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one hundred fifty lessons for Daily Life
by his holiness, ayatullah - al - ozma naser makarem shirazi
lesson one:
thinking, reflection, meditation
أَلا لا خَيْرَ فى عِلم لَيْسَ فيهِ تَفَهُّمٌ، ألا لا خَيْرَ فى قرائة لَيْسَ فيها تَدَبُّرٌ، ألا لاَ خَيْرَ فى عِبادَة لَيْسَ فيها تَفَكُّرٌ
translation
be aware! knowledge not furnished with thinking has no profit!(1)
be aware! recitation of quran not accompanied with reflection is useless!
be aware! worship lacking meditation has no effect!
brief description
filling the brain with scientific formulas, logical rules and philosophical principles, and any knowledge has a little effect as long as it is not in concordance with proper reflection, clear world- view and familiarity with fundamentals of man's life.
as reciting holy verses of quran has a little effect when it is not accompanied with meditation and thinking about them, the worships missing the light of thinking and wisdom are like a spiritless body, and lose the high educational effects.
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- from kafi book, first volume, page 36 and tohafol oghoul
[15]
lesson two:
measure of deliberation
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
صَلاحُ حالِ التَّعايُشِ و التَّعاشُرِ مِلاَمِكْيال ثُلْثَاهُ فِطْنَةٌ وَ ثُلْثَهُ تَغافُلٌ
translation
improving the situation of life and association is possible through using a measure, two third of which is vigilance and one third of which is negligence.(1)
brief description
no work is started without any study, plan and vigilance, and also no work is accomplished without negligence. iis more clear and better to say if we want to work without investigation and carefulness, we will not succeed. but if we want to linger for all possible probabilities and unpredicted events when performing the works, we would not be able to do a work easily, and have to study for years to do something or to select a friend, partner, spouse and such like. so it is said two third vigilance and one-third negligence.
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- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 267
[16]
lesson three:
they are strict for body's food but...
imam hassan (a.s.) says:
عَجِبْتُ لِمَنْ يَتَفَكَّرُ فى مَأكُولِهِ كَيْفَ لا يَتَفَكَّرُ فى مَعْقُولِهِ، فَيُجَنِّبُ بَطْنَهُ ما يُؤذِيهِ و يُودِعُ صَدْرَهُ ما يُرْدِيهِ.
translation
i wonder those who think about their body's food, but do not think about their soul's food. they keep away disturbing food from their belly, but fill up their heart with destructive subjects.(1)
brief description
as our great imam has said, our people are usually strict for their corporeal food, and do not start eating unless under the light, and do not open their mouth unless with open eyes. they avoid doubtful foods and some observe thousands of sanitary points in feeding body.
but for the spirit's food, they, with closed eyes and under darkness of unawareness, pour any suspicious mental food into their soul. they simply accept speeches of unsuitable friends, misleading presses and suspicious or poisonous propagation, and this is very surprising.
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- safinatol behar, article of taste
[17]
lesson four:
role of pen
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
ما رَأَيْتٌ باكِياً اَحْسَنَ تَبَسُّماً مِنَ القَلَمِ!
translation
i have not seen any weeper nicely smiling like a pen.(1)
brief description
pen divulges the feelings and interprets the wisdom of man.
pen is founder of civilizations and rotates the wheels of society. pen illustrates the worrying pains of men through its continuous weeping, and also cheer of love, desire for life, mystery of life and thousands of beauties are hidden in the smile showing always within its lips.
but it is regretful that when this pen is in hands of an incompetent person, its tears will change to drops of blood, and its smile is a snicker on the utmost human credits.
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- from the book lataef and zaraef
[18]
lesson five:
between two great responsibilities
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
اَلْمُؤْمِنُ بَيْنَ مَخافَتَيْنِ: ذَنْبٌ قَدْ مَضَى لايَدْرِى ما صُنْعُ اللّهُ فيه و عُمْرٌ بَقِىَ لايَدرِى ما يَكْتَسِبُ فيه
translation
a faithful believer is always anxious for two things; for his past sins that he does not know how
god will treat with him, and for his remaining life that he does not know what he will do!(1)
brief description
the most manifest sign of belief is feeling responsibility, both for what have been already done and for the duties and obligations that should be done.
those having these two feelings, are always thinking about compensation of past negligence, as well as finding the best possible way for using future opportunities. these thoughts are codes of development and progress of a man or a nation. those neither thinking to the previous actions, nor intending to build the future, are poor and miserable.
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- osoule kafi, volume two, page 7
[19]
lesson six:
causes for destruction of a society
أَرْبَعٌ لا يَدْخُلُ بَيْتاً وَاحِدَةٌ مِنْها إلاّ خَرِبَ وَ لَمْ يَعْمُرْ بِالْبَرَكَةِ: الخِيانَةُ و السَّرِقَهُ وَ شُرْبُ الخَمْرِ و الزّنا
translation
there are four things that when one of them enters into a home, it will be ruined, and divine blessing does not reestablish it: treachery, larceny, drinking, adultery(1)
brief description
not only the homes, but also the societies are not excepted from this rule.
when treachery penetrates into a society, the spirit of confidence is disappeared thereof.
and when larceny, in its different forms, appears therein, peace will not be found anymore.
and when wine drinking becomes popular among people, they will have weak thoughts, disable children and useless youths.
and when they are stained with adultery, the foundation of families will be weakened and their next generation will be mischievous.
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- from nahjol fesahah
[20]
lesson seven:
indolence and poverty
imam ali (a.s.) says:
إنَّ الأشْياءَ لَمّا ازْدَوَجَتْ إزْدَوَجَ الْكَسَلُ و الْعَجْزُ فَنَتَجا بَيْنَهُمَا الْفَقْرَ
translation
the day in which everything married with one another, "indolence" and "weakness" mingled with each other, and their child was called "poverty and indigence".(1)
brief description
everything is earned through attempt and endeavor. this is a reality that islam has taught us.
indolence, debility, weakness and escaping from hard events and problems are never compatible with spirit of belief.
they will not have any consequence save poverty in all aspects, including economical, moral and spiritual poverty. while the believers shall be self-sufficient and contented in all aspects.
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- beharol anvar, volume 78, page 59 and tohafol oghoul, p. 158
[21]
lesson eight:
rain of knowledge on hearts
the wise loghman said:
يا بُنَىَّ إنَّ اللّه يُحْيِى الْقُلُوبَ بِنُورِ الْحِكْمَةِ كَما يُحْيِى الأرضَ بِوابِلِ السّماءِ
translation
my son! god revives the hearts of men with the light of knowledge as he revives dead lands with blessing rains from sky!(1)
brief description
the land of man's heart is like a garden in which all types of seedlings, seeds of flowers, plants and strong trees are dispersed, and if it is irrigated on time, a pleasant and fruitful area will be created.
the only irrigation means for this land is reviving drops of rain of science and knowledge. hence the hearts lacking knowledge are dead, lightless and fruitless.
we shall always and in all conditions, keep alive our souls with the light of knowledge.
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- from beharol anvar, volume one
[22]
lesson nine:
source of arrogance
it is narrated from imam sadegh as:
ما مِنْ رَجُل تَجَبَّرَ أَوْ تَكَبَّرَ إلاّ لِذِلَّة يَجِدُها فِى نَفْسِهِ
translation
no one boasts to the others unless for the inferiority he feels in himself!(1)
brief description
nowadays, psychological and psychoanalytic researches have proved that arrogance and boasting to others is nothing else than an inferiority complex. those who are affected to this complex and suffer from it, resort to this wrong way that is magnifying themselves artificially for compensating their deficiencies, and thereby they add to their social inferiority and make themselves more hated.
this psychological point is clearly observed in the miraculous speech narrated from imam sadegh a.s. but the faithful people are always modest before others due to their internal dignity.
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- beharol anvar, volume 73, page 225
[23]
lesson ten:
three worthy things before god
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
ثَلثُ تَخْرُقُ الْحُجُبَ وَ تَنْتَهِىْ إلَى مَا بَيْنَ يَدَي اللّهِ: صَرِيْرُ أَقْلامِ الْعُلَمَاءِ، وَ وَطْىُ أَقْدامِ الُْمجَاهِديْنَ، وَ صَوْتُ مَغازِلِ الُْمحْصَناتِ
translation
there are three things that remove the veils and approach to god's dignity:(1)
the voice of movement of scientists' pen when writing!
the voice of paces of warriors in the cause of religion in the battle field!
and the voice of spinning wheel of chaste women!
brief description
what a strange and meaningful interpretation! there are three voices which penetrate into the depth of existence and their tingles go ahead up to the everlasting nature of the world and approach to god's dignity: voice of knowledge and pen, although it may be low and slow, voice of holy war and self-sacrifice, and voice of attempt, endeavor and work although it may be seemingly small.
and actually, these three things, knowledge, holy war, and work constitute the foundation of an honorable human community.
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- from the book "ashahab fel hekam val adab", page 22
[24]
lesson eleven:
martyrdom of hossein as
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
إنَّ لِقَتْلِ الْحُسَيْنِ حَرَارَةٌ فِى قُلُوبِ الْمُؤْمِنينَ لَنْ تَبْرُدَ أَبَداً
translation
martyrdom of imam hossein (a.s.) creates a fire and heat in the hearts of believers which will
never be extinguished.(1)
brief description
there have been a lot of bloody wars in the world which are forgotten by lapse of several months and years. however, the remembrance of self-sacrifice of those who devoted themselves in the way of god and freedom of men as well as honor and virtue, shall not be forgotten because god, freedom, honor and virtue do not get old. imam hossein (a.s.) and his companions were the pioneers of these warriors for faith.
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- mostadrekol vasael, volume 2, page 217
[25]
lesson twelve:
two signs of a real moslem
islam's holy prophet (s.a.) says:
لاَ تَنْظُرُوا إلى كَثْرةِ صَلاتِهِمْ و صَوْمِهِمْ وَ كَثْرَةِ الْحَجِّ و الْمَعْرُوفِ و طَنْطَنَتِهمْ بِالليْلِ وَلكِنْ اُنْظُرُوا إلى صِدْق الْحَدِيْثِ وَ أَداءِ الأَمانَةِ
translation
do not respect only the excess of prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, righteousness with others and vigil of some people (although they are important in their own turn). rather consider their "honesty" and "trustworthiness"!(1)
brief description
studying islamic documents clarifies this fact that two decisive signs of a real moslem is being honest and trustworthy, and although islamic services such as prayer, fasting and pilgrimage are considered as high educational programs, but they are not signs of islam and should be completed with honesty and trustworthiness.
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- narrated from the book safinatol behar
[26]
lesson thirteen:
fire of anger
imam bagher (a.s.) says:
إنَّ هَذا الْغَضَبَ جَمْرَةٌ مِنَ الشَّيْطانِ تُوْقَدُ فِى قَلْبِ ابْنِ آدَمَ
translation
anger and wrath are the burning flame of fire which is kindled inside man's heart by satan.(1)
brief description
when an angry man performs something or makes a decision, most often he will later repent and feel sorry because burning fire of anger causes negligence from wisdom and intellect, on the whole, and usually nervous system and muscles activate in a direction that compensation of the concerned damages would not be possible even during the life time!
we shall control and extinguish this satanic flame with the utmost precision and speed.
otherwise, it may ruin and burn the life of others or us.
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- beharol anvar, volume 73, page 278
[27]
lesson fourteen:
source of wealth
god's prophet (s.a.) said:
اُطْلُبُوا الرِّزْقَ في خَبايَا الأرْضِ
translation
seek for your sustenance in the depth of earth.(1)
brief description
this instruction was issued by islam's prophet (s.a.) when the importance of mines and whatsoever existed in the depth of earth was not known, indicating that moslems should search the depths of earth for exploiting the sources of income and whatever facilitates their life. such instructions are both a sign of profundity of islamic commands and also a lesson of endeavor and attempt for honorable living of moslems!
