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

12-69 حدثنا محمد بن موسى بن المتوكل رضي الله عنه قال: حدثنا علي بن الحسين السعد آبادي، عن أحمد بن أبي عبد الله البرقي، عن أبيه، وغيره، عن محمد بن سليمان الصنعاني، عن إبراهيم بن الفضل، عن أبان بن تغلب قال: كنت عند أبي عبد الله عليه السلام إذ دخل عليه رجل من أهل اليمن فسلم عليه فرد عليه السلام وقال له: مرحبا بك يا سعد، فقال له الرجل: بهذا الاسم سمتني امي وما أقل من يعرفني به، فقال له أبوعبد الله صلى الله عليه واله: صدقت يا سعد المولى، فقال الرجل: جعلت فداك بهذا كنت ألقب، فقال له أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: لا خير في اللقب إن الله تبارك وتعالى يقول في كتابه:"وَلاَ تَنَابَزُوا بِالأَلْقَابِ بِئْسَ الاِسْمُ الْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ الإِيمَانِ" ماصناعتك يا سعد؟ فقال: جعلت فداك أنا من أهل بيت ننظر في النجوم لا نقول: إن باليمن أحدا أعلم بالنجوم منا، فقال له أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: فأسألك؟ فقال اليماني: سل عما أحببت من النجوم فاني أجيبك عن ذلك بعلم، فقال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: كم ضوء الشمس على ضوء القمر درجة؟ فقال اليماني: لا أدري، فقال له أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: صدقت فكم ضوء القمر على ضوء الزهرة درجة؟ فقال اليماني: لا أدري. فقال له أبوعبد الله عليه السلام :صدقت فكم ضوء الزهر على ضوء المشتري درجة؟ فقال اليماني: لا أدري، فقال له أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: صدقت فكم ضوء المشتري على ضوء عطارد درجة؟ فقال اليماني: لا أدري فقال له أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: صدقت فما اسم النجم الذي إذا طلع هاجت البقر؟ فقال اليماني: لا أدري، فقال له أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: صدقت، فما اسم النجم الذي إذا طلع هاجت الابل؟ فقال اليماني: لا: أدري، فقال له أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: صدقت، فما اسم النجم الذي اذا طلع هاجت الكلاب؟ فقال اليماني: لا أدري، فقال له أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: صدقت في قولك لا أدري، فما زحل عندكم في النجوم؟ فقال اليماني: نجم نحس. فقال له أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: مه لا تقولن هذا فإنه نجم أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام وهو نجم الاوصياء عليهم السلام وهو النجم الثاقب الذي قال الله عز وجل في كتابه، فقال له اليماني: فما يعني بالثاقب؟ قال: إن مطلعه في السماء السابعة وإنه ثقب بضوئه حتى أضاء في السماء الدنيا فمن ثم سماه الله عز وجل النجم الثاقب، يا أخا اليمن عندكم علماء؟ فقال اليماني: نعم جعلت فداك إن باليمن قوما ليسوا كأحد من الناس في علمهم، فقال أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: وما يبلغ من علم عالمهم فقال له اليماني: إن عالمهم ليزجر الطير، ويقفوا الاثر في الساعة الواحدة مسيرة شهر للراكب المجد فقال أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: فإن عالم المدينة أعلم من عالم اليمن فقال اليمانى: وما بلغ من علم عالم المدينة؟ فقال أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: علم عالم المدينة ينتهي إلى حيث لا يقفوا الاثر ويزجر الطير، ويعلم مافي اللحظة الواحدة مسيرة الشمس تقطع اثني عشر بروجا واثني عشر برا واثني عشر بحرا واثني عشر عالما، قال: فقال له اليماني: جعلت فداك ماظننت أن أحدا يعلم هذا أو يدري ما كنهه، قال: ثم قام اليماني: فخرج

12-69 Muhammad ibn Musa ibn al-Mutevakil - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Ali ibn al-Hussein al-Sa’ed Abady quoted Ahmad ibn Aba Abdullah al-Barqy, on the authority of his father and others, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Suleiman al-Sin’ani, on the authority of Ibrahim ibn al-Fazl, on the authority of Aban ibn Taqlib, “I was with Aba Abdullah as-Sadiq (MGB) when some of the people from Yemen came to see the Imam (MGB). They greeted him (MGB) and he (MGB) greeted them back and said, ‘O Sa’d. You are welcome.’That man said, "This is the name which my mother named me. Few people know me by this name.” The Imam (MGB) said, "O’ Sa’d! O’ Mula! You have told the truth.” That man said, “May I be Your ransom! That is my nickname.” The Imam (MGB) said, "That is not a good nickname. In fact, the Blessed the Sublime God has said in His Book ‘Nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames: Ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness, (to be used of one) after he has believed.’ A bad name is not suitable for a believer. O Sa’d! What is your job?” He (MGB) replied, “We are a family of astrologers. No one is more knowledgeable in astrology than we are in Yemen.” The Imam (MGB) said, "Can I ask you some questions about astrology from you (MGB).” He replied, “Yes. Ask whatever you wish to ask and I will give you a scientific answer.” The Imam (MGB) asked, "How much more is the brightness of the Sun than that of the moon?" He said, "I do not know." He (MGB) said, "You have told the truth.” Then the Imam (MGB) asked, "How much more is the brightness of the moon than that of Venus?” He said, "I do not know". He (MGB) asked, "What is the name of astar which arouses lust in the cows when it rises to shine? He said, "I do not know?" He asked, "How much more is the light of Jupiter than that of Mercury?" He said, "I do not know.” He (MGB) asked, "What is the name of the star that the camels copulate when it is seen?" He said, "I do not know." He (MGB) asked, "What is the name of the star that the dogs copulate when it is seen?" He said, "I do not know." He (MGB) asked, "What is your opinion about Saturn?" He said, "It is a star that brings bad luck" He (MGB) said, "Do not say so because that is Ali’s (MGB) star. It is the star of the Trustees. That is the shooting star about which the Blessed the Sublime God has said, ‘And what will explain to thee what the Night-Visitant is? (It is) the Star of piercing brightness.’ The man from Yemen asked, “What does Night-Visitant mean?” He (MGB) said, "It rises from the seventh heaven and illuminates all the heavens with its light. For this very reason, the Honorable the Exalted God named it Night-Visitant. O the man from Yemen! Do you have any scholars in Yemen?” He said, "Yes. May I be your ransom! There are some scholars who have no match in knowledge anywhere.” The Imam (MGB) said, "How knowledgeable are they?” He said, "They can tell fortune with birds. They can tell about the location of the steps of a fast rider one month away in an hour.” The Imam (MGB) said, "Indeed the knowledgeable people of Medina are more knowledgeable than those of Yemen.” He asked, “How knowledgeable are the scholars of Medina?” The Imam (MGB) said, “The knowledge of the scholars of Medina is so extensive that the knowledge of the scholars in Yemen and fortune-telling with birds can never reach it. They can traverse in a single moment the distance of the path of the rays of the Sun that equals twelve stars, twelve deserts, twelve seas and twelve worlds.” The man from Yemen said, “May I be your ransom! I do not think that anyone knows this or understands its deep meaning.” Then he stood up and left.

Al-Khiṣāl

Book 13, Chapter 14