Al-Kafi

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: O people, know that the perfection of religion is the seeking of knowledge and acting upon it. Know that seeking knowledge is more incumbent upon you than seeking wealth, for wealth has been apportioned and guaranteed to you: a just One has divided it among you and guaranteed it, and He will deliver it to you. But knowledge is stored up with its people, and you have been commanded to seek it from its people — so seek it. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 35)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: O people, know that the perfection of religion is the seeking of knowledge and acting upon it. Know that seeking knowledge is more necessary for you than seeking wealth, for wealth has been apportioned and guaranteed for you. A just One (that is, God) has divided it among you and guaranteed it, and He delivers it to you. But knowledge is kept in the safekeeping of its people, and you are commanded to seek it from its people — so seek it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Shall I not tell you who is the jurist who is truly a jurist? He is the one who does not make people despair of God's mercy, nor make them feel secure from God's punishment, nor grant them licence in disobedience to God, nor abandon the Qur'an out of desire for something else. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 44)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Shall I not tell you of the one who is truly a jurist? He is the one who does not make people despair of God's mercy, nor make them feel safe from God's punishment, nor give them licence to sin, nor abandon the Qur'an and turn to something else.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Foolishness and self-deception have no place in the heart of the learned. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 45)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Foolishness and being deceived (inexperience) are not in the heart of the learned.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: O seeker of knowledge, the scholar has three marks: knowledge, forbearance, and silence. And the pretender has three marks: he contends with the one above him through disobedience, he wrongs the one below him through domination, and he supports the oppressors. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 45)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: O seeker of knowledge, the godly scholar has three marks: knowledge, self-restraint, and silence. And the one who merely poses as a scholar also has three marks: he quarrels with those above him through disobedience, he wrongs those beneath him by overpowering them, and he lends his support to the oppressors.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: It is among the rights of the scholar that you not press him with too many questions, nor tug at his garment; that when you enter upon him and a group is with him, you greet them all but single him out with a special salutation; that you sit before him and not behind him; that you not wink with your eye nor gesture with your hand; that you not say repeatedly "So-and-so said" and "So-and-so said" in contradiction to his words; and that you not grow weary of long companionship with him. For the likeness of the scholar is the likeness of the palm tree: you wait beside it until something falls from it upon you. And the scholar's reward is greater than that of the one who fasts, keeps vigil, and fights in the way of God. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 46)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) says: It is among the rights of the scholar that you not ask him too much and not cling to him; that when you come to him and a group is present with him, you greet them all and single him out with a special salutation; that you sit facing him and not behind him; that you not wink; that you not gesture with your hand; that you not chatter, saying that so-and-so and so-and-so have said such-and-such contrary to his view; and that you not become impatient at long sittings with him — for the likeness of the scholar is the likeness of the date palm: you must wait until something falls from it upon you. And the reward of the scholar is greater than that of one who fasts, keeps vigil by night, and strives in the way of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you relate a report, attribute it to the one who related it to you; if it is true, it is to your credit, and if it is a lie, it is against him. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 66)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When something is said to you, attribute it, when you relate it, to the one who said it (that is, do not report it as though from yourself; and if the speaker is quoting someone else, do not attribute it to the speaker himself — in short, make the source of the statement clearly known). If it is true, it is to your benefit, and if it is a lie, it is to the detriment of the one who said it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) addressed the people and said: O people, the beginning of the outbreak of civil strife lies in whims that are followed and rulings that are innovated, in which the Book of God is opposed and in which men give their allegiance to other men. If falsehood were unmixed, it would not be hidden from anyone with sense, and if truth were unmixed, there would be no disagreement. But a handful is taken from this and a handful from that, and the two are mingled and come forth together. At that point Satan gains mastery over his followers, and those for whom the best from God has gone before are saved. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 69)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) delivered an address to the people and said: O people, the beginning of the rise of civil strife is obedience to whims and the innovation of rulings contrary to the Qur'an, so that one set of people falls in behind another set. If falsehood were laid bare, it would not stay hidden from the sensible; and if truth stood alone, no disagreement would arise. But a handful is taken from truth and a handful from falsehood, and they are mixed together and come forth as one. It is here that Satan gains mastery over his friends, and those for whom the good has gone before from God are saved.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sunna is of two kinds: a sunna concerning an obligatory duty, adherence to which is guidance and abandonment of which is misguidance; and a sunna concerning what is not obligatory, adherence to which is a merit and abandonment of which is no sin. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 90)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sunna is of two kinds: a sunna within what is obligatory, acting upon which is guidance and abandoning which is misguidance; and a sunna within what is not obligatory, acting upon which is a merit and abandoning which is no fault.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Know that keeping company with the scholar and following him is a religion by which God is worshipped; that obedience to him earns good deeds and effaces evil deeds; and that it is a treasure for the believers, an elevation for them during their lives, and a fair remembrance after their deaths. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 188)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keeping company with the godly scholar and following him is a religion by which God is worshipped. Obeying the scholar brings the gaining of good deeds and the erasing of sins; it is a spiritual treasure for the believers, a source of honour during their lifetime, and a cause of good remembrance after death.

Al-Baqir (AS) said concerning the words of the Commander of the Faithful (AS), "Ask me about whatever you wish, and you will not ask me about anything without my informing you of it": No one possesses knowledge of anything except that it came forth from the Commander of the Faithful (AS). So let people go wherever they wish; by God, the matter is nowhere but here. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 399)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said, concerning the words of the Commander of the Faithful (AS), "Ask me whatever you wish and I will inform you": No one has any knowledge except that he took it from the Commander of the Faithful (AS). Let people go wherever they wish; by God, sound knowledge is nowhere but here.

From the Commander of the Faithful (AS): The Imam is the father of the orphans. (al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 406)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Imam is the father of the orphans.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Blessed is he who makes his worship and his supplication sincerely for God, does not occupy his heart with what his two eyes see, does not forget the remembrance of God because of what his two ears hear, and does not let his breast grieve over what has been given to another. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 16)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Blessed is the one who makes his worship and his supplication purely for God, does not busy his heart with what his eye sees, does not forget the remembrance of God because of what his ear hears, and does not grieve over what has been given to someone else.

From the Commander of the Faithful (AS): God, mighty and majestic, has not created any creature more honoured in His sight than the believer — for the angels are the servants of the believers, the nearness of God is for the believers, and Paradise is for the believers. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 33)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, mighty and majestic, has created no creature more honoured than the believer, for the angels are the servants of the believers, the believers dwell in the neighbourhood of God's mercy, and Paradise is for the believers.

From the Commander of the Faithful (AS): I shall surely give a definition of Islam such as no one has given before me, and no one after me will give except the like of it: Islam is submission. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 45)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let me state a definition of Islam that no one but me has given, and that after me no one will give except in the same manner as mine: Islam is precisely submission.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Behind every truth there is a reality, and upon every right action there is a light. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 54)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Behind every truth there is a reality, and every right deed possesses a light.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Awaken your heart with reflection, keep your side away from the bed at night, and fear God your Lord. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 54)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Bring your heart to life with reflection, stay awake through the night in remembrance of God, and be ever obedient toward your Lord.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Reflection calls to righteousness and to acting upon it. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 55)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Reflection draws a person toward good deeds and leads to righteous conduct.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Faith has four pillars: contentment with God's decree, trust in God, committing one's affairs to God, and submission to God's command. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 56)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Faith has four pillars: contentment with God's decree, reliance upon Him, entrusting one's affairs to Him, and submission to His command.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: None of you will taste the savour of faith until he knows that what has befallen him could not have missed him, and what has missed him could not have befallen him, and that the One who harms and benefits is God. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 58)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one tastes the savour of faith unless he has understood that whatever has befallen him or come to him could not possibly have failed to reach him, and that whatever has not reached him could not possibly have come to him; and that the only one who can harm or benefit a person is God Himself.

From Abu Abdillah (AS): The Commander of the Faithful (may God's blessings be upon him) sat beside a leaning wall to judge among the people. One of them said: Do not sit beneath this wall, for it is unsound. The Commander of the Faithful (may God's blessings be upon him) said: A man's appointed term guards him. And when he rose, the wall collapsed. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 58)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was sitting beside a leaning wall, judging among the people, when one of them said: Do not sit beneath this wall, for it is cracked. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man's appointed term is his guardian. And when he rose from that place, the wall collapsed.

Sa'id ibn Qays al-Hamdani said: One day in battle I caught sight of a man wearing only two garments. I urged my horse toward him, and behold, it was the Commander of the Faithful (AS). I said: O Commander of the Faithful, in a place like this? He said: Yes, O Sa'id ibn Qays. There is no servant but that he has from God a guardian and a protector — two angels with him who guard him from falling from a mountaintop or tumbling into a well; and when the decree descends, they leave him to face everything. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 58)

Sa'id ibn Qays says: One day on the field of battle I saw a man wearing only two garments (without armour or helmet). I moved my horse toward him and saw that it was the Commander of the Faithful (AS). I said: O Commander of the Faithful! In such a place (in such clothing)? He said: Yes, O Sa'id ibn Qays! There is no servant but that God has appointed for him, as guardian and protector, two angels who keep him from being cast down from a mountaintop or from falling into a well; and when God's decree descends (when his appointed term arrives), they leave him to everything.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: Qanbar, Ali's servant, loved Ali (AS) with an intense love. Whenever Ali (may God's blessings be upon him) went out, Qanbar would go out behind him with a sword. One night Ali saw him and said: O Qanbar, what is the matter with you? He said: I came to walk behind you, O Commander of the Faithful. He said: Woe to you! Are you guarding me from the people of heaven or from the people of earth? He said: No, rather from the people of earth. He said: The people of earth can do nothing to me except by God's permission from heaven. So go back. And he went back. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 59)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Qanbar, the servant of Ali (AS), loved him greatly, and whenever he went out, Qanbar would follow him with a sword. One night Ali saw him and said: O Qanbar! What is the matter with you? He said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have come to be behind you. He said: Woe to you! Are you protecting me from the people of heaven or from the people of earth? He said: No, rather from the people of earth. He said: The people of earth can do nothing to me except by God's permission. Go back. And he went back.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (may God's blessings be upon him) entered the mosque, and there at the door of the mosque was a man, downcast and sorrowful. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to him: What is the matter with you? He said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have been afflicted by the loss of my father [and my mother] and my brother, and I fear that I have lost my composure. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to him: Hold fast to the fear of God and to patience; you will come before Him tomorrow. Patience in affairs is like the head to the body: when the head is severed from the body, the body is ruined; and when patience departs from affairs, affairs are ruined. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 90)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (may God's blessings be upon him) came to the mosque and saw there a man who was grieving and sorrowful. He said to him: What is the matter with you? He said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have been afflicted by the loss of my father [and mother] and my brother, and I fear I shall break down. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take up the fear of God and patience, so that tomorrow you may come forth in patience (and see its reward). Patience in affairs is like the head to the body: when the head is severed from the body, the body is corrupted; and when patience is severed from affairs, affairs are corrupted.

Abu Ja'far (AS) said: When death came to my father Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon them both), he drew me to his breast and said: My son, I counsel you with what my father counselled me when death came to him, and with what he related that his own father had counselled him: My son, be patient in the truth, even if it be bitter. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 91)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: When the death of Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon them both) drew near, he pressed me to his breast and said: My dear son, I enjoin upon you what my father enjoined upon me at the time of his death, and which he said his own father had enjoined upon him: My dear son, be patient in the truth, even though it be bitter.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer is one who is loved and at ease with others; and there is no good in one who neither takes to others nor is taken to. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 102)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer forms bonds of affection. Indeed, there is no good in one who does not become close to others and with whom others cannot become close.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Among the traits most helpful to religion is renunciation of this world. Know that the renunciant's renunciation of this world diminishes nothing of what God has apportioned to him. For love of this world blinds, deafens, and strikes dumb, and it makes necks abject. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, pp. 128, 129, 136)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most necessary quality for religious life is renunciation (zuhd). And know that the renunciant's renunciation does not in the least diminish his worldly share of what God has apportioned. Indeed, love of this world makes a person deaf, blind, and dumb, and drags him into servitude.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever fears God, mighty and majestic, becomes strong, satisfied, and quenched, and his intellect is raised above the people of this world. His body is with the people of this world, but his heart and his intellect behold the hereafter; and with the light of his heart he extinguishes whatever love of this world his eyes have seen. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 136)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever observes God-consciousness becomes honoured and strong, satisfied and quenched, and his intellect is raised above the people of this world. Only his body is with the people of this world, while his heart and mind are watching the hereafter. Whatever love of this world his eye has seen, the radiance of his heart has put out.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: O son of Adam, if you want from this world only what suffices you, then the least of what is in it will suffice you; but if you want what does not suffice you, then all that is in it will not suffice you. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 138)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: O child of Adam! If you seek from this world only as much as suffices, then the smallest and slightest thing of this world will suffice you; and if you do not seek merely what suffices (and are not content), then everything in this world will not be enough for you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is content with what is enough for him from this world, the least of what is in it will suffice him; and whoever is not content with what is enough for him from this world, nothing in it will suffice him. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 140)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is content with such measure of this world as is enough for him, the smallest thing of this world will suffice him; and whoever is not content with the measure that is enough for him, nothing of this world will suffice him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Indeed, whoever deals fairly with people from his own side, God will increase him in nothing but honour. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 44)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is fair in his dealings with people, God grants him honour.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let there be gathered in your heart both need of people and independence from them: let your need of them show in the gentleness of your speech and the pleasantness of your countenance, and let your independence from them show in the purity of your honour and the endurance of your dignity. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 149)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In your heart both need of people and independence from them must be joined together. Your need of them is the cause of gentle speech and a cheerful face toward them, and your independence from them is what preserves your honour and safeguards your dignity. (Written on the plain of Arafat, Hajj 1444)

From Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) set out for Basra, he halted at al-Rabadha. A man of the tribe of Muharib came to him and said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have taken upon myself a debt on behalf of my people, and I asked several groups among them for support and help, but their tongues raced ahead with harsh refusal. So command them, O Commander of the Faithful, to help me, and urge them to stand by me. He said: Where are they? He said: This group of them is where you see. So he spurred on his mount, and it darted off like an ostrich; some of his companions rushed after it, and only with the greatest difficulty was it overtaken. He came up to the people, greeted them, and asked them what prevented them from standing by their kinsman. They complained of him and he complained of them. Then the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let a man keep the bond with his clan, for they have the greater claim to his kindness and his wealth; and let the clan keep the bond with its brother if time trips him up and the world turns its back on him. For those who keep ties and give freely to one another are rewarded, and those who cut ties and turn their backs on one another bear the burden of sin. Then he urged on his mount and said: Move on. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 153)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) set out with the intention of going to Basra, he halted at al-Rabadha. A man of the tribe of Muharib came to him and said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have been burdened with a debt, and when I asked some of my relatives for support and help, they spoke only of hardship and poverty. O Commander of the Faithful, command them to help, and compel them to stand by me. He said: Where are they? He said: Some of them are over there, where you can see. The Imam set his mount in motion at the utmost speed, and it went like an ostrich. A group of the companions who set off ahead caught up with him only with difficulty. He reached that man's people, greeted them, and asked why they were not standing by their own kinsman. They complained of him and he of them, until the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every person must keep the bond with his family, for they are the most deserving of his kindness and of financial help; and the family too must look after each one of its members, lest time throw them to the ground and the world turn its back on them. Indeed, the people of connection and giving are rewarded, and the people of severance and stinginess are in sin and ruin. Then he urged on his mount and said: Move on. (Written in the land of Mina, Hajj 1444)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep the ties of kinship, even if only with a greeting of peace. God, blessed and exalted, says: «And fear God, in whose name you make your requests of one another, and [be mindful of] the ties of kinship; indeed God is ever watchful over you.» (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 155)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep the ties with your kin, even if only by greeting them, for God, blessed and exalted, says: Guard the sanctity of God, by whom you swear in making your requests; and do good to your kinsfolk! God is ever watching over you [Qur'an 4:1].