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- narrated from nahjol fesahah
[28]
lesson fifteen:
the worst profession
islam's prophet (s.a.) said:
شَرُّ الْمَكاسِبِ كَسْبُ الرِّبا
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
إذا أَرادَ اللّهُ بِقَْوم هَلاكاً ظَهَرَ فِيْهِمُ الرِّبا
translation
prophet (s.a.) said: the worst profession is one which is mingled with usury.
imam sadegh (a.s.) said: when god wills to perish a nation, usury becomes manifest among them.(1)
brief description
despite of brisk market of usurers in the present world, and special dependency of this world on usury in different forms, it is evident that usury destroys financial and economical system of societies and results in terrible accumulation of wealth in the hand of limited number of people and institutions, and this unfair distribution of wealth is the source of different social misfortunes and moral corruption.
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- from the book vasael-ul-shia, volume 12, pages 426 & 427
[29]
lesson sixteen:
mastership and captivity
imam ali (a.s.) says:
تَفَضَّلْ عَلَى مَنْ شِئْتَ تَكُنْ أَمِيرَهُ، وَاسْتَغْنِ عَمِّنْ شِئْتَ تَكُنْ نَظِيْرَهُ، وَافْتَقِرٌ إلى مَنْ شِئْتَ تَكُنْ أَسِيْرَهُ
translation
do favour with whosoever you will, then you will become his master!
do not need whosoever you will, then you will become alike to him!
be in need of whosoever you will, then you will become his captive!
brief description
this rule powerfully governs on the social relations of individuals and nations that bountiful hands are always master and receiver hands are anyway inferior. the needy people and nations are actually the slaves who have signed their slavery through need to the others. the real moslem is one who attempts to base his relation with others on mutual, not one-sided assistance. receiving gratuitous support should be limited to weak and feeble persons.
lesson seventeen:
hypocrisy and affectation
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
لا تُرّاءِ بِعَمَلِكَ مَنْ لاَ يُحْيي وَ لا يُمِيْتُ وَ لايُغْنِى عَنْكَ شَيْئاً
translation
do not do your good deeds for affectation and showing to the people who have no power on life, neither on death, and can not solve any problem for you.(1)
brief description
all appearances of the life of those who have got used to affectation and hypocrisy become hollow and empty. they are contented with spiritless appearances from civilization, imaginations and illusion from life, only fame from happiness and prosperity, and a series of ceremonies from religion, and surely the affecting people have no gain save appearances! for this reason, islam strongly criticizes this ugly attribute and says that your destiny in not under control of these people, why do you affect?
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- beharol anvar, volume 72, page 300
[31]
lesson eighteen:
envy
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
الحاسِدُ مُضِرُّ بِنَفْسِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُضُرّ بِالَْمحْسُودِ
translation
an envious person sustains a loss to himself before causing a loss to whom he envies.(1)
brief description
the spirit of envy refers to not tolerating the others having a blessing, and trying to deprive them from that blessing, or causing a loss to them in other ways.
in fact, an envious person always activates as a retardation factor not a developmental factor.
envy is a big moral disease and in psychological view, the jealous person suffers more loss and also is melted, retarded and humiliated more than others. thus it is better that he try for precedence instead of causing others to be retarded.
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- beharol anvar, volume 73, page 255
[32]
lesson nineteen:
those deprived from god's mercy
commander of believers (a.s.) said:
مَنْ وَجَدَ ماءً وَ تُراباً فَافْتَقَرَ فَأَبْعَدَهُ اللّهُ!
translation
whoever has available water and land, and still he is poor and needy, he should be deprived from god's mercy!(1)
brief description
it is clearly deduced from islamic traditions that moslems throughout the world should use all different resources such as animal husbandry, agriculture, underground resources and mines, profession, industry and commerce for encountering with poverty. when a nation has available even one of these capitals, should use is for fulfillment of its economical requirements. now, you can think about those having access to all of them. otherwise, they will be cursed and deprived from god's mercy and spirit of islam. anyway need to others is condemned in islam's view.
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- beharol anvar, volume 103, page 65
[33]
lesson twenty:
the worst friends
imam ali (a.s.) says:
شَرُّ إخْوانِكَ مَنْ داهَنَكَ فى نَفْسِكَ وَ ساتَرَكَ عَيْبَك
translation
your worst friends are those who flatter and talk with you glibly and conceal your faults.(1)
brief description
escaping the realities and concealing the truths neither solves any problem, nor is considered as a service to anybody. therefore, those friends who try to conceal the truths instead of corrective and proper criticism, and conceal their friend's faults for his false satisfaction, or show it as a goodness, not only have failed to be faithful in friendship, but also have committed a great treachery. this treachery would be sometimes at thecost of prestige, reputation, honor and prosperity of their friend.
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- narrated from ghorarol hekam book
[34]
lesson twenty one:
completion of works
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
إسْتِتْمامُ الْمَعْرُوفِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ إِبْتِدائهِ
translation
completion and continuation of a good deed is better and more important than commencing it.(1)
brief description
we often face with useful works and actions in the milieu of our social life which are left uncompleted. their doers have started them under influence of a sudden motive, but they have lost their enthusiasm very soon and have left them uncompleted.
islam admires faithful and diligent individuals who accomplish any useful work which they commence.
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- narrated from nahjol fesahah book
[35]
lesson twenty two:
everlasting programs
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
إنَّ اللّه لَمْ يَبْعَثْ نَبِيّاً إلاّ بِصِدقِ الْحَدِيثِ وَ أَداءِ الأَمانَةِ
translation
allah instructed all prophets to invite people to honesty and trust.(1)
brief description
a healthy society is based on different capitals, the most important of which is the capital of public confidence and trust.
trust on speech, trust on action and the greatest enemy of this valuable capital is lie and treachery.
the societies in which lie and treachery is popular, all people are afraid of each other, all people feel loneliness, all people should bear heavy load of life alone and this is the same society of loneliness.
this is the reason why invitation to honesty and trust has been always included in programs of all divine prophets.
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- narrated from safinatol behar
[36]
lesson twenty three:
the most severe punishment
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
أَشَدُّ النّاسِ عَذَاباً فِى الْقِيامَةِ عَالِمٌ لَمْ يَعْمَلْ بِعِلْمِهِ وَ لَمْ يَنْفَعْهُ عِلْمُهُ
translation
one who knows something and does not observe it, and does not use his knowledge, his punishment in the hereafter would be the most severe one.(1)
brief description
in islam's logic, knowledge is always a tool for practice and improving individual and society's life. otherwise it has no value.
those who commit a sin unknowingly have less responsibility, but high responsibility shall be on the burden of those who commit a sin knowingly, and those who neglect making aware different levels of society, and whosoever enjoys a small or big share of knowledge, shall bear the same responsibility accordingly.
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- beharol anvar, volume 2, page 38
[37]
lesson twenty four:
calamity of debt
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
إيّاكُمْ وَ الْدَّيْنَ فَإنَّهُ هَمٌّ بِاللَيْلِ، وَ ذُلٌ بِالنَّهارِ!
translation
avoid borrowing as far as you can, because it causes grief at night and contempt on day.(1)
brief description
garishness of material life and luxury competition in our period has caused people to undertake unreasonable loans and exhausting debts and installments.
since a debtor is not considered as a free man, we are instructed not to undertake debt unless for a dire necessity.
the danger of debt at the level of countries would be more and its effects would be more fatal, and it hurts freedom and spiritual independence of nations.
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- beharol anvar, volume 103, page 141
[38]
lesson twenty five:
a healthy social life
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
لوْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ أَدَّوْا حُقُوقَ أَمْوَالِهِمْ لَكانُوا عايِشِينَ بِخَيْر
translation
if people pay rights of each other, and fulfill requirements of the poor, they will enjoy a good and satisfactory life.(1)
brief description
the above tradition, which is concerned with charity tax on property and supplying requirements of the needy of society, warns everybody that paying rights of others is not merely a moral and human matter. rather it is an important social principle that peace and health of society depends on it.
dangerous reactions caused by unfair and class exploitations which threaten societies today and disturb peace terribly are good proofs for this great islamic command.
as far as world's people consider right equal to force and powerful people refrain incumbent rights which they are liable to pay, both themselves and all human societies are endangered.
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- vasael-ul-shia, volume 6, page 2
[39]
lesson twenty six:
key of misfortunes
imam hassan askari (a.s.) said:
إنَّ اللّهَ جَعَلَ لِلشَّرِ أَقْفَالاً وَ جَعَلَ مَفاتِيحِ تِلْكَ الأَقْفالِ اَلشَّرابَ، وَ الْكِذْبُ شَرٌّ مِنَ الشَّرابِ
translation
god has set some locks for evils and maladies, the key of which is wine, and lying is even worse than wine.(1)
brief description
the greatest and most effective hindrance for evils and maladies is wisdom and intellect, and this is a strong lock set on them. when lock of "wisdom" is opened by the key of "wine", all evils and obscenities are freed and a drunk person may commit any possible crime, sin and corruption.
but if a drinker commits a sin under dipsomania condition, a liar disturbs knowingly organization of a social life, and kills the spirit of reliance and becomes source of all sins and corruption. so lie is even more dangerous than
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- vasael-ul-shia, second volume, page 223
[40]
wine.
[41]
lesson twenty seven:
signs of people of paradise
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
إنَّ لاَِهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ اَرْبَعَ عَلامات: وَجْهٌ مُنْبَسِطٌ وَ لِسانٌ فَصِيْحٌ وَ قَلْبٌ رَحِيْمٌ وَ يَدٌ مُعْطِيَةٌ
translation
the people of paradise have four signs: open face, eloquent and clear tongue, merciful heart and bountiful hand.(1)
brief description
the noblest human schools are those which assume individual inside the society and society as the trainer of valuable people because society is the source of all immaterial and material blessings.
the above tradition which refers to the signs of prosperous and paradisiacal people, remarks four issues all concerned with solidity of social relations and sowing seeds of humanistic affections in the land of society.
open and pleasant faces, soft and kind and in the meantime clear and eloquent tongues, hearts beating for helping the people, and hands not stopping assistance. yes, these are the signs of people of paradise.
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- from the book of ershadul gholoub
[42]
lesson twenty eight:
signs of a hypocrite
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
loghman said to his son:
لِمُنافِقِ ثَلاثُ عَلامات: يُخَالِفُ لِسانُهُ قَلْبَهُ وَ قَلْبُهُ فِعْلَهُ وَ عَلانِيَتُهُ سَرِيْرَتَهُ
translation
there are three signs for hypocrites: their tongue is not in concordance with their heart, so is their heart with their deed and their outward with their inward.(1)
brief description
hypocrisy is a great pain originating from low personality and weak will. those who try to show themselves better than what they are actually, their tongue and heart, outward and interior, as well as speech and deed are different. they are weak people who are not so brave to express their real character, neither have sufficient will and decision for correcting themselves. they appear in different faces and are practically treacherous with everybody even themselves. even more dangerous are the societies having a good looking outward and bad interior. their tongue which is the same mass media is in contrast with what is going on in the heart of these societies.
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- from beharol anvar book, volume 15
[43]
lesson twenty nine:
counsel
imam ali (a.s.) said:
إِتَّعِظُوا بِمَنْ كانَ قَبْلَكُمْ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَتَّعِظَ بِكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدَكُمْ
translation
take counsel from your predecessors before the posterity take counsel from your life and destiny.(1)
brief description
the history is full of lessons for taking counsel, full of examples and advices and the end of injustices, oppression, difference and discrepancies, stagnations and petrifaction, unawareness from the situation of environment and time, and are all reflected in the mirror of history. but imam ali a.s., the super man of humanity history, warns us to take counsel from the situation of life and destiny of predecessors and do not let your ugly and misfortune destiny tbecome an example for the posterity. this roaring sea of time takes away all people with itself. the nations are fortunate who look to their past and draw their prosperity and fortune on the future waves.
