Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) narrated, saying: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: There is no servant who commits a sin, then rises and performs the ablution, doing the purification well, then rises and prays two rak'ahs, then asks God's forgiveness, but that God forgives him. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 1, p. 97)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I heard from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that when a servant has committed a sin, let him rise and perform the ablution with attentiveness, pray two rak'ahs, and ask forgiveness of his Lord. If he does so, God will most certainly forgive him.
Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) narrated, saying: The Prophet (PBUH) said: Shall I not teach you the words of relief, which, if you say them, God will forgive you? They are: There is no god but God, the Forbearing, the Generous. There is no god but God, the Exalted, the Mighty. Glory be to God, Lord of the seven heavens and Lord of the seven earths, and of what is in them, and what is between them, and what is beneath them, and Lord of the Mighty Throne — and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 1, p. 104)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One day the Messenger of God (PBUH) said to me: Would you like me to teach you the words of relief? Words which, if they run upon your tongue, God will most certainly forgive you. Say: There is no god but God, the Forbearing, the Generous. There is no god but God, the Exalted, the Mighty. Glory be to God, Lord of the seven heavens and Lord of the seven earths, and of what is in them, and what is between them, and what is beneath them, and Lord of the Mighty Throne — and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.
It is narrated from Ali (AS) that he said: The Prophet (PBUH) said: Truly I have been forbidden to recite [the Qur'an] while bowing or prostrating. As for the bowing, magnify the Lord therein; and as for the prostration, make much supplication therein, for it is fitting that you be answered. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 1, p. 344)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: It was not the practice of the Messenger of God (PBUH) to recite the Qur'an in bowing or in prostration; he would say that bowing is for the magnification of God. And of prostration he would say: make much supplication therein, for it is a place where answers are to be expected.
And from Ali (AS): Whoever is given authority over ten of the Muslims and does not act justly among them, God will raise him up on the Day of Resurrection with his two hands chained to his neck; nothing will loose them but his justice in the world. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 1, p. 366)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever becomes the overseer of a number of people, even a few, and does not observe justice among them, God will raise him up at the Resurrection with his hands chained to his neck. The freeing of one's hands in that world depends upon justice in this world.
And the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Dissimulation (taqiyya) is to deal with people according to what they know, and to leave aside what they reject, out of caution against their malice. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 1, p. 432)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Dissimulation (taqiyya) is to deal with people in a way that is familiar and intelligible to them, not in a way they do not understand and so, out of bigotry, deny and oppose — and this in order to be safe from their harm.
It is narrated from Ali (AS) that he said: Whoever loves to be measured out with the full measure, let the last of his words, when he rises from his sitting, be: 'Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Might, above what they describe' — to the end of it. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 2, p. 26)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever wishes his record of deeds in the hereafter to be of great worth, let him recite this noble verse as the last of his words when he rises from a gathering: 'Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Might, above what they describe. And peace be upon the messengers. And praise be to God, Lord of the worlds' [Qur'an 37:180-182].
Muqatil ibn Hayyan narrated from al-Asbagh ibn Nubata from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: When this sura was revealed, the Prophet (PBUH) said to Gabriel: What is this sacrifice that my Lord has commanded me? He said: It is not a sacrifice; rather He commands you, when you enter the sanctity of the prayer, to raise your hands when you say the takbir. Everything has an adornment, and the adornment of the prayer is the raising of the hands at every takbir. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 2, p. 46)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the verse 'So pray to your Lord and sacrifice' [Qur'an 108:2] was revealed, the Messenger of God (PBUH) asked Gabriel: What is meant by it? Gabriel answered: It is the raising of the hands when saying the takbir in the prayer. This act is the adornment of the prayer.
It is narrated from Ali (AS) that he said concerning measured recitation (tartil): that you set it forth distinctly, and neither rattle it off as poetry is rattled off, nor scatter it as sand is scattered; rather strike hardened hearts with it, and let none of you make the end of the sura his concern. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 2, p. 49)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: What is meant by reciting the Qur'an with tartil, which God has enjoined, is to articulate it properly — neither like poetry nor like ordinary prose; it is to settle the recitation upon the heart; it is to be present in the moment with the recitation and not to hurry through it.
And in the hadith from him (PBUH): A funeral was brought before him, and he said: Does your companion owe any debt? They said: Yes, two dirhams. He said: Pray over your companion yourselves. Then Ali (AS) said: Pray, O Messenger of God, and I am the guarantor for the two. So the Prophet (PBUH) prayed over him, then turned to Ali (AS) and said: May God reward you well on behalf of Islam, and may He free you from your pledge as you have freed your brother from his pledge. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 2, p. 114)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I was with the Messenger of God (PBUH) when a bier was brought for him to pray over. He asked: Does he owe a debt? They said: Yes! So he did not pray, and said: Pray over him yourselves. I said: O Messenger of God! This man's debt is upon me! Pray over him! So the Messenger of God (PBUH) prayed over him, and after the prayer he turned to me and said: May God reward you well! You have released your brother in religion from pledge; may God release you from pledge!
And it is narrated that Ali (AS) had two wives, and when it was the day of one of them he would not even perform the ablution in the house of the other. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 2, p. 134)
It is narrated that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) behaved with such justice among his wives that if a given day belonged to one of the wives, he would not even perform his ablution in the house of the other wife.
And al-Tha'labi narrated in his commentary from Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), from the Prophet (PBUH), that he said: Marry and do not divorce, for the Throne shakes on account of divorce. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 2, p. 139)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to say: Marry and do not divorce, for divorce sets the Throne of God trembling.
