Ghurar al-Hikam

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The world brings one to surrender. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 17)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The world toys with a person until, in the end, it drives him to surrender.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Justice is familiar and welcome; tyranny is harsh and oppressive. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 17)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Among the signs of justice is that all perceive it and find it agreeable, whereas tyranny is bitter and grievous to all.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wisdom is a safeguard, and knowledge is a protection. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, pp. 18 and 26)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wisdom brings immunity and preservation, and knowledge is like a protective amulet.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fairness is ease. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 18)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Dealing fairly brings ease of conscience and the attainment of peace for a person.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Contentment enriches. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 18)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Contentment makes a person rich and free of need; it is itself wealth.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Certainty is worship. Certainty is light. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 18)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Certainty in God and in His sovereignty and dominion over all existence is itself worship. Certainty is light.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wishful hopes are scattered and deceiving. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 19)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wishful hopes scatter a person's mind and deceive him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Impatient lamentation is destruction. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 19)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Impatience and lamentation lead to destruction.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Divine grace (tawfiq) is a favor and a mercy. Tawfiq is one of the Lord's attractions. Tawfiq is the first of blessings. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, pp. 20, 36, and 37)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Success in good deeds is a favor and mercy from God. Tawfiq is one of God's attractions. Tawfiq is among the best of blessings.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obstinacy is ill-omened, and it is the kindler of war. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, pp. 20 and 32)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obstinacy is ill-omened, and its end is fighting and quarrel.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obedience is a protective shield. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 21)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obedience to God is a protective amulet.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Deception is ill-omened. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 21)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Deception is ill-omened.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Divulging secrets is treachery. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 22)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Tale-bearing and revealing secrets is treachery.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Putting on an air of grandeur brings deprivation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 24)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When a person seeks to display an imposing air to others in his outward bearing, it brings him deprivation and loneliness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Denial is persistence. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 24)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Denying an offense is persisting in it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excess breeds weariness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 24)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excess carries hidden suffering within it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The innocent is bold. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 25)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The innocent person is fearless.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Chieftainship is ruin. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 25)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Leadership is destruction.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is gained by concord; the Hereafter by desert. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 26)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world can be won through unity and concord, but the Hereafter depends on what each person truly deserves.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Forgiveness is the best of good deeds. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 27)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Among the best of righteous deeds is forgiving others.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Idle amusement is the fruit of ignorance. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 27)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Spending life in play is rooted in human ignorance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Bashfulness holds back one's provision. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 27)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Shyness and timidity are among the obstacles to provision.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Desire is the key to toil. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 27)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The root of suffering is wanting.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A cheerful face is the first act of kindness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 28)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A cheerful countenance is the beginning of doing good.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Greed is the first of evil. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 28)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every evil begins with greed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Despairing of what others hold is ease and instant wealth. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 28)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Giving up hope of what one desires is ease and present riches.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Gentle reproach is the life of affection. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 29)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A well-placed reproach keeps friendship alive.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Death is the gate of the Hereafter. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 29)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Death is the gateway into the world of the Hereafter.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Perfection in this world is nowhere to be found. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 29)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is never complete, and perfection in it is unattainable.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Seeking forgiveness wipes away burdens of sin. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 30)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Seeking God's forgiveness (istighfar) not only cleanses sins and heedless lapses, but also removes their burden and evil consequences.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Persistence in sin is the way of the wicked. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 30)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Insistence is the manner of evildoers.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Secrecy is the criterion of confidential counsel. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 30)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When someone is consulted in private, he must keep the matter to himself like a secret.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sincerity is the fruit of worship. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 32)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Acts of worship gradually acquire sincerity and become pure.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Disputation is the seed of evil. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 32)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wrangling and disputation sow the seed of evil.

(We say: mira' — disputation — is arguing beyond measure, even in matters of truth; or arguing for falsehood or over worthless things; or arguing out of the desires of the ego, for instance to overcome one's opponent, to show off, or out of anger.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Importunity invites deprivation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 32)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Insisting and pressing hard for something usually leads to losing it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Acquired wealth is the wellspring of sorrows. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 32)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wealth and affluence are usually accompanied by conflict and sorrow.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Afflictions are the key to reward. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 32)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Afflictions and hardships are the prelude and the means of earning reward and recompense.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is the laughingstock of the one who passes through it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 32)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: For one who passes through this world without attaching his heart to it, it is a matter of laughter and jest.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Contentment with God's decree drives away sorrow. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 32)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do you want your sorrows to end? Be content!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The slave is free so long as he is content. The free man is a slave so long as he covets. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 33)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Not wanting frees a person from bondage, and wanting puts a person in chains.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Rancor is the trait of the envious. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 33)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Usually the reason for hostility toward someone and harboring a grudge against him is envy of him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Offering an excuse calls for accepting the apology. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 34)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When someone apologizes, one should accept it as far as possible.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble person feigns inattention and lets himself be deceived. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 34)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The magnanimous person sometimes pretends not to notice and acts unaware, so that the other party is not put to shame.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Life turns sweet and turns bitter. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 36)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It is the nature of this world that life has both bitterness and sweetness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Humility spreads virtue abroad, and arrogance exposes vice. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 36)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Humility causes a person's virtues to spread; and conversely, arrogance casts his vices out from behind the veil.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Remembrance of God is the key to intimacy. Remembrance is light and guidance. Remembrance is the delight of the lovers. Remembrance expands the breast. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, pp. 37, 39, and 42)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Remembrance of God is the key to intimacy with Him. Remembrance is light and brings growth. Remembrance is the delight of lovers. Remembrance brings expansion of the breast.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The base are stronger in body, while the noble are stronger in patience of spirit. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 39)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Base people have bodies of greater endurance, while lofty souls have greater patience and forbearance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Self-conceit prevents increase. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 39)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Seeing oneself as great and attributing one's successes to oneself prevents their consolidation and increase.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Passion is a buried disease. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 39)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wants and cravings of the ego are a disease buried within the human being.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sincere goodwill bears the fruit of love. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 40)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wishing others well of itself generates affection.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Solitude is the comfort of the devout. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 41)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: For the people of worship, times of solitude are a treasured opportunity.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Night vigil is the garden of the yearning. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 42)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The depth of the night is the paradise of the lovers of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Writing is the tongue of the hand. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 43)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Writing is speaking with the hand.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Injustice drives away blessings. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 44)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It is usually injustice that takes blessings out of a person's hands.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truth is the strongest supporter. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 44)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Being in the right is the best backer.

(We say: because God and God's hosts are his supporters. So in the end the right reaches the rightful, though much time may pass. Therefore, instead of scheming and seeking backers, one should strive to be on the side of truth and have truth on one's side. When that is so, all of existence is with him.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Blessing goes with gentleness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 47)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Gentleness and mildness bring blessing and good fortune.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Taking things easy makes provision flow abundantly. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 47)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Being easygoing makes provision pour toward a person.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Injustice is the basest of vices, and fairness is the best of virtues. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 47)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The mother of all vices is injustice toward others, and the best of virtues is fairness in dealing with others.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Heedlessness is the most harmful of enemies. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 47)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A human being has no enemy worse than heedlessness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Forbearing endurance exalts one's destiny. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 48)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Patience and endurance change one's destiny.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The suspicious person is forever ailing. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 48)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The skeptical, ill-thinking person is always in trouble.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truthfulness is the noblest narration. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 49)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best account of anything is always the one most faithful to reality.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Oppression is the swiftest in punishment. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 50)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing is punished as swiftly as oppression.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Squandering is the herald of poverty. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 50)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Extravagance is the harbinger of poverty.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Goodness never perishes. A good deed is a treasure stored for eternity. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, pp. 51 and 54)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Goodness never perishes. A good deed is a person's provision stored up for eternity.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Haste prevents hitting the mark. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 52)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Haste in a task causes the result not to be attained.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Idle amusement is the nourishment of stupidity. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 52)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Spending life in idle play and vanity fattens stupidity within a person.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Generosity accompanied by reminding of the favor is baseness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 53)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Showing honor while placing the recipient under obligation is a mark of baseness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Anger is the fire of hearts. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 53)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Anger is the manifestation of the heart's fire.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Well-being is the most pleasant of blessings. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 53)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Well-being is the best of blessings.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble is he who initiates his kindness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 54)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The one who takes the initiative in doing good is the truly noble.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Destiny overcomes caution. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 54)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Destiny always prevails over human caution.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The edges of the assembly are the seats of the noble. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 53)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The great sit at the edges of the assembly.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Arrogance while in office is humiliation after dismissal. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 55)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Arrogance in the days of authority brings humiliation after dismissal.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Kings have no true friendship. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 55)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who holds high position knows nothing of friendship.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Asking is the key to poverty. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 55)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wanting is the key to poverty and need.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: He who is defeated by the truth is victorious. He who prevails through evil is defeated. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 57)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who submits to the truth, even when it goes against him, has not lost but has won. Likewise, one who prevails by way of wickedness has in reality been defeated.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Deeds are set right by the right doers. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 58)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The key to getting things done is finding the right person for the task.

(We say: that is, until you have the right person for a task, money, ideas, and time alone will not move the work forward.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The truly self-restrained is he who has put his rancors to death. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 59)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The one who has truly swallowed his anger is he who keeps no grudge against others in his heart.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truthfulness is the rectitude of everything. Truthfulness saves you even if you fear it, and lying destroys you even if you feel safe with it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 59)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truthfulness is everywhere the sharpest weapon. Telling the truth saves you from whatever you fear, and lying strikes you down even while you imagine it keeps you safe.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The learned is alive even if he is dead. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 60)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The learned person is always alive, even if he lived long ago.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A promise is a sickness, and its cure is fulfilling it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 60)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Making a promise is a sickness, and until that promise is fulfilled, the sickness is not healed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Showing that one is free of need is part of gratitude. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 61)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Displaying contentment and sufficiency is part of gratitude.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Submission is that you accuse no one. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 62)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Submission to God means attributing everything to Him and accusing no one.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Deceiving one who has trusted you is disbelief. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 62)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Scheming against one who has placed his trust in you is a sin on the level of disbelief in God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Time is charged with scattering intimate companions. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 62)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Time is commissioned to scatter those who are bound together in intimacy and affection.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A companion is like a patch on a garment, so choose one that matches you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 63)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A companion is like a patch on a garment; choose one of the same color and likeness as yourself.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Occupying oneself with what is gone wastes one's time. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 64)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Busying oneself with what is headed toward decay and diminishment is a waste of time.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: He who seeks counsel is fortified against error. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 64)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who takes counsel is made safe and kept far from error.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Casting off burdensome formalities is the noblest possession. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 65)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Abandoning the affectations of life is the most precious treasure.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fortune turns away just as it turns toward you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 65)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fortune, just as it turns its face toward a person, will one day also turn its back on him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The hasty errs even if he gains mastery, and the deliberate hits the mark even if he perishes. The deliberate one succeeds, or nearly does; the hasty one errs, or nearly does. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, pp. 66 and 69)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person who acts in haste works against himself, even if he seems in command of the task; while one who advances with deliberation carries the work forward rightly, and if he does not reach the result, the fault is no longer his.

One who proceeds with deliberation has arrived or will arrive, and one who proceeds in haste has erred or will err.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Patience is the greatest help against the vicissitudes of time. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 67)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: With nothing but patience can one stand up to the turns of fate.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Religion is a tree whose root is submission and contentment. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 67)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Religion is a tree whose fruit is submission and contentment.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Miserliness with what one has is ill-thinking of the One who is worshipped. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 67)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Stinginess with what one possesses is thinking ill of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Renunciation (zuhd) is that you do not seek what is lacking until what is present is exhausted. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 67)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Renunciation is that, so long as what you have is not used up, you do not fall into seeking what you lack.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Thought spent on other than wisdom is idle craving. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 68)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Thinking about anything other than wisdom is emptiness and mere caprice.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Afflictions are distributed equally among all creation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 70)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The afflictions of life are divided equally among God's servants.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer's instinct is goodwill, and his nature is restraining anger. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 70)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer is by nature a well-wisher of others and swallows his anger toward them.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The days bring hidden secrets to light. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 70)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Time gradually draws out and reveals all concealed secrets.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Renunciation of this world is the greatest ease. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 70)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Renunciation of this world is the supreme comfort.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Infatuation with women is the manner of fools. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 71)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Passion for women and excessive inclination toward them is the way of fools.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Reliance upon the divine decree is the most restful course. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 71)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Relying on the divine decree and entrusting one's hope to it is the most calming of all things.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The tyrannical oppressor is destroyed by his own sins. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 73)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The tyrannical oppressor is brought down by his very own sins.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is a dream, and being beguiled by it ends in regret. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 74)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is nothing but a dream, and setting one's heart on it brings regret in its wake.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fortune hastens toward the one who does not court it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 75)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The world's fortune always flows toward the one who has not run after it and has not demanded it with insistence.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Provision seeks out the one who does not seek it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 75)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Provision goes toward the one who has not been greedy for it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Forbearance is the ordering principle of the believer's affairs. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 76)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It is forbearance that builds the order of the believer's life.

(We say: that is, patience and forbearance are what bind together the thread of the believer's affairs.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Woman is a scorpion whose sting is sweet. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 76)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Woman is a scorpion whose sting is sweet.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Patience descends in the measure of the affliction. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 77)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When God sends an affliction, He also sends down patience in its measure.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wealth is the summoner of weariness and the mount of hardship. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 77)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wealth brings hardship and breeds toil and trouble.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer is abundant in work and few in slips. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 79)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer works much and slips little.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Helplessness is your busying yourself with what is guaranteed for you at the expense of what is required of you, and abandoning contentment with what you have been given. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 80)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wretchedness is abandoning one's duty and busying oneself with one's desires — and likewise wanting more than what God has given.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble person, when in ease, grants aid, and when in hardship, lightens his giving. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 82)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble person, in times of ease, fulfills people's needs; and in times of hardship, he makes his giving lighter but does not abandon it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obstinacy brings a person what he has no need of. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 82)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obstinacy wins you something that is of no use to you and that you do not need.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: He who conceals knowledge has no confidence in its correctness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 83)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who claims knowledge yet hides it — his knowledge is usually in error.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: True poverty and true riches come after the presentation before God, the Glorified. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 83)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person's real poverty or riches becomes clear only after his deeds are presented before God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Shame before God wipes away many faults. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 83)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Shame before God of itself wipes away many of a person's faults.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Quarreling reveals a man's foolishness and adds nothing to his right. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 83)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Quarreling is proof of a person's foolishness, not proof that he is truly in the right.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Misfortunes leave no mark on the noble soul. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 83)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When a person is noble and magnanimous, no misfortune leaves its mark on him or defiles him.

(We say: the reason sorcery has no effect on the God-fearing believer is this very divine protection indicated in the hadith. In the noble person especially there are two outstanding qualities that lessen the effect of ill fortune upon him and gradually remove it: first, not entering into petty details and mental, imaginary concerns; and second, constant giving and continual service to people, which is an ongoing charity.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Burdens do not weigh heavily on the honorable soul. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 83)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When someone possesses an honorable, tranquil soul, the hardships of life do not weigh him down or rob him of composure.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Pride is a summoner that plunges one into sins. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 84)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every sin with which a person becomes defiled has its root in arrogance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hastening to forgive is among the morals of the noble. Hastening to take revenge is among the traits of the base. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 84)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hasten to forgive others and pardon them before they even plead for it, for this is of the character of the noble. By contrast, do not be quick or forward in taking revenge, for that is of the character of the base.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Happy is he who makes light of what he lacks. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 84)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fortunate is the one who always counts what he lacks as trifling.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Treachery toward the people of treachery is faithfulness in the sight of God, the Glorified. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 84)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not seek to keep faith with the treacherous and the faithless, for abandoning them is what they deserve.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Thinking about consequences secures one against the harm of calamities. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 84)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Before acting, think about the consequences, so that you may be safe from its calamities and blows.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The prudent is he who deals gently with his times. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 85)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wise person bears patiently with his times.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Procrastination is one of the two forms of refusal. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 86)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Delaying and dawdling in fulfilling someone's need makes the gift so bitter that it is no different from refusal.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: An affliction is one; if you wail over it, it becomes two. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 86)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: An affliction is a single one; lamenting over it makes it two.

