Introduction

God is One and Only

Abandoning the Present to Attain the Promised

Oppressive Characteristics

Characteristics Rooted in Love for Religion

One Characteristic for Five Characteristics

A Characteristic for a Characteristic

A Saving Characteristic

The Loftiest Characteristic of the Religion

No Two Things Combined which are Better than the Combination of Two Characteristics

A Characteristic that is the Honor of This World and the Hereafter

The Most Knowledgeable Person Is One who Combines One Characteristic with Another One

There Is One True Prosperity And One True Misery

A Characteristic for Which the People Deserve to be Rewarded or Punished

A Characteristic that Is the Noblest Holy War

The Hardest Thing is One Characteristic that Cannot Be Avoided Unless We Abandon Another Characteristic

A Believer’s Honor Is in One Characteristic and His Glory Is In Another Characteristic

One Characteristic Is the Key to All Evil

A Characteristic Due to Justice

A Characteristic Due to Which We Are Interested in How Others Judge About Us

Seek Nearness to God with One Characteristic

God Has Not Tested the Servants with Anything Harder Than One Characteristic

A Characteristic that Is the Result of Being Kind

A Characteristic that Stabilizes One’s Faith and One that Makes Him Lose His Faith

A Characteristic that Destroys a Believer’s Dignity

A Good Characteristic Which No Other Characteristic Is Better Than, and a Bad Characteristic That No Other Characteristic Is Worse Than

A Characteristic That Guarantees Who Will Not Become Poor

The Form of Chivalry of the Members of the Holy Household

A Characteristic Due to One’s Chivalry

A Characteristic that Is Not Good for a Dignified Man

God Loves One Characteristic and Despises One Characteristic

One Who has This Characteristic Would Not Be Thankful for Blessings

A Characteristic Due to Humbleness

A Characteristic that Is Close to Blasphemy and A Characteristic that Might Change Destiny

A Characteristic that Destroyed Previous Nations

Martyrdom Is Expiation for Every Sin Except for One’s Debt

God the Almighty Has Sent Muhammad (sw) and His Nation a Gift That He Has Not Given to Any Other Nation

A Characteristic that One Should Have If He Wants to Increase Goodness in His House

God Will Look at Whom He Likes. Once He Looks at Him, He Shall Grant Him One of Three Gifts

The Hereafter is the Wedding of the Pious Ones

A Characteristic That is Like its Opposite

The Most Wicked People Are Those Who Are Respected for Possessing One Characteristic

A Characteristic in This World is Abstinence, and a Characteristic That is Gratitude for all Blessings

Nothing Deserves to Be Restrained More Than the Tongue

Whoever Raises his Aspirations Does Wrong

Good Deeds Are Recorded for a Muslim as Long as He Remains Quiet

A Characteristic Having Which Will Result in God Saving You From the Fear of the Hereafter

The Most Intelligent Characteristic

The Most Pious, the Best Worshipping, the Most Ascetic and the Most Hard-Working People

Becoming Sorry Is the Same as Repenting

Whoever Earns More Than His Meals fom This World

A Characteristic That Deserves to Be Willed

A Characteristic That Causes One to Be Thrown Out and a Characteristic That Causes One to Be Joined

Lofty Characteristics and Bad Characteristics for the People of the World

There Is No Honor Except Through One Characteristic. There Is No Nobility Except Through Another Characteristic

When God Loves a Servant He Will Make Him Suffer from a Great Calamity

A Characteristic That Leads to Hemorrhoids

A Hand on Which There Is an Iron Ring Is Not Clean

Do Not Respond to Whoever Talks Before He Greets You

A Characteristic That if Practiced Implies Despise for Muhammad’s Religion

Only One of the Proverbs of the Prophets Has Remained

When God Wishes a Servant Well, He Will Expedite His Punishment in This World, and When He Wishes Someone Bad, He Will Procrastinate His Punishment

Be Patient with the Enemies of the Blessings

The Prophet (sw) and Ali Ibn Abi Talib Were Created from the Same Root

A Characteristic That is Gratitude for All Blessings

Religion Is the Same as Love

When Two Believers Shake Hands They Shall Depart from Each Other Void of Any Sins

A Characteristic That Revives the Hearts

A Characteristic That Revives the Affairs of the Almighty God’s Proofs

God the Almighty Has Not Created Anything More Delightful Than This Characteristic

A Characteristic That Constitutes Nine-Tenths of Religion

Whoever is Pleased with His Destiny or is Displeased with it

A Characteristic for Which Even Red-Haired Camels Are Not Loved

A Characteristic That Increases the Daily Bread

A Characteristic That Leads to Hypocrisy and Poverty

The First Gift Given to a Believer Due to a Characteristic

A Characteristic for Which One Who Has No Good Deeds is Forgiven on the Resurrection Day

