RE: The rational and logical sayings of Household of guidance.
October 11, 2018 at 9:31 pm
(This post was last modified: October 11, 2018 at 9:49 pm by Mystic.)
(4) The 7th Imam (Imam Musa Al-kadhim) explaining reasoning.
He says: Give the glad news to those of Our servants who listen to the words and only follow the best ones. Tell them that they are those whom God has guided. They are the people of understanding.
O Husham bin Al-Hakam, God the Majestic has certainly submitted His arguments to people perfectly through minds, explained everything completely to them, and led people to His godhead through the guides. He says: Your Lord is the only Lord. There is no God but He, the Beneficent and Merciful. The creation of the heavens and the earth, the alternation of nights and days, the ships that sail in the sea for the benefit of the people, the water that God sends from the sky to revive the dead earth where He has scattered all kinds of animals, the winds of all directions, and the clouds rendered for service between the sky and the earth are all evidence (of His existence) for those who use their reason. O Husaham, God the Majestic provides the people's having a Manager as the evidence on the acknowledgement of Him. He says: God has made the day and the night, the sun and the moon, and all the stars subservient to you by His command. In this there is evidence of the truth for people of understanding.
God says: Ha Mim. I swear by the illustrious Book. We have made it an Arabic reading text so that perhaps you may understand. God also says: Also, of the evidence of His existence are His showing you lightening which gives you fear and hope and His sending water down from the sky, which revives the earth after its death. In this there is evidence (of the truth) for the people of understanding. O Husham, God then preaches to the people of reason and makes them desirous to the world to come. He says: The worldly life is but useless amusement and sport (compared to) the life hereafter, which is far better and is only for the pious. Will you not then understand?
God also says: Whatever you (people) have been given are only the means for enjoyment and beauty of the worldly life, but the means of enjoyment (which you will receive from God) in the life to come will be better and everlasting. Will you then not take heed? O Husham, God then warns the unintelligent against His chastisement. He the Majestic says: Then We totally destroyed the others. You pass by (their ruined town) in the morning and at night. Will you then not understand? O Husham, God then expounds that mind is always favoring knowledge. He says: These are parables, which We tell to human being, but only the learned ones understand them. O Husham, God then dispraises those who are incapable of understanding. He says: When some people are asked to follow the revelations of God, they say, "We would rather follow what our fathers have followed," even though their fathers had no understanding and could not find the true guidance.
God says: The wickedest beasts in the sight of God are the deaf and the dumb who have no understanding. God says: If you ask them, "Who has created the heavens and the earth," they will certainly say, "God has created them." Say, "It is only God who deserves all praise, but most of them do not know. God then dispraises the majority. He says: Most of the people in the land will lead you away from God's guidance if you follow them. …But many of them are ignorant. Hence, most of them have no feeling.
O Husham, God then praises minority. He says: Very few of My servants are grateful. … Except for the righteously striving believers who are very few. No one believed in him, except a few. O Husham, God then mentions the people of the reasonable understanding in the best way of praise and describes them in the best wording. He says: God gives wisdom to anyone whom He wants. Whoever is given wisdom, certainly, has received much good. Only people of reason can grasp this. God also says: This is a reminder for everyone who has a heart. 'Heart' in the previous Verse stands for the capability of understanding. God also says: We gave wisdom to Luqman.
'Wisdom' stands for understandability and intelligence.
O Husham, Luqman said to his son: "Show modesty before the right and you will be the most reasonable. O son, this world is a deep ocean in which many people have sunk. God-fearing should be your ship in this ocean, faith the cargo, depending upon God its sail, reason its captain, knowledge its guide, and patience the anchor." O Husham, everything has its evidence. The evidence of being intelligent is pondering (over things) and the evidence on pondering is silence. Likewise, everything has its pack animal, and modesty is the pack animal of the intelligent. It is sufficient ignorant to ride on that which you are told not to ride. O Husham, if people tell that you have a pearl in your hand while you are sure it is a nut, not pearl, this should not advantage you. If people tell that you have a nut in the hand while you are sure it is a pearl, not nut, this also should not harm you. O Husham, the main reason beyond God's sending prophets and apostles is that people will understand the commandments of God and His apostles. The best responsive people will be the most understanding, the most knowledgeable of God's commandments will be the most intelligent, and the most intelligent then will be the most high-ranking in this world and the world to come.
O Husham, for every servant (of God), there is an angel invested with full power over him. Whenever that servant shows modesty for the sake of God, the angel will elevate him, and whenever he shows arrogance, the angel will humiliate him. O Husham, God has two arguments against people-one is explicit and the other is implicit. The explicit arguments of God are the apostles, prophets, and imams. The implicit arguments are the minds.
O Husham, the true intelligent is he whose legal-gotten provisions do not divert him from thanking God and whose illegal-gotten provisions do not divert him from being tolerant. O Husham, as for those who extinguish the illumination of thinking with the long expectations, erase the novels of wisdom with the curious wording, and extinguish the lights of learning with the personal whims, they will back their whims to ruin their brains. Those who ruin their minds will surely devastate their worldly and religious affairs.
O Husham, how come do you expect that God will accept your deeds while you are involving your mind with matters that are away from God's commandments and you are complying with your whims and letting them overcome your mind?
O Husham, the steadfastness against seclusions is a proof on willpower. He who understands the commandments of God, the Blessed the Exalted, will surely withdraw from the people of the worldly pleasures. He will also be desirous for that which God has promised and will regard God as the sociable in seclusion, the companion in loneliness, the fortune in poverty, and the supporter instead of the clan. O Husham, the creatures have been formed for obeying God. No safety is obtained without obedience. The course of obedience is knowledgeability and the course of knowledgeability is learning. Learning is possible through mind. There should be a godly scholar who is the source of knowledge. Such scholars can be recognized through the mind.
O Husham, the few deeds of the intelligent will be accepted and doubled, while the many deeds of the followers of passions and the ignorant will be rejected. O Husham, the true intelligent is that who agrees to have minimum worldly needs with wisdom. He does not agree to have little wisdom with all of the worldly pleasures. Therefore, his trade has been profitable. O Husham, if you think it is fortunate for you to have only what suffices you then you will be sufficed with the least needs of this world. If you think it is not sufficient for you to have the minimum needs of this world then all the worldly pleasures will not suffice you. O Husham, the intelligent have left the pleasures of this world. How is it then for the sins? The abstinence from the worldly surplus pleasures is recommendable while the desistance from committing sins is obligatory.
O Husham, the intelligent have abstained from the worldly pleasures and desired for the world to come because they have known that world, as well as the world to come, is demanding and demanded . The world will surely trace the seeker of the world to come to give him his provisions perfectly. The world to come will trace the seeker of the worldly pleasures when death overcomes him to deprive him of the pleasures of this world and the world to come.
O Husham, as for those who desire for being rich without fortune, having peace of mind against envy, and enjoying safety of the religion, they are advised to beseech to God imploringly for granting them perfect intelligence, for the intelligent will surely satisfy themselves with only what is sufficient for them. Consequently, he who satisfies himself with only what is sufficient for him will be surely rich. Those who do not satisfy themselves with what is sufficient for them will never obtain richness.
O Husham, as describing the manners of virtuous people, God the Majestic mentions that they are used to saying:
Lord, do not cause our hearts to deviate from Your guidance, and grant us mercy. You are the Most Awarding One. This is because they realized that hearts might be deviated or might regain their blindness and ruination. He who does not understand God's commandments will not fear Him. Similarly, he who does not understand God's commandments will not have a mind that is founded on constant knowledge that he considers and finds its factuality. Except those whose words and implicit beliefs agree with their deeds and appearances, no one can enjoy the previous characters. God has referred to the implicit affairs of the mind only through indicative appearances. O Husham, Amirul Muminin used to say: "The most favorable way of worshipping God is the intelligentness" . Mind is not perfect for a man unless he enjoys many qualities: he should save people from his atheism and evil and make them expect his reason and good. His wealth should be offered and he should avoid useless wording. His food should be his share from the worldly pleasures. He should never stop seeking knowledge. He should prefer humility and modesty with God to credit and honor with others. He should regard any favor that he does as little and see all people better than him and he is the most vicious among them. The enjoyment of such qualities is surely the perfection of intelligence and the perfection of personality.
