The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Were it not for the terror of the moment of beholding what comes after death, and the parting from loved ones, we would seek death. (Qisas al-Anbiya, vol. 1, p. 180)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Were it not for the terror of the moment of beholding what lies beyond death, and separation from friends, I would long for death.
They have related in their reports: that the first to perform the prostration of thanksgiving in Islam was the Commander of the Faithful (AS), when he was commanded to sleep in the bed of the Messenger of God (PBUH) on the night of the cave. (Qisas al-Anbiya, vol. 1, p. 217)
The first person in Islam to perform the prostration of thanksgiving was Ali (AS), and that was when the Prophet (PBUH) asked him to sleep in his place in his bed so that he might emigrate in secret.
It is related from Ali (AS): God granted Pharaoh respite in his claim only because of the ease with which he granted audience and his open-handedness in giving food; so he was recompensed in this world for his deeds. (Qisas al-Anbiya, vol. 1, p. 242)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God granted Pharaoh a respite for all those years because there was no gatekeeper between him and the people and he was easily accessible to them, and also because he was generous and constantly fed the people. That long reign was the recompense for these good qualities of his, which God bestowed upon him in this world.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Among the counsels that Luqman gave to his son was that he said to him: O my son, do not draw too near, lest it drive you farther away, and do not keep too far, lest you be despised. Every beast loves its own kind, but the son of Adam does not love his own kind. So do not spread out your kindness except before one who seeks it. When you are perplexed about your road, halt; and when you are in doubt about your destination, stop and take counsel with one another. And if you see a single person, do not ask him about your road nor seek guidance from him, for a lone person in the wilderness is suspect: perhaps he is a scout for brigands, or he may be the Satan who leads you astray. And beware of two persons as well, unless you see what I do not see; for the man of intellect, when he beholds a thing with his own eyes, discerns the truth of it, and the one who is present sees what the absent one does not see. O my son, when the time of prayer comes, do not delay it for anything; pray it and be relieved of it, for it is a debt. And pray in congregation, even if it be upon the point of a spear. When you draw near to your lodging place, dismount from your beast and begin with its fodder before yourself; and when you alight, pray two rak'as before you sit down. When you set out again, pray two rak'as and bid farewell to the land in which you stayed, and greet it and its people, for every place has its own people from among the angels. (Qisas al-Anbiya, vol. 1, p. 327)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Among the counsels that Luqman gave to his son was that he said:
O my son! Do not draw so near that they shun you, nor keep so far that you become despised.
Every living creature loves its own kind, but the son of Adam does not love his own kind.
Do not pour out your kindness at anyone's feet except for one who desires it.
If you become bewildered on your way, halt; and if you are in doubt about your destination, stop and take counsel. If you see a person who is alone, do not ask him about your route and do not seek his guidance, for one who is alone in the wilderness is suspect: perhaps he is a spy for highway robbers, or the very Satan who draws you into error. Beware of two persons as well, unless you see something that I do not see, for when a man of wisdom sees something with his own eyes he perceives the truth of it, and the one who is present sees what the one who is absent does not see.
O my son! When the time of prayer arrives, do not delay it for anything whatsoever. Perform the prayer and be relieved of it, for it is a debt upon your neck. As far as you are able, pray in congregation.
When you come near to your lodging place, dismount from your mount and feed your animal before yourself. When you alight, pray two rak'as before you sit down. When you set out, pray two rak'as and bid farewell to the land in which you have stayed. Greet it and its people, for angels dwell in every land.
