower your enemy, then pardon him by way of thankfulness to God, for being able to subdue him.
Justice also has four aspects depth of understanding, profoundeness of knowledge, fairness of judgement and dearness of mind; because whoever tries his best to under- stand a problem will have to study it, whoever has the practice of studying the subject he is to deal with, will develop a clear mind and will always come to correct decisions, whoever tries to achieve all this will have to develop ample patience and forbearance and whoever has done this has done justice to the cause of religion and has led a life of good repute and fame.
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