Salama ibn Kuhayl said: I heard Ali (AS) say to Shurayh: I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: The delaying of payment by a solvent Muslim is an injustice against the Muslims. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 14)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I heard from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that when a Muslim has the means yet does not pay his debt, he has wronged all the Muslims.
Muhammad ibn Muslim, from Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: Ali (AS) used to say: It is only a matter of approval and displeasure. Only one man hamstrung the she-camel, but when they were pleased with it, the punishment struck them all. So when a just imam appears, whoever is content with his rule and aids him in his justice is his partisan; and when a tyrannical imam appears, whoever is content with his rule and aids him in his tyranny is his partisan. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 17)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: The principle is approval and the withholding of approval. One man killed the she-camel of Salih, but the rest were content with it, and so they shared in his punishment. Whenever a just imam rules over a society, whoever is content with his rule and aids him in his justice is with him; and whenever a tyrannical ruler rules and oppresses, whoever is content with it and helps him is with him in this world and the next.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said as he set out toward Syria: O God, I take refuge in You from the hardship of the journey, from a return in sorrow, and from an evil sight in family, property, and child. O God, You are the Companion on the journey and the Guardian over the family; none but You can combine the two, for the one left behind as guardian cannot be the one who accompanies, and the one who accompanies cannot be the one left behind. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 33)
When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was about to move his army toward Syria, he turned his face to the sky and said: O God, I take refuge in You from the hardship of the journey, from how the return may be, and from anxieties over the family! O God, You are my companion on the journey and my deputy while I am at home. And no one but You can hold both of these together, that is, be in both places at once.
From Ali (AS): I said: O God, do not make me needy of any of Your creatures. The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: O Ali, do not say so, for there is no one who is not in need of people. I said: O Messenger of God, then what shall I say? He said: Say: O God, do not make me needy of the wicked among Your creatures. I said: O Messenger of God, who are the wicked among His creatures? He said: Those who, when they give, remind you of their favour, and when they withhold, find fault with you. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 39)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One day I said to the Messenger of God (PBUH): I have prayed that God make me needy of none of His creatures! He said: O Ali, do not say that; we are all in need of one another. Say instead: O God, do not make me needy of bad people! I asked: Which people do you mean? He said: Those who, if they help, make you feel the weight of their favour, and when they do not help, hold your faults against you.
From Ali (AS), concerning the words of God Most High, 'Then on that day you shall surely be questioned about the delights' [Qur'an 102:8], he said: Security, health, and well-being. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 44)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked: What does God mean by His words, 'On that day you shall be questioned about the delights'? He said: Security; plus health; plus well-being.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS): That I should gather my brethren over a sa' of food is dearer to me than that I should set a slave free. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 48)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: That I should gather my friends and spread a table for them is better than that I should set a slave free.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: God revealed to the Messiah (AS): Say to the Children of Israel, let them not enter any house of My houses save with humble eyes, pure hearts, and clean hands; and tell them that I answer the prayer of none of them against whom any of My creatures holds a wrong. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 55)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God revealed to the Messiah (AS) that he should say to the Children of Israel: Let them not enter My house (mosque, church, synagogue) save with humble eyes, a pure heart, and clean hands! And tell them: I do not answer the prayer of one who bears the burden of a wrong done to another.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS): The inner root of every affair discloses what it is; every affection that greed has tied, despair unties. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 72)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The root of a thing tells of its fruit; for example, if the cause of a friendship or a partnership is greed, then one day disappointment will bring about separation.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS): Drive away the onsets of anxieties with resolute patience and goodly certainty. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 87)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When troubling thoughts assail you and wear you down, take refuge in patience and certainty; that is, urge patience upon yourself and set your heart on God's help.
And it is related that the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (AS), called his servant boy and he did not answer him. He called a second and a third time and still he did not answer. So he rose and went to him and found him lying down. He said: Do you not hear, boy? He said: Yes. He said: Then what led you to leave my call unanswered? He said: I felt safe from any punishment from you, so I grew lazy. He said: Go, for you are free for the sake of God. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 100)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) called his servant, but the servant gave no answer. He called a second and a third time, and still the servant gave no answer. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) went looking for him and found that he had hidden himself somewhere! He said: Did you not hear? The servant answered: I did; but since I knew that you punish no one, I said to myself, never mind! The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Gather your things and go! I have set you free for the sake of God. You are of no use to me.
(We say: slavery in that era was part of the system of social support, and freeing a slave in this manner was in fact something like dismissing a worker in our own time.)
