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.
Thirty-third sign of the pious:
فِي الزَّلَازِلِ وَقُورٌ وَ فِي الْمَكَارِهِ صَبُورٌ وَ فِي الرَّخَاءِ شَكُورٌ،
He is calm in hardships and difficulties, and patient in facing the adversity, and grateful in times of blessing and comfort.
Dignity is one of the fruits and results of the pious and is an attribute of the patience; Imam Ali, peace is upon him, says:
اَلوقارُ نتيجةُ الحِلم؛
Dignity is the result of patience. (Ghorar al-Hekam va Dorar al-Kalam, page 28)
Shamon ibn Lavi, a descendant of Judah, one of the disciples of Jesus, peace upon him, came to the holy Prophet, greetings to him, and asked questions. In response, the holy Prophet said important and subtle points and tips, including:
فَتَشَعَّبَ مِنَ الْعَقْلِ الْحِلْمُ وَ مِنَ الْحِلْمِ الْعِلْمُ وَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ الرُّشْدُ وَ مِنَ الرُّشْدِ الْعَفَافُ وَ مِنَ الْعَفَافِ الصِّيَانَةُ وَ مِنَ الصِّيَانَةِ الْحَيَاءُ وَ مِنَ الْحَيَاءِ الرَّزَانَةُ وَ مِنَ الرَّزَانَةِ الْمُدَاوَمَةُ عَلَى الْخَيْر؛
From the intellect, sorrow branches out, and from sorrow, knowledge arises, and from knowledge, growth and from growth, chastity and from chastity, protection (keeping oneself clean from evils and defects) and from protection, modesty and from modesty, elegance and dignity and from dignity, continuity and persistence in goodness. (Bahar al-Anvar, volume 1, page 117)
Elegance means dignity and serenity, and as it is clear from the words of the messenger of God, peace is upon him and his family, it is one of the mediated results of the human intellect. In fact, human dignity indicates the perfection of intellect and health of this divine gift; that is why Imam Ali, peace upon him, says:
يُسْتَدَلُّ عَلَى عَقْلِ الرَّجُلِ بِكَثْرَةِ وَقَارِهِ؛
Too much dignity is the reason for one’s intellect. (Oyoon al-Hekam va al-Mava’eez (Lithi), page 555)
Traits that are rooted in dignity
In the continuation of the above-mentioned hadith, the holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Gog is upon him, considers several attributes as branches of elegance and dignity and says:
وَ أَمَّا الرَّزَانَةُ فَيَتَشَعَّبُ مِنْهَا اللُّطْفُ وَ الْحَزْمُ وَ أَدَاءُ الْأَمَانَةِ وَ تَرْكُ الْخِيَانَةِ وَ صِدْقُ اللِّسَانِ وَ تَحْصِينُ الْفَرْجِ وَ اسْتِصْلَاحُ الْمَالِ وَ الِاسْتِعْدَادُ لِلْعَدُوِّ وَ النَّهْيُ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَ تَرْكُ السَّفَهِ فَهَذَا مَا أَصَابَ الْعَاقِلُ بِالرَّزَانَةِ.
However dignity and elegance, branch out of these traits: 1. Kindness 2. Having foresight 3. Trustworthy 4. Leaving betrayal 5. Truthfulness 6. Virtue 7. Modification of property 8. Being prepared to face the enemy 9. Prohibition of vice 10. Leaving stupidity and irrationality.
The dignity that Imam Ali, peace be upon him, considers as one of the attributes of the pious is the dignity that exists in the pious person according to the order of the Imam, himself; otherwise there are dignity in the welfare and comfort of many human beings. But only a true pious with the spirit of faith and piety may own much peace and tranquility and behave firm like a mountain even in hardships and difficulties. He does not raise his eyebrows and is not shaken, which is possible just for a real pious.
The holy Qur’an says about the peace of the believers and its connection with piety:
إِذْ جَعَلَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْحَمِيَّةَ حَمِيَّةَ الْجاهِلِيَّةِ فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلى رَسُولِهِ وَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَ أَلْزَمَهُمْ كَلِمَةَ التَّقْوى وَ كانُوا أَحَقَّ بِها وَ أَهْلَها وَ كانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيماً
When the faithless nourished bigotry in their hearts, the bigotry of pagan ignorance, Allah sent down His composure upon His Apostle and the faithful, and made them abide by the word of Godwariness, for they were the worthiest of it and deserved it, and Allah has knowledge of all things. (Fat’h: 26)
Patience in the face of adversity
Imam Ali, peace upon him, speaks about the position of the pious in facing the things that he hates and does not like. In facing the adversity, sometimes it is not difficult for a man to accept some hateful duties. For example, a person who, in order to earn a lot of money, puts himself in the hard work and effort and endures his troubles about worldly affairs, does not hate all the disgusting by this hard work because of the future he has envisioned for himself. Or about spiritual and other worldly matters, one who fasts during the long days of the year is patient in the way of obedience to God, he endures the hardships of fasting, and he never hates it.
However there are some things in human life that are hateful and suffering, such as missing the loved ones; but the pious never complain of these misfortunes and are not ungrateful to God, but they endure these sufferings with a heart full of faith and hope in God, because they know that the world has an end with all its good and bad, and beyond it there will be a world that is the court of God’s justice, and the patient will see the result of their stability in the best way.
Imam Baqir, peace upon him, says about the importance of patience in facing the world fair:
الْجَنَّةُ مَحْفُوفَةٌ بِالْمَكَارِهِ وَ الصَّبِرِ، مَنْ صَبَرَ عَلَى الْمَكَارِهِ فِي الدُّنْيَا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ؛ وَ جَهَنَّمُ مَحْفُوفَةٌ بِاللَّذَّاتِ وَ الشَّهَوَاتِ، فَمَنْ أَعْطَى نَفْسَهُ لَذَّتَهَا أَوْ شَهْوَتَهَا دَخَلَ النَّارَ؛
Paradise is mixed with hardships and patience, whoever stands on the hardships of the world will enter the paradise, and hell is mixed with pleasures and lusts, whoever puts him in the pleasures and desires of his soul, at the cost of sin and disobedience to God, will go to the hell. (al-Kafi, volume 2, page 89)
Each person’s capacity is different. Many pious people have the status of satisfactory to some extent, but above that, they only submit to God and wait for calamity. The Prophet of God, peace and blessings of God is upon him, said to Abazar:
یا اباذرٍّ! … فَإِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ أَنْ تَعْمَلَ لِلَّهِ (عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ) بِالرِّضَا فِي الْيَقِينِ فَافْعَلْ، وَ إِنْ لَمْ تَسْتَطِعْ فَإِنَّ فِي الصَّبْرِ عَلَى مَا تَكْرَهُ خَيْراً كَثِيراً، وَ إِنَّ النَّصْرَ مَعَ الصَّبْرِ، وَ الْفَرَجَ مَعَ الْكَرْبِ، وَ إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْراً؛
O Abazar! If you could do something for the almighty God with the satisfaction which exists in certainty and satisfaction which is the product of certainty, then do so; and if you could not be patient, know that it is very good and rightful to stand on what you do not like and there is not your satisfaction. Victory is accompanied by patience and the opening is sad, and it will be accompanied by hardship, comfort and convenience. (al-Ammali (Leltoosi), page 536)