Al-Sadiq (AS) said: Abd Allah ibn Yahya came in to the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and before him was a chair. He bade him sit, so he sat upon it; but it tipped with him until he fell upon his head, laying bare the bone of his skull, and blood flowed. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) called for water and washed the blood from him. Then he said: "Come near me." So he drew near, and he placed his hand upon the wound and passed his hand over it until it healed and became as though nothing at all had befallen it. Then the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: "Praise belongs to God, who has made the purging of the sins of our Shi'a to be in this world through their trials, so that their acts of obedience may remain intact for them and they may deserve their reward for them." Abd Allah ibn Yahya said: "O Commander of the Faithful! Are we then requited for our sins only in this world?" He said: "Yes. Have you not heard the saying of the Messenger of God (PBUH): 'The world is the prison of the believer and the paradise of the unbeliever'? He purifies our Shi'a of their sins in this world through the trials with which He tests them and through what He forgives them, so that when they come to the Resurrection their acts of obedience and worship are complete for them. As for the enemies of Muhammad and our enemies, He requites them in this world for any obedience that comes from them, even though it has no weight, since there is no sincerity with it; so that when they arrive at the Resurrection, their sins and their hatred of Muhammad (PBUH) and his family and the best of his companions are loaded upon them, and for that they are cast into the Fire. And indeed I heard Muhammad (PBUH) say: In times past before you there were two men, one of them obedient and the other an unbeliever, and each of them had a great kingdom in a region of the earth. The unbeliever fell ill and craved a certain fish out of its season, for at that time that kind of fish was in the deep waters where it could not be caught. The physicians despaired of his life and said: 'Appoint a successor over your kingdom to take charge of it, for you are no more immortal than the people of the graves; your cure lies in this fish you crave, and there is no way to it.' So God sent an angel and commanded him to drive that fish through the sea to where it could easily be taken. It was caught for him and he ate it, and he recovered from his illness and remained in his kingdom for years afterward. Then that believer fell ill, at a time when that very kind of fish did not leave the shores from which it could easily be taken — his ailment being like that of the unbeliever — and he craved that fish, and the physicians prescribed it for him. They said: 'Be of good cheer, for this is its season; it will be caught for you, and you will eat of it and be cured.' So God sent that same angel and commanded him to drive that entire kind of fish from the shores into the deeps, so that it could not be caught and taken, until the believer died of his craving, for want of his remedy. The angels of heaven and the people of that land marvelled at this, until they were nearly thrown into confusion, because God the Exalted had made easy for the unbeliever what there was no way to attain, and made difficult for the believer what there had been an easy way to attain. So God, mighty and majestic, revealed to the angels of heaven and to the prophet of that age upon the earth: I am God, the Generous, the Bestower of favour, the All-Powerful. What I give does not harm Me, and what I withhold does not benefit Me, and I do not wrong anyone by so much as the weight of an atom. As for the unbeliever, I made easy for him the taking of the fish out of its season only that it might be a recompense for a good deed he had done, since it is incumbent upon Me that I let no one's good deed go for nothing, so that he might come to the Resurrection with no good deed in his record and enter the Fire for his unbelief. And I withheld that very fish from the worshipper because of a fault of his which I wished to purge from him by withholding that craving and removing that remedy, so that he might come to Me with no sin upon him and enter Paradise." Abd Allah ibn Yahya said: "O Commander of the Faithful, you have benefited me and taught me. If you see fit, make known to me the sin for which I was tried in this gathering, so that I may not return to its like." He said: "Your omission, when you sat down, of saying: 'In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.' So God made that — for your heedlessness of what you were urged to do — a purging by means of what befell you. Do you not know that the Messenger of God (PBUH) related to me from God, mighty and majestic, that He said: Every matter of consequence in which 'In the name of God' is not mentioned is maimed? And when a servant intends to perform a deed and says: 'In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful,' he is blessed in it." (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 22)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Abd Allah ibn Yahya came into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful (AS). Ali (AS) told him to sit on the seat that was before him. He went to sit, but slipped and struck his head on the ground in such a way that blood flowed. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) called for water, washed his head and passed his hand over the wound. Suddenly the wound was healed, as though there had never been a wound at all. Then he said: "Praise be to God, who has made the trials of our Shi'a in this world the purging of their sins, so that their acts of obedience may remain intact and they may deserve reward by them." Abd Allah said: "Do you mean that we are punished for our lapses only in this world?" The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: "Exactly. Have you not heard that the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: The world is the prison of the believer and the palace of the unbeliever? Through affliction with trials God purifies our Shi'a of their sins and makes them worthy of forgiveness, so that when they enter the Resurrection their acts of obedience and worship may avail them. The enemies of religion, by contrast, see the result of their acts of obedience — which, for lack of sincerity, amount to little — in this very world, so that at the Resurrection they may, because of their sins and their hatred of the believers, be consigned to Hell and punished there. One day the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: In ages past a believer and an unbeliever each ruled over a land. The unbeliever was afflicted with an illness whose cure was a particular fish which, at that season of the year, could be found nowhere but in the depths of the seas. The physicians told him: 'In this state, make your will and entrust your kingdom to someone.' But God commanded an angel to drive that fish from the depths to the shore and cast it into the fishermen's nets. So that unbeliever obtained the fish, was cured, and ruled for several more years. Some months later that believing ruler was afflicted with the same illness, and its remedy was that same fish, which at that season of the year was found in abundance in all the rivers. The physicians said: 'There is no cause for worry, for your cure is within reach.' But God commanded that same angel to drive that kind of fish from the rivers and make it flee to the depths of the sea, where no fisherman's hand could reach it. So the remedy for the king's illness was not found, and he died of that illness. The angels and the people of that land were bewildered and fell into confusion: how could God make matters easy for the unbeliever and hard for the believer, so that the one lived and the other died? God revealed to the angels and to the prophet of that age and said: I am God, not you. I am the Generous, the Bestower of favour, the All-Powerful. What I give or withhold brings Me neither benefit nor harm, and I do not wrong anyone. I did this with that unbeliever so that it might be the recompense of his good deeds, for it is incumbent upon Me not to leave a good deed without reward. I did not wish him to come before Me at the Resurrection with unrewarded good deeds, for I intend to punish him for his unbelief. But I did that to the believing worshipper so that he might be purged of his sins, and when he comes before Me at the Resurrection he may be free of sin and deserving of Paradise.'" At this point Abd Allah ibn Yahya asked: "O Commander of the Faithful, I have understood all this. But what was my sin, that I suffered such an injury?" Ali (AS) said: "When you sat down you were heedless and did not say 'In the name of God'! For that reason you deserved this affliction, so that you might be cleansed of that heedlessness. The Messenger of God (PBUH) related to us from God that every act done without the name and remembrance of God is maimed, and that a servant must say 'In the name of God' at the start of every act, so that it may be blessed."
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: "In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful" means: I seek help in this matter from God, who succours when succour is sought of Him and answers when He is called upon. Whoever is grieved by some matter he has undertaken and says "In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful" sincerely for God, mighty and majestic, turning toward Him with his heart, will not be without one of two things: either the attainment of his worldly need, or something equal to it with Him, stored up for him — and what is with God is better and more lasting for the believers. And he (AS) said: Let each of you take much of this good that is set before you, for it is a spoil whose season must not pass, leaving regret in your hearts. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 27)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: "In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful" at the beginning of an undertaking means: I seek help in this matter from a God who comes to the aid of those who cry to Him and answers those who call upon Him. Whoever is preoccupied and grieved by some matter, let him say with sincerity and attentiveness "In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful." In that case either his difficulty is resolved, or something better than the resolution of his difficulty is stored up for him with God; and what is stored up with God for the believer is better and more enduring.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) also said: Say "In the name of God" as much as you can, and take profit from the good of it that has been placed within your reach. Truly the verse "In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful" is a spoil such that, if the opportunity to profit from it passes, regret for it will remain with you.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: God said: "O Moses, do you know that a servant of Mine may have sins and faults reaching to the horizons of the sky, and I forgive them for him and do not mind?" He said: "My Lord, and how is it that You do not mind?" The Exalted said: "For a noble trait in My servant that I love, namely that he loves his poor believing brothers, and looks after them, and holds himself equal with them, and does not behave arrogantly toward them. When he does that, I forgive him his sins and do not mind." (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 36)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God revealed to Moses (AS) that there is a trait such that, if it is in anyone, I will forgive him even though his sins have reached the seventh heaven! Moses said: "What trait?" God said: "That he love his brothers in religion, and enquire after them, and be warm toward them, and not consider himself superior to them."