O Husham, the deeds of the truthful will be purified, the provisions of the well-meaning will be increased, and the age of those how treat their friends and folks charitably will be elongated. O Husham, do not speak wording of wisdom before the ignorant so that you will not wrong it. Do not prevent the wise from receiving the wisdom lest you will wrong them.
O Husham, as they left wisdom for you, you should leave the worldly pleasures for them. O Husham, those who lack personality are surely lacking the religion and those who are unintelligent are surely lacking personality. The most high-ranking people are those who disregard the worldly pleasures completely. Paradise is the only price of your bodies; do not sell them with anything other than Paradise. O Husham, Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) used to say: "No one should sit in the forefront of a session except those who can answer when they are questioned, speak when others cannot, and own the most successful opinion. He who does not enjoy these three characters and allow himself to sit in the forefront of a session is surely idiot. Al-Hasan bin Ali (peace be upon him) used to say: 'You should seek needs only from their proper people.' 'O son of the Messenger of God,' some asked him, 'Who are the proper people of needs?' He (peace be upon him) answered: They are those whom God mentions in His Book and says about them: Only the people of reason take heed. They are the owners of mind. Ali bin Al-Hussein (peace be upon him) used to say:
To sit with the virtuous will invite to virtue, to sit with the scholars will increase the mind, the obedience to the just rulers is the perfection of honor, the investment of the wealth is the perfection of personality, to guide the seeker of counsel is fulfillment of the rights of favors, and the desistance from harm is a sign of the perfection of mind. It will, sooner or later, achieve physical relaxation. O Husham, the intelligent should not talk to the individuals that they anticipate they will belie him, ask from individuals that they anticipate they will not give, promise of things that they cannot do, hope for things that harm them, or take the initiative in doing what they anticipate they will not be able to accomplish.
Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) used to say to his companions:
I command you to fear God in secret and in public, be fair in both states of satisfaction and rage, earn provisions in richness and poverty, regard them who ruptured their relations with you, pardon them who oppressed you, and treat them who ignored you kindly. All your sights should be learning lessons, all your silence should be pondering over things, all your wordings should be mention of God, and all your nature should be generosity, for no stingy will be in Paradise and no generous will be in Hell. O Husham, God will compassionate them who feel properly embarrassed from Him by keeping the head with what it contains (like the eye, the ear, and the tongue) and the abdomen with what is in it, retain death and misfortune, and realize that Paradise is surrounded by misfortunes and Hell is surrounded by the appetites. O Husham, for those who abstain from engaging themselves in people's honors, God will protect them from slipping on the Day of Resurrection. For those who save people from (the results of) their rage, God will save them from His wrath on the Day of Resurrection. O Husham, the true intelligent should never tell lies even if it accords his whim. O Husham, in the wisp of the Prophet's sword, there is written: The most insolent of people is that who beats other than the one who beat him and kill other than the one who killed him. He who votes for other than his true masters is disbelieving in what God has revealed to His Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him and his family). As for those who bring a heresiarch matter or shelter an originator of a heresy, God will not accept their remuneration or apology on the Day of Resurrection. O Husham, after the acknowledgement of God, the best acts of the offertory to God are the prayers, piety to the parents, and evasion of envy, self-conceit, and pride.
O Husham, get ready for your coming days and prepare the answers for them. You will be inevitably judged and interrogated. Learn lessons from this world and its people. This life is surely long and short. You should act as if you can see the rewards of your acts in your hands, so that you will be urged acting so more importunately. Understand God's commandments and learn from the changeability of this world and its manners. The coming days of this world are certainly as same as those which passed away; therefore, you should take examples from these days. Ali bin Al-Hussein (peace be upon him) used to say:
All things that are under the sunlight in the east and west, in oceans and lands, and plains and mountains; all these are just like a shadow for the true disciples of God and the people of the acknowledgement of Him. Is there no free man who will leave this valueless world to its people? Paradise is the only price of your bodies; hence, you should avoid selling them with any other price. He who satisfies themselves with the worldly pleasures is surely satisfying himself with the worthless.
O Husham, all people look at the stars, but no one can realize their ways and places except those who have full acquaintance with astronomy. In like fashion, you all study wisdom, but no one can benefit by it except those who apply it practically. O Husham, the Christ (peace be upon him) said to his disciples: O bad servants, the height of a palm tree terrifies you as you remember its thorns and the difficulty of climbing it, but you forget its good fruits and benefits. The same thing is said about the world. As you remember the supplies of the acts of the world to come, you remember its long time and forget the bliss, illumination, and fruits that you will obtain there. O bad servants! To find the sweetest taste of wheat, you should first cull its grains, clean, and mill them properly. The same thing is said about faith. To find the best taste of faith and to benefit by its results, you should first have it as sincere and perfect as possible.
Truly I say to you: If you have found a torch the fuel of which is tar, in a gloomy night, you will surely seek its light disregarding its malodor. In a like manner, you should receive the wisdom from anybody with whom you find it, disregarding the scope of his desire for it. Truly I say to you, O slaves of this world! You will not attain the honor of the world to come unless you abstain from whatever you desire. Never postpone repentance to tomorrow. Before tomorrow, there is a day and a night during which God's act is coming and going. Truly I say to you: Those who are not indebted are surely less grievous than the indebted even if they defray their debts properly. In the same way, those who avoid committing sins are more relaxing and less grievous than the committers of sins even if they purely repent and return to God. The insignificant sins are the traps of the Shaitan who persuades you to disregard such sins until they are amassed and surround you. Truly I say to you: In wisdom, people are of two kinds; one is that who says the wisdom utterly and applies it to his deeds, and the other is that who says it utterly but wastes it through his evildoings. How difference between the two! Blessed are the scholars by deeds. Woe to the scholars by words.
O bad servants! Betake the mosques of your Lord as prisons of your bodies and foreheads. Make your hearts the residences of God-fearing. Do not make them the shelters of lusts. The most intolerant against misfortunes will be certainly the fondest of the worldly pleasures, and the most tolerant is the most abstinent. O bad slaves! Do not behave like the swift gledes, the sly foxes, the perfidious wolves, or the wild lions with their preys. Your conducts with people are in this form. You hurry to some, cheat others, and betray others. Truly I say to you: It is useless to have a sound physique while the interior is corrupted. Hence, your sound bodies should not admire you when your hearts are tainted. It is also useless to purify your skins when your hearts are dirty. Do not be like sieves that let the good flour pass and hold the bran. Likewise, you should not speak of wisdom while treason is filling in your hearts.
O slaves of this world! Your like is the lamp when it gives light to others and burns itself. O sons of Israel! Compete with each other in attending the scholars' sessions even if you will have to kneel. God will surely enliven the dead hearts by the illumination of wisdom like the rainfall when it enlivens the derelict lands. O Husham, the following is written in the Bible: Blessed be those who treat each other mercifully, for they will be treated mercifully on the Day of Resurrection. Blessed be the makers of peace between people, for they will be exclusively favored on the Day of Resurrection. Blessed be the pure-hearted, for they will be the pious on the Day of Resurrection. Blessed be the modest in this world, for they will be scaling the pulpits of majesty on the Day of Resurrection. O Husham, fewness of wording is a great wisdom. You should keep silent, for it is a good charity, a little burden, and a lightness of the sins. Fortify the door of self-possession because patience is the door of self-possession. God the Majestic surely hates those who laugh motivelessly and those who walk aimlessly. The rulers should be acting like the shepherds whose eyes are not turned away from their herd. They also should not treat their subjects arrogantly. Be ashamed of God in secrets in the same way you feel ashamed from people in public. You should know that the wording of wisdom is the believers' lost. Adhere to the knowledge before it is removed. The removal of knowledge is the absence of its people. O Husham, learn whatever you ignore and teach the ignorant your knowledge. Respect the scholars for their knowledge and avoid disputing with them, and disrespect the ignorant for their ignorance and do not dismiss them. You should approximate and teach them.