A man said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Describe this world to us. He said: And what shall I describe to you of an abode in which whoever is healthy feels safe, whoever falls sick regrets, whoever becomes poor grieves, and whoever grows rich is led into temptation? (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 137)
Someone asked the Commander of the Faithful (AS) to describe this world. He said: It is a place where health deceives and sickness torments; where poverty makes one sorrowful and self-sufficiency drags one into temptation.
The Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), said: This world is but six things: something eaten, something drunk, something worn, something ridden, something wedded, and something smelled. The noblest of things eaten is honey, and it is the spittle of an insect. The noblest of things drunk is water, in which the righteous and the corrupt are equal. The noblest of things worn is silk, and it is the weaving of a worm. The noblest of things ridden is the horse, and upon it men are slain. The noblest of things wedded is women, and that is a place of urine within a place of urine; a woman adorns the fairest of what is in her, while what is sought is the ugliest of what is in her. And the noblest of things smelled is musk, and it is but a portion of blood. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 140)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The pleasures of this world are these: food, drink, clothing, mounts, sexual union, and perfume. The best food in the world is honey, and honey is nothing but the vomit of an insect! The best drink in the world is water, which is available to everyone! The best clothing is silk, which is the weaving of a worm. The best mount is the horse, which is the death-place of men. (We say: its modern counterpart would be the automobile, which in a crash is the killer of its own owner.) The best union too is with a woman; and what after all is union but two orifices sinking into one another! A woman adorns herself in order to draw a man toward her ugliest part, that is, her genitals! And the best perfume is musk, which is nothing more than a kind of blood.
He said: A man came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: I have prayed to God and have seen no answer. He said: You have described God with other than His attributes. Supplication has four qualities: sincerity of the inner self, presence of intention, knowledge of the means, and fairness in what is asked. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 302)
Someone came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: However much I pray, I see no answer! The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Call upon God as He has asked to be called upon! Observe also these four things: hold God alone able to fulfil your need; pray with presence of heart and with your whole being; provide the means and causes by which your request may be answered; and be fair in your supplication, asking only what you are worthy of!
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: Truly, prayer has a limit like the butcher's cleaver: whenever it passes beyond the joint, it breaks. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 1, p. 302)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A sound prayer requires a certain measure of presence of heart, and a wandering of attention that goes beyond that measure breaks the prayer.
From Jabir, from Abu Hamza al-Yashkuri, from Qudama al-Awdi, from Isma'il ibn Abd Allah al-Sal'i, who said: When night had covered me, there was a man who came forward until he concealed himself behind a hillock. Then he set his feet together and prolonged his intimate discourse with God. Among the things he said was: O God, I have conducted myself among them as Your Messenger and Your chosen one commanded me, yet they have wronged me. I fought and slew the hypocrites as You commanded me, yet they did not know me. I have wearied of them and they of me; I have come to detest them and they me. No friendship remains that I await except that of al-Muradi. O God, hasten wretchedness for him and enfold me in felicity. O God, Your Prophet promised me that You would take me to Yourself when I asked You. O God, I now desire that of You. Then he went off and I followed his track, and he entered his house, and behold, he was Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS). He said: I had not waited long before the caller called to prayer, and he went out and I followed him until he entered the mosque, and Ibn Muljam, may God curse him, struck him on the head with the sword. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 2)
The narrator says: On the very night before whose dawn the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was struck down, I was in a palm grove near the mosque of Kufa. I saw a man, his face covered, enter the grove and, in the blackness of the night, sit down in a certain place in intimate discourse with God. He said: O God, my stay among these people has drawn long, and I have carried out what Your Messenger told me. These people have dealt unjustly with me and I have contended with them, and in the end these people did not understand me! O God, I have wearied of these people and they of me! They do not love me, nor have I any joy of them, and no friend is left to me! O God, send that man of Murad whom You promised me, that he may plunge into wretchedness and raise me to felicity! O God, the Prophet promised me that whenever you have grown weary and have asked God, God will bring your appointed hour and raise you to Himself. O God, from this moment I have set my desire on You, I long for Your quarter, and it is just this that I ask of You! The narrator says: After this discourse he covered his face again and set out toward the houses of Kufa. I followed him and saw that he was Ali (AS). Ali (AS) entered his house, and an hour later came out for the prayer, and at the hand of Ibn Muljam al-Muradi attained the grace of martyrdom. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 2)
al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, when Mu'awiya asked him about the Commander of the Faithful (AS), said: He held to three things and abandoned three. He held to the hearts of men when he spoke; to listening well when he was spoken to; and to the easier of the two courses when he was opposed. He abandoned wrangling, abandoned the company of the base, and abandoned whatever would call for an apology. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 14)
Mu'awiya asked someone: How did you find Ali? He said: He captured hearts when he spoke, and he knew well the art of listening when someone else spoke, and he was not harsh when he was opposed. He did not wrangle and argue, he kept away from the wicked, and he did nothing for which he would have to apologize.