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Meeting one's brethren is a great gain, even if they are few. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 179)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Meeting one's brethren in faith is a great gain — and such brethren are rare.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When an affliction comes, put your wealth before your lives; and when a calamity descends, put your lives before your religion. And know that the ruined one is he whose religion is ruined. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 216)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When an affliction arrives, make your wealth a shield for your lives; and when a trial comes upon you, sacrifice your lives for your religion. And know that the one who is ruined is he whose religion is destroyed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Our Shi'a are those who give freely to one another for the sake of our authority, who love one another in our affection, who visit one another to revive our cause; who, when they are angry, do not act unjustly, and when they are pleased, do not go to excess; a blessing to those they neighbour, a source of peace to those they mix with. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 236)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Our Shi'a are those who give to one another for the sake of our guardianship, who show friendship to one another for the sake of love of us, and who visit one another to revive our cause. If they grow angry, they do not wrong anyone; and if they are pleased, they do not go to excess. They are a blessing to their neighbours, and they live in peace and harmony with those who keep their company.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The people most severely tried are the prophets, then their successors, then the next most exemplary and the next. The believer is tried only in proportion to his good deeds: whoever's religion is sound and whose deeds are good, his trial is severe. That is because God, mighty and majestic, has not made this world a reward for a believer nor a punishment for an unbeliever. And whoever's religion is flimsy and whose deeds are weak, his trial is light. Indeed, affliction comes more swiftly to the God-fearing believer than rain to the low ground of the earth. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 259)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most sorely tried of people are the prophets, then their successors, then those most like them. The believer is tried in proportion to his good deeds. So whoever's religion is sound and whose deeds are good, his trial is severe — and this is because God has not made this world the reward of the believer nor the punishment of the unbeliever. And whoever's religion is unsound and whose deeds are weak, his trial is slight. Affliction comes to the God-fearing believer more readily than rain reaches the ground.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no servant but that over him are forty veils, until he commits forty grave sins. When he has committed forty grave sins, the veils are lifted from him, and God reveals to them [the angels]: Cover My servant with your wings. So the angels cover him with their wings. He said: Then he leaves nothing ugly undone but that he falls into it, until he boasts to people of his ugly deeds. So the angels say: O Lord, this servant of Yours leaves nothing undone but that he commits it, and we are ashamed of what he does. Then God, mighty and majestic, reveals to them: Lift your wings from him. And when that is done, he sets about hating us, the People of the House. At that point his covering in heaven and his covering on earth are torn away, and the angels say: O Lord, this servant of Yours is left with his covering torn away. Then God, mighty and majestic, reveals to them: If God had any need of him, He would not have commanded you to lift your wings from him. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 279)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Over every servant forty veils are drawn, until the time he commits forty grave sins. When he has committed forty grave sins, the veils are lifted from him. Then God reveals to the angels: Cover My servant with your wings — and the angels cover him with their wings. Thereafter that servant leaves no vile deed undone but commits it, to the point that he boasts among people of his vile conduct. Then the angels say: Our Lord, we are ashamed of his deeds! God reveals to them: Now lift your wings from him. And when his affair reaches this point, he begins his enmity toward us, the People of the House. It is then that his covering in heaven and his covering on earth are torn away. The angels say: Our Lord, this servant of Yours is left with his covering torn away! God reveals to them: If I had any need of him or any regard for him, I would not have ordered you to lift your wings from him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the believer touches a sin, faith diminishes in him and departs from him, and it does not return to him until he repents; and when he repents, God turns to him in forgiveness. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 281)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the believer sins, the spirit of faith in him is diminished and a light within him is extinguished, until such time as he repents. Once he has repented, God turns to him again and makes up for him what was lost.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of wrangling and quarrelling, for these two sicken hearts against one's brethren, and upon them hypocrisy grows. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 300)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take the utmost care to avoid disputation and argument, and likewise enmity, for these two make the hearts of the believers sick toward one another and sow hypocrisy in the hearts of both parties.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has forbidden Paradise to every foul-mouthed, obscene person of little shame, who does not care what he says or what is said to him. For if you examine him, you will find him to be nothing but the offspring of illicit union or a partnership of Satan. Then he recited the words of God, mighty and majestic: "And share with them in wealth and children." (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 323)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has forbidden Paradise to the shameless foul-mouthed person — the one to whom it does not matter what he says or what answer he hears. Such a person is either born of illicit union or is a partnership of Satan. Then he recited God's address in the Qur'an to Satan: Be their partner in wealth and children [Qur'an 17:64].

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There are two promptings: a prompting from Satan and a prompting from the angel. The angel's prompting is tenderness and understanding, and Satan's prompting is heedlessness and hardness of heart. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 330)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: People are subject to two incoming impulses: an impulse from Satan and an impulse from the angel. The angel's inspiration brings tenderness (that is, softness of heart) and understanding, while Satan's touch brings forgetfulness and hardness of heart.

From al-Baqir (AS): When death came to Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon them both), he drew me to his breast and then said: My son, I counsel you with what my father (AS) counselled me when death came to him, and with what he related that his own father had counselled him. He said: My son, beware of wronging one who has no helper against you but God. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 331)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: When the death of my father Ali ibn al-Husayn drew near, he pressed me to his breast and said: My son, I counsel you with what my father counselled me at the time of his death, and with the very thing that he mentioned his own father had counselled him: My son, beware of wronging one who has no helper against you but God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There are three traits whose possessor never dies until he sees their evil consequence: transgression, severing the ties of kinship, and the false oath. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 347)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There are three traits such that whoever has them will not die until he sees their evil consequence: oppression, severing the ties of kinship, and the false oath.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sins are of three kinds. There is the sin that is forgiven: a servant whom God has punished for his sin in this world — and God is too forbearing and too generous to punish His servant twice. As for the sin that is not forgiven, it is the wrongs servants do to one another. And as for the third sin, it is a sin that God has veiled from His creation and for which He has granted the servant repentance. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 443)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There are three kinds of sin. The forgiven sin, whose punishment God has already brought upon the servant in this world — and God is too forbearing and too generous to punish a servant a second time in the hereafter for such sins. Second, the unforgivable sin, which is the wrong that servants do to one another. And third, the sin whose exposure before creation God has prevented, and for which He has granted the servant the grace of repentance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said concerning the words of God, mighty and majestic, «Whatever affliction befalls you is because of what your own hands have earned, and He pardons much»: There is no twisting of a vein, no striking of a stone, no stumbling of a foot, no scratch of a stick, except because of a sin — and what God pardons is far more. So whoever's sin God has hastened to punish in this world, God, mighty and majestic, is too exalted, too generous, and too great to return to punishing him in the hereafter. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 445)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said, in explaining the verse "Whatever misfortune befalls you is because of your own deeds; and yet God pardons much" [Qur'an 42:30]: There is no twisting of a vein, no knock against a stone, no slip of a foot, no scratch of a stick, except on account of a sin — and indeed what God pardons is far greater. So whoever's sin God has hastened to punish in this world, God is too lofty, too generous, and too magnanimous to punish him again in the hereafter.

It was said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Admonish us, and be brief. He said: The lawful of this world brings a reckoning, and its unlawful brings punishment. How can there be ease for you when you have not followed the way of your Prophet? You seek what makes you overstep, and you are not content with what suffices you. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 459)

It was said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Give us counsel, and make it brief (that is, put it in a short form). He said: The lawful of this world brings a reckoning and its unlawful brings punishment. How shall ease be prepared for you (from the terrors of the Resurrection) when you have not entered upon the way of your Prophet? Do not seek what carries you into rebellion — yet you are not satisfied with what suffices you (and you want more than enough).

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When alarm grows severe, the refuge is with God. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 468)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When dread and distress become severe, the refuge and shelter is God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Supplication is the believer's shield; and whenever you knock much upon a door, it will be opened for you. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 468)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Supplication is the believer's shield, and whenever you knock much upon a door, it will be opened to you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, mighty and majestic, does not accept the supplication of a heedless heart. And Ali (AS) used to say: When one of you supplicates for a dead person, let him not supplicate for him while his heart is heedless of him; rather let him strive earnestly in supplication for him. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 473)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God does not accept the supplication of a heart that is heedless and absent. Whenever one of you supplicates for a dead person while his heart is heedless of him, let him not supplicate at all. Strive to perform supplication with presence of heart.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Seize the opportunity for supplication on four occasions: when the Qur'an is being recited, at the call to prayer, when rain falls, and when the two battle lines meet for martyrdom. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 477)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Count supplication a prize on four occasions: at the time of reciting the Qur'an, at the time of hearing the call to prayer, at the time of rain, and when the two ranks (of the believers and the unbelievers) meet for battle.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever remembers God, the Mighty and Majestic, in secret has indeed remembered God abundantly. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 501)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who utters the remembrance of God in the inmost depth of his being belongs to those who remember God abundantly.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Glorification of God is half the Balance; 'praise belongs to God' fills the Balance; and 'God is greater' fills what lies between heaven and earth. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 506)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Uttering glorification is half the balance of deeds, and uttering praise fills up the rest of it; and the takbir smooths the road all the way to heaven.

When evening came, Ali (AS) used to say: Welcome to the new night and to the witnessing scribes. Write, in the name of God! Then he would remember God, the Mighty and Majestic. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 523)

When night fell, Ali (AS) would say: Welcome to this new night and to the witnessing scribe; write for me in the name of God. Then he would remember God abundantly.

The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, used to say: O God, I take refuge in You from nocturnal emission, from evil dreams, and from Satan's toying with me in waking and in sleep. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 536)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: At the time of sleep the Commander of the Faithful (AS) would say: O God, I seek refuge in You from nocturnal emission and from bad dreams, and from Satan's toying with me whether asleep or awake!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you meet a beast of prey, say: I take refuge in the Lord of Daniel and of the pit from the evil of every ravening lion. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 571)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you come upon a beast of prey, say: O Lord of Daniel and of that pit, I take refuge in You from the evil of every predator.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The house in which the Qur'an is recited and God, the Mighty and Majestic, is remembered, its blessing grows abundant, the angels are present in it, the satans shun it, and it shines for the people of heaven as the stars shine for the people of the earth. And the house in which the Qur'an is not recited and God, the Mighty and Majestic, is not remembered, its blessing dwindles, the angels shun it, and the satans are present in it. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 610)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A house in which the Qur'an is recited and in which God is remembered, its blessing becomes abundant, the angels come into it and the satans withdraw from it, and it shines for the people of heaven just as the stars shine for the people of the earth. And a house in which the Qur'an is not recited and God is not remembered, its blessing grows scant, the angels withdraw from it, and the satans are present in it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no harm in your keeping company with a man of intellect even if you cannot praise his generosity; rather, profit from his intellect and guard yourself against his bad character. And never abandon the company of a generous man even if you cannot profit from his intellect; profit from his generosity by means of your own intellect. And flee with all your might from the base fool. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 638)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep company with the man of intellect even if you do not find his generosity pleasing; at the very least you will profit from his intellect. But take care not to be coloured by his bad character. Likewise, do not let slip the company of the generous man even if he has no intellect from which you might profit; at the least you profit from his generosity. And beware, flee from the company of one who has neither generosity nor intellect, that is, the man who is both base and foolish.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Consider well those with whom you converse, for there is no one upon whom death descends but that his companions are made to appear before him in the presence of God: if they were good, then good; and if they were evil, then evil. And no one dies but that I am made to appear to him at the moment of his death. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 638)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Look well to whom you take as your companion in conversation, for death does not descend upon anyone without his associates being made to appear before him in the presence of God: if they were good they appear to him as good, and if they were evil, as evil. And there is no one who dies without this vision occurring to him at the moment of his death.

Two men came in to the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and he set out a cushion for each of them. One of them sat upon it and the other declined. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sit upon it, for none declines an honour but a donkey. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 659)

Two men came into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and he laid out a cushion for each of them. One of them sat upon it and the other declined. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sit upon it, for none declines to accept an honour but a donkey!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The marketplace of the Muslims is like their mosque: whoever comes first to a place has the better right to it until nightfall. The narrator said: And he used to take no rent for the stalls of the marketplace. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 662)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The marketplace of the Muslims is like their mosque. Whoever comes first and takes his seat in a place has the better right to it.

Moreover, that noble one used to take no rent for the shops of the marketplace.

From Abu Abdillah, from his forefathers (AS): The Commander of the Faithful (AS) once travelled in the company of a dhimmi. The dhimmi said to him: Where are you bound, servant of God? He replied: I am bound for Kufa. When the road turned aside for the dhimmi, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) turned aside with him. The dhimmi said to him: Did you not say that you were bound for Kufa? He said: Indeed I did. The dhimmi said: Then you have left your road. He said: I know it. He said: Then why have you turned aside with me, knowing that? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to him: This belongs to the perfection of good companionship, that a man escort his companion a little way when he parts from him; and so our Prophet (PBUH) commanded us. The dhimmi said to him: Did he say so? He said: Yes. The dhimmi said: Without doubt, those who followed him followed him only for his noble deeds. I call you to witness that I am of your religion. And the dhimmi turned back with the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and when he came to know who he was, he embraced Islam. (al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 670)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) relates from his forefathers that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) travelled together with a dhimmi, and the dhimmi said to him: Servant of God, where are you going? He answered him: To Kufa. And when the dhimmi took another road, the Commander of the Faithful accompanied him. So the dhimmi said: Have you abandoned the road to Kufa? He said: No. He said: Then why, knowing this, have you come along my road? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) answered him: This belongs to the perfection of good companionship, that a man escort his fellow traveller a few steps at the moment of parting; our Prophet gave us such a command. The dhimmi said to him: Is that the matter? He said: Yes. The dhimmi said: Surely everyone who followed that noble one did so because of his nobilities. I take you as my witness that I am of your faith. And the dhimmi turned back with the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and when he came to know him he embraced Islam.

Abu Abdillah (AS) said: In the book of Ali (AS) it is written that the cat is a beast of prey, yet there is no harm in what it has left from its drinking; and truly I would be ashamed before God to leave food untouched merely because a cat has eaten from it. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 9)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: In the book of Ali (AS) it is written: although the cat is counted among the beasts of prey, yet there is no objection to what it has left over; and I would be ashamed before God not to eat of food from which a cat has eaten.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: Ali (AS) saw no harm in one in a state of major ritual impurity washing his head at the beginning of the day and washing the rest of his body at the time of prayer. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 44)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) took no exception to one in a state of major ritual impurity washing his head at the beginning of the day and his body at the time of prayer.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) forbade that a man perform dry ablution with dust taken from the trodden road. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 62)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), forbade a man to perform dry ablution with the dust found on the road.

From al-Sadiq (AS): No believing soul shall ever die until it beholds Muhammad and Ali. And when the believer looks upon them, he does not return to this world but passes onward before him. They both come in to the believer: the Messenger of God (PBUH) sits at his head and Ali (AS) at his feet. The Messenger of God (PBUH) bends over him and says: O friend of God, rejoice! I am the Messenger of God; I am better for you than all of this world that you have left behind. Then the Messenger of God (PBUH) rises, and Ali (AS) stands and bends over him and says: O friend of God, rejoice! I am Ali ibn Abi Talib, whom you used to love; be assured that I shall surely profit you. Then he said: This is in the Book of God, the Mighty and Majestic: 'Those who believe and are God-fearing, for them are glad tidings in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. There is no changing the words of God; that is the mighty triumph.' [Qur'an 10:63-64] (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 128)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: No believer dies without seeing Muhammad and Ali. And once he has seen thus, he never returns again to this world but goes forward on his way. The two come together to the believer. The Messenger of God (PBUH) will sit beside his head and Ali (AS) beside his feet. The Messenger of God (PBUH) turns to him and says: O friend of God, glad tidings to you! I am the Messenger of God. I am better for you than what you have left behind of this world. Then the Messenger of God (PBUH) rises, and Ali (AS) stands up and turns to him and says: O friend of God, glad tidings to you! I am Ali ibn Abi Talib, the one whom you loved. Know that I shall bring you benefit. Then Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: This truth is mentioned in the Book of God Most High: 'Those who believed and became God-fearing, for them are glad tidings in the life of this world and in the world to come; and there is no changing the words of God, and that is the great triumph.' [Qur'an 10:64]

From al-Sadiq (AS): By God, it is accepted; and by God, you are forgiven. Between any one of you and his rejoicing and beholding gladness and delight of the eye there is nothing but that his soul should reach here, and he gestured with his hand toward his throat. Then he said: When that comes about and he is in the throes of death, the Angel of Death comes to him and draws near to him and says: O servant of God, have you obtained the ransom of your neck? Have you obtained the warrant of your acquittal? Did you hold fast in the life of this world to the greatest safeguard? He said: Then God, the Mighty and Majestic, grants him success and he says: Yes. The angel says: And what is that? He says: The guardianship of Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS). The angel says: You have spoken the truth. As for that which you feared, God has made you safe from it; and as for that which you hoped for, you have attained it. Rejoice! (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 131)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: By God, the deeds of you Shi'a are accepted; and by God, you are forgiven; and by God, there is no distance between you and the attainment of your hope and the sight of gladness and the brightening of your eye, except that your soul should reach here (and he pointed with his blessed hand to his throat).

