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Humility and Arrogance
النضر بن سويد عن حسين بن موسى عن زرارة عن أحدهما عليهما السلام قال إن علي بن الحسين عليهما السلام تزوج أم ولد عمه الحسن عليه السلام وزوج أمه مولاه فلما بلغ ذلك عبد الملك بن مروان كتب إلى: يا علي بن الحسين كأنك لا تعرف موضعك من قومك وقدرك عند الناس تزوجت مولاة وزوجت مولاك بأمك فكتب إليه علي بن الحسين: فهمت كتابك ولنا أسوة برسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله فقد زوج زينب بنت عمه زيدا مولاه وتزوج مولاته صفية بنت حي ابن اخطب.
12.Al-Naḍr ibn Suwayd narrated from Ḥusayn ibn Mūsā, from Zurārah, from one of them (al-Bāqir or al-Ṣādiq) (a) who said, “ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn (a) married the slave wife of his late uncle, al-Ḥasan (a), and got his mother married to his [manumitted] slave.[1] When ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān heard about that, he wrote to him saying, ‘O ʿAlī ibn al- Ḥusayn, it seems you do not know your position in the eyes of your community and your station among the people! You married a slave woman and got your slave married to your mother?!’ So ʿAlī ibn al- Ḥusayn wrote back to him, ‘I have [read and] understood your letter, yet our exemplar is the Messenger of Allah (ṣ). He married off his own cousin Zaynab to his [freed] slave Zayd, and he himself married his slave maiden Ṣafiyyah bint Ḥayy ibn Akhṭab.’”
بعض أصحابنا عن علي بن شجرة عن عمه بشير النبال عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: قدم اعرابي على النبي صلى الله عليه وآله فقال يا رسول الله تسابقني بناقتك هذه قال: فسابقه فسبقه الأعرابي فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: انكم رفعتموها فأحب الله ان يضعها ان الجبال تطاولت لسفينة نوح عليه السلام وكان الجودي أشد تواضعا فحط الله بها على الجودي.
13.One of our companions narrated from ʿAlī ibn Shajarah, from his uncle Bashīr al-Nabbāl, from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) who said, “A bedouin approached the Prophet (ṣ) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, will you race me with this camel of yours?’ So he raced him and the bedouin won the race. The Messenger of Allah (ṣ) said, ‘You had all raised it (my camel) but Allah liked that He should lower it. Verily the mountains vied for the ark of Nūḥ (a), but al-Jūdī was the most humble, so Allah made the ark stop at al-Jūdī.’”
ابن أبي عمير عن بعض أصحابنا عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: لا يدخل الجنة من في قبله مثقال حبة من كبر
14.Ibn Abī ʿUmayr narrated from one of our companions, from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) who said, “One who has even a [tiny] seed’s weight of pride in his heart will not enter Paradise.”
ابن أبي عمير عن معاوية بن عمار عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: سمعته يقول: إن في السماء ملكين موكلين بالعباد في من تواضع لله رفعاه ومن تكبر وضعاه.
15.Ibn Abī ʿUmayr narrated from Muʿāwiyah ibn ʿAmmār, from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) whom he heard saying, “Verily there are two angels in the sky who have been placed in charge of [observing] the servants, so whoever humbles himself before Allah is elevated by them and whoever is haughty is abased by them.”
ابن أبي عمير عن محمد بن أبي حمزة وحسين بن عثمان عن إسحاق بن عمار عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: الكبر رداء الله فمن نازع الله ردائه أكبه الله في النار على وجهه.
16.Ibn Abī ʿUmayr narrated from Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥamzah, and Ḥusayn ibn ʿUthmān, from Isḥāq ibn ʿAmmār, from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) who said, “Pride is the robe of Allah, so whoever attempts to take Allah’s robe from Him, Allah will throw him face-first into the Fire.”
ابن أبي عمير عن هشام بن الحكم عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام ومنصور عن الثمالي عن أبي جعفر عليه السلام قال: كان علي بن الحسين عليه السلام يقول: ما أحب أن لي بذل نفسي حمر النعم وما تجرعت جرعة أحب إلى من جرعة غيظ لا أكافي بها صاحبها.
17.Ibn Abī ʿUmayr narrated from Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam, from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a), and Manṣūr [narrated] from al-Thumālī, from Abū Jaʿfar (a) who said, “ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn (a) used to say, ‘I would not like to have [even] the best of comforts [and wealth] if it entails humiliating myself, and I have not swallowed anything that I liked more than the suppressed rage for which I do not retaliate against the one who caused it.’”
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Showing off, Hypocrisy, Self-Admiration, and Conceit
حدثنا الحسين بن سعيد قال: حدثنا القاسم بن محمد عن علي عن أبي بصير قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: يجاء بعبد يوم القيامة قد صلى فيقول: يا رب صليت ابتغاء وجهك فيقال له: بل صليت ليقال ما أحسن صلاة اذهبوا به إلى النار ويجاء بعبد قد قاتل فيقول: يا رب قاتلت ابتغاء وجهك فيقال له: بل قاتلت فيقال ما أشجع فلانا اذهبوا به إلى النار ويجاء بعبد قد تعلم القرآن فيقول: يا رب تعلمت القرآن ابتغاء وجهك فيقال له: بل تعلمت ليقال: ما أحسن صوت فلان اذهبوا به إلى النار ويجاء بعبد قد أنفق ماله فيقول: يا رب أنفقت ما لي ابتغاء وجهك فيقال له: بل أنفقته ليقال: ما أسخى فلانا اذهبوا به إلى النار.
