From Ali (AS), that he said to Abu Bakr: O Abu Bakr, a young man's intellect reaches its completion only at twenty-eight years; whatever comes after that is nothing but experience. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 1, p. 85)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: A person's intellect increases until the age of twenty-eight; after that, it is only experience that increases.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: God Most High said to His Prophet (PBUH) on the night of the Ascension: Truly, as for your community, when one of them intends a good deed and does not perform it, one good deed is written for him; and if he performs it, ten are written for him. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 1, p. 96)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: On the night of the Ascension, God promised His Messenger: A Muslim who intends a good deed shall have a good deed written for him, even if he does not perform it; and if he performs it, ten times as much shall be written for him.
From him (AS): None keeps constant guard over ablution but a believer. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 1, p. 289)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Only a true believer is capable of maintaining ablution.
Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his father, that Ali (AS) said: When you perform ablution, it does not matter which of your feet you begin with, nor which of your hands you begin with; and when you put on sandals, it does not matter which of your feet you shoe first. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 1, p. 329)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: In ablution, it makes no difference which hand or which foot you wash or wipe first.
From Ali (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Ablution is with a mudd of water and the full ritual bath with a sa'; and after me there will come peoples who will deem that too little. They are opposed to my sunna, and whoever holds to my sunna is with me in the sacred enclosure of Paradise. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 1, p. 347)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to perform his ablution with a glass of water and his ritual bath with a pitcher of water, and he would say: Those who come after will say, 'How can anyone perform ablution or a ritual bath with so little water?!' Yet this is my sunna, and following my sunna brings a person to Paradise.
When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) set about his ablution, his face would change out of fear of God Most High; and when al-Hasan (AS) finished his ablution his colour would change. He was asked about this and said: It is fitting that whoever wishes to enter into the presence of the Lord of the Throne should have his colour change. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 1, p. 355)
When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) performed ablution, his colour would drain away out of awe of God; and Imam al-Mujtaba (AS) was likewise, and he would say: It is fitting that one who is going to the appointed meeting with God should be so.
From Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said to us: White hair is a light, so do not pluck it out. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 1, p. 413)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to tell us that the whiteness of the hair is a light; do not alter it.
From 'Abd Allah ibn Maymun al-Qaddah, from Ja'far, from his father (AS), who said: A man rose before Ali (AS) and said: 'May God make me your ransom; truly I love you, the People of the House.' Now there was effeminacy in him. A number of people spoke in his praise, but he (AS) said: 'You lie! No effeminate man loves us, nor any cuckold, nor one born of fornication, nor one whose mother conceived him during her menses.' The man went away, and on the day of Siffin he was killed on the side of Mu'awiya. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 18)
One day a man rose and professed his love for the Commander of the Faithful (AS), saying: May my life be your ransom! The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: That is false; never does an effeminate man, or a corrupt man, or one born of fornication, or one conceived during menstruation, love me in this way. The narrator says: That man had an effeminate manner, was an agent of corruption in Kufa, and in the end at Siffin he was in Mu'awiya's army and among their slain.
From Ali (AS): He visited Zayd ibn Arqam in his illness. When he came in to him, Zayd said: 'Welcome to the Commander of the Faithful as a visitor, though he is displeased with us.' Ali (AS) said: 'That did not keep me from visiting you. Whoever visits a sick person seeking the mercy of God and the fulfilment of His promise remains in the harvest of Paradise as long as he sits beside the sick person; and when he leaves him, God sends on that day seventy thousand angels of the angels who invoke blessings upon him.' (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 80)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) came to visit Zayd ibn Arqam in his illness. Zayd said: Welcome to the Commander of the Faithful, who has come to visit us though his heart was aggrieved with us. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: My being aggrieved with you has nothing to do with visiting you. I heard from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that whoever visits a sick person, and in that visit seeks the mercy of God, is in the Paradise of God for as long as he sits beside that sick person; and when he rises, God sends seventy thousand angels to invoke blessings upon him until nightfall.
From Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said to a man: Act as one who thinks that he will die tomorrow. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 106)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Act as though tomorrow you are to die and be buried.
From Ali (AS): He was asked about a man who is invited to a funeral and to a wedding feast: which of the two should he answer? He said: He should answer the funeral. Da'a'im al-Islam relates the like from him (AS) and adds at the end: for attending a funeral reminds one of death, whereas attending feasts distracts one from that. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 20, p. 119)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked: We have been invited both to a funeral procession and to a feast; which should we attend? He said: The funeral procession! For it brings the Hereafter to mind, whereas a feast occupies a person with this world.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS): He kept saying 'There is no god but God' until he passed away, God's blessings be upon him. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 121)
At the time of his death the Commander of the Faithful (AS) continually said 'There is no god but God' until he departed this life.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Whoever's life is sealed with the testimony that there is no god but God enters Paradise; whoever's life is sealed with a Hajj enters Paradise; whoever's life is sealed with an 'Umra enters Paradise; whoever's life is sealed with feeding a poor man enters Paradise; and whoever's life is sealed with struggle in the way of God, even for the space of time between two milkings of a she-camel, enters Paradise. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 122)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever at the last sincerely says 'There is no god but God' and dies becomes one of the people of Paradise; whoever dies during the Hajj or the 'Umra becomes one of the people of Paradise; whoever dies while feeding the poor becomes one of the people of Paradise; whoever dies in jihad, even in its preliminaries, becomes one of the people of Paradise.
From Ali, God's blessings be upon him, who said: When a person dies at the beginning of the day, let him take his midday rest nowhere but in his grave; and when he dies at the end of the day, let him spend the night nowhere but in his grave. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 141)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who has died before noon, bury before noon; and one who has died at noon or in the afternoon, bury before nightfall. That is to say, be swift in burying the dead.
He (AS) said: Behold, among the blessings is abundance of wealth; and better than abundance of wealth is soundness of body; and better than soundness of body is the God-fearingness of the heart. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 143)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Wealth is a blessing, but better than it is health, and better than that is piety.
From Ali (AS), from the Messenger of God (PBUH), that he permitted the visiting of graves and said: It reminds you of the Hereafter. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 362)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) permitted the visiting of graves and said that it brings the Hereafter to your mind.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: Whoever is struck by an affliction and utters the istirja' ('Truly we belong to God and truly to Him we return'), even long after the event, God writes for him a reward like that of the day he was struck. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 407)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever, whenever he remembers his affliction, says 'Truly we belong to God and truly to Him we return', even though much time has passed since the affliction, receives the same reward as on the day of the affliction itself.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), that he said: Beware of anxious impatience, for it bequeaths grief. And know that the way out lies in one of two things: whatever admits of a stratagem, then contrive; and whatever admits of no stratagem, then endure with patience. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 421)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do not give way to impatience, for it is itself the cause of sorrow and grief; and know that the remedy lies in one of two things: either contrivance or patience. Some things admit of a contrivance, and by some device one may prevail over them; and some things admit of no contrivance, and in these one must be patient.
He (AS) said: Whoever makes patience the governor over himself will not be troubled by any event. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 422)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever makes patience his watchword will not be afraid of the events that befall him.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Truly, affliction is a discipline for the wrongdoer, a trial for the believer, a raising of rank for the prophets, and an honour (karama) for the friends of God. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 437)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Hardships are a chastening for the oppressor, a ripening for the believer, an elevation for the prophets, and for the friends of God a means of attaining karama.
The Commander of the Faithful, God's blessings be upon him, said: We dislike affliction and do not love it so long as it has not descended; but once the divine decree has brought it down, it would not please us that the affliction had not descended. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 458)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: We do not find affliction agreeable and we do not love it, but only so long as it has not come. Once it has come, we do not say, 'Would that it were not!'; rather, that very affliction is beloved to us.