Then he said: When that comes about and a person is in the throes of death, he sees the Angel of Death, and the Angel of Death asks him: O servant of God, have you obtained the warrant of your own freedom? Have you obtained your writ of acquittal from the Fire? In the life of this world did you cling to the greatest safeguard? At that moment God grants him success and gives him the power to speak, and in that state the person says: Yes! The Angel of Death says: What is that means? The dying man says: The guardianship of Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS). The Angel of Death says: You have spoken the truth. That which you feared, God has made you safe from; and that which you hoped for, you have received. Glad tidings to you!

From Abaya al-Asadi, that he heard Ali (AS) say: By God, no servant ever hates me and dies in hatred of me but that he sees me at his death in a manner he detests; and no servant ever loves me and dies in love of me but that he sees me at his death in a manner he loves. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 132)

Al-Asadi relates from Ali (AS) that the noble one said: By God, never does a servant hold me in enmity and die in enmity toward me without seeing me at the hour of his death in a way that is hateful to him; and never does a servant love me and die in love of me without seeing me at the hour of his death in the way that he loves.

Muhammad ibn Hanzala said: I said to Abu Abdillah (AS): May I be your ransom, there is a tradition I heard from some of your Shi'a and your devotees, which they relate from your father. He said: And what is it? I said: They claim that he used to say: The thing a man most envies concerning this cause of ours is when the soul is at this point. He said: Yes. When that comes about, the Prophet of God comes to him, and Ali comes to him, and Gabriel comes to him, and the Angel of Death comes to him, peace be upon them. That angel says to Ali (AS): O Ali, was this man a devotee of you and of your household? He says: Yes, he gave us his loyalty and disavowed our enemy. Then the Prophet of God says the same to Gabriel, and Gabriel raises that up to God, the Mighty and Majestic. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 134)

Muhammad ibn Hanzala says: I said to Imam al-Sadiq (AS): May I be your ransom! I have heard a tradition from some of your Shi'a and friends, which they relate from your father. He said: What is it? I said: They hold that the noble one said: When a person's soul reaches his throat, the thing he envies above all else is the belief of us Shi'a. He said: Yes, it is so. Whenever that comes about, the Prophet of God (PBUH), Ali (AS), Gabriel and the Angel of Death (peace be upon them) come to him. That angel says to Ali (AS): O Ali, was this man among the friends of you and of your household?

The noble one says: Yes, he loved us and disavowed our enemies. The Prophet (PBUH) likewise says this to Gabriel, and Gabriel raises these words up to God Most High.

The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, said: Bid your households speak well of your dead; for when Fatima (peace of God be upon her) lost her father (PBUH), the daughters of Hashim joined her in mourning, and she said: Leave off the enumerating of virtues and keep to supplication. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 217)

The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), said: Instruct everyone to remember their dead with good words. At the time of the passing of the Messenger of God (PBUH), the daughters of Hashim came to Zahra (peace be upon her) for the mourning. That noble lady said: Leave off recounting the glories of your dead, and keep to supplication for them.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever consoles a bereaved mother, God will shelter him in the shade of His Throne on the Day when there is no shade but His shade. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 227)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever comforts one who has lost a child, God will shelter him in the shade of His Throne on the Day when there is no refuge but His refuge.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Visit your dead, for they rejoice at your visiting them; and let each one of you ask for his own need at the grave of his father and at the grave of his mother, together with the supplication he makes for them both. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 229)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Visit your dead, for they are made glad by your visit; and let each one of you, beside the grave of his father or his mother, along with the supplication he makes for them, also ask for his own need.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no believer who dies in any spot of the earth but that it is said to his spirit: Join Wadi al-Salam! And truly it is a plot of the Garden of Eden. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 243)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every believer who dies anywhere on the earth, it is said to his spirit: Join Wadi al-Salam! Truly this place is a portion of Paradise.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man should not prostrate upon anything on which the rest of his body does not rest. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 332)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person should not prostrate upon something on which the rest of his body does not rest.

Abu Abdillah (AS) said: When you rise from a unit of prayer, support yourself on your two palms and say: 'By the power and strength of God I rise and I sit'; for Ali (AS) used to do that. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 338)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Whenever you rise from a completed unit of prayer, lean upon your two palms and stand up, and say: 'By the power and strength of God I rise and I sit', for Ali (AS) used to do it in this way.

A man came to the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib, God's blessings be upon him, and said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have been deprived of the night prayer. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You are a man whom his own sins have fettered. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 450)

A man came into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have been deprived of the night prayer. Ali (AS) said: Your sins have put you in chains.

From Abu Ja'far (AS): The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, prayed on the night of Siffin, which is the Night of Clamour; their noon, afternoon, sunset and night prayers, at the time of each prayer, consisted of nothing but the takbir, the declaration that there is no god but God, glorification, praise and supplication. That was their prayer, and he did not command them to repeat it. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 457)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: At the battle of Siffin, on the Night of Clamour, the noon, afternoon, sunset and night prayers of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), and of his companions consisted of the takbir, the declaration that there is no god but God, glorification, praise and supplication; and this alone was their prayer, and the noble one did not command his troops to repeat their prayers after the fighting was over.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: Whenever anything alarmed Ali (AS), he would take refuge in prayer, and then he would recite this verse: 'And seek help through patience and prayer.' [Qur'an 2:45] (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 480)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Whenever anything frightened him, the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), would always turn to prayer. Then he would recite this verse: 'And seek help through patience and prayer.' [Qur'an 2:45]

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: A man came to the Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, while he was in the mosque of Kufa, and said: Peace be upon you, O Commander of the Faithful, and the mercy of God and His blessings. He returned the greeting, and the man said: May I be your ransom, I intend to go to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, and I wished to greet you and bid you farewell. He said to him: And what do you seek by that? He said: The merit of it, may I be your ransom. He said: Then sell your mount, eat your provisions, and pray in this mosque; for the obligatory prayer in it is an accepted pilgrimage, and the supererogatory prayer in it is an accepted lesser pilgrimage, and the blessing is here. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 491)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: A man came into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali, God's blessings be upon him, while the noble one was in the mosque of Kufa, and he said: Peace be upon you, O Commander of the Faithful, and the mercy of God and His blessings.

The noble one returned his greeting. The man said: May I be your ransom! I wished to go to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, and I have come to greet you and take my leave of you.

The noble one said to him: For what purpose are you going there?

He said: May I be your ransom! For the sake of its merit.

He said: Sell your mount, eat your provisions, and pray in this mosque of Kufa; for the obligatory prayer in it is equal to an accepted greater pilgrimage, and the supererogatory prayer in it is equal to an accepted lesser pilgrimage, and the blessing is right here.

From Burayd ibn Mu'awiya, who said: I heard Abu Abdillah (AS) say: The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, sent out a collector of alms from Kufa to its desert country, and said to him: O servant of God, set out, and keep to the fear of God, who is One and has no partner. Do not prefer your world to your Hereafter. Be a keeper of what I have entrusted to you and an observer of God's right in it, until you come to the encampment of the sons of so-and-so. When you arrive, alight at their watering place without mingling with their tents. Then go toward them with calm and dignity until you stand among them, and greet them with peace. Then say to them: O servants of God, the friend of God has sent me to you to take from you God's due in your wealth. Is there in your wealth any due of God, that you may render it to His friend? If anyone says to you, No, then do not press him again. And if any one of them answers you favourably, then go with him, without frightening him or promising him anything but good. When you come to his property, do not enter it except by his leave, for most of it belongs to him; so say: O servant of God, do you permit me to enter your property? If he gives you leave, do not enter it as one who has power over him, nor with any harshness. Then divide the property into two portions and let him choose whichever of the two he wishes; and whichever he chooses, do not object to it. Then divide the remainder into two portions and let him choose again; and whichever he chooses, do not object to it. Continue so until there remains that in which is the discharge of the right of God, Blessed and Exalted, from his wealth. When that remains, take God's right from it. And if he asks you to undo the division, then grant him that; then mix them together and do as you did the first time, until you take God's right in his wealth. When you have taken it, put no one in charge of it save one who is sincere, compassionate, trustworthy and watchful, who will deal harshly with none of it. Then send down to us everything that has gathered with you from every encampment, so that we may direct it where God, the Mighty and Majestic, has commanded. When your messenger brings it down, instruct him not to come between a she-camel and her young nor separate them, and not to milk her dry so that her calf is harmed; not to exhaust them by riding, but to be even-handed among them in that; to bring them to every water he passes by; and not to turn them aside from the herbage of the earth onto the beaten highway at the hour when they rest and take their evening drink. Let him be as gentle with them as he can, so that they may reach us, God willing, sound and fat, neither wearied nor exhausted, and be divided, God willing, according to the Book of God and the Sunna of His Prophet (PBUH) among the friends of God. For that is greater for your reward and nearer to your right guidance. God looks upon them, and upon you, and upon your effort and your sincerity toward him who sent you and him for whose need you were sent. For the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: God never looks upon a friend of His who exerts himself in obedience and sincere counsel to Him and to his Imam but that he will be with us in the highest company. He said: Then Abu Abdillah (AS) wept, and then said: O Burayd, no, by God, no sanctity of God has remained but that it has been violated; the Book of God and the Sunna of His Prophet have not been acted upon in this world; no prescribed penalty has been carried out among these people since God took the Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings and peace be upon him; and nothing of the truth has been acted upon down to this day of ours. Then he said: Yet by God, the days and the nights shall not pass away until God revives the dead and causes the living to die, and God restores the truth to its rightful people and establishes His religion, which He has approved for Himself and for His Prophet. So rejoice, then rejoice, then rejoice; for by God, the truth is in none but your hands. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 536)

Burayd ibn Mu'awiya says: I heard Imam al-Sadiq (AS) say: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), dispatched a collector of alms from Kufa to the desert country and the villages around Kufa, and said to him: O servant of God, set out, and keep to the fear of God, the God who is One and has no partner; do not prefer your world to the world to come; guard and keep watch over that with which I have entrusted you, and observe the right of God in it, until you reach the tribe of so-and-so. When you reach them, alight beside their well and their watering place, without going about among their dwellings. Then turn toward them with calm and dignity until you stand among them, and greet them with peace. Then say to them: O servants of God, the friend and guardian of God has sent me to you to take from you the right of God in your possessions. Is there in your wealth any right belonging to God, that you may pay it and render it to His friend?

If one of them says: No, then do not repeat your words to him a second time (and turn away); and if one of them answers: Yes, then go with him, without frightening him or promising him anything but good.

When you have come to his goods and possessions, do not lay a hand on them except with his leave and permission, for most of that wealth belongs to him. Say to him: O servant of God, do you permit me to lay a hand on your property?

If he gives you leave, do not enter like a man who has power and dominion over him, and do not enter upon him with force and violence. Then divide his property into two parts, and give him the choice of taking whichever of the two parts he wishes; then divide the remaining property again into two parts and again give him the choice; and whichever part he takes, do not object to him. Continue in this way until there remains of his wealth that in which the discharge of the right of God lies (that which is subject to alms).

When that amount remains, take from it the right of God; and if he wishes to take something back from you, return it to him; then mix together those goods and alms that you have taken from him and do again what you did the first time (that is, divide his property once more into two parts) until you take the right of God that is in his wealth.

Then, when you have taken it, appoint no one as its trustee except a man who is well-wishing, compassionate, trustworthy and watchful, who will not lay hands on any of it nor let it come to ruin.

Then send the goods that have gathered with you from every place to us, so that we too may send them to the place that God, the Mighty and Majestic, has commanded.

And instruct your messenger not to cause separation between a camel's calf and its mother, and not to take more than due of the she-camel's milk, so that the suckling calf is harmed; not to load them excessively; to observe justice among them in this matter; and, at every watering place they pass, to offer them water (so that they may drink). And in the hours in which rest is taken, they should not be prevented from grazing and from making use of the plants of the earth, in the way that would happen if they were driven onto the middle of the road and the highway where there is no herbage.

And let him deal gently with those animals as far as he can, so that they reach us plump and well fed, not worn out and exhausted; so that, by the leave of the Lord and according to the Book of God and the Sunna of His Prophet (PBUH), they may be divided among the friends of God. For carrying out these instructions will increase your recompense and reward, and it is nearer to your guidance; and in that case God will look with the eye of mercy upon you and upon them, and upon the striving and effort you have made and upon your sincerity toward the one who sent you and the one for whose need you were sent. For the Prophet of God (PBUH) said:

God does not look with the eye of mercy upon His friend who strives in obedience and in sincerity toward God and toward his Imam without that friend being with us in the highest company.

Burayd ibn Mu'awiya says: Then Imam al-Sadiq (AS) wept, and then said: O Burayd, no, by God! No sanctity or inviolable bound of God has remained but that it has been broken; the Book of God and the Sunna of His Prophet have not been acted upon in this world; and none of the bounds set by God has been carried out among these people since the Commander of the Faithful, Ali, God's blessings be upon him, was martyred. And to this day the truth has not been acted upon.

Then he said: By God, the world will not come to its end until God brings the dead to life and causes the living to die, and God restores the truth to its rightful people and establishes that religion which is pleasing to Him and which He has approved for Himself and for His Prophet. So glad tidings, glad tidings, and glad tidings to you! By God, the truth is that very thing which is in your hands.

From a man of Thaqif, who said: Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) appointed me over Baniqya and a district of the Sawad of Kufa, and he said to me while the people were present: Look to your land tax and be diligent in it, and do not leave a single dirham of it. And when you wish to set out for your post, pass by me. He said: So I came to him, and he said to me: What you heard from me was a stratagem. Beware of striking a Muslim, a Jew or a Christian over a dirham of land tax, or of selling a working animal for a dirham; for we have only been commanded to take from them what they can readily spare. (al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 540)

A man of Thaqif says: Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) appointed me to collect the alms from the district of Baniqya and the orchards around Kufa, and he said to me in the presence of the people: Keep a close watch over the land tax, be strenuous in collecting it, and do not leave a single dirham of it; and when you wish to set out on your commission, come to me.

The narrator says: When I came into his noble presence, he said to me: What you heard from me was by way of a stratagem and dissimulation (so that the people would recognise the importance of the alms and would pay them). So beware of striking a Muslim, a Jew or a Christian in order to obtain a dirham of the alms, or of selling an animal that has been set aside for work (in order to extract the alms from it). We are commanded only to take from them, with forbearance and kindness, the moderate measure of the alms.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: They used to hold that by means of charity harm is warded off from the man beset by wrongdoing. (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 5)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The way and practice of those who went before was that they held charity to be a deliverance from many injustices.

From Abu Abdillah (AS): The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, sent to a man five loads of the dates of al-Bughaybigha. The man was among those who hoped for his gifts and looked for his bounty and support, yet he never asked anything of Ali (AS) or of anyone else. A man said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): By God, so-and-so did not ask you, and a single load of the five would have sufficed him. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to him: May God not multiply your like among the believers! I give and you are miserly? What is the matter with you! If I were to give to one who hopes in me only after he had asked, and then gave to him after the asking, I would not have given him the price of what I took from him; for I would have exposed him to yielding up to me that face of his which he presses in the dust for my Lord and his Lord when he worships Him and asks his needs of Him. So whoever does this to his Muslim brother, knowing that he is a fit object of his kindness and his favour, has not been truthful with God, the Mighty and Majestic, in his supplication for him, since with his tongue he wishes him Paradise while being miserly toward him with the worthless refuse of his wealth. (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 22)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) sent five loads of dates to a man; and that man was one whose hope was in the bounty of God and who was hospitable, and he never asked anything either of Ali (AS) or of anyone else.

