Pearl of Wisdom
was once asked which was better, justice or generosity, to which he replied, 'Justice puts things in their rightful place, whereas generosity takes them away from their course. Justice is a general predominant state, whereas generosity is a transient characteristic. Justice is therefore the nobler and better of the two.'
Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib [as] Nahj al-Baldgha, Saying 437
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A Description of this World |
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This world is like a body whose head is pride, whose eyes are avarice, whose ears are greed, whose tongue is dissimulation, whose hand is desire, whose legs are vanity, whose heart is heedlessness, whose being is annihilation, and whose product is extinction. It brings pride to whoever loves it, avarice to whoever prefers it, greed to whoever seeks it, and cloaks with hypocrisy whoever praises it. It gives vain power over whoever desires it; it leads to heedlessness in the person who relies on it. It seduces whoever admires its goods, but those goods do not last for him. It returns the person who gathers it and is miserly with it to its own abode, which is the Fire.
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