Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib [a]
1968 sayings · page 5 of 50
The fruit of self-restraint is contentment
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4637; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 836 link
The fruit of self-restraint is preservation [of oneself].
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4593; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 836 link
The fountainhead of wisdom is to be bound to the truth and to obey the one on [the path of] the truth.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 5258; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 993 link
Conquer your vain desire and your wisdom will be perfected.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2272; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 994 link
There is no wisdom except through inerrancy.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 10916; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 994 link
Vain desire and wisdom do not come together.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 10573; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 994 link
Whoever has wisdom established [in his heart] for him, becomes one who adheres to admonition.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 8706; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 995 link
Verily the wise men lost wisdom when they deposited it with those who were unworthy of it.
Qasas al-Anbiya' li al-Rawandi, p. 160, no. 176; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 995 link
The world has been named dunya265 because it is lower than every thing, and the Hereafter has been named Akhira266 because it contains recompense and reward.
Ellal al-Shara'ie, v. 2, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 996 link
People are the sons of the world, and no man can be blamed for loving his mother.
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying no. 303; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 996 link
The Hereafter is secured through the world.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 156; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 996 link
Verily Allah glory be to Him has made this world for what is after it and has put its inhabitants to trial so that He may know who from among them has the best deeds, and we have not been created for this world, nor have we been commanded to strive for it.
Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 55; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 996 link
Know that everything that you attain in this world that supersedes your required provision, you are considered to be its treasurer for someone else.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 90, no. 61; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 997 link
Do not ask in it for what is more than a sufficient means of living and do not seek from it more than what you need.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 45; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 997 link
The world is the abode of the hypocrites and it is not the abode of the pious ones, so take from the world enough to keep your body strong, to keep yourself alive and to gain provision for your Resurrection.
Masalib al-Sa' ul, no. 54; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 997 link
When one of Imam Ali (AS)'s companions (from the tribe of Kalb) said to him, 'Indeed you have been given knowledge of the Unseen, O Commander of the Faithful', Imam Ali (AS) laughed, saying, 'O brother of Kalb, this is not knowledge of the Unseen, but instruction from the Possessor of Knowledge. Verily the knowledge of the Unseen is the knowledge of the Hour, and what Allah, Glory be to Him, has listed in his verse: "Indeed the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah. He sends down the rain, and He knows what is in the wombs."
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 128; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 967 link
One usurped stone in a house is a guarantee for its ruin.
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 240; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 968 link
Engage yourself firstly in communal relations with people, then the law, and subsequently trading, for by Allah, usury creeps into this community more discreetly than an ant creeps onto a rock
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 103, p. 117, no. 16; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 970 link
Whoever trades without knowledge of legal rulings gets involved in usury
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 447; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 970 link
"One who recites from Qul innamaa anaa basharum mithlukum till the end of this Surah, the Almighty Allah would create a light from his bed till the Holy Kaaba and if that person is from Mecca the light would be created from his bed till Baitul Muqaddas."
Sawab al-A`amal, Page 149 link
[You must] attend dhikr sessions
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 75, p. 465, no. 6; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 876 link
Sit with the scholars and your knowledge will increase, your manners will become refined, and your soul will become pure
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4786; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 878 link
Sit with the wise and your intellect will be perfected, your soul will be ennobled, and your ignorance will depart from you
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4787; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 878 link
Sit with the poor and your gratefulness will increase
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4723; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 878 link
Sitting with people of base desires causes heedlessness of one's faith, and invites Satan thereat
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 86; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 879 link
There is no impudence worse than slander
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 10455; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 880 link
Slandering an innocent person is more immense than the skies
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 31, no. 99; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 880 link
Mingle amongst people in such a way that when you die they should weep for you, and when you are alive, they should long for you
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 10; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 881 link
Let your heart include both need for people as well as needlessness of them your need for them being in order to speak kindly words to them and to share your joy with them, and your needlessness of them being in order to maintain your integrity and to preserve your self-respect
Ma`ani al-Akhbar, p. 267, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 881 link
The miser stores [wealth] for his inheritors
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 464; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 611 link
Miserliness humiliates its companion and honours the one who abandons it.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1409; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 611 link
A miser can have no friend
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 7473; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 611 link
I wonder at the miser he expedites the same poverty from which he escapes, and misses the same richness for which he yearns! So he leads a life of deprivation in this world like the poor, yet he will be judged with the rich in the Hereafter.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 72, p. 199, no. 28; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 612 link
His Eminence, Amirul Momineen (a.s.) said, "One who makes something to boast about it will be raised on Qiyamat black-faced."
Iqbal al-A`amal, page 322 link
"If Allah gets angry over a city but does not reveal His chastisement upon it, it faces inflation, lifespan of people is reduced, trade becomes profitless, there is shortage of fruits, rivers become dry, rainfall becomes scanty and mischief-mongers are made to overpower them."
Iqbal al-A`amal, page 322 link
Allah, glory be to Him, has made it His right upon people to obey Him, and has made its requital for them an increase in their reward [for acts of obedience] out of His Grace.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 216; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 809 link
Allah, glory be to Him, has made the rights of the people the prelude to His rights; therefore, he who fulfils the rights of Allah's servants ends up fulfilling Allah's rights
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4780; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 809 link
The greatest of those rights that He, glory be to Him, has made obligatory are the right of the ruler upon the subjects, and the right of the subjects upon the ruler.
Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 216; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 809 link
The one who associates with the ruler is like one who rides a lion he is envied for his [high] position, and yet only he best knows his [unstable] situation
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 263; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 810 link
Keep away from the sultan in order to be safe from the deception of Satan.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 215, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 810 link
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