1. Imam Sadiq(a) said: The unintelligent is fit for
nothing and the unknowledgeable is unintelligent.
2. He who understands will be excellent and he who
is clement will be triumphant.
3. Knowledge is protection, honesty is glory, ignorance is humility,
understanding is honor, open-handedness
is success, and good mannerism achieves affection.
4. The knowing of the manners of his time will not be attacked by the
mysteries. Judiciousness is thelantern of doubt.
5. Allah is the custodian of him who knows His and the enemy of him who ignores
Him. The
intelligent should be forgiver and the
ignorant is treacherous.
6. If you want to be respected, you should be lenient and if you want to be
disrespected, you may be
severe. The heart of him whose lineage is
honorable is surely soft while he whose race is ignoble is
surely
hard-hearted.
7. He who neglects will be engaged (in troubles). He who cares for the result
will act slowly in
matters that he ignores.
8. He who involves himself in a matter with which he does not have full
acquaintance will debasehimself.
9. He who does not know will not understand, he who does not understand will
not be safe, he who is
not safe
will not be respected, he who is not respected will feel disappointed, he who
feels
disappointed
will be blamed, and he who is blamed will be worthy of regret.
10. If you can hide your personality from people, do it. You should not care if
people do not praise
you and
you should not care if peope disregard you when Allah honors you.
11. Amirul Muminin(A.S.) used to say: "Life is worthless for everyone
except two men: A manwhose acts of charity
are day by day
increasable and a man who corrects his death by means of repentance."
If you can keep yourself
indoors, do it. When you go out (of your house), you
shouldavoid backbiting, telling untruths, envying,
showing
off, flattering, and sweet-talking.
12. The cell of the believer is his house where he detains himself, his sight,
his tongue, and hisgenitals.
13. He who acknowledges the favors of Allah in his heart before he expresses
his gratitude by words
deserves
increase of Allah.
14. Imam Sadiq(A.S.) then added: Many are those whom are tempted by receiving
graces of Allah, many
are those
whom are trapped by the concealment of their flaws, and many are
those whomare cheated by wording of praise.
15. I hope safety for everybody who acknowledges our rights (of the loyalty to
our leadership that isincumbent
upon
people) except three: the friends of the unjust rulers, the followers of
their whims, and the
sinful who commit sins
openly.
16. For those who love the worldly pleasures and follow anyone other than us,
they, by Allah I swear,
do not
love Allah. For those who acknowledge our rights and love us, they surely love
Allah.
17. Choose to be subordinate, not head.
18. The Prophet(p) said: The fearful are unable to speak."
19. Inconsiderate judgment causes discrepancy, criticism causes enmity, lack of
tolerance causesscandal,
divulgement
of secrets causes meanness, generosity causes cleverness, and
niggardlinessis inadvertence.
20. To adhere to Allah, satisfy with His act, and trust Him-these three matters
gather the good of this
world and the world to come for him whoever
holds fast to them.
21. He who neglects three characters will be deprived: They are to ask from the
generous, associate
with
the scholars, and attract the attention of the powerful.
22. Religiousness, modesty, and generosity-these three matters bring about the
affection of others.
23. He who disavows three will attain three: he who disavows evil will attain
dignity; he who
disavows arrogance will attain nobility; he
who disavows niggardliness will attain honor.
24. Three characters bring about hatred: hypocrisy, oppression, and
self-conceit.
25. He who does not have one of three characters is not regarded as noble: they
are a mind that
beautifies
him, a fortune that dispenses him of people, or a clan that supports him.
26. Envy, talebearing, frivolity-these three matters cause degradation.
27. Three characters are not known only in three situations: the clement are
known only in situations
of rage, the courageous are known only in
wars, and brothers are known only in situations ofneediness.
28. He whoever enjoys three characters is certainly hypocrite even if he offers
prayers and fasts: he 29. who lies when
he speaks, breaches his promises, and
violates the trusts.
30. Beware of three categories of people: the traitor, the oppressor, and the
talebearer. He who betrays
others
for your sake will surely betray you, he who oppresses others for your sake
will surely
oppress you, and he who bears others' news to
you will surely bear your news to others.
31. No one should be regarded as trustful before he keeps three things: funds,
secrets, and honors. He
who
keeps two and betrays a third is not trustful.
32. Do not consult the foolish, do not seek the help of the liar, and do not
trust in the affection of theweary. The liar
brings near the remote and
makes the near remote, the foolish does his best foryou but cannot attain anything, and
the weary
disappoints you in your most reliable matter andbreaks your most associated matter.
33. Four things do not have sufficiency with four matters: the land never has
its sufficiency fromrainfall, the eye never
has its sufficiency
from looking, and the scholar never has his sufficiency from
knowledge.
34. Four conducts bring old age before its time: they are eating dried meat,
sitting on wetlands,
scaling
the stairs, and copulating with old women.
35. Women are of three categories: one is for you, the other is for you and
against you, and the third is
against you. The one that is for you is the
virgin. The one that is for you and against you is the
non-virgin.
The one that is against you is the mother of sons of another man.