A man who was sitting with the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This man has asked nothing of you, and one load of dates would have been enough for him; why did you send him five loads of dates?

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: May God not multiply the likes of you among the believers! I give, and you are miserly? Be fair! If I were to give nothing to anyone until after he had asked, then the price of what I had taken from him, that is, his dignity, would be greater than what I had given him. It is a dignity that he lays in the dust before my God and his own when he worships God and asks of Him his needs. Whoever behaves in this way toward his believing brother has not been truthful with God Most High in his supplication; for when the believer prays for forgiveness, with his tongue he wishes Paradise for his Muslim brother from God, so how then can he be miserly toward him with the worthless goods of this world!

From al-Harith al-Hamdani, who said: I was in conversation with the Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, at night, and I said: O Commander of the Faithful, a need has arisen for me. He said: And did you see me as worthy of it? I said: Yes, O Commander of the Faithful. He said: May God reward you well on my behalf. Then he rose to the lamp and dimmed it, and sat down, and said: I have dimmed the lamp only so that I may not see in your face the humiliation of your need. So speak; for I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: Needs are a trust from God in the breasts of His servants. Whoever conceals them, worship is written for him; and whoever discloses them, it becomes a duty upon whoever hears them to assist him. (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 24)

Al-Harith al-Hamdani says: One night I said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): O Commander of the Faithful, a difficulty has come upon me. The Imam said: Did you consider me worthy to fulfil your need? I said: Yes, O Commander of the Faithful. The noble one said: May God reward you well on my behalf. Then the noble one went to the lamp and lowered its light, and sat down, and said: I lowered the light of the lamp lest I see the humiliation of your need in your face. Speak; for I heard the Prophet of God (PBUH) say: Needs are a trust from God in the breasts of God's servants; whoever keeps that trust hidden, worship is written for him; and whoever makes that trust known, it is a right owed to God upon the one who hears that trust that he should help him.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, used to say: Whoever does the like of what was done for him has merely repaid it; whoever does more than it is grateful; whoever is grateful is generous; and whoever knows that what he does he does only for his own soul will not find people slow in their thanks, nor will he seek more of their affection. So do not seek from another thanks for what you have in truth done for your own soul and by which you have safeguarded your own honour. And know that he who asks a need of you did not hold his face too honourable to face you; so hold your own face too honourable to turn him away. (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 28)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), used to say: Whoever performs a deed in return for a deed has in reality only rendered its equivalent; whoever performs twice as much as that deed is grateful; whoever is grateful is generous and noble; and whoever knows that if he does something for people he is in truth doing it for himself no longer expects thanks from people, nor desires their friendship or their gratitude, for by that deed you have preserved your own honour.

And know that the honour of one who is in need of you is no less than your own honour. So preserve your honour and do not send him away in despair.

From Zayd al-Shahham, who said: I heard Abu Abdillah (AS) say: Be good neighbours to the blessings of God, and beware lest they pass from you to others; for they have never passed away from anyone and then been near to returning to him. He said: And Ali (AS) used to say: Seldom has anything turned away and then come back. (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 38)

Zayd al-Shahham says: I heard Imam al-Sadiq (AS) say: Deal well with the blessings, and beware of their passing from you to others. Know that a blessing never passes away from someone in such a way that there is hope of its returning to him.

The noble one said: Ali (AS) used always to say: It has seldom happened that when a thing has gone away it comes back again.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, said in one of his discourses: Whoever stretches out his hand in good works when he finds the means, God will replace for him what he has spent in his world and will multiply it for him in his Hereafter. (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 43)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali, God's blessings be upon him, said in the course of his words: Whoever finds his way to good works and opens his hand in them, God will replace what he has spent in this world and will increase it for him in the world to come.

From Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: Ali (AS) used to say: We are a household who have been commanded to feed food, to bestow generous gifts among the people, and to pray while the people sleep. (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 50)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: Ali (AS) used always to say: We, the People of the Household, are commanded to give food to the people, to call them to friendship with one another, and to pray while they are asleep.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep to abundant seeking of forgiveness and to supplication. As for supplication, by it affliction is warded off from you; and as for seeking forgiveness, it erases your sins. (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 88)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep to abundant seeking of forgiveness and supplication. Supplication removes affliction from you, and seeking forgiveness erases your sins.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fasting the month of patience and three days of every month drives away the disquiets of the breast; and fasting three days of every month is the fast of a lifetime, for God, the Mighty and Majestic, says: 'Whoever brings a good deed shall have ten the like of it.' [Qur'an 6:160] (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 92)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fasting the month of patience (that is, the month of Ramadan) and three days of every month removes the misgivings of the heart; and fasting three days in every month is the fast of a lifetime. For God, the Mighty and Majestic, says: 'Whoever performs a good deed shall have ten times its like reckoned for him.' [Qur'an 6:160]

From Abu Abdillah: Toward the end of his life, Ali (AS) used to pray a thousand units of prayer in every day and night. (al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 154)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Toward the end of his life Ali (AS) had come to such a state that he performed a thousand units of prayer in a day and a night.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The struggle of a man is to give freely of his wealth and his life until he is slain in the path of God; and the struggle of a woman is that she bear patiently the harm and the jealousy she meets from her husband. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 9)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The struggle of a man is the giving of his wealth and possessions and of his life, until he is slain in the path of God; and the struggle of a woman is that she be patient and forbearing with the harm and the jealousy of her husband. In another tradition it is related: The struggle of a woman is to be a good wife to her husband.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) sent me to Yemen and said to me: O Ali, do not fight anyone until you have called him. And by God, that God should guide one man by your hands is better for you than everything upon which the sun rises and sets; and his allegiance shall be yours, O Ali. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 28)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) sent me to Yemen and said: Dear Ali, do not fight or do battle with anyone until you have first called him (to Islam) and he has refused. By God, if God guides one man by your hands, it is certainly better for you than all that upon which the sun has risen and set; and his allegiance too will belong to you alone.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, would not fight until the sun had passed the meridian, and he would say: The gates of heaven are opened, mercy comes forward, and help descends. And he would say: It is nearer to the night, and more fitting that the killing should be less, that the pursuer should turn back, and that the routed should escape. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 28)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) used to say: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), would not begin battle until midday had come, and he would say: At this hour the gates of heaven are opened, the mercy of God comes forward, and help and victory descend. And he would say: Noon is nearer to the night, and it is so that fewer men may be killed, and so that those who wish (to make use of the darkness of night) may turn back, and those who wish to flee may escape.

From Abu Hamza al-Thumali, from Ali ibn al-Husayn (AS): Ali (AS) wrote to Malik, who was over his vanguard on the day of Basra, that he should not thrust at one who was not advancing, nor kill one who turned his back in flight, nor finish off a wounded man; and that whoever shut his door was safe. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 33)

Ali (AS) wrote such an order to Malik, who was commander of the front line of the army at the battle of Basra (the Camel): that he should not attack those who were not attacking the army, that he should not kill those who fled, that he should not proceed to kill the wounded, and that whoever shut the door of his house was safe.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you meet your enemy in war, speak little, remember God, the Mighty and Majestic, and do not 'turn your backs to them' [Qur'an 8:15], lest you incur the wrath of God. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 42)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you come face to face with the enemy, speak less and remember God much, and do not turn your backs to the enemy, lest you make yourselves deserving of God's wrath.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, the Mighty and Majestic, detests the man into whose house a thief enters and who does not fight him. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 51)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, the Mighty and Majestic, is severely angered at a man into whose house a thief comes and who does not fight that thief.

A man came to him and said: O Commander of the Faithful, a thief broke in upon my wife and stole her jewellery. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, had he broken in upon the son of Safiyya, he would not have been content with that until he had overwhelmed him with the sword. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 51)

A man came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: O Commander of the Faithful, a thief has stolen my wife's jewellery.

The noble one said: Know this! Had he stolen from the son of Safiyya, he would not have submitted to such a thing, but would have struck that thief with the sword.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By God, a thousand strokes of the sword are easier for me than death upon a bed. He said: that is, in the path of God. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 53)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By God, a thousand blows of the sword falling upon me are easier for me than death in my bed. Imam al-Rida (AS), explaining this tradition, said: Of course, what is meant is that those blows should be in the path of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, the Mighty and Majestic, smiles upon a man in a company against whom a beast of prey or a thief comes forth, and who shields them from its reaching them. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 54)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, the Mighty and Majestic, loves a man who is among a group when a beast of prey or a thief attacks them, and who holds his companions back from confronting it and himself repels the evil of that beast or that thief.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Asceticism in this world is the shortening of hope, gratitude for every blessing, and scrupulous abstention from everything God, the Mighty and Majestic, has forbidden. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 71)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Asceticism in this world consists of cutting short one's hopes, giving thanks for all blessings, and abstaining scrupulously from what God has forbidden.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed to David (AS): You would be an excellent servant, were it not that you eat from the public treasury and do no work with your own hand. He said: So David (AS) wept for forty mornings, and God, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed to iron: Be soft for My servant David. So God, the Mighty and Majestic, made the iron soft for him, and each day he would make a coat of mail and sell it for a thousand dirhams. He made three hundred and sixty coats of mail and sold them for three hundred and sixty thousand, and so became independent of the public treasury. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 74)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, Mighty and Majestic, revealed to David (AS) that you are a good servant, (but alas) you live off the public treasury and do no work with your own hands!

David (AS) wept for forty mornings, and thereafter God, Mighty and Majestic, revealed to iron and said: Become soft for My servant David.

In this way God made iron soft for David (AS), and each day he would make one coat of mail and sell it for a thousand dirhams. He made three hundred and sixty coats of mail and earned three hundred and sixty thousand dirhams, and thus he had no further need of the public treasury.

From Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: A man met the Commander of the Faithful (AS) while beneath him was a camel-load of date stones. He said to him: What is this beneath you, O Abu al-Hasan? He said: One hundred thousand palm trees, if God wills. He said: So he planted them, and not a single stone of them was left unplanted. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 74)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: A man met the Commander of the Faithful (AS) while he was seated upon sixty sa' (the load of one camel) of date stones. That man said: O Abu al-Hasan! What is this upon which you are sitting?

He said: God willing, it is one hundred thousand date palms.

The Imam then planted the stones and did not leave even a single one of them unplanted.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Be more hopeful concerning that for which you have no hope than concerning that for which you do hope. For Moses son of Imran (AS) went out to fetch fire for his family, and God, Mighty and Majestic, spoke to him, and he returned a messenger prophet. And the Queen of Sheba went out, and she embraced Islam together with Solomon (AS). And the sorcerers of Pharaoh went out seeking glory for Pharaoh, and they returned as believers. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 83)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Be more hopeful concerning that for which you have no hope than concerning that for which you are hopeful. For Moses son of Imran (AS) set out to bring fire for his family, and God, Mighty and Majestic, spoke with him by means of the tree, and when he returned he had become a messenger prophet. Likewise the Queen of Sheba came forth from her palace, and as a result she believed in Solomon and became a Muslim. And the sorcerers of Pharaoh went forth to bring glory to Pharaoh, but the outcome was that they became believers.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When things were paired with one another, laziness and incapacity were paired together, and from between the two poverty was born. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 86)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When each thing was wedded to another (joined with it), lack of motivation too was mingled with incapacity, and together they brought forth for their possessor a child named poverty and destitution.

From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, would gather firewood, draw water and sweep, while Fatima, God's peace be upon her, would grind the flour, knead the dough and bake the bread. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 86)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) would bring firewood and water for the household and store them, and Fatima (AS) would make flour and dough and bake bread.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, Mighty and Majestic, loves the trustworthy craftsman. And in another narration: God Most High loves the believer who has a trade. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 113)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, Mighty and Majestic, loves one who possesses a trade and is trustworthy.

In another narration it is stated: God loves the believer who possesses a trade.

From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: A man came to the Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, and said: I have acquired wealth in the seeking of which I closed my eyes to what was lawful and what was unlawful, and now I desire to repent, yet I do not know which part of it is lawful and which unlawful, for it has become mixed together for me. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Give one fifth of your wealth in charity, for God, exalted be His name, is content with one fifth of things; and the remainder of the wealth is lawful for you. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 125)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: A man came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: I have acquired wealth without caring whether it came by lawful or unlawful means (it is mixed), and I intend to repent, but I do not know which part of it is lawful and which unlawful, for its lawful and unlawful portions have become mixed together.

The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) said: Give one fifth of your wealth in charity, for God has consented to one fifth of the wealth, and the rest of your property is lawful for you.

From Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: I asked him about a man who has need of his son's property. He said: He may consume of it whatever he wishes, without extravagance. And he said: In the Book of Ali (AS) it is written that the child may take nothing from his father's property except with his permission, whereas the father may take from his son's property whatever he wishes; and he may lie with his son's slave girl if the son has not lain with her. And he mentioned that the Messenger of God (PBUH) said to a man: You and your property belong to your father. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 135)

I asked Imam al-Baqir (AS) concerning a man who becomes needy of his son's wealth and property. He said: Let him take as much as he wishes, on condition that he does not go to excess or squander it. Then he said: The view of Ali (AS) was that a child may not take anything of his father's property for himself without his father's permission, but the father may take from his son's property whatever he wishes. Likewise the father may have relations with his son's slave girl - one with whom the son has not yet had relations - since the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: "You and your property belong to your father."

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: That I should give my Muslim brother a gift that benefits him is more beloved to me than that I should give the like of it in charity. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 144)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: That I should give my Muslim brother a beneficial gift is more beloved to me than that I should give the like of it in charity.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Begin with seeking what is best from God (istikhara); seek blessing through making matters easy; draw near to your buyers; adorn yourselves with forbearance; refrain from swearing oaths; shun falsehood; keep far from wrongdoing; and deal justly with those who are wronged. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 151)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Before undertaking a matter, perform istikhara and seek what is best from God; find blessing by making your buying and selling easy; draw near to your buyers (and do not sell dear); adorn yourselves with forbearance and patience; refrain from swearing oaths; avoid lying; flee from wrongdoing; and deal gently with those who are wronged.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) passed by a slave girl who had bought meat from a butcher and was saying: Give me more. The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, said to him: Give her more, for that is greater in blessing. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 152)

The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) was passing by a slave girl who had bought meat from a butcher and was saying: Give more (that is, give more meat for the money I have paid).

The Imam said to the butcher: Weigh out more meat for her, for the blessing in your earnings will be increased.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: The mawali (non-Arab clients) came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: We complain to you of these Arabs. The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to give us gifts equally along with them, and he gave Salman, Bilal and Suhayb in marriage; but these people refuse us and say: We will not do it. So the Commander of the Faithful (AS) went to them and spoke to them concerning them, but the Bedouins cried out: We refuse that, O Abu al-Hasan, we refuse that! So he went out in anger, dragging his cloak, saying: O company of mawali, these people have placed you in the position of the Jews and the Christians: they marry your women but do not give you theirs in marriage, and they do not give you the like of what they take. So take up trade, may God bless you, for I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: Sustenance is ten parts; nine parts of it are in trade and one part in other things. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 318)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: A group of non-Arabs came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: We complain to you of these Arab (rulers), for the Messenger of God (PBUH) used to bestow gifts upon us equally along with them, and he also made Salman the Persian, Bilal, and Suhayb the Abyssinian sons-in-law of the Arabs. But these people will not accept this and say: We will not do such a thing.

The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) went to them (the tyrannical rulers), repeated their words and spoke with them about their case, but those uncultured Arabs cried out and said: O Abu al-Hasan! We will not accept it, we will not accept it.

The Imam (AS) returned in anger, so that his blessed cloak was dragging upon the ground, and he was saying: O company of mawali (non-Arabs), these people have placed you in the same position as the Jews and the Christians: they marry your daughters, but they do not give you their own daughters, and they do not pay you the like of what they themselves take. So turn to trade. God will bless you. Truly, I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: "Sustenance consists of ten parts; nine parts of it lie in trade and commerce, and one part in other occupations."

