Eternal Words Nahj al-Balaghah Sayings saying - 61 to 80
saying - 61 to 80
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61. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Woman is a scorpion whose touch is sweet.
62. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: If you are met with a greeting, give better greetings in return. If a hand of help is extended to you, do a better favor in return, although the credit will remain with the one who was the first.
63. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: One who intercedes is the wing of one who seeks.
64. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: The people of the world are like travelers who are being carried while they are asleep.
65. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: A lack of friends means strangeness.
66. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: To miss what one needs is easier than to beg from an inappropriate person.
67. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Do not feel ashamed for giving little because refusal is smaller than that.
68. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Charity is the adornment of destitution, while gratefulness (to Allah) is the adornment of riches.
69. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: If what you aim at does not come about, then do not worry as to what you were.
70. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: You will not find an ignorant person but at one extreme or another (i.e. a person who neglects or a person who exaggerates).
71. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: As intelligence increases, speech decreases.
72. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Time wears out bodies, renews desires, brings death nearer and takes away aspirations. Whoever is successful with it encounters grief, and whoever misses its favors also undergoes hardships.
73. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Whoever places himself as a leader of the people should commence with educating his own self before educating others, and his teaching should be by his own conduct before teaching by the tongue. The person who teaches and instructs his own self is more entitled to esteem than whoever teaches and instructs others.
74. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Each breath taken by a man is a step towards his death.
75. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Every countable thing is to pass way and every expected thing must come about.
76. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: If matters get mixed up, then the last ones should be appreciated compared to the previous one.
77. It is related that when Dirar ibn Hamzah (the correct: Damrah) ad-Dibabi (or as-Suda’i) went to Mu`awiyah and Mu`awiyah inquired from him about Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him, he said the following: “I testify that I have seen him on several occasions when night had spread and he was standing in the niche (of the mosque) holding his beard, groaning like a man bitten by a snake and weeping as a grieved man, saying: O world, O world! Get away from me! Why do you present yourself tome?! Or are you eager for me?! You may not get that opportunity to impress me. Deceive some other person. I have no concern with you. I have divorced you thrice after which there is no restitution. Your life is short, your importance is little and your liking is humble. Alas! The provision is little, the way is long, the journey is far and the goal is hard to reach.”
On the Subject of Predestination
78. A man inquired from Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him saying, “Was our going to fight the Syrians destined by Allah?” Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib (p.b.u.h.) detailed his reply, a selection from which is here:
Woe unto you! You take it as a final and unavoidable destiny (according to which we are bound to act). If it were so, there would have been no question of reward or chastisement and there would have been no sense in Allah’s promises or warnings. (On the other hand) Allah, the Glorified One, has ordered His servants to act according to their free will and has cautioned them and protected them (from evil). He has placed easy obligations on them and has not put heavy obligations. He gives them much (reward) in return for little action. He is disobeyed, not because He is overpowered. He is obeyed but not by force. He did not send prophets just for fun. He did not send down the Book for the people without a purpose. He did not create the skies, the earth and all that is in between them in vain. That is the imagination of those who disbelieve: “...then woe unto those who disbelieve because of the fire” (Holy Qur’an, 38: 27).
79. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: Take wise points from wherever they may be because if a wise saying is in the bosom of a hypocrite, it flutters in his bosom till it comes out and settles with others of its own category: in the bosom of the believer.
80. Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib, peace be upon him said: A wise saying is a lost article of the believer. Therefore, get wise sayings even though from people of hypocrisy.