(We say: that is, if you do not bear a difficulty with patience and do not pass through its test of endurance, a second difficulty arrives that is harder than the first — as the hadiths explicitly state in this sense.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The truly beneficent is he who extends his kindness to all people. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 87)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The beneficent (muhsin) is one who does good to everyone.

(We say: this narration is among the best for understanding the meaning of the muhsinin — the doers of good — who by explicit divine text are beloved of God, of whom it is said repeatedly: "Indeed, God loves the doers of good.")

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Help descends from God in the measure of the burden. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 94)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God's help always descends in proportion to the trouble with which He afflicts His servant.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excess in blame kindles the fire of obstinacy. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 94)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Blaming someone too much sets the fire of obstinacy ablaze within him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A favor received is a shackle that nothing unlocks except gratitude or repayment. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 94)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A kindness received is like a bond that holds a person captive, and release from it comes through thanks or a kindness in return.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer stands between a blessing and a fault, and nothing sets this right except gratitude and seeking forgiveness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 95)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer is always faced with God's blessing on one side and his own shortcoming on the other; so he must continually both give thanks and seek forgiveness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Forbearance at the height of anger secures one against the wrath of the Almighty. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 95)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Swallowing the fire of one's own anger brings safety from the wrath of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nearness to God is gained by asking of Him, and nearness to people by not asking of them. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 96)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The means of drawing near to God is asking of Him, and the means of drawing near to people is not asking of them.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Giving after withholding is more beautiful than withholding after giving. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 97)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: To give after a long period of withholding is better than to withhold after a long period of giving.

(We say: that is, withholding after accustomed and constant giving is ugly and blameworthy.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Knowledge is too vast to be encompassed, so take the best of every branch of knowledge. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 98)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Knowledge is boundless; go after that which is of use to you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble person turns harsh when treated roughly and softens when appealed to with kindness, while the base person turns harsh when appealed to with kindness and softens when treated roughly. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 98)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When something is demanded of the noble person by force, he does not give; but when asked gently, he softens and gives. The base person is the opposite: when asked with kindness he does not give, and unless there is force, he gives nothing to anyone.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The very merits seen in the days of favor become faults in the days of estrangement. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 98)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When someone's heart turns away from you, the very things he once counted as your merits he now reckons as your faults.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Knowledge guides you to what He has commanded you, and renunciation makes the path to it easy for you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 99)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Knowledge shows you the path of God, and renunciation makes traversing that path easy.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Remembrance of God comforts the intellect, illuminates the heart, and calls down mercy. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 101)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Remembrance is the helper of the intellect, the illuminator of the heart, and the cause of the descent of mercy.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is the prison of the believer, death is his gift, and Paradise is his abode. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 101)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is like a prison for the believer; God bestows death upon the believer, at its appointed time, as a gift; and the believer's true home is Paradise.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: People are like images on a scroll: whenever some of them are rolled up, others are unrolled. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 102)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: People are like paintings in an illustrated book: as we turn its pages, some disappear while others appear on the page of time.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The deeds of the servants in this world will be set before their eyes in the Hereafter. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 103)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The deeds we perform here in this world will be set up before our eyes in the Hereafter.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Trust in God is disavowing one's own power and strength and awaiting what destiny brings. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 105)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Trust in God means placing no hope in one's own planning and effort, and watching expectantly for a favorable decree.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nobility with God lies in goodness of deeds, not in goodness of words. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 105)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Superiority before God is not in speaking fine words but in doing good deeds.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Reforming enemies through good speech and fine deeds is easier than confronting and overcoming them through the pain of battle. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 106)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Setting an enemy right with good words and kindly conduct is easier and better than defeating him in war and conflict.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Generosity is that you give freely of your own wealth while scrupulously abstaining from the wealth of others. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 106)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In generosity, though you part easily with your own wealth, you must be exact and cautious with respect to the wealth of others.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The contented poor man is safe from the snares of Iblis, while the rich man falls into his snares. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 106)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Iblis has spread many snares for the rich man, from which the poor man who is content with the divine decree remains free.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Partnership in opinion leads to what is right, while partnership in sovereignty leads to turmoil. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Consulting the views of others and sharing in deliberation leads, in seeking the right opinion, to what is correct; but in governance and the administration of affairs, sharing power brings turmoil and weakness to the government.

(We say: that is, in order to reach a sound opinion, drawing on different views is fitting and necessary; but at the stage of execution, one person must have the final word, and his command must be obeyed.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Knowledge calls out for action; if it is answered, it stays — otherwise it departs. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 107)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Knowledge summons a person to action; if it receives no answer, it takes its leave of that person.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Death clings to you more closely than your shadow and has more power over you than you have over yourselves. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 108)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Death follows you always like your shadow; it holds complete mastery over you, and its decree is binding.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The successful one is he who rises up with a wing, or who resigns himself and finds rest. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 109)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you have wings to fly, then fly; otherwise settle down and be content!

(We say: that is, expect of yourself according to your means; if you can, do it, and if you cannot, let it go and be content, and do not needlessly torment yourself and those around you.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hope is forever proven false, and a long life is torment for a man. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 112)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hope is always a lie, and a long life is nothing but torment.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble man regards his good deeds as a debt upon himself that he must pay, while the base man regards his past favors as a debt owed to him that he must collect. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble person considers his good deeds a debt he owes to existence, one he must pay; while the base person, if he does any good, considers it a loan to others that they must repay. That is, he always regards himself as the creditor.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Generosity is what is given unasked; what is given upon request is out of shame or to avoid reproach. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 114)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Generosity is giving that comes unprompted; but once something has been asked for, the giving is out of embarrassment or to silence tongues.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Anguish in affliction increases it, while patience over it wipes it out. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 114)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Impatience and lamentation always increase an affliction, while patience diminishes it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wise man demands of himself what is due from him, and does not demand for himself what is due to him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 116)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wise person constantly pursues the duties he owes to others, not the duties others owe to him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Poverty is the believer's well-being, relieving him of the envy of neighbors, the flattery of brethren, and the domination of the ruler. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 117)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Poverty is sometimes to the believer's good: no one envies him; no one gathers around him to flatter him; and the ruler does not covet his wealth.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Increase from God, the Exalted, will never cease until thanksgiving ceases from the thankful. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 118)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: So long as thanksgiving does not stop on the servant's part, the increase of blessing does not stop on God's part, and blessing continues ever to grow.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Remembrance is not a matter of the rites of the tongue nor the pathways of thought; rather, it comes first from the One remembered and second from the one who remembers. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 118)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The source of remembrance is neither the tongue nor the mind; its source is God Himself, and from there it is poured out upon the one who remembers.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Patience under the sting of sorrows brings triumph over opportunities. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 119)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When one endures sorrows with patience, he will be granted success in seizing opportunities.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Asking is the collar of abasement; it strips the honored of his honor. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 122)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Asking is the yoke of abasement, which robs a person of his dignity.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man is changed by three things: closeness to kings, holding office, and wealth after poverty. Whoever does not change in these has a sound intellect and an upright character. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 122)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If a person does not change in three situations, he is wise and possessed of perfection: when he draws near to rulers, when he obtains a position, and when wealth turns toward him for the first time.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who works in this world for what comes after it — what is his comes to him without labor, and so he secures both portions together and both abodes at once. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 123)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever works in this world for the Hereafter, what is destined for him reaches him without toil and effort, and both his world and his Hereafter flourish together.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer is one who bears the harm of people while no one is harmed by him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 124)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer neither takes offense nor causes offense.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble man is he who protects his honor with his wealth, and the base man is he who protects his wealth at the cost of his honor. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 125)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The person of dignity spends his wealth to guard his honor, while the base person is willing to be disgraced rather than part with his money.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: People, out of fear of abasement, hasten into abasement. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 126)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person, out of fear of humiliation, usually casts himself into humiliation beforehand.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Thanks is greater in worth than the favor itself, for thanks endures while the favor passes away. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 126)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Gratitude is more precious than the good deed itself, for the good deed passes, while gratitude remains forever.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The prudent man is he who delays punishment while anger holds sway, and hastens to reward a kindness, seizing the opportunity while it can be done. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 126)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wise man postpones punishment until his anger subsides; but he hastens in rewarding, lest the moment pass and he be unable to do it later.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Speech is like medicine: a little of it benefits, and too much of it destroys. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 126)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Speech is like medicine; a little of it brings benefit, and too much of it brings ruin.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Prostration is the heart's emptying itself of all that perishes, turning with one's whole aspiration toward the things that endure, casting off pride and self-conceit, severing worldly attachments, and adorning oneself with the qualities of the prophets. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 129)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The inner reality of prostration is detaching the heart from perishing things, turning wholly toward the things that endure, shedding pride and selfishness, severing worldly attachments, and being adorned with the character of the prophets.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Submit, and you will be safe. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 130)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Surrender, that you may come through in safety.

(We say: complete surrender, which is the truth and ultimate goal of Islam, is called contentment (rida) when it faces the divine decree, and piety (taqwa) when it faces the divine law. Thus surrender is not realized except through contentment and piety.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hold to silence, and your thought will be illumined. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 132)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Increase your silence, that your thought may become luminous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do good to the wrongdoer, and you will win him over. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 132)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do good to the evildoer and you will make him yours.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Renounce this world, and mercy will descend upon you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 132)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Be an ascetic in this world, that mercy may descend upon you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep silent throughout your life, and your affair will become great. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 132)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Make silence your practice, that your standing may rise.

(We say: that is, silence brings protection, dignity, and good repute, while every misfortune, disgrace, and obscurity comes from ill-placed speech.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Forgive what has angered you, for the sake of what has pleased you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 133)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In return for the good you have received from existence, when you see something displeasing that makes you angry, let it pass.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Confine your concern to what is required of you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 134)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Set your mind only upon what you truly need.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Close your eyes to the speck of dust, or you will never be content. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 135)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Bear with the thorns and litter of the road, or you will never attain contentment.

(We say: that is, be patient with difficulties, especially the small ones that drag on, for the road to contentment is patience — accepting precisely these small annoyances.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Occupy yourself with giving thanks for the blessing instead of reveling in it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 135)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Instead of merrymaking over a blessing, busy yourself with rendering thanks for it.

(We say: that is, instead of revelry and intoxication, know the blessing to be from God, not from your own effort; give thanks with your tongue; strive in servitude; and employ the blessing in pleasing God and gladdening hearts.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Be content with what has been apportioned to you, and you will be a believer. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 135)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do you wish to be a believer? Then be content with the share allotted to you!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Honor your guest even if he is lowly, and rise from your seat for your father and your teacher even if you are a ruler. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 136)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Honor your guest, whoever he may be; and rise to your feet for your father and your teacher, whoever you may be.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Set right what you have spoiled, and complete what you have done well. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 136)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you have ruined something, repair it yourself; and if you are doing something good, carry it through to completion.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Seek the good from God and do not choose for yourself, for many a person has chosen a thing in which lay his destruction. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 137)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: At the crossroads, seek what is good and do not decide on your own, for sometimes a decision holds your destruction.

(We say: seeking the good, or istikhara, consists of several parts: praying and asking God for the good in a particular matter or at crossroads; intending good for God's servants in one's affairs; consulting the friends of God for guidance toward the good; waiting patiently until the divine signs appear; and entrusting the matter to God, withdrawing one's own choice, and handing the choosing over to God — which is the way of those firmly established in the divine wilaya.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: With your enemy, keep watch for the possible moment and seize the opportunity, and you will prevail. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 137)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not clash with your enemy recklessly; rather be patient and watchful until the right opportunity arrives.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Strike your servant when he disobeys God, and pardon him when he disobeys you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 137)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whenever one under your authority disobeys God, deal with him firmly; and whenever he disobeys you, forgive him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Make little of the slip, and pass over what has not been said to you explicitly. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 138)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Pass over easily the slips of others, and whatever has not been said outright but is mere inference.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Give people of your pardon and forgiveness the like of what you would love God, the Glorified, to give you; and never regret a pardon. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 138)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let people enjoy your pardon and forgiveness in the same measure that you would love to enjoy God's pardon and forgiveness, and never regret forgiving people.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fill your solitude with remembrance, and accompany your blessings with thanksgiving. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 139)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fill your solitude with remembrance and your blessing with thanksgiving.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Look often at those over whom you have been favored, for that is one of the gates of thanksgiving. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 139)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Look often at those who have been given less than you; this is itself a kind of thanksgiving.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Bear with what passes over you, for forbearance is the covering of faults; indeed, half of the wise man is forbearance and half is feigned inattention. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 139)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In many situations, endure and do not react, for endurance is the veiling of faults. Half of wisdom is patience and endurance, and half is overlooking — that is, not seeing evils and enmities.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Resolve upon severity only when nothing but severity will avail you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 140)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Resort to severity only when there is no alternative to it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fill your heart with mercy for all people, and with kindness toward them. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 140)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fill your heart with kindness toward all people, and make doing good to them all your way.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Make sincere for God your deed and your knowledge, your love and your hatred, your taking and your leaving, your speech and your silence. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 141)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Purify for God your deed, your love, your hatred, your wanting and your not wanting, your speech and your silence.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Strive in your labor for yourself, and be not a treasurer for another. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 141)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Work for yourself, and do not be the treasurer of others.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Avoid the company of the habitual liar; and if you are forced into it, do not believe him, but do not let him know that you consider him a liar, for he will turn away from friendship with you without turning away from his nature. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 143)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not keep company with a liar; and if you are compelled to, do not be taken in by him, and above all let him not realize that you know him to be a liar, for then he will turn hostile — yet still not give up his lying.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Guard your life from being wasted on anything other than worship and acts of obedience. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 145)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of squandering your life on anything other than worship and obedience.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Give the lie to tale-bearing and slander, whether it be false or true. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 146)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Repudiate backbiting and malicious talk, even if it is true.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Set apart for yourself, in what is between you and God, the Glorified, the best of times and portions. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 146)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Devote your best hours to intimacy with God, and perform your best deeds for Him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Consult your enemies, and from their opinion you will learn the measure of their enmity and where their aims lie. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 148)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Draw near to your enemies and consult them! From the opinion they give, the measure of their enmity and their positions and aims become clear to you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep company with the ruler with caution, with the friend with humility and cheerfulness, and with the enemy in such a way that your proof against him is established. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 148)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Deal with the ruler with due caution, with your friend with humility and a cheerful face, and with your enemy in such a way that the proof against him is made complete and he knows his enmity is unjust.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Bear with the presumption of him who presumes upon you, accept the excuse of him who apologizes to you, and forgive him who has wronged you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 149)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Indulge the airs of one who behaves familiarly with you, accept the excuse of the one who apologizes, and forgive the one who has done you wrong.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Make your recompense for the blessing bestowed upon you kindness to the one who has wronged you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 149)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In gratitude for the blessings God has given you, do good to the one who does you wrong.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Expend your wealth on him who has expended his face for you, for nothing equals the expending of one's face. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 149)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who gives up his dignity and makes a request of you has lost to you something most precious; so if you can, meet his need with your money.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take your complaint to Him who is able to enrich you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 149)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Complain to the One who has the power to solve your problem.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hold fast to the community and avoid division. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 150)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Cleave to the community of the believers and shun division.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Be mindful of the intuitions of the believers, for God, the Glorified, has made the truth flow upon their tongues. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 152)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take seriously what passes through the minds of the believers and flows upon their tongues, for God causes the truth to flow upon the tongues of the believers.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware the prayer of the oppressed, for he asks God for his right, and God, the Glorified, is too generous to be asked for a right without granting it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 152)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Fear the prayer of the oppressed, for the oppressed demands his right from God, and God is too generous to withhold a right from anyone.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Plunge into the remembrance of God, for it is the best of remembrance. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 153)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Immerse yourselves in the remembrance of God, for it is the best of works.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Give life to a good deed by putting it to death, for reminding of favors demolishes the kindness done. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 154)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Breathe life into a good deed by keeping it hidden; truly, trumpeting it and holding it over others destroys it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Make remembrance continual, for it illumines the heart, and it is the most excellent worship. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 155)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Make the remembrance of God constant for yourselves, for continual remembrance illumines the heart and is the most excellent of acts of worship.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Guard yourselves against the intoxication of praise and flattery, for it leaves a foul stench in the heart. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 155)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take care not to fall under the influence of eulogy and praise, or your heart will take on a foul stench.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Kindle your lamps from the flame of a preacher who heeds his own preaching, and accept the counsel of a counselor who is awake. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 155)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A preacher who practices what he preaches is like a kindled fire: draw light from him; and listen to the words of the wakeful counselor, that you may be guided.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Be content with little of your world for the safety of your religion, for the believer is satisfied by a small, easily gotten provision of this world. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 156)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Be content with little of this world so that your religion remains sound. Truly, the believer is content with the little of this world that comes to him with ease.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Seek refuge in God from the intoxication of wealth, for it is an intoxication from which recovery is far off. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 156)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take refuge in God from the drunkenness of riches, for its drunkenness is deep, long, and dangerous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Seek refuge in God from the seeds of pride, as you seek refuge in Him from the calamities of time. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 156)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take refuge in God from whatever impregnates you with pride, just as you take refuge in God from the terrifying calamities of the age.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Turn away from every deed you can do without, and occupy yourselves with those matters of the Hereafter from which there is no escape. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 157)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Turn away from deeds you have no real need of, and occupy yourselves with the matter of the Hereafter, from which there is no escape.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of the fool: humoring him wearies you, agreeing with him ruins you, opposing him torments you, and his company is a scourge upon you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 161)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep away from the fool: humoring him is hard, agreeing with him is ruin, opposing him is the beginning of strife, and keeping his company is a curse.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware the company of anyone whose opinion is accepted but whose conduct is condemned. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 161)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of one whose words are fine and whose deeds are ugly.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of injustice, for the unjust shall never smell the fragrance of Paradise. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 168)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Shun oppression with all seriousness, for the oppressor will never catch the scent of Paradise.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of choosing for yourself, for most success lies in what is not reckoned on. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 170)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: As far as you can, refrain from choosing in life, for the best things usually come to a person unsought.