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- nahjol balaghah, from sermon 31
[44]
lesson thirty:
speech and silence
ali (a.s.) said:
لاَ خَيْرَ فِى الصَّمْتِ عَنِ الْحُكْمِ كَما أنَّهُ لا خَيْرَ فِى القَوْلِ بالْجَهْلِ
translation
neither silence of a wise man, nor speech of an ignorant has any profit.(1)
brief description
god has made promise with those who are informed and learned not to remain silent against deviations, misbehaviors, injustices and unfairness and divisive actions of enemies and radiate the light of guidance, truth and justice on the hearts through their warm and reasonable logic and expression (and everybody is considered informed and responsible for what he knows, although it may be little). on the other hand, those who do not have sufficient information, should not cause deviation of people through their improper interference. that silence and this speech both cause misfortune.
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- nahjol balaghah, aphorisms
[45]
lesson thirty one:
delight of forgiveness
islam's prophet (s.a.) said:
إذا قَدَرْتَ عَلى عَدُوِّكَ فَاجْعَلِ الْعَفْوَ شُكْراً لِلقُدْرَةِ عَلَيْهِ
translation
when you overcome your enemy, put forgiveness and pardon as the gratitude for this victory.(1)
brief description
in islam's view, any favor and grace, without any exception, needs gratitude, and gratitude for power is forgiveness. seeming victories would become rooted only when enemy's heart is purified from the spite, and the main cause of opposition is cut. paying alms of power that is pardon, is the only alternative for this purpose. in this way, the enemy will be touched heartily and previous enemy becomes today's friend, and victory is completed outwardly and inwardly. but in contrary, those who seek vengeance after victory, not only deprive themselves from a great human virtue, but also endanger their victory.
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- from the book speeches of mohammad (s.a.)
[46]
lesson thirty two:
asceticism in its real sense
imam ali (a.s.) said:
اَلزَّاهِدُ فِى الدُّنْيا مَنْ لَمْ يَغْلِبِ الْحَرامُ صَبْرَهُ وَ لَمْ يَشْغَلِ الْحَلالُ شُكْرَهُ.
translation
the real ascetic in the world is one who illegal property does not defeat his endurance, and legal property do not hinder him from god's remembrance and duty of thanksgiving.(1)
brief description
some of the uninformed people have altered sense of asceticism in a negative form. they have interpreted asceticism as leaving divine graces and economical facilities and living like the poor.
while this is not true. asceticism in its real sense is what is narrated above from imam ali (a.s.) and could be summarized in two phrases: "endurance and connivance against illegal property" and "not forgetting responsibilities and duties for legal property". should we interpret asceticism so, it whould be a reforming, improving and training factor in the society rather than a negative and detaining factor.
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- from the book tohafol oghoul
[47]
lesson thirty three:
coordinate with martyrs
imam ali (a.s.) said:
مَا الُْمجاهِدُ الشَّهِيْدُ فِى سَبِيْلِ اللّهِ بِأَعْظَمَ أَجْراً مِمَّنْ قَدَرَ فَعَفَّ
translation
one who struggles in the way of god and is martyred is not in a higher rank than one who can commit a sin but refrains.(1)
brief description
in view of islam's logic, the greatest holy strife is striving with rebellious desires specially in contaminated environments. even struggle with enemy would be fruitful when it is made with sincerity, solidarity, pure intention and free from any selfishness and personal interest and this is not possible unless under sufficient moral education and inner warfare.
thus ali (a.s.) says those who overcome in the battle field with desires, and remain honest in contaminated environments, are not in a lower rank than the martyrs in the way of god. even following this tradition, we read in nahjol balaghah that such people are ranged with heaven angels.
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- narrated from nahjol balaghah, aphorisms
[48]
lesson thirty four:
the best people
imam ali (a.s.) said:
خَيْرُ النّاسِ قُضاةُ الْحَقِّ
translation
the best people are those who judge fairly.(1)
brief description
fair judgement in legal, social and moral concerns is only possible for one who considers his own and the others interest equally and his personal affection and hatred do not prevent him from justice and righteousness.
and this is possible only for those whose existence is lightened with the light of belief, human virtues, and public affections so that powerful waves of selfishness, profit motivation and amour- prope can not deviate the indicator of their mind and conscience. such people deserve to be called "the best people".
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- from the book islam in the center of society
lesson thirty five:
worship of freemen
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
اَلْعُبّادُ ثَلثَةٌ: قَوْمٌ عَبَدُوا اللّهَ خَوْفاً فَتِلْكَ عِبادَةُ الْعَبِيد، و قَوْمٌ عَبَدُوا اللّه طَلَبَ الثَّوابِ فَتِلْكَ عِبادَةُ الأُجراءِ، وَ قَوْمٌ عَبَدُوا اللّهَ حُبًّا لَهُ فَتِلْكَ عِبادَةُ الأَحْرارِ.
translation
worshippers are three groups: those who worship allah for the fear from hell; this is the worship of slaves.
those who worship allah for his reward; this is the worship of mercenaries.
and those who worship allah for his love and affection; this is the worship of freemen.(1)
brief description
although the promises to divine reward and punishment are all true, his reward is very valuable and his chastisement is very painful, but those high minded freemen who do not see anything save god, and do not seek anything save god, and the measure of their heart is full of love and kindness, they are looking for something higher than reward and punishment, and their motive for observing god's command, is only a love mingled with his cognition and knowing.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book vasael-ul-shia
[50]
lesson thirty six:
what breaks man's back
imam bagher (a.s.) said:
ثَلثُ قَاصِماتُ الظَّهْرِ: رَجُلٌ إسْتَكْثَرَ عَمَلَهُ وَ نَسِىَ ذُنُوبَهُ وَ أَعْجَبَ بِرَأيِهِ
translation
three things demolish man: one who magnifies his good deed, and one who forgets his sins, and one who is opinionated.(1)
brief description
those who magnify their deeds, surely are satisfied with that, and this attitude hinders them from progress and development.
and those who forget their sins, everyday are stained with a new sin instead of compensating their previous sins and will fall down suddenly.
and those who rely only on their own opinion, are deprived from the support of public thoughts and abundant minds and knowledge of others. they are repeatedly involved in mistakes, and finally their back will break under the mass of problems.
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- vasael-ul-shia, volume 1, page 73
[51]
lesson thirty seven:
be clean
islam's prophet (s.a.) said:
أَفْوَاهُكُمْ مِنْ طُرُقِ رَبِّكُمْ فَأَحَبُّها إلى اللّه أَطْيَبُها رِيْحاً فَطَيَّبُوها بِما قَدَرْتُم عَلَيْهِ.
translation
your mouth is one of your god's ways. the most favorite mouth before allah is the most fragrant one. so keep your mouth fragrant as much as you can.(1)
brief description
this tradition which is narrated in vasael-ul-shia book in respect to rules of tooth brushing has two outward and inward meanings. its outward indicates that since man says god's remembrance, recites divine verses and worships him by his mouth, so he shall keep it clean and fragrant.
and its inward meaning signifies that mouth which is one of the ways of relation with divine paths and his servants, is more favorite before god when it becomes fragrant with good, clean and kind speeches and is free from any bad speech, insult, lie and harshness.
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- vasael-ul-shia, volume 1, page 358
[52]
lesson thirty eight:
end of ignorance
ninth imam, imam javad (a.s.) says:
مَنْ عَمِلَ عَلى غَيْرِ عِلْم أَفْسَدَ أَكْثَرَ مِمّا يُصْلِحُ
translation
one who acts wiknowledge and information will be more corrupter rather than reformer.(1)
brief description
loss of ignorance is not merely limited to this part that man can not reach the real values of life.
rather, corruption and destruction caused by mistakes is a great danger waiting for those who act without knowledge.
it is herein that an ignorant person intends to do good for his child, but he leads him to misfortune; intends to serve islam, but disgraces religion; intends to create peace among people, but aggravates dispute and hypocrisy; and in summary his corruption and destruction in all aspects would be more than his reform.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- montahal-aamal
[53]
lesson thirty nine:
foundations of guidance
imam javad (a.s.) says:
اَلْمُؤْمِنُ يَحْتاجُ إلى ثَلثِ خِصَال: توفيقٌ مِنَ اللّه، وَ وَاعِظٌ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ، وَ قَبُولٌ مِمَّنْ يَنْصَحُهُ
translation
the believers require three qualities: divine success, a preacher from the heart and soul, and acceptance from advisers.(1)
brief description
in this path, with a lot of acclivity and declivity which man should go through it along his life for being saved from innumerable dangers which threaten his prosperity and also becoming a useful and effective individual in the society, first he needs a spiritual and immaterial relation with god being supported by his pure essence, and then an aware and informed conscience advising him inwardly, and then hearing ears using the thoughts, guidance, advices and consultation of others.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- montahal-aamal
[54]
lesson forty:
mourning is one of the deeds of age of ignorance
imam bagher (a.s.) says one of the short speeches of the prophet (s.a.), which no one had mentioned before him:
اَلنَّياحَدُ مِنْ عَمَلِ الْجاهِلِيَّةِ
translation
mourning is one of the deeds of age of ignorance (one shall not complain for the difficulties, rather he shall try for solving them).(1)
brief description
this short and meaningful tradition has an outward and inward sense.
its outward refers to the irrelevant actions being popular at the age of ignorance. when somebody died, mourner women were invited to lament on his death by reciting their special songs and deceitful and false poems. and the other meaning, which imam bagher (a.s.) may refer to it, is that mourning and complaining for hard and difficult events and problems of personal and social life is vain and useless and causes waste of powers and facilities. one shall solve them and seek for a remedy by the strength of intellect and thinking as well as continuous effort and tolerance.
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- vasael-ul-shia, volume 1, page 915
[55]
lesson forty one:
everyday examine yourself
imam kazem (a.s.) said:
لَيْسَ مِنّا مَنْ لَمْ يُحاسِبْ نَفْسَهُ كُلَّ يَوْم
translation
one who does not perform self-examination everyday, has no relation with us.(1)
brief description
preventing loss and attempting for more profit, in any small or big institution in this world, is not possible without continuous inspection, examination and balance sheet. and it is really surprising that people are so careful in calculation of their material capitals, and or are so sensible to increase and decrease of few grams of their weight, but sometimes they even do not investigate their human, moral and immaterial accounts even once during their life. what a terrible negligence!
but a responsible and vigilant moslem is one who, as per speech of imam kazem (a.s.) in above tradition, examines his account everyday without exception. if he has done a good deed, he tries to continue it, and if he has done an evil, he repents for it.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book aghvalol aemeh, volume one, page 214
[56]
lesson forty two:
impression of belief is harder than iron
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
إنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ أَشَدُّ مِنْ زُبُرِ الْحَدِيْدِ إنَّ زُبُرَ الْحَدِيْدِ إِذْ أُدْخِلَ النّارَ تَغَيَّرَ وَ إنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ لَوْ قُتِلَ ثُمَّ نُشِرَ ثُمَّ قُتِلَ لَمْ يَتَغَيَّرْ قَلْبُهُ.
translation
the believers are stronger than iron parts because when iron is exposed to fire, it changes, but if the believers are killed and then revived and again killed, there would be no change in their mentalities.(1)
brief description
life is a series of problems and complicated matters. weak people surrender to them very soon, and escape from the field, but those who are strong under the grace of belief, never submit to the numerous problems.
they know that there are always hindrances in observing god's command, preventing sin, and achieving honors and credits, and for attainment to these honors, self-control, self-sacrifice and resistance against rebellious desires and other problems are required. so they do not stop endeavor and attempt in the path of religion, and do not afraid of the events.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book safinatol behar, volume 1, page 37
[57]
lesson forty three:
reality of unity and divine justice
imam ali (a.s.) says:
اَلتَّوْحِيْدُ أَنْ لاتَتَوَهْمَهُ و الْعَدْلُ أَنْ لا تَتَّهِمَهُ
translation
reality of unity of god indicates that one shall not define his essence to his imaginations, and belief in his justice infers that one shall not accuse him in any work.(1)
brief description
to the same extent that the principle of god's existence is clear and manifest for us and any particle from particles of this world is a reason for his dignity, power, knowledge and ability, reality of his essence is hidden for us. because he is an infinite existence and beyond our understanding. so we shall consider his essence beyond whatsoever we imagine and this is the reality of unity.
on the other hand, some events occur in the world that sometimes their mystery is not known for us. attention to god's justice says to us that all of these events are reasonable, and any suspicion in this concern is not in conformity with his justice and wisdom.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from nahjol balaghah, aphorisms
[58]
lesson forty four:
some signs of belief
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
اَلْمُؤْمِنُ حَسَنُ الْمَعُونَةِ خَفِيفُ الْمَؤُنَةِ، جَيِّدُ التَّدْبِيرِ لِمَعِيْشَتِهِ لا يَلْسَعُ مِنْ جُحْر مَرَّتَيْنِ
translation
a believer has a valuable assistance, and low expenditure, and is prudent in life, and is never bitten twice from one hole (never is inflicted twice from one point).(1)
brief description
belief has some scientific, moral and social manifestation and signs, without which it is only a meaningless name. the above tradition refers to four signs of it:
1- believers provide valuable assistance for their moslem brothers because their helps are accompanied with compassion, honesty and awareness.