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Women are of four kinds: one who gathers and unites [much good]; one who is fruitful and bears offspring; one who is a distress that crushes; and one who is a lice-infested shackle. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 322)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Women are of four categories: a woman who is full of goodness; a woman who bears you children; a woman who is ill-tempered; and a woman whose dower is burdensome, so that it is difficult to be free of her.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best of your women are five. It was said: O Commander of the Faithful, what are the five? He said: The gentle one, the tender one, the compliant one, who, when her husband is angry, does not close her eyes in sleep until he is pleased, and who, when her husband is absent from her, guards him in his absence. Such a one is a worker among the workers of God, and the worker of God is never disappointed. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 324)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best of your women is she who possesses five qualities:

It was said: O Commander of the Faithful! What are those five qualities?

He said: That she be humble and calm, gentle in nature, and obedient to her husband. If her husband becomes angry, she does not close her eyelids until he is pleased; and when her husband is not present with her, she is trustworthy and guards the house. Such a woman is a worker among the workers of God, and the worker of God is never abased.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Marry, for the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Whoever loves to follow my sunna, then part of my sunna is marriage. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 329)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Marry! For the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Whoever loves to follow my sunna, marriage is among my sunna.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most excellent of intercessions is that you intercede between two persons concerning a marriage, until God joins them together. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 331)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most meritorious of intercessions is that you intercede and mediate between two persons (a woman and a man) concerning their marriage, so that God may join them to one another.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Men were created from the earth, and their concern is only with the earth; and woman was created from men, and her concern is only with men. Keep your women [in your care], O company of men. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 337)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Men have been created from the earth, and their concern is the earth; and women have been created from men, and their concern is men. So, O men! Keep your women with you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of consulting women, for their opinion tends toward deficiency and their resolve toward weakness. Restrain their glances by veiling them, for strictness of veiling is better for you and for them than [exposure to] suspicion. Their going out is no worse than admitting into their presence one whom you do not trust. So if you are able to arrange that they know no man other than you, then do so. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 337)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I warn you against consulting women, for their opinion is deficient and their resolve inclines to weakness. Veil their eyes (from seeing others) by placing yourself as a barrier, for strictness of covering and veiling is better both for you and for them than [exposure to] accusation. And (know that) their going out (of the house to see to their needs) is better than the coming and going into the house of persons whom you do not trust. But if you are able to arrange matters so that they know no man other than you, then do so.

I asked Abu al-Hasan Musa (AS) about temporary marriage (mut'a). He said: What have you to do with that? God has made you independent of it. I said: I only wished to know it. He said: It is [recorded] in the Book of Ali (AS). I said: May we increase [the payment] and she increase [the term]? He said: And is there anything that makes it wholesome other than that? (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 452)

I asked Imam al-Kazim (AS) about temporary marriage. He said: What have you to do with temporary marriage? God has made you independent of a temporary wife. I said: I only wished to know its ruling. He said: Temporary marriage is [recorded] in the Book of Ali (AS). I said: Is it permissible that I increase the payment and she increase the term? He said: Is there anything other than this that makes temporary marriage good?

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of the evil among women, and be on your guard against the best of them. And if they command you to what is right, oppose them, so that they may not covet from you [obedience] in what is wrong. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 517)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Avoid bad women, and be on your guard against good women. And if they command you to what is religiously approved, oppose them, so that they may not covet [your obedience] in what is forbidden.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In opposing women there is blessing. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 518)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In opposing women there is blessing.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every man whose affairs are managed by a woman is accursed. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 518)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Any man whose affairs are directed by his wife is accursed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of showing jealousy where jealousy has no place, for that summons the sound among them to sickness. Rather, manage their affairs firmly. So if you see a fault, hasten to censure it, whether small or great. For if suspicion regarding them becomes evident [and you do not act], the sin will be magnified and the reproach will be made light of. (al-Kafi, vol. 5, p. 537)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of showing jealousy in a matter where jealousy has no place, for such conduct summons upright women to the sickness of sin. Rather, deal firmly with them. So if you observe a fault or defect, hasten to punish it, whether the sin is small or great. If you observe a fault or a sin in them and do not punish it, that woman will commit a great sin and will make light of the punishment.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Name your children before they are born. And if you do not know whether it is a male or a female, then name them with names that serve for both male and female; for if your miscarried children meet you on the Day of Resurrection and you have not named them, the miscarried one will say to his father: Why did you not name me? And indeed the Messenger of God (PBUH) named Muhassin before he was born. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 18)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Give your children names before they are born. If you do not know whether it is a boy or a girl, choose for it a name that is shared by boys and girls; for your miscarried children will complain of you on the Day of Resurrection when they meet you, and will say: "Why did you not give us a name?!" Indeed the Prophet of God (PBUH) gave Muhsin (AS) his name before he was born.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Rub the palates of your children with dates. Thus did the Prophet (PBUH) do with al-Hasan and al-Husayn (AS). (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 24)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Anoint the palates of your newborns with dates. The Prophet of God (PBUH) anointed the palates of al-Hasan and al-Husayn (AS) in this way.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever has a child, let him become childlike [with him]. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 49)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever has a child should behave with him in a childlike manner.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said, concerning the illness that afflicts a child: It is an expiation for his parents. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 52)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said concerning the illness with which a child is afflicted: It is an expiation for his father and mother.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: All people are free, except one who acknowledges his own bondage. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 195)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: All people are free and masters of themselves, except one who himself confesses to his own servitude.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: To the eye belongs what it has seen, and to the hand belongs what it has taken. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 223)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is the first to see a thing or to take it up becomes its owner.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not slaughter a sheep in the presence of another sheep, nor a camel in the presence of another camel while it looks on. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 229)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A sheep must not be slaughtered before another sheep, and a camel must not be killed before another camel that is looking on.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When one of you sits down to a meal, let him sit as a servant sits. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 272)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whenever one of you sits down at a table of food, let him sit as servants sit.

Harith al-A'war came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: O Commander of the Faithful, I would love you to honour me by eating at my house. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to him: On condition that you put yourself to no trouble for my sake. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 276)

Harith al-A'war came to the Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) and said: O Commander of the Faithful! I would love you to honour me by taking food at my house! The Imam (AS) said to him: On the condition that you bring what is already at hand in your house and do not put yourself to trouble on my account.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever eats food, let him mention the name of God, Mighty and Majestic, over it; and if he forgets, let him mention God afterwards. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 293)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Everyone, when he eats food, should pronounce the name of God over it; and if he forgets, let him pronounce the name of God afterwards.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever mentions God, Mighty and Majestic, over his food will never be questioned concerning the bounty of it. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 293)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever pronounces the name of God over food will never be questioned concerning that blessing.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever mentions the name of God, Mighty and Majestic, at the beginning of food or drink and praises God at the end of it will never be questioned concerning the bounty of that food. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 294)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever pronounces the name of God Most High when eating or drinking, and gives thanks to God at the end of it, will never be questioned concerning that blessing.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not eat from the top of the tharid (bread soaked in broth); eat from its sides, for the blessing is in its top. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 296)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not reach out to the top (the middle) of the food (the bounty); rather, eat from its edges, so that the blessing, which is at its top, may remain.

From Abu Abd Allah (AS): The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked about a food cloth found cast aside on the road, containing much meat, bread, eggs and cheese, and in which there was also a knife. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What is in it is to be valued and then eaten, because it will spoil and will not keep; and if the one who claims it comes, they must pay him its price. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 297)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) was asked: A food cloth is found in the middle of a road, abandoned there, containing much meat, bread, eggs and cheese, and there is also a knife in that cloth (what is its ruling?). He said: Whatever is in the cloth is to be appraised. Then it may be eaten, since it will spoil and will not keep; and if its owner comes (and claims it), they must pay him its price.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Eat what falls from the table, for it is a cure for every ailment, by the leave of God, Mighty and Majestic, for whoever desires to seek healing by it. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 299)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Eat what falls from the table; for, by the leave of God Most High, it is a cure for every illness for whoever wishes to be healed by eating it.

Meats were mentioned in the presence of Umar, and Umar said: The most wholesome of meats is the flesh of the hen. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Not at all! That is the swine among birds. The most wholesome of meats is the flesh of a young bird that has taken flight or is about to take flight. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 312)

In the presence of Umar there was talk of the various kinds of meat. Umar said: The most wholesome meat is the flesh of the full-grown hen. The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) said: Never! Indeed such a fowl is the swine among birds. The most wholesome meat is the flesh of a chick that has matured or is close to maturing.

From al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, who said: I came in to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) while before him was roasted meat. He said to me: Come near and eat. I said: O Commander of the Faithful, this is harmful to me. He said to me: Come near, and I shall teach you words with which nothing that you fear can harm you. Say: In the name of God, the best of names, filling the earth and the heaven, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, with whose name nothing can cause harm, nor any disease. Take the meal with us. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 318)

al-Asbagh ibn Nubata says: I was honoured to be received by the Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS), and before the Imam was roasted meat. He said to me: Come near and eat.

I said: O Commander of the Faithful! This food is harmful to me.

The Imam said to me: Come near, so that I may teach you words with which nothing that you fear will harm you. Say: "In the name of God, the best of names, filling the earth and the heaven, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, with whose name nothing can cause harm, nor any disease." Take the morning meal with us.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take to harisa, for it gives vigour for worship for forty days, and it is from the table that was sent down upon the Messenger of God (PBUH). (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 319)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take to harisa (halim)! For halim brings vigour for worship for forty days, and it is among the foods of the table that was sent down upon the Prophet of God (PBUH).

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let what is hot settle until it cools, for the blessing is in what is cool. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 321)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let what is hot stand until it becomes moderate, for the blessing lies in moderation.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No household that takes vinegar and olive oil as its condiment has ever become poor, and that is the condiment of the prophets (AS). (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 328)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A family that persists in eating vinegar and olive oil will not become poor, and that is the relish of the prophets (AS).

I asked Abu Abd Allah (AS) about food. He said: Take to vinegar and olive oil, for it is wholesome. Indeed Ali (AS) used to eat much of it, and I too eat much of it, and truly it is wholesome. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 328)

I asked Imam al-Sadiq (AS) about food.

He said: Take to vinegar and olive oil! For it is wholesome; and indeed Ali (AS) used to partake of it abundantly, and I too eat much of it, and truly it is wholesome.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What an excellent condiment is vinegar: it breaks the black bile, extinguishes the yellow bile, and revives the heart. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 329)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best of relishes is vinegar. It breaks the black bile, quenches the yellow bile, and revives the heart.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Cow's butterfat is a cure. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 335)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Cow's ghee is a cure.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Cow's milk is a remedy. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 337)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Cow's milk is a medicine.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Eating lentils softens the heart and increases tears. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 343)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Lentils soften the heart and increase tears.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever takes twenty-one red raisins as his morning meal will not fall ill, save with the illness of death, if God wills. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 351)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever eats 21 raisins for breakfast will not fall ill, God willing - except for the illness of death, from which there is no escape.

From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) ate pomegranate, he would spread a cloth beneath it. He was asked about that, and he said: In it are seeds from Paradise. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 353)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) ate a pomegranate, he would spread out a cloth so that not one of its seeds would be lost, and he would say: In every pomegranate there is a seed from Paradise.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Eat apples, for they cleanse the stomach. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 357)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Eat apples, for they make the stomach sound.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Eating quince is strength for the weak heart; it sweetens the stomach, refines the inner heart, and makes the coward brave. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 357)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Eating quince gives strength to the weak and feeble heart, purifies the stomach, refines the inner heart, and makes the cowardly bold.

I was with Abu Abd Allah (AS) at the table, and he turned to me and said: No dish was ever brought to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) but that there were green herbs upon it, because the hearts of the believers are green and they yearn for their like. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 362)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: No dish of food was brought to the Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) unless there were green herbs upon it - for the hearts of the believers are green, and they incline toward their like.

Zaynab, the daughter of the Messenger of God (PBUH), said: The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) came to me during the month of Ramadan, and the evening meal was brought with dates and truffles, and he (AS) ate; and he used to love truffles. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 369)

Zaynab, the daughter of the Prophet of God (PBUH), says: The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) came to me in the month of Ramadan. For the evening meal, dates and mushrooms were brought; the Imam partook of them, and he always loved mushrooms.

From Abu al-Hasan the First (AS), who said: The remedy of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was savory (thyme). (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 375)

Imam al-Kazim (AS) said: The medicine of the Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) was thyme.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If the people of Kufa were to rub the palates of their children with the water of the Euphrates, they would be Shi'a of ours. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 389)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: O people of Kufa! If they were to anoint the palates of their children with the water of the Euphrates, they would be among our Shi'a.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God is beautiful and loves beauty, and He loves to see the trace of His bounty upon His servant. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 483)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God is beautiful and loves beauty, and He loves to see the trace of His blessing upon His servant.

I said to Abu Abd Allah (AS): People allege that you possess much wealth. He said: That does not grieve me. Indeed the Commander of the Faithful (AS) passed one day by various people of Quraysh while he was wearing a torn shirt, and they said: Ali has become a man with no wealth. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) heard it, so he ordered the man who administered his charitable endowment to gather his dates and to send nothing of them to anyone, and to let them accumulate. Then he said to him: Sell them, lot after lot, and turn them into dirhams; then place the dirhams where you place the dates, and bury them together with them where they cannot be seen. And he said to the man in charge of them: When I call for the dates, climb up and look at the money, and strike it with your foot as though you were not intending the dirhams, until you scatter them. Then he sent to one of those men, inviting them; then he called for the dates, and when the man climbed up to bring down the dates, he struck with his foot and the dirhams were scattered. They said: What is this, O Abu al-Hasan? He said: This is the wealth of one who has no wealth. Then he gave orders concerning that money and said: Consider the people of every household to whom I used to send [dates], and look to his share and send it to him. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 439)

I said to Imam al-Sadiq (AS): People say that you possess much wealth. He said: This saying does not trouble me. Truly, one day the Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) passed by a group of Quraysh while he was wearing a torn shirt. They said: "Ali has no wealth."

The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) heard their words, and therefore he ordered the officer responsible for distributing his charity to gather the dates and to give none of them to anyone, until they should become plentiful and abundant. Then he said to him: Sell the dates one lot after another and convert them into dirhams. Then place those dirhams in the place where you used to put the dates, and put them together with the dates in a place where they will not be seen. And to the man who was responsible for the dates he said: Whenever I ask you for dates, climb up and look at the money, and kick it with your foot in such a way that it appears you are paying no attention to the money - so that you scatter the money about.

Then he sent someone to one of those men of Quraysh and invited them. So when the man responsible for the dates climbed up to bring the dates, he struck with his foot and the dirhams were scattered about.

The men of Quraysh said: O Abu al-Hasan! What is this?

He said: This is the wealth of one who has no wealth!

Then he gave a command concerning that money and said: Consider every family to whom I used to send dates, and send each one his share.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Clean garments drive away worry and grief, and they are a purification for the prayer. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 444)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Clean clothing removes sorrow and grief, and it is like the ablution for the prayer.

I was present with Abu Abd Allah (AS) when a man said to him: May God set your affairs aright! You have mentioned that Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) used to wear coarse clothing and wore a shirt worth four dirhams and the like of that, yet we see fine clothing upon you. He said: So he said to him: Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) wore that in a time in which it was not disapproved; and were he to wear the like of it today, he would become notorious for it. So the best clothing of every age is the clothing of its people - except that when our Qa'im rises, he will wear the clothing of Ali (AS) and follow his way. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 444)

I was present in the company of Imam al-Sadiq (AS). Suddenly a man said to him: May God set your affairs aright! You have stated that Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) used to wear coarse clothes and a shirt worth four dirhams and the like, yet I see fine and costly garments upon you!