And it is related from the Commander of the Faithful (AS) that he said: The desolation of solitude preserves honour better than the comfort of company. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 16)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The hardship of solitude is better than a companionship that you know to be temporary.
Suwayd ibn Ghafala said: I came in upon the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and found him sitting on a mat, and I found nothing else in the house. I said to him: O Commander of the Faithful, I see nothing in the house but this mat, and the caliphate is in your hand! He said to me: O son of Ghafala, we do not furnish a house of passage; we have a house to which we have already sent on the best of goods, and to which we are moving. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 22)
The narrator says: I came into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and found that in his room there was nothing but the rug he was sitting on. I said: O Commander of the Faithful! You live like this, and the caliphate is in your hand? He said: This temporary house needs no furniture. Our real house is the place to which we have sent the reward of our deeds, and to which we shall soon be going.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: This world is sought for three things: wealth, honour, and ease. Whoever renounces it is honoured; whoever is content is made rich; and whoever lessens his striving finds ease. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 24)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: People pursue three things in this world: wealth, respect, and comfort. True wealth lies in contentment with what one has; honour and respect lie in not desiring this world; and true comfort and ease lie in a life free of grasping effort!
Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Hamdani, from Abu al-Hasan Musa (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful used to counsel his companions, saying: Remember God with a pure remembrance, and thereby you will live the most excellent life and thereby tread the path of deliverance. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 39)
Imam Kazim (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) constantly counselled his companions and would say: Utter the remembrance of God often and keep God in mind, so that little by little you may attain a higher life and a wayfaring that brings deliverance.
Ibn al-Sikkit the grammarian said: I heard Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Rida (AS) say: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of clinging persistently to idle wishes, for they are the stock-in-trade of the profligate. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 51)
Imam Hadi (AS) said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: Do not indulge in fantasies about your wishes nor insist upon them, for they become the leaven and the cause of sin.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS), from the Prophet (PBUH), who said: Women are wanting in speech and are things to be covered; so treat their want of speech with silence and their need of covering with houses. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 74)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to say: Woman is unrestrained and a destroyer of honour! Control her lack of restraint with silence, and her destroying of honour by keeping her within the house.
Mu'awiya said to Khalid ibn Ma'mar: On what account did you love Ali (AS)? He said: On account of three qualities: his forbearance when he was angered, his truthfulness when he spoke, and his justice when he held authority. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 75)
Mu'awiya said to someone: Why do you love Ali? He answered: For three qualities of his: when he grew angry, forbearance still had mastery over him; when he spoke, he spoke the truth; and when he ruled, he was just.
When death came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS), he gathered his sons Hasan, Husayn, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, and the younger of his children, and made his testament to them. Among the last of his testament was: O my sons, keep company with people in such a way that if you are absent they long for you, and if you are lost they weep for you. And if you love a man without any prior good having come to you from him, then hope for good from him; and if you dislike a man without any prior evil having come to you from him, then be on your guard against him. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 75)
In the last moments of his noble life, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) gathered all his children around him and said: My children! Live in such a way that as long as you are alive people love you, and when you die they weep for you! Then he said: When you love someone without cause, be hopeful that some good will come to you from him; and if you dislike someone without cause, be on your guard against him.
From Muhill ibn Khalifa: he came in one evening together with Adi ibn Hatim upon Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), at one of his encampments at Siffin, and his supper was before him. He said: We met him, and before him was a worn waterskin containing plain water, some pieces of barley bread, and salt with nothing mixed into it. Adi said to him: I truly grieve for you, O Commander of the Faithful! You spend your day hungry and fighting, and your night awake and enduring hardship, and then this is your evening meal! He raised his head and said: O Adi, wealth is in the souls of men, and so is poverty. Treat your soul with contentment, or else it will demand of you more than suffices it. Throughout the whole of your life, you possess of the span granted you only the hour you are in. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 77)
Adi, the son of Hatim al-Ta'i, says: One night at Siffin I came into the tent of Ali (AS). I saw that his supper was a waterskin of water, a few pieces of bread, and a little salt! I said: O Commander of the Faithful, you fight by day and keep awake in worship by night! How do you get by on such food? He looked at me and said: O Adi! Wealth is in a person's own soul, and so is poverty! Treat your soul with contentment so that it may become rich; otherwise it will demand of you more than is enough for it. Then he said: In the whole length of your life you possess nothing but this present moment you are in; so seize it!
