Pearl of Wisdom
'A man once invited the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali (AS) for a meal, so Imam said to him, 'I will accept your invitation provided yo fulfil three conditions.' The man asked, 'And what are they, O Commander of the Faithful?' to which he replied, 'Do not bring any special food from outside for me, do not preserve anything in the house especially for me, and do not impose any difficulty on your family.' The man replied, 'You shall have that O Commander of the Faithful' and 'Ali b. Abi Talib accepted his invitation.'
Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha [as] 'Uyun Akhbar al-Rida (AS), v. 2, p. 42, no. 138
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Reluctance to Act |
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A person who feels reluctant to act falls short of what is correct, even if he does right; while a person who acts voluntarily is correct, even if he errs. The reluctant one obtains only contempt in the end, and weariness, toil and misery while he is carrying out the action. The outer being of a reluctant person is showing off, and his inner being is hypocrisy: they are the wings with which he flies. The reluctant person never has any of the qualities of the righteous nor any of the marks of the believers, wherever he is. As Allah said to His Prophet [s],
Say, I do not ask you for any reward for it; nor am I of those who affect [i.e. act with reluctance]. (38:86)
The Holy Prophet said, 'we, the company of prophets, the fearfully aware, the trusty, we disavow the reluctant.' So, fear Allah and do away with reluctance, and it will mark you with the sign of belief. Do not be occupied with something whose garment is affliction, with food which in the end is emptiness, with an abode whose end is ruin, with wealth whose end is to be inherited by others, with comrades whom in the end one must take leave of, with glory which in the end is abasement, with loyalty which in the end is abandonment, or with a life whose end is grief.
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