Pearl of Wisdom
'A hypocrite prohibits [wrongdoing] but does not refrain from it himself, and he enjoins that which he does not do himself. When he prays he complains, when he bows (ruku') he slumps, when he prostrates (sujud) he pecks [prostrating so fast], when he sits he spreads himself out, when he is going to bed his only concern is food even though he is full, and when he wakes up in the morning, his only concern is sleep even though he did not stay up during the night. When he speaks to you he lies, when he makes a promise he does not fulfil it, if you entrust him with anything he betrays it, and if you disagree with him he backbites you.'
Imam Ali ibn Hussain Zayn al-'Abidin [as] Amali al-Saduq, p. 582, no. 802
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Rest |
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The believer only acquires true rest when he meets Allah, although rest may also be obtained by these four things: silence, by which you recognize the state of your heart and your self in your relations with your Creator; retreat, by which you are rescued from the evils of the age, outwardly and inwardly; hunger, which kills fleshly appetites and temptation; and wakefulness, which illuminates your heart, purifies your nature and cleanses your spirit.
The Holy Prophet said, 'If a man finds himself in the morning tranquil in his heart, healthy in body and with food for the day, it is as if all of this world had been chosen for him'; and Wahb ibn Munabbih said: “In the first and the last Books it is written ‘O contentment, honour and riches are to be found with you. Whoever wins, wins through you!'
Abu al-Darda' said, 'What Allah has allotted to me will not pass me by, even if it were on the wing of a breeze'; and Abu Dharr said, 'The secret of a man who does not trust his Lord is always exposed, even if it is imprisoned in solid rock.' No one is in a greater state of loss, is viler, or lower than the person who does not believe what his Lord has guaranteed for him and allotted him before He created him. In spite of that, this person relies on his own strength, management, effort, and striving, and goes beyond the limits of his Lord by his seeking ways and means which Allah has caused him to have no need of.
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