The Commander of the Faithful said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) would not prefer supper or anything else over the prayer, and when its time came it was as though he knew neither family nor close friend. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 78)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) preferred no task over the prayer at the beginning of its time, and when the time of prayer arrived it was as though he no longer knew anyone.
The Commander of the Faithful said: When the Messenger of God (PBUH) bade farewell to a man of the Muslims, he would say to him: May God provide you with godliness as your provision, forgive your sin, and turn you toward good wherever you turn. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 78)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: At the time of farewell, the Messenger of God (PBUH) would pray for people in this way: May God grant you godliness as your provision, encompass you in His forgiveness, and open the door of good before you wherever you go!
The Commander of the Faithful said: God has servants whose hearts have been broken by awe of God, so that it has struck them dumb of speech. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 78)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has servants whom awe of Him has left broken-hearted and has drawn into the valley of silence.
Zayd ibn Ali, from his father (AS), from Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS): Ali (AS) said: The heart that loves God loves much toil for God, and the heart heedless of God loves ease. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 87)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The heart that loves God seeks to work for God and to hold intimate discourse with God, while the heedless heart seeks comfort and idleness.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: There is no servant, man or woman, who deals with God's servants with the best of kindly forbearance, thereby entering into no falsehood and departing from no truth, but that God makes his very breath a glorification, purifies his deed, and grants him insight to keep our secret and to swallow his rage at what he hears from our enemies, and gives him the reward of one who weltered in his own blood in the way of God. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 98)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The believer must deal kindly and forbearingly with the servants of God, in such a way that he neither enters into their falsehood nor himself departs from the truth. In that case God makes his breath a glorification, purifies his deed, and bestows insight upon him, so that he understands what the secrets are and what things must be kept hidden, and He gives him the strength to endure and to swallow his rage before the enemies. Such a person has the reward of a martyr who has weltered in his own blood.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The life of this world is only an enjoyment, and the goods of this world are slow to gather, of little profit, and swift to be cut off. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 101)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The life of this world is a worthless commodity that is slow to be gathered, of little benefit, and quickly lost.
From al-Rida, from his forefathers (AS), from the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Provision is apportioned, and it comes to the son of Adam whatever manner of life he follows in this world. No godliness of a godly man increases it, and no depravity of a depraved man diminishes it. Between a man and his provision there is a span, and it seeks him out; if only one of you would await his provision as he seeks it, as death seeks him out. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 107)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has determined each person's provision and it reaches him, and neither godliness nor depravity makes it more or less! Between a person and his provision there is a hand's span, and the provision follows after him until it reaches him. So await your provision, that you may call it toward you and it may bring itself to you, just as death brings itself to you.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What the dead man leaves behind is a consolation for his heirs. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 114)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The wealth that remains from a person after his death is 'aza' for the heirs.
(We say: the primary meaning of 'aza' is patience or consolation; in that case the tradition means: the property of the deceased is a kind of solace for those he leaves behind. The secondary meaning of 'aza' is affliction; in that case the tradition means: the property left behind by the deceased is a means of testing the heirs.)
He (AS) said: Beware of this world, for it is the enemy of the friends of God and the enemy of His enemies. As for His friends, it grieves them; and as for His enemies, it deceives them. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 115)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of this world, for it is the enemy of the friends of God and of His enemies alike; it keeps the friends preoccupied, and it deceives the enemies utterly.
And he (AS) said: People have lost their desire for the pursuit of knowledge only because of the little profit they see in those who act upon what they know. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 115)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The reason for people's lack of desire for religious knowledge is that they see that the learned have gained no profit from their knowledge and do not act upon it.
From Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: When the Commander of the Faithful Ali (AS) took charge of affairs, he ascended the pulpit, praised God and extolled Him, then said: By God, I shall not diminish your share of the spoils by a single dirham so long as a palm-tree stands in Yathrib. So let your own souls tell you the truth: do you think that I would withhold from myself and give to you? He said: Then Aqil rose to him and said: By God, you would make me and a black man of Medina equal! He said: Sit down. Was there no one here to speak but you? And what merit have you over him except by precedence in faith or by godliness? (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 151)
Imam Sadiq (AS) said: When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) came to the caliphate, he mounted the pulpit in Medina and said: I shall not store up anything from the public treasury while there are people in Yathrib who go hungry; my own share too is equal with yours! At this his brother Aqil rose and said in protest: Do you mean that I and a black slave have an equal share of the public treasury? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sit down! Was there no one but you to speak? Indeed, you have no merit over anyone save through godliness or precedence in religion.
Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi, from his father, from his grandfather, from his forefathers (AS), from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: Whoever performs an obligatory prayer for God has, following it, one supplication that is answered. Ibn al-Fahham said: By God, I saw the Commander of the Faithful (AS) in a dream and asked him about this report, and he said: It is sound. When you have finished the obligatory prayer, then say it while you are in prostration. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 168)
It is related from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), from the Messenger of God (PBUH), that whoever performs an obligatory prayer has, after it, one supplication that is answered! The narrator says: I saw the Commander of the Faithful (AS) in a dream and asked him about this tradition. He said: After your prayer is finished, prostrate yourself, and in the prostration ask God for what you desire!
From Ali (AS), who said: Everything that distracts from the remembrance of God is from Iblis. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 170)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whatever holds one back from the remembrance of God is from Iblis.
From Ali (AS), who said: A man came to the Prophet (PBUH) and said: O Messenger of God, I have a dinar; what do you bid me do with it? He said: Spend it on your mother. He said: I have another; what do you bid me do with it? He said: Spend it on your brother. He said: I have another; what do you bid me do with it? He said: By God, I have nothing else besides it. He said: Spend it in the way of God, and that is the least of them in reward. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 175)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A man came to the Messenger of God (PBUH) and said: I have a dinar; what shall I do with it? The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Spend it on your mother! He said: And if I have another dinar? He said: Spend it on your brother! He asked: And a third dinar, which is my last money? The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Give it as alms in the way of God! But the reward of those first two is greater.
And from him (AS), who said: Looking at a scholar is an act of worship; looking at a just leader is an act of worship; looking at one's parents with tenderness and mercy is an act of worship; and looking at a brother whom one loves for the sake of God, Mighty and Majestic, is an act of worship. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 175)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Looking at a scholar is worship; looking at a just ruler is worship; looking at one's parents with affection is worship; looking at a brother in faith is worship.
From his words: Hold fast to godliness before God, for it gathers together all good, and there is no good besides it. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 178)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Seek after godliness, for godliness is what gathers together every good for you.
Hasan ibn Ali (AS) said: I never came in upon my father but that I found him weeping. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 199)
Imam Mujtaba (AS) said: Whenever I came in upon my father in his seclusion, I found him in intimate discourse with God and in tears.
The Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) said: Peoples have gone ahead to the Gardens of Eden who were not the greatest of people in fasting, nor in prayer, nor in the hajj, nor in the lesser pilgrimage; rather, they understood the admonitions that came from God. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 213)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: On the Day of Resurrection there are people who will race ahead toward Paradise who were not people of much prayer, fasting, and hajj, but who reflected upon the admonitions of God.
And the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How can you be a Muslim (one who brings safety) when people are not safe from you? How can you be a believer (one who gives security) when people do not feel secure from you? And how can you be godfearing when people fear your harm? (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 227)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How do you count yourself a Muslim while people are not safe from your hand? How do you count yourself a believer while people have no security from you? And how do you count yourself godfearing while people suffer harm from you?
From the words of the Commander of the Faithful (AS): When the heart has drunk the love of this world, an abundance of admonitions will do it no good. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 248)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When love of this world has settled to the taste of a heart, admonition no longer has any effect upon that heart.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Every asking is humiliation and diminishment, except a man's asking of his imam, or his scholar, or his father; in that there is no humiliation for him and no diminishment. Spare your brethren the burden of having to ask, for when a man asks for something he needs, his limbs tremble for fear of being refused. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 248)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Asking is humiliation and diminishment, except asking of the imam, or of a scholar (on account of his knowledge), or of one's father. When someone asks something of you, come to his aid; for asking is painful, and the one who asks is in dread lest his request be refused.
From Habba al-Urani, who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever entrusts a man with his life and is then betrayed by him, I am quit of the killer, even if the one killed be in the Fire. (Majmu'at Warram, vol. 2, p. 266)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I am quit of anyone who grants safe conduct to someone and then betrays him. Whoever he may be!