The Imam (AS) said to him: Truly, Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) wore such clothing in an age in which it was not considered unseemly or unusual; and if he were to wear those garments in this age, he would become renowned for it. So the best clothing of every age is the clothing of the people of that age. Except that when our Qa'im rises, he will wear the clothing of Ali (AS) and act according to his way.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) taught me that when I put on a new garment I should say: Praise be to God... O God, make it a garment of blessing. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 458)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Prophet of God (PBUH) taught me that whenever I put on a new garment I should say: "Praise be to God ... O God, make it for me a garment of blessing."

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When God Most High clothes a believer in a new garment, let him perform the ablution, pray two units of prayer, and say often: There is no power and no strength save in God. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 459)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whenever God grants a believer a new garment, let him perform the ablution and pray two units of thanksgiving prayer in that garment, and let him say often: "There is no power and no strength save in God."

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Choosing good footwear is a protection for the body and an aid to prayer and purification. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 462)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Choosing good shoes preserves the body and is an aid to prayer, purity and cleanliness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not wear rings of anything other than silver. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 468)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The band of a ring should not be of any material other than silver.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wear rings of Yemeni onyx, for it turns back the guile of the rebellious satans. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 472)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wear a ring of Yemeni onyx agate, for it turns back the deceit of the rebellious satans.

From Abu al-Hasan the Second (AS), who said: The [inscription of the] ring of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was "Allah al-Malik" (God is the Sovereign). (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 474)

Imam al-Rida (AS) said: The inscription on the ring of Ali (AS) was "Allah al-Malik" (God is the Sovereign).

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever has the name of God engraved on his ring, let him move it away from the hand with which he cleanses himself in the privy. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 474)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One whose ring bears the engraved name of God should not wear it on the hand with which he performs istinja (cleansing after relieving himself).

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The tooth-stick is a purification for the mouth and a means of pleasing the Lord. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 459)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The tooth-stick purifies the mouth and pleases God.

Abu Abd Allah (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, said: What an excellent house is the bathhouse! It calls to mind the Fire and removes filth. And Umar said: What an evil house is the bathhouse! It exposes the private parts and rends the veil. He said: And the people ascribed the saying of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) to Umar, and the saying of Umar to the Commander of the Faithful (AS). (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 496)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) said: What a good house the bathhouse is! It calls to mind the fire of Hell and removes grime. Whereas Umar said: What an ugly house the bathhouse is! It exposes the private parts and tears away the covering. But the people ascribed the words of the Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) to Umar, and the words of Umar to the Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS).

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I like the believer to apply a depilatory every fifteen days. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 506)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How good it is that the believer should remove the hair below his abdomen by some means every two weeks.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Perfume upon the moustache is among the traits of the prophets (AS) and an honour for the two recording angels. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 510)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Applying perfume to the moustache is among the traits of the prophets and a cause of the pleasure of the angels who accompany a person.

From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: Ali (AS) disliked images in houses. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 572)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) disliked that there should be a picture or a painting of a face in the house.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) sent me to level the graves and to break the images. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 528)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God sent me and commanded me to level the graves with the ground and to break the images.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not let dust gather behind the door, for it is a refuge for the satans. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 531)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not make the outside of the house a rubbish heap, for it becomes a dwelling place for Satan.

Abu Abd Allah (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) dug a well, and they pelted [people] at it. He was informed of this, so he came and stood over it and said: Either you will desist, or I shall settle doves in it. Then Abu Abd Allah (AS) said: Truly the rustling of their wings drives away the satans. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 548)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) dug a well. At that well people were being pelted with stones by the jinn and the satans. This was reported to the Imam. He came and stood at the head of that well and said: Either you desist, or I shall settle doves in this well!

Then Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Truly the sound of the beating of a dove's wings drives away the satans.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no good in dogs except a hunting dog or a herding dog. (al-Kafi, vol. 6, p. 552)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no good in keeping a dog except for hunting or for guarding.

From Abu Abd Allah (AS): A man who had stolen from the public treasury was brought to Ali (AS). He said: His hand is not to be cut off, for he has a share in it. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 231)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: A man was brought before Ali (AS) who had stolen from the public treasury of the Muslims. The Imam said: The hand of this thief must not be cut off, for he has a share in the public treasury.

From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) would not cut off the hand of a thief in the days of famine. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 231)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) would not cut off the hand of a thief during times of famine and hunger.

From Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) ruled that a Jew or a Christian should be given eighty lashes for wine and intoxicating nabidh if they drank it openly in one of the cities of the Muslims - and likewise the Zoroastrian; but he did not interfere with them if they drank it in their own dwellings and their places of worship, unless they came out with it among the Muslims. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 239)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), ruled that a Jew or a Christian should be given eighty lashes for drinking intoxicating nabidh — that is, when they drink wine openly in one of the Muslim districts. The same ruling applies to a Zoroastrian. But when they drank in their own homes and in their houses of worship, he (AS) did not prevent them, so that they might live among the Muslims.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), that he said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) gave judgment concerning a man who called another “son of a madman”, whereupon the other said to him, “You are the son of a madman.” He ordered the first to give his companion twenty lashes, and said to him: “Know that you too deserve the like of them — twenty.” Then, when he had lashed him, he handed the whip to the one who had been lashed, and he lashed the other in turn, as a chastisement by which both would be disciplined. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 242)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), gave judgment concerning a man who had called another the son of a madman, and the other had replied to him, “You are the son of a madman”: he ordered the first man to give the other twenty lashes, and said to him: “Know that you too must receive twenty strokes like his.” Then he handed the whip to the second man, and he too struck the first with twenty lashes — so that it might be a chastisement by which both would be disciplined.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let no one intercede concerning a prescribed punishment (hadd) once the case has reached the Imam, for its execution then rests with him. But intercede in a matter that has not yet reached the Imam, if you see remorse. And intercede before the Imam in matters other than the hadd, when the one interceded for has repented. And do not intercede concerning the right of a Muslim man or of anyone else except with his own permission. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 254)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), said: Concerning the prescribed punishment of an offender who has been brought before the Imam, no one may intercede, for its ruling lies in the Imam's hands. But concerning one who has not yet been brought before the Imam, if you see that he has become remorseful, then intercede for him with the Imam. When the offender has repented, intercede in matters other than the execution of a prescribed punishment. And do not intercede concerning any Muslim man or anyone else except with his own permission.

From Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) ordered Qanbar to administer a prescribed punishment to a man. Qanbar was excessive and added three strokes beyond it, so Ali (AS) exacted three strokes from Qanbar in retaliation. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 260)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), ordered his servant Qanbar to carry out a prescribed punishment. By mistake Qanbar struck three strokes more than the appointed measure. So the Imam, in retaliation on behalf of that man, struck Qanbar three strokes.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever confesses while being stripped, or intimidated, or imprisoned, or threatened — no prescribed punishment is due upon him. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 261)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who confesses while being stripped, or frightened, or held in prison, or threatened — no prescribed punishment shall be imposed upon him.

From Samaʿa, who said: The Imam (AS) said: In the time of the Commander of the Faithful (AS), a man said to another man, “I had a dream in which I lay with your mother.” The man brought him before the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: “This man has slandered my mother.” He said to him: “And what did he say to you?” He said: “He claims that in a dream he lay with my mother.” The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to him: “Justice would be that, if you wish, I shall stand him up for you in the sun and you may flog his shadow, for a dream is like a shadow. But we shall indeed beat him, so that he does not again go on harming the Muslims.” (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 263)

Samaʿa said: The Imam (AS) said: In the time of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), a man said to another: “In a dream I lay with your mother.” That man brought his complaint before Ali (AS) and said: This man has slandered my mother. The Imam said: What did he say to you? He said: He claims that in a dream he lay with my mother. The Imam (AS) said: Justice is this — if you wish, I shall have him stand for you in the sun, and you may inflict the punishment upon his shadow, for a dream is like a shadow. But I shall soon beat him, so that he no longer harms the Muslims.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) saw a storyteller in the mosque, so he struck him with his lash and drove him out. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 263)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), saw a storyteller in the mosque; so he struck him with the lash and drove him out.

From al-Harith ibn Hasira, who said: I passed by an Abyssinian who was drawing water in Medina, and behold, his hand had been amputated. I said to him: Who cut off your hand? He said: The best of men cut it off. We were seized for a theft, eight men of us, and we were brought to Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), and we confessed to the theft. He said to us: Do you know that it is forbidden? We said: Yes. So he gave orders concerning us, and our fingers were cut off at the palm, and the thumb was left. Then he gave orders concerning us, and we were confined in a house where he fed us clarified butter and honey until our hands healed. Then he gave orders concerning us, and we were brought out, and he clothed us, and clothed us well. Then he said to us: If you repent and set yourselves right, that is better for you: God will join your hands to you in Paradise. And if you do not do so, God will join your hands to you in the Fire. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 264)

Al-Harith ibn Hasira said: I saw an Abyssinian man who worked as a water-carrier in Medina, and his hand had been cut off. I said to him: Who cut off your hand? He said: The best of men cut off my hand. We were eight men who were arrested in the course of a theft, and we were brought before Ali (AS). We confessed to the theft.

The Imam said to us: Do you know that theft is forbidden? We said: Yes. Then he ordered that our fingers be cut off at the palm of the hand, except for the thumb. Then he ordered that we be imprisoned in a house. In that house we were given clarified butter and honey until our hands healed. Then he ordered that we be brought out of that house, and he clothed us in very fine garments. Then he said to us: If you repent and set yourselves right, it will be better for you; God will rejoin your fingers to you in Paradise. And if you do not repent, God will rejoin your fingers to you in Hellfire.

From Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) gave judgment concerning a man whom two men brought forward, saying: “This man has stolen a coat of mail.” When the man looked upon the testimony, he began to implore him by God, saying: “By God, had the Messenger of God (PBUH) been here, he would never have cut off my hand.” He said: “And why?” He said: “Because his Lord would inform him that I am innocent, and he would acquit me on account of my innocence.” When he saw the man's imploring, he summoned the two witnesses and said: “Fear God, and do not cut off this man's hand unjustly,” and he adjured them. Then he said: “Let one of you cut off his hand and let the other hold his hand.” When they went forward to the block to cut off his hand, he pushed the people until they were thrown into a crush; and when the crush arose, the two let the man go into the throng of people, and they themselves mingled with the crowd. Then the man against whom they had testified came and said: “O Commander of the Faithful, these two men bore false witness against me; for when the people pressed forward and the crush arose, they let me go and fled — had they been truthful, they would not have let me go.” So the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: “Who will point these two out to me, that I may make an example of them?” (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 264)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: Two men brought a man before the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), and said: “This man has stolen a coat of mail.” When that man saw the witnesses, he began to adjure the Imam and to plead with him, saying: If the Messenger of God (PBUH) were here, he would never have cut off my hand. The Imam said: Why not? He said: Because his Lord would have informed him that I am innocent, and he would have declared me acquitted. When the Imam saw the man's imploring plea, he summoned the two witnesses and said: Fear God, and do not cut off this man's hand unjustly. And he asked them to swear an oath. Then he said: Let one of you cut off his hand and let the other hold it. When they went to the place of execution to cut off the man's hand, the Imam pushed the people so that a crush arose. When the crush arose, those two men released the accused into the press of the crowd and went off and disappeared. The accused came to Ali (AS) and said: O Commander of the Faithful! Those two men bore unjust witness against me; for when the people pressed in and the crush arose, they let me go and fled. Had they been truthful, they would not have released me. The Imam said: Who will point them out to me, that I may make them a warning to others?

The schoolboys laid their writing tablets before the Commander of the Faithful (AS) so that he might choose the best among them. He said: “Beware — this is an act of judgment, and injustice in it is like injustice in a legal verdict. Tell your teacher: if he strikes you more than three strokes by way of discipline, he shall be subject to retaliation.” (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 268)

Several boys who were studying at the school brought their work before the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), so that he might choose one of them. The Imam said: Be aware! This act is the issuing of a judgment, and injustice in it is like injustice in a legal verdict. Tell your teacher that if, for the sake of discipline, he strikes you more than three strokes, he will be subject to retaliation.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) sent for Bishr ibn ʿUtarid al-Tamimi on account of words of his that had reached him. The messenger of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) came upon him among the Banu Asad and seized him. Then Nuʿaym ibn Dajaja al-Asadi rose up against the messenger and set Bishr free. So the Commander of the Faithful (AS) sent for Nuʿaym, and they brought him to him, and he ordered that he be beaten. Nuʿaym said to him: “By God, staying with you is humiliation, and parting from you is unbelief.” When he heard that from him, he said to him: “O Nuʿaym, we have pardoned you. God, Mighty and Majestic, says: ‘Repel evil with that which is better’ [Qur'an 23:96]. As for your saying that staying with you is humiliation — that is an evil deed you have earned; and as for your saying that parting from you is unbelief — that is a good deed you have earned. So let this stand against that.” Then he ordered that he be released. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 268)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), sent for Bishr ibn ʿUtarid al-Tamimi on account of something he had said which had reached the Imam. His messenger found him among the Banu Asad and arrested him. At that point Nuʿaym ibn Dajaja al-Asadi rose up and helped Bishr escape. The Imam sent for Nuʿaym, and they brought him. Then he ordered that he be beaten. Nuʿaym said: Lo, by God! Truly, to remain with you is humiliation, and to be far from you is unbelief. When the Imam heard these words from him, he said to him: O Nuʿaym! We have forgiven you. God, Mighty and Majestic, says: “Repel evil with that which is better” [Qur'an 23:96]. As for your saying, “To remain with you is humiliation” — that is a sin you have committed. And as for your words, “To be far from you is unbelief” — that is a good deed you have earned. Therefore let that sin be set against this good deed. Then he commanded that the man be set free.

From Razin, who said: I was performing ablution at the ablution-place of Kufa when suddenly a man came, set down his sandals and placed his lash upon them; then he drew near and performed ablution beside me. I jostled him and he fell upon his hands. He rose and performed his ablution, and when he had finished he struck my head three times with the lash and then said: “Beware of shoving, lest you break something and be made to pay for it.” I said: Who is this? They said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS). I went to excuse myself to him, but he went on his way and did not turn toward me. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 268)

Razin said: I was performing my ablution at the ablution-house of Kufa when suddenly a man came, set down his sandals and laid his lash upon them. Then he drew near to perform ablution together with me. I shoved him with my shoulder so that he fell upon his hands. Then he rose and performed his ablution. When he had finished, he struck my head three times with the lash. Then he said: Take care not to shove anyone, lest you cause harm and become liable to pay! I asked: Who is he? They said: He is the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS). So I went to apologize to him; but he continued on his way and paid no attention to me.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) gave judgment concerning two men, one of whom held [the victim] while the other killed him. He said: The killer shall be put to death, and the other shall be imprisoned until he dies of grief, just as he had held the victim fast until he died of grief. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 287)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), gave judgment concerning two men, one of whom had held the victim fast while the other killed him, and he said: The killer must be put to death, and the other must be imprisoned until he dies of sorrow and grief — just as he had held the victim fast until he died of sorrow and grief.

