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

5-94 حدثنا أبومنصور أحمد بن إبراهيم بن بكر قال: حدثنا زيد بن محمد البغدادي قال: حدثنا أبوالقاسم عبد الله بن أحمد الطائي قال: حدثني أبي قال: حدثني علي بن موسى الرضا، عن أبيه، عن آبائه، عن علي عليهم السلام قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: ياعلي سألت ربي فيك خمس خصال فأعطاني، أما أولها فسألت ربي أن أكون أول من تنشق عنه الارض وأنفض التراب عن رأسي وأنت معي، فأعطاني. وأما الثانية فسألت ربي أن يقفني عند كفة الميزان وأنت معي، فأعطاني. وأما الثالثة فسألت ربي أن يجعلك في القيامة صاحب لوائي، فأعطاني. وأما الرابعة فسألت ربي ان يسقى امتي من حوضي بيدك، فأعطاني. وأما الخامسة فسألت ربي أن يجعلك قائد امتي إلى الجنة فأعطاني. فالحمد لله الذي من علي بذلك

5-94 Abu Mansoor Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Bakr narrated that Zayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdady quoted Abul Qasim Abdullah ibn Amer al-Ta’ee, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha (MGB), on the authority of his father (MGB), on the authority of his forefathers (MGB), on the authority of Ali (MGB) that God’s Prophet (MGB) said, “O Ali! I asked my Lord for five things regarding you and He granted them to me. The first thing was that when the Earth is rent asunder, I shall be the first one to be resurrected and wipe the dirt off of my face and you will be alongside me. This was accepted. The second thing I asked my Lord for was that when I am taken to the Scale for my deeds to reckon my deeds, you be alongside me. This was accepted. The third thing that I asked my Lord - the Honorable the Exalted - for was that you be the one carrying my flag. This was accepted. The fourth thing I asked for was that you be the one at my Pool to serve water to my nation. This was accepted. And the fifth thing that I asked my Lord for was that you be the one leading my nation into Paradise. This was also accepted. Therefore, I praise God for what He had granted me.”

5-95 حدثنا الحسين بن إبراهيم بن ناتانة، والحسين بن أبراهيم بن أحمد بن هشام المكتب، وأحمد بن زياد بن جعفر الهمداني، وعلي بن عبد الله الوراق رضي الله عنهم قالوا: حدثنا علي بن إبراهيم بن هاشم، عن أبيه، عن ياسر الخادم قال: حدثنا علي بن موسى الرضا، عن أبيه موسى بن جعفر، عن أبيه جعفر بن محمد، عن أبيه محمد بن علي، عن أبيه علي بن الحسين، عن أبيه الحسين بن عـلي، عـنأبيه أمير المؤمنين علي بن أبي طالب عليهم السلام قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: يا علي إني سألت ربي عز وجل فيك خمس خصال فأعطاني، أما أولها فاني سألته أن تنشق الارض عني فأنفض التراب عن رأسي وأنت معي، فأعطاني. وأما الثانية فاني سألته أن يقفني عند كفة الميزان وأنت معي، فأعطاني. وأما الثالثة فسألت ربي عز وجل أن يجعلك حامل لوائي وهو لواء الله الاكبر، عليه مكتوب "المفلحون الفائزون بالجنة"، فأعطاني. وأما الرابعة فاني سألته أن يسقى امتي من حوضي بيدك، فأعطاني. وأما الخامسة فإني سألته أن يجعلك قائد امتي إلى الجنة فأعطاني.والحمد لله الذي من علي به