O Husham, the favors that you do not thank God for them are as same as the sins for which you will be punished. Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) said: There are the slaves of God whose hearts are broken due to fearing Him. Hence, they keep silent while they are eloquent and intelligent. They compete with each other on offering the pure deeds to God. They do not content with their many deeds and do not accept for themselves the few deeds. They see themselves as vicious while they are good and virtuous. O Husham, pudency is a part of faith and faith is a part of Paradise while obscenity is a part of aversion and aversion is in Hell. O Husham, speakers are one of three: winning, safe, or perishing. The winning speakers are those who mention God. The safe speakers are those who keep silent. The perishing speakers are those who are engaged in bad wording. God has certainly forbidden Paradise from including the impudent speakers of bad wording who do not care for what they say and what is said about them.
Abu Tharr (God please him) used to say:
O seeker of knowledge, the tongue is the key to both good and evil. You should seal your mouth as you seal your gold and currencies. O Husham, the worst servants (of God) are those who are two-faced and two-tongued. They are those who praise their friends when they meet them and backbite them when they are absent. They envy their friends who obtain graces and disappoint them when they are suffering a misfortune. Charity is the foremost in rewarding and oppression is the foremost in punishment. The most vicious slaves of God are those whom you hate to sit with for their obscenity. Except the harvest of the tongues, nothing overturns people on their noses in Hell. To leave what does not concern you is a sign of the proper Islam -submission to God-. O Husham, you will not be true believer unless to are fearful (of God's punishment) and hopeful (for God's reward). You will not be true fearful and true hopeful unless you avoid what you fear and work for what you hope. O Husham, God the Majestic says: I swear by My majesty, glory, might, potency, magnificence, and elevation, for the servants who prefer My biddings to their biddings, I will install opulence in their minds, make the world to come their concern, take the charge of saving their livelihood, make their provisions in the heavens and the earth, and guarantee their shares of profits in every transaction." O Husham, anger is the key to every evil. The most perfect faithful believers are the most well-mannered. If possible, you should associate only with those whom you have done favors.
O Husham, lenience is felicity and clumsiness is evil portent. Lenience, charity, and well mannerism boom the lodgings and increase the provisions. O Husham, God says: Can any thing else be a response to a favor but a favor? This holy saying is applicable to the believers and the disbelievers and the charitable and the lecherous. He whom has been done a favor should reward for it. To do favor to that who did you favor is not a suitable reward, because he will have the merit of commencing with doing the favor before you. O Husham, the like of this world is the snake-it is soft to the touch but bearing poison in the interior. The intelligent men fear the snake while the boys hurry to take it by the hands.
O Husham, be tolerant in the acts of obedience to God and be steadfast against the acts of disobedience to Him. This world is no more than an hour. You will not find the pleasures of what has passed away and you will not be able to recognize what is coming. Be patient in that hour and you will attain bliss. O Husham, the like of this world is the seawater-it leads the thirsty to more thirst until it kills him.
O Husham, beware of arrogance. He who feels arrogant, even if as small as a grain of mustard seed, in the heart will not see Paradise. Pride is God's dress and God will surely overturn those who try to take off His dress on the faces in Hell.
O Husham, he who does not settle an account with himself every day, so that he would seek more of the good deeds and seek God's forgiveness and acceptance of repentance for the bad deeds, is not one of us.
O Husham, the world came to the Christ (peace be upon him) in the form of a blue lady. He asked her, 'How many men did you marry?' 'Many,' answered the world. 'Did they all divorce you?' asked the Christ. 'No,' she replied, 'I killed all of them.' the Christ said, 'Woe to the rest of your husbands. Why do they not learn lessons from the past ones?'
O Husham, the light of the body is in the eyes. If the sight is luminous, the whole body will be bright. The light of the spirit is in the brain. If the servant is intelligent, he will be having acknowledgement of his Lord. If he has acknowledgement of his Lord, he will see his religion obviously. If he ignores the affairs of his Lord, he will be having no religion. Like the body that does not live without a living soul, the religion does not live without the true intendment. The true intendment is proved through mind only. O Husham, plants grow in plain, not rocky, lands. In the same way, wisdom will grow in the hearts of the modest, not the arrogant, because God has made modesty the instrument of the mind and made arrogance the instrument of ignorance. Do you not notice that he who raises the head to the ceiling will have his head broken? Likewise, he who hands down will enjoy the shades and the protection of the ceiling. Similarly, God will disgrace those who do not behave humbly to Him and will exalt those who humble themselves for Him. O Husham, how ugly poverty after richness is! How ugly the commitment of sins after religiousness is! Moreover, to leave the adoration of God after worship is uglier than the previous.
O Husham, except for either a heedful listener or a speaker of knowledge, life is surely worthless.
O Husham, God has not distributed among the servant anything better than intelligence. The sleep of the intelligent is preferred to the staying up of the ignorant. God specified intelligence as a qualification of the prophets so that their minds will be preferred to all of the efforts of the diligent ones together. A servant will not fulfill any of God's rights before he understands it. O Husham, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said:
You should approach the silent believer, because he will surely provide you with wisdom. The faithful believer should talk very little and act very much. The hypocrite talks very much and acts very little.
O Husham, God the Exalted revealed to David the prophet (peace be upon him):
Ask My servants not to make between them and Me scholars that are seduced by the worldly pleasures. They will surely preclude the servants from mentioning Me and block the way to My adoration and supplication. Such scholars are the bandits of My servants. The least thing that I will do to them is that I will take the charm of My adoration and supplication from their hearts. O Husham, the angels of the heavens and the angels of the earth will curse those who feel self-conceit. He who treats his friends arrogantly and haughtily is certainly opposing God. He who claims falsely is dragging himself away from his good. O Husham, God the Exalted revealed to David the prophet (peace be upon him):
O David, warn and advise your companions against the fondness of passions. The hearts of those who are fond of passions are certainly screened from Me. O Husham, beware of showing pride to my disciples and using your knowledge against them lest, God will hate you and, then, neither your world nor will your world to come stead you. Regard this world as a temporary lodging that you are waiting for leaving it. O Husham, to sit to the religious is the honor of this world and the world to come and to counsel with the intelligent and the well-wishers is good omen, blessing, rationality, and success from God. Beware of opposing the advise of the intelligent and the well-wishers so as to avoid perdition. O Husham, beware of associating with everybody except the intelligent and the trustful. You should be friendly with these two persons only. You should escape the others like escaping from beasts. The intelligent should be too ashamed from God to associate others in the intent of his deed, because God is the only endower of the graces. If you encounter two matters that you ignore which of them is the most correct and acceptable, you should leave the matter that is more favorable to the whim. The very much rightness lies in opposing the whims. Beware of challenging the wisdom and giving it to the people of ignorance.
Husham said: I asked the Imam (peace be upon him), 'What should I do if I find somebody seeking wisdom but his mind is too narrow to receive it?' He answered:
You should, in this case, deliver wisdom to him so kindly. If his heart is too narrow to receive it, you should avoid seditious matters. You should also avoid the answers of the arrogant. Knowledge will be disgraced if it is given to the unconscious. Husham said: 'What should I do if I cannot find a person who asks about wisdom properly?' said I to the Imam (peace be upon him), and he answered: You should take the opportunity of the ignorance of wisdom so as to be saved from the seditious wording and the great sedition of the answer. You should also realize that God did not elevate the modest people measure of their modesty, but He elevated them according to the measure of His might and glory. He did not secure the fearful according to their fear, but He secured them out of His compassion and mercy. What do you think about the Compassionate the Merciful Who curries favor with those who harm His disciple? How will He then behave to those whom are hurt due to their adherence to Him? What do you think about the Oft-Returning the Merciful Who accepts the repentance of His enemies? How will He then behave to those who accept Him and suffer people's enmity for His sake?
O Husham, the fear of the world to come will remove from the hearts of those who favor the worldly pleasures. He who favors the worldly affairs whenever he receives more knowledge will be remoter and remoter from God and God will consequently intensify His wrath on him. O Husham, the true intelligent is that who avoids what he cannot do. Most of correctitude lies in opposing the passions. For those who depend upon hopes, their deeds will be worse.
