There is a tradition of the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.),
who said, “I am the City of Knowledge and Ali (a.s.) is the Gateway”. Whenever
Imam Ali (a.s.) spoke, it was the words of wisdom and they are the beacon of light
for our lives. First part of this article was published on June 2, 2013.
His sayings are given below:
The most complete gift of Allah is a life based on
knowledge. Knowledge gives life to the soul. Honesty is Divine knowledge. The
wise aims at perfection. The foolish aims at wealth. He is wise whose actions
reflect his words. Humility is the product of knowledge. Pride mars greatness. Intellect
is better than desire, for the intellect makes you a king over your destiny,
and desire makes you a slave of your destiny. An intelligent person longs to be
like the righteous people so that he can be one of them, and he loves them so
that he can be united with them in his love.
O son of Adam, when you see that your Lord, the
Glorified, bestows His favors upon you while you disobey Him, you should fear
Him (take warning that His Wrath may not turn those blessings into misfortunes).
Often your utterances and expressions of your face leak out the secrets of your
hidden thoughts. When you get ill, do not get nervous about it, and try as much
as possible to be hopeful. The best form of devotion to the service of Allah is
not to make a show of it. When you must depart from this world and must meet
death (eventually), then why wish delay (why feel nervous about death). Take
warning! He has not exposed so many of your sinful activities that it appears
as if He has forgiven you (it maybe He has given you time to repent)
A virtuous person is better than virtue and a vicious
person is worse than vice. Be generous but not extravagant, be frugal (economical)
but not miserly. The best kind of wealth
is to give up inordinate desires. One who says unpleasant things about others,
will himself quickly become a target of their scandal.
Imam Ali (a.s.) advised his son saying, “The greatest
wealth is wisdom; the greatest poverty is stupidity; the worst aloofness is
that of vanity and self-glorification; and the best nobility of descent
exhibits itself in politeness and in refinement of manner. Do not make
friendship with a fool because when he tries to do you good he will do you harm;
do not make a miser your friend because he will run away from you at the time
of your dire need; do not be friendly with a vicious and wicked person because
he will sell you and your friendship at the cheapest price and do not make a
friend of a liar because like a mirage he will make you visualize very near the
things which lie at a great distance and make you seat the great distance the
things which are near to you.”
Recommended prayers cannot attain the pleasure of Allah for
you when obligatory prayers are left unattended.
A wise man first thinks the speaks and a fool first
speaks and then thinks.
One of the companions of Imam Ali (a.s.) fell ill. The
Imam called on him and said, “Be thankful to Allah. He has made this illness a
thing to atone your sins because a disease has nothing to bring reward to
anyone, it merely expiates one’s sins and so far as reward is concerned, one must
earn it with good words and good deeds. The Almighty Lord grants Paradise to
His creatures on account of their piety and noble thoughts.”
Source:
Nahjul Balagha and Mohammadi Trust (Zahra Publications)
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