Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib [a]
1968 sayings · page 13 of 50
Modesty is the means to all beauty.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 211, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 615 · permalink
He who is angry with somebody whom he cannot hurt, his sorrow endures and he inflicts pain on his own soul.
Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 99; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 884 · permalink
The month of Ramadan was nearing and three days of Shaban were left when the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) told Bilal (r.a.) to call people to him. When people came, the Holy Prophet mounted the pulpit and praised and glorified the Lord. Then he said, "The month, which you are going to have now is supreme among all other months. There is a night in this month, which is better than a thousand months. The doors of Hell are closed in this month and the doors of Paradise are opened. One who is not forgiven in this month also Allah distances him. Similarly, a person has parents and is not able to get himself forgiven Allah distances him. One who does not recite Salawat when my name is mentioned in front of him, his salvation is not possible and Allah distances him."
Sawab al-A`amal, Page 98/99 · permalink
Pure worship is that a man does not hope for anything except his Lord and does not fear anything except [the outcome of] his sin.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2128; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 858 · permalink
The [root] cause of sincerity is conviction
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 5538; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 858 · permalink
The fruit of knowledge is sincerity of action.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4642; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 858 · permalink
Reduce your expectations and your actions will become sincere
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 6793; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 858 · permalink
Every master other than Him is a slave.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 65; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 453 · permalink
Verily we are not masters over anything with Allah, nor are we masters over anything except what He has given us mastery over. So by making us masters over that which He is a superior Master, He has given us responsibility, and by taking away mastership from us He absolves us of our responsibilities.
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 404; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 453 · permalink
He is the All-hearing but not by means of any organ
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 152; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 454 · permalink
And every strong person besides Allah is weak.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 65; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 455 · permalink
Everything humbles before Him, and everything subsists through Him. He is the contentment of every poor, the honour of every disgraced one, and the strength of every weak one.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 109; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 455 · permalink
Every mighty one besides Him is abased.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 65; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 455 · permalink
Praise be to Allah who wears the cloak of might and majesty, and has chosen them for Himself over the rest of His creation.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 192; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 455 · permalink
And verily He(Allah) is everywhere, each and every moment and time, and with every human and Jinn.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 195; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 456 · permalink
The intellect is the friend of the believer.
Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 203; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 466 · permalink
The very first step in religion is acknowledging Him, and the perfect way to acknowledge Him is to testify to Him, and the perfect way to testify to Him is to believe in His divine unity, and the perfect way to believe in His divine unity is to regard Him as absolutely pure, and the perfect way to regard Him as absolutely pure is to negate all attributes from Him, for every attribute is a proof of its own distinction from the thing to which it is attributed, and everything that is attached and attributed is distinct from the attribute. Thus, whoever attaches attributes to Allah, Glory be to Him, associates Him with something else, and whoever associates Him regards Him as two, and whoever regards Him as two identifies parts to Him, and whoever identifies parts to Him has indeed misunderstood Him, and whoever misunderstands Him singles Him out, and whoever singles Him out has confined Him, and whoever confines Him has enumerated Him. Whoever asks 'In what [is He]?' holds that He is contained, and whoever asks 'On what [is He]?' has excluded Him. He is [a Being] but not through any phenomenon of coming into being, He exists but not from non-existence. He is with everything but not in physical proximity, and is separate from everything but not through physical separation. He acts but without need for movements and instruments. He sees without need for an object of sight from among His creation. He is One such that He has no need for a source of comfort that may keep Him company nor any whom He may miss in his absence
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 457 · permalink
No sooner is an innovation initiated than it leaves behind a common practice. So eschew innovations and adhere to the clear path. Verily the established traditions are the best, while innovated ones are the worst.
Sharhe Nahj al-Balagha by Abi al-Hadid, v. 9, p. 93; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 458 · permalink
If any of them deserves punishment for a sin, then censure gracefully, for verily censure accompanied by pardon is more severe [i.e. more effective] than striking when carried out by a reasonable person.
Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 87; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 676 · permalink
Pardon spoils a sinful man just as much as it can reform a decent man.
