Expectation
30 sayings
A servant of Allah will be ordered to be taken to Hell. While going, he will turn back and look. Allah will order to stop him and he will be brought in Allah's presence. Allah will ask him, "Why do you turn back and see again and again?" He will reply, "Lord, I never expected this from You." Allah will ask, "O servant! What did you expect from Me?" He will say, "I thought you will forgive my sins and make me enter Paradise." Allah will say, "O angels! I swear by My Honor, bounties and High rank that he never had such a good thought about me in his whole life. If he had made such a good thought even once in his life he would have remained safe from the fear of Hell. Accept his words and admit him to Paradise." Imam Ja'far Sadiq (a.s.) said, "If a servant has good expectations from Allah he will be rewarded according to his expectations. And one who expects bad will be meted out according to his ill expectations. This is the meaning of the words of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime: And that was your (evil) thought which you entertained about your Lord that has tumbled you down into perdition, so are you become of the lost ones. [Surah Fussilat 41:23]
Sawab al-A`amal, Page 225 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Expectation makes one forget death.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 874; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 276 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
The closest thing is death, and the remotest thing is expectation.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2920-2921; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 276 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
A soul does not depart from his expectation until it enters the realm of death.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 10844; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 276 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Indeed you are in the days of expectation that is followed by death. So he who works in the days of his expectation before death arrives will benefit from his work and will not be hurt by death.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 333, no. 21; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 276 link
If times of death were revealed, expectations would be debunked.
A`alam al-Din, p. 305; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 276 link
Part of what Allah, the Exalted, told Prophet Moses (AS): 'O Moses! Do not extend your expectation in this world's life lest your heart become hard, for the hard-hearted is far from Me.'
al-Kafi, v. 2, p. 329, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 277 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
A man who has high expectations is deficient in his action.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 421, no. 40; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 277 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
As for high expectation, it causes you to forget the Hereafter.
al-Kafi, v. 2, p. 336, no. 3; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 277 link
Holy Prophet Muhammad al Mustaf? (s.a.w.w.) told Ibn Mas d, 'Lower your expectation such that when you wake up in the morning, you say, 'I will not see the night' and when you go to sleep at night, you say, 'I will not see the morning.' And be prepared to depart from this life and yearn to meet Allah.'
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 101, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 277 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
A man who is sure about leaving his loved ones, dwelling under the earth, facing the final Account, and that he will be needless of what he leaves behind, and needy of what he has sent forth [for the Hereafter] deserves to shorten his expectation and lengthen his action.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 167, no. 31; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 278 link
Equip yourself with low expectation for this world's life.
Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 286; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 278 link
Allah, Mighty and Exalted says, 'I will cut off the expectation of every believer who places it in someone other than Me [and replace it] with despair.
Sahifat al-Imam al-Reza (a.s.), p. 276, no. 20; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 278 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
He who places his expectation in a human is indeed fearful of him.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 79, no. 61; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 278 link
Expectation is a mercy for my community; without expectation no mother would nurse her child, nor would anyone plant a tree.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 173, no. 8; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 272 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Expectation is an amiable companion.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1042; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 273 link
While Isa son of Maryam (AS) was sitting, he saw a man working the land with a shovel. Isa (AS) said, 'O Allah, take his expectation away from him!' The man put his shovel down and rested on the ground for an hour. Then Isa (AS) said, 'O Allah, give him back his expectation!' The man stood up and returned to work.'
Tanbih al-Khawatir, v. 1, p. 272; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 273 link
A man who expects to be alive tomorrow is a man who expects to be alive forever.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 167, no. 31; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 273 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
There is no end to expectation.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1010; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 273 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Expectations never cease.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 639; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 273 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Guard yourselves against false expectation, for many a person who begins the day does not live to see its end, and many a one is envied at the beginning of the night while his mourners have assembled by the end of it.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2572; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 274 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Expectation is like the mirage - it deceives those who view it and leaves behind those who place their hope on it.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1896; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 274 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Wishes blind the eyes of insight.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1375; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 274 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Expectation is the sultan of the Satans over the hearts of the oblivious.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1828; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 274 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
The fruit of expectation is the spoilage of deeds.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4641; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 274 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Expectation causes the heart to forget, breaks promises, increases oblivion, and brings about grief.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 35, no. 117; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 275 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Expectation drives reason away, breaks promises, encourages oblivion, and brings about grief. So distrust expectation, for it is deceitful and its addict is a sinner.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 293, no. 2; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 275 link
How many a favor Allah grants His servant without his having expected them, and how many a hopeful one entertains high hopes when [Allah's] choice favours others.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 71, p. 152, no. 55; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 275 link
It has been narrated that the Prophet (SAWA) took three sticks and set one of them in front of him, another one next to it, and the third far away from the two. He then asked, 'Do you know what this is?' to which they replied, 'Allah and His Messenger know better.' He said, 'This one is man, and this is death [next to it], while that one is expectation, which man entertains [about his long life], but death falls upon him prior to his expectation.'
Tanbih al-Khawatir, v. 1, p. 272; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 275 link
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
If man were to see his death [approaching] and the speed at which it draws near to him, he would despise expectation.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 95, no. 79; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 276 link
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