بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ
قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
ثم الصلاه و السلام علی محمد عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون
اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
Sixteenth virtue: not being dependent on the world
أَرَادَتْهُمُ الْدُّنْيَا فَلَمْ يُرِيدُوهَا، وَأَسَرَتْهُمْ فَفَدَوْا أُنْفُسَهُمْ مِنْهَا
The world turned to them but they did not. The world wanted them captive, but they freed themselves from the grip of the world.
We talked about the world previously, and said that what is not good is to be entangled in the world and be captivated by the fleeting and unstable pleasures and joys of this world, instead of using the possibilities of the world to worship God and serve God.
Amir al-Momenin says to Imam Hassan and Imam Hussein in his will:
أُوصِيكُمَا بِتَقْوَى اللهِ، و أَنْ لَا تَبْغِيَا الدُّنْيَا وَإِنْ بَغَتْكُمَا، وَلاَ تَأْسَفَا عَلَى شَيْءٍ مِنْهَا زُوِيَ
عَنْكُمَا (نهج البلاغه،نامه47)
I testify you to divine piety, and testify you to not seek the world even if the world demands you, and do not regret what you have lost.
The will of Amir al-Mu’minin to his noble children, which is about not to be deceive by the world, is the same righteousness that the Holy Qur’an states:
لَا تَأْسَوْا عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلَا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ (حدید:23)
That you may not sorrow over what eludes you, nor exult over what He has given you. God does not love the proud snob.
One who has not regretted the past, and is not happy about the future, has observed all aspects of piety. Because God is the main owner of the world and it is not sad to leave it, give it or take it, and to gain it must not make man that happy to get out of the right way.
Righteousness means simple living and disconnection from the world and belonging to spirituality and the Hereafter. We all have facilities that we love and are interested in. We have to see how much interest there is. Do we seek these opportunities for the promotion of morality and spirituality and the path of perfection, then the desire for material possessions is the same as the interest in the Hereafter and God and is compatible with righteousness. But if the interest in worldly possessions and titles impedes one’s spiritual growth, it is the very love of the world that overcomes all errors and conflicts with Islamic righteousness.
Righteousness does not mean having no wealth or title. When one has nothing, there is no righteousness about him. Righteousness is true if one has material possessions, but does not regard them as a dependence, but as a means of self-development and attainment of divine closeness.
Not deceiving the world, and freeing your self from the captivity of the fleeting pleasures of the world, has been the focus of attention in the literature of various cultures.
The world and having too much attention to it, brings men to ruin. How many who initially walked the path of righteousness and spent many years of their lives on the right path to divinity, but eventually trade their attachment to the piety with the world, and couldn’t company righteous in the way of piety. In the sermon of Shaqshaqiyah (Najj al-Balagha, sermon 3), Amir al-Mumenin mentions the following individuals and states:
فَمَا رَاعَنِي إِلاَّ وَالنَّاسُ كَعُرْفِ الضَّبُعِ إِلَيَّ، يَنْثَالُونَ عَلَيَّ مِنْ كُلِّ جَانِبٍ، حَتَّى لَقَدْ وُطِىءَ الْحَسَنَانِ، وَشُقَّ عِطْفَايَ، مُجْتَمِعِينَ حَوْلِي كَرَبِيضَةِ الغَنَمِ.
فَلَمَّا نَهَضْتُ بِالْأَمْرِ نَكَثَتْ طَائِفَةٌ، وَمَرَقَتْ أُخْرَى، وَقَسَطَ آخَرُونَ، كَأَنَّهُمْ لَمْ يَسْمَعُوا اللهَ سُبْحَانَهُ يَقُولُ: (*تِلْكَ الدَّارُ الآخِرَةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لاَ يُريدُونَ عُلُوّاً في الْأَرْضِ وَلاَ فَسَاداً وَالعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ*)،
بَلَى! وَاللهِ لَقَدْ سَمِعُوهَا وَوَعَوْهَا، وَلكِنَّهُمْ حَلِيَتَ الدُّنْيَا في أَعْيُنِهمْ، وَرَاقَهُمْ زِبْرِجُهَا!
At that moment, nothing took me by surprise, but the crowd of people rushing to me. It advanced towards me from every side like the mane of the hyena so much so that Hasan and Husayn were getting crushed and both the ends of my shoulder garment were torn. They collected around me like a herd of sheep and goats. When I took up the reins of government one party broke away and another turned disobedient while the rest began acting wrongfully as if they had not heard the word of Allah saying: That abode in the hereafter, We assign it for those who intend not to exult themselves in the earth, nor (to make) mischief (therein); and the end is (best) for the pious ones.
Yes, by Allah, they had heard it and understood it but the world appeared glittering in their eyes and its embellishments seduced them.
These three groups were the ones who had been deceived by the world and worldly power and life put them in front of amir al-mumenin.
Some of them had been with the Prophet of God for many years and were counted among the companions of the amir al-Mumenin, but when they faced with Ali’s justice and Imam did not respond to their unjust worldly demands, they fought against ali. Then the Amir al-mumenin expresses his view of power and the world as follows:
أَمَا وَالَّذِي فَلَقَ الْحَبَّةَ، وَبَرَأَ النَّسَمَةَ، لَوْلاَ حُضُورُ الْحَاضِرِ وَقِيَامُ الْحُجَّةِ بِوُجُودِ النَّاصِرِ، وَمَا أَخَذَ اللهُ عَلَى العُلَمَاءِ أَلاَّ يُقَارُّوا عَلَى كِظَّةِ ظَالِمٍ، وَلا سَغَبِ مَظْلُومٍ، لَأَلْقَيْتُ حَبْلَهَا عَلَى غَارِبِهَا، وَلَسَقَيْتُ آخِرَهَا بِكَأْسِ أَوَّلِها، وَلَأَلْفَيْتُمْ دُنْيَاكُمْ هَذِهِ أَزْهَدَ عِنْدِي مِنْ عَفْطَةِ عَنْزٍ!
Behold, by Him who split the grain (to grow) and created living beings, if people had not come to me and supporters had not exhausted the argument and if there had been no pledge of Allah with the learned to the effect that they should not acquiesce in the gluttony of the oppressor and the hunger of the oppressed I would have cast the rope of Caliphate on its own shoulders, and would have given the last one the same treatment as to the first one. Then you would have seen that in my view this world of yours is no better than the sneezing of a goat.
According to the Holy Qur’an, being immersed in the life of the world and belonging to the world, drives man to break out of the religious circle:
قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ وَأَمْوَالٌ اقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَارَةٌ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَاكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَجِهَادٍ فِي سَبِيلِهِ فَتَرَبَّصُوا حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ ﴿توبه:۲۴﴾
Say, “If your parents, and your children, and your siblings, and your spouses, and your relatives, and the wealth you have acquired, and a business you worry about, and homes you love, are more dear to you than God, and His Messenger, and the struggle in His cause, then wait until God executes His judgment.” God does not guide the sinful people.
What worries us the most is that the human being is caught up in the world without knowing it. In this case, he is walking the path of the world, imagining that he is striving for God and the Hereafter. The Holy Quran says about such people:
قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا؛ الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا؛ أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ وَلِقَائِهِ فَحَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فَلَا نُقِيمُ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَزْنًا ﴿کهف:103-۱۰۵﴾
Say, “Shall We inform you of the greatest losers in their works?” “Those whose efforts in this world are misguided, while they assume that they are doing well.” It is they who rejected the communications of their Lord, and the encounter with Him. So their works are in vain. And on the Day of Resurrection, We will consider them of no weight.