Kanz al-Fawa' id li al-Karajiki, v. 2, p. 182; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 676 · permalink
Reward the good deed and condone the misdeed as long as it is not a breach of religion or does not weaken the authority of Islam
Ghurar al-Hikam, p. 4788; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 676 · permalink
Worry wastes away the body
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1039; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 883 · permalink
Verily Allah, most High, will certainly interrogate you, O community of His servants, about your actions, be they small or big, and be they open or secret. If He punishes you, then it because you have wronged yourselves, and if He pardons, then it is because He is too generous
Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 27; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 677 · permalink
My Lord I think about Your pardon and my mistakes seem insignificant to me, then I remember the awesomeness of Your chastisement and my tribulation seems great indeed
Amali al-Saduq, p. 73, no. 9; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 677 · permalink
O Allah expose me to Your pardon but do not expose me to Your justice
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 227; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 677 · permalink
He who keeps himself aloof from Allah' s prohibitions is quickly embraced by Allah' s pardon
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 90, no. 95; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 677 · permalink
But Allah tries His servants with various tribulations, renders them to worship Him through struggles, tests them with various types of distresses, all in order to extract pride out from their hearts, and to settle humbleness in their souls, and in order to make all these open doors to His grace an easy means to His pardon
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 192; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 678 · permalink
Amir al-Mu'minin Im?m 'Al? ibn Ab? T?lib (a.s.) condemning Iblis [Satan], said, 'So he felt proud of his own creation over Adam' s, and was racist against him because of his origin. The enemy of Allah, therefore, is the leader of all racist bigots, and the forefather of all those who consider themselves superior, who laid the very foundation of bigotry, and tried to wrest the cloak of might from Allah, and assumed the garb of exultation having shed the veil of self-abasement.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 192; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 679 · permalink
And if you cannot avoid partisanship, then let your partisanship be for virtuous qualities, praiseworthy acts, and admirable matters with which the dignified and noble chiefs of the Arab households and the notables of the tribes distinguished themselves, such as attractive manners, great ambitions, momentous positions, and praiseworthy feats. So be partisans of praiseworthy characteristics like protection of one' s neighbour, fulfilment of rights, obedience of good people, opposition to the haughty, adoption of virtue, abstention from intimidating others, shunning bloodshed, doing justice to people, suppressing anger, and avoiding corruption in the land
Nahj al-Balagha, no. 192; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 680 · permalink
If you absolutely must be partisans to a cause, then does so to support the truth and to bring solace to the troubled.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 3738; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 680 · permalink
Would you like to be of the victorious party of Allah? Then be Godwary and excel in all your affairs, for Allah is with those who are wary of their duty to Him and those who excel in virtue
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2828; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 680 · permalink
O people! Truly the onset of problems is brought about by following the desires If the truth were pure there would be no disparity. However, a handful is taken from this [the truth] and a handful from that [falsehood] and then the two are mixed and appear altogether. And this is where Satan prevails over his followers, and only those who are favoured by Allah are saved
al-Kafi, v. 1, p. 54, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 681 · permalink
They(Hypocrites) are the companions of Satan, and the incinerating sting of the Fire. They are the party of Satan; indeed it is Satan's parties who are the losers
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 194; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 681 · permalink
The downfall of the upright is lack of piety
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 3937; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 133 · permalink
The ruin of a brave man is the loss of resolve.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 3938; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 134 · permalink
He who obeys an indifferent person ends up losing his rights and he who obeys a traitor ends up losing his friends
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 239; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 642 · permalink
Obligations! Obligations! Fulfil them for Allah and it will lead you to Heaven.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 167; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 642 · permalink
Make your quest that which Allah has made obligatory upon you, and ask Him to [enable you to] fulfil the right of what He has asked of you
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 113; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 642 · permalink
Lure your soul to worship, and be lenient towards it, and do not force it. Accept its excuse and take advantage of its vitality, except what has been prescribed for you as an obligation; for they must be performed, and carried out at their right time
Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 69; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 642 · permalink
There is no worship like the performance of obligatory acts.
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 113; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 643 · permalink
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