From [Abu] Abdillah (AS), who said: There was brought before the Commander of the Faithful (AS) a man who had been found in a ruin with a blood-stained knife in his hand, while there lay a man with his throat cut, writhing in his own blood. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to him: What do you say? He said: O Commander of the Faithful, I killed him. He said: Take him away and put him to death for it. When they took him away to put him to death, a man came hurrying and said: Do not be hasty; bring him back to the Commander of the Faithful (AS). So they brought him back, and the man said: By God, O Commander of the Faithful, this is not the one who did it; I killed him. So the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to the first man: What led you to confess against yourself when you had not done it? He said: O Commander of the Faithful, what could I say when men such as these had testified against me and had seized me with a blood-stained knife in my hand, and the man writhing in his blood, and I standing over him? I feared a beating, so I confessed. In truth I am a man who had slaughtered a sheep beside this ruin, and the need to relieve myself came upon me, so I entered the ruin, and I saw the man writhing in his blood, and I stood there in astonishment; and then these men came upon me and seized me. So the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take these two and bring them to al-Hasan, and relate their story to him, and ask him: what is the ruling concerning them? So they went to al-Hasan (AS) and related their story to him. Al-Hasan (AS) said: Say to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): if this man slaughtered that one, he has nonetheless given life to this other one, and God, Mighty and Majestic, has said: “And whoever gives life to one, it is as though he had given life to all mankind” [Qur'an 5:32]. Let them both be released, and let the blood-money of the slain man be paid from the public treasury. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 289)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: A man was brought before the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), who had been found in a ruin with a blood-stained knife in his hand, while a man with his throat cut lay there, drowned in his blood. The Imam said to him: What do you say? He replied: O Commander of the Faithful! I killed him. He said: Take him away and carry out retaliation. When they had taken him away to carry out the retaliation, a man came hurrying and said: Do not be hasty, and bring him back to the Commander of the Faithful (AS). So they brought him back. The second man said: O Commander of the Faithful! This person is not the killer; I killed the slain man. The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), said to the first man: Why did you confess against yourself when you had not done such a thing? He replied: O Commander of the Faithful! I could not tell the truth, when such men as these had testified against me and had arrested me, with a blood-stained knife in my hand, and the slain man drowned in his blood, and I standing over the body. And I was afraid they would beat me. So I confessed. The truth is that I had slaughtered a sheep beside that ruin, and I went into the ruin to relieve myself. There I saw the slain man drowned in his blood. I stood there in astonishment (looking on), and at that moment these men entered and arrested me. The Imam said: Take these two men to al-Hasan (AS), and relate their case to him, and ask him: what is the ruling concerning these two? So they went to Imam al-Hasan (AS) and set forth the story of the two men. Imam al-Hasan (AS) said: Say to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): although this person (the second man) killed the slain man, he has given life to this other one (the first man), and truly God Most High says: “Whoever gives life to a single person, it is as though he had given life to all mankind” [Qur'an 5:32]. Let these two men be released, and let the blood-money of the slain man be paid from the public treasury.

From Abu Abdillah (AS): A group of people in Yemen dug a pit to trap a lion, and the lion fell into it. The people crowded around it, looking at the lion, and a man fell in; he clung to another, and that other clung to another, and that one to another. The lion mauled them: some of them died of the lion's wounds, and some were brought out and then died. They quarrelled over the matter until they took up their swords. Then the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Come, let me judge between you. And he ruled that the first should have one quarter of the blood-money, the second one third of the blood-money, the third one half of the blood-money, and the fourth the full blood-money; and he laid this upon the tribes of those who had crowded around. Some of the people were content with this and some were angered, so the matter was brought to the Prophet (PBUH), and he was informed of the judgment of the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and he confirmed it. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 286)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: In Yemen, a group of people dug a pit to trap a lion. A lion fell into the pit. The people gathered and were looking at the lion. At that moment a man was falling into the pit, and so he clutched at another man; that one clutched at yet another, and he too clutched at another (and they all fell into the pit). The lion wounded them. Some of them died in the pit itself from the injuries the lion had inflicted on them, and others were brought out and then died. The people fell into dispute about it, to the point that they drew their swords. The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), said: Come, let me judge among you. Then he ruled that the first man was owed one quarter of the blood-money, the second one third, the third one half, and the fourth the full blood-money; and he laid its payment upon the tribes of those who had crowded around the pit. Some of them accepted this ruling, and others were angered. Therefore they informed the Messenger of God (PBUH) and recounted to him the judgment of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS). But the Messenger of God (PBUH) confirmed it.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: In the time of Ali (AS) there were boys playing with their throwing-sticks. One of them threw his stick at another and broke his front tooth. The matter was brought before the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and the thrower produced evidence that he had called out, “Look out! Look out!” So he set aside retaliation against him and then said: “He who has given warning has excused himself.” He said: And I asked him about a man who was killed by retaliation — is blood-money due for him? He said: Were that so, no one would ever exact retaliation from another. And whoever is killed by a prescribed punishment, no blood-money is due for him. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 292)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: In the time of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), some children were playing with throwing-sticks (a children's game). One of them threw his stick toward another child and broke his front tooth. The matter was brought before the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), and the one who had struck brought witnesses that he had said, “Look out! Look out!” Ali (AS) lifted the ruling of retaliation from him, and then said: Whoever gives warning is excused. Abu al-Sabbah al-Kinani said: I asked the Imam (AS): Retaliation has caused a man's death — is blood-money due? He said: Were that so, no one would ever exact retaliation from another; and if the carrying out of a prescribed punishment causes anyone's death, no blood-money is due for him.

From Abu Abdillah, from his father (peace be upon them both): A bull killed a donkey in the time of the Prophet (PBUH), and the matter was brought before him while he was among a number of his companions, among whom were Abu Bakr and ʿUmar. He said: O Abu Bakr, judge between them. He said: O Messenger of God, a beast killed a beast; nothing is due upon it. He said: O ʿUmar, judge between the two. And he said the like of what Abu Bakr had said. Then he said: O Ali, judge between them. He said: Yes, O Messenger of God. If the bull came upon the donkey in the donkey's own resting-place, then the owners of the bull are liable; and if the donkey came upon the bull in the bull's resting-place, then no liability rests upon either of them. He said: Then the Messenger of God (PBUH) raised his hand to the heavens and said: Praise be to God, who has placed among my offspring one who judges with the judgment of the prophets. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 352)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: In the time of the Messenger of God (PBUH), a bull killed a donkey. The case was brought before the Messenger of God (PBUH) while he was sitting among a group of his companions, among whom were Abu Bakr and ʿUmar. The Prophet (PBUH) said: O Abu Bakr! Judge between these people. Abu Bakr said: O Messenger of God! One beast has killed another beast; nothing is due from it. The Prophet (PBUH) said: O ʿUmar! Judge between these people. ʿUmar too repeated the words of Abu Bakr. Then he said: O Ali! Judge between them. Ali (AS) said: Very well, O Messenger of God! If the bull entered the donkey's resting-place, then the owners of the bull are liable; and if the donkey entered the resting-place of the bull, then no liability rests upon either party. At this the Messenger of God (PBUH) raised his hand toward the heavens and said: Praise be to God, who has placed among my own offspring one who judges with the judgment of the prophets.

From Abu Abdillah (AS): Whenever a stud animal attacked for the first time, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) would not hold its owner liable; but when it did so a second time, he would hold its owner liable. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 353)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Whenever a camel attacked someone for the first time, the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), would not hold its owner liable for the compensation; but if it was the second time, he would hold its owner liable for the compensation.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) gave judgment concerning a man who entered the house of a people without their permission and was bitten by their dog. He said: No liability rests upon them; but if he entered with their permission, they are liable. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 353)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), gave judgment concerning a man who entered a house without the permission of its people and was wounded by their dog, and he said: No liability rests upon the people of the house; but if he entered with their permission, they are liable.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) gave judgment concerning a man who was found slain, without its being known who had killed him. He said: If he was identified and had kinsmen who claim his blood-money, then his blood-money shall be paid to them from the treasury of the Muslims, for the blood of a Muslim man shall not be shed in vain; since his inheritance belongs to the Imam (AS), so likewise his blood-money rests upon the Imam. And they shall pray over him and bury him. He said: And he gave judgment concerning a man who was crushed by the people on a Friday in the press of the crowd and died, that his blood-money should be paid from the treasury of the Muslims. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 354)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), gave judgment concerning a man who was found slain while his killer was unknown, and he said: If the slain man can be identified and has kinsmen who claim his blood-money, then pay his blood-money from the public treasury of the Muslims, for the blood of a Muslim must not be shed in vain. For just as, if he has no heir, his inheritance passes to the Imam, so too his blood-money rests upon the Imam. Then they must pray over the slain man and bury him. Likewise, concerning a man who died on a Friday amid the crush and pressure of the crowd, he ruled that his blood-money should be paid from the public treasury of the Muslims.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: If a slain man is found in an open wilderness, his blood-money is paid from the public treasury; for the Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: The blood of a Muslim man shall not be shed in vain. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 355)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: If a slain man is found in the open country, his blood-money is paid from the public treasury, for the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), used to say: The blood of a Muslim is never shed in vain.

From one of the two Imams (peace be upon them both), who said: There was brought before ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab a man who had killed another man's brother. He handed him over to him and ordered him to put him to death. The man struck him until he thought he had killed him, and he was carried to his house; but they found that a spark of life remained in him, so they treated him and he recovered. When he came out, the brother of the first slain man seized him and said: You are the killer of my brother, and I have the right to kill you. He said: You have already killed me once. So he took him to ʿUmar, and ʿUmar ordered that he be put to death. He came out saying: By God, you have already killed me once. Then they passed by the Commander of the Faithful (AS), and he told him his story. He said: Do not be hasty until I come out to you. Then he went in to ʿUmar and said: The ruling in this case is not thus. He said: What is it, O Abu al-Hasan? He said: Let this man first exact retaliation from the brother of the first slain man for what he did to him; then let him kill him for his brother. The man saw that if retaliation were exacted from him it would cost him his life; so he pardoned him, and the two let each other be. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 360)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: A man was brought before ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab who had killed the brother of another man. ʿUmar handed him over to the brother of the slain man and ordered him to kill the murderer. The brother of the slain man struck the murderer (with a sword or the like) in such a way that he supposed he had killed him. They carried the murderer to his house; but they realized that a breath of life remained in him. They treated him and he recovered. When the murderer came out of the house, the brother of the slain man seized him and said: You are the killer of my brother, and I have the right to kill you. The murderer said: You have already killed me once. The brother of the slain man took the murderer to ʿUmar, and ʿUmar ordered that he be killed. As the murderer was coming out, he was saying: By God! You have already killed me once. At that moment they came upon the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS). The murderer recounted his case to the Imam. The Imam said: Do not be hasty until I come to you. Then the Imam went to ʿUmar and said: The ruling in this matter is not thus. ʿUmar said: What is the ruling, O Abu al-Hasan? He said: Let the murderer exact retaliation from the brother of the slain man for that first wounding; then let the brother of the slain man kill him for the killing of his brother. At that, the brother of the slain man realized that if retaliation were exacted he would lose his own life. So he pardoned the murderer, and they released each other.

From one of his companions, tracing it back, who said: In the time of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) there was a truthful woman called Umm Qayyan. A man from among the companions of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) came to her and greeted her. He said: I saw that she was distressed, so I said to her: Why do I see you so distressed? She said: A bondwoman of mine — I buried her, and the earth cast her out twice. So I went in to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and told him. He said: Truly the earth accepts the Jew and the Christian; so it can only be that she is being tormented with the torment of God. Then he said: Yet if some earth were taken from the grave of a Muslim man and cast upon her grave, it would be at rest. He said: So I came to Umm Qayyan and told her. They took earth from the grave of a Muslim man and cast it upon her grave, and it was at rest. Then I asked about her: what had her condition been? They said: She was excessively fond of men, and she would continually give birth and then cast her child into the oven. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 370)

The narrator said: In the time of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), there lived a truthful woman named Umm Qayyan. A man from among the companions of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), went to her and greeted her. He noticed that the woman was sorrowful. He said to her: What has happened, that I see you grieved? Umm Qayyan said: I buried my bondwoman, but the earth cast her out twice. (The companion of Ali (AS) said:) I had the honour of coming into the presence of Ali (AS) and I informed him of the matter. The Imam said: Truly the earth receives the Jew and the Christian; so it can only be that the bondwoman is being tormented by the punishment of God. Then he said: Be aware! If earth is taken from the grave of a Muslim man and poured upon the bondwoman's grave, the grave will come to rest. I came to Umm Qayyan and informed her. So they took earth from the grave of a Muslim man and poured it on the bondwoman's grave, and the grave came to rest. I asked Umm Qayyan about that bondwoman. She said: She was excessively attached to men, and she was constantly bearing children — but she would throw them into the oven.

From Abu Abdillah (AS): The Commander of the Faithful (AS) would not admit the testimony of one who outstrips the pilgrims [racing ahead of the caravan] — because he wears out his mount, consumes his provisions, exhausts himself, and makes light of his prayer. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 396)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), did not consider admissible the testimony of a pilgrim who races ahead of the other pilgrims — because he has driven his mount too hard, destroyed his provisions, cast himself into hardship, and neglected his prayer.

From al-Hakam ibn Abi ʿAqil [variant: ʿAqil], who said: I said to Abu Abdillah (AS): I have an adversary who overwhelms me with false witnesses, and I am loath to repay him in kind — moreover, I do not know whether that is lawful for me or not. He said to me: Has it not reached you that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: “Do not make your persons and your properties captive through false testimonies”? There is no blemish upon a man in his religion, nor any sin before his Lord, in warding that off from himself — just as, if by his testimony he warded off an unlawful violation of honour or the shedding of forbidden blood, that would be better for him. And so likewise is the property of the Muslim man. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 401)

Al-Hakam ibn ʿAqil said: I said to Imam al-Sadiq (AS): I have an adversary who brings many false witnesses against me. But I am loath to act as he does. Moreover, I do not know whether this course is proper for me or not. He said: Have the words of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), not reached you, when he used to say: “Do not make yourselves and your property captive through false testimony”? So there is no religious blemish upon any man, nor any sin before his Lord, in warding this off from himself — just as, if by his testimony he defended against an unlawful violation of honour or the shedding of forbidden blood, that act would be better for him. And the property of a Muslim man has the same ruling.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to Shurayh: O Shurayh, you have taken a seat in which none sits but a prophet, or the legatee of a prophet, or a wretched man. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 406)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), said to Shurayh: O Shurayh! You have taken a seat in which none sits but a prophet, or the legatee of a prophet, or a wretched and miserable man.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The hand of God is above the head of the judge, spreading mercy over him with its wings; but when he deviates into injustice, God abandons him to himself. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 410)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The hand of God is upon the head of the ruler, and the wings of mercy are spread above him. But when he acts unjustly in his judgment, God abandons him to himself.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: For a Muslim who has the means to delay payment is an injustice against the Muslim [creditor]; and whoever has no landed property, nor house, nor wealth — no claim may be pressed against him. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 412)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I heard the Messenger of God say: For a Muslim who has the financial means to put off payment from day to day is an injustice against the Muslim who holds the right; and whoever has neither land, nor house, nor wealth — no power may be exercised over him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is tried with the office of judgeship, let him treat them equally in gesture, in glance, and in seating. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 413)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever takes up the responsibility of judging, let him observe equality among the people in gesturing, in looking, and in the place of seating.

From al-Sadiq (AS): A man alighted as a guest with the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and stayed with him for some days. Then he came before him concerning a dispute which he had not mentioned to the Commander of the Faithful (AS). He said to him: Are you a party to a dispute? He said: Yes. He said: Depart from us. The Messenger of God (PBUH) forbade that a party to a dispute be received as a guest unless his adversary is with him. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 413)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: A man lodged in the house of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), and stayed with him for a time. Then he came before him concerning a lawsuit which he had not disclosed to the Imam. The Imam said to him: Are you a party to a dispute? He said: Yes. He said: Depart from us! The Messenger of God (PBUH) forbade that a party to a dispute be received as a guest, unless the other party to the dispute is with him.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: In the book of Ali (AS) it is written that one of the prophets complained to his Lord, saying: My Lord, how am I to judge concerning that which I did not witness and did not see? He said: So God, Mighty and Majestic, revealed to him: Judge among them by My Book, and summon them to My name and make them swear by it. And he said: This is for one on whose behalf no evidence has been established. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 415)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: In the book of Ali (AS) it stands thus: One of the prophets complained to his Lord and said: My Lord! How am I to judge concerning something I have not witnessed and have not seen? God revealed to him: Judge among the people by My Book, and summon them to My name and make them swear by it. And He said: This ruling is for one on whose behalf no testimony has been established.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: Whenever two men came to Ali (AS) with witnesses equal in probity and equal in number, he would cast lots between them as to which of them the oath should fall. He said: And he used to say: O God, Lord of the seven heavens, whichever of them holds the right, deliver it to him. Then he would assign the right to the one upon whom the oath fell, once he had sworn. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 415)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Whenever two men brought witnesses before the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), whose probity and whose number were equal, the Imam would cast lots between them to determine on which party the oath should fall, and he would say: O God! Lord of the seven heavens! Whichever of them holds the right, entrust the right to him. Then he would assign the right in favour of the one upon whom the oath had fallen, once he had sworn it.

