Introduction

God is One and Only

Abandoning the Present to Attain the Promised

Oppressive Characteristics

Characteristics Rooted in Love for Religion

One Characteristic for Five Characteristics

A Characteristic for a Characteristic

A Saving Characteristic

The Loftiest Characteristic of the Religion

No Two Things Combined which are Better than the Combination of Two Characteristics

A Characteristic that is the Honor of This World and the Hereafter

The Most Knowledgeable Person Is One who Combines One Characteristic with Another One

There Is One True Prosperity And One True Misery

A Characteristic for Which the People Deserve to be Rewarded or Punished

A Characteristic that Is the Noblest Holy War

The Hardest Thing is One Characteristic that Cannot Be Avoided Unless We Abandon Another Characteristic

A Believer’s Honor Is in One Characteristic and His Glory Is In Another Characteristic

One Characteristic Is the Key to All Evil

A Characteristic Due to Justice

A Characteristic Due to Which We Are Interested in How Others Judge About Us

Seek Nearness to God with One Characteristic

God Has Not Tested the Servants with Anything Harder Than One Characteristic

A Characteristic that Is the Result of Being Kind

A Characteristic that Stabilizes One’s Faith and One that Makes Him Lose His Faith

A Characteristic that Destroys a Believer’s Dignity

A Good Characteristic Which No Other Characteristic Is Better Than, and a Bad Characteristic That No Other Characteristic Is Worse Than

A Characteristic That Guarantees Who Will Not Become Poor

The Form of Chivalry of the Members of the Holy Household

A Characteristic Due to One’s Chivalry

A Characteristic that Is Not Good for a Dignified Man

God Loves One Characteristic and Despises One Characteristic

One Who has This Characteristic Would Not Be Thankful for Blessings

A Characteristic Due to Humbleness

A Characteristic that Is Close to Blasphemy and A Characteristic that Might Change Destiny

A Characteristic that Destroyed Previous Nations

Martyrdom Is Expiation for Every Sin Except for One’s Debt

God the Almighty Has Sent Muhammad (sw) and His Nation a Gift That He Has Not Given to Any Other Nation

A Characteristic that One Should Have If He Wants to Increase Goodness in His House

God Will Look at Whom He Likes. Once He Looks at Him, He Shall Grant Him One of Three Gifts

The Hereafter is the Wedding of the Pious Ones

A Characteristic That is Like its Opposite

The Most Wicked People Are Those Who Are Respected for Possessing One Characteristic

A Characteristic in This World is Abstinence, and a Characteristic That is Gratitude for all Blessings

Nothing Deserves to Be Restrained More Than the Tongue

Whoever Raises his Aspirations Does Wrong

Good Deeds Are Recorded for a Muslim as Long as He Remains Quiet

A Characteristic Having Which Will Result in God Saving You From the Fear of the Hereafter

The Most Intelligent Characteristic

The Most Pious, the Best Worshipping, the Most Ascetic and the Most Hard-Working People

Becoming Sorry Is the Same as Repenting

Whoever Earns More Than His Meals fom This World

A Characteristic That Deserves to Be Willed

A Characteristic That Causes One to Be Thrown Out and a Characteristic That Causes One to Be Joined

Lofty Characteristics and Bad Characteristics for the People of the World

There Is No Honor Except Through One Characteristic. There Is No Nobility Except Through Another Characteristic

When God Loves a Servant He Will Make Him Suffer from a Great Calamity

A Characteristic That Leads to Hemorrhoids

A Hand on Which There Is an Iron Ring Is Not Clean

Do Not Respond to Whoever Talks Before He Greets You

A Characteristic That if Practiced Implies Despise for Muhammad’s Religion

Only One of the Proverbs of the Prophets Has Remained

When God Wishes a Servant Well, He Will Expedite His Punishment in This World, and When He Wishes Someone Bad, He Will Procrastinate His Punishment

Be Patient with the Enemies of the Blessings

The Prophet (sw) and Ali Ibn Abi Talib Were Created from the Same Root

A Characteristic That is Gratitude for All Blessings

Religion Is the Same as Love

When Two Believers Shake Hands They Shall Depart from Each Other Void of Any Sins

A Characteristic That Revives the Hearts

A Characteristic That Revives the Affairs of the Almighty God’s Proofs

God the Almighty Has Not Created Anything More Delightful Than This Characteristic

A Characteristic That Constitutes Nine-Tenths of Religion

Whoever is Pleased with His Destiny or is Displeased with it

A Characteristic for Which Even Red-Haired Camels Are Not Loved

A Characteristic That Increases the Daily Bread

A Characteristic That Leads to Hypocrisy and Poverty

The First Gift Given to a Believer Due to a Characteristic

A Characteristic for Which One Who Has No Good Deeds is Forgiven on the Resurrection Day