In Falah al-Sa'il: I have seen in certain traditions that our master Ali (AS) used to bathe on cold nights in order to be alert for the night prayer. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 521)
It is related in some reports that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) would bathe on certain cold nights so as to be alert for the night prayer.
From Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), who said: There is no harm in the sweat of a menstruating woman or of one in a state of major ritual impurity. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 569)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) did not regard the sweat of a menstruating woman or of a person in a state of major ritual impurity as impure.
From Ali (AS), who said: When the ground dries, it becomes pure. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 2, p. 574)
When the ground had dried, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) considered it pure.
From Abu Hamza al-Thumali, who said: I heard one of the two Imams (AS) saying: Ali (AS) turned to the people and said: Which verse in the Book of God is, in your view, the most hope-giving? Some of them said: 'Truly God does not forgive that partners be ascribed to Him, but He forgives what is less than that to whom He wills' [Qur'an 4:48]. He said: A good verse, but not that one. Others said: 'And whoever does evil or wrongs himself...' [Qur'an 4:110], the verse. He said: A good verse, but not that one. Others said: 'And those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember God and seek forgiveness for their sins' [Qur'an 3:135]. He said: A good verse, but not that one. Then the people held back, and he said: What is the matter with you, O company of Muslims? They said: By God, we have nothing further. He said: I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: The most hope-giving verse in the Book of God is 'And establish the prayer at the two ends of the day and in the watches of the night' [Qur'an 11:114] - and he recited the whole verse - and he said: O Ali, by Him who sent me with the truth as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner, when one of you rises to his ablution, sins fall away from his limbs; and when he turns his face and his heart toward God, he does not finish his prayer with anything of his sins remaining upon him, but is as on the day his mother bore him. And if he commits something between the two prayers, he receives the like of that again - and thus he counted the five prayers. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 3, p. 39)
The narrator says: One day the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Which is the most hope-giving verse in the Qur'an? They said: 'Truly God does not forgive that partners be ascribed to Him, but He forgives what is less than that to whom He wills.' He said: It is hope-giving, but there is one better than this. They said: 'Whoever does evil or wrongs himself...' He said: Not this one either. They said: 'And those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember God and seek forgiveness for their sins.' He said: No! They said: Then which is it? He said: I heard from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that it is this verse: 'And establish the prayer at the two ends of the day and in the watches of the night...' [Qur'an 11:114] - for it says: good deeds drive away evil deeds. As soon as a Muslim performs ablution with the intention of prayer, he is cleansed of his sins. And Muslims are constantly performing ablution and constantly going to and fro to the mosques, and their gathering places are their mosques.
From Ali (AS), that he said: Sitting in the mosques is the monasticism of Islam; the believer's assembly is his mosque, and his hermitage is his house. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 3, p. 359)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Going to the mosque is the monasticism of Islam; the believer's assembly is in the mosque, and the believer's hermitage is his own house.
From Kumayl ibn Ziyad, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), that he said: O Kumayl, do not be deceived by people who pray and prolong their prayer, who fast and persist in fasting, and who give alms, and who suppose themselves to be granted success. O Kumayl, I swear by God, I certainly heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: When Satan has driven a people to indecencies such as fornication, wine-drinking, usury and the like of obscenity and sin, he makes intense worship beloved to them - humility, bowing, submissiveness and prostration - and then he drives them to the allegiance of leaders who summon to the Fire, and on the Day of Resurrection they shall not be helped. O Kumayl, the matter is not that you pray and fast and give alms; the matter is rather that the prayer be performed with a God-fearing heart, with a deed pleasing to God, with sound humility, and with perseverance in earnestness therein - this is the counsel. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 4, p. 94)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to Kumayl: Do not be deceived by those who prolong their prayers, who fast continually, who give much in charity and who reckon themselves successful! Then he said: O Kumayl! I heard from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that Satan, once he has thoroughly stained a group of people with indecencies such as fornication, wine and usury, then awakens in them an eagerness for intense worship, for humility, bowing, submissiveness and prostration. At the next stage he makes them intimates of the leaders of unbelief in society, the very ones who make people the people of Hell. O Kumayl, prayer, fasting and almsgiving are not the criterion; the criterion is prayer with a pure heart, a deed pleasing to God, true humility, and following the rightful Imam.