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked: Who is the man of great wretchedness? He said: A man who leaves the world for the sake of the world, so that the world escapes him and he loses the hereafter as well: that is a man who worships, exerts himself and fasts to be seen by people. It was said: Then who is the greatest of people in regret? He said: He who sees his wealth in the scale of another, and God admits him to the Fire because of it and admits his heir to Paradise because of it. And that is the one who amassed it for fear of the ruler's harshness, and to outdo his clan, and out of dread of poverty for his dependents, and out of fear of the vicissitudes of the age; and it never left his hands until his soul departed. He gathered it and hoarded it, and tied it up and fastened its knot. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 36)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked about the most wretched of people. He said: The one who has lost his world for the sake of the world, so that his world and his hereafter have both gone to the wind — the very one whose worship, whose striving and whose fasting were so that people might see him and turn toward him. And he was asked about the most regretful of people. He said: The one whose wealth is in the record of the deeds of his heirs, making them dwellers of Paradise, while he himself gained nothing from it and becomes a dweller of Hell — one who all his life gathered money for fear of the ruler's oppression, out of rivalry with those around him, out of fear of poverty for his dependents and of the evil day, and took no profit from it until his death arrived: constantly gathering and storing it up, locking it away and keeping it hidden.
Al-Sadiq (AS) said: When Ammar ibn Yasir (may God have mercy on him) was killed, many people trembled and said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said, "Ammar will be killed by the transgressing party." So Amr ibn al-As came in to Mu'awiya and said: "O Commander of the Faithful, the people are agitated and disturbed." He said: "Why?" He said: "Because of the killing of Ammar ibn Yasir, since the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: 'Ammar will be killed by the transgressing party.'" Mu'awiya said to him: "Your argument is refuted. Did we kill him? Rather Ali ibn Abi Talib killed him, since he was the one who cast him before our spears." This reached Ali (AS), and he (AS) said: "In that case it was the Messenger of God (PBUH) who killed Hamza (may God have mercy on him), since he was the one who cast him before the spears of the polytheists." (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 44)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: When Ammar ibn Yasir was killed at Siffin, a great many people fell into agitation, since it was well known that the Prophet (PBUH) had said: "The oppressors will kill Ammar." When Mu'awiya saw this, he said: "Cry out that it was Ali who killed Ammar, for it was he who brought him along to fight against us!" When this saying reached Ali (AS), he said: "In that case the Prophet (PBUH) must also have killed Hamza, the Master of the Martyrs, for it was he who took him along to the Battle of Uhud."
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) said: There is no servant who deals with the servants of God with the finest forbearance, without thereby entering into any falsehood or departing from any truth, but that God Most High makes his very breath a glorification of Him, purifies his deeds, and grants him insight in keeping our secret and in enduring the rage he feels at what he hears from our enemies, and gives him the reward of one drenched in his own blood in the way of God. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 47)
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) said: A believer who deals gently with people in such a way that he neither enters into their falsehood nor departs from the truth — God makes his breath a glorification of Him and purifies his deeds, and grants him the insight to keep secrets and to swallow his anger toward the enemies. Such a person has the reward of a martyr who has rolled in his own blood in the way of God.
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) said: Taqiyya is among the most excellent deeds of the believer; by it he protects himself and his brethren from the transgressors. And fulfilling the rights of the brethren is the noblest of the deeds of the God-fearing; it draws to a man the affection of the angels brought near and the longing of the wide-eyed houris. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 320)
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) said: Taqiyya is the most excellent of the deeds of the believers; by it a man preserves himself and his believing brethren. Likewise, meeting the needs of the brethren is among the noblest deeds of the God-fearing, for by it a man gains the affection of the angels brought near and the longing of the houris of Paradise.
