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

3-257 حدثنا أبوالحسن محمد بن علي بن الشاه قال: حدثنا أبوإسحاق الخواص قال: حدثنا محمد بن يونس الكديمي، عن سفيان بن وكيع عن أبيه، عن سفيان الثوري، عن منصور، عن مجاهد، عن كميل بن زياد قال:خرج إلي علي بن أبي طالب عليه السلام فأخذ بيدي وأخرجني إلى الجبان وجلس وجلست،ثم رفع رأسه إلي فقال: ياكميل احفظ عني ما أقول لك: الناس ثلاثة: عالم رباني، ومتعلم على سبيل نجاة، وهمج رعاع، أتباع كل ناعق، يميلون مع كل ريح، لم يستضيئوا بنور العلم، ولم يلجئوا إلى ركن وثيق،يا كميل العلم خير من المال، العلم يحرسك وأنت تحرس المال، والمال تنقصه النفقة، والعلم يزكو على الانفاق، يا كميل محبة العالم دين يدان به تكسبه الطاعة في حياته وجميل الاحدوثة بعد وفاته فمنفعة المال تزول بزواله،يا كميل مات خزان الاموال وهم أحياء والعلماء باقون ما بقي الدهر، أعيانهم مفقودة وأمثالهم في القلوب موجودة هاه [و] إن هاهنا، وأشار بيده إلى صدره، لعلما جما، لو أصبت له حملة، بلى أصبت لقنا غير مأمون، يستعمل آلة الدين في الدنيا ويستظهر بحجج الله على خلقه وبنعمه على عباده ليتخذه الضعفاء وليجة من دون ولي الحق، أو منقادا لحملة العلم لا بصيرة له في أحنائه يقدح الشك في قلبه بأول عارض من شبهة، ألا لاذا ولا ذاك، فمنهوم باللذات، سلس القياد أو مغري بالجمع والادخار، ليسا من رعاة الدين، أقرب شبها بهما الانعام السائمة، كذلك يموت العلم بموت حامليه، اللهم بلى لا تخلو الارض من قائم بحجة ظاهر أو خاف مغمور لئلا تبطل حجج الله وبيناتهوكم وأين؟! أولئك الاقلون عددا الاعظمون خطرا، بهم يحفظ الله حججه حتى يودعوها نظراءهم، ويزرعوها في قلوب أشباههم، هجم بهم العلم على حقائق الامور، فباشروا روح اليقين، واستلانوا ما استوعره المترفون، وأنسوا بما استوحش منه الجاهلون، صحبوا الدنيا بأبدان أرواحها معلقة بالمحل الاعلى، يا كميل اولئك خلفاء الله والدعاة إلى دينه، هاي هاي شوقا إلى رؤيتهم، وأستغفر الله لي ولكمقال مصنف هذا الكتاب رضي الله عنه: قد رويت هذا الخبر من طرق كثيرة، قد أخرجتها في كتاب كمال الدين وتمام النعمة في إثبات الغيبة وكشف الحيرة

3-257 Abul Hassan Muhammad ibn Ali ibn ash-Shah narrated that Abu Ishaq al-Khavas quoted Muhammad ibn Yunus al-Kadimi, on the authority of Sufyan ibn Vaki’a , on the authority of his father, on the authority of Sufyan al-Sowri, on the authority of Mansoor, on the authority of Mujahid, on the authority of Komayl ibn Zyad, “Ali ibn Abi Talib (MGB) came to me, took my hand and took me out to the desert (outside of the town of Kufa). He sat down. I sat down, too. Then he (MGB) raised his head up and told me, ‘O Komayl! Remember what I will tell you. The people are in three groups: divine scholars; students seeking to be saved; and the pests in the air which fly in whichever direction the wind blows. They are the ones who have not benefitted from any rays of knowledge and have not sought refuge in any strong base. O Komayl! Knowledge is better than wealth. Knowledge will guard you, but you must guard your wealth. Wealth will be reduced once spent, but knowledge will increase when it is spread. O Komayl! Expressing love by the students for the scholars is in return for what they have borrowed from them (i.e. their knowledge). Students must obey their teachers for as long as they are alive and should honor their names after their death. There will be no return of wealth once it is lost. O Komayl! Those who hoard up wealth are the living dead! The scholars are the ones who are alive. They shall even survive after their death to the end of time. Their bodies shall perish, but their teachings shall be living in the people’s hearts. Yes, there exists in here (while he was pointing to his heart) an endless treasure of knowledge. I wish I could find good students who deserved to receive it. I have a student who learns it, but is not trustworthy. He uses the religion as a tool to gain worldly benefits. He oppresses the servants of God using God’s Proofs and overcomes them using God’s Blessings. He does so to gather the weak and uneducated people around himself to support him, and oppose the true Friend of God. I have another student who is a sincere follower of his teacher, but he is not wise enough to be able to retain his knowledge. He starts to doubt things with the slightest bit of doubt in his heart. I have another student who is neither like the former nor like the latter. However, he delves into pleasure-seeking. He is extremely lustful and in love with worldly treasures. Neither of these can propagate the religion. They are more or less like the four-legged animals. Therefore, knowledge will vanish upon the death of the one who possesses it. I swear by God that the Earth shall not be left void of God’s Proof . It will either be apparent, but oppressed by the oppressors, hidden behind curtains, on deep waves and invisible to the eyes so that God’s Proofs and His Clear Signs do not get destroyed.How many of them are there? They are small in number, but are always of the highest rank. It is through them that God will retain His Proofs and Clear Signs so that they may entrust them to worthy men like themselves; and can foster them in the hearts of those who are similar to themselves. They have delved deeply into the affairs of the world and have attained the utmost level of certitude. What is extremely difficult for the lovers of this world is easy for them. They are accustomed to what the illiterate ones evade. Their bodies are in this world, but their souls are eager for the heavens. O Komayl! Your masters are God’s successors and the ones who invite others to His Religion. O I am very eager to see them. I beseech God’s forgiveness for both you and I.”The compiler of this book - may God be pleased with him - said, “I have reported this tradition in many various ways in the book Kamal ad-Din wa Itamam an-Ne’mat Fi Isbat al-Qaybat va Kashf al-Hayrat.”

Al-Khiṣāl

Book 4, Chapter 201