O Husham, if you consider the march of the death, you will be diverted from hopes. O Husham, beware of greed. Never expect having what is in people's hands. Deaden your expectation from the creatures. Certainly, greed is the key to humiliation. It reduces the mind, kills the acts of personality, soils the honors, and cancels knowledgeability. Abide by adherence and depending upon God. Strive your whims so as to prevent your essence from ruination. This is as obligatory as striving the enemies. Husham said: I asked the Imam (peace be upon him) about the kind of enemies whom should be striven before others. He answered: You should begin with the nearest to you, the most inimical, the most harmful, the most aggressive, and the most hidden despite his closeness to you. It is Eblis who is instigating your enemies against you and the source of the hearts' ill inspirations. You should regard him as the most antagonistic enemy and you should be more tolerant in striving him than him as he is trying to lead you to perdition. He is surely less supported than you are and less harmful despite his great evil, provided that you cling to God so as to be guided to a straight path. O Husham, God is surely doing great favors to those whom He endows with a mind that controls their whims, knowledge that controls their ignorance, and opulence that controls their poverty.
O Husham, beware of this world and its people. People are four classes: one is falling behind as he is embracing his whims, one is self-conceited due to his knowledge and the more he learns, the more arrogant he becomes. He towers up conceitedly before the less knowledgeable due to his being more learned. One (of the four classes) is ignorant worshipper who looks disgracefully to the less dutiful and desires for being respected and reverenced. The fourth is heedful, knowledgeable, and knowing, but he cannot drag people to the straight path because he is either powerless or beaten. He is also grievous because he cannot practice his knowledge. This one is the most ideal and the most intelligent of people. O Husham, discern the mind and its soldiers and the ignorance and its soldiers and you will be guided.
Husham said: I said, 'May God make me your sacrifice. We will not know unless you instruct us. Hence, the Imam (peace be upon him) answered: O Husham, the first thing of the mystical creatures that God created was the mind. He was on the right side of the Divine Throne. As God asked him to go, he went. As He asked him to come, he came. Hence, God the Majestic said: I created you as great and preferred you to all of My creatures. Then God created ignorance from the gloomy salty ocean and asked it to go, and it went. But when God asked him to come, it refused. Hence, God cursed it because it had behaved arrogantly.
God then arranged seventy-five soldiers for the mind. The ignorance, seeing what God had given honorably to the mind, felt malicious and said: O God, this is a creature as same as I, but you honored and supported him while I, its opposite, am powerless. Support me with soldiers like him. God the Exalted answered: Yes, I will, but if you disobey Me, I will take your soldiers and you out of My mercy. As the ignorance agreed to the condition, God gave it seventy-five soldiers.
Within the seventy-five soldiers of the mind was goodness, which is the supporter of the mind. In the other side, God made evil as the supporter of the ignorance. The soldiers of the mind and the ignorance are faith and disbelieving, belief and unbelief, sincerity and hypocrisy, hope and despair, justice and prejudice, satisfaction and displeasure, thanks and ingratitude, moderation and greed, trust and acquisitiveness, compassion and rudeness, knowledge and ignorance, chastity and profligacy, abstinence and desirousness, lenience and clumsiness, self-respect and taunt, modesty and arrogance, deliberation and rashness, composure and imprudence, silence and chatter, submission and challenge, compliance and defiance, pardon and malice, mercy and coarseness, conviction and suspect, forbearance and bigotry, overlooking and revenge, opulence and neediness, pondering and inadvertence, consciousness and oblivion, relation and alienation, contentment and avidity, giving and deprivation, amicability and enmity, loyalty and betrayal, obedience and disobedience, succumbing and daring, affluence and scarcity, understanding and idiocy, recognition and denial, humoring and nastiness, purity and cheating, concealment and divulging, piety and irreverence, factuality and falseness, favor and bad turn, circumspection and publicizing, fairness and injury, God-fearing and envy, cleanness and dirtiness, pudency and insolence, temperance and excess, rest and fatigue, ease and difficulty, good health and ailment, sufficiency and overindulgence, wisdom and capriciousness, sense of worth and levity, pleasure and grief, repentance and insistence, attention and negligence, supplication and disdain, activity and laziness, delight and discontent, harmony and disagreement, and courtesy and foolishness.
O Husham, these good attributes cannot come together in a personality other than the personalities of the prophets, their successors, or faithful believers who passed God's exam of faith. The other believers should have some of the soldiers of the mind so that they will have a perfect intelligence and get rid of the soldiers of ignorance. Only then, they may catch the highest rank of the prophets and their successors. God may lead you and us to His obedience.
(5) How to recognize God - Imam Sadiq (as).
Imam as-Sadiq (peace be upon him) asked the man who attended before him about his manner. 'I am one of your followers and adherents,' answered the man. Imam As-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: God will surely accept the servant whom He loves and will surely give Paradise to him whom He accepts.
'Which class of our followers are you?' asked the Imam (peace be upon him). The man found no answer. Sadir intruded to ask the Imam (peace be upon him), 'How many classes are your followers, son of the Prophet?' Imam as-Sadiq spoke:
Our followers are three classes. A class is those who pretend themselves our followers while the reality is the opposite, a class is those who cherish us secretly and do not follow us in public, and a class is those who cherish us openly and secretly. They are the highest group. They drank from the fresh water and had knowledge of the interpretation of the Book (of God), the distinction between the right and the wrong, and the causes of everything. Therefore, they have become the highest group. Poverty, destitution, and the varieties of crises are hastier than racehorses to them. They have suffered hardship and damage and they have been shaken and tested. Hence, they have been wounded and slain, scattering in the remote countries. Through them, God heals the ailed and richens the deprived. Moreover, you gain victory, rainfall, and earnings only through them. They are the fewest, but the owners of the greatest standings with God. The third class is the lowest group. They loved us in public, but they pursued the kings' practices. Their tongues are with us while their swords are unsheathed in our faces. The second class is the middle group. They loved us secretly and ignored us openly. I swear if they love us secretly not openly, they are the fasting in days and the worshippers at night. The signs of seclusion are shown on their faces. They are peaceful and submissive people.
The man declared, 'I am one of those who love you secretly and openly.' The Imam (peace be upon him) said:
Our followers in secret and openness enjoy a number of indications with which they are realized. As the man asked about these indications, the Imam (peace be upon him) said: These are certain characters the first of which is that they knew monotheism perfectly, they excelled in the rules of God's oneness, and finally they believed in God's oneness and its description. Then they recognized the outlines, facts, provisions, and interpretation of faith. Sadir intruded, 'O son of God's messenger, I have never heard you describing faith in such a form before.' The Imam (peace be upon him) answered: Yes, Sadir. The asker should not ask about faith before he knows the One in Whom he must believe.' 'O son of God's messenger,' asked Sadir, 'Would you please explain what you have said?' The Imam (peace be upon him) spoke:
He who claims that he knows God due to the imprint of the heart is polytheist. He who claims that knows God by name, not meaning, is declaring the contrary, because the name is new (created). He who claims that he worships the name and the meaning is associating others with God. He who claims that he worships the meaning by the description, not realization, is referring to something absent. He who claims that he worships the description and the described is nullifying God's oneness because description is something other than the described. He who claims that he adds the described to the description is belittling the great. They have no true respect of God.
'What is the course to the true believing in God's oneness, then?' some asked. He (peace be upon him) said: The door of search is opened and the pursuit of the exit is existing. The knowledge of the present should precede his description while the knowledge of the description of the absent should precede the knowledge of him. 'How can we know the witness before we know his descriptions?' they asked. He (peace be upon him) answered: You should first know him, know his knowledge, and know yourself through him. You should not know yourself through yourself. You should also know that whatever he has is to him and through him. As an example of this is Joseph's brothers when they addressed to him, 'Are you Joseph?' He said, 'Yes, I am Joseph and this is my brother.' They knew him through him. They neither knew him through others nor did they know him by themselves due to the imprints of their hearts. God says:
You could not even plant one tree.
This means that you should not appoint a leader for yourselves out of your whims and wills. As for three categories, God will not speak to them, will not look at them on the Day of Resurrection, will not second them, and will arrange for them a painful chastisement. They are those who plant a tree that God did not plant, i.e. those who appoint a leader for themselves out of their own whims, those who deny a leader that God appoints, and those who claim that those two persons have anything to do with Islam. God says: Your Lord creates and chooses to whomever He wants. They do not have the choice to choose whatever they want.