Hisham ibn Salim narrated from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) would come in to his household and say: Have you anything? Otherwise I shall fast. If they had something they would bring it to him, and if not, he would fast. And the Sunnis have likewise narrated it from the Prophet (PBUH). (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 3, p. 135)
The narrator says: It was the practice of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) that when he entered one of his houses in the morning, he would say to his wife: Is there anything in the house? If there was something, he would eat breakfast; otherwise he would fast that day. The Sunnis also attribute this practice to the Messenger of God (PBUH).
From him (AS): When one of you looks at a woman, let him go to his own wife, for she is only a woman like his own wife. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 3, p. 290)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: When a woman catches your eye, go and win over your own wife! A woman is a woman.
And from Ali (AS): Give rest to your hearts, for when they are forced they go blind. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 3, p. 296)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Keep your hearts glad and continually at ease; for when the heart is placed under excessive pressure and hardship, it goes blind and loses its insight and right understanding.
Ishaq ibn Ammar narrated from Ja'far, from his father, that Ali (AS) used to say: When a man marries a woman and has intercourse with her and then turns away from her, she has no option; let her be patient, for she has been tried. And there is no such [option] for mothers of children nor for slave women, so long as he has touched her but once in a lifetime. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 3, p. 357)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When a man has taken a woman in marriage and has had intercourse with her, it is a decree that has gone into effect, and he can never thereafter take that woman's mother or that woman's daughter in marriage.
And Muhammad ibn Qays narrated from al-Baqir (AS), who said: Ali (AS) gave judgment concerning a man who married a woman and gave her a dower, and she stipulated that intercourse and divorce should be in her hands. He said: She has gone against the Sunna and has entrusted a right to one who is not fit for it. He says: So he judged that the maintenance is upon the man, and that intercourse and divorce are in his hands. (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 3, p. 366)
It was said to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) that a woman had demanded the right of divorce in her marriage and had stipulated that intercourse be at her own wish. He said: This is contrary to the Sunna of the Messenger of God, and to give such a right to a woman is to give a right to one who is not fit for it. He said: The man must provide maintenance, and the right of divorce and of intercourse is his; and that is all! (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 3, p. 366)
And it is narrated from him (AS), when he was asked about the meaning of Sufism (tasawwuf), that he (AS) said: Tasawwuf is derived from suf (wool), and it is three letters: sad, waw, fa. The sad is patience (sabr), truthfulness (sidq) and purity (safa'); the waw is affection (wudd), litany (wird) and fidelity (wafa'); and the fa is poverty (faqr), singleness (fard) and annihilation (fana'). (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 4, p. 105)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked about the true meaning of Sufism (tasawwuf), and he said: It is derived from suf (wool): its sad is patience (sabr), truthfulness (sidq) and purity (safa'); its waw is affection (wudd), litany (wird) and fidelity (wafa'); and its fa is poverty (faqr), singleness (fard) and annihilation (fana').
It is narrated that Ali (AS) passed one day beneath a leaning wall and hastened his step. It was said to him: Do you flee, O Commander of the Faithful, from the decree (qada') of God Almighty? He (AS) said: Yes, I flee from God's decree to His measuring out (qadar). (Awali al-La'ali, vol. 4, p. 111)
It is narrated that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was passing by a wall that was about to collapse, and he quickened his pace. They said: Do you flee from God's decree? He said: Yes; from His decree to His measuring out.
(We say: for its external realization, the divine act passes through the stages of willing (sha'), intending (irada), measuring out (qadar), and then decree (qada'); and qadar is a stage prior to qada'. That is, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) flees from a wall concerning which the decree of collapse has been issued, toward a place against which no such affliction has been issued. In other words, before an affliction comes upon a land, whoever learns of it must leave that place; and if he transgresses and remains, he is caught up in the affliction. See the chapters on the knowledge of free will (ma'rifat al-ikhtiyar) in this servant's book Ma'rifat-e Nafs [Knowledge of the Self], where many subtleties are set out that are of use both to those who labour on the path of spiritual wayfaring and to those who seek practical prudence in living.)
'al-Balad al-Amin' was composed by Ibrahim al-Kaf'ami, one of the Shi'i scholars of the ninth century. The subject of the book is the devotional practices of the year, protective amulets, supplications, and visitation (ziyara). The above book is among the sources of al-Majlisi's Bihar al-Anwar and of most later books of supplications, including the contemporary Mafatih al-Jinan. Al-Kaf'ami — so named after Kaf'am, one of the villages of Lebanon — was a traditionist, a man of letters and a poet, and one of the great figures of the Shi'a, expert in various sciences, from whom many writings have remained as a legacy. Al-Misbah and al-Balad al-Amin are among his famous works. Ibrahim al-Kaf'ami had settled in Karbala and had made a bequest that he be buried there; but toward the end of his life he made a journey to his birthplace and died in 905 AH in the village of Kafr Ayma, where he was buried. For a long time his grave was unknown, until in the eleventh century a man, while ploughing his land, came upon a grave with a headstone on which was written: This is the grave of Shaykh Ibrahim ibn Ali al-Kaf'ami, may God have mercy on him. And it is said that his body, still intact, sat up and asked: Has the Resurrection come? When he learned that it had not, he lay down again in the grave and died! And God knows best. In any case, the site of his grave has been restored and a shrine built over it, which is now a place of pilgrimage. Al-Kaf'ami was renowned among elite and commoner alike for his asceticism and piety; he was one of the great worshippers of his age and without peer in devotion. One of the remarkable points in his life is that he used to perform all the acts, supplications, devotions and etiquettes of visitation that he had set down in his book 'al-Misbah' — and probably in his 'al-Balad al-Amin' as well; and at hours when his own time did not permit, his learned and devout wife would perform that day's supplications and devotions in his place.