Man la Yahduruhu al-Faqih: Abu Ja'far (AS) said: Ali (AS) entered the mosque, and a young man came to meet him weeping, with people around him trying to quiet him. Ali (AS) said to him: What has made you weep? He said: O Commander of the Faithful, Shurayh has given a judgment against me that I do not understand. These men took my father out with them on their journey, and they returned but my father did not return. I asked them about him and they said: He died. I asked them about his property and they said: He left no property. So I brought them before Shurayh, and he had them swear an oath. Yet I know, O Commander of the Faithful, that my father set out with a great deal of wealth. He said: Go back. And he sent them all back, with the young man among them, to Shurayh, and said: O Shurayh, how did you judge between these people? And Shurayh related it to him. He said: O Shurayh, far from it! Is this how you judge in such a case? By God, I shall judge among them with a judgment by which none before me judged save David the Prophet (AS). O Qanbar, summon for me the guard of the Khamis. So he summoned them, and he appointed one of the guards over each one of the men. Then the Commander of the Faithful (AS) looked into their faces and said: Do you say that I do not know what you did to the father of this young man? Then indeed I would be ignorant. Then he said: Separate them and cover their heads. So they were separated, and each one of them was made to stand at one of the pillars of the mosque, with their heads covered by their garments. Then he called for Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Rafi', his scribe, and said: Bring a sheet and an inkwell. And he (AS) sat in the seat of judgment, and the people gathered around him. He said: When I say God is greatest, say God is greatest as well. Then he said to the people: Make room. Then he called for one of them and seated him before him and uncovered his face, then said to Ubayd Allah: Write down his confession and what he says. Then he turned to him with questions and said: At what time did you leave your homes, with the father of this young man among you? He said: On such a day of such a month. Then he said: How far had you gone on your journey when he died? He said: To such a place. And in which lodging did he die? He said: In the lodging of so-and-so son of so-and-so. He said: What was his illness? He said: Such and such. He said: How many days was he ill? He said: Such and such a number of days. He said: Who nursed him, and on what day did he die, and who washed his body, and who shrouded him, and in what did you shroud him, and who prayed over him, and who went down into his grave? When he had asked him about all that he wished, he said: God is greatest, and the people said: God is greatest, along with him. At this the others became alarmed and did not doubt that their companion had confessed against them and against himself. He bowed his head, covering it. Then he called for another and seated him before him and uncovered his face, then said: No indeed! You supposed that I do not know what you did. He said: O Commander of the Faithful, I was but one of the group, and I was averse to killing him. And thus he confessed. Then he called them one after another, and every one of them confessed to the killing and to taking the property. Then he brought back the first, and he too confessed. So he made them liable for the property and the blood-money. Shurayh said: O Commander of the Faithful, how was the judgment of David? He said: David the Prophet (AS) passed by some boys who were playing and calling out to one of them: Mat al-Din (the religion has died). He called one of the boys and said: O boy, what is your name? He said: My name is Mat al-Din; my mother named me so. So he went to his mother and said to her: Who named him with this name? She said: His father. He said: How was that? She said: His father set out on a journey of his with a group of men, and this child was a burden in my womb. The group returned, but my husband did not return, and they said: He died. I said: Where is his property? They said: He left no property behind. I said: Did he charge you with any bequest? They said: Yes, he supposed that you were pregnant, and said that whatever you bear, name it Mat al-Din. So I named him thus. He said: Do you know the men who went out with your husband? She said: Yes, and they are alive. He said: Take us to them. Then he went with her and brought them out of their homes and judged among them with this judgment, and the property and the blood were established against them. Then he said to the woman: Name your son Asha al-Din (the religion has lived). (Qisas al-Anbiya, vol. 1, p. 338)
Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: One day a weeping young man came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: My father went on a journey with a group of men, and when he set out he had a great deal of wealth with him. But when his travelling companions returned, they said that my father had died and had had no wealth with him. We went to Shurayh the judge, but he ruled in favour of those travelling companions. Ali (AS) went with him to Shurayh and said: You ought to have judged as David the Prophet judged. Then he ordered his servant Qanbar to set five officers over the travelling companions. Then he looked into the face of each one of them and said: Do you suppose that I do not know what you did to that man? Then he ordered that they be separated from one another, that their faces be covered with a cloth, and that each one be bound to one of the pillars of the mosque. Then he said to the people: Whenever I say God is greatest, you say God is greatest as well! Then he called for paper and pen, and he went to each of the accused and questioned them about how they had left home and about the events that had occurred during the journey. He asked each of the accused on what day that man had fallen ill, who had nursed him, on what day he had died, who had washed his body and buried him. And whenever his interrogation of one of the accused was finished, he would say: God is greatest, and the people would say it as well. The remaining accused, on hearing the sound of the takbir, supposed that that man had said something against the rest, and so each one cast the guilt upon the others and said: My two companions forced me to kill that man! In this way they all confessed their crime, the property of that man was returned to his son, and they themselves were subjected to retaliation. Then Shurayh the judge said to the Commander of the Faithful: How did David judge among the Children of Israel? He said: One day David saw a child whom people called Mat al-Din, and Mat al-Din means one whose property has been lost. David took that child by the hand and went to his mother. He asked the woman: Why have you named your son by this name? The woman said: I had not yet given birth to my child when my husband went on a journey with a group of men and took some property with him. When his travelling companions returned, they said that my husband had died and had had no wealth with him. I asked them whether he had made any bequest. They said: He bequeathed that his child be named Mat al-Din. David asked her: Do you know those travelling companions? She said: Yes. David went with that woman to the travelling companions and carried out the very judgment that I have now carried out, and returned her husband's property to her; and from then on that child was named Asha al-Din.