He says: Give the glad news to those of Our servants who listen to the words and only follow the best ones. Tell them that they are those whom God has guided. They are the people of understanding.
O Husham bin Al-Hakam, God the Majestic has certainly submitted His arguments to people perfectly through minds, explained everything completely to them, and led people to His godhead through the guides. He says: Your Lord is the only Lord. There is no God but He, the Beneficent and Merciful. The creation of the heavens and the earth, the alternation of nights and days, the ships that sail in the sea for the benefit of the people, the water that God sends from the sky to revive the dead earth where He has scattered all kinds of animals, the winds of all directions, and the clouds rendered for service between the sky and the earth are all evidence (of His existence) for those who use their reason. O Husaham, God the Majestic provides the people's having a Manager as the evidence on the acknowledgement of Him. He says: God has made the day and the night, the sun and the moon, and all the stars subservient to you by His command. In this there is evidence of the truth for people of understanding.
God says: Ha Mim. I swear by the illustrious Book. We have made it an Arabic reading text so that perhaps you may understand. God also says: Also, of the evidence of His existence are His showing you lightening which gives you fear and hope and His sending water down from the sky, which revives the earth after its death. In this there is evidence (of the truth) for the people of understanding. O Husham, God then preaches to the people of reason and makes them desirous to the world to come. He says: The worldly life is but useless amusement and sport (compared to) the life hereafter, which is far better and is only for the pious. Will you not then understand?
God also says: Whatever you (people) have been given are only the means for enjoyment and beauty of the worldly life, but the means of enjoyment (which you will receive from God) in the life to come will be better and everlasting. Will you then not take heed? O Husham, God then warns the unintelligent against His chastisement. He the Majestic says: Then We totally destroyed the others. You pass by (their ruined town) in the morning and at night. Will you then not understand? O Husham, God then expounds that mind is always favoring knowledge. He says: These are parables, which We tell to human being, but only the learned ones understand them. O Husham, God then dispraises those who are incapable of understanding. He says: When some people are asked to follow the revelations of God, they say, "We would rather follow what our fathers have followed," even though their fathers had no understanding and could not find the true guidance.
God says: The wickedest beasts in the sight of God are the deaf and the dumb who have no understanding. God says: If you ask them, "Who has created the heavens and the earth," they will certainly say, "God has created them." Say, "It is only God who deserves all praise, but most of them do not know. God then dispraises the majority. He says: Most of the people in the land will lead you away from God's guidance if you follow them. …But many of them are ignorant. Hence, most of them have no feeling.
O Husham, God then praises minority. He says: Very few of My servants are grateful. … Except for the righteously striving believers who are very few. No one believed in him, except a few. O Husham, God then mentions the people of the reasonable understanding in the best way of praise and describes them in the best wording. He says: God gives wisdom to anyone whom He wants. Whoever is given wisdom, certainly, has received much good. Only people of reason can grasp this. God also says: This is a reminder for everyone who has a heart. 'Heart' in the previous Verse stands for the capability of understanding. God also says: We gave wisdom to Luqman.
'Wisdom' stands for understandability and intelligence.
O Husham, Luqman said to his son: "Show modesty before the right and you will be the most reasonable. O son, this world is a deep ocean in which many people have sunk. God-fearing should be your ship in this ocean, faith the cargo, depending upon God its sail, reason its captain, knowledge its guide, and patience the anchor." O Husham, everything has its evidence. The evidence of being intelligent is pondering (over things) and the evidence on pondering is silence. Likewise, everything has its pack animal, and modesty is the pack animal of the intelligent. It is sufficient ignorant to ride on that which you are told not to ride. O Husham, if people tell that you have a pearl in your hand while you are sure it is a nut, not pearl, this should not advantage you. If people tell that you have a nut in the hand while you are sure it is a pearl, not nut, this also should not harm you. O Husham, the main reason beyond God's sending prophets and apostles is that people will understand the commandments of God and His apostles. The best responsive people will be the most understanding, the most knowledgeable of God's commandments will be the most intelligent, and the most intelligent then will be the most high-ranking in this world and the world to come.
O Husham, for every servant (of God), there is an angel invested with full power over him. Whenever that servant shows modesty for the sake of God, the angel will elevate him, and whenever he shows arrogance, the angel will humiliate him. O Husham, God has two arguments against people-one is explicit and the other is implicit. The explicit arguments of God are the apostles, prophets, and imams. The implicit arguments are the minds.
O Husham, the true intelligent is he whose legal-gotten provisions do not divert him from thanking God and whose illegal-gotten provisions do not divert him from being tolerant. O Husham, as for those who extinguish the illumination of thinking with the long expectations, erase the novels of wisdom with the curious wording, and extinguish the lights of learning with the personal whims, they will back their whims to ruin their brains. Those who ruin their minds will surely devastate their worldly and religious affairs.
O Husham, how come do you expect that God will accept your deeds while you are involving your mind with matters that are away from God's commandments and you are complying with your whims and letting them overcome your mind?
O Husham, the steadfastness against seclusions is a proof on willpower. He who understands the commandments of God, the Blessed the Exalted, will surely withdraw from the people of the worldly pleasures. He will also be desirous for that which God has promised and will regard God as the sociable in seclusion, the companion in loneliness, the fortune in poverty, and the supporter instead of the clan. O Husham, the creatures have been formed for obeying God. No safety is obtained without obedience. The course of obedience is knowledgeability and the course of knowledgeability is learning. Learning is possible through mind. There should be a godly scholar who is the source of knowledge. Such scholars can be recognized through the mind.
O Husham, the few deeds of the intelligent will be accepted and doubled, while the many deeds of the followers of passions and the ignorant will be rejected. O Husham, the true intelligent is that who agrees to have minimum worldly needs with wisdom. He does not agree to have little wisdom with all of the worldly pleasures. Therefore, his trade has been profitable. O Husham, if you think it is fortunate for you to have only what suffices you then you will be sufficed with the least needs of this world. If you think it is not sufficient for you to have the minimum needs of this world then all the worldly pleasures will not suffice you. O Husham, the intelligent have left the pleasures of this world. How is it then for the sins? The abstinence from the worldly surplus pleasures is recommendable while the desistance from committing sins is obligatory.
O Husham, the intelligent have abstained from the worldly pleasures and desired for the world to come because they have known that world, as well as the world to come, is demanding and demanded . The world will surely trace the seeker of the world to come to give him his provisions perfectly. The world to come will trace the seeker of the worldly pleasures when death overcomes him to deprive him of the pleasures of this world and the world to come.
O Husham, as for those who desire for being rich without fortune, having peace of mind against envy, and enjoying safety of the religion, they are advised to beseech to God imploringly for granting them perfect intelligence, for the intelligent will surely satisfy themselves with only what is sufficient for them. Consequently, he who satisfies himself with only what is sufficient for him will be surely rich. Those who do not satisfy themselves with what is sufficient for them will never obtain richness.
O Husham, as describing the manners of virtuous people, God the Majestic mentions that they are used to saying:
Lord, do not cause our hearts to deviate from Your guidance, and grant us mercy. You are the Most Awarding One. This is because they realized that hearts might be deviated or might regain their blindness and ruination. He who does not understand God's commandments will not fear Him. Similarly, he who does not understand God's commandments will not have a mind that is founded on constant knowledge that he considers and finds its factuality. Except those whose words and implicit beliefs agree with their deeds and appearances, no one can enjoy the previous characters. God has referred to the implicit affairs of the mind only through indicative appearances. O Husham, Amirul Muminin used to say: "The most favorable way of worshipping God is the intelligentness" . Mind is not perfect for a man unless he enjoys many qualities: he should save people from his atheism and evil and make them expect his reason and good. His wealth should be offered and he should avoid useless wording. His food should be his share from the worldly pleasures. He should never stop seeking knowledge. He should prefer humility and modesty with God to credit and honor with others. He should regard any favor that he does as little and see all people better than him and he is the most vicious among them. The enjoyment of such qualities is surely the perfection of intelligence and the perfection of personality.