2- the do not have a luxurious and costly life and do not commit offences for providing its furnitures.
3- they are prudent and aware in life specially in economical affairs.
4- they take lesson from each event immediately and thus they are not inflicted twice from one point.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book safinatol behar
[59]
lesson forty five:
world is not the final purpose, rather it is a means
imam ali (a.s.) says:
اَلدُّنْيا خُلِقَتْ لِغَيْرِها وَ لَمْ تُخْلَقْ لِنَفْسِها
translation
world is created for another purpose, not for itself.(1)
brief description
most often interpretation of verses and speeches concerned with commendation of world, material tools of this world, introducing it as a house of commerce or farm of god's saints in one hand, with the verses and speeches blaming it and calling it dangerous, deceptive and source of conceit in the other hand is difficult for the people.
but above tradition interprets them clearly, indicating that when world and its material tools are used as a means for attainment to human development and expansion of justice and prosperity of all men, it would be valuable and nice, but when it is considered as a final purpose and essentially favorite, and causes rebellion, conceit and obstinacy, it would be hateful and dangerous.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from first volume of safinatol behar
[60]
lesson forty six:
price of man
imam ali (a.s.) said:
إنَّهُ لَيْسَ لاَِنْفُسِكُمْ ثَمَنٌ إلاّ الْجَنَّةُ فَلا تَبِيْعُوها إِلاَّ بِها.
translation
(be aware) there is not any price for you save everlasting prosperity and paradise, so do not exchange it for any other price.(1)
brief description
usually when somebody is asked about the price of capital of his existence, he can not assume any price for it.
however, he exchanges this great capital gradually and day by day for a little price, and sometimes at the end of his life, he finds that he has exchanged this great capital with a house or a car or a country villa, and still he will leave them soon.
ali (a.s.) says that none of the material capitals of this world could be exchanged with the capital of your life. the only thing which could be exchanged with it, is god's satisfaction, human and spiritual development and also an eternal and everlasting prosperity. it is worthy to endeavor, attempt and sacrifice for this purpose as much as you can.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- nahjol balaghah, aphorisms
[61]
lesson forty seven:
truth and falsehood
imam ali (a.s.) said:
إنَّ الْحَقَّ ثَقِيْلٌ مَرِىءٌ، وَ إنَّ الْباطِلَ حَفِيفٌ وَبِىْءٌ
translation
truth is heavy and difficult but pleasant, and falsehood is light and easy but painful and dangerous.(1)
brief description
how eloquent and interesting is description of imam ali (a.s.) regarding truth and falsehood in the above short sentence! usually truth has a harsh appearance and occasionally a bitter taste but is very pleasant. it is easily absorbed by the body of community and society is strengthened thereby.
but falsehood is very easy and sometimes very delicious and sweet, but its effect is fatal like a delicious but poisonous food which its destructive effect on the heart, stomach, and intestines becomes manifest when it is swallowed. falsehood too like this food destroys different organs of society.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- beharol anvar, volume 70, page 107
[62]
lesson forty eight:
most valuable heritage of arab
islam's prophet (s.a.) said:
أَصْدَقُ كَلِمَة قالَتْها الْعَرَبُ كَلِمَةُ لُبَيْد: ألا كُلُّ شَىء ما خَلاَ اللّه باطِلُ، وَ كُلُّ نَعِيْم لا مَحَالَةَ زائلُ
translation
the most correct and eloquent phrase that arab has stated is the speech of lobaid (famous poet) where he says: be aware anything else than god is false and any grace would be finally lost.(1)
brief description
considering destruction of wealth and positions and end of graces warns man to observe truth and justice in gaining them and also be moderate in consuming them.
eternality and everlasting is a cloth which only suits to his majesty stature, and non penetration of annihilation and morality is only dedicated to his pure essence.
one shall consider this reality in each scene of material life and shall not become proud.
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- mesbahol sharia, page 45
[63]
lesson forty nine:
i disgust them
imam reza (a.s.) says:
لَيْسَ مِنّا مَنْ غَشَّ مُسْلِماً أَوْ ضَرَّهُ أَوْ ما كَرَهُ
translation
one who defrauds or causes a loss to a moslem or tricks him, does not belong to us.(1)
brief description
those who assume their happiness in misfortune of the others and their profit in loss of the others shall be considered neither a real human nor a truthful moslem. the privilege of man over other creatures is his social character and one who finds his profit in loss of the others, misses this social character.
sometimes causing loss for the others is clear and obvious and sometimes is hidden through defraudation, and or trick and dishonesty. this is forbidden in islam in any form it may be, and imam reza said: i disgust those who commit these offences.
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- safinatol behar, article fraud.
[64]
lesson fifty:
effort of weak people
imam ali (a.s.) says:
اَلْغِيْبَةُ جُهْدُ الْعاجِزِ
translation
slander is the last effort of weak people.(1)
brief description
a few sins could be found among the capital sins that indicate meanness, weakness, humiliation, and non-chivalry like slander.
those who blame and find faults with others and damage reputation and prestige of people through disclosing their hidden faults, that most people are involved in one of these faults, and sate the fire of their envy and malice in this way, are weak and mean persons who even do not show courage in their baseless and unfair challenge, and only can stab in the back.
it is mentioned in the tradition that if one who slanders, repents, he shall be the last one entering paradise. otherwise, he would be the first one entering the hell.
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- nahjol balaghah, aphorisms
[65]
lesson fifty one:
signs of oppressor
imam ali (a.s.) says:
لِلظّالِمِ ثلاثُ عَلامات: يَظْلِمُ مَنَ فَوْقَهُ بِالْمَعْصِيَةِ وَ مَنْ دُوْنَهُ بِالْغَلَبَةِ، وَ يُظاهِرُ الْقَوْمَ الظَّلَمَةِ
translation
the oppressor has three signs: oppresses those who are higher than him through opposition and disobedience, and oppresses those who are inferior to him through violence and predominance, and cooperates with other oppressors.(1)
brief description
one whose spirit of oppression prevails his mind, and is affected by this unclean morality, shows himself somehow in any case. he refrains performing his duties before those who he shall obey them, and resorts to oppression, force, violence and injustice before his inferiors, and selects his friends and companions and colleagues from among the unjust. he is always unjust but
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- nahjol balaghah, aphorisms
[66]
shows himself in an appropriate form to that case.
[67]
lesson fifty two:
there is not any incurable disease.
islam's prophet (s.a.) said:
ما أَنْزَلَ اللّهُ مِنْ داء إلاّ جَعَلَ لَهُ دَواء
translation
god has not given any disease unless he has created a remedy for it.(1)
lesson fifty three:
why favors are perished?
imam bagher (a.s.) says:
إنَّ اللّهَ قَضَى قَضاءً حَتْماً أَلاّ يُنْعِمَ عَلَى الْعَبْدِ بِنِعْمَة فَيَسْلُبُها إيّاهُ حَتّى يُحْدِثَ الْعَبْدُ ذَنْباً يَسْتَحِقُّ بِذلِكَ النَّقِمَةِ.
translation
god has made an inevitable rule that he does not take back the favors which has bestowed to the people, unless they commit an offence causing deprivation from that favor.(1)
brief description
god's graces are infinite but not unreasonable. he does not grant or take back anything unreasonably. when world's people use his favors for conceit, corruption, destruction and injustice, the same favors are changed to the cause of their misfortune. their favors are taken back and replaced with calamity. their industries and technology turn destructive, and their society turns to the source of discord and discomfort, and even the speed devices turn to the cause of their retardation, because they have misused the graces.
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- osoul kafi, volume 2
[69]
lesson fifty four:
martyrdom and purity
islam's prophet (s.a.) said:
إذا مُتَّ عَلَى طَهارَة تَكُونُ شَهِيْداً
translation
when you pass away in purity, you shall be ranged with the martyrs.(1)
brief description
the above tradition refers to part of instructions of prophet (s.a.) to one of his companions named onse saying: `if you can, perform ritual ablution day and night, because if you die in this condition, you shall be considered as a martyr'. although the first meaning of tradition is performing ritual ablution, but at the meantime, it refers to a more important fact that is living and dying innocently. those who are chaste, their heart is pure and have a pure life and mind, and leave the world in thcondition, surely will be ranged with martyrs because martyrdom is not limited to being killed in the battle field. there are also other traditions mentioned in the sources of the prophet's house
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- safinatol behar, volume one, page 720
[70]
which confirm this truth.
lesson fifty five:
self sacrificing lovers
imam bagher (a.s.) says:
إنَّ أَصْحَابَ جَدِّىَ الْحُسَيْنِ لَمْ يَجِدُوا أَلَمَ مَسِّ الْحَدِيْدِ
translation
the devoted companions of my grandfather, imam hossein (a.s.) did not feel any pain under the strokes of sword and spear of enemy.(1)
brief description
when man's affection to one goal is in a love stage, specially an excessive love, all of his feelings are concentrated in that point, and thus any inconvenience is tolerable for him. not only tolerable, but also he does not feel uneasiness. wherein egyptian women seeing joseph's face, based on a figurative transient love, lost their awareness and cut their fingers instead of fruits, it is not surprising that restless lovers in the path of god, and self-sacrificing persons in the path of truth and virtue do not feel pain and toil of heavy strokes of enemy. first, one shall be a lover, then self- sacrifice and tolerance
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- beharol anvar, volume 45, page 80
[71]
would be the inevitable result.
lesson fifty six:
the wise and the fool
imam ali (a.s.) says:
اَلعاقِلُ يَعْتَمِدُ عَلى عَمَلِهِ وَ الْجاهِلُ يَعْتَمِدُ عَلَى أَمَلِهِ
translation
the wise man relies on his endeavor and action and the fool one relies on his wishes.(1)
brief description
the wise are positive and truth seeking individuals. so they always look for their high objectives in the external existence, and since attainment to them is not possible without endeavor and attempt, they focus their effort on their action, while unaware fools are drowned in a sea of wishes and imaginations, and seek for what they have lost in the world of imaginations, and since access to fancies does not require work and attempt, negative tendencies are manifested in all aspects of their life. they are always contented with awaiting for subjective victories in tomorrow which has not come
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- ghorarol-hekam
[72]
yet and may never come, and so they do not have any support in life save wishes.