(We say: takhayyur means choosing, selecting for oneself, storing up, pursuing — in a word: wanting. When a person picks one thing out of many, selects it for himself, counts on it and wants it, he inevitably lets go of the other options, though they may be better for him. Thus by wanting, a person is in fact losing; whereas by letting go and entrusting matters to God, he always arrives at the best — a best he never even imagined.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of tyrannizing over God's servants, for God shatters every tyrant. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 170)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not compel God's servants to anything or drive them by force; God has so decreed that He breaks the neck of every tyrant.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of division, for the one who stands apart from people belongs to Satan. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 170)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Avoid going it alone and separating from the community of the Muslims, for the solitary outlier falls prey to Satan.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware lest your self overpower you in what you merely surmise, while you fail to overpower it in what you know with certainty; for that is among the greatest of evils. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 171)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware lest, in matters of mere conjecture and surmise, your lower self take your reins and drive you to act — should that happen, great evil arises. Conversely, take your self in hand and set it to work where you have certainty about a thing.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of clothing yourself in evil, for you deliver it to yourself before your enemy, and destroy your religion with it before passing it on to another. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 171)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In fighting your enemy, do not resort to evil means, for its evil overtakes you before it reaches your enemy, and it corrupts your religion.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of excess speech, for it reveals of your faults what was hidden and stirs up against you such of your enemies as were at rest. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 172)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Avoid superfluous talk, for it only exposes your faults and rouses your enemies against you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of appropriating to yourself what belongs to all people in common, and of feigning ignorance of what is evident to all who see. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 173)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Never appropriate to yourself the public wealth that belongs to all the people, and do not deny what has become plain to everyone.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of being deceived by an evil man's lapse into good, and beware of being estranged by a good man's lapse into evil. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 175)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let not the good deed of a wicked person deceive you! Likewise, let not the bad deed of a good person drive you away from him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When distress is at its narrowest, relief is at its nearest. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 195)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When a matter reaches its hardest point, relief is near.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best of people in life is he in whose bounty the people live. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 196)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best life is the life of one in whose shade others live and from whose table they are fed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most deserving of people of a gift is he who is most free of asking. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 197)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In giving, put first the one who does not ask or make requests.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most deserving of people of mercy is the one most in need of it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 197)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The person with the greatest claim to kindness is the one who needs it most.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The root of the heart's well-being is its occupation with the remembrance of God, and the root of the heart's strength is trust in God. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 198)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The foundation of the heart's reform is occupation with the remembrance of God, and the foundation of the heart's strength is entrusting one's affairs to God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most prudent of people is he who takes the affairs of his world lightly. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 198)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wisest and most far-sighted of people is the one who takes this world easily.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Better than exacting your right in full is pardoning it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 200)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Usually, better than claiming your right is forgoing it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most knowing of people about God is the most content of them with His decree. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 201)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Among people, the one with the greatest knowledge of God is the one most content with God's decree.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Spacing out one's visits is a safeguard against reproach. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 201)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not visit someone constantly, lest he grow weary and tired of you.

(We say: ighbab in visiting someone means calling on him every other day or from time to time, not every day.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sin swiftest in punishment is that you wrong one who does not wrong you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 202)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you oppress someone who has done you no wrong, your punishment comes swiftly.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most wretched of people is he who sells his religion for another's world. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 202)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most wretched of people is the one who gives up his religion for the sake of someone else's worldly gain.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most hateful of servants to God, the Glorified, are the arrogant pauper, the aged adulterer, and the sinful scholar. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 203)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most despised of people before God are the arrogant poor man, the old man who commits adultery, and the sinning scholar.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most detested of servants to God, the Glorified, is the tyrannical scholar. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 203)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most loathed of men before God is a scholar who coerces others.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most abundant of things are lying and treachery, and the scarcest of things are truthfulness and trustworthiness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 203)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most widespread sins among the children of Adam are lying and treachery, and the rarest virtues are truthfulness and trustworthiness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best remembrance is the Qur'an: by it breasts are opened and inner secrets are illumined. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 209)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best remembrance is the Qur'an; by it breasts are opened wide and inner depths are made luminous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The feeblest of enemies in cunning is he who shows his enmity openly. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 209)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: An enemy who displays his hostility openly — his scheming is feeble.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wisest of people is he who, in punishing the ignorant, does not go beyond silence. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 213)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wisest person is the one who, in the face of the ignorant and as their chastisement, does not go beyond silence.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best of magnanimity is sharing one's wealth with one's brethren and treating them as equals in all circumstances. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 213)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The right and chivalrous course toward one's brothers in faith is equity (muwasat) in wealth and equality (musawat) in treatment.

(We say: muwasat means acting with fairness — that is, wishing for others whatever we wish for ourselves; putting ourselves in the other's place and seeing how much he is entitled to. Musawat means being equal, of the same measure. This narration says: in dealing with your brothers in faith, look upon all with the same eye and give all equal respect; but in giving, prefer some over others on the basis of fairness, for some are in greater need than others, or some are more deserving than others.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The quickest of people to attain his need is the possessor of a gentle, accommodating intellect. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 214)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Among people, he reaches his need soonest who understands how to deal gently with people.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wisest of kings is he who governs himself for the subjects in such a way as to remove their argument against him, and governs the subjects in such a way as to establish his argument over them. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 216)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wisest ruler is the one who conducts himself before his subjects in such a way that he takes from them any excuse for disobedience, and trains his subjects in such a way that his proof over them is established.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most effective means of drawing down mercy is to harbor mercy in one's heart for all people. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 216)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The greatest thing that pours God's mercy down upon a person is nurturing in the heart mercy and kindness toward all people.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most excellent of virtues are reconnecting with one who has cut himself off, showing warmth to one who has turned away, and taking the hand of one who has stumbled. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 217)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most excellent of virtues is to reconnect with the one who has parted from you, to befriend the one whose heart has fled from you, and to take the hand of the one who has stumbled.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The finest gift for the believer is death. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 217)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best gift God gives the believer is death.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, in obscurity there is ease. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 219)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Ease lies in obscurity and quietness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, ingratitude for blessings and keeping company with the ignorant are inauspicious. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 222)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Ingratitude for blessings and companionship with the ignorant are inauspicious.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God the Glorified conducts affairs according to what He deems fitting, not according to what pleases you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 222)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God carries affairs forward according to His own judgment and what He deems fitting, not according to your wish and approval.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, the seriousness of this world is a jest, its honor is humiliation, and its loftiness is lowliness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 223)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The seriousness of this world is a joke, its honor is humiliation, and its greatness is lowliness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, the best attire is that which blends you in among the people, makes you graceful among them, and restrains their tongues from speaking about you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 225)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best dress and appearance is one like that of the people — yet a little finer, but not such that they talk about you and gossip behind your back.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, affection is expressed by the tongue, while love is expressed by the eyes. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 225)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Friendship is declared by the tongue, but love by the eyes.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, those endowed with intellect need refinement (adab) just as crops thirst for rain. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 225)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The intelligent person's need for refinement is like the crop's need for rain.

(We say: that is, refinement makes a person's intellect grow.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God the Exalted loves the one who is easygoing of soul, generous of character, and prompt in affairs. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 225)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God loves those who take things with ease, are good-natured, and carry out their tasks promptly.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, the generosity of God the Glorified does not violate His wisdom; that is why not every prayer receives an answer. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 226)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God's kindness never violates His wisdom; that is why many prayers go unanswered.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, "There is no god but God" has conditions, and I am one of its conditions. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The realization of "There is no god but God" has conditions, and I am one of those conditions.

(We say: that is, the Qur'an and the school of the Prophet of Islam require a teacher, and I am that teacher. And we see plainly that the Qur'an without a teacher breeds Kharijites and breeds ISIS.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, this world is an abode of corruption; its fortunes do not make up for its misfortunes, nor do its ascents match its descents. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 226)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is an abode of ruin and corruption; its ill fortune always exceeds its good fortune, and its descent exceeds its ascent.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, people have faults, so do not uncover what is hidden from you, for God the Glorified bears with them in forbearance. Conceal the fault as much as you can, and God will conceal for you what you would love to have concealed. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 228)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: People are all full of faults; cover the faults of people, for God with His forbearance has covered them and drawn a veil over them. Be a concealer of people's faults so that God may conceal your faults as well.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, man will arrive at what he has sent ahead and will regret what he has left behind. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 228)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Man will soon come upon whatever he has sent ahead to God; and he will regret whatever he left behind in this world without using it to earn the Hereafter.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, great reward accompanies great tribulation; so when God the Glorified loves a people, He tries them with affliction. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 228)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Great reward requires great tribulation; when God loves someone, He tries him with affliction.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, the people of beneficence need to do good more than those who desire it from them need it. And he said: You are in greater need of the reward for what you have given than the beggar is of what he has taken from you. And he said: You are more to be envied for what you have given than the one who sought you out is for what reached him from you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, pp. 229 and 269)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wealthy person's need to do good exceeds the needy person's need for it.

And he said: You are more in need of the reward for your giving than the beggar is of what has been given to him.

And he said: The benefit you have gained from your giving is greater than that of the one who received your gift.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God the Glorified has assaults and retributions; when they descend upon you, repel them with supplication, for nothing repels affliction except supplication. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 229)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has assaults (satawat) and retributions (naqimat); if you encounter them in life, repel them from yourselves with supplication, for nothing but supplication repels affliction.

(We say: God's assault is His seizing the servant on account of sin, as He has said: "So each We seized for his sin" [Qur'an 29:40]. And God's retribution is the unfolding of certain consequences of the servant's deeds so that he may turn back, as He has said: "And We will surely let them taste the nearer punishment short of the greater punishment, that perhaps they may return" [Qur'an 32:21]. Please refer to the commentary on these two verses in the book Tafsir-e Ma'navi.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, the people of Paradise gaze upon the dwellings of our Shia as one of you gazes upon the stars on the horizon of the sky. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 229)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The people of Paradise look upon the dwellings of our Shia as they look upon the stars on the horizon of the sky.

(We say: in such narrations "Shia" means the true Shia, that is, one who says what Ali said, seeks what Ali sought, and strives to be like Ali. There are many narrations affirming that such a person dwells in the highest degree of Paradise.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God the Exalted has, in prosperity, the blessing of bounty, and in adversity, the blessing of purification. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 230)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God's blessing to the servant in good times is bounty, and in hard times, purification.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, whoever gives to the one who deprived him, maintains ties with the one who cut him off, and pardons the one who wronged him, shall have God the Glorified as his supporter and helper. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 230)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who gives to him who deprived him, reconnects with him who cut him off, and pardons him who wronged him — such a person always has God as his supporter and helper.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God the Glorified has refused to provide for His believing servants except from where they do not reckon. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 231)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God generally refuses to provide for His believing servants except from a source they never even imagined.

(We say: that is, most of the believer's provision, or the best of it, is unreckoned provision — coming from where he never imagined or expected. Of course, the believer's provision is not limited to this kind; as it is related of the Messenger of God (PBUH) that he would pray: O God, provide for me both from where I expect and from where I do not expect. That is, he sought both kinds of provision.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, the counsel that no ear rejects and no benefit can equal is that about which the tongue of speech is silent while the tongue of action speaks. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 231)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The counsel that surely sinks into the ear, and which nothing can match, is counsel given through deed and conduct, not with the tongue.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, the poor man is God's messenger; whoever gives to him has given to God, and whoever denies him has denied God the Glorified. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 231)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The poor man is God's envoy; whoever gives to him has offered to God, and whoever turns him away has turned his back on God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God the Exalted admits into Paradise whomever He wills of His servants on account of good intention and a righteous inner self. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 232)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God sends many of His servants to Paradise solely on account of their good intention and purity of spirit.