O Husham, the deeds of the truthful will be purified, the provisions of the well-meaning will be increased, and the age of those how treat their friends and folks charitably will be elongated. O Husham, do not speak wording of wisdom before the ignorant so that you will not wrong it. Do not prevent the wise from receiving the wisdom lest you will wrong them.
O Husham, as they left wisdom for you, you should leave the worldly pleasures for them. O Husham, those who lack personality are surely lacking the religion and those who are unintelligent are surely lacking personality. The most high-ranking people are those who disregard the worldly pleasures completely. Paradise is the only price of your bodies; do not sell them with anything other than Paradise. O Husham, Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) used to say: "No one should sit in the forefront of a session except those who can answer when they are questioned, speak when others cannot, and own the most successful opinion. He who does not enjoy these three characters and allow himself to sit in the forefront of a session is surely idiot. Al-Hasan bin Ali (peace be upon him) used to say: 'You should seek needs only from their proper people.' 'O son of the Messenger of God,' some asked him, 'Who are the proper people of needs?' He (peace be upon him) answered: They are those whom God mentions in His Book and says about them: Only the people of reason take heed. They are the owners of mind. Ali bin Al-Hussein (peace be upon him) used to say:
To sit with the virtuous will invite to virtue, to sit with the scholars will increase the mind, the obedience to the just rulers is the perfection of honor, the investment of the wealth is the perfection of personality, to guide the seeker of counsel is fulfillment of the rights of favors, and the desistance from harm is a sign of the perfection of mind. It will, sooner or later, achieve physical relaxation. O Husham, the intelligent should not talk to the individuals that they anticipate they will belie him, ask from individuals that they anticipate they will not give, promise of things that they cannot do, hope for things that harm them, or take the initiative in doing what they anticipate they will not be able to accomplish.
Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) used to say to his companions:
I command you to fear God in secret and in public, be fair in both states of satisfaction and rage, earn provisions in richness and poverty, regard them who ruptured their relations with you, pardon them who oppressed you, and treat them who ignored you kindly. All your sights should be learning lessons, all your silence should be pondering over things, all your wordings should be mention of God, and all your nature should be generosity, for no stingy will be in Paradise and no generous will be in Hell. O Husham, God will compassionate them who feel properly embarrassed from Him by keeping the head with what it contains (like the eye, the ear, and the tongue) and the abdomen with what is in it, retain death and misfortune, and realize that Paradise is surrounded by misfortunes and Hell is surrounded by the appetites. O Husham, for those who abstain from engaging themselves in people's honors, God will protect them from slipping on the Day of Resurrection. For those who save people from (the results of) their rage, God will save them from His wrath on the Day of Resurrection. O Husham, the true intelligent should never tell lies even if it accords his whim. O Husham, in the wisp of the Prophet's sword, there is written: The most insolent of people is that who beats other than the one who beat him and kill other than the one who killed him. He who votes for other than his true masters is disbelieving in what God has revealed to His Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him and his family). As for those who bring a heresiarch matter or shelter an originator of a heresy, God will not accept their remuneration or apology on the Day of Resurrection. O Husham, after the acknowledgement of God, the best acts of the offertory to God are the prayers, piety to the parents, and evasion of envy, self-conceit, and pride.
O Husham, get ready for your coming days and prepare the answers for them. You will be inevitably judged and interrogated. Learn lessons from this world and its people. This life is surely long and short. You should act as if you can see the rewards of your acts in your hands, so that you will be urged acting so more importunately. Understand God's commandments and learn from the changeability of this world and its manners. The coming days of this world are certainly as same as those which passed away; therefore, you should take examples from these days. Ali bin Al-Hussein (peace be upon him) used to say:
All things that are under the sunlight in the east and west, in oceans and lands, and plains and mountains; all these are just like a shadow for the true disciples of God and the people of the acknowledgement of Him. Is there no free man who will leave this valueless world to its people? Paradise is the only price of your bodies; hence, you should avoid selling them with any other price. He who satisfies themselves with the worldly pleasures is surely satisfying himself with the worthless.
O Husham, all people look at the stars, but no one can realize their ways and places except those who have full acquaintance with astronomy. In like fashion, you all study wisdom, but no one can benefit by it except those who apply it practically. O Husham, the Christ (peace be upon him) said to his disciples: O bad servants, the height of a palm tree terrifies you as you remember its thorns and the difficulty of climbing it, but you forget its good fruits and benefits. The same thing is said about the world. As you remember the supplies of the acts of the world to come, you remember its long time and forget the bliss, illumination, and fruits that you will obtain there. O bad servants! To find the sweetest taste of wheat, you should first cull its grains, clean, and mill them properly. The same thing is said about faith. To find the best taste of faith and to benefit by its results, you should first have it as sincere and perfect as possible.
Truly I say to you: If you have found a torch the fuel of which is tar, in a gloomy night, you will surely seek its light disregarding its malodor. In a like manner, you should receive the wisdom from anybody with whom you find it, disregarding the scope of his desire for it. Truly I say to you, O slaves of this world! You will not attain the honor of the world to come unless you abstain from whatever you desire. Never postpone repentance to tomorrow. Before tomorrow, there is a day and a night during which God's act is coming and going. Truly I say to you: Those who are not indebted are surely less grievous than the indebted even if they defray their debts properly. In the same way, those who avoid committing sins are more relaxing and less grievous than the committers of sins even if they purely repent and return to God. The insignificant sins are the traps of the Shaitan who persuades you to disregard such sins until they are amassed and surround you. Truly I say to you: In wisdom, people are of two kinds; one is that who says the wisdom utterly and applies it to his deeds, and the other is that who says it utterly but wastes it through his evildoings. How difference between the two! Blessed are the scholars by deeds. Woe to the scholars by words.
O bad servants! Betake the mosques of your Lord as prisons of your bodies and foreheads. Make your hearts the residences of God-fearing. Do not make them the shelters of lusts. The most intolerant against misfortunes will be certainly the fondest of the worldly pleasures, and the most tolerant is the most abstinent. O bad slaves! Do not behave like the swift gledes, the sly foxes, the perfidious wolves, or the wild lions with their preys. Your conducts with people are in this form. You hurry to some, cheat others, and betray others. Truly I say to you: It is useless to have a sound physique while the interior is corrupted. Hence, your sound bodies should not admire you when your hearts are tainted. It is also useless to purify your skins when your hearts are dirty. Do not be like sieves that let the good flour pass and hold the bran. Likewise, you should not speak of wisdom while treason is filling in your hearts.
O slaves of this world! Your like is the lamp when it gives light to others and burns itself. O sons of Israel! Compete with each other in attending the scholars' sessions even if you will have to kneel. God will surely enliven the dead hearts by the illumination of wisdom like the rainfall when it enlivens the derelict lands. O Husham, the following is written in the Bible: Blessed be those who treat each other mercifully, for they will be treated mercifully on the Day of Resurrection. Blessed be the makers of peace between people, for they will be exclusively favored on the Day of Resurrection. Blessed be the pure-hearted, for they will be the pious on the Day of Resurrection. Blessed be the modest in this world, for they will be scaling the pulpits of majesty on the Day of Resurrection. O Husham, fewness of wording is a great wisdom. You should keep silent, for it is a good charity, a little burden, and a lightness of the sins. Fortify the door of self-possession because patience is the door of self-possession. God the Majestic surely hates those who laugh motivelessly and those who walk aimlessly. The rulers should be acting like the shepherds whose eyes are not turned away from their herd. They also should not treat their subjects arrogantly. Be ashamed of God in secrets in the same way you feel ashamed from people in public. You should know that the wording of wisdom is the believers' lost. Adhere to the knowledge before it is removed. The removal of knowledge is the absence of its people. O Husham, learn whatever you ignore and teach the ignorant your knowledge. Respect the scholars for their knowledge and avoid disputing with them, and disrespect the ignorant for their ignorance and do not dismiss them. You should approximate and teach them.