Al-Hasan ibn Ali (AS) said: Two believing brethren, a father and his son, came to Amir al-Mu'minin (AS). He honoured them, seated them at the head of his gathering, and himself sat facing them. Then he called for food; it was brought and they ate of it. Then Qanbar came with a basin, a wooden ewer, and a towel for drying, and came forward to pour water over the man's hands. Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) sprang up and took the ewer to pour the water over the man's hands. The man threw himself down in the dust and said: O Commander of the Faithful, shall God see me while you pour water over my hands? He said: Sit and wash your hands, for God, Mighty and Majestic, sees you and sees your brother who does not set himself apart from you nor claim superiority over you, and for this He increases his attendants in Paradise. So the man sat. When he had finished, he handed the ewer to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya and said: My son, had this son come to me without his father, I myself would have poured the water over his hands; but God, Mighty and Majestic, refuses that a son be treated as the equal of his father when one place gathers them both. The father has poured for the father, so let the son pour for the son. So Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya poured for the son. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 325)
Imam al-Mujtaba (AS) relates that a father and his son, of the companions of Ali (AS), became his guests. Ali (AS) honoured them, seated them at the head of the gathering, and himself sat facing them. Then food was brought and they all ate. Then Qanbar, Ali's servant, brought a basin, an ewer and a towel so that they might all wash and dry their hands. Qanbar was about to pour water over the guest's hands when Ali (AS) himself sprang up and took that task upon himself. The guest was abashed and said: O Commander of the Faithful, it is I who should wash your hands. Ali (AS) said: Sit, and let me wash your hands. God sees that His believing servant serves his brother and does not count himself above him, and so He increases that servant's attendants in Paradise. The man sat, and Ali (AS) poured water over his hands and washed them. Then he gave the ewer to his son Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya so that he might pour water over the hands of the guest's son, and said: My son, had this young man come alone, I would have washed his hands myself. But he has come with his father, and God does not wish father and son to be honoured alike. Your father has washed his father's hands; you wash his son's hands. So Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya rose and poured the water, and the son washed his hands.
Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) said: Whoever of our Shi'a is learned in our sacred law, and brings the weak among our Shi'a out of the darkness of their ignorance into the light of the knowledge with which we have endowed him, will come on the Day of Resurrection with a crown of light upon his head that will shine for all the people of those wide plains. Then a herald will call out: O servants of God, this is a scholar from among the students of the Family of Muhammad. Behold, whoever he brought out in this world from the bewilderment of his ignorance, let him cling to that man's light, so that it may bring him out of the bewildering darkness of these plains to the delights of the Gardens. So he will bring out with him everyone whom he taught some good in this world, or from whose heart he opened a lock of ignorance, or for whom he clarified some doubt. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 339)
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) said: A Shi'a who is learned in our sacred law, if he guides the weak among the Shi'a out of the darkness of ignorance into the light of the knowledge we have granted him, will come on the Day of Resurrection with a crown of light upon his head that lights up the whole plain of the Resurrection. At that moment a herald will call out: O servants of God, this is a scholar from among the students of the Family of Muhammad. Whoever in this world was delivered by this man from the bewilderment of ignorance, let him now too deliver himself by this same man's light from the bewildering darkness of the Resurrection and be brought to Paradise. So all those who in this world profited from this man's knowledge, or had the lock of ignorance opened from their hearts, or had some doubt removed from them, will rise and set out with him for Paradise.
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) said: I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: Whoever is asked about a matter of knowledge and conceals it where it must be made known and where taqiyya does not apply, will come on the Day of Resurrection bridled with a bridle of fire. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 402)
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS), reporting from the Messenger of God (PBUH), said: Whoever conceals his knowledge where he ought to declare it, in a situation that is not an occasion for taqiyya, will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection bridled with fire.
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) said: Whoever has many of God's blessings upon him has many of the people's needs directed to him. If he does what God has made incumbent upon him in that regard, he exposes those blessings to permanence and endurance; and if he falls short in what God has made incumbent upon him, he exposes them to decline and extinction. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 402)
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) said: Whenever God's blessings upon a man increase, the people's need of him also increases. If he does what is incumbent upon him, the blessing endures and remains with him; and if he falls short in what is incumbent upon him, his blessing falls into decline and extinction.
