The descriptions of the pious (Muttaghin) (54)
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
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً 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
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
Twenty-fifth sign of the pious:
مَنْزُوراً أَكْلُهُ،
You see his food is little,
About the word “اکل” in this statement of Imam Ali, there are two possibilities:
1. “اکل” which may pronounce like “onogh”: In this case, the meaning of the Imam is pleasure in the world, that is, the pious have little interest to the world. Because the pious have been satisfied with the world as much as necessary, their enjoyment of worldly gifts is low.
2. “اکل” which is pronounced like “kharj”: In this case, the word of the Imam means to eat, in the sense that the pious eat less food.
Imam Ali, in expressing the attributes of the pious, says that they are not greedy and they eat less. The almighty God says in the Holy Qu’ran:
… كُلُوا وَ اشْرَبُوا وَ لا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِين؛
… and eat and drink, but do not waste; indeed, He does not like the wasteful. (A’raf: 31)
The pious are not spenders, and their abstinence from extravagance extends to all worldly blessings. Being extravagance and spender means consuming too much, which will be achievable into every matter.
The twenty-sixth sign of the pious:
سَهْلًا أَمْرُه،
You find him easy,
The affairs of the pious are easy and simple, that is, they do not bother anyone for the sake of their own affairs, nor do they put themselves in hard situation for the sake of welfare and aristocracy. They eliminate unnecessary and formalities in matters of life such as food, clothing, travel, holding parties, going to parties, giving gifts, marriage, etc., and therefore live much lighter and more comfortable than others.
Imam Ali says:
شَرُّ الْإِخْوَانِ مَنْ تُكُلِّفَ لَه؛
The worst brothers are those who put others in trouble. (Nahj al-balaghe (The Morning Saleh) page 559)
In fact, who puts others in hard and difficult situation, because of his ambitions and achieving his aspirations and desires, is considered one of the most evil people.
The Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) have instructed us not to behave harsh in dealing with others, but to deal with them with forgiveness and ease. It is better to forgive the evils they have done to us easily and accept their excuse and make the difficulty of apologizing and embarrassment easy to them if we see the effects of remorse and shame on their faces, and be easygoing for the obligor for repaying the debt.
Imam Sadegh (as) said to one of his companions: Why is someone complaining about you?
He said: I complained him and took my right from him to the end.
When the Imam heard this, he sat down in a state of rage, and then he pointed to the following verse of the Qur’an.
وَالَّذِينَ يَصِلُونَ مَا أَمَرَ اللَّهُ بِهِ أَنْ يُوصَلَ وَيَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ وَيَخَافُونَ سُوءَ الْحِسَابِ؛
And those who join what Allah has commanded to be joined, and fear their Lord, and are afraid of an adverse reckoning; (Ra’d: 21)
And he continued:
كَأَنَّكَ إِذَا اسْتَقْصَيْتَ عَلَيْهِ حَقَّكَ لَمْ تُسِئْ، أَ رَأَيْتَكَ مَا حَكَى اللَّهُ عَنْ قَوْمٍ يَخافُونَ سُوءَ الْحِسابِ؟ أَ خَافُوا أَنْ يَجُورَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ؟ لَا، وَ لَكِنْ خَافُوا الِاسْتِقْصَاءَ، فَسَمَّاهُ اللَّهُ سُوءَ الْحِسابِ؛ فَمَنِ اسْتَقْصَى فَقَدْ أَسَاءَ
It seems that you think if you have not done an evil if you get your right until the last stage of truth, it is not so, have not you heard the word of God who says:
وَ يَخافُونَ سُوءَ الْحِسابِ
The wicked are afraid of evil. Do you think that they are afraid that God will oppress them? No, I swear to God, they are afraid that God will hold them to account exactly and to the last stage, God has called it a misjudgment, and therefore anyone who is very careful and strict in calculating is a bad accountant. (Tohaf al-Aghool, p. 372)
If man does not take hard on others in this world, the almighty God will take it easy on him on the day of resurrection, and he will be among those whom the holy Qur’an says:
فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ؛ فَسَوْفَ يُحاسَبُ حِساباً يَسِيراً؛ وَ يَنْقَلِبُ إِلى أَهْلِهِ مَسْرُوراً؛
Then, as for him who is given his record [of deeds] in his right hand, he will receive an easy reckoning, and he will return to his folks joyfully. (Ensheghagh: 7 – 9)
Pious people reduce their living expenses by practicing asceticism and simple living, and this makes them lighten their lives and do not neglect the main and basic aspects of their lives, and not only not be a burden on others, but also help others in times of hardship and crisis.
The twenty-seventh sign of the pious:
حَرِيزاً دِينُهُ،
You see his religion safe,
The religion of the pious is safe, and the reason for the safety of their religion is the position of certainty that they have and it has been mentioned before in the sermon (يمِمَانًا فِي يَقِينٍ). The certain authority of the pious protects their religion from any doubts.
In jurisprudential laws, if a person is not a specialist and a mujtahid, he should refer to a specialist and a reference and imitate his order, which is called imitation in the rulings, but imitation in beliefs does not make sense, and each person must follow his beliefs through reasons and arguments. The enemies of every school and religion always try to destroy and disperse the people around that school by inducing doubt in the beliefs of the followers of that school. If these beliefs are imitations and not based on certainty, they will be shaken and affected by the induction of doubts and will eventually disappear; but if man reaches the stage of certainty in his beliefs, the doubts of the devils will no longer shake or affect his beliefs. Therefore, the pious people take care of their religion in an invulnerable protection due to their certain position.
Because of the importance of certainty for the preservation of human religion, the Ahl al-Bayt taught us to seek certainty from God. Imam Sadegh (as) ordered that this prayer be recited after the morning and evening prayers:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ بِحَقِّ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَلَيْكَ، صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، وَ اجْعَلِ النُّورَ فِي بَصَرِي، وَ الْبَصِيرَةَ فِي دِينِي، وَ الْيَقِينَ فِي قَلْبِي، وَ الْإِخْلَاصَ فِي عَمَلِي، وَ السَّلَامَةَ فِي نَفْسِي، وَ السَّعَةَ فِي رِزْقِي، وَ الشُّكْرَ لَكَ أَبَداً مَا أَبْقَيْتَنِي؛
God! With the truth that Muhammad and the family of Muhammad have over you, I ask you to send greetings to Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and beg you light for my eyes, awareness in my religion, and certainty in my heart, and sincerity in my deeds, and health in my soul and body, and openness in my day, and I want to thank you as long as you have kept me alive. (Kafi, volume 2, page 550)