O Husham, the favors that you do not thank God for them are as same as the sins for which you will be punished. Amirul Muminin (peace be upon him) said: There are the slaves of God whose hearts are broken due to fearing Him. Hence, they keep silent while they are eloquent and intelligent. They compete with each other on offering the pure deeds to God. They do not content with their many deeds and do not accept for themselves the few deeds. They see themselves as vicious while they are good and virtuous. O Husham, pudency is a part of faith and faith is a part of Paradise while obscenity is a part of aversion and aversion is in Hell. O Husham, speakers are one of three: winning, safe, or perishing. The winning speakers are those who mention God. The safe speakers are those who keep silent. The perishing speakers are those who are engaged in bad wording. God has certainly forbidden Paradise from including the impudent speakers of bad wording who do not care for what they say and what is said about them.
Abu Tharr (God please him) used to say:
O seeker of knowledge, the tongue is the key to both good and evil. You should seal your mouth as you seal your gold and currencies. O Husham, the worst servants (of God) are those who are two-faced and two-tongued. They are those who praise their friends when they meet them and backbite them when they are absent. They envy their friends who obtain graces and disappoint them when they are suffering a misfortune. Charity is the foremost in rewarding and oppression is the foremost in punishment. The most vicious slaves of God are those whom you hate to sit with for their obscenity. Except the harvest of the tongues, nothing overturns people on their noses in Hell. To leave what does not concern you is a sign of the proper Islam -submission to God-. O Husham, you will not be true believer unless to are fearful (of God's punishment) and hopeful (for God's reward). You will not be true fearful and true hopeful unless you avoid what you fear and work for what you hope. O Husham, God the Majestic says: I swear by My majesty, glory, might, potency, magnificence, and elevation, for the servants who prefer My biddings to their biddings, I will install opulence in their minds, make the world to come their concern, take the charge of saving their livelihood, make their provisions in the heavens and the earth, and guarantee their shares of profits in every transaction." O Husham, anger is the key to every evil. The most perfect faithful believers are the most well-mannered. If possible, you should associate only with those whom you have done favors.
O Husham, lenience is felicity and clumsiness is evil portent. Lenience, charity, and well mannerism boom the lodgings and increase the provisions. O Husham, God says: Can any thing else be a response to a favor but a favor? This holy saying is applicable to the believers and the disbelievers and the charitable and the lecherous. He whom has been done a favor should reward for it. To do favor to that who did you favor is not a suitable reward, because he will have the merit of commencing with doing the favor before you. O Husham, the like of this world is the snake-it is soft to the touch but bearing poison in the interior. The intelligent men fear the snake while the boys hurry to take it by the hands.
O Husham, be tolerant in the acts of obedience to God and be steadfast against the acts of disobedience to Him. This world is no more than an hour. You will not find the pleasures of what has passed away and you will not be able to recognize what is coming. Be patient in that hour and you will attain bliss. O Husham, the like of this world is the seawater-it leads the thirsty to more thirst until it kills him.
O Husham, beware of arrogance. He who feels arrogant, even if as small as a grain of mustard seed, in the heart will not see Paradise. Pride is God's dress and God will surely overturn those who try to take off His dress on the faces in Hell.
O Husham, he who does not settle an account with himself every day, so that he would seek more of the good deeds and seek God's forgiveness and acceptance of repentance for the bad deeds, is not one of us.
O Husham, the world came to the Christ (peace be upon him) in the form of a blue lady. He asked her, 'How many men did you marry?' 'Many,' answered the world. 'Did they all divorce you?' asked the Christ. 'No,' she replied, 'I killed all of them.' the Christ said, 'Woe to the rest of your husbands. Why do they not learn lessons from the past ones?'
O Husham, the light of the body is in the eyes. If the sight is luminous, the whole body will be bright. The light of the spirit is in the brain. If the servant is intelligent, he will be having acknowledgement of his Lord. If he has acknowledgement of his Lord, he will see his religion obviously. If he ignores the affairs of his Lord, he will be having no religion. Like the body that does not live without a living soul, the religion does not live without the true intendment. The true intendment is proved through mind only. O Husham, plants grow in plain, not rocky, lands. In the same way, wisdom will grow in the hearts of the modest, not the arrogant, because God has made modesty the instrument of the mind and made arrogance the instrument of ignorance. Do you not notice that he who raises the head to the ceiling will have his head broken? Likewise, he who hands down will enjoy the shades and the protection of the ceiling. Similarly, God will disgrace those who do not behave humbly to Him and will exalt those who humble themselves for Him. O Husham, how ugly poverty after richness is! How ugly the commitment of sins after religiousness is! Moreover, to leave the adoration of God after worship is uglier than the previous.
O Husham, except for either a heedful listener or a speaker of knowledge, life is surely worthless.
O Husham, God has not distributed among the servant anything better than intelligence. The sleep of the intelligent is preferred to the staying up of the ignorant. God specified intelligence as a qualification of the prophets so that their minds will be preferred to all of the efforts of the diligent ones together. A servant will not fulfill any of God's rights before he understands it. O Husham, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said:
You should approach the silent believer, because he will surely provide you with wisdom. The faithful believer should talk very little and act very much. The hypocrite talks very much and acts very little.
O Husham, God the Exalted revealed to David the prophet (peace be upon him):
Ask My servants not to make between them and Me scholars that are seduced by the worldly pleasures. They will surely preclude the servants from mentioning Me and block the way to My adoration and supplication. Such scholars are the bandits of My servants. The least thing that I will do to them is that I will take the charm of My adoration and supplication from their hearts. O Husham, the angels of the heavens and the angels of the earth will curse those who feel self-conceit. He who treats his friends arrogantly and haughtily is certainly opposing God. He who claims falsely is dragging himself away from his good. O Husham, God the Exalted revealed to David the prophet (peace be upon him):
O David, warn and advise your companions against the fondness of passions. The hearts of those who are fond of passions are certainly screened from Me. O Husham, beware of showing pride to my disciples and using your knowledge against them lest, God will hate you and, then, neither your world nor will your world to come stead you. Regard this world as a temporary lodging that you are waiting for leaving it. O Husham, to sit to the religious is the honor of this world and the world to come and to counsel with the intelligent and the well-wishers is good omen, blessing, rationality, and success from God. Beware of opposing the advise of the intelligent and the well-wishers so as to avoid perdition. O Husham, beware of associating with everybody except the intelligent and the trustful. You should be friendly with these two persons only. You should escape the others like escaping from beasts. The intelligent should be too ashamed from God to associate others in the intent of his deed, because God is the only endower of the graces. If you encounter two matters that you ignore which of them is the most correct and acceptable, you should leave the matter that is more favorable to the whim. The very much rightness lies in opposing the whims. Beware of challenging the wisdom and giving it to the people of ignorance.
Husham said: I asked the Imam (peace be upon him), 'What should I do if I find somebody seeking wisdom but his mind is too narrow to receive it?' He answered:
You should, in this case, deliver wisdom to him so kindly. If his heart is too narrow to receive it, you should avoid seditious matters. You should also avoid the answers of the arrogant. Knowledge will be disgraced if it is given to the unconscious. Husham said: 'What should I do if I cannot find a person who asks about wisdom properly?' said I to the Imam (peace be upon him), and he answered: You should take the opportunity of the ignorance of wisdom so as to be saved from the seditious wording and the great sedition of the answer. You should also realize that God did not elevate the modest people measure of their modesty, but He elevated them according to the measure of His might and glory. He did not secure the fearful according to their fear, but He secured them out of His compassion and mercy. What do you think about the Compassionate the Merciful Who curries favor with those who harm His disciple? How will He then behave to those whom are hurt due to their adherence to Him? What do you think about the Oft-Returning the Merciful Who accepts the repentance of His enemies? How will He then behave to those who accept Him and suffer people's enmity for His sake?
O Husham, the fear of the world to come will remove from the hearts of those who favor the worldly pleasures. He who favors the worldly affairs whenever he receives more knowledge will be remoter and remoter from God and God will consequently intensify His wrath on him. O Husham, the true intelligent is that who avoids what he cannot do. Most of correctitude lies in opposing the passions. For those who depend upon hopes, their deeds will be worse.