5-95 Al-Hussein ibn Ibrahim ibn Tatanat, Al-Hussein ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmad ibn Hisham al-Mokattib, Ahmad ibn Zyad ibn Ja’far al-Hamedany and Ali ibn Abdullah al-Var’raq - may God be pleased with them - narrated that Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Hashim quoted on the authority of his father, on the authority of Yasir - the servant , on the authority of Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha (MGB), on the authority of his father Musa ibn Ja’far (MGB), on the authority of his father Ja’far ibn Muhammad (MGB), on the authority of his father Muhammad ibn Ali (MGB), on the authority of his father Ali ibnal-Hussein (MGB), on the authority of his father Al-Hussein ibn Ali (MGB), on the authority of the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib (MGB) that God’s Prophet (MGB) said, “O Ali! I asked my Lord - the Honorable the Exalted - for five things regarding you. He granted them to me. The first thing was that when the Earth is rent asunder, I shall be the first one to be resurrected and wipe the dirt off of my face and you will be alongside me. This was accepted. The second thing I asked my Lord for was that when I am taken to the Scale for my deeds to be reckoned, you be with me. This was accepted. The third thing that I asked my Lord - the Honorable the Exalted – for was that you be the one carrying my flag called ‘Leva Allah Akbar ’” on which it is written, “The prosperous ones are those who attain Paradise!” This was accepted. The fourth thing that I asked was that you be the one at my Pool to serve water to my nation. This was accepted. And the fifth thing that I asked my Lord for was that you be the one leading my nation to Paradise. This was also accepted. Therefore, I praise God for what He granted me.”

5-96 حدثنا أبومنصور أحمد بن إبراهيم قال: حدثنا زيد بن محمد البغدادي قال: حدثنا أبوالقاسم عبد الله بن أحمد الطائي قال: حدثنا أبي قال: حدثنا علي ابن موسى الرضا، عن أبيه موسى بن جعفر، عن أبيه جعفر بن محمد، عن آبائه عليهم السلام قال: قال علي عليه السلام: خمس لو رحلتم فيهن ما قدرتم على مثلهن: لا يخاف عبد إلا ذنبه، ولا يرجو إلا ربه عز وجل، ولا يستحيي الجاهل إذا سئل عما لا يعلم أن يتعلم، [ولا يستحيي أحدكم، إذا سئل عما لا يعلم أن يقول: لا أعلم:] والصبر من الايمان بمنزلة الرأس من الجسد ولا إيمان لمن لا صبر له

5-96 Abu Mansoor Ahmad ibn Ibrahim narrated that Zayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdady quoted Abul Qasim Abdullah ibn Ahmad al-Ta’ee, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha (MGB), on the authority of his father Musa ibn Ja’far (MGB), on the authority of his father Ja’far ibn Muhammad (MGB), on the authority of his forefathers (MGB) that Ali (MGB) said, “There are five pieces of advice which one cannot find anything like them even if he travels a lot. One should not have fear about anything but his own sins. One should only place his hopes in his Lord - the Honorable the Exalted. One should not be ashamed of not knowing. When asked about what he doesn’t know about, he should just say, ‘I do not know’. The relationship of patience to faith is like that of the head to the body. There is no faith when there is no patience.”

5-97 حدثنا الحسن بن محمد السكوني بالكوفة قال: حدثنا محمد بن عبد الله الحضرمي قال: حدثنا سعيد بن عمرو الاشعثي قال: حدثنا سفيان بن عيينة، عن السري، عن الشعبي قال: قال علي عليه السلام: خذوا عني كلمات لو ركبتم المطى فأنضيتموها لم تصيبوا مثلهن: ألا لا يرجو أحد إلا ربه، ولا يخافن إلا ذنبه، ولا يستحيي [العالم] إذا لم يعلم أن يتعلم، ولا يستحيي إذا سئل عما لا يعلم أن يقول: الله أعلم، واعلموا أن الصبر من الايمان بمنزلة الرأس من الجسد ولا خير فجسد لا رأس له

5-97 Al-Hassan ibn Muhammad al-Sakoony in Kufa narrated that Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Hazrami quoted Sa’id ibn Amr al-Ash’asi, on the authority of Sufyan ibn Ayyineh, on the authority of Al-Sari, on the authority of Al-Sha’abi that Ali (MGB) said, “Learn a few things from me. You will never find anything like these even if you get on your vehicles and ride them around the world. You should not have hopes in anyone but your Lord. You should not fear anything but your sins. You should never feel ashamed of learning what you do not know about. You should never feel ashamed of not knowing something you are questioned about. You should just say, ‘God knows best!’ You should know that the relationship of patience to faith is like that of the head to the body. There is no faith when there is no patience.”

Al-Khiṣāl

Book 6, Chapter 83