(We say: this gate, which appears to be among the widest gates of Paradise, is precisely purity of soul and acting in accordance with the primordial nature (fitra), which manifests itself in good character. On this account, people of good character anywhere in the world, provided they harbor no denial or obstinacy toward the true religion, are destined for Paradise.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, whomever God has provided with a sound intellect and upright conduct, He has shown him abundant blessing and bestowed upon him the greatest favor. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 232)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If God has granted someone a sound intellect and conduct pleasing to God, He has given him the greatest blessing and holds over him the mightiest favor.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God the Glorified has ordained in the wealth of the rich the sustenance of the poor; no poor man goes hungry except through what a rich man has withheld, and God will question them about it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 234)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has placed the sustenance of the poor in the wealth of the rich and made it obligatory. If a poor man goes hungry, it is because of some rich man's withholding, and God will call them to account for it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, tribulations have end-points at which they must inevitably expire. So rest until they run their course, for employing stratagems against them before that only adds to them. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 238)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The troubles of life all have an end which they must inevitably reach, and at that point they will come to a close. So sleep easy and await the arrival of that point; for before then, scheming and contriving only increase the hardship and suffering.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not force your understanding upon your heart by insistence. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 239)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not force-feed your understanding to your heart!

(We say: that is, if your mind gives one verdict and your heart another, prefer what your heart says. As the Messenger of God (PBUH) said: "Seek the fatwa of your heart, even if the fatwa-givers give you fatwas" — that is, ask your heart for its ruling, even if those who issue rulings say otherwise. This criterion is especially illuminating in cases where ethics conflicts with law.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God-wariness (taqwa) is the utmost of God's pleasure with His servants and His want from His creation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 241)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Taqwa is the utmost of what God asks of His servants and the furthest limit of His good pleasure.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, the noblest death is to be slain. By Him in whose hand is my soul, a thousand strokes of the sword are easier than a death upon the bed. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 242)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best kind of death is to be slain; by God, death in bed is harder than a thousand strokes of the sword.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, your doing good to those adversaries and enviers who have schemed against you is more galling to them than any harm you could inflict on them — and it calls them to their own reform. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 243)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Your kindness toward one who has schemed against you and envies you is harder on him than any harm you could do him; and yet this is precisely the way to reform such people.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, your mind cannot encompass everything, so free it for what is important. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 243)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, your thought and judgment do not have room for everything, so devote them to the things that matter.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, this world is like a ghoul: it leads astray whoever obeys it and destroys whoever answers its call. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 247)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is like a demon; it deceives whoever obeys it and destroys whoever answers it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, this world stays faithful to no companion and runs clear for no drinker; its bounty passes from hand to hand, its conditions keep changing, its pleasures perish and their consequences remain. So turn away from it before it turns away from you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 249)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world remains for no one and goes down no one's throat; its bounty circulates from hand to hand and its conditions constantly change; its pleasures come to an end while their consequences remain. So turn away from it before it turns away from you!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, this world is an abode of truth for the one who is true with it, and an abode of riches for the one who takes provision from it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 250)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: For one who deals truthfully, the world too is truthful with him and lets him gather provision from it for his Hereafter.

(We say: that is, the world does not deceive the truthful person; it shows him its true face and places its blessings at his disposal, so that within it he may attain elevation and gather provision for the Hereafter.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God the Exalted made this world for the sake of what comes after it, and tried its people in it so that it may be known which of them is best in deeds. We were not created for this world, nor commanded to strive for it; we were placed in it only to be tried by it and to work in it for what comes after it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 252)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God created this world for the sake of what comes after it, and He continually tries the people of the world so that those whose deeds are best may become known. We were not created for this world, nor are we commissioned to strive for it. We were brought into this world to be tested by it and to labor in it for what comes after it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, God the Glorified loves that a person's intention toward people be beautiful, just as He loves that his intention in obeying Him be strong and unadulterated. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 253)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God loves that a person's intention toward others be good, just as He loves that his intention in obeying God be resolute and pure.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, night and day are at work upon you, so work in them; and they take from you, so take from them. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 254)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Night and day work upon you unceasingly and take their share from you; so you too work in them and gather your share for the Hereafter.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you have bound fast your faith, then be content with what is decreed against you and for you, place your hope in no one but God the Glorified, and await what destiny brings you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 256)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do you want true faith? Be content with the divine decree, set your hope on none but God, and keep your eyes ever on the path of destiny.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you see something suspicious among your womenfolk, direct your reproof at great and small alike; and beware of repeating rebuke, for that emboldens toward sin and cheapens the rebuke. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 259)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you come to suspect one of the women of your household, set a watch over the whole household, not over that particular person. And take care: repeated reproach in anything drives to obstinacy and sin, and renders the reproach ineffective.

It was said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Nothing will set the people of Kufa right but the sword. He (AS) replied: If nothing will set them right except my own corruption, then may God never set them right. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 260)

They said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Nothing but the sword will bring the people of Kufa into line! He said: If they will not come into line except by my becoming corrupt, then let them be, and let them stay out of line.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I am free to choose whether to do good to one to whom I have not yet done good; but I am bound to complete the good I have begun toward one to whom I have done good. For if I complete it, I have preserved it; if I cut it off, I have wasted it; and if I was going to waste it, why did I do it at all? (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 262)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: So long as I have not done good to someone, I am free to do it or not; but once I have begun doing good to someone, I am pledged to that good and must complete it. For beneficence lies in its completion; abandoning it halfway is wasting it — and if I meant to waste a deed, why did I begin it in the first place?

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, you will never attain your hopes and you will never outrun your appointed death; so be wary of God and be moderate in seeking. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 265)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You are not destined to reach your dreams in this world, but you are destined to die at an appointed time! So practice taqwa, and ease off in your pursuit of the world.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, if you advance upon this world, it retreats; and if you retreat from this world, it advances. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 266)

When you see a blameworthy trait in another, shun the like of it in yourself.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The world is such that if you want it, it flees from you; and if you do not want it, it comes toward you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, you are in greater need of acting upon what you have learned than of learning what you did not know; and you are in greater need of spending what you have earned than of acquiring what you keep amassing. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 268)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Man is always in greater need of acting on what he knows than of learning what he does not know; and in greater need of giving away what he has than of grasping at what he does not have.

(We say: that is, man always knows what he needs to know and has what he needs to have. So let him devote his effort to acting on what he knows and to doing good with what he has.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, you are in greater need of contentment with modest provision than of acquiring greed in seeking. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 269)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You are in greater need of contentment with what you have than of the greedy pursuit of what you do not have.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, you are in greater need of doing good to people than of amassing wealth. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 269)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You are in greater need of doing kindness to people than of gathering riches.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, if you ride upon hopes, appointed deaths will cut you down. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 269)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you become infatuated with hopes and dreams, you will perish by the blade of the appointed death.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, if you are content with the divine decree, your life will be pleasant and you will win true riches. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 270)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you accept the divine decree, you will taste the sweetness of life and attain inner needlessness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, if you turn toward God, you have truly advanced; and if you turn away from Him, you have truly fallen back. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 270)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you turn toward God, God will turn toward you; and if you turn your back on Him, He will turn His back on you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Woman is but like a doll; so whoever takes one, let him cover her. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 273)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A woman is like a plaything — whoever sees her wants to handle and toy with her; so cover the woman and watch over her.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What has made people lose interest in seeking knowledge is how often they see the scarce practice of those who act not upon what they know. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 275)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The reason for people's lack of interest in religious knowledge is the abundance of scholars who do not act upon their own knowledge.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It befits those who are kept from sin and blessed with safety to have mercy on the people of sin and transgression, and to let gratitude for their own protection be what prevails over them and restrains them. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 275)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Those who have been kept from sin and dwell in safety should be perpetually grateful to God, and in thanks for this protection they should be kind to the people of sin and show them compassion.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Consultation has been urged only because the counselor's opinion is pure, while the opinion of the one seeking counsel is mixed with desire. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 276)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The reason consultation is recommended is that the opinion of the one consulted is pure and undiluted, while the opinion of the one who seeks counsel is tainted with desire.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The bane of religion is suspicion. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 278)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The bane of religion is thinking ill of people.

(We say: that is, the religious are the most exposed to thinking ill of people, and this suspicion diminishes the degree of their faith.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The bane of consultation is the collapse of opinions. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 278)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The bane of excessive consultation is the shattering of resolutions.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The bane of giving is procrastination. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 279)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The bane of giving is dawdling.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The bane of generosity is squandering. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 280)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The bane of generosity is extravagance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you do a good deed, conceal it; and when a good deed is done to you, proclaim it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 281)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Conceal your own good deed, and publish the good deed another has done for you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you praise, be brief; and when you blame, be sparing. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 281)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you praise or blame someone or something, be brief and allusive.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you come to possess, set free. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 282)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Once you have obtained something, release it — or remain free of it.

(We say: that is, let not acquiring and owning make you captive to anything; be always free of everything.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When brotherhood becomes firm, praise becomes unseemly. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 282)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When brotherhood has become firm, exchanging praise and flattery is no longer becoming.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When power increases, desire decreases. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 283)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When one's power to do a thing grows, the appetite for it shrinks.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the intention becomes corrupt, calamity falls. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 283)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When a person's intention goes bad, calamity is decreed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you fear the Creator, flee to Him — for there is no refuge except in Him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 283)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you fear God, flee toward Him and take refuge in Him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you see that God the Glorified is giving you intimacy with His remembrance, then He loves you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 284)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you see that God has made you intimate with His remembrance, be certain that He loves you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you see a learned man, be a servant to him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 284)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you come upon a true scholar, serve him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When any of you stands up to pray, let him pray the prayer of one bidding farewell. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 285)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let your prayer be the prayer of one who is, as it were, praying the last prayer of his life and bidding farewell to prayer itself.

(We say: that is, be lovers of the prayer and take delight in it.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you wish to be obeyed, ask for what can be done. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 285)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you want people to heed your word, ask of them something they are able to do.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When trustworthiness grows strong, truthfulness abounds. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 285)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The trustworthy person is usually truthful as well.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When what you want is not to be, then want what is. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 285)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When what you want does not exist, want what does.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When what you want is not to be, then do not trouble yourself over how you are. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 285)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When things do not turn out the way you wanted, do not take it hard.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the ascetic flees from people, seek him out; and when the ascetic seeks people out, flee from him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 286)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: An ascetic who shuns people is worth keeping company with. But if you see an ascetic courting people, flee from him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When God honors a servant, He occupies him with love for Him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 286)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When God loves someone, He occupies him with love for Himself.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you see your Lord sending trial upon trial to you [be thankful]; and when you see your Lord showering blessing upon blessing on you, beware of Him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 286)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you see God sending affliction after affliction your way, be grateful to Him; and when you see Him pouring blessing after blessing upon you, be on your guard.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you stray from God's wisdom, pause before His power; for if what would heal you of His wisdom escapes you, what suffices you of His power will never escape you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 287)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If in some affair you cannot fathom God's wisdom, then surrender before His power and entrust yourself to Him. Being surrendered to His power suffices you against remaining ignorant of His wisdom and letting your heart fall into anxiety and bewilderment.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you see a blameworthy trait in another, shun the like of it in yourself. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 288)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you see an ugly trait in someone, search within yourself and rid yourself of its like.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you fear the difficulty of a matter, be hard against it and it will yield to you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 288)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you fear the difficulty of a task, or face a hard task, show firmness and endurance before it, and it will become tame for you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If any of you wishes to ask nothing of God the Glorified but that He grant it, let him despair of people and place his hope in none but God the Glorified. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 290)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If someone wants his supplication to be answered by God and to receive from God whatever he asks, let him despair of people and set his hope on no one but God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the ruler draws you nearer, increase your reverence toward him; and when the base man increases his reverence toward you, increase your rebuff of him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 290)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The more the ruler draws you close to himself, the more you should honor him. But as for the base man: the more he honors you, the more you should drive him away from yourself.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When a man has one splendid quality, expect from him its sisters. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 291)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you find one fine quality in someone, expect its kindred qualities as well.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the Qur'an calls you to a beautiful quality, take yourself to its like as well. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 291)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the Qur'an guides you to a fine quality, pursue the matter and seek out its kindred qualities too.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When tribulations come to you, sit down for them, for your standing up against them only adds to them. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 292)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When hardships arrive, sit down at once, for standing against them only increases the suffering.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When desire overpowers you, overpower it with brevity. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 294)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When a desire takes hold of you, satisfy it with brevity.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you hear something offensive that hurts you, bow low before it and it will pass over you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 294)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When they say something to you that you dislike, lower your head so that bearing it becomes easy for you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you write a letter, review it before sealing it, for you are in fact sealing it upon your intellect. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 294)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you write something, review and correct it carefully before sending it; for your writing is the display of your intellect.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When speech accords with the speaker's intention, the listener accepts it; and when it contradicts his intention, it finds no good place in his heart. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 295)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When speech matches the speaker's intent, it settles into the listener's heart; otherwise, it does not sit well with him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the announcers of death come to you in numbers, the announcer of your own death rises. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 295)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When news of many deaths keeps reaching you, your own death too is near.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By a cheerful approach, misfortunes are driven away. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 300)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: With cheerfulness, ill fortune is dispelled.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By aiding the distressed, you gain a fortress against God's punishment. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 303)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Coming to the aid of people in distress builds for a person a fortress against God's punishment.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By pardon, mercy is brought down. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 303)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Through pardon and forgiveness toward people, God's mercy descends upon a person.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Through obedience comes good fortune. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 304)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obedience to God opens the door of fortune and favor to a person.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: With adab (refined courtesy) the blades of cunning are sharpened. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 304)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sword of sedition is always sharpened with courtesy.

(We say: that is, when people intend to deceive someone and cast him into a trap, they usually begin with courteous, respectful language, asking things of him and obtaining signatures and concessions.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Through gentleness, goals are attained. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 304)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: With gentleness and forbearance one can usually reach one's goals.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What a wretched creditor sleep is: it consumes a short life and squanders much reward. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 310)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What a bad loss excessive sleep is; it makes a life that is already short even shorter, and it diminishes a person's reward in the Hereafter.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Kindness to one's parents is the greatest obligation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 312)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The most important obligation in the divine law is kindness to one's father and mother.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Man's affliction lies in his tongue. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 312)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every calamity that befalls a person comes from his tongue.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Through us God repels the rabid times. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 314)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By our blessing, God keeps you safe from the biting cruelty of the times.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Postponing work is the hallmark of laziness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 316)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Delaying a deed breeds sluggishness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Entrusting rule to the base and the young is a sign of states' dissolution and decline. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 320)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Handing affairs over to opportunists and the young is a sign of a government's weakness and of its movement toward collapse.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Make up in the last part of your life what you wasted in its first part, and you will be happy at your final destination. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 324)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whatever you wasted in the early part of your life, make up for in its final part, so that you may attain eternal felicity.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Vouching for the wicked is among the gravest of burdens of sin. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 324)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Declaring the wicked pure and presenting them in a good light is among the great sins.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Your pride in what does not remain for you, and for which you do not remain, is among the greatest ignorance. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 324)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Boasting and priding yourself on what will not remain for you, and for which you will not remain, is a great ignorance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hastening despair is one of the two victories. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 324)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Frankly declaring your refusal, and freeing from false hope the one whose need you do not intend to fulfill, is the best course.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Shun wishful longings, for they carry off the delight of God's blessings from you, bind you to belittling those blessings in your eyes, and lead to your scant gratitude. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 325)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let go of cravings and wishful longings, for they dull the delight of God's blessings in your sight; you come to see the blessings as small and fall short in gratitude.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The fruit of acquisitions is grief. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 326)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The fruit of hoarded possessions is grief.