[73]
lesson fifty seven:
there are a few real religious men
imam hossein (a.s.) said:
اَلنّاسُ عَبيْدُ الدُّنْيا وَ الدِّينُ لَعِقٌ عَلَى أَلْسِنَتِهِمْ يَحُوطُونَهُ ما دَرَّتْ بِهِ مَعايِشُهُمْ فَإذا مُحِّصُوا بِالْبَلاءِ قَلَّ الدَّيآنُونَ!
translation
most of the people are servants of materialistic world, and religion is only on their tongue. as far as their life is in good conditions under the grace of religion, they support it. but when they are examined with hard events, there are a few religious people.(1)
brief description
religion, particularly a religion like islam, preserves rights of society's people and supports their real and fair interests. but sometimes religion is a barrier for personal and private interests of individuals. herein, real religious people are distinguished from those who only claim for religion.
most people look everything from the view of their own interest and advocate religion when it preserves their personal rights, but when religion is separated from their private interests, they leave it totally and become the evidence of `we believe in some and disbelieve in the others'. but real religious people are those who are faithful in religion in any situation, and religion and belief determine the main lines of their life, not personal interests.
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- beharol anvar, volume 10, page 198
[74]
lesson fifty eight:
justice among children
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
إِعْدِلُوا بَيْنَ أَوْلادِكُمْ كَما تُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يَعْدِلُوا بَيْنَكُمْ
translation
observe justice among your children as you like that they render justice among you.(1)
brief description
one of the capital mistakes is discrimination among children. some people favor their older and so called senior child and some others are the same with their younger child. sometimes they exceed the bounds in this concern and render all of their kindness, property and affections to one of them, and deprive the others totally.
this provokes the fire of malice and envy in their hearts, and later they will become enemy with each other and vindictive with their parents and even seek vengeance in the society.
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- beharol anvar, volume 23
[75]
lesson fifty nine:
you are always under control.
imam mohammad taghi (imam javad) (a.s.) said:
إِعْلَمْ أَنَّكَ لَنْ تَخْلُو مِنْ عَيْنِ اللّهِ فَانْظُرْ كَيْفَ تَكُونُ
translation
you shall know that you will not go out of god's sight. now see how you shall be?(1)
brief description
the first impression of belief in the great god is feeling a constant and overall control from his knowledge side. not only there is not any point out of his knowledge's sight, but also his watchmen have surrounded us in all directions.
the higher degree of belief results in more and deeper feeling for this control so that man finds himself constantly in his presence. this feeling is the greatest motive for correction of individual and society as well as the most beautiful manifestation of belief, and reestablishing it arranges the most important social disorders.
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- from the book tohafol oghoul
[76]
[77]
lesson sixty:
neither flattery, nor envy
imam ali (a.s.) said:
الثَناءُ بِأَكْثَرَ مِنَ الاسْتِحْقاقِ مَلَقٌ و التَّقْصِيرُ مِنَ الأسْتِحْقاقِ عَىٌّ أَوْ حَسَدٌ
translation
praise and commendation more than merit and desert is flattery and less than merit is either debility in expression or envy.(1)
brief description
undoubtedly, the worthy individuals and their good attributes and deeds should be praised and appreciated, and in this way we shall encourage and support them in the way they are proceeding.
but this should be exactly in accordance with the merit of individuals. otherwise, it would have negative and harmful consequences. if it is more than merit, is called flattery both hurting the dignity of speaker and also causing self-conceit and self-admiration of the doers. and if it is less than merit, discourages the good doers and shows envy or
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- nahjol balaghah, aphorisms
[78]
debility of speaker.
[79]
lesson sixty one:
be at disposal of your brothers.
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
مَنْ كَانَ فِى حاجَةِ أَخِيْهِ الْمُسْلِم كَانَ اللّهُ فى حاجَتِهِ
translation
whosoever engages in fulfilling requirements and needs of his religious brothers, god will fulfil his requests.(1)
brief description
people often think that if they involve in solving the problems of others, they would be retarded from progress in their own life, while islam's logic is something else. the prophet (s.a.) says if you engage in solving people's problems and fulfilling their requirements, god, whose power is beyond your power and all powers, helps you and solves your problems. we have been witness that the problems of those who help others, are solved wonderfully and this is a divine bounty.
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- beharol anvar, volume 74, page 286
[80]
lesson sixty two:
mistake in life
imam ali (a.s.) says:
لاتُشْغِلْ قَلْبَكَ الْهَمَّ عَلَى مافاتَ فَيُشْغِلَكَ عَنِ الاْسْتِعْدادِ بِما هُوَ آت.
translation
do not engage your heart with grief for the past because you will lose readiness for the future.(1)
brief description
a few people could be found without any mistake and not-losing some opportunities in their life.
herein, there are two groups of people. some of them waste their time through regretting for the past and lose their remaining energies in this way. but some others assume the past as finished and forget it and only take some lessons from them for organizing the future and use all of their powers and forces for constructing today and tomorrow. surely, they will become victorious as imam ali (a.s.) has mentioned in the above
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- narrated from ghorarol-hekam, page 289
[81]
tradition.
[82]
lesson sixty thre:
islam becomes universal
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
لا يَبْقَى عَلَى ظَهْرِ الأَرْضِ بَيْتُ مَدَر وَ لا وَبَر إلاّ أَدْخَلَهُ اللّهُ كَلِمَةَ الإِسْلامِ
translation
there will not remain any house on the earth, even earthen houses and woolen tents, unless allah enters islam's religion therein.(1)
brief description
everyday this reality becomes more obvious that world has two alternatives: either it will accept islam, or it will not accept any religion. and since being irreligious is against man's nature, it shall finally accept islam. at present a wave of attention to islam has covered different parts of world.
but this matter would be accomplished upon advent of imam mahdi (may our soul be sacrificed to him). in that day, idolatry and polytheism would be removed from the earth and islam will govern throughout the world. the prophet (s.a.) has given good tiding in the above tradition.
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- majmaol bayan, interpretation of repentance sura.
[83]
lesson sixty four:
do not assume any sin little!
imam hassan askari (a.s.) says:
مِنَ الذُّنُوبِ الَّتِى لا يُغْفَرُ: ليتنى لا اُؤاخَذُ إلاّ بِهَذا!
translation
one of the sins which would not be forgiven is that a man say, `i wish my sin to be only this one'.(1)
brief description
minor sins are changed to major sins due to several factors, one of which is assuming them little and unimportant, being one of the dangerous satanic temptations.
those sins which man fears of them and assumes them great are not so dangerous because he is always careful for not committing them. but when he assumes a sin little and does not afraid from it, he is easily exposed to it, and repeating it continuously, as one of the factors changing minor sins to major, keeps him away from happiness and prosperity for ever. furthermore, a sin, whatsoever it may be, is great in one respect that is exceeding bound of rules
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- tohafol oghoul, page 366
[84]
of great god.
[85]
lesson sixty five:
excellence of knowledge
imam mousabne ja'far (a.s.) says:
فَضْلُ الْفَقِيهِ عَلَى الْعابِدِ كَفَضْلِ الشَّمسِ عَلَى الْكَواكِبِ
translation
excellence of a scholar over a votary is alike to excellence of sun over the stars.(1)
brief description
the stars of sky are only luminous by their own, but fail to present a luminosity to us and to illuminate the path for us, but sunlight and its golden and shiny ray, not only is reviving and animating, but also causes all inhabitants of spheres in the solar system to distinguish the path from deviated path and high road from crag. and this is the difference of a scholar and a votary.
the latter only gets over his own difficulties, and the former tries to save those who are drowned.
we also know that planets of solar system enjoy sunlight, and if there was not a scholar, there was not a votary.
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- tohafol oghoul, page 307
[86]
lesson sixty six:
mutual rights
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
يَلْزَمُ الْوالِدَيْنِ مِنَ الْحُقُوقِ لِوَلَدِهِما مَا يَلْزَمُ الْوَلَدَ لَهُما مِنْ حُقُوقِهِما
translation
as the children are responsible for disregarding parents' rights, parents are also responsible for not observing the children's rights.(1)
brief description
there is not any right, not accompanied with a duty in the world. that is to say there is an obligation besides any right and the greater rights call for greater duty and responsibility.
on this account, parents who have a great right on their children, which is mentioned in quran besides god's right, shall bear a heavy responsibility for them. they shall not neglect from training them even for a minute and try for improving their soul and body as well as maintaining them from mental and moral taints, and tumult of their life shall not hinder them from this great duty.
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- from the book aghvalol aemeh
[87]
lesson sixty seven:
spend money for obedience so you would not spend for sin.
imam kazem (a.s.) said:
إيّاكَ أنْ تَمْنَعَ فى طاعَةِ اللّه فَتُنْفِقَ مِثْلَيهِ فى مَعْصِيَةِ اللّه
translation
do not refrain spending your wealth for god's obedience, otherwise you will have to spend twice of it for disobedience and sin.(1)
brief description
there are some people who are strict in paying, for example, for the cost of their hygiene, and this causes to pay twice for treating their diseases.
this is a general rule that when a man refrains to spend for necessary consumption, he would have to bear more costs.
those who spare expenses or time for training their children, shall bear onerous costs for their addictions, crimes, deviations and negligence, and those who refrain to pay for fulfilling requirements of society's deprived people, should pay the costs, sometimes several times of it, for preventing the events caused thereby, and also '.
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- tohafol oghoul, page 305
[88]
lesson sixty eight:
the greatest market of commerce
imam hadi (a.s.) says:
الدُّنْيا سُوْقٌ رَبِحَ فِيها قَوْمٌ وَ خَسِرَ آخَرُونَ
translation
world is a market in which some gain and some lose!(1)
brief description
this world is neither man's main home, nor his permanent residence place. rather it is a great house of commerce to which man is sent with his great capitals including life time, man power, intellectual and mental gifts in order to gain a valuable interest thereof for his eternal prosperity and everlasting life.
those who are active, diligent, vigilant, hard-working and attentive are aware of tricks of this great commerce. they do not repose for a moment and are always searching and attempting to choose a valuable goods, eternal merchandise and bright fate for themselves as well as their society by using these capitals. they do not lose all of their capitals in the direction of corruption, destruction and futility and
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- tohafol oghoul, page 361
[89]
leaving world with an empty hand.
lesson sixty nine:
the most dignified people
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
إنَّ أَعْظَمَ النَّاسِ مَنْزِلَةً عِنْدَ اللّهِ يَوْمَ القِيامَةِ أَمْشاهُمْ فِى أَرْضِهِ بالنَّصِيحَةِ لِخَلْقِهِ
translation
the most dignified people in the day of resurrection are those being engaged more in public benevolence.(1)
brief description
being at public service is one of the greatest islamic sorbs, and one of the ways of service to god's people is respecting people's interests and their benefits as one's own interest and benefit, and dealing with their interest and benefits sincerely as one's own interests and benefits and not neglecting benevolence in presence or absence of people.
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- narrated from kafi book, volume 2, page 166
lesson seventy:
three basic social principles
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
اَلنّاسُ سَوَاءٌ كَأَسْنانِ الْمِشْطِ وَ الْمَرْءُ كَثِيرٌ بِأَخِيْهِ وَ لا خَيْرَ فِى صُحْبَةِ مَنْ لَمْ يَرَ لَكَ مِثْلَ الَّذِى يَرَى لِنَفْسِهِ
translation
people are equal (in social rights) with each other like the teeth of a comb! an individual becomes a great society together with his (religious) brothers. and it is not right to associate with one who does not wish for you whatever he wishes for himself.(1)
brief description
three basic social principles are mentioned in the above tradition. first, equality and justice among all men from any race, language, and class in all social rights.
second, relation of an individual with the society and the society with an individual in which one person along with his brothers from a community. and third, necessity of respecting the others interests as one's own interests as the basic term of friendship and companionship.
and the society in which these triple principles are not ruling, is neither an islamic, nor a humanitarian society.
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- tohafol oghoul, page 274
[92]
lesson seventy one:
hastiness and precipitance
imam ali (a.s.) says:
اَلْحِدَّهُ نَوْعٌ مِنَ الْجُنُونِ لاَِنَّ صاحِبَها يَنْدَمُ فَإنّ لَمْ يَنْدَمْ فَجُنُونُها مُسْتَحْكَمٌ
translation
hastiness and precipitance is a kind of insanity because those having this attribute repent of their action very soon, and otherwise it shows thattheir insanity is stable and constant.(1)
brief description
intellect and wisdom necessitate for a man to avoid undue hastiness and precipitance while using the opportunities because in this condition, he often fails to study correctly all aspects and judge truly, and soon repents of the consequences of his verdant decisions and unsophisticated actions.
sometimes, man dissipates all of his speeches by one hastiness in speech, and loses his old intimate friends and penitence is sealed on his heart.
but if these people do not repent even after observing the bad consequences of their action, they are stable and constant in their insanity.