And he used to say: If God, glorified be He, were to cast me into the Fire in torment, I would not say that it is Fire; rather I would say that it is Paradise, because He, Exalted, has been pleased with it for me, and my Paradise is His good pleasure. (Qisas al-Anbiya, vol. 1, p. 350)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If on the Day of Resurrection God were to cast me into the Fire to punish me, I would see that Fire as Paradise, because God has willed it! My Paradise is God's good pleasure.
His saying (AS) when his cousin and brother, the Messenger of God (PBUH), said to him: How will your endurance be when you are struck upon the crown of your head and your grey hair is dyed with your blood, while you are in the prayer-niche, prostrating to your Lord? He (AS) said: That is a station of thanksgiving, not a station of endurance. (Qisas al-Anbiya, vol. 1, p. 351)
When the Messenger of God (PBUH) foretold to Ali (AS) his martyrdom, and that his beard would be dyed with the blood of his head, he said to him: On that day be patient! The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: That day is the place and station of thanksgiving, not of patience.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said in one of his sermons: And if you wish, I shall speak of Jesus son of Mary (AS). He would take a stone for his pillow and wear coarse clothing; hunger was the seasoning of his food and the moon was his lamp by night; his shelter in winter was the east and the west of the earth; and his fruit and fragrant herb was what the earth grows for the beasts. He had no wife to tempt him, no child to grieve him, no wealth to ruin him, and no greed to abase him. His mount was his two feet and his servant his two hands. (Qisas al-Anbiya, vol. 1, p. 408)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Jesus (AS) made a stone his pillow and wore the clothing of the poor. His food was hunger and his lamp the light of the moon. In the cold of winter he would take shelter in some nook or corner and would eat of the plants of the wilderness. He had no wife to draw him into temptation and no child to burden him with sorrow. His riding beast was his own two feet, and his servant, his own two hands.
Tafsir Nur al-Thaqalayn is a narration-based commentary written by Huwayzi, a scholar of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The author was born in the town of Huwayza in Khuzestan and later settled in Shiraz, where he benefited from the masters of his age, especially Sayyid Ni'mat Allah al-Jaza'iri, and composed works in the manner and style of the Akhbaris of that time. In the introduction to the book he states that his purpose in writing this commentary was to assemble an organized collection of the traditions of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) concerning the interpretation of the Qur'an. Following the order of the suras and the verses, the author cites the body of traditions that correspond to the content of each verse, as well as the hadiths that contain an interpretation or explanation of that verse, while refraining from any commentary, exegesis, exposition, or explanation of his own. In most cases, the hadiths cited are not intended as an interpretation of the meaning or import of the verse; rather they touch upon the verse for other purposes, such as citing it as a supporting proof and the like, and the author's craft consists in arranging the traditions according to the order of the verses and suras of the Qur'an. For this reason, it does not cover all the verses of the Qur'an. Nor did he set out to critique the traditions or to resolve the contradictions among them. Moreover, in gathering them he paid no attention to the chains of transmission or to the strength of the hadiths, and so traditions with weak chains and mursal reports are found in abundance in this commentary.