(We say: al-qunya in the speech of Ali (AS) means worldly acquisitions and savings, and in several hadiths, in various wordings, it is stated explicitly that such hoarding breeds grief. For it brings attachment, its management and safekeeping are not easy, and spending it leads to frivolity.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The fruit of contentment is moderation in earning and turning away from begging; and the fruit of asceticism is ease. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, pp. 327-328)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The fruit of contentment is moderation in earning and freedom from wants, and the fruit of asceticism is ease.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The fruit of a long life is sickness and decrepitude. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 327)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The fruit of a long life is sickness and old age.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The fruit of remembrance is the illumination of hearts. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 328)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The fruit of remembrance is the kindling of the heart and its becoming luminous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Three things are destructive: obeying women, obeying anger, and obeying lust. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 330)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Three things drag a person to ruin: obedience to women, the dominance of anger, and the mastery of lust.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Three things are not to be ashamed of: a man serving his guest, rising from his seat for his father and his teacher, and seeking one's right even if it is small. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 330)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Never be ashamed of three things: serving a guest; rising for one's father and one's teacher; and demanding what is right (even one's own right), however small it may be.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Three things are the sum of magnanimity: giving without being asked, keeping faith without a pledge, and generosity despite having little. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 331)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever has three things in him is truly magnanimous: he gives constantly even when no one has asked anything of him; he remains loyal to his friends without any pact between them; and even in poverty he is noble and generous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever has three things in him is granted the good of this world and the Hereafter: contentment with the divine decree, patience in tribulation, and gratitude in ease. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 331)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever has three things in him attains the good of this world and the Hereafter: he is content with God's decision and decree concerning his life; he bears patiently whatever befalls him; and he is grateful for what he has.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever has three things in him has perfected faith: justice in anger and in pleasure, moderation in poverty and in wealth, and balance between fear and hope. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 331)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever has three things in him has perfect faith: joy and displeasure do not drive him out of fairness and justice; in wealth and in poverty he is moderate and takes the middle way, guarding against extravagance and stinginess alike; and his fear of God and his hope in Him are in balance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Three things are of the sum of goodness: bestowing favors, honoring obligations, and maintaining the ties of kinship. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 331)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Three traits always bring a person good: letting the God-given blessing flow forth and spreading it among the people; observing people's rights; and maintaining ties with one's kin and looking after them.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Three things bring about love: religion, humility, and generosity. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 332)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever wishes to be loved must have at least one of these three: religiosity, humility, and generosity.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Three things indicate the intellects of their possessors: the messenger, the letter, and the gift. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 332)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Three things point to the measure of a person's intellect: the messenger he sends, what he writes, and the gift he gives to others.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The reward of your deed is superior to your deed. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 333)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The reward of your deed is eternal and far greater than the deed itself.

(We say: this is the property of this world - in it one can do good deeds whose blessings flow upon a person forever. Indeed, a person sits forever at the table of the good deeds he performed during this short span in the world.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Your clothing upon another lasts longer for you than it does upon yourself. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 333)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The garment you place upon another's body remains yours longer than what you have worn yourself.

(We say: because its reward is eternal and clothes you forever.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, glory be to Him, has made the rights of His servants a prelude to His own rights; so whoever fulfills the rights of God's servants is thereby led to fulfilling the rights of God. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 340)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has made observing people's rights the prelude to observing His own rights. Whoever observes people's rights will one day succeed in observing the rights of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beautiful patience is the harbinger of victory. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 346)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Enduring well - that is, beautiful patience - is the harbinger of deliverance from difficulties.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Love of prominence is the root of every affliction. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 348)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The desire for fame is the root of many troubles.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God's right over you, glory be to Him, is: in ease, kindness and gratitude; and in hardship, contentment and patience. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 351)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God's right over you in ease is goodness and gratitude, and in hardship, contentment and patience.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The safeguarding of blessings lies in maintaining the ties of kinship. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 352)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Maintaining the ties of kinship preserves and guards one's blessings.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The talk of every gathering is folded up together with its carpet. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 352)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The happenings and words of every gathering must be folded up with the folding of its carpet and remain concealed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked about intercourse, and he said: A modesty that is lifted and private parts that come together - the thing most resembling madness; persistence in it brings decrepitude, and recovering from it brings regret. The fruit of its lawful form is the child - who, if he lives, brings trials, and if he dies, brings grief. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 353)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked his view of intercourse. He said: It is nothing special; it occurs when modesty departs from both parties; private parts come together and something resembling madness takes place. Excess in it brings old age, and it is always followed by regret. The fruit of its lawful form is a child - who, if he lives, stirs up trials, and if he dies, brings sorrow.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best thing by which affairs are brought to success is the remembrance of God, glory be to Him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 356)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best untier of every knot is the remembrance of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best of brothers is he who does not scrutinize his brothers minutely. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 357)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A good friend is one who does not pry unduly into his friend's affairs.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The weakness of a ruler toward his subjects is more grievous than the ruler's tyranny. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 361)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A ruler's weakness and incompetence harm the subjects more than his tyranny does.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Mixing with the children of this world is the root of affliction and the corruption of piety, and it weakens certainty. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 362)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Associating with the children of this world is the root of trouble and the agent of the ruin of a person's piety, and it takes away one's certainty.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Plunge into the depths for the truth, wherever it may be. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 362)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Seek the truth, and for the sake of the truth throw yourself into the whirlpools of tribulation and do not fear.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: People's engrossment in a thing is the prelude to its coming to be. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 362)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The occupation of people's minds and tongues with a thing is the prelude to its realization.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Betraying one who has surrendered or one who seeks counsel is among the most atrocious deeds and the greatest of evils, and brings the punishment of the blazing Fire. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 363)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Treachery and betrayal toward one who has surrendered or who seeks one's counsel is among the ugliest of deeds and the greatest of evils, and brings the punishment of Hell.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Accept pardon from people, and do not inflict on anyone what he dislikes. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 364)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Forgive people, and try never to do anything to anyone that would hurt him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best of everything is its newest, and the best of brothers is the oldest of them. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 365)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Except for the friend, whose oldest is best - in everything else seek the newest.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The remembrance of God is the nourishment of souls and companionship with the Beloved. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 369)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The remembrance of God is the food of the soul and the means of keeping company with God, who is man's true Beloved.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The remembrance of God is the joy of every pious person and the delight of everyone possessed of certainty. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 370)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The remembrance of God is the joy of the pious and the delight of those with certainty.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many a word has stripped away a blessing. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 379)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How many a word has taken away a blessing.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many a man strives for what harms him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 380)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Very often a person strives for something that in the end works to his own harm.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many a discord has been stirred up by a word. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 380)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How many a word has stirred up a great discord.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many a boast has brought about loss. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 384)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Boasting usually brings deprivation.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many a passionate love has been planted by a single glance. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 381)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Watch your glance, for sometimes a moment's look plants the tree of attachment and dependence in the heart.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many a war is more profitable than a peace. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 382)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sometimes war brings more benefit than peace.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many a schemer has been felled by his own scheme. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 383)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many a cunning person's cunning has brought about his own destruction.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Rejecting a desire subdues it best, while satisfying it makes it fiercer. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 386)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Turning desire away is always easier and better than gratifying it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The pleasure of God, glory be to Him, is the nearest goal that can be attained. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 387)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God's pleasure is always the easiest and most accessible thing for a person to reach.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Mercy toward one who shows no mercy holds back mercy, and preserving one who ought not to be preserved destroys the community. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 389)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Misplaced mercy toward one who has no mercy on others prevents God's mercy from encompassing a person, and letting live one whose intent is to uproot others brings the community to ruin.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Visit, for God's sake, the people of His obedience, and take guidance from the people of His walaya. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 393)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: For God's sake keep company with the people of His obedience and visit them, and take your guidance from the people of His walaya.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Visit one another for God's sake, give for God's sake, and withhold for God's sake. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 393)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Visit one another for God, give for God, and withhold for God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who listens to the remembrance of God is himself a rememberer. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 400)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Listening to the remembrance of God is itself remembrance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Help your brother in every circumstance, and move with him wherever he moves. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 400)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Assist your brother in faith, and wherever he grows weak and sits down, sit down beside him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By six things are the intellects of people tested: forbearance at the time of anger, moderation at the time of desire, patience at the time of fear, fear of God in every state, graceful conciliation, and little disputation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 401)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The intelligent person has six marks: forbearance in the moment of anger, moderation in the moment of desire, patience in want, God-fearing in every state, graceful tolerance, and refraining from wrangling and disputing with people.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Your secret is a joy if you conceal it, and if you divulge it, it is your ruin. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 402)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Your secret is the cause of your joy if you keep it hidden, and the cause of your misery if you spread it abroad.

(We say: this hadith states plainly that talking much and speaking about oneself brings sorrow, while reticence leads to joy.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Deal gently with fortune so long as its mount is docile to you, and do not put a thing at risk in the hope of gaining more than it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 402)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: So long as the times are tame with you, take things easy as well and be content, and do not put yourself in danger for more than what they have provided you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Ask a favor of one who forgets it, and do a favor to one who remembers it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 403)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Ask kindness of one who forgets that he has shown you kindness, and show kindness to one who does not forget that you have shown him kindness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Six are not to be disputed with: the jurist, the chief, the base person, the foul-mouthed, the woman, and the child. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 403)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not argue with six people: the jurist, the chief, the base person, the foul-mouthed, the woman, and the child.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst thing to settle in the heart is rancor. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 408)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst thing that makes its nest in the heart is rancor and enmity.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of wealth is that which avails not its owner. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 408)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst wealth is the wealth that does not come to its owner's aid.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of wives is she who does not comply. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 409)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst wife is one who does not yield to intimacy with her husband.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of people is he who considers himself the best of them. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 410)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst person is one who regards himself as better than others.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of affairs is that which is fullest of doubt. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 410)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of deeds is the one that is full of doubt and hesitation.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of dreams is that which is fullest of falsehood. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 410)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of dreams is the dream that is full of false accusation against people.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of people is he who fears people in what concerns his Lord, but does not fear his Lord in what concerns people. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 412)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of people is one who, in obeying God, fears people, but in matters concerning people does not fear God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of things is displeasure with the divine decree. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 412)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst thing is to be discontent with God's decree.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of people is he whom people guard against for fear of his evil. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 412)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The worst of people is one who is shown respect out of fear of his evil.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The intercessor of the offender is his humble apology. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 413)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The offender's humility and his begging of pardon are his intercessor.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Two things one need never be ashamed of: illness and a poor relative. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 414)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One should never be ashamed or embarrassed of two things: illness and a poor relative.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The condition of companionship is little opposition. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 415)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The condition for lasting companionship is little opposition.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The health of the body lies in abstemiousness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 416)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The health of the body lies in abstinence and eating little.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Setting things right between people is superior to prayer and fasting at large. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 417)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Making peace between two people is superior to a year of prayer and fasting.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The lost object of the ignorant is nowhere to be found. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 425)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The ignorant person is forever searching for something that does not exist.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The conjecture of the believer is divination. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 439)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer's conjecture is tidings of the unseen.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The grievance of the oppressed - God grants it respite, but He does not neglect it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 441)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God gives the oppressor respite, but does not let him go.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hold fast to calmness, for it is the finest adornment. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 442)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Calmness is a person's finest adornment.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hold fast to perseverance in action, in vigor and in lassitude alike. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 444)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not abandon worthy action, whether in vigor or in weariness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hold fast to moderation, for it is the greatest aid to good living; and a man is never destroyed until he prefers his lust over his religion. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 446)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Always be moderate, for nothing makes life as sweet as moderation does. A person is not destroyed except when his lust has prevailed over his religion.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hold fast to almsgiving, that you may be delivered from the baseness of avarice. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 447)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Give constantly in charity, so that you may be saved from your own baseness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Upon you is the striving; the success is not upon you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 447)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Strive, and do not concern yourself with the outcome.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In the measure of the blessings comes the sting of the tribulation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 452)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: To the degree that God grants a person blessings in life, He also gives him a taste of the bitterness of tribulation.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: According to the measure of the intention is the bestowal from God. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 452)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The reward and recompense God gives people is in the measure of their intentions, not the volume of the deeds they have performed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Upon the counselor is diligence in forming his judgment; the guarantee of success is not upon him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 452)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is consulted must give his considered opinion; what the outcome will be is not his responsibility.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It is at the first blow that the patience of the noble shows itself. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 454)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The beginning of any event or tribulation is hard for the wise person and requires patience; afterwards it becomes ordinary.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When hardships come in succession, the virtues of a person appear. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 454)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When hardships come one after another, virtues are born from within a person.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When intention is corrupted, blessing is withdrawn. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 457)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When intention goes bad, blessing departs.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Accustom yourself to magnanimity and avoid importuning, and rectitude will attend you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 458)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Accustom yourself to needing nothing from others and to not pressing them with demands, so that your affairs may be set right.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I marvel at one who knows that God has guaranteed the provisions and apportioned them, and that his striving adds nothing to what has been apportioned to him of them, yet who remains greedy, ceaselessly toiling in pursuit of provision. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 462)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How strange is one who knows that God has guaranteed the provisions and fixed each person's share, and who knows that his striving will not increase his provision - yet for all that he is greedy, and wears himself out chasing after provision.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I marvel at one who is told of an evil which he knows to be in himself - how can he be angry? (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 462)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I marvel at a person: when he is told there is a bad behavior or trait in him, and he himself knows it - why then does he become angry?!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God, glory be to Him, is known through the annulment of firm resolves, the untying of knots, and the removal of tribulation from whoever makes his intention sincere. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 465)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God can be known in the annulment of matters firmly settled, the untying of knots that cannot be undone, and the lifting of tribulation from one whose intention is sincerely for God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Treat all people with fairness, and treat the believers with selfless generosity. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 467)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Deal with everyone according to fairness, and with the believers with self-sacrifice.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sign of God's pleasure, glory be to Him, with a servant is the servant's contentment with what He, glory be to Him, has decreed for him and against him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 467)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sign that God is pleased with a servant is the servant's contentment with God's decree and destiny concerning him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The utmost end of religion is contentment. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 468)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The utmost end of religion is contentment with God's judgment, in legislation and in destiny alike.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person's harshness toward one who opens himself to him is a most dangerous thing. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 474)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person's ill temper toward one who has turned to him and shows him a friendly face is exceedingly dangerous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Lower your gaze in battle, for it steadies the nerve and calms the heart. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 475)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In battle, keep focused on your task and do not turn your attention this way and that, so that your heart is not thrown into confusion and your calm is preserved.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In death there is either enviable bliss or regret. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 476)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When someone dies, there are only two states: either he attains felicity and his lot is to be envied, or he is in torment, plunged in regret.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In everything excess is blamed, except in acts of kindness and in going to great lengths in obedience. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 480)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excess is blameworthy everywhere, except in doing good and in worship.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Missing out on riches is the prize of the sagacious and the regret of fools. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 481)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: .

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly successful is the God-fearing, silent one. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 492)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is both God-fearing and silent is assuredly saved and prosperous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The highroad of truth has been made clear for its seekers. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 492)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The truth and the path of truth become clear to whoever seeks them.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obstinacy brings a person what he has no need of. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 493)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Obstinacy wins a person something he truly does not need.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wisdom is coupled with purity. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 497)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wisdom and purity are always together.

(We say: that is, the purer a person becomes, the wiser he grows.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excess is coupled with weariness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 497)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Multiplicity and dispersion usually end in weariness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Rarely is the tongue fair in publicizing either an ugly deed or a kindness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 497)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: People usually observe fairness neither in spreading what is bad nor in spreading what is good.

