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

10-6 حدثنا أبوالحسن علي بن محمد بن الحسن المعروف بابن مقبرة القزويني قال: حدثنا أبوعبد الله محمد بن أحمد بن المؤمل قال: حدثنا محمد بن على بن خلف قال: حدثنا نصر بن مزاحم أبوالفضل العطار قال: حدثنا عمرو بن خالد، عن زيدبن علي، عن أبيه عن جده عليهم السلام قال: قال أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام:كان لي من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله عشر خصال ما أحب أن لي بإحديهن ماطلعت عليه الشمس قال لي: أنت أخي في الدنيا والآخرة، وأقرب الخلائق مني في الموقف، وأنت الوزير والوصي والخليفة في الاهل والمال، وأنت آخذ لوائي في الدنيا والآخرة، وليك وليي ووليي ولي الله، وعدوك عدوي وعدوي عدو الله

10-6 Abul Hassan Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hassan, known as Ibn Muqayrih al-Qazvini known as - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Mo’mel quoted Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Khalaf, on the authority of Nasr ibn Mozahim Abul Fazl al-At’tar, on the authority of Amr ibn Khalid, on the authority of Zayd ibn Ali, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather (MGB) that the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (MGB) said, “I have ten characteristics of the Prophet of God (MGB) each of which is dearer to me than everything upon which the sun shines. God’s Prophet (MGB) told me, ‘(O Ali!) You are my brother in this world and the Hereafter. You are going to be the closest person to me standing at the Threshold of the Omnipotent on the Resurrection Day. You are my Vizier , Trustee and Caliph reigning over my Household and property. You are the one to uphold my flag in this world and the Hereafter. Your friends are my friends. My friends are considered to be God’s friends. Your enemies are my enemies. My enemies are considered to be God’s enemies.’”

10-7 حدثنا محمد بن علي ماجيلويه رضي الله عنه قال: حدثني محمد بن أبي القاسم عن محمد بن علي الكوفي قال: حدثنا نصر بن مزاحم المنقري، عن أبي خالد، عن زيد بن علي بن الحسين، عن آبائه، عن علي عليهم السلام قال: كان لي عشر من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله لم يعطهن أحد قبلي ولا يعطاهن أحدا بعدي قال لي: ياعلي أنت أخي في الدنيا والآخرة: وأنت أقرب الناس مني موقفا يوم القيامة، ومنزلي ومنزلك في الجنة متواجهين كمنزل الاخوين، وأنت الوصي، وأنت الولي، وانت الوزير، وعدوك عدوي وعدوي عدو الله، ووليك وليي ووليي ولي الله

10-7 Muhammad ibn Ali Majiluyih - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Muhammad ibn Abil-Qasim quoted Muhammad ibn Ali al-Kufy, on the authority of Nasr ibn Mozahim al-Menqari, on the authority of Abi Khalid, on the authority of Zayd ibn Ali ibn al-Hussein, on the authority of his forefathers, on the authority of Ali (MGB), “I have ten characteristics of the Prophet of God (MGB) which he (MGB) has given to no one before or after me. God’s Prophet (MGB) told me, ‘(O Ali!) You are my brother in this world and the Hereafter. You are going to be the closest person to me standing at the Threshold of the Omnipotent on the Resurrection Day. Your house and my house will be across from each other in Paradise as two brothers’ houses. You are my Trustee. You are my Caliph. You are my Vizier. Your enemies are my enemies. My enemies are considered to be God’s enemies. Your friends are my friends. My friends are considered to be God’s friends.’”

10-8 حدثنا أحمد بن محمد بن الصقر الصائغ بالري قال: حدثنا محمد بن العباس ابن بسام قال: حدثني محمد بن خالد بن إبراهيم قال: حدثني إسماعيل بن موسى الثقفي قال: أخبرني عبد الله بن محمد، عن أبيه، عن عمرو بن شمر، عن جابر بن يزيد، عن محمد ابن علي الباقر، عن أبيه، عن جده عليهم السلام قال: قال علي عليه السلام: كان لي من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله عشر خصال: مايسرني بإحديهن ما طلعت عليه الشمس وماغربت، فقال له بعض أصحابه: بينها لنا يا علي، قال عليه السلام: سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله يقول: يا علي أنت الوصي، وانت الوزير، وانت الخليفة في الاهل والمال، ووليك وليي، وعدوك عدوي، وأنت سيد المسلمين من بعدي وأنت أخي، وأنت أقرب الخلائق مني في الموقف، وانت صاحب لوائي في الدنيا والآخرة

10-8 Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Saqr al-Sa’eq Baleri narrated that Muhammad ibn al-Abbas ibn Basam quoted on the authority of Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn Ibrahim, on the authority of Isma’il ibn Musa al-Saqafy, on the authority of Abdullah ibn Muhammad, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Amr ibn Shimr, on the authority of Jabir ibn Yazid, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir (MGB), on the authority of his father (MGB), on the authority of his grandfather (MGB) that Ali (MGB) said, “I have ten characteristics of the Prophet of God (MGB) each of which would please me more than everything upon which the sun shines. God’s Prophet (MGB) told me, ‘(O Ali!) You are my Trustee. You are my Vizier. You are the Caliph reigning over my Household and property. Your friends are my friends. Your enemies are my enemies. You are the master of the Muslims after me. You are my brother. You are going to be the closest person to me standing at the Threshold of the Omnipotent on the Resurrection Day. You are the one to uphold my flag in this world and the Hereafter.’”

10-9 حدثنا أبي رضي الله عنه قال: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله، عن أحمد بن إسحاق ابن سعد، عن بكر بن محمد الازدي، عن بعض أصحابنا، عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: قال أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام: كان لي من رسول الله صلي الله عليه وآله عشر مايسرني بالواحدة منهن ماطلعت عليه الشمس قال: أنت أخي في الدنياوالآخرة، وأنت أقرب الناس مني موقفا يوم القيامة، ومنزلك تجاه منزلي في الجنه كما يتواجه الاخوان في الله، وأنت صاحب لوائي في الدنيا والآخرة، وأنت وصيي ووارثي وخليفتي في الاهل والمال والمسلمين في كل غيبة، شفاعتك شفاعتي، ووليك وليي ووليي ولي الله، وعدوك عدوي وعدوي عدو الله

10-9 (The compiler of the book narrated) that his father - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Sa’ed ibn Abdullah quoted Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn Sa’ed, on the authority of Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Azodi, on the authority of some companions, on the authority of Aba Abdullah as-Sadiq (MGB) that the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (MGB) said, “I have ten characteristics of the Prophet of God (MGB) each of which would please me more than everything upon which the sun shines. God’s Prophet (MGB) told me, ‘(O Ali!). You are my brother in this world and the Hereafter. You are going to be the closest person to me standing at the Threshold of the Omnipotent on the Resurrection Day. Your house and myhouse will be facing each other in Paradise just like two brothers’ houses. You are the one to uphold my flag in this world and the Hereafter. You are my Trustee; my inheritor the Caliph reigning over my Household and property. Your intercession would be my intercession. Your friends are my friends. My friends are considered to be God’s friends. Your enemies are my enemies. My enemies are considered to be God’s enemies.’”

Al-Khiṣāl

Book 11, Chapter 5