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Back You are here: Home Eternal Words Nahj al-Balaghah Sayings saying - 121 to 140

saying - 121 to 140


121. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: What a difference there is between two kinds of actions: “A deed whose pleasure passes away but its (ill) consequence remains, and a deed whose hardship passes away but its reward stays.

122. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him was present at a funeral when he heard someone laugh. He, therefore, said: Is it that death has been ordained only for others? Is it that right is obligatory only on others? Is it that those whom we see departing on their journey of death will come back to us? We lay them down in their graves then enjoy their estate (as if we will live for good after them). We have ignored every preacher, man or woman and have exposed ourselves to every catastrophe.

123. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Blessed be whoever humbles himself, whose livelihood is pure, whose heart is chaste, whose habits are virtuous, who spends his savings (in the name of Allah), who prevents his tongue from speaking nonsense, who keeps people safe from evil, who is pleased with the (Prophet’s) Sunnah and who is unconnected with innovation (in religion).

Sayyid ar-Razi says that some people attribute this and the previous saying to the Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.).

124. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: The jealousy of a woman (with co-wives) is heresy, while the jealousy of a man is a part of belief.

125. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: I am defining Islam as none has defined it before me: Islam is submission, submission is conviction, conviction is affirmation, affirmation is acknowledgment, acknowledgment is carrying out (of obligations) and carrying out obligations is action.

126. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: I wonder at the miser who is speeding towards the very destitution from which he wants to run away and misses the very ease of life which he covets. Consequently, he passes his life in this world like the destitute but will have to render an account in the next world like the rich.
I wonder at the proud man who was just a drop of semen the other day and will turn into a corpse tomorrow. I wonder at the man who doubts Allah although He sees His creations. I wonder at him who has forgotten death although he sees people dying. I wonder at him who denies the second life although he has seen the first. I wonder at him who inhabits this transient abode but ignores the everlasting one.

127. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Whoever falls short of actions falls into grief, and Allah has nothing to do with him who spares nothing from his wealth in the name of Allah.

128. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Guard yourselves against cold in its (seasonal) beginning and welcome it towards its end because it affects bodies in the same way as it affects plants. In the beginning, it destroys them, but in the end it gives them fresh leaves.

129. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: The Greatness of the Creator appreciated by you will belittle the creatures in your view.

130. When Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him returned from (the battle of) Siffin and noticed the graves outside Kufah, he said: O residents of houses which give a sense of loneliness, of depopulated areas, of gloomy graves! O people of the dust! O victims of strangeness! O people of loneliness and O people of desolateness! You have gone ahead and preceded us while we are following you and will join you. The houses (you left) have been inhabited by others; the wives (you left) have been married by others; the properties have been distributed (among heirs). This is the news about those around us; what is the news about things around you?!
Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib (p.b.u.h.) turned to his companions and said: Beware! If they were allowed to speak they will inform you that: “Verily, the best provision is fear of Allah” (Holy Qur’an, 2: 197).

About Those Who Unfairly Blame Life in this World

131. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him heard a man speaking ill of life in this world, so he said to him: O you who abuses the world! O you who has been deceived by it and cheated by its wrongs! Do you thus covet the world then abuse it?! Do you accuse it or should it accuse you?! When did it bewilder you or deceive you, whether by the decay and fall of your forefathers, or by the sleeping places of your mothers under the ground? How much did you look after them in their illness and nursed them during sickness, desiring them to be cured and consulting physicians for them in the morning when your medicine did not avail them and your wailing for them did not benefit them? Your mourning over them did not prove useful to them and you could not achieve your aim. You could not ward off (death) from them with all your power. In fact, through the dying man, the world presented an illustration for you and showed you by the example of his falling down how you will also fall.
Certainly, this world is a house of truth for whoever appreciates it, a place of safety for whoever understands it, a house of riches for whoever collects provision from it (for the next world), and a house of instructions for whoever draws instruction from it. It is the place of worship for those who love Allah, the place of praying for the angels of Allah, the place where the revelation of Allah descends, and the marketing place for those devoted to Allah. Herein, they earned mercy and herein they acquired Paradise by way of profit.
Therefore, who can abuse it when it has announced its departure and called out that it will leave?! It had given news of its own destruction and the death of its people. By its hardship, it set an example of their hardships. By its pleasures, it created eagerness for the pleasures (of the next world). It brings ease in the evening and grief in the morning by way of persuasion, dissuasion, alarm and warning. People abuse it on the morning of their repentance, but there are others who will praise it on the Day of Judgment. The world recalled to them the next life and they bore it in mind. It related to them (things of the next life) and they acknowledged them. It preached to them and they took lesson therefrom.

132. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: There is an angel of Allah who calls out every day: “Beget children for death! Collect wealth for destruction and raise construction for ruin!”

133. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: This world is a transient place, not a place of stay. The people herein are of two types: One is a man who sold away his soul (to his passions) and thus ruined it, and the other is a man who purchased his soul (by controlling his desires) and freed it.

134. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: A friend is not a friend unless he affords protection to his comrade on three occasions: in his adversity, in his absence and at the time of his death.

135. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Whoever is bestowed four things is not disallowed four things: whoever is allowed to pray is not deprived of the response to it; whoever is allowed to offer repentance is not deprived of its acceptance; whoever is allowed to seek forgiveness is not deprived of forgiveness, and whoever is allowed to be grateful is not deprived of furtherance of favors.

Sayyid ar-Razi says that this is confirmed by the Book of Allah. About praying, Allah says, “Call unto Me, I will answer you” (Holy Qur’an, 4: 60). About forgiveness Allah says, “And whoever does evil, or wrongs his own self and thereafter seeks Allah’s forgiveness shall find Allah oft-Forgiving, most Merciful” (Holy Qur’an, 4: 110). About gratefulness He says, “If you show gratitude, I will increase (my favors) to you” (Holy Qur’an, 14: 7). About repentance He says, “Verily, repentance (acceptable) with Allah is only for those who do evil out of ignorance then turn (to Allah) soon (thereafter); to these, Allah will turn mercifully, and Allah is all-Knowing, all-Wise” (Holy Qur’an, 4: 17).

136. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: For the God-fearing, prayers is a means of seeking nearness to Allah, and for the weak, the hajj is as good as jihad. For everything there is a tax, and the tax of the body is fasting. The jihad of a woman is to afford pleasant company to her husband.

137. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Seek livelihood by giving alms.

138. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Whoever is sure of a good return is generous in giving.

139. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Assistance is allowed according to need.

140. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Whoever is moderate does not become destitute.

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