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.
Forty-second sign of the pious:
وَ إِنْ بُغِيَ عَلَيْهِ صَبَرَ حَتَّى يَكُونَ اللَّهُ هُوَ الَّذِي يَنْتَقِمُ لَهُ،
If he is oppressed, he will wait for God to take the revenge,
Sometimes friends, relatives, and even brothers may oppress the person; if he seeks revenge, the conflict will continue and may reach a dangerous and irreparable phase. Whenever in such cases man takes the path of patience and endurance and trusts the God, he himself will be freed from the dangerous temptations of Satan and will maintain the peace of society;
With a little negligence and carelessness, the oppressed may take the way of the oppressor and become a kind of oppressor, also might get oppressed by excessive revenge and retribution. The pious pay attention to this point, and even in spite of their power over revenge, rely on a noble verse as follows:
وَ إِنْ عاقَبْتُمْ فَعاقِبُوا بِمِثْلِ ما عُوقِبْتُمْ بِهِ وَ لَئِنْ صَبَرْتُمْ لَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لِلصَّابِرِينَ؛
Should you retaliate, retaliate with the like of what you have been made to suffer, but if you are patient that is surely better for the steadfast. (Nahl: 126)
The pious renounce punishment and revenge. They are well aware of the rewards of patience for the oppressions; they entrust their work to him by relying on God, because the holy Qur’an says:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا؛
Indeed Allah is with those who are God wary and those who are virtuous. (Nahl: 128)
And he is the one who avenge the revenge of the oppressed and has promised to help them:
ذلِكَ وَ مَنْ عاقَبَ بِمِثْلِ ما عُوقِبَ بِهِ ثُمَّ بُغِيَ عَلَيْهِ لَيَنْصُرَنَّهُ اللَّهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَعَفُوٌّ غَفُورٌ؛
So will it be; and whoever retaliates with the like of what he has been made to suffer, and is aggressed against [again] thereafter, Allah will surely help him. Indeed Allah is all-excusing, all-forgiving. (Haj: 60)
Forty-third sign of the pious:
نَفْسُهُ مِنْهُ فِي عَنَاءٍ وَ النَّاسُ مِنْهُ فِي رَاحَةٍ، أَتْعَبَ نَفْسَهُ لِآخِرَتِهِ وَ أَرَاحَ النَّاسَ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ،
He puts himself in difficulty, but the people are in relief from him; he puts himself in trouble for the sake of the hereafter, however he puts the people in comfort.
This statement of Imam Ali, peace upon him, can be interpreted in two ways:
1. A pious person deprives his soul of his illegitimate desires, because he knows that the soul is the “tempting sense” and constantly commands devil and is openly opponent of its owner. Therefore, by opposing his soul, he provides the comfort of others, because the persecution of people is one of the desires of the evil and the soul, and when a pious person overcomes his soul and disobeys the commands of his soul, others are safe and they will be at ease from him. As the holy Prophet says in the virtue of not oppressing people:
أَفْضَلُ الْجِهَادِ مَنْ أَصْبَحَ لَا يَهُمُّ بِظُلْمِ أَحَدٍ؛
The best of jihad is to reach the morning without committing any oppression to anybody. (al-Mahasen, volume 1, page 292)
2. A pious person, puts himself in difficulty in order to solve others problems and to prepare welfare for people. Imam Ali, peace upon him, says that he has heard from the holy Prophet:
الْخَلْقُ عِيَالُ اللَّهِ فَأَحَبُّ الْخَلْقِ إِلَى اللَّهِ مَنْ نَفَعَ عِيَالَ اللَّهِ وَ أَدْخَلَ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتٍ سُرُوراً؛
God’s creatures are his family, so the most beloved people to God is the one who benefits God’s family and makes them happy. (Mostadrek al-Vasa’el va Mostanbet al-Masa’el, volume 12, page 388)
The pious, in the field of being close to God, have gained the victory and have become the most beloved of God by serving the creatures of God as much as possible. The holy Prophet has said, in the virtue of serving the people:
خَصْلَتَانِ وَ لَيْسَ فَوْقَهُمَا خَيْرٌ مِنْهُمَا الْإِيمَانُ بِاللَّهِ وَ النَّفْعُ لِعِبَادِ اللَّهِ قَالَ وَ خَصْلَتَانِ لَيْسَ فَوْقَهُمَا شَرٌّ الشِّرْكُ بِاللَّهِ وَ الْإِضْرَارُ لِعِبَادِ اللَّهِ؛
There are two qualities and there is no goodness higher than those two: Belief in God and benefiting the servants of God. Also there are two qualities and there is not a devil higher than those two: 1- Polytheism to God and harming the servants of God (Mostadrek al-Vasa’el va Mostanbet al-Masa’el, volume 12, page 390)
He also added:
خَیرُ النّاسِ أنفَعُهُم لِلنّاسِ؛
The best people are the most beneficial to them. (Mostadrek al-Vasa’el va Mostanbet al-Masa’el, volume 12, page 391)
Imam Ali, peace upon him, states the reason for the first sentence in the second sentence, that the pious bother themselves for the sake of the hereafter. Both fighting against the desires of the soul and accepting the difficulty of some divine duties (such as fasting on hot and long summer days, etc.) and struggling to gain the benefits of the people are all due to the fact that the believers in the hereafter and the day of the judgment are real believers; so for this reason, they prepare themselves for that day with all their might, even at the cost of bothering themselves.
The pious have stepped beyond the stage of knowledge and have entered the stage of certainty, and whoever considers the truths of the world and the great resurrection and the heaven and the hell, with the eyes of his heart, will no longer be preoccupied with this mortal and fleeting world. Imam Ali says:
مَنْ عَمَّرَ دَارَ إِقَامَتِهِ فَهُوَ الْعَاقِلُ؛
Whoever builds his house, he is wise. (Oyoon al-Hekam va al-Mava’ez, page 446)
And the holy Qur’an introduces the hereafter as the abiding home of man:
يا قَوْمِ إِنَّما هذِهِ الْحَياةُ الدُّنْيا مَتاعٌ وَ إِنَّ الْآخِرَةَ هِيَ دارُ الْقَرارِ؛
O my people! This life of the world is only a [passing] enjoyment, and indeed the Hereafter is the abiding home. (Ghafer: 39)
The pious build the eternal house of the hereafter by striving with carnal and evil desires and serving the people of God so that they are not among the losers of the day of the judgment, as God said in a description:
قَدْ خَسِرَ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِلِقاءِ اللَّهِ حَتَّى إِذا جاءَتْهُمُ السَّاعَةُ بَغْتَةً قالُوا يا حَسْرَتَنا عَلى ما فَرَّطْنا فِيها وَ هُمْ يَحْمِلُونَ أَوْزارَهُمْ عَلى ظُهُورِهِمْ أَلا ساءَ ما يَزِرُونَ؛
They are certainly losers who deny the encounter with Allah. When the Hour overtakes them suddenly, they will say, ‘Alas for us, for what we neglected in it!’ And they will bear their burdens on their backs. Look! Evil is what they bear! (An’am: 31)