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- nahjol balaghah, aphorisms
[93]
lesson seventy two:
real ascetic men
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
اَلزُّهدُ فى الدُّنْيا قَصْرُ الأَمَلِ وَ شُكْرُ كُلُّ نِعْمَة وَ الوَرَعُ عَنْ كُلِّ مآ حَرَّمَ اللّهُ
translation
asceticism in this world is based on three things: shortness of desires, thanksgiving for blessings, and avoiding the prohibited things.(1)
brief description
most people misunderstand the concept of islamic asceticism and consider it as isolation and separation from material and social life, and call real ascetic those who are involved in social seclusion and have left all material pleasures of social life, and thereby assume it an imperialistic program.
while, real asceticism has a corrective social concept to which is inferred in above tradition.
avoiding usurpation of rights of others as well as illegitimate and unlawful properties, and using material facilities for logical and humanitarian purposes (which is the real concept of thanksgiving) and shortening the desires drowning in which dissociates man from everything save money, position and lust.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- tohafol oghoul
[94]
lesson seventy three:
trial of dignity
imam ali (a.s.) says:
ثَلاثٌ يُمْتَحَنُ بِهَا عُقُولُ الرِّجالِ هُنَّ المالُ وَ الْوِلايَةُ و الْمُصِيبَةُ
translation
there are three things based on which intellect of dignified individuals is tried: wealth, rank, and calamity.(1)
brief description
divine trials are the means of developments and improvements and they do not have special tools.
men may be tried by any means, but three of them are more important than the others. whether or not man loses his intellect and wisdom when he gains property and wealth?
when a rank is awarded to him, whether or not his capacity is so small that he forgets everything?
and when an unpleasing event happens to him, does he begin impatience and complaint and lose his countenance, and open his tongue with ingratitude or not? these are the most important things by which man is tried.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- ghorarol-hekam, article three
[95]
lesson seventy four:
correct program for world and hereafter
imam reza (a.s.) says:
إِعْمَلْ لِدُنْياكَ كَأَنَّكَ تَعِيشُ أَبَداً وَ إِعْمَلْ لاِخِرَتِكَ كَأَنَّك تَمُوتُ غَدَاً
translation
work for the world as if you would be alive forever, and work for the hereafter as if you would die tomorrow!(1)
brief description
above tradition clarifies the attitude of islam towards the matters concerned with material and immaterial life. a positive and responsible moslem should observe discipline in the matters concerned with material life as if he would abide there forever, and hereby hypocritical negligence of those claiming for asceticism is rejected.
and he should be so sensitive and aware of immaterial concerns and necessary readiness for the hereafter life that if he will die tomorrow, he would not have any deficiency. he should have purified himself with the water of real repentance and have paid public rights and not have any dark point in his
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- vasael-ul-shia', (as per narration from aghvalol aemeh, volume 2, page 277)
[96]
life.
lesson seventy five:
effect of sin
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
مَنْ يَمُوتُ بالذُّنُوبِ أَكْثَرُ مِمَّنْ يَمُوتُ بِالآجالِ وَ مَنْ يَعِيشُ بِالإِحْسانِ أَكْثَرُ مِمَّنْ يَعِيشُ بِالأَعْمارِ
translation
those who die as a result of sin are more than those who die due to natural death, and those who have a long life as a result of beneficence are more than those who have a long life due to natural life.(1)
brief description
it is proved today that the cause of most physical diseases is spiritual and immaterial factors, and one of the most important causes of mental diseases is the heavy pressures imposed on man's soul by his conscience. a sinner is judged in the court of conscience and suffers painful spiritual punishments and its reaction is manifested in body and soul and even in the form of deaths. on the contrary, the beneficent people are encouraged by their conscience and this spiritual encourage empowers them and makes them cheerful and therefore their life time is increased. hence, sin shortens life, and beneficence
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- narrated from safinatol behar book
[97]
prolongs man's life.
lesson seventy six:
real shiite
imam bagher (a.s.) said to one of his friends:
أَبْلِغْ شِيعَتَنا أَنَّهُ لا يُنالُ ما عِنْدَ اللّه إلاّ بِعَمَل.
translation
declare to our shiites that no one receives divine favors and bounties unless through action.(1)
brief description
this speech of imam bagher (a.s.) is a reply to those who suppose that they could reach the highest position before god only by adopting the name of shiism and expressing love to the household of prophet (s.a.), while we know that islam is based on action and real shiites are those whose practical program is an extraction from practical programs of imam ali (a.s.) and his companions, and basically shiite is derived from the word `moshaieat' meaning following somebody. thus those are real shiite of household of prophet (s.a.) who follow them.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- osoul kafi, volume 2, page 300
[98]
lesson seventy seven:
with whom we shall consult?
imam ali (a.s.) says:
لاتُدْخِلَنَّ فِى مَشْوَرَتِكَ بَخِيلاً يَعْدِلُ عَنِ الْفَضْلِ وَ يَعِدُكَ الْفَقْرَ وَ لاجَبَاناً يُضْعِفُكَ عن الأُمُورِ وَ لا حَرِيصاً يُزَّيِّنُ لَكَ الشّرَة بِالْجَوْرِ
translation
do not consult with miser people because they prevent you from service to god's people, and frighten you from poverty, and do not consult with timid people, because they weaken your will for performing important works and also do not consult with greedy persons, because they beautify injustice to you.(1)
brief description
consultation is one of the important islamic instructions, but as consultation with eligible persons helps in improvement of correct programs, consultation with those who have clear weak points is harmful and gives an adverse result. thus imam (a.s.) recommends strictly to avoid choosing three groups as consultant specially in important social affairs.
those who are miser, timid and greedy. one of them prevents man from munificence of divine graces, and the other weakens his will, and the third encourages man to violate rights of others for more
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- nahjol balaghah, letter 53
[99]
greed.
lesson seventy eight:
the best favor
imam ali (a.s.) says:
أَجَلُّ النِّعَمِ اَلْعافِيَةُ وَ خَيْرُ مادَامَ فِى الْقَلْبِ الْيَقيِنُ
translation
the best favor is health and the best thing which could fill man's heart is belief in god.(1)
brief description
imam ali (a.s.) has actually referred to the greatest material and immaterial favors. physical health is not only the greatest divine favor, but also it is the source of all activities, attempts and blessings and among immaterial favors nothing is higher and superior than light of belief and faith which is the most illuminating light for the path of life and most effective remedy for treatment of diseases of ignorance, humbleness, inferiority and taint and tranquilizer of heart and soul!
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- tohafol oghoul
[100]
lesson seventy nine:
invisible imam (a.s.)
كَيْفَ يَنْتَفِعُ النّاسُ بِالْحُجَّةِ الْغائِب الْمَسْتُور؟ قالَ كَما يَنْتَفِعُونَ بِالشَّمْسِ إذا سَتَرَهَا السَّحآبُ
translation
imam sadegh (a.s.) was asked: how the people enjoy existence of an invisible and hidden imam?
imam said: as they enjoy sunlight behinthe clouds.(1)
brief description
sunlight is the source of all vital movements on the earth and no living creature is able to continue its life without it, and the same is the light of existence of divine imam and leaders in man's spiritual and human life.
sunlight behind cloud, just like a light behind a translucent glass, sends out a considerable part of its light and removes the darkness of night and affects on the living plants and creatures. spiritual and immaterial blessings of imam (a.s.) shine human world even behind absence curtain, but since each building uses sunlight as much as its openings, people's share from the light of leadership is in
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- beharol anvar, volume 52, page 92
[101]
proportion with the method and degree of their relation and connection with him.
lesson eighty:
do not listen to all utterances!
imam javad (a.s.) says:
مَنْ أَصْغَى إلى ناطِق فَقَدْ عَبَدَهُ فَاِنْ كَانَ النّاطِقُ عَنِ اللّهِ فَقَدْ عَبَدَ اللّهَ وَ إنْ كانَ النّاطِقُ يَنْطِقُ عَنْ لِسانِ إِبْلِيسَ فَقَدْ عَبَدَ إبْلِيْسَ
translation
one who listens to an orator, has worshiped him. thus if the orator talks from god side, he has worshipped god, and if he talks from the tongue of iblis, he has worshipped iblis.(1)
brief description
utterance, whatsoever and from whoever it may be, has an effect, and listening to the utterances is usually accompanied with an impression in man's heart, and since the purposes of orators are different, some of them talk about the truth and some about the falsehood, submission to each of these two groups is a kind of worship because the essence of worship is nothing else than submission.
therefore, those who listen to truthful utterances are truth worshippers and those who listen to false utterances are false worshippers. so one
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- tohafol oghoul, page 339
[102]
should avoid issuing the circles of false speakers and should not allow their dark utterances to reach depths of their souls through the channel of ear.
lesson eighty one:
devilish people
islam's prophet (s.a.) said:
إذا رَأَيْتُمُ الرَّجُلَ لايُبالِى مَا قالَ أَوْ ما قِيْلَ فِيْهِ فَإنَّهُ لَبَغيَّةٌ أَوْ شَيْطانٌ
translation
when you find someone indifferent to what he says or what is said about him, you shall know that he is either unchaste or satan.(1)
brief description
drowning in various sins makes man indifferent against all accusations. he disregards what he says about others and what is said about himself. he charges everybody and is not disturbed for whatsoever is attributed to him. they are mean, inferior and devilish people.
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- beharol anvar, volume 74, page 147
[103]
lesson eighty two:
real feast
imam ali (a.s.) says:
إنّما هُوَ عِيْدٌ لِمَنْ قَبِلَ اللّهُ صِيامَهُ وَ شَكَرَ قِيامَهُ وَ كُلُّ يَوْم لايُعْصَى اللّهُ فِيهِ فَهُوَ عَيْدٌ
translation
today (day of feast of fast-breaking) is the feast of those whose fasts are accepted and their sorbs are favored by god, and any day in which you do not commit a sin, is the day of feast.(1)
brief description
feast and happiness after one month of fasting in the blessed month of ramadan is actually the feast of overcoming sensual desires, and feast of obedience of god's command. thus this day is only the feast of those who have been victorious in fulfilling this great divine duty and understanding its final philosophy, but for those ashamed people who have not respected this great month and its educational program, it is nothing else than the day of mourning and disgrace.