A Characteristic That is the Root of All Sins

How Awkward It Is If a Man Enters Heaven Having Lost His Honor

A Characteristic Doing Which Will Cause the Almighty God to Have Mercy Upon You

A Characteristic Doing Which Will Cause Increased Good for One’s House

On Him Whose Health Has Overcome His Illness but He Treats Himself and Dies

A Characteristic Which a Believer Avoids

Nothing Ruins Faith as Much as One Characteristic Does

One Who Lives to See his Successor Is Prosperous

A Believer’s Honor is More Than That of the Ka’ba

It Suffices for a Believer to See God’s Aid in the Form of His Enemies Engaged in the Almighty God’s Disobedience

A Gift Will Eliminate Animosities

Prosperous Be the One Who is Indifferent

A Characteristic That Will Make One Poor in the Hereafter

A Group of People Who Are the Masters of Heaven

God’s Prophet Made His Ablutions One Organ at a Time

The Characteristic That Is the Best Goodness

The Prophet Put off His Special Prayer for One Characteristic

A Characteristic That is the Best Form of Worshipping and a Characteristic That is the Noblest Form of Being Religious

What Is A Lot but Its Doers Are A Few

A Characteristic That Constitutes Half of the Religion

A Characteristic That is the Best Thing Given to a Muslim

The Prophet and Ali Ibn Abi Talib Were Created from One Light

A Servant’s Well-Being Depends Upon the Well-Being of One of His Organs

23-2 حدثنا أبي رضي الله عنه قال: حدثنا محمد بن يحيى العطار، وأحمد بن إدريس جميعا قالا: حدثنا محمد بن أحمد بن يحيى بن عمران الاشعري، عن الحسن بن علي، عن أبي سليمان الحلواني أو عن رجل عنه، عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: صفة المؤمن قوة في دين، وحزم في لين، وإيـمان في يقيـن، وحـرص في فقـه، ونشاط في هدى، وبر في استقامة، وإغماض عند شهوة، وعلم في حلم، وشكر في رفق، وسخاء في حق، وقصد في غنى، وتجمل في فاقة، وعفو في قدرة، وطاعة في نصيحة، وورع في رغبة، وحرص في جهاد، وصلاة في شغل، وصبر في شدة، وفي الهزاهز وقور، وفي المكاره صبور، وفي الرخاء شكور، لا يغتاب ولا يتكبر ولا يبغي، وإن بغي عليه صبر، ولا يقطع الرحم وليس بواهن ولافظ ولا غليظ، ولا يسبقه بصره، ولا يفضحه بطنه، ولا يغلبه فرجه ولا يحسد الناس، ولا يفتر ولا يبذر ولا يسرف، بل يقتصد، ينصر المظلوم، ويرحم المساكين، نفسه منه في عناء والناس منه في راحة، لا يرغب في عز الدنيا، ولا يجزع من ألمها، للناس هم قد أقبلوا عليه، وله هم قد شغله، لا يرى في حلمه نقص، ولا في رأيه وهن، ولا في دينه ضياع، يرشد من استشاره، ويساعد من ساعده، ويكيع من الباطل والخنى والجهل فهذه صفة المؤمن

23-2 (The compiler of the book narrated) that his father - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Attar and Ahmad ibn Idris said that Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Imran al-Ash’ari quoted Al-Hassan ibn Ali, on the authority of Abi Suleiman al-Halvani or someone who quoted him - that Aba Abdullah (MGB) said, “A believer’s characteristics include strength of religiousness; limited gentleness; certitudein belief; eagerness in understanding the religion; liveliness in guidance; constant in kindness; being shut-eyed at lustfulness; knowledgeableness accompanied with patience; gentleness in gratitude; proper generosity; frugality at times of being wealthy; patience at times of poverty; forgiveness at times of being in power; obedience to his leader; eagerness to piety; wanting to attend holy war; praying even though he is busy; patience at times of difficulty; strength at times of calamities; patience with disagreeable things; thankfulness when receiving blessings; not backbiting; not being haughty; not oppressive; patience when oppressed; not cutting off ties of kinship; not lazy; not bad-tempered; not hard-hearted; his eyes are not after lust; doesn’t overeat; will not be overcome by lust; doesn’t get jealous of the people; is neither too stingy, nor a spendthrift - rather he is frugal; assists the oppressed; has mercy with the indigent; exerts himself for the sake of others, while others are in comfort due to him; is not attached to this world; doesn’t complain to the people about the hardships of this world; others are after their own business, but he doesn’t get too involved with his business; doesn’t get weary of being patient; doesn’t get feeble in his opinion; would never spoil his religion; would guide whoever consults with him; would assist whoever assists him; abstains from what is vain, insulting and out of ignorance. These are a believer’s characteristics.”

Al-Khiṣāl

Book 24, Chapter 2