1.Al-Ḥusayn ibn Saʿīd narrated to us, “Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad narrated to us from ʿAlī, from Abū Baṣīr who said, ‘I heard Abā ʿAbdillāh (a) say, “A servant who offered prayers [in this world] will be brought forward on the Day of Judgment, so he will say, ‘O Lord, I used to pray seeking Your pleasure.’ But he will be told, ‘Rather, you used to pray so that it would be said: how good his prayer is!’ – ‘Take him to the Fire!’ Another servant who fought in battle will be brought forward and he will say, ‘O Lord, I used to fight [the enemies] seeking Your pleasure.’ But he will be told, ‘Rather, you fought so that it would be said: how brave he is!’ – ‘Take him to the Fire!’ Yet another servant, who had learnt the Qurʾān, will be brought forward. He will say ‘O Lord, I learnt the Qurʾān seeking Your good pleasure.’ He will be told, ‘Rather, you learnt the Qurʾān so that it would be said: how good is his voice!’ – ‘Take him to the Fire!’ A servant who has spent his wealth in charity will also be brought forward, and he will say, ‘O Lord, I gave away my wealth seeking Your pleasure.’ He will be told, ‘Rather you gave charity so that it would be said: how generous he is!’ – ‘Take him to the Fire!’”
عثمان بن عيسى عن علي بن سالم قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: قال الله تبارك وتعالى: انا اغنى الأغنياء عن الشريك فمن أشرك معي غيري في عمل عمله لم اقبله ولا أقبل الا ما كان لي خالصا
2.ʿUthmān ibn ʿĪsā narrated from ʿAlī ibn Sālim who said, “I heard Abā ʿAbdillāh (a) say, ‘Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, said, ‘I am the most needless of all who are needless of a partner, so whoever ascribes to Me another as a partner in any action he undertakes, I will not accept it from him. And I do not accept anything but that which was done only for Me exclusively.’”
النضر بن سويد عن محمد بن سنان عن إسحاق بن عمار عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: إن عالما أتى عابدا فقال له: كيف صلاتك؟ فقال: تسئلني عن صلاتي وانا أعبد الله منذ كذا وكذا فقال له: كيف بكائك؟ فقال: انى لا بكى حتى تجرى دموعي فقال له العالم: فان ضحكك وأنت تخاف الله أفضل من بكائك وأنت مدل على على الله ان المدل بعمله لا يصعد من عمله شئ.
3.Al-Naḍr ibn Suwayd narrated from Muḥammad ibn Sinān, from Isḥāq ibn ʿAmmār, from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) who said, “A scholar once came to a worshipper and said to him, ‘How is your prayer?’ He replied, ‘You are asking me about my prayer while I have been worshipping Allah since such-and-such a time?’ So he asked him, ‘How are you weeping?’ He replied, ‘Verily I weep until my tears flow [down my face].’ So the scholar said to him, ‘Indeed your laughter while you fear Allah is better than your weeping while you are self-conceited before Allah! Verily the one who is self-conceited due to his actions has none of his deeds ascend [to Allah].’”
النضر عن محمد بن سنان عن موسى بن بكر عن زرارة عن أبي عبيد الله عليه السلام قال قال: داود النبي عليه السلام لأعبدن الله اليوم عبادة ولا قرأ قراءة أحبت لم افعل مثلها قط فدخل محرابه ففعل فلما فرغ من صلاته إذا هو بضفدع في المحراب فقال له يا دود: أعجبك اليوم ما فعلت من عبادتك وقراءتك؟ فقال نعم فقال: لا يعجبنك فانى اسبح الله في كل ليلة الف تسبيحة يتشعب لي مع كل تسبيحة ثلاثة آلاف تحميدة وانى لاكون في قعر الماء فيصوت الطير في الهواء فاحسبه جائعا فأطفو له على الماء ليأكلني ومالي ذنب.
4.Al-Naḍr narrated from Muḥammad ibn Sinān, from Mūsā ibn Bakr, from Zurārah, from Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) who said, “Prophet Dāwūd (a) said, ‘I will surely worship Allah today with such a worship, and will recite such a lovely recital, the likes of which I have never done before.’ So he entered his prayer niche and did so. When he had completed his prayer, he [suddenly] saw a frog in the prayer niche. It said to him, ‘O Dāwūd, are you pleased with yourself today due to your worship and recitation?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied. It said, ‘Do not be pleased [or impressed] by it, for verily I glorify Allah every night one thousand times, and with each glorification of mine three thousand praises branch out. And [at times] when I am in the depths of the water and a bird makes a sound in the air, I assume that it might be hungry so I come up to the surface of the water in order for it to eat me, while having committed no sin [to deserve that].’”