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- nahjol balaghah, aphorisms of wisdom 428
[104]
lesson eighty three:
valuable capitals
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
إنَّ اللّهَ لا يَنْظُرُ إلَى صُوَرِكُمْ وَ لا إلى أَمْوالِكُمْ وَ إنَّما يَنْظُر إلى قُلُوبِكُمْ وَ أَعْمالِكُم
translation
god does not consider the faces and properties, rather he considered your hearts and actions.(1)
brief description
while the criterion for evaluating dignity of individuals in the most societies is material capitals and physical privileges, islam explicitly says: selecting these affairs as the criteria for evaluating dignity is an improper selection. rather, what is considered by god, and weights in the scale of truth is thought and action, a pure thought as a source of pure actions. and in the divine court only the owners of these two capitals are victorious.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book mohajjatol beisae, volume 6, page 312
[105]
[106]
lesson eighty four:
two things cause destruction of people
imam ali (a.s.) says:
أَهْلَكَ النّاسَ إِثْنانِ خَوْفُ الْفَقْرِ وَ طَلَبُ الْفَخْرِ
translation
two things destroy people: fear of poverty and seeking for fanciful honors!(1)
brief description
if we consider the causes of increase in transgressions, larcenies, briberies, thefts, short weighing in different forms as well as irregular greedy and plundering attempts of most people, we find that above two factors have a deep effect on occurrence of these events. some people, having everything, commit offences only for the fear of poverty and as they say for securing the future, and some others sacrifice the peace of their life and soul for acquiring fanciful honors, while they would live peacefully if they leave these two ugly taints.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- tohafol oghoul
[107]
lesson eighty five:
a good deed is not little.
imam sadjad (a.s.) said:
لاَ يَقِلُّ عَمَلٌ مَعَ تَقَوى وَ كَيْفَ يَقِلَّ ما يُتَقَبَّلُ
translation
a deed accompanied with sincerity and piety is not little, although it may be seemingly little. how it is possible a deed favored by god to be little.!?(1)
brief description
holy quran says: god only accepts the deeds which are accompanied with piety and pure intention. thus purity in intention and sincerity and piety should be considered more than anything else, not the quantity of action. such deed is valuable although it may be little because it is favored by god. is a deed accepted by him, considered little? in summary, a lot of hollow, impure and hypocritical deeds are worthless, but light and a little pure, sincere and true deed is worthy and heavy.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 201
[108]
[109]
lesson eighty six:
do not sin and do not apologize
imam hossein (a.s.) said:
إيّاكَ وَ ما تَعْتَذِرُ مِنْهُ فَانَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ لا يُسِيىءُ وَ لايَعْتَذِرُ وَ الْمُنافِقُ كُلَّ يَوْم يُسِيىءُ وَ يَعْتَذِرُ
translation
do not sin so that you have to apologize for it, because a believer does not sin and does not apologize, but a hypocrite everyday sins and apologizes.(1)
brief description
everybody is apt to mistake, but believers have one difference with the hypocrites herein. the believers try to sin less so that they would not have to apologize, because they know that apology does not acquit anyone. but the hypocrites do not care for sin and offence and repeatedly apologize, and this is one of the signs of hypocrites outwardly showing repentance due to apology and inwardly indicating non repentance due to repetition of sin.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 177
lesson eighty seven:
the worst method of life
imam reza (a.s.) said:
أَسْوَءُ النّاسِ مَعَاشاً مَنْ لَمْ يَعِشْ غَيْرَهُ فِى مَعاشِهِ
translation
the worst people, in view of economical life, are those who do not offer livelihood to others in their own livelihood, and others do not live in their life.(1)
brief description
a healthy economy is one which strengthens social relations and embraces all members of the society. where different economical strings are set in the direction of interests of limited individuals, it is an economical cancer not healthy economy. imam reza (a.s.) said, this is the worst type of livelihood and economical life.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 334.
[111]
lesson eighty eight:
our promises are our debts
imam reza (a.s.) said:
إنّا أَهْلُ بَيْت نَرَى وَعْدَنا عَلَيْنا دَيْناً كَما صَنَعَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ(ص)
translation
we are the household who consider our promises as our debts as god's prophet (s.a.) was so.(1)
brief descripti
debt is not only what man receives from someone and becomes debtor for it. those who give promises to others, in fact undertake a work and accept a responsibility and actually have an undeniable moral duty.
fulfilling the promise indicates dignity, belief, greatness, honesty, truthfulness and strengthens bases of public confidence in the society and revives the spirit of social cooperations and on this account, islam has extremely emphasized on fulfillment of promise.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 33
[112]
lesson eighty nine:
illegitimate properties
imam bagher (a.s.) says:
إنَّ الرَّجُلَ إذا أَصابَ مالاً مِنْ حَرَام لَمْ يُقْبَلْ مِنْه حَجُّ وَ لا عُمْرَةٌ وَ لا صِلَةُ رَحِم
translation
whenever a man gains a property in an illegitimate way, neither greater and lessor pilgrimage with that property is accepted, nor the union of kindred.(1)
brief description
sacred aim by itself is not adequate in islam's logic. rather, sacred means of gaining is also necessary. those who are contented for doing good deeds, but do not think about the means by which they perform good deed, neglect this reality that none of them is accepted by god, unless the means are pure and sacred. because god accepts only from the virtuous.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- safinatol behar, volume one, page 213
[113]
lesson ninety:
do not demand anything from
anybody as far as you can!
imam sadjad (a.s.) said:
طَلَبُ الْحَوائِجِ إِلىَ النّاسِ مَذَلَّةٌ لِلْحَياةِ وَ مَذَهَبَةٌ لِلْحَياءِ وَ إِسْتِخْفافٌ بِالْوَقارِ وَ هُوَ الفَقْرُ الْحاضِرُ
translation
demanding from people is abasement in life and destroys modesty and degrades man's dignity, and is a poverty which man provides for himself.(1)
brief description
some people leave themselves to poverty assuming that they are escaping from it. they make themselves dependent and needy through unnecessary demands from the others and thereby ruin their human rank.
islam instructs to its followers to be self-sufficient as far as they can and avoid dependent life because reliance on others is the very indigence.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 201
[114]
lesson ninety one:
woe unto such person!
imam sadjad (a.s.) said:
يا سَوْ أَتاهُ غَلَبَتْ إحْداتُهُ عَلَى عَشَراتِهِ!
translation
woe unto one whose units precede his tenfolds.(1)
brief description
holy quran says: one who performs a good deed will be rewarded tenfold, but one who commits a sin shall be punished for the same (cattle, 161).
considering this verse, interpretation of above tradition is clarified.
helpless is one who leaves obedience of god's command with such a lot of great reward and commits sin.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 203
[115]
lesson ninety two:
do not hope in solving problem by sin!
imam hossein (a.s.) said:
مَنْ حَاوَلَ أَمْراً بِمَعْصِيَةِ اللّهِ كانَ أَفْوَتُ لِما يَرجُو و اَسْرَعُ لِما يَحْذِرُ
translation
one who asks for performance of a work through disobedience to god, will lose sooner whatsoever he desires, and whatsoever he fears of will happen to him sooner.(1)
brief description
some people suppose that if they use unlawful means for obtaining their goals, they will attain their ends sooner. however, above tradition says that they will lose their desires sooner and will fall into the pits which fear of them sooner. for example, he seeks tranquility from earning unlawful wealth while first of all he loses tranquility as a result of it and is involved in distress and anxiety of which he feared.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 977
[116]
lesson ninety three:
the self-conceited!
imam ali (a.s.) says:
مَنْ رَضِىَ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ كَثُرَ السّاخِطُ عَلَيْهِ
translation
he who is self-conceited, there shall be a lot of people dissatisfied with him.(1)
brief description
although self-love and self-concern in proper levels is necessary for continuation of life, but if it exceeds bounds, it would be changed to selfishness and self-conceit.
the self-conceited people never look at their own faults and consider themselves responsible, pure, faultless, serious, active, nice and important in the society, and for this reason, they have a lot of unreasonable expectations from people, and this causes people's flood of anger to fall down them.
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- nahjol balaghah, aphorisms, utterance no. 6
[117]
lesson ninety four:
near and far kinsfolk
imam modjtaba (a.s.) says:
اَلْقَريْبُ مَنْ قَرَّبَتْهُ الْمَوَدَّةُ وَ إنْ بَعُدَ نَسَبُهُ وَ الْبَعيدُ مَنْ باعَدَتْهُ الْمَوَدَةُ وَ إِنْ قَرُبَ نَسَبُهُ
translation
near kinsfolk are those being more affectionate, although they may be genealogically far, and far kinsfolk are those who are less affectionate, although they may be genealogically near.(1)
brief description
kinsfolk relation is one of the most important social relations in islam and it actually forms more consolidated groups in the heart of great human society who would have closer cooperation with each other and would help and collaborate with each other in solving critical problems.
but the criterion of relationship in islam (as per
ــــــــــــــــــــــ
- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 165
[118]
above tradition) is based on affection and friendship, not merely vicinity of genealogical relation.
[119]
lesson ninety five:
throwing off a habit
imam hassan askari (a.s.) says:
رَدُّ الْمَعْتادِ عَنْ عادَتِهِ كَالْمُعْجِزْ
translation
throwing off wrong habits of individuals is like a wonder.(1)
brief description
habit is one of the great divine favors because it facilitates difficult works for man and automates a lot of complicated and necessary tasks of life (such as speaking, walking, etc).
but when habit is misused in wrong works, it is changed into a dangerous addiction that throwing off it is mostly difficult so that imam hassan askari (a.s.) has compared it with a wonder.
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- beharol anvar, volume 17, page 217
[120]
lesson ninety six:
epic of karbala
imam hossein (a.s.) says:
لا وَاللّهِ لا أُعْطِيهِمْ بِيَدِيْ إعْطَاءَ الدَّليلِ وَ لا أَفِرُّ فِرارَ الْعَبِيْد... إنِّىْ لا أَرَىَ الْمَوْتَ إلاّ سَعادَةً و الحَياةَ مَعَ الظّالِمِينَ إلاّ بَرَما
translation
i swear by god that i shall never join hands with them like the humbled, and do not escape like the slaves'. i assume death nothing else than prosperity, and life with the unjust nothing else than the cause of blame and misfortune.(1)
brief description
karbala is the great and everlasting epic of man's history.
ashura is a non-forgettable day in the history of people and nations who want to remain honorable, live honorably and die honorably, and above two sentences from the speeches of imam hossein (a.s.) are two clear signs of this reality.
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- maghtalel hossein, page 246 & 256
[121]
lesson ninety seven:
who is wise?
imam ali (a.s.) was asked to describe a wise man? he replied:
اَلْعاقِلُ هُوَ الّذِى يَضَعُ الشَّىءَ مَواضِعَهُ
translation
the wise is one who puts everything in its right place.(1)
brief description
there are a lot of remarks about the meaning and concept of wisdom, but above short phrase is the best interpretation made in this concern. wisdom is nothing else than putting everything in its right place, putting everybody in its deserving and suitable place in the society and showing grief and happiness, friendship and enmity, mildness and harshness, kindness and severity, worship, work and occupation and healthy recreation and any other work in its own right place and due time.
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- nahjol balaghah, aphorism
[122]
lesson ninety eight:
cause of enmity
imam ali (a.s.) says:
اَلنَّاسُ أَعْداءُ مآ جَهِلُوا
translation
people are enemy with the things which they do not know.(1)
brief description
we see some people who deny a lot of truths and rise against them while not being able to find any cause for it save ignorance and unawareness. this wise speech is specially truthful in religious matters. in fact, if some people, even those who are professional in other sciences, deny and oppose withthem, when we subtilize, we find that they have not understood depth and philosophy of religion and religious concerns. otherwise, they would never deny them and this reality has been repeatedly experienced.
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- nahjol balaghah, aphorisms, phrase 172
[123]
lesson ninety nine:
the zealous
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
إنَّ اللّهَ تَعالَى يُحِبُّ مِنْ عِبادِهِ الْغَيُورَ
translation
the great god likes his zealous servants.(1)
brief description
zeal actually means loyalty to protection of religion or chastity or water and land and islamic country and or other divine bounties.
a zealous person is one who considers himself committed and responsible for protecting these affairs and becomes very disturbed by aggression and encroachment of aliens to them.
zeal is one of the prominent attributes of the prophets and men of god. we read about abraham (a.s.), the idol breaker hero, `surely abraham was zealous'. in summary, zeal is a powerful barrier against the rush of aliens.
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- nahjol fesahah, page 15
[124]
lesson one hundred:
a fertile being
islam's prophet (s.a.) said:
مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِ مَثَلُ النَّخْلَةِ ما أَخذْتَ مِنْها مِنْ شَىء نَفَعَكَ
translation
a believer is like a palm tree, whatsoever you take away from it, is useful and profitable.(1)
brief description
palm tree is actually one of the very fertile trees. its fruit is eaten as one of the best foods. sometimes its stone is burnt, and also mat, hat, table-cloth and such like are woven by its leaves.
its wood is used in construction of simple buildings and even they are used as bridge for passing through streams. a sort of fragrant and useful essence is extracted from its blossom. in other words, no part of it is useless and shall be discarded.
the believers are the same. their thoughts are useful, their speeches are profitable, their meetings give lesson, their religion is reforming and they are loyal in friendship, strong in decisionand that is to say everything of them is worthy.