(We say: that is, they exaggerate when describing the badness or goodness of persons or things.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A little truth repels much falsehood, just as a little fire burns much firewood. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 498)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A little truth destroys much falsehood - like fire which, when it falls upon a mountain of firewood, burns it all.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The pure hearts of the servants are the places of the gaze of God, glory and exaltation be to Him; so whoever purifies his heart, God gazes upon him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 501)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The pure hearts of the servants are the places of God's gaze; whoever purifies his heart, God gazes upon it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By God, none have ruined the people but the covetous scholars, the worldly-desiring ascetics, the treacherous merchants, the ostentatious warriors, and the tyrannical rulers. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 504)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What corrupts the mass of the people and brings them to ruin is covetous scholars, ascetics who crave this world, cheating merchants, ostentatious soldiers, and oppressive rulers.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every creature runs toward what it knows not. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 508)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No creature knows its tomorrow; each is moving toward a future unknown to it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Everything whose disclosure is unseemly is a trust, even if its concealment has not been asked. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 509)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Anything about people that would be ugly to tell is a trust in one's keeping and must be kept concealed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: All the ease of this world is hardship. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 509)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: As for this world, even its ease and comfort are hardship and difficulty.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every blessing from which good is bestowed is secure from being stripped away and fortified against vicissitudes. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 510)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every blessing with which good is done and from which one gives becomes immune to decline, seizure, and change.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every affection built upon anything other than God Himself, glory be to Him, is error, and reliance upon it is impossible. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 510)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every friendship not founded for God ends in error, and it is not fit to be relied upon.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many a difficulty is made easy by gentleness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 513)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many hard tasks become easy through gentleness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many an error has been gilded with a verse from the Book of God, glory be to Him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 515)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sometimes error is adorned with the verses of the Book of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excessive importuning brings refusal. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 524)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Much insistence and pressing for a thing has the opposite effect and keeps one from having that thing.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excessive asking breeds weariness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 524)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Too many requests bring weariness and sorrow.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man's excessive importuning brings about his deprivation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 525)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person's excessive insistence and pressing, instead of bringing benefit, on the contrary causes his failure.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excessive reproach fills hearts with rancor and estranges companions. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 526)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excessive criticism and blame breed rancor and drive friends away.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excessive speech spreads out its margins and diminishes its meanings. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 527)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Explaining too much creates digressions and carries one away from the meaning.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Be content, and you will be found pleasing. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 528)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Be content, so that others may be content with you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The more a man's intellect increases, the stronger becomes his faith in the divine decree and the lighter he holds the vicissitudes of the world. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 535)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The more a person's intellect grows, the stronger becomes his faith that God has written his destiny and that only what God wills comes to pass, and the smaller the events of the age become in his eyes.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whatever of this world escapes you is a gain. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 535)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whatever this world takes out of your hands - not only do not be displeased, but count it as gain!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: As you deal, so shall you be dealt with. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 535)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: However you behave, so will you be treated.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The acquisition of wisdom lies in brevity of speech and the use of gentleness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 537)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sum and fruit of wisdom are two things: first, speaking little; and second, dealing companionably with people.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The guarantor of lasting wealth and means is the practice of beneficence. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 539)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The guarantor of remaining wealthy and possessed of means is doing good to others.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You are all God's dependents, and God, glory be to Him, provides for His dependents. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 539)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: We are all God's dependents, and God manages the affairs of His dependents.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The one ungrateful for a blessing is a denier of the grace of God, glory be to Him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 539)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One ungrateful for a blessing is a denier of, and a turner-away from, the grace of God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every man has a day he shall not pass beyond. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 543)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every person has a day on which his appointed death sits waiting, and beyond that day he shall not pass.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Everyone who praises another is owed by the one he has praised a reward of recompense or a kindness of giving. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 543)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When someone praises another, the praiser acquires a right, and the one praised must bestow upon him a gift, or a recompense, or at the very least praise in return.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every one who enters feels apprehension, so begin with the greeting of peace. Every newcomer feels bewilderment, so put him at ease with conversation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 543)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When someone enters a place, he feels like a stranger and is somewhat anxious; so greet him with salam that he may be calmed. Likewise, a newcomer is at first bewildered; so begin the conversation yourselves and gladden him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Habit holds sovereign sway over every human being. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 544)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Habit is a sovereign over man.

(We say: that is, God's name 'al-Sultan' (the Sovereign) is manifested in habits, and habits are a locus of manifestation of the name of the Sovereign of Truth. For this reason, unless God Himself wills it, deliverance from habits and the abandoning of addictions is impossible — from small matters like smoking, to behaviors like overeating, to traits of character like a quick temper.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Man has two excellences: reason and speech. By reason he gains benefit, and by speech he benefits others. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 546)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Man has two distinguished qualities: one is reason, by which he understands what is right, and the second is the power of expression, by which he makes what is right understood.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let gratitude occupy you for your being spared the afflictions with which others have been tried. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 548)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you see the afflictions of people, give thanks continually that those calamities have not befallen you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let what you ask of God the Exalted be that whose beauty endures for you and whose ill consequence is kept from you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 549)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Ask of God something whose blessing and goodness will remain with you and which carries no ill consequence.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let your refuge be in the truth, for the truth is the strongest helper. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 549)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let your support always be the truth, for the truth is the strongest helper.

(We say: that is, speak the truth, seek the truth, defend the truth, and be with the truth, so that you may always be within God's fortress and on the orbit of permanence and ascent.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Knowledge will never bear fruit until forbearance is joined with it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 552)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The tree of knowledge will bear no fruit until it is paired with forbearance.

(We say: the pairing of forbearance with knowledge appears in many narrations. What is meant by knowledge in the Book and the Sunna is understanding the Book of God and knowledge of God, His names, His ways, and His pleasure and displeasure. That is, the truly learned person is one who knows the real God through the guidance and direction of His Book and the teaching of His Messenger, and who knows where he has come from and where he is going, why he has come, and what he must do. So much for knowledge. Forbearance, on the other hand, means preserving inner calm in the face of outward events. The meanings closest to it are tranquility and serenity. When a person does not lose his composure before external stimuli and happenings, and does not resort to hasty action or excessive reaction but remains calm, he is forbearing. Forbearance, then, is a great and rare quality, to be found in the gnostics and the friends of God and those of their rank. Now why is it that in the narrations forbearance is so often made the companion and adornment of knowledge, that the learned are urged to acquire the quality of forbearance, and that lack of forbearance is counted a defect in the learned? Because forbearance is the second key quality that opens the way for man and raises him upward. The first is knowledge, without which no movement is possible; and the second is forbearance, without which superfluous movements are not eliminated and become the blight of one's destiny. Wisdom and reason are branches of knowledge, and patience is among the branches and fruits of forbearance. The third quality that builds the human being and brings about perfection is power — that is, resolve and will to do good. With these three qualities man becomes complete, and all remaining qualities lie within these three and are born from them as circumstances require. Thus it becomes clear why forbearance is so important and must be joined to knowledge.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The sweetness of felicity will never be known until the bitterness of misfortune has been tasted. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 553)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who has not tasted the bitterness of wretchedness and misfortune will not attain the sweetness of felicity.

(We say: this hadith expresses the philosophy of man's descent, and his need to experience the darkness of distance so that he may perceive, absorb, and give thanks for the joy of nearness.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You will never be joined to the Creator until you are severed from the creatures. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 553)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Until you detach your heart from the creatures, you will not reach the Creator!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one can safeguard blessings by anything like giving thanks for them, and no one can give thanks for blessings by anything like bestowing of them upon others. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 554)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best means of guarding blessings is gratitude, and the best way of giving thanks for a blessing is to give of that very blessing.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You will not know right guidance until you know those who have forsaken it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 554)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: You cannot recognize true growth and its real path unless you have first been acquainted with those who have failed to grow.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who trusts in God knows no toil. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 556)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who has placed his trust in God no longer feels any distress.

(We say: that is, the sign of trust in God is the removal of distress concerning the matter.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Not every supplication is answered. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 557)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Not every prayer is destined to be answered.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one has anything of his worldly life except what he has spent for his hereafter. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 560)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing of a person's worldly life remains for him except what he has spent for his hereafter.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one has gained joy from this world without it being followed by tears. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 562)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The world has given no one joy and delight without afterwards drawing a tear from him as well.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who does not spend his wealth has not truly been granted it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 563)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who does not spend his wealth rightly has drawn no benefit from it, and it is as though he had never acquired any wealth at all.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one places his wealth where it does not belong, or his kindness with those unworthy of it, without God depriving him of their gratitude, while their affection goes to another. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 563)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who spends his wealth in the wrong place or does good to the unworthy will find his kindness go unrequited; the unworthy will abandon him and bestow their affection on someone else.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If the people of this world were to become wise, the world would fall into ruin. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 556)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If people were to become wise, the world would not continue in its present form and would fall apart.

(We say: that is, the world we see is built upon the irrational deeds of many people. And if these people were to become wise, the world could not continue in this form.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If selfish desire were removed, everyone lacking sincerity would disdain his own deeds. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 566)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If the desires of the ego were set aside, many people would abandon what they do, since their deeds are not for God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If the one who prays knew what mercy envelops him, he would never lift his head from prostration. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 568)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If the worshipper knew how God's mercy immerses him during prayer, he would never raise his head from prostration.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If the heavens and the earth were closed tight against a servant, and he then feared God, God would surely make for him a way out and provide for him from whence he does not reckon. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 568)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If the heavens and the earth were to bar the way against a servant, yet he practices godfearing piety, God will set a way of deliverance before him and bring him his provision from a direction he does not expect.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If I wished, I could inform every man among you of his goings out and his comings in and of all his affairs — and I would do it — but I fear lest you thereby fall into unbelief regarding me toward the Messenger of God (PBUH). Yet I shall confide it to the elect, from whom no such thing is feared. By Him who sent him with the truth and chose him above creation, I speak nothing but the truth. He entrusted all of this to me — the place of ruin of whoever perishes and the place of deliverance of whoever is saved — and he left nothing that would pass over my head without pouring it into my ear and confiding it to me. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 569)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If I wished, I could inform each one of you of the beginning and end of his affairs and of all the concerns of his life. But I fear that this would cause you to exaggerate about me and about the Messenger of God and so fall into unbelief. Know that I shall entrust these secrets to elect companions whom I trust. And I swear by the God who raised him up with the truth and chose him over His creation: I speak nothing but the truth. Indeed the Messenger of God taught all of it to me, and informed me of the place of ruin of whoever perishes and the means of salvation of whoever is saved; and no event passes over me but that he spoke it into my ear and made me aware of it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Had the world remained with anyone, it would never have reached those in whose hands it now lies. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 570)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Had the world been faithful to those who came before you, it would never have come into your hands.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If a man used his reason properly, he would guard his secret from anyone to whom he might divulge it, and would let no one in on it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 570)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If man's reason worked as it should, he would disclose his secret to no one and would let no one in on his affairs.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The tongue of knowledge is truthfulness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 571)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The tongue of knowledge is truthfulness.

(We say: that is, whatever does not accord with the reality of existence and is not true and correct does not deserve to be called knowledge. Many propositions of ancient medicine, and unprovable claims about the unseen, are of this kind.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The pollination of thoughts is discourse. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 572)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Thoughts and imaginings arise through conversation.

(We say: the above saying, which is among the secrets of the Alawite path, distills a subtle point: all of man's passing thoughts are of the nature of an imaginary conversation with himself and with the imagined figures of others in his mind. Man is constantly telling himself: I will say such-and-such to so-and-so, and if he says this, I will answer that. If he resolves to say nothing and to give no reply to what is said, little by little the negation of stray thoughts comes about for him. That is, when a person keeps to silence with the people inside his mind, he arrives at stillness of mind and serenity of spirit.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The pollination of faith is the recitation of the Qur'an. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 572)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Reciting the Qur'an makes faith fruitful.

(We say: that is, it turns faith into certainty, and from it righteous and good deeds are born.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Meeting the people of gnosis is the cultivation of hearts and the wellspring of wisdom. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 572)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Being in the presence of the people of gnosis makes the heart flourish and grants one the wisdom of life.

(We say: as I have repeatedly conveyed to the brothers in faith, both orally and in writing, and as I have composed the book Dasturnama independently for this very purpose: the driving force of movement on the true spiritual path is four things joined together: worship, service, knowledge, and wilaya. That is, the wayfarer must be a worshipper, a servant of others, learned, and a beneficiary of the breath of the wali in order to advance; otherwise he will remain where he stands. If someone is not given to worship, or — God forbid — not given to serving people, or belongs to the common folk and does not investigate religion for himself, his religion being an imitation taken from pulpits, or if he is cut off from the community of believers, feels no eagerness for his brothers in faith, and does not draw from their light and breath, he will not grow.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever seeks a fault will find it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 578)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever goes looking for faults will eventually find one.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever admonishes you, do not drive him away. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 582)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever counsels and admonishes you, do not turn him away offended.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever taunts another for something will be afflicted with it himself. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 583)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever reproaches others for some thing or some deed will himself be afflicted with the same.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever struggles harshly against affairs perishes. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 568)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Harshness in one's affairs brings ruin in its wake.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever indulges much in idle amusement is reckoned a fool. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 582)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excessive occupation with worthless things brings on foolishness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever discloses his resolve, his success comes to naught. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 590)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever does not conceal his intention and resolve but discloses it before people, his affair will not reach its goal.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's rancor grows great, his reproach grows scant. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 590)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When hatred and rancor pass a certain limit, the person no longer even reproaches or rebukes.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever withdraws into solitude is spared sorrows. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 590)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who has chosen seclusion has escaped many troubles and sorrows.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever fears your whip wishes for your death. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 594)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If someone stands in dread of your whip, he awaits your death!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever dwells constantly on a worry will be overcome by sorrow. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 595)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One whose mind is occupied by a persistent worry gradually becomes dejected and sorrowful.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever finds a sweet spring from which to drink his fill, yet does not seize the opportunity, will soon grow thirsty and will seek it and not find it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 596)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever finds a sweet spring and does not drink his fill will grow thirsty, and this time will find no spring.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever lacks contentment, no wealth will enrich him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 597)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is not content and pleased with what he has — no amount of wealth in the world will make him rich or satisfied.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: For whomever letting go of idle hopes comes easily, wealth turns its face toward him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 597)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever lets go of vain wishes, worldly wealth turns toward him.

(We say: in some sources it appears thus: 'For whomever spending wealth comes easily, hopes turn toward him.' Whoever can part with his wealth and spend his money attains his plans and aspirations. That is, the miser gets nowhere, and one who wants to get somewhere must be open-handed and generous.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is tender toward his own soul does not wrong another. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 597)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is kind to himself is kind to others as well and does not wrong them.

(We say: this is one of the precise sayings; it identifies the root of injustice as a failure to understand kindness. A person who understands what kindness is, is kind first to himself, then to others. He forgives himself first, then others.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever fills his solitude with knowledge, no solitude will frighten him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 598)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who has grown intimate with knowledge is never terrified of loneliness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's displeasure is frequent, his pleasure goes unrecognized. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 598)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: With one who is discontented most of the time, it is not even clear what would please him; so others despair of satisfying him and no longer try.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's soul is noble, his affections abound; and whoever's affections abound, his knowledge abounds. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 600)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The more someone's nobility (purity) increases, the more his affections increase; and the more affections increase in someone, the more knowledge increases in him.