O Husham, if you consider the march of the death, you will be diverted from hopes. O Husham, beware of greed. Never expect having what is in people's hands. Deaden your expectation from the creatures. Certainly, greed is the key to humiliation. It reduces the mind, kills the acts of personality, soils the honors, and cancels knowledgeability. Abide by adherence and depending upon God. Strive your whims so as to prevent your essence from ruination. This is as obligatory as striving the enemies. Husham said: I asked the Imam (peace be upon him) about the kind of enemies whom should be striven before others. He answered: You should begin with the nearest to you, the most inimical, the most harmful, the most aggressive, and the most hidden despite his closeness to you. It is Eblis who is instigating your enemies against you and the source of the hearts' ill inspirations. You should regard him as the most antagonistic enemy and you should be more tolerant in striving him than him as he is trying to lead you to perdition. He is surely less supported than you are and less harmful despite his great evil, provided that you cling to God so as to be guided to a straight path. O Husham, God is surely doing great favors to those whom He endows with a mind that controls their whims, knowledge that controls their ignorance, and opulence that controls their poverty.
O Husham, beware of this world and its people. People are four classes: one is falling behind as he is embracing his whims, one is self-conceited due to his knowledge and the more he learns, the more arrogant he becomes. He towers up conceitedly before the less knowledgeable due to his being more learned. One (of the four classes) is ignorant worshipper who looks disgracefully to the less dutiful and desires for being respected and reverenced. The fourth is heedful, knowledgeable, and knowing, but he cannot drag people to the straight path because he is either powerless or beaten. He is also grievous because he cannot practice his knowledge. This one is the most ideal and the most intelligent of people. O Husham, discern the mind and its soldiers and the ignorance and its soldiers and you will be guided.
Husham said: I said, 'May God make me your sacrifice. We will not know unless you instruct us. Hence, the Imam (peace be upon him) answered: O Husham, the first thing of the mystical creatures that God created was the mind. He was on the right side of the Divine Throne. As God asked him to go, he went. As He asked him to come, he came. Hence, God the Majestic said: I created you as great and preferred you to all of My creatures. Then God created ignorance from the gloomy salty ocean and asked it to go, and it went. But when God asked him to come, it refused. Hence, God cursed it because it had behaved arrogantly.
God then arranged seventy-five soldiers for the mind. The ignorance, seeing what God had given honorably to the mind, felt malicious and said: O God, this is a creature as same as I, but you honored and supported him while I, its opposite, am powerless. Support me with soldiers like him. God the Exalted answered: Yes, I will, but if you disobey Me, I will take your soldiers and you out of My mercy. As the ignorance agreed to the condition, God gave it seventy-five soldiers.
Within the seventy-five soldiers of the mind was goodness, which is the supporter of the mind. In the other side, God made evil as the supporter of the ignorance. The soldiers of the mind and the ignorance are faith and disbelieving, belief and unbelief, sincerity and hypocrisy, hope and despair, justice and prejudice, satisfaction and displeasure, thanks and ingratitude, moderation and greed, trust and acquisitiveness, compassion and rudeness, knowledge and ignorance, chastity and profligacy, abstinence and desirousness, lenience and clumsiness, self-respect and taunt, modesty and arrogance, deliberation and rashness, composure and imprudence, silence and chatter, submission and challenge, compliance and defiance, pardon and malice, mercy and coarseness, conviction and suspect, forbearance and bigotry, overlooking and revenge, opulence and neediness, pondering and inadvertence, consciousness and oblivion, relation and alienation, contentment and avidity, giving and deprivation, amicability and enmity, loyalty and betrayal, obedience and disobedience, succumbing and daring, affluence and scarcity, understanding and idiocy, recognition and denial, humoring and nastiness, purity and cheating, concealment and divulging, piety and irreverence, factuality and falseness, favor and bad turn, circumspection and publicizing, fairness and injury, God-fearing and envy, cleanness and dirtiness, pudency and insolence, temperance and excess, rest and fatigue, ease and difficulty, good health and ailment, sufficiency and overindulgence, wisdom and capriciousness, sense of worth and levity, pleasure and grief, repentance and insistence, attention and negligence, supplication and disdain, activity and laziness, delight and discontent, harmony and disagreement, and courtesy and foolishness.
O Husham, these good attributes cannot come together in a personality other than the personalities of the prophets, their successors, or faithful believers who passed God's exam of faith. The other believers should have some of the soldiers of the mind so that they will have a perfect intelligence and get rid of the soldiers of ignorance. Only then, they may catch the highest rank of the prophets and their successors. God may lead you and us to His obedience.
(5) How to recognize God - Imam Sadiq (as).
Imam as-Sadiq (peace be upon him) asked the man who attended before him about his manner. 'I am one of your followers and adherents,' answered the man. Imam As-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: God will surely accept the servant whom He loves and will surely give Paradise to him whom He accepts.
'Which class of our followers are you?' asked the Imam (peace be upon him). The man found no answer. Sadir intruded to ask the Imam (peace be upon him), 'How many classes are your followers, son of the Prophet?' Imam as-Sadiq spoke:
Our followers are three classes. A class is those who pretend themselves our followers while the reality is the opposite, a class is those who cherish us secretly and do not follow us in public, and a class is those who cherish us openly and secretly. They are the highest group. They drank from the fresh water and had knowledge of the interpretation of the Book (of God), the distinction between the right and the wrong, and the causes of everything. Therefore, they have become the highest group. Poverty, destitution, and the varieties of crises are hastier than racehorses to them. They have suffered hardship and damage and they have been shaken and tested. Hence, they have been wounded and slain, scattering in the remote countries. Through them, God heals the ailed and richens the deprived. Moreover, you gain victory, rainfall, and earnings only through them. They are the fewest, but the owners of the greatest standings with God. The third class is the lowest group. They loved us in public, but they pursued the kings' practices. Their tongues are with us while their swords are unsheathed in our faces. The second class is the middle group. They loved us secretly and ignored us openly. I swear if they love us secretly not openly, they are the fasting in days and the worshippers at night. The signs of seclusion are shown on their faces. They are peaceful and submissive people.
The man declared, 'I am one of those who love you secretly and openly.' The Imam (peace be upon him) said:
Our followers in secret and openness enjoy a number of indications with which they are realized. As the man asked about these indications, the Imam (peace be upon him) said: These are certain characters the first of which is that they knew monotheism perfectly, they excelled in the rules of God's oneness, and finally they believed in God's oneness and its description. Then they recognized the outlines, facts, provisions, and interpretation of faith. Sadir intruded, 'O son of God's messenger, I have never heard you describing faith in such a form before.' The Imam (peace be upon him) answered: Yes, Sadir. The asker should not ask about faith before he knows the One in Whom he must believe.' 'O son of God's messenger,' asked Sadir, 'Would you please explain what you have said?' The Imam (peace be upon him) spoke:
He who claims that he knows God due to the imprint of the heart is polytheist. He who claims that knows God by name, not meaning, is declaring the contrary, because the name is new (created). He who claims that he worships the name and the meaning is associating others with God. He who claims that he worships the meaning by the description, not realization, is referring to something absent. He who claims that he worships the description and the described is nullifying God's oneness because description is something other than the described. He who claims that he adds the described to the description is belittling the great. They have no true respect of God.
'What is the course to the true believing in God's oneness, then?' some asked. He (peace be upon him) said: The door of search is opened and the pursuit of the exit is existing. The knowledge of the present should precede his description while the knowledge of the description of the absent should precede the knowledge of him. 'How can we know the witness before we know his descriptions?' they asked. He (peace be upon him) answered: You should first know him, know his knowledge, and know yourself through him. You should not know yourself through yourself. You should also know that whatever he has is to him and through him. As an example of this is Joseph's brothers when they addressed to him, 'Are you Joseph?' He said, 'Yes, I am Joseph and this is my brother.' They knew him through him. They neither knew him through others nor did they know him by themselves due to the imprints of their hearts. God says:
You could not even plant one tree.
This means that you should not appoint a leader for yourselves out of your whims and wills. As for three categories, God will not speak to them, will not look at them on the Day of Resurrection, will not second them, and will arrange for them a painful chastisement. They are those who plant a tree that God did not plant, i.e. those who appoint a leader for themselves out of their own whims, those who deny a leader that God appoints, and those who claim that those two persons have anything to do with Islam. God says: Your Lord creates and chooses to whomever He wants. They do not have the choice to choose whatever they want.