From al-Sadiq, from his father, from his grandfather (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When you pray, let yourself hear the recitation, the takbir and the tasbih. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 4, p. 199)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: During prayer, impress upon yourself the recitation, the takbir and the tasbih; or: listen well to your own recitation, takbir and tasbih.
From Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), that he said: A man took exquisite care over 'In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate', and he was forgiven. And from him: Give the Qur'an its proper vocalization and seek out its rarities. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 4, p. 371)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Someone examined closely the words 'In the name of God' and their meaning, and this alone caused him to become one of the people of Paradise. And he said: Give the Qur'an its vocalization marks and uncover its rarities.
From 'Adi ibn Hatim al-Ta'i, who said: I came in to the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) and found him standing in prayer, his colour altered. I have not seen anyone after the Messenger of God (PBUH) more complete in bowing and prostration than he. I hastened toward him, and when he sensed my presence he gestured to me with his hand, so I halted until he had prayed two rak'as, brief yet complete. Then he gave the salam, then he made a prostration and prolonged it, so that I said to myself: By God, he has fallen asleep! Then he raised his head. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 5, p. 128)
The son of Hatim al-Ta'i says: I came in to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) while he was praying and his colour was altered. Apart from the Messenger of God (PBUH), no one prayed in this manner. His bowing and prostration were perfect. When he sensed my presence, he gestured with his hand for me to wait, so I sat down there. He completed the prayer and made a prostration. His prostration lasted so long that I thought he had fallen asleep. Then he raised his head from the prostration.
Ali (AS) said: Whoever says three times, 'O God, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad', God fulfils his need. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 5, p. 227)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whoever says three times, 'O God, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad', his need shall be granted!
From his father, that Ali (AS) used to say: Nothing invalidates the prayer; and ward off what you can. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 5, p. 405)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Nothing cuts off the prayer; do whatever you wish.
From Ali (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) would at times touch his beard during the prayer. We said: O Messenger of God, we see you touching your beard in the prayer. He said: That is when my cares are many. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 5, p. 417)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Sometimes, in the midst of prayer, the Messenger of God (PBUH) would touch his blessed beard with his hand. We asked him the reason for this. He said: This is when my cares and sorrows are many.
From Ali ibn al-Husayn, from his father, that Ali (AS) said: Neither judgement, nor the prescribed penalties, nor the Friday prayer is valid except with an Imam. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 6, p. 13)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Judgement, the carrying out of the prescribed penalties, and the Friday prayer require the presence of the Imam.
From Ali (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: Whoever commits a sin and is fearful on account of it, let him perform a full ablution, then go out to an open stretch of ground where no one sees him, and pray two rak'as, then say: 'O God, forgive me such and such a sin' - for that is an expiation for him. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 6, p. 394)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to say: One who has committed a sin and is fearful of it should perform ablution with full presence of heart and go out to a solitary place of the earth beneath the open sky, where no one can see him, and there pray two rak'as. Then let him say: O God, I have done such and such; forgive me! This act is an expiation for his sin.
From Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), who said: When the Messenger of God (PBUH) forgot something, he would place his forehead in the palm of his hand and say: O God, Yours is the praise, O You who bring things to remembrance and who cause them to be, remind me of what I have forgotten. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 6, p. 424)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the Messenger of God (PBUH) forgot something, he would place his forehead in the palm of his hand and say: O God! Praise belongs to You. O You who bring to remembrance! Bring it back to my remembrance!