From Zadhan, who said: Two men entrusted a deposit to a woman and said to her: Do not hand it over to either one of us until we are both present together before you. Then they went away and were absent. One of them came to her and said: Give me my deposit, for my companion has died. She refused, until his coming and going grew frequent; then she gave it to him. Afterwards the other came and said: Hand over my deposit. She said: Your companion took it, and he said that you had died. So the two brought the case before ʿUmar, and ʿUmar said to her: I see nothing but that you are liable. The woman said: Appoint Ali (AS) to judge between me and him. ʿUmar said [to Ali]: Judge between the two of them. Ali (AS) said: This deposit is with me. You two instructed her not to hand it over to either one of you until you should both be present together before her. So bring me your companion. And he did not hold her liable, and he (AS) said: These two merely wished to make off with the woman's property. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 428)

Zadhan said: Two men entrusted a deposit to a woman and said to her: Do not give it to either one of us until we both come to you together. Then they went away and were absent. One of them came to the woman and said: Give me the deposit, for my companion has died. But the woman refused to hand over the deposit, until his insistence grew great. So the woman gave the deposit to him. Then the other one came and said: Give me the deposit. The woman said: Your companion took it, and said that you had died. They went before ʿUmar to bring the case. ʿUmar said to the woman: In my view you are liable. The woman said: Appoint Ali (AS) as judge between me and this man. ʿUmar said: Judge between these two. Ali (AS) said: This deposit is with me. You instructed this woman not to give it to either one of you until you should both be present together before her. So bring your companion to me. Ali (AS) did not hold the woman liable, and he said: Truly these two men wished to make away with this woman's property.

From Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: In the book of Ali (AS) it is written: A false oath and the severing of ties of kinship leave the dwellings empty of their inhabitants and corrupt the womb — that is, they cut off offspring. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 436)

Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: In the book of Ali (AS) it is written thus: A false oath and the severing of ties of kinship leave lands parched and barren for their inhabitants, and destroy offspring.

From Masʿada ibn Sadaqa, who said: An elder of the descendants of ʿAdi ibn Hatim related to me, from his father, from his grandfather ʿAdi — who was with the Commander of the Faithful (AS) in his wars — that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said, on the day he met Muʿawiya at Siffin, raising his voice with it so that his companions might hear: By God, I shall surely kill Muʿawiya and his companions! Then at the end of his words he would say, lowering his voice: “If God wills.” And I was near him, so I said: O Commander of the Faithful, you swore an oath about what you would do, and then you made an exception — what did you intend by that? He said to me: War is deception, and among the believers I am no liar. I wished to rouse my companions against them, so that they would not falter and so that they would be eager for them; and the most discerning of them will benefit from it after this day, if God wills. And know that God, exalted be His praise, said to Moses (AS) when He sent him to Pharaoh: “So speak to him gently, that perhaps he may be mindful or may fear” [Qur'an 20:44] — though He knew that he would neither be mindful nor fear, but so that it might make Moses (AS) the more eager to go. (al-Kafi, vol. 7, p. 460)

Masʿada ibn Sadaqa said: An elderly man from among the descendants of ʿAdi ibn Hatim informed me, from his father, from his grandfather ʿAdi — who accompanied the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), in his wars — that the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), said at the Battle of Siffin against Muʿawiya, in a loud voice that all his companions heard: By God! I shall kill Muʿawiya and his companions. Then at the end of his words he said in a low voice: “If God wills.” I was near him. I said: O Commander of the Faithful! You swore an oath upon what you would do, and then you made an exception; what was your purpose in that?

He said: Truly war is deception, and among the believers I am no liar. I wished to rouse my companions against them so that they would not grow weary and so that they would be encouraged. And so the most learned among them will profit from it after this day, if God wills.

Know this! God said to Moses (AS), when He sent him to Pharaoh: “Then speak to him gently, that he may be mindful and may fear” [Qur'an 20:44] — while God knew that Pharaoh would neither be mindful nor fear; but this made Moses (AS) all the more eager to go.

From Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihan: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) addressed the people in Medina and said: “By God, if I had the number of the companions of Talut, or the number of the people of Badr, and they were your enemies, I would strike you with the sword until you returned to the truth and turned back to sincerity; that would be more mending of the rift and more of a taking hold with gentleness. O God, judge between us with the truth, and You are the best of judges.” He said: Then he went out of the mosque and passed by a fold in which there were about thirty sheep, and he said: By God, if I had men who gave sincere counsel to God, Mighty and Majestic, and to His Messenger, in the number of these sheep, I would remove the son of the woman who ate flies from his kingdom. He said: And when evening came, three hundred and sixty men swore allegiance to him unto death. So the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to them: Come to us in the morning at Ahjar al-Zayt with your heads shaven — and the Commander of the Faithful (AS) shaved his own head. Yet none of the people came shaven except Abu Dharr, al-Miqdad, Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman and ʿAmmar ibn Yasir; and Salman came last of all. Then he raised his hand to the heavens and said: O God, this people has counted me weak, as the Children of Israel counted Aaron weak. O God, “Indeed You know what we conceal and what we proclaim, and nothing is hidden” from You, “neither in the earth nor in the heaven” [Qur'an 14:38] … “Take my soul as a Muslim and join me with the righteous” [Qur'an 12:101]. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 31)

Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihan says: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) delivered a sermon in Medina: By God, if I had helpers to the number of the companions of Talut, or to the number of the men of Badr, I would surely strike you with the blade until you returned to the truth and inclined to sincerity; and that would be better for mending the rift and for gentleness. O God, judge between us with the truth, for You are the best of judges. The narrator says: The Imam (AS) then went out of the mosque and came upon a fold in which there were about thirty sheep. The Imam (AS) said: By God, if I had men to the number of these sheep who were sincere well-wishers of God, Mighty and Majestic, and of His Messenger, I would remove the son of the fly-eating woman from his rule. The narrator says: When night fell, three hundred and sixty men swore allegiance to him unto death. Then the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Gather at dawn at the place of Ahjar al-Zayt, and as a mark shave all your heads. And the Commander of the Faithful himself shaved his head. Yet of that company none came to the appointed place with shaven head except Abu Dharr, al-Miqdad, Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman and ʿAmmar ibn Yasir; and Salman arrived last of them. Then the Imam raised his hand toward the heavens and said: O God! These people have counted me weak, just as the Children of Israel counted Aaron weak. O my God! You know what we conceal and what we make manifest, and nothing in earth or in heaven is hidden from You. Take me from this world a Muslim, and join me with the righteous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one has any choice as against God — exalted be His remembrance; rather, to God belong the choice and the command altogether. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 63)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one has any choice before God; the choice of all things is in God's hand, and the command belongs to Him alone.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly God has disciplined this community with the sword and the lash. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 67)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God disciplines this community by means of the sword and the lash.

From Abu Abdillah (AS), who said: A freedman of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) asked him for money. He said: When my stipend comes out, I shall share it with you. He said: That is not enough for me. And he went off to Muʿawiya, who gave him a gift. Then he wrote to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) informing him of the money he had obtained. So the Commander of the Faithful (AS) wrote to him: To proceed: the wealth that is in your hand had owners before you, and it will pass to its owners after you; and yours of it is only what you have laid up for yourself. So prefer your own self over the prosperity of your child, for you are gathering only for one of two men: either a man who will use it in obedience to God, and so will be made happy by that for which you have made yourself wretched; or a man who will use it in disobedience to God, and so will be made wretched by what you have gathered for him. And neither of these two is worthy that you should prefer him over yourself, or that you should ease his lot by loading a burden upon your own back. So hope for the mercy of God for the one who has passed away, and trust in the provision of God for the one who remains. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 72)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) says: One of the freedmen of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) requested money from him, and the Imam (AS) said: Whenever I receive my own share from the public treasury, I shall divide it with you. He said: That is not enough for me. He went to Muʿawiya, and Muʿawiya gave him a gift; then he wrote a letter to the Commander of the Faithful and informed him of the money he had taken from Muʿawiya. In reply, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) wrote him this letter: To proceed: the wealth that is in your hand was in another's hand before you, and after you it will fall into another's hand; and your share of it is only what you take up for the sake of God. So prefer yourself over your child, for you are gathering wealth only for one of two men: either someone who will rise with it in obedience to God — and in that case he has become happy through that for which you have made yourself wretched; or someone who will gird himself for disobedience to God with your money — and in that case he has been driven to wretchedness by what you gathered for him. Neither of these two is worthy that you should prefer him over yourself, and that you should place a burden upon your own back for his sake. So for the one who has gone, hope for the mercy of God; and for the one who is to come, trust in the provision of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no good in this world except for one of two men: a man who each day increases in it in doing good, and a man who makes good his death by repentance. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 128)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world holds no advantage except for two kinds of people: one who each day adds a good deed to his works, and one who, through repentance and returning [to God], makes himself ready for his death.

Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon them both) would look into one of the writings of Ali (AS), and then he would cast it to the ground and say: Who has the strength for this? (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 129)

One day Imam al-Sajjad was looking at a sheet on which Ali (AS) had written out his daily programme; then he cast it to the ground and said: Who but Ali has the strength for such devotion?!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever exposes himself to suspicion should not blame the one who thinks ill of him; and whoever conceals his secret keeps the choice in his own hand. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 152)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever places himself where he will be suspected must not reproach the one who thinks badly of him, and whoever conceals his secret keeps control of his own affair in his own hands.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God punishes six kinds of people for six things: the Arabs for tribal partisanship, the village chiefs for arrogance, the rulers for injustice, the jurists for envy, the merchants for treachery, and the country folk for ignorance. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 162)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly God punishes six groups for six traits: the Arabs for their partisanship, the village headmen for their arrogance, the rulers for their tyranny, the jurists for their envy, the merchants for their treachery, and the villagers for their ignorance and want of understanding.

From al-Sadiq (AS): The food of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was nothing but vinegar and oil, and his sweet was dates when he could find them; his clothing was coarse cotton, and whenever anything of his garment was too long he would call for the shears and cut it off. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 163)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) used to say: The usual food of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was nothing but vinegar and oil, and his sweet was nothing but dates, and that only when he could find them. He wore coarse cotton, and if his garment was too long he would call for shears and cut off the excess, without giving it to a tailor.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sustenance is bound up with foolishness, deprivation is bound up with intelligence, and affliction is bound up with patience. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 221)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Provision and livelihood are tied to the measure of a man's foolishness, deprivation to his intelligence and wisdom, and affliction to his patience.

From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: Ali (AS) used to stand in the rain at the first of its falling until his head and his beard and his garments were soaked. It was said to him: O Commander of the Faithful, take shelter, take shelter! He said: This is water newly come from the Throne. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 239)

It is related from Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, that he said: It was Ali's custom, peace be upon him, to stand out beneath the rain when it first began to fall, until his head and beard and garment were wet. It was said to him, peace be upon him: It would be better for you to go under a roof. He, peace be upon him, said: This is the very water that has newly come from the Throne.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man may be gladdened by what was never going to escape him, and grieved by what was never going to reach him at all, however hard he strove. So let your joy be in the righteous deed or judgement or word that you have sent ahead of you, and let your sorrow be for what you have neglected of that. Leave what has passed you by of this world and do not grieve much over it; and do not take delight and satisfaction in what of it has come to you. Let your whole concern be for what comes after death. And peace. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 240)

How often a man is gladdened by attaining what was never going to slip from his hand, and saddened by failing to attain what would never have reached him even had he striven for it. So let your gladness be for the things you have sent ahead of you, whether a good deed, a good judgement or a good word, and let your grief be for those matters in which you fell short. Leave behind what has been lost to you of this world and do not lament it; do not be glad and pleased with what of this world has come to you; and devote your whole endeavour to what lies after your death. And peace.

From Juwayriya ibn Mushir, who said: I ran hard behind the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, and he said to me: O Juwayriya, these foolish ones were destroyed by nothing but the clatter of sandals behind them. What has brought you? I said: I have come to ask you about three things: about nobility, about manliness, and about intelligence. He said: As for nobility, whomever the ruler ennobles becomes noble. As for manliness, it is the ordering of one's livelihood. And as for intelligence, whoever fears God has understanding. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 241)

Juwayriya ibn Mushir says: I ran along behind the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him. He said to me: O Juwayriya! Truly these ignorant ones perished only through the sound of sandals behind them. Now tell me, why have you come? I said: I have come to ask you about three things: about nobility, about manliness, and about intelligence. He said: As for nobility, whomever the ruler ennobles becomes noble; and manliness is the setting of one's livelihood and life in order; and as for intelligence, whoever fears God possesses it.

From Harun ibn Antara, from his father, who said: I heard the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, say time after time, interlacing his fingers one within the other, then saying: Grow wide and grow narrow, grow narrow and grow wide. Then he said: Those who hastened have perished, those brought near have been saved, and the pebbles have held firm upon their pegs. I swear by God a true oath: after grief there comes a wondrous opening. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 294)

Harun ibn Antara relates from his father: Many times I saw the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, interlacing his fingers and addressing the world, saying: Grow wide and grow narrow, grow narrow and grow wide. And then he would say: Those who hastened were destroyed, and those brought near were saved and succeeded in doing what had to be done. By God, after sorrow and grief there always comes a wondrous opening.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the jurists and the learned used to write to one another, they wrote three things and no fourth with them: whoever makes the hereafter his concern, God suffices him his concern for this world; whoever sets right his inward self, God sets right his outward self; and whoever sets right what is between himself and God, mighty and majestic, God, blessed and exalted, sets right what is between him and the people. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 307)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It was the way of the jurists and scholars that when they wrote a letter to one another, three sentences were to be seen in it and no fourth: whoever holds the concern of his hereafter, God will suffice him the sorrow of his world; whoever sets his inner nature in order, God will set his outward state aright; and whoever sets in order what is between himself and his God, God will set aright what is between him and the people.

From Abu Abd Allah, peace be upon him, who said: On the day of Uhud, Ali, peace be upon him, came to the Prophet, God bless him and his family, and said: O Messenger of God, I hear a mighty roaring, and I hear the cry, Advance, Hayzum! And I do not aim to strike anyone but he falls dead before I strike him. He said: That is Gabriel and Michael and Israfil among the angels. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 318)

Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: In the thick of the battle of Uhud, Ali, peace be upon him, came to the Prophet and said: O Prophet! A clamour reaches my ears, and I hear someone saying: O Hayzum, advance! And whenever I mean to strike a man with my sword, his corpse falls to the ground before my sword reaches him. The Prophet, God bless him and his family and grant them peace, said: These are the angels, who have come to help.

When the Messenger of God, God bless him and his family, passed away and the people did what they did, Salman (may God be pleased with him) said: I came to Ali, peace be upon him, while he was washing the body of the Messenger of God, God bless him and his family, and I told him what the people had done. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do you know who was the first to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr when he mounted the pulpit of the Messenger of God, God bless him and his family? I said: No; but I saw a very old man leaning upon his staff, with the mark of prostration between his eyes, his garment tucked high. He was the first to go up to him, weeping and saying: Praise be to God, who did not take me from this world until I saw you in this place. Stretch out your hand. So he stretched out his hand and the old man pledged allegiance to him; then he came down and went out of the mosque. Ali, peace be upon him, said: Do you know who he was? I said: No, and his speech displeased me, as though he were gloating over the death of the Prophet, God bless him and his family. He said: That was Iblis. (al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 343)

On the day the Messenger of God (PBUH) departed this world and the people pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr, Salman says: I made my way to Ali (AS) while he was washing the pure body of the Messenger of God. I told him that Abu Bakr had seated himself on the pulpit of the Prophet and that the people were pledging allegiance to him. He said: Did you recognize the first one who pledged allegiance? I said: No, but he was a very old man leaning upon his staff, with the mark of much prostration between his eyes. He was the first to climb the step of the pulpit, weeping and saying: Praise be to God, who did not take me from this world until I saw you in this place. Stretch out your hand. Abu Bakr stretched out his hand, and the old man pledged allegiance to him; then he came down from the pulpit and went out of the mosque. Ali, peace be upon him, said: Did you know who he was? I said: No, but his words repelled me, for it was as though he were glad at the death of the Prophet. The Imam, peace be upon him, said: He was Satan, may God curse him.