(We say: and perhaps 'ma'arif' here means acquaintances: the greater a person's affections, the more numerous his friends become.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever cares for orphans will be cared for in his own children. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 601)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever looks after orphans, God looks after his children.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever occupies himself with the remembrance of God, God makes his remembrance sweet and goodly. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 604)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever perseveres in the remembrance of God, God makes remembrance sweet for him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever occupies himself with talk of people, God the Glorified cuts him off from His remembrance. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 604)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever busies himself talking about people, God turns him away from His own remembrance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever presses insistently in asking will be refused. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 605)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever insists upon a request will be all the more denied.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever confronts you openly with your fault protects you in your absence. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 606)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who tells you your fault privately, to your face, will not expose your fault to others in your absence.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever eats little, his pains are few. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 614)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever eats less in life suffers less pain!

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever renounces the world, it does not pass him by. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 618)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Renunciation does not diminish one's provision.

(We say: renunciation is frugality, contentment, satisfaction with what one is given, and not grieving over the world. The renunciant may be wealthy or may be poor — though renunciation is, in itself, among the causes of wealth, as the Master (AS) has said: 'Whoever turns away from the world, it comes to him humbled.' That is, whoever turns his face from the world, the world surrenders itself to him, lowly and abased.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever busies himself with what does not avail him loses what does avail him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 620)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Occupying oneself with what is of no use to a person drives out of his hands that which is of use to him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whomever the arrow of death misses, old age shackles. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 620)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whomever the arrow of death does not bring down, old age will pin to the ground.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever accepts your gift has helped you toward generosity. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 621)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Accepting the gifts and generosity of others is helping them to do good.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever occupies himself with what is not obligatory neglects of his affairs what is obligatory. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 621)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who busies himself with what is not incumbent upon him will lose the essential duties of his life.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever rises in the morning complaining of a misfortune that has befallen him is in truth complaining against his Lord. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 621)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever complains about a hardship that has come upon him is complaining about God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever aspires to leadership must bear patiently the stings of governance. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 621)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When God gives someone leadership, he must bear patiently the hardships of governance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever grows insolent toward the ruler exposes himself to humiliation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 621)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever defies and affronts the ruler will, willingly or not, find himself exposed to harm.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever befriends you for some purpose turns away when it is fulfilled. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 622)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever draws near to you for some task or reason will abandon you once the matter is concluded.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever displays his poverty debases his own worth. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 623)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever parades his poverty and want has made himself lowly and worthless.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever seeks glory through what is not right, God will abase him through what is right. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 623)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever makes himself beloved by wrongful means will one day be abased for having set himself against the truth.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever sits back from pursuing the world, it rises and comes to him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 623)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever desists from chasing after the world, the world rises in his honor.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever thanks you without a favor done, do not feel safe from his blame without an offense given. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 623)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever praises and thanks you for no reason will also find fault with you for no reason.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever reproaches fortune, his reproach will be long. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 623)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who complains of fortune — his complaining has no end.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever gathers wealth to benefit people thereby, they obey him; and whoever gathers it for himself, they forsake him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 624)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If someone's purpose in becoming wealthy is to serve people, people become his servants; and if his purpose is himself, he becomes hateful to people.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever neither grieves over what is past nor rejoices over what is to come has grasped renunciation at both its ends. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 624)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who neither dwells on the past with regret nor spins fantasies about the future is a true renunciant.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever employs gentleness draws forth abundant provision. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 628)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Gentleness and mildness make provision pour down upon a person.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever strives to establish the truth is granted success. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 628)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who strives and struggles to make the truth prevail will succeed in the end.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever honors a learned man has honored his Lord. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 632)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: To show respect to the learned is to magnify God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's certainty is sound abstains from disputation. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 632)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who truly believes something and holds it with certainty has no appetite for wrangling over it or forcing others to accept it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's speech is accompanied by modesty, foulness departs from his deeds. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 632)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is bound by modesty in his speech is modest in his conduct as well.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever punishes one who apologizes — great is his wrongdoing. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 633)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: To punish someone who regrets his deed and apologizes is uglier than the deed itself.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever intends to repay a kindness has already repaid it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 633)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who intends to repay a kindness has repaid it in advance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is angry with one who has no power to harm him, his sorrow is prolonged and he torments his own soul. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 633)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is angry at a person incapable of harming him torments himself for nothing, and his vexation will not soon come to an end.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever harbors evil against another has begun with himself. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 634)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who conceives evil in his heart against another has begun by inflicting it upon himself.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever withholds his wealth from one who would praise him will bequeath it to one who will not praise him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 637)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who withholds his wealth from a person who is appreciative and would thank him will leave that wealth as an inheritance to someone who will not thank him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever finds intimacy in the recitation of the Qur'an, separation from brothers will not desolate him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 638)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who grows intimate with the Qur'an and its recitation will not be distressed by loneliness or the absence of friends.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever complains of his hardship to anyone but a believer, it is as though he complained against God the Glorified. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 638)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who recounts his sorrow to someone other than a believer and pours out his heart to him has carried his complaint from God to other than God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever magnifies small misfortunes, God the Glorified will afflict him with great ones. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 638)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever makes small troubles great in his own eyes, God will afflict him with great troubles.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever pries into the secrets of others, God the Glorified will expose his own secrets. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 638)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever lifts the veil from another's secrets, God will lift the veil from his.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever tracks down hidden faults, God the Glorified will deprive him of the affection of hearts. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 638)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever goes hunting for people's hidden faults, God will remove love for him from their hearts.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever reaches the utmost of what he loves, let him expect the utmost of what he loathes. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 639)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Such is the world that when someone attains the utmost of his desire in it, he must brace himself for a great trouble.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever sleeps much in his night will miss works that he cannot make up in his day. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 640)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excessive sleep at night, and the abandoning of worship therein, bring failure and the loss of the day's works.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever thinks ill of one who does not betray will think well of what cannot be. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 641)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Suspicion of one who is no traitor brings in its train misplaced trust in the treacherous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is miserly with what he does not even own has reached the extreme of vice. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 642)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: To be miserly with other people's property is a wretched and vile trait indeed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever submits to the truth and obeys the one in the right is among the doers of good. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 642)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who submits to the truth and obeys and sides with the one in the right is among the righteous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whomever the nearest forsake, the farthest are given to him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 643)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whomever his near ones abandon, God brings others to become his near ones.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever takes revenge on an offender annuls his own merit in this world and loses the reward of the hereafter. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 643)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who takes revenge, even justly, loses his merit in this world and forfeits the reward of the hereafter.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever makes obedience to God his merchandise, profits come to him without trading. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 643)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One whose capital is servitude to God reaps profit continually, without the toil of trade.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever loves elevation in this world and the next, let him despise elevation in this world. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 643)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who seeks elevation in both this world and the hereafter must not desire the elevation of this world.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever gives safety to a fearful person from what he dreads, God the Glorified will give him safety from His punishment. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 644)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever comes to someone's aid in his hour of fear, God will come to his aid at the time of punishment.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever adds refinement beyond his reason becomes like a shepherd amid a numerous flock. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 645)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who adds refinement to his reason will, like a shepherd, attain guardianship and leadership over people.

(We say: that is, to lead people, refinement is needed in addition to reason.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever deviates, the good deed appears evil to him and the evil deed appears good, and he becomes drunk with the drunkenness of misguidance. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 645)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who knowingly turns away from a truth falls into the drunkenness of misguidance, and thereafter sees good as bad and bad as good.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever apologizes without having sinned makes himself guilty of the sin. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 645)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who apologizes needlessly and out of place puts himself under suspicion.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever makes praise the seal of a blessing, God the Glorified makes it the key to increase. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 646)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Make gratitude the seal of every blessing, so that it becomes for you the key to increase.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever acts in obedience to God the Glorified, no gain escapes him and no adversary overcomes him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 650)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who has placed the collar of servitude to God upon his neck — nothing of the world escapes him, and no enemy prevails over him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever falls short in his deeds declines in his states. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 650)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who falls short in his deeds will gradually regress in his states as well.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever frightens no one will never be afraid. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 650)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever does not frighten others need never fear.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever holds fast to consultation lacks neither one to praise him when he is right nor one to excuse him when he errs. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 650)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is committed to consultation is praised if he succeeds, and if he fails to reach his goal, he is at least excused.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is not content with the divine decree, unbelief enters his religion. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 650)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is not content with the divine decree — his religion will in the end terminate in unbelief.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever does not secure justice for the oppressed against the oppressor, God the Exalted will strip him of his power. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 651)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who does not support the oppressed against the oppressor, God will take away his power.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's affection is not for the sake of God, beware of him, for his affection is base and his companionship ill-omened. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 652)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's friendship is not for God's sake, beware of him, for his conduct is base and his company inauspicious.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever does not bear the burdens of people has made his power fit to pass from him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 652)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever cannot bear with people — power will depart from him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever makes his dominion a servant of his religion, every ruler will submit to him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 655)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever places his power and wealth in the service of his religion, even the mightiest of the mighty become obedient to him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's aim is the truth will attain it, even though it be greatly obscured. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 655)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever intends to find the truth and act upon it will find it, however deeply hidden it may be.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever the world looms large in his eye, whose heart is filled with its standing, who prefers it over God and devotes himself wholly to it, becomes its slave. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 656)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever the world is great in his eyes, whose heart is occupied by its standing, who prefers it over God and desires it above all else, has become a slave of the world.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever takes many women, scandals will engulf him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 658)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is a womanizer and chases after women will be disgraced.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is beset by persistent poverty should say often: There is no power and no strength except by God, the Most High, the Supreme. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 658)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One from whose head poverty will not lift its grip should say often: There is no power and no strength except by God, the Most High, the Supreme (la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah al-Ali al-Azim).

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever dies on his bed while knowing his Lord and the right of His Messenger and the right of his Household dies a martyr; his reward falls upon God the Glorified, and he merits the reward of the righteous deeds he intended, his intention standing in the place of his striking with his sword. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 658)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever dies in his bed, yet knows his God and knows the right of the Messenger and of his successors, has died a martyr; his reward is with God, he attains the reward of all the righteous deeds he intended, and his intention stands in the place of his sword.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One whose life brings you no benefit — count him among the dead. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 660)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not attach your heart to someone who is of no benefit to you; think of him as dead.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is miserly with his wealth toward himself lavishes it upon the future husband of his wife. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 661)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is stingy even toward himself is amassing wealth for the man who will marry his wife after his death.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's gratitude is abundant, his good is abundant. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 662)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person full of gratitude is a person full of good.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whomever God increases in honor ought in turn to increase in honoring people. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 662)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When God has bestowed honor upon someone, he too must show honor to people.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever frets over tomorrow's provision will never prosper. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 662)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who worries over his daily provision will not attain salvation.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is granted blessings is thereby made a bondservant until rising to give thanks for them sets him free. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 662)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Favors and blessings make a person a bondservant, and the way out of this bondage is to hasten to give thanks for the blessing.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever does not nurture his good deed has wasted it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 662)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person must nurture his kindness and good deeds like a child; otherwise they go to waste.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever repels good with evil is defeated, and whoever repels evil with good prevails. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 663)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever answers goodness with evil will surely be overcome and defeated, and whoever answers evil with goodness will in the end be victorious.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever remembers God abundantly, his inner mind is illuminated. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 663)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Abundant remembrance of God causes the intellect to become luminous.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever conveys to you an insult against you has himself insulted you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 663)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever brings to your ears an insult that others have uttered against you — it is as though he himself has insulted you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever burdens you with what is beyond your capacity has thereby licensed you to disobey him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 664)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who forces you to do something beyond your power has given you license to disobey.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One upon whom the calamities of time fall in succession — they earn him the virtue of patience. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 664)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When fortune bears down hard on someone and the hardship is prolonged, it also bestows on him the virtue of patience.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you have been the cause of someone's affliction, it is incumbent upon you to be gentle in remedying his ailment. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 666)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If you were the one at fault for someone's trouble, you must strive with kindness to remedy his trouble.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever's intention is good, divine success comes to his aid. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 677)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If a person's intention is set right, God-given success becomes his helper.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever busies himself with the ruler has no leisure left for his brethren. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 667)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The servant of the state and agent of the government loses his free time so completely that he can no longer be with his brethren in faith or be of service to them.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever is in need of you — compassion toward him is incumbent upon you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 668)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Toward one who has come to depend on you, you must be kind and compassionate.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever goes to excess in dispute sins, and whoever falls short in it is wronged. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 669)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Excess in pressing one's claim makes a person a sinner, while falling short in it drives one's adversary into wrongdoing and makes him a sinner.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It is a mark of the world's contemptibility before God the Glorified that what is with Him cannot be attained except by abandoning it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 678)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Part of the world's baseness before God is that nothing that is with God can be reached except by forsaking the world.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It belongs to true nobility to listen patiently to the complaint of the distressed. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 681)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It is a mark of greatness and lordliness to hear out the complaint of the weak with patience and forbearance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No reward is earned like that of coming to the aid of the distressed. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 685)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing carries the reward of answering the cry of the helpless.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: He who keeps knowledge alive does not die. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 686)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Never dies the one who has left knowledge behind.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Harshness was never in a thing without disgracing it, and gentleness was never in a thing without adorning it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 686)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Harshness and violence make everything ugly, while gentleness and mildness make everything more beautiful.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How many are those who acknowledge the truth yet do not render it! (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 687)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Many are those who acknowledge the rights of others yet do not honor them.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Pure wine does not rob men of their minds as greed does. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 687)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No wine destroys a man's reason the way greed does.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No hardship grows severe without God the Exalted bringing its relief near. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 689)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When hardship reaches its extreme, God brings relief along the way.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God the Glorified commands nothing without also giving aid toward it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 689)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whatever God has commanded, He also assists His servants in obeying.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No two people trade insults without the baser of the two prevailing. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 691)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No two people hurl abuse at each other without the baser of them coming out on top.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No two people quarrel without the more foolish of the two showing himself. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 691)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No two people seize each other by the collar without the more foolish one coming out on top.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing is dearer to God the Glorified than being asked. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 691)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God loves nothing so much as that people should ask of Him and make requests of Him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beyond the prophets there is nothing but confusion. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 692)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beyond the school of the prophets, whatever there is, is error.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What is not fitting for you to do openly, do not do in secret. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 693)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What is unfit to be done in the presence of others is, as a rule, unfit to be done in private as well.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How many are the brethren around the platters of food, and how few in the calamities of time! (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 695)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Friends around the table are always plentiful, but when a calamity strikes, only a few show up to help you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No sin troubles me if after it I am given respite enough to pray two rak'ahs. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 696)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I have no fear of a sin after which I am granted the success of praying two rak'ahs and seeking forgiveness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God the Glorified decrees nothing for a servant who is content with it without there being good for him in it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 696)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whatever destiny God has written for a servant, if the servant is content with it, it will ultimately be good for him and turn out to his benefit.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God the Glorified does not avert from a believing servant any of this world's afflictions or the Hereafter's punishment except through his contentment with His decree and his goodly patience under His trial. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 696)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If God wards off from someone an affliction of this world or a punishment of the Hereafter, the foremost reason is that person's contentment with His decree and beautiful patience under His trial.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How fine is the humility of the rich toward the poor in seeking what is with God the Exalted, and how fine is the proud indifference of the poor toward the rich in reliance upon God the Glorified. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 697)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How good is the humility of the rich toward the poor in seeking God's reward, and the indifference of the poor toward the rich when they have placed their trust in God.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one has approached me by any means more esteemed in my sight than a kindness of mine that has already reached him, so that I may adorn it in his eyes by following it with its sister; for cutting off the later ones cuts off gratitude for the earlier ones. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 697)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best means of gaining my friendship is for someone to come and remind me of the kindnesses I have done him in the past, so that I may do him the like of those kindnesses again — indeed even more. For with the passage of time a kindness grows old and must be recalled anew, and this recalling is itself a kind of thanksgiving.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The afflicted one whose trial has grown severe is not more in need of supplication than the one at ease who is not secure from trial. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 697)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not suppose that one stricken by affliction needs supplication more than one who is presently free of affliction; everyone always stands in need of supplication.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one deposits joy in a heart without God the Glorified creating from that joy a grace, so that when a misfortune descends upon him, it flows out to meet it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 699)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When someone makes another person happy, God creates from that joy and gladness a grace, so that when an affliction is about to descend upon that person, that grace blocks the affliction's path.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Never has a man held a promise from me and passed the night tossing on his bed, eager to rise in the morning with his need fulfilled, more restlessly than I toss upon my own bed — so anxious am I to discharge the debt of my promise to him, and so fearful of some obstacle that would force me to break it; for breaking a promise is not in the character of the noble. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 699)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man who has come to my door with a need and spent the night at my house in hope of its fulfillment lies anxious, wondering whether he will obtain it or not. But my anxiety is greater than his, so intent am I on fulfilling his need and so fearful that I might not succeed and thus break my promise — a breach of promise that is far from the character of the noble.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing wins over a ruler, draws out the rancor of the angry, wins back the estranged, brings difficult matters to success, or wards off evils like a gift. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 700)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing does the work of a gift when it comes to winning a ruler's favor, quenching anger, drawing hearts together, resolving difficulties, and warding off evils.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: He who stores up your faults has not guarded you in your absence. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 701)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who has committed your faults to memory has not observed toward you the duty of guarding your honor in your absence.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I have never blamed anyone for divulging my secret, since I myself was more burdened by it than he. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 701)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When my own breast was too narrow to hold my secret and I told it to others, why should I blame them for not keeping my secret in their breasts?

