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-sixth sign of the pious:
لَا يُضِيعُ مَا اسْتُحْفِظَ،
He does not waste what has been entrusted to him,
With piety, man does not ruin what he has been asked to maintain. In other words, the pious are trustworthy people.
Types of trust
In general, trust is divided into two categories, and pious people pay close attention to both trusts and do their best to protect them: 1- Divine trust 2- People’s trust.
1- Divine trust
The property of the universe belongs to the almighty God and no one associates this property with him. The holy Qur’an says:
وَ لِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ ما بَيْنَهُما يَخْلُقُ ما يَشاءُ وَ اللَّهُ عَلى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ؛
To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them. He creates whatever He wishes, and Allah has power over all things. (Ma’ede: 17)
In another verse he says:
لِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ ما فِيهِنَّ وَ هُوَ عَلى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ؛
To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatever there is in them, and He has power over all things. (Ma’ede: 120)
Of course, the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, are all creatures of God and His kingdom, and even our limbs are all the property of God, and we are the only trustees who must obey the orders of the true owner, we are allowed to use them for a while and after a short time we will be judged for the quality of our trust in the divine court of justice.
Accordingly, eyes, ears, hands, tongues, etc. are trusts of God, and their creator and owner have instructed us to take care of them against evils and dangers. He himself has introduced the evils of his trusts to mankind through the heavenly books, prophets and saints. For example, he considers looking at an stranger as an evil for the eyes, backbiting, lying and ridiculing the others as evils of the tongue, lucre and theft as evils of property, and a forbidden income and non-religious training as evils of wife and children. It introduces selfishness and inattention to the subjects as evils of presidency and position… . Now, if man does not follow the path of God and does not protect the trusts of God against its evils, he has betrayed this trust and failed in the great test of God. The pious never neglect God’s property and do their best to protect God’s trusts.
Preservation of divine limits and rights
In order to be proud of keeping God’s trusts, we must respect their rights. The almighty God has set a limit and law for everything, which is stated in detail in the Qur’an and Etrat (what Prophet’s relatives accept), and it is necessary for a muslim to be acquainted with the divine limits and rights of everything. The holy Qur’an, in describing the true believers, says:
التَّائِبُونَ الْعابِدُونَ الْحامِدُونَ السَّائِحُونَ الرَّاكِعُونَ السَّاجِدُونَ الْآمِرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَ النَّاهُونَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَ الْحافِظُونَ لِحُدُودِ اللَّهِ وَ بَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ؛
[The faithful are] penitent, devout, celebrators of Allah’s praise, wayfarers, who bow [and] prostrate [in prayer], bid what is right and forbid what is wrong, and keep Allah’s bounds—and give good news to the faithful. (To’be: 112)
2- People’s trust
Another trust that the pious are diligent in maintaining and protecting are the trusts which are entrusted to them by the people. The pious are trustworthy with the people. The holy Qur’an says:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُؤَدُّوا الْأَماناتِ إِلى أَهْلِها؛
God commands you to give the trusts to their owners. (Nesa: 58)
And also says:
فَإِنْ أَمِنَ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضاً فَلْيُؤَدِّ الَّذِي اؤْتُمِنَ أَمانَتَهُ وَ لْيَتَّقِ اللَّهَ رَبَّهُ؛
If you are on a journey and cannot find a writer, then a retained pledge [shall suffice]. And if one of you entrusts [an asset] to another, let him who is trusted deliver his trust, and let him be wary of Allah, his Lord. And do not conceal your testimony; anyone who conceals it, his heart will indeed be sinful, and Allah knows well what you do. (Baghare: 283)
Imam Sadiq, peace upon him, said:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَمْ يَبْعَثْ نَبِيّاً إِلَّا بِصِدْقِ الْحَدِيثِ وَ أَدَاءِ الْأَمَانَةِ إِلَى الْبَرِّ وَ الْفَاجِرِ؛
It is true that God did not send the glory of a prophet except with sincerity in speech and returning (correct and sound) the trust to the (owner) of the virtuous and (or the owner of) the wicked. (al-Kafi, volume 2, page 104)
If every human being entrusts something to a believer, he must return it to him safe and sound, and goodness and badness of people has no effect on this judgments.
Abu Hamza Thamali quotes from Imam Zayn al-Abidin, peace upon him, who said to the Shiites:
عَلَيْكُمْ بِأَدَاءِ الْأَمَانَةِ فَوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ مُحَمَّداً بِالْحَقِّ نَبِيّاً لَوْ أَنَّ قَاتِلَ أَبِيَ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ائْتَمَنَنِي عَلَى السَّيْفِ الَّذِي قَتَلَهُ بِهِ لَأَدَّيْتُهُ إِلَيْهِ؛
Return the loan. I swear by the one who rightly sent Muhammad to prophet hood, if the killer of my father, Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, entrusts me the sword with which he martyred my father, I will return it to him. (al-Amali (Lelsodoogh), page 246)
Meetings are trusts
One of the examples of trustworthiness is secrecy and avoiding revealing secrets of people who have considered the person as a trustworthy and have shared those secrets with him. Disclosure of people’s secrets is one of the examples of betrayal of trust. What is said in a meeting, whether it is a word or an act whose owner is not satisfied with its disclosure or he requires the believer to be honest and to try to keep those words as secret is a kind of trust. The Messenger of God, peace and blessings are upon him, said:
يَا أَبَا ذَرٍّ، الْمَجَالِسُ بِالْأَمَانَةِ، وَ إِفْشَاؤُكَ سِرَّ أَخِيكَ خِيَانَةٌ فَاجْتَنِبْ ذَلِكَ؛
O Abazar! Meetings are trustworthy, and revealing your brother’s secret is a betrayal, so avoid it. (al-Amali (Leltoosi), page 537)
Imam Sadiq, peace upon him, says:
الْمَجَالِسُ بِالْأَمَانَةِ وَ لَيْسَ لِأَحَدٍ أَنْ يُحَدِّثَ بِحَدِيثٍ يَكْتُمُهُ صَاحِبُهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ ثِقَةً أَوْ ذِكْراً لَهُ بِخَيْرٍ؛
Meetings are trusts, and no one deserves to retell or reveal a word that his fellow speaker conceals, unless he allows it; except in cases where he trusts the listener or mentions his good deeds. (al-Kafi, volume 2, page 660)