From Ali (AS), that he said: Close the gaps and complete the rows, for God and His angels send blessings upon those who complete the rows. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 6, p. 505)
Before the beginning of the congregational prayer the Commander of the Faithful (AS) would say: Fill the empty places and complete the rows! The blessings of God and of the angels be upon you!
From Ali (AS): that the Messenger of God (PBUH) shortened the prayer at Mina. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 6, p. 574)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to pray his prayers shortened at Mina.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), that he said: Every asking is humiliation and diminishment, except a man's asking of his Imam, or of his scholar, or of his father; in that there is no humiliation for him and no diminishment. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 7, p. 228)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: All requests are humiliation and diminishment, except a request made to the Imam, or to a scholar, or to one's father.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), that he said: God has not been worshipped with anything more demanding than walking to His House. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 8, p. 29)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The best act of worship is to set out and walk toward the House of God (the mosque).
He (AS) said: Beware of one whom your hearts detest. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 8, p. 350)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Beware of that which your heart does not accept!
From al-Hasan ibn Ali (AS), that he said: His father said to him at the time of his death: Cling to silence and you will be safe. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 9, p. 20)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do you desire well-being and safety? Then guard your tongue and keep silent!
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), that he said in praise of Kufa: Woe to you, O Kufa! How good you are and how sweet your air, and how wicked are many of your people! (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 10, p. 264)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: O Kufa! What a fine and pleasant place you are; but alas that most of your people are wicked.
Al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Shu'ba in Tuhaf al-'Uqul: A letter that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) wrote to Ziyad ibn al-Nadr when he dispatched him in command of his vanguard toward Siffin: Know that the vanguard of a people is their eyes, and the eyes of the vanguard are their scouts. So when you have gone out from your own land and drawn near to your enemy, do not weary of dispatching scouts in every direction, and into some of the ravines, the trees and the thickets, and on every side, so that your enemy may not fall upon you unawares and so that you may have an ambush ready. Do not let the squadrons and the tribes march from morning until evening save in ordered array, so that if some matter befalls you suddenly or some misfortune overtakes you, you will already have been drawn up in array. And when you halt facing an enemy, or he halts facing you, let your camp be on the near slopes of the high ground, or at the foot of the mountains, or between rivers, so that it may serve you as support and as a barrier against your foe. Let your fighting be from one or two directions. Post your lookouts on the mountain peaks, on the heights and on the shoulders of the rivers, that they may keep watch for you, lest your enemy come upon you from a place of danger or of safety. When you halt, halt all together, and when you move on, move on all together. And when night covers you and you halt, encircle your camp with spears and shields, and place your archers next to your shields, so that no heedlessness may befall you and no negligence overtake you. Guard your camp yourself, and beware of sleeping or of passing into morning save with a light doze or the briefest snatch of sleep. Let this be your practice and your habit until you reach your enemy. Take care to be deliberate in managing your host, and beware of haste unless an opportunity presents itself to you. And beware of fighting unless they begin it, or my command reaches you. Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 40)
A letter from the Commander of the Faithful (AS) to Ziyad ibn al-Nadr, when he sent him as the vanguard of the army toward Siffin: Know that the vanguard of the army is its eyes. So when you have gone out from your own land and drawn near to the enemy, do not weary of sending scouts in every direction, and into some of the valleys, among the trees and thickets, and on every side, so that the enemy may not fall upon you and take you unawares, and so that you yourselves may prepare an ambush for him. Do not move the army and the tribes from morning until evening except in ordered ranks, so that if some sudden event occurs or you are faced with a difficulty, you will already be prepared. And if you encamp against the enemy, or the enemy encamps against you, place your camp on the slopes of the heights or at the foot of the mountains, so that you may have support and a way of retreat at your disposal. Let your fighting be from one or two sides, and post your lookouts on the mountain peaks and on the high ground so that they may keep watch for you and the enemy may not take you unawares from any point, safe or unsafe. Whenever you halt, halt all together; and when you move on, move on all together. And if night falls and you halt, encircle your camp with spearmen and shields, and place your archers behind the shields, so that you may not be taken unawares and no heedlessness may befall you. And guard the camp yourself, in person. Beware of sleeping or of passing into morning except with a light sleep or a short nap. And let this be your method and your constant habit until you reach the enemy. In the management of your army be forbearing and avoid haste, unless you gain an opportunity. And beware of being the one to begin the fighting, unless they begin it or my order reaches you. And peace be upon you and the mercy of God.