The Messenger of God (PBUH) said to Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) — he had passed with him by a fine garden and Ali (AS) said: What a beautiful garden this is! He said: O Ali, you have in Paradise one more beautiful than it. Then the Messenger of God (PBUH) wept. Ali said: What makes you weep, O Messenger of God? He said: O my brother, Abu al-Hasan, [I weep for] the rancours in the breasts of a people which they will show towards you after me. Ali (AS) said: O Messenger of God, shall I be safe in my religion? He said: You shall be safe in your religion. He said: O Messenger of God, if my religion is safe, then that does not grieve me. He (PBUH) said: O Ali, the companions of Moses took a calf for themselves after him and opposed his successor; and my community after me will take a calf, then a calf, then a calf, and they will oppose you. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 408)
One day the Messenger of God (PBUH) took Ali (AS) with him into a garden. Ali (AS) said: What a fine garden! The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: In Paradise there is a better one for you. Then the Messenger of God (PBUH) broke into tears. Ali (AS) said: What is the matter, O Messenger of God? The Prophet of God said: There are rancours in the hearts of this community towards you, which they will show after me. Ali (AS) said: Will my religion remain safe from the trials of that time? The Prophet (PBUH) said: Yes. Ali (AS) said: Then there is no cause for concern. The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: The community of Moses worshipped a calf in his absence and rose in opposition to his successor. My community after me will go on worshipping idols and will rise in opposition to you.
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS) said, concerning the words of God, Mighty and Majestic, 'And if there are not two men, then a man and two women' [Qur'an 2:282]: We were with the Messenger of God (PBUH) when a woman came and stood before the Messenger of God (PBUH) and said: May my father and mother be your ransom, O Messenger of God! I am the delegate of the women to you; there is no woman who learns of this journey of mine to you but that it gladdens her. O Messenger of God, God, Mighty and Majestic, is the Lord of men and women, the Creator of men and women, and the Sustainer of men and women; Adam is the father of men and women, and Eve is the mother of men and women; and you are the Messenger of God to men and women. So why are two women set against one man in testimony and in inheritance? The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: O woman, that is the decree of a Sovereign [just and wise] who does not act unjustly, nor wrong anyone, nor show partiality; what He withholds from you brings Him no profit, and what He bestows upon you causes Him no loss; He orders all affairs by His knowledge. O woman, it is because you are deficient in religion and in intellect. She said: O Messenger of God, and what is the deficiency of our religion? He said: One of you sits for half her time not praying, on account of menstruation; and you curse much; and you are ungrateful for kindness: one of you may live with a man for ten years or more while he treats her well and bestows favours upon her, yet if one day his hand is straitened, or he quarrels with her, she says to him: I have never seen any good from you at all. As for a woman whose character is not of this sort, what befalls her of this deficiency is a trial for her, that she may be patient and God may magnify her reward. So rejoice. (Tafsir al-Imam, vol. 1, p. 656)
Amir al-Mu'minin (AS), commenting on the verse concerning the testimony of two women being equal to that of one man, said: We were with the Messenger of God (PBUH) when a woman came before him and said: O Messenger of God, I am the representative of many women and have come on their behalf. Every woman I met who understood what I wished to lay before you said: I too have this question; ask it on my behalf as well. Then she said: Is God not the Lord of both woman and man? Is He not the Creator of both? Is He not the Sustainer of both? Are not the father and mother of all women and men one and the same, namely Adam and Eve? Are you not the Messenger to both? Why then, in testimony and in inheritance, is the woman's share half that of the man? The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: O woman, this is the ruling of a God who is just and wise, who does not commit injustice and does not act by force. What He withholds from you is not to His own benefit, and what He gives is not to His own detriment. God's command follows His knowledge. O woman, you are deficient in intellect and in religion. The woman said: On what grounds? The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Because for half of your time you are barred from worship on account of menstruation; because you curse a great deal; and because ingratitude for kindness is common among you. For ten years or more a man may treat you well, yet when his hand grows straitened or he reproaches you, you turn and say: I have never seen any good from you! And even if a woman has none of these traits, she must be patient under the trial of God's decree so that she may gain a great reward. Convey this good news from me to the women.