Nahj al-Balāgha

١٧٨. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): احْصُدِ الشَّرَّ مِنْ صَدْرِ غَيْرِكَ بِقَلْعِهِ مِنْ صَدْرِكَ.

178. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: Cut away evil from the chest of others by snatching (it) away from your own chest. [1]

١٨١. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): ثَمَرَةُ التَّفْرِيطِ النَّدَامَةُ، وَثَمَرَةُ الْحَزْمِ السَّلاَمَةُ.

181. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: The result of neglect is shame, while the result of far-sightedness is safety.

١٨٥. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): مَا كَذَبْتُ وَلَا كُذِّبْتُ، وَلَا ضَلَلْتُ وَلَا ضُلَّ بِي.

185. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: I have neither spoken a lie nor have I been told a lie. I have neither deviated nor have I been made to deviate (others).

١٨٨. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): مَنْ أَبْدى صَفْحَتَهُ لِلْحَقِّ هَلَكَ.

188. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: Whoever turned away from right was ruined.

١٩٠. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): وَاعَجَبَاهُ! أَتَكُونُ الْخِلاَفَةَ بِالصَّحَابَةِ وَلاَتَكُونُ بِالصَّحَابةِ وَالْقَرَابَةِ؟

190. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: How strange? Could the caliphate be through the (Prophet’s) companionship but not through (his) companionship and (his) kinship?

قال السيد الرضى: و روي له شعر في هذا المعنى، وهو: فَإِنْ كُنْتَ بِالشُّورَى مَلَكْتَ أُمُورَهُمْ * فَكَيْفَ بِهذَا وَالْمُشِيرُونَ غُيَّبُ وَإِنْ كنْتَ بِالْقُرْبَى حَجَجْتَ خَصِيمَهُمْ * فَغَيْرُكَ أَوْلَى بِالنَّبِيِّ وَأَقْرَبُ

As-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: Verses have also been related from Amīr al-mu’minīn on the same matter. They are:- If you claim to have secured authority by consultation, how did it happen when those to be consulted were absent! If you have scored over your opponents by kinship then someone else has greater right for being nearer to the Holy Prophet. [1]

١٩٤. وكان (عليه ‏السلام) يقول: مَتَى أَشْفِي غَيْظِي إِذَا غَضِبْتُ؟ أَحِينَ أَعْجِزُ عَنِ الِانْتِقَامِ فَيُقَالُ لِي: لَوْ صَبَرْتَ؟ أَمْ حِينَ أَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ فَيُقَالُ لي: لَوْ عَفَوْتَ.

194. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, used to say: If I am angry when shall I vent my anger - when I am unable to take revenge and it be said to me, “better you endure” or when I have power to take revenge and it be said to me, “better forgive”?

١٩٦. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): لَمْ يَذْهَبْ مِنْ مَالِكَ مَا وَعَظَكَ.

196. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: The wealth that teaches you lesson does not go waste. [1]

١٩٩. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام) فِي صِفَةِ الْغَوْغَاءِ هُمُ الَّذِينَ إِذَا اجْتَمَعُوا غَلَبُوا، وَإِذَا تَفَرَّقُوا لَمْ يُعْرَفُوا.

199. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said about the crowd of people: These are the people who, when they assemble together, are overwhelming but when they disperse they cannot be recognized.

وَقِيلَ بَلْ قَالَ (عليه السلام): هُمُ الَّذِينَ إِذَا اجْتَمَعُوا ضَرُّوا، وَإِذَا تَفَرَّقُوا نَفَعُوا. فقيل: قَدْ عَرَفْنَا مَضَرَّةَ اجْتِمَاعِهِمْ، فَمَا مَنْفَعَةُ افْتِرَاقِهِمْ؟ فَقَالَ: يَرْجِعُ أَصْحَابُ الْمِهَنِ إِلَى مِهَنِهِمْ، فَيَنْتَفِعُ النَّاسُ بِهِمْ، كَرُجُوعِ الْبَنَّاءِ إِلَى بِنَائِهِ، وَالنَّسَّاجِ إِلَى مَنْسَجِهِ، وَالْخَبَّازِ إِلَى مَخْبَزِهِ.

It is related that instead of this Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: These are the people who when they assemble together cause harm but when they disperse are beneficial. It was pointed out to him: We know their harm at the time of their assembling but what is their benefit at the time of their dispersal? Then he replied: The workers return to their work and people get benefit out of them, like the return of the mason to the building site, that of the weaver to his loom, and that of the baker to his bakery.