From al-Asbagh, who said: Ali (AS) was never in a battle but that he called out: O Kaf-Ha-Ya-'Ayn-Sad! (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 105)
Asbagh ibn Nubata says that in battles the Commander of the Faithful (AS) would cry out: 'Ya Kaf-Ha-Ya-'Ayn-Sad!'
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), that he said to his son: Truly God, mighty and majestic, has made the noble traits of character a link between Himself and His servants; so we love that each one of you should hold fast to a trait of character that connects him to God. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 192)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: God has made the noble traits of character a bond between Himself and His servants. So act by the noble traits of character, that you may be joined to God.
He (AS) said: Justice is the life of legal judgements; truthfulness is the spirit of speech. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 318)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The life of legal judgements lies in justice, and the spirit of speech lies in truthfulness.
From Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: The believer has seventy-two veils. When he commits a sin, one veil is torn away from him; and if he repents, God restores it to him (and seventy along with it). But if he refuses and persists in pressing forward in acts of disobedience, his veils are torn away from him; and if he repents, God restores them, and with each of those veils seven veils. But if he refuses and persists in pressing forward in acts of disobedience, his veils are torn away and he is left with no veil at all, and God, mighty and majestic, reveals to the angels: Cover My servant with your wings, for the children of Adam reproach but do not reform, whereas I reform and do not reproach. But if he still refuses and persists in pressing forward in acts of disobedience, the angels complain of him to their Lord and raise their wings and say: O Lord, this servant of Yours has hurt us by the indecencies he commits, both open and hidden. He said: Then it is said to them: Withhold your wings from him. Then, were he to commit a sin in the blackness of the night, or in the broad light of day, or in a desert waste, or in the depths of the sea, God would set it running upon the tongues of the people. So ask God not to tear away your veils. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 11, p. 352)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: For the believer there are seventy-two veils. Whenever he commits a sin, one of those veils is drawn aside. If he repents, God restores that veil to him. But if he persists in sin and presses on, his veils are drawn aside one by one. If he then repents, God restores all those veils to him. If he still persists in sin and sins continually, all the veils are drawn aside and he is left without any veil. In this state God, mighty and majestic, reveals to the angels: Cover My servant with your wings, for the children of Adam find fault but do not put right, whereas I put right and do not find fault. If he still persists in sin, the angels complain of him to their Lord and draw their wings aside and say: O Lord, this servant of Yours torments us with the vile deeds he does, whether open or hidden. Then God says: Withhold your wings from him. Thereafter, if he commits a sin, whether in the darkness of night or in the light of day, whether in the wilderness or in the depths of the sea, that sin runs upon the tongues of the people and he is disgraced. So ask God not to tear away your veils and to preserve your honour.
In the report of the Syrian shaykh: he asked the Commander of the Faithful (AS): Which humiliation is the most humiliating? He said: Greed for this world. And it is narrated that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked about greed, what it is. He said: Seeking the little by squandering the much. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 59)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was asked about the worst humiliation. He said: Greed for this world. They asked: What exactly is greed? He said: Giving much and taking little.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS): He was asked which of people is the most abased in grief. He said: The worst of them in character. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 76)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who is ill-tempered is always sorrowful.