A Characteristic That is the Root of All Sins

How Awkward It Is If a Man Enters Heaven Having Lost His Honor

A Characteristic Doing Which Will Cause the Almighty God to Have Mercy Upon You

A Characteristic Doing Which Will Cause Increased Good for One’s House

On Him Whose Health Has Overcome His Illness but He Treats Himself and Dies

A Characteristic Which a Believer Avoids

Nothing Ruins Faith as Much as One Characteristic Does

One Who Lives to See his Successor Is Prosperous

A Believer’s Honor is More Than That of the Ka’ba

It Suffices for a Believer to See God’s Aid in the Form of His Enemies Engaged in the Almighty God’s Disobedience

A Gift Will Eliminate Animosities

Prosperous Be the One Who is Indifferent

A Characteristic That Will Make One Poor in the Hereafter

A Group of People Who Are the Masters of Heaven

God’s Prophet Made His Ablutions One Organ at a Time

The Characteristic That Is the Best Goodness

The Prophet Put off His Special Prayer for One Characteristic

A Characteristic That is the Best Form of Worshipping and a Characteristic That is the Noblest Form of Being Religious

What Is A Lot but Its Doers Are A Few

A Characteristic That Constitutes Half of the Religion

A Characteristic That is the Best Thing Given to a Muslim

The Prophet and Ali Ibn Abi Talib Were Created from One Light

A Servant’s Well-Being Depends Upon the Well-Being of One of His Organs

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله الذي توحد بالوحدانية، وتفرد بالالهية، وفطر العباد على معرفته وكل الالسن عن صفته، وحجب الابصار عن رؤيته، الذي علا عن صفات المخلوقين وجل عن معاني المحدودين، فلا مثل له في الخلائق أجمعين، ولا إله غيره لجميع العالمين وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، شهادة مقر بتوحيده، راغب في كرامته، تائب من ذنوبه وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله، اصطفاه برسالته، وأودعه معالم دينه، وبعثه بكتابه حجة على عباده وأشهد أن علي بن أبي طالب وصيه وخير الخلق بعده، والقائم بأمره، والداعي إلى سبيله، وأنه أمير المؤمنين، وسيد الوصيين، وأولى الناس بالنبيين، وأن زوجته فاطمة الزهراء سيدة نساء العالمين، وأن الحسن والحسين والائمة [التسعة] من ولده أئمة الهدى، وأعلام التقى، وحجج الله على أهل الدنيا، وأشهد أن من تبعهم نجا، ومن تخلف عنهم هلك، صلوات الله عليهم وعلى أرواحهم وأجسادهم ورحمة الله وبركاته أما بعد فإني وجدت مشايخي وأسلافي - رحمة الله عليهم - قد صنفوا في فنون العلم كتبا وأغفلوا عن تصنيف كتاب يشتمل على الاعداد والخصال المحمودة، والمذمومة، ووجدت في تصنيفه نفعا كثيرا لطالب العلم، والراغب في الخير فتقربت إلى الله جل اسمه بتصنيف هذا الكتاب، طالبا لثوابه، وراغبا في الفوز برحمته، وأرجو أن لا يخيبني فيما أملته ورجوته منه بتطوله ومنه، إنه على كل شيء قدير

In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Praise be to God, who is the Only in terms of Unity, and is singular in Divinity. He has created the servants using His Knowledge. The tongues are dull to describe Him, and the eyes are veiled from seeing Him. It is He who is higher than the characteristics of the creatures. And He is superior to limited concepts. There is no similitude for Him among all the creatures. And there is no god for all the people other than Him. And I witness that there is no god but God - the Only, and there is no partner for Him - being a witness confessing to His Unity; inclined towards His Grace; repenting from his sins. And I witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger - appointed by Him to His Prophethood, and He has entrusted him with the principle features of His religion. He has appointed him with His Book to be a proof for His servants. And I witness that Ali the son of Abi Talib is his Testamentary Trustee. He is the best of the people after him. He is in charge of his affairs. And he is a summoner to his way. And he is the Commander of the Faithful. And he is the master of the Testamentary Trustees. And he is the person of the highest priority to the Prophets. And I witness that his wife Fatimah Az-Zahra is the master of all the women in the world. And that Al-Hassan, al-Hussein and the Imams who are his offspring are the leaders to guidance . They are signs of piety and the proofs of God to all the people of the world. And I witness that whoever follows them shall be saved, and whoever disobeys them shall be ruined. May God’s Blessings and His Mercy be upon them, their souls and their bodies. Moreover, I noticed that the previous Sheikhs and scholars have already authored books on various aspects of knowledge. However, they have neglected to author a book on numbers, and good and bad characteristics. Since this topic is very useful for those who seek knowledge, I decided to compile this book in order to get closer to God, attain Divine rewards, prosperity and the Almighty God’s Mercy. I ask God not to make me hopeless since He has power over all things.

Al-Khiṣāl

Book 1, Chapter 1