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- nahjol fesahah, page 564
[125]
lesson one hundred one:
the best hands
islam's prophet (s.a.) said
أَلأيدِى ثَلاثَةٌ: سائَلَةٌ و مُمْسِكَةٌ وَ مُنْفِقَةٌ و خَيْرُ الأَيْدِىْ مُنْفِقَةٌ
translation
there are three types of hands, begging hands, keeping hands and bountiful hands, and the best hands are bountiful hands.(1)
brief description
islam tries to teach its followers a high aspiration and wide attempt and endeavor and strong affection and thus it recommends to its followers not to ask anything from anyone as far as they can, and do not beg from anybody, not only do not ask anything from anyone, but also do not restrict to themselves whatsoever they have. rather, they should make available their bounties to the others as far as they can, and on this account, we read in the above tradition, the best hands are bountiful hands.
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- tohafol oghoul, page 32
[126]
lesson one hundred two:
worse than death
imam hassan askari (a.s.) says:
خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْحَياتِ ما إذا فَقَدْتَهُ أَبْغَضْتَ الْحَياتَ! وَ شَرٌّ مِنَ الْمَوْتِ مَا إِذا نَزَلَ بِكَ أَحْبَبْتَ الْمَوْتَ!
translation
better than life is what, you would hate life when you lose it! and worse than death is what, you would welcome death when it happens to you!(1)
brief description
some people suppose that the highest worth is the worth of this material life while there are a lot of things more valuable than it. there are some moments in life in which man wishes for death, and there are truths for which he sacrifices himself in full satisfaction.
the martyrs for the path of god, virtue, and devotion to justice were those who had understood this meaningful speech of imam askari (a.s.), and when they found life unpleasant and death a window to a wider world, as well as god's satisfaction, they bade life farewell and received death.
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- tohafol oghoul, page 368
[127]
lesson one hundred three:
distinction between a believer
and a hypocrite
islam's prophet (s.a.) says:
إذا رَأَيْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَ صَمُوتاً فَادْنُوْا مِنْهُ فَإنَّهُ يُلْقِى الحِكْمَةَ وَ الْمُؤْمِنُ قَلِيلُ الْكَلامِ كَثِيرُ الْعَمَلِ وَ الْمُنافِقُ كَثِيرُ الْكَلامِ قَلِيلُ الْعَمَلِ
translation
when you find a believer silent, approach to him because you will hear wise sayings. believers are taciturn and active but hypocrites are talkative and inexperienced.(1)
brief description
man's power is not unlimited and everlasting. therefore, when his energies are used in one direction, there will be deficiency in somewhere else. so it is not surprising if talkative people are inexperienced and not active.
islam's prophet (s.a.) who advocates positive effect in everywhere and for everything, considers attempt for action as the sign of believers instead of speech, while he considers the opposite attribute for the hypocrites.
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- from the book tohafol oghoul, page 296
[128]
lesson one hundred four:
the best heritage
imam ali (a.s.) says:
خَيْرُ ما وَرَثَ الآباءُ لِلأَبْناءَ الاَْدَبَ
translation
the best heritage which fathers leave for their children is courtesy.(1)
brief description
courtesy is the proper encounters and relations associated with respect and honor. courtesy is sometimes before god's people and sometimes before god. in both cases, it is one of the great human capitals as the code of success in all fields.
and on this account, imam ali (a.s.) has called courtesy as the highest heritage which a father leaves for his child. courtesy is the source of affection, sincerity, friendship, and union and an important factor for the effectiveness of speech and progress in social programs.
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- ghorarol hekam, page 393
[129]
lesson one hundred five:
respect to freedom of thought
islam's prophet (s.a.) said:
بِئْسَ الْقَوْمُ قَوْمٌ يَمْشِى الْمُؤْمِنُ فيهِمْ بِالتَّقِيَّةِ وَ الْكِتْمانِ
translation
those among which a believer has to practice dissimulation are bad people!(1)
brief description
dissimulation and concealing ideas usually arises when a selfish majority of the society prevent the righteous minority to express their thoughts and divulge their ideas. surely, such society will not be prosperous. in an islamic and humanitarian society, the righteous people should have the right of divulging their ideas for public opinions, and common people should not hinder them, and rather respect freedom of thought in the reforming aspects and provide facilities for training and making fruitful these thoughts.
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- nahjol fesahah
[130]
lesson one hundred six:
these six attributes do not
exist in the believers.
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
سِتَّةٌ لا تَكُونُ فِى مُؤْمِن: اَلْعُسْرُ وَ النَّكْدُ وَ الْحَسَدُ وَ الْلَّجاجَةُ وَ الْكِذْبُ وَ الْبَغْىُ
translation
there are six things not existing in the believers: strictness, peevishness, envy, stubbornness, lie and injustice.
brief description
those who are satisfied only with the name of belief are unreal, not real, believers. at least, above six ugly attributes should not exist in a believer. it is interesting that all above attributes are concerned with relation and connection of men with each other and social matters. real believers are those being easy going, good humored, benevolent, submitted to truth, truthful, and just and choosing this sacred and great name without having these attributes is incorrect and unsightly!
lesson one hundred seven:
do not disconnect all relations
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
اِتَّقِ اللّه بَعْضَ التُّقَى وَ إنْ قَلَّ وَدَعْ بَيْنَكَ وَ بَيْنَهُ سِتْراً وَ إنْ رَقَّ
translation
be god-fearing and fear although it may be little, and maintain a curtain between yourself and him, although it may be thin.(1)
brief description
there are some people who disconnect all relations between themselves and god when they are proceeding in the path of sin and mistake, and ruin all the bridges behind themselves and close all the return doors to themselves.
imam sadegh (a.s.) in his wise speech says at least do not close the repentance way to yourself,
and do not tear all curtainsso that there would be a possible way when you repent.
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- tohafol oghoul, page 268
[132]
lesson one hundred eight:
real worship
imam ali (a.s.) said to komeil:
يا كُمَيْلُ! لَيْسَ الشَّأْنُ أَنْ تُصَلِّىَ وَ تَصُوْمَ وَ تَتَصَدَّقَ، اَلشَّأْنُ أَنْ تَكُونَ الصَّلاةُ بِقَلْب نَقِىٍّ وَ عَمَل عِنْدَ اللّهِ مَرْضِىٍّ وَ خُشُوع سَوىٍّ
translation
o, komeil, this is not important to pray and fast and pay alms. it is important that your prayer (and other deeds) to be performed before god with a pure heart and properly accompanied with humility.(1)
brief description
the actual aspects of a deed as well as its way and quality determine its real value, not its appearance and quantity. as imam ali (a.s.) emphasizes komeil that one should pay attention to the spirit of deed instead of its appearance and considering its quantity, because the final aim of these good deeds is man's education, development and improvement, and it depends on its sincerity not its
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- tohafol oghoul, page 117
[133]
quantity.
[134]
lesson one hundred nine:
do not forget your fault
imam sadegh (a.s.) said:
إذا رَأيْتُمُ الْعَبْدَ يَتَفَقَّدُ الذُّنُوبَ مِنَ النّاسِ ناسِياً لِذَنْبِهِ فَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّهُ قَدْ مُكِرَبِهِ
translation
when you see someone searching for people's sins and caviling them, but forgetting his own sins, you shall know that he is involved in divine punishment.(1)
brief description
there are a lot of people who are very insolent, acute, and ingenious in criticizing others while they are completely unaware of their own state, and as per popular proverb, they see a thorn in the foot of others, but do not see a branch in their own eyes!
surely, curtains of conceit and unawareness have covered the eyes of such people due to being drowned in sin, self-conceit and selfishness, and they are wandering in the deviated paths. one is prosperous who has already refused whatsoever for which he cavils the others.
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- tohafol oghoul, page 271
[135]
lesson one hundred ten:
great torment
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
مَنْ ساءَ خُلْقُهُ عَذَّبَ نَفْسَهُ
translation
one who is ill-humored torments himself.(1)
brief description
it is usually said that ill-humored individuals who are peevish with everybody, torment and annoy their friends and relatives, while they themselves suffer the greatest torments because they embitter life's honey and make unpleasant pure water for themselves.
ill-humored people have a short life and uneasy spirit, their body is in pain, and suffer more than others.
good temper is one of the sorbs which islam has invited its followers to it with a lot of emphasis and it is called an important factor for attainment to the eternal paradise.
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- tohafol oghoul, page 270
[136]
lesson one hundred eleven:
freshness of quran
imam reza (a.s.) said:
إنَّ اللّه تَعالَى لَمْ يَجْعَلِ الْقُرآنَ لِزَمان دُوْنَ زَمان وَ لا لِناس دُوْنَ ناس فَهُوَ فِى كُلِّ زمانِ جَدِيدٌ وَ عِنْدَ كُلِّ قَوْم غَضٌّ إلى يَوْمِ الْقِيامَةِ
translation
god has not confined quran to a special time, neither for a special nation, and so it is new at any time and fresh for each nation.(1)
brief description
imam (a.s.) gave the above reply to one who had asked why quran does not get old by repeated study, recitation and publication? in this saying, imam has a meaningful refer to this reality that quran is not created by the material world and man's transient and variable thoughts. so dust of oldness does not cover it by lapse of time. rather, it has originated from the science and knowledge of the great god, whose existence is pre-eternal and everlasting. the more it is read, the more, it becomes new and interesting, and really this is one of the signs of quran's magnitude.
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- safinatol behar, volume two, page 413
[137]
lesson one hundred twelve:
beware of sensuality
imam sadegh (a.s.) says:
إحْذَرُوا اَهْوائَكُمْ كَما تَحْذَرُونَ أَعْدائَكُمْ فَلَيْسَ شَىْءٌ أَعْدى لِلرَّجالِ مِنْ إِتِّباعِ أَهْوائِهِمْ وَ حَصائِدِ اَلْسِنَتِهِمْ
translation
beware of sensual desires as you take care of your (obstinate) enemies because nothing is more enemy with man than following sensual desires and the outcomes of his tongue!(1)
brief description
undoubtedly, inward enemies are more dangerous than outward enemies. therefore, obstinate desires which affect man inwardly, are considered as the most dangerous enemy for man.
sensuality blinds and deafens man's eye and ear. it removes the light of wisdom, alternates the face of truths and finally leads him to the precipice of corruption.
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- safinatol behar, volume 2, article `sensual desire'
[138]
lesson one hundred thirteen:
the only way of being a shiite
imam bagher (a.s.) told to jaber jofi:
بَلِّغْ شَيْعَتى عَنّى السَّلامَ وَ أَعْلِمهُمْ أَنَّهُ لا قَرابَةَ بَيْنَنا و بَيْنَ اللّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ وَ لا يُتَقَرَّبُ إِلَيْهِ اِلاّ بِالطّاعَةِ لَهُ
translation
convey my greeting to my shiites and say to them that there is not any relationship between us and god. rather, the only way of proximity to god is submission to his commends.(1)
brief description
there are a lot of people who suppose only claiming for shiism and interest in the household of the prophet (s.a.) is sufficient for their salvation and prosperity. as if they would be included among the relatives of imams in this way, they would have a special relationship with god too, and everything could be well arranged through recommendation and mediation. whereas the only relation governing on the relations of creature and creator is obedience and fulfillment of duties.
whosoever submits to his command is the most intimate, and whosoever disobeys is the farthest, whoever he may be.
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- beharol anvar, volume 15, page 164
[139]
lesson one hundred fourteen:
relation of wealths and expenditures!
imam ali (a.s.) says:
مَنْ يَكْسِبُ مِنْ غَيْرِ حَقِّهِ يَصْرِفُهُ فِي غَيْرِ أَجْرِهِ
translation
he who earns a wealth ill