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God never bestows a blessing upon a servant who then does wrong with it without it being fitting that He strip it away from him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 701)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When God grants a servant a blessing and he uses that blessing to oppress others, it is fitting that God take the blessing back from him.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The criterion of religion is reason. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 702)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The criterion for the soundness of matters in religion is reason.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keeping apart from the base confounds the enemy. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 705)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep your distance from the base person, so that he is unable to act as your enemy.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Withholding your goodness drives others into the company of someone other than you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 706)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Withholding good from those close to you leaves a person needy and drives him into friendship with strangers.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man's hypocrisy springs from an abasement he finds within himself. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 722)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hypocrisy of heart and weakness of faith come from a baseness and abjectness which, if a person looks carefully, he will find within himself.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The souls of the good recoil from the souls of the wicked. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 726)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The spirit of the good detests and shrinks from the spirit of the wicked.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The promise of the noble is paid promptly, in ready coin; the promise of the base is procrastination and excuses. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 725)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble man's promise is ready coin, delivered at once; the base man's promise is put off until harvest-time, and in the end it will not be honored anyway, on one pretext or another.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Abundance of wealth gained at the cost of honor is baseness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 725)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: To get money and multiply one's money at any price, even at the price of losing one's honor, is baseness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The dignity of gray hair is dearer to me than the freshness of youth. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 728)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I love the dignity of old age more than the bloom of youth.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: An oppressive, tyrannical ruler is better than a strife that endures. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 729)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: An unjust, tyrannical ruler is better than turmoil and insecurity that never end.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I have found peace, so long as it brings no weakness upon Islam, more effective than fighting. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 731)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: So long as it does not lead to the weakening of Islam, peace and conciliation are better than war and bloodshed.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I have found forbearance and endurance a greater help to me than brave men. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 731)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Forbearance and patience always serve a person better than armies of brave men.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: By God, God the Glorified does not punish a believer except for his ill opinion and his ill character. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 731)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A believer's punishment is usually on account of ill suspicion or ill character.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Take the matter lightly, for the appointed end is near, the companionship brief, and the stay short. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 737)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not take this world so hard; for your departure from it is near, your pause in it is brief, and your stay but little.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not deal with one from whom you cannot obtain your due. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 744)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not do business with someone from whom you have no power to recover your right.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not cut off a friend, even if he disbelieves. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 744)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not sever your friendship with your friend, even if he becomes an unbeliever. We say: In light of verses such as "O you who believe, do not take your fathers and your brothers as allies if they prefer disbelief over faith; and whoever among you takes them as allies — it is they who are the wrongdoers" [Qur'an 9:23], which forbids friendship with unbelievers, some translators have taken kufr in this hadith to mean ingratitude (kufran), saying: do not let ingratitude cause you to end a friendship. But the noble verse concerns allegiance (wilaya), not friendship. That is, if a friend becomes an unbeliever, he leaves the circle of allegiance — of love and obedience — but he should not be cast out of the standing of former friendship; it may well be that this very friendship one day becomes the cause of his salvation.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let not your family and kin be, through you, the most wretched of people. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 745)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of showing kindness to others while withholding kindness from your own family and friends. (We say: I have seen many afflicted with this wretchedness.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Never put a thing at risk in the hope of gaining more of it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 745)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not endanger what you have out of greed for more of it. (We say: that is, know the worth of what you already have; do not sacrifice it or put it at risk in order to gain something more. This greed has ruined many people.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not let your wife or your slave in on your secret, lest they make a slave of you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 745)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not let your wife or your employee into your secret, for they will take you hostage and reduce you to servitude.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not contend with the ignorant, for he will detest you; but reproach the wise, and he will love you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 746)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The difference between the ignorant and the wise is this: when you counsel the ignorant man, he becomes your enemy; but when you counsel the wise man — even reproach him — love for you takes root in his heart.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not turn away the one who asks, even if he goes to excess. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 746)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not drive the beggar from you, even if he is insistent and excessive in his asking and requesting.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not rise up against your ruler, lest you regret the outcome of your affair. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 748)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not trouble and weaken your ruler with opposition and disobedience, for the smoke of it will end up in your own eyes.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not hasten toward what God the Glorified has not hastened for you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 748)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In whatever God has not hastened for you, do not hasten yourselves.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not apologize to one who has no wish to find an excuse for you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 749)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not seek pardon from one who will not accept it.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not rejoice at another's fall, for you do not know what time will bring upon you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 751)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not rejoice at someone else's downfall, when you do not know when your own turn to fall will come.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not be beguiled by safety, for you will be seized from your very place of security. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 751)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not grow conceited about your security; one day the very thing that makes you feel secure will be what destroys you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not exult at another's error, for you will never possess unfailing rightness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 751)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who delights in the errors of others usually never succeeds in doing right himself.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not be deceived by the courtesy of the enemy, for he is like water: however long it is heated over the fire, it is not kept from extinguishing it. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 751)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not take comfort in the kindness you show your enemy; for your relation to your enemy is that of fire to water. Though fire may heat a little water until it becomes as hot as itself, the moment the water finds its chance it will turn back and put the fire out.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not confront your enemy while he is advancing, for his advance aids him against you; and do not confront him while he is retreating, for his retreat spares you having to deal with him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 752)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not engage your enemy in two situations: first, when he attacks head-on with full force; second, when he has turned his back and is fleeing. In the first case his chance of victory is greater, and in the second there is no need for battle.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not be distraught over the little of what you dislike, lest it cast you into much of what you dislike. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 753)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not fall into lament the moment things turn a little against your wishes, for this disposition usually lands you in circumstances that are not at all to your liking.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not ask about what has not come to be, for in what has already been there is knowledge enough. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 753)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not probe and inquire into what has not happened and does not exist; for in what actually concerns you, there is matter aplenty.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The talebearer wrongs the one he tells against and deceives the one he tells it to. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 754)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who speaks slander against a person behind his back wrongs that person and betrays you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not war against one who holds fast to religion, for he who contends against religion is already despoiled. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 754)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not fight one who clings to religion; for war against him is war against religion, and whoever battles religion is defeated in advance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not contend with one who is backed by the truth, for he who contends against the truth is defeated. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 754)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not fight one who relies upon the truth and takes heart from the truth; for whoever sets himself against the truth is defeated in advance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not apologize for a deed in which you obeyed God the Glorified; that of itself suffices as a merit. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 755)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Never apologize for a deed you have done out of obedience to God; such a deed is a distinction for you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Let not the wrong of one who wrongs you weigh heavily upon you, for he labors to his own harm and your benefit; and the reward of one who gladdens you is not that you should grieve him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 756)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not be pained beyond measure by the oppressor's wrong. For by wronging you he has harmed himself and worked to your benefit; and the recompense of one who has done you such a good turn is not evil.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not openly defy your enemy, nor batter your friend; accept the excuse, even if it is a lie; and refrain from answering though you have the power, even when the answer is yours to give. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 757)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not clash with your enemy without cause, and do not batter your friend without cause. Always be ready to accept an excuse, even if the excuse offered is a fabricated lie. Do not be quick with retorts, and leave many remarks unanswered, even though you have a fitting answer.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not remember God the Glorified heedlessly, nor forget Him in distraction; remember Him with a complete remembrance in which your heart accords with your tongue and your hidden self matches your open self. You will never remember Him with true remembrance until you forget your own self in your remembrance and lose it in your affair. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 757)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When remembering God, do not be absent-minded and scattered, and let not amusement with the world keep you from the remembrance of God. Remember God constantly — a complete remembrance in which your heart accords with your tongue and your inner self matches your outward expression. And know that you will not reach the reality of remembrance until, in the midst of your remembrance, you forget your own self and lose it altogether.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not multiply worldly brethren, for if you fail them they turn into enemies; their likeness is the likeness of fire — much of it burns, while a little of it benefits. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 760)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not be greedy to multiply worldly friends — as opposed to godly friends. For if you cannot satisfy their expectations, they become enemies. Their likeness is the likeness of fire: too much of it burns out of control and consumes, while a little of it is beneficial.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not do evil to one who has done good to you; for whoever wrongs his benefactor is barred from kindness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 763)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not repay with evil one who has done you good, for then you will be barred from kindness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not dispute with fools and do not be infatuated with women, for that demeans the wise. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 765)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not argue with a foolish man, and do not become a slave to the love of women, for both are contrary to reason.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Ask none but God the Glorified; for if He gives you, He honors you, and if He withholds from you, He keeps it in store for you. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 764)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Ask nothing of anyone but God. It is God who, if He gives, has honored you, and if He does not give, has by that very withholding protected you.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not deprive the desperate, even if he has been prodigal. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 765)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Come to the aid of one who is in desperate straits, even if he is himself to blame for his plight and this desperation has come about through his excesses.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no cheerfulness with importunity. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 770)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Harsh insistence destroys cheerfulness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no disciplining with anger. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 770)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you are angry, it is no time to discipline others or teach them anything, for it will have no effect.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Provision is not attained by toil. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 772)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One's provision is not gained through hardship and suffering.

We say: that is, a person's provision is not increased by wearing himself out.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Satiety and the performance of what is obligatory do not go together. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 772)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Overeating is incompatible with carrying out the duties of servitude to God.

(We say: shiba' means filling the stomach. In that state a person becomes heavy and weak-willed and usually loses the grace of devotion for several hours. Close to this meaning it is related: "Resolve and feasting do not go together" — that is, feasting cannot coexist with the resolve to do good works.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The arrogant does not learn. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 773)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is arrogant is not granted the success of learning, and usually remains in ignorance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The deed of a domineering man does not prosper. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 773)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who forces others to do things and is harsh with them — his work is usually not sincere, and it comes to no result either.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A craft does not prosper in the hands of one who lacks sound origin. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 773)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In craftsmanship, always go to the genuine source.

(We say: in the narrations, however, "craft" commonly refers to doing good; in that case the meaning is that kindness shown to one without root or lineage comes to no good end: "To raise up the heads of the unworthy, and to hope for good to come of them, is to lose the thread of one's own affair — it is to nurse a serpent within one's bosom.")

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Knowledge is to be taken only from its masters. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 778)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Knowledge must not be learned except from its masters.

(We say: that is, knowledge must be learned from its wellspring and its primary source, not from second- and third-hand sources. For example, to understand religion one must go directly to the Book and the Sunnah, not to the books of religious scholars, which are their own interpretations.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The ignorant is never seen but going to excess; you never meet the fool but falling short. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 779)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The ignorant man usually goes to excess, and the fool falls short.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no good in a good deed that is counted. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 779)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In a good deed that is counted, there is no good.

(We say: what is meant by counting is regarding the deed as something great, holding it over the recipient as a favor, and expecting recompense from people — not reckoning it before God for reward and being glad for the grace of having done it.)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no good in a helper who humiliates. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 779)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In a helper who demeans there is no good.

(We say: that is, one who helps a person but then taunts and belittles him — "why couldn't you manage it yourself!")

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: None attains forgiveness except one who meets wrongdoing with kindness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 782)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one becomes worthy of divine forgiveness except the person who repays evil with good.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man is not a believer until he cares not with what he stills the pang of his hunger, nor which of his two garments he puts to daily wear. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 785)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: No one has become a true believer until he pays no heed to what he eats or what he wears.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer's faith is not complete until he counts ease a trial and affliction a blessing. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 785)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When faith becomes complete, the believer sees ease as a trial and affliction as a blessing.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing sets the fool straight but bitter words. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 786)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The fool can be brought to the right path only by bitterness of speech.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man is not faulted for taking his right; he is faulted only for taking what is not his. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 786)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Taking one's right carries no blame and is no fault; it is the unjust demand for what is not one's own that is a fault in a man.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The true and truthful friend does not turn from affection, even if he is treated unkindly. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 786)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A real friend does not turn back from his friendship, even if he suffers unkindness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: "There is no god but God" is the stronghold of faith and the opening of goodness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 789)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The noble formula of tahlil ("There is no god but God") is an amulet and safeguard for faith, and it opens the door of goodness into one's life.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing is more profitable to a person than guarding the tongue and extending kindness. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 789)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best safeguard consists of two things: first, holding in the tongue, and second, opening the hand of kindness.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One never obtains one's due from a fool except through forbearance toward him. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 791)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: From a fool one cannot recover one's right except with great forbearance.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: He from whose evil people are not safe shall not be safe from God, the Glorified. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 791)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Only he escapes the wrath of God whose evil the people have escaped in safety.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing removes poverty like contentment and satisfaction with little. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 791)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing does away with poverty like contentment and satisfaction with what one has.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A little truth repels much falsehood. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 803)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A small measure of truth washes away and sweeps off a great deal of falsehood.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The truthful person attains by his truthfulness what the liar attains by his scheming. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 809)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The truthful, through his truthfulness, reaches the very things that the liar seeks to reach through his deceit.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Pardon is won more readily by confession than it is won by making excuses. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 810)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Admitting one's fault always accomplishes more than contriving excuses.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no good in keeping silent about the truth, just as there is no good in speaking out of ignorance. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 824)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no good in silence concerning the truth, just as there is no good in ignorant speech.

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The one who possesses bounty needs the one who asks. (Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 824)

The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The generous and giving person stands in need of someone who will ask of him.