From his grandfather Ali ibn al-Husayn, from his father, from Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), from the Messenger of God: I found in what God, blessed and exalted, has revealed, that there is no servant who commits a sin, whatever it may be and however far it may go, and then repents, but that God Most High turns to him in forgiveness. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 128)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to say: God has said: When a servant repents, whatever he may have done, I too turn toward him and forgive.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: He has not died who leaves behind good deeds to be taken as a model; and whoever spreads wisdom is remembered by it. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 229)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: One who has done deeds that will be carried on after his death, or who has left behind some wisdom that will be spread after him, never dies.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Taqiyya is to deal with people according to what they recognize and to leave aside what they reject, as a precaution against their mischief. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 337)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Taqiyya means dealing with people in a way that they recognize, and setting aside what is foreign to them, in order to remain safe from their mischief.
From a letter of his to Qutham ibn al-'Abbas, who was his governor over Mecca: To proceed: Establish the Hajj for the people, remind them of the Days of God, and sit for them morning and evening: give legal opinion to the one who asks for it, teach the ignorant, and remind the learned. Let there be no envoy between you and the people but your tongue, and no chamberlain but your own face; and do not bar anyone in need from meeting you with his need, for if it is turned back from your doors at its first coming, you will not be praised afterwards for granting it. Then look at what has gathered with you of God's wealth and disburse it to those about you who have dependants and who suffer hunger, applying it precisely to the places of poverty and want; and whatever remains beyond that, convey to us, that we may distribute it among those who are with us. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 13, p. 172)
This is a letter that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) wrote to Qutham ibn 'Abbas at the time when he had made him governor of Mecca: To proceed: Establish the rites of the Hajj for the people and remind them of the Days of God. Sit for the people in the late afternoon: give legal opinion to the questioner, teach the ignorant and remind the learned. Let there be no intermediary between you and the people but your tongue, and let no chamberlain act as a go-between save your own face; and turn no needy person away from meeting you, for if a needy person is turned back from your door at his first coming, then what should not have happened has happened. Then look at what of God's wealth has gathered with you, and convey it to the needy and the hungry of your region and spend it rightly in the places of the poor and the destitute. And whatever remains over and above that, send to us, so that we may distribute it among those who are with us.
From Ali (AS), that he said: Part of a woman's jihad is being a good wife to her husband. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 14, p. 246)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Part of a woman's jihad is serving her husband.
From Ali (AS), that he said: When the discord (nushuz) comes from the side of the wife and not from the side of the husband, then it is lawful for the man to take back everything he has conveyed to her. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 15, p. 381)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: If the discord and disobedience comes from the side of the wife and not from the side of the husband, then it is lawful for the man to take back everything he has given to the woman.
From the Commander of the Faithful (AS): He said to his son al-Hasan (AS): O my son, eat no morsel of anything hot or cold, and drink no draught or sip, without saying, before you eat it and before you drink it: 'O God, I ask You, in my eating and my drinking, for safety from its harm, and for strength through it in obeying You, remembering You and thanking You for whatever of it You leave in my body; and that You make me strong by its strength for Your worship, and that You inspire me with the best guarding of myself against disobeying You.' For if you do that, you will be safe from its ill effects and its harm. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 16, p. 281)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to Imam al-Hasan (AS): My son, eat no morsel of hot or cold food and drink no draught without saying, before eating or drinking it:
O God, I ask of You, in my eating and my drinking, safety from its harm and its sickness, and strength for obeying You, for remembering and thanking You throughout the remainder of my life; and that by its strength You make me courageous in Your worship, and that You inspire me how to keep myself from disobeying You.
From Abu Ja'far (AS): We found the books of Ali (AS) joined together in one continuous roll. (Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 17, p. 293)
Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: Among my father's books, the book of Ali (AS) was joined together as one continuous whole, not in separate, scattered pieces.
The book was completed on the afternoon of Friday, the second of Khordad of the year 1404, corresponding to the 25th of Dhu al-Qa'da of the year 1446, the day of Dahw al-Ard.