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

3-113 حدثنا أبي رضي الله عنه قال: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله قال: حدثني القاسم بن محمد، عن سليمان بن داود قال: حدثني حماد بن عيسى، عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: قال لقمان لابنه: يا بني لكل شيء علامة يعرف بها ويشهد عليها، وإن للدين ثلاث علامات: العلم والايمان والعمل به، وللايمان ثلاث علامات: الايمان بالله وكتبه ورسله. وللعالم ثلاث علامات: العلم بالله وبما يحب وبما يكره، وللعامل ثلاث علامات: الصلاة والصيام والزكاة، وللمتكلف ثلاث علامات: ينازع من فوقه، ويقول مالا يعلم ويتعاطى ما لا ينال وللظالم ثلاث علامات: يظلم من فوقه بالمعصية ومن دونه بالغلبة ويعين الظلمة. وللمنافق ثلاث علامات: يخالف لسانه قلبه، وقلبه فعله، وعلانيته سريرته. وللاثم ثلاث علامات: يخون، ويكذب، ويخالف ما يقول: وللمرائي ثلاث علامات: يكسل إذا كان وحده، وينشط إذا كان الناس عنده، ويتعرض في كل أمر للمحمدة.وللحاسد ثلاث علامات: يغتاب إذا غاب، ويتملق إذا شهد، ويشمت بالمصيبة. وللمسرف ثلاث علامات: يشتري ماليس له، ويلبس ماليس له، ويأكل ما ليس له. وللكسلان ثلاث علامات: يتواني حتى يفرط ويفرط حتى يضيع ويضيع حتى يأثم. وللغافل ثلاث علامات: السهو واللهو والنسيان.قال حماد بن عيسى: قال أبوعبد الله عليه السلام: ولكل واحدة من هذه العلامات شعب يبلغ العالم بها أكثر من ألف باب وألف باب وألف باب، فكن يا حماد طالبا للعلم في آناء الليل وأطراف النهار فان أردت أن تقر عينك وتنال خير الدنيا والآخرة فاقطع الطمع مما في أيدي الناس وعد نفسك في الموتى ولا تحدثن نفسك إنك فوق أحد من الناس واخزن لسانك كما تخزن مالك

3-113 (The compiler of the book narrated) that his father - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Sa’ed ibn Abdullah quoted on the authority of Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, on the authority of Suleiman ibn Davood, on the authority of Hammad ibn Isa that Aba Abdullah as-Sadiq (MGB) narrated that Luqman told his son, “O my son! There are signs for everything by which they are known and which indicate those things. There are three signs for religion which are knowledge, faith and acting accordingly. There are three signs for knowledge which are knowledge of God, knowledge of what God likes and what God disapproves of. There are three signs for faith which are faith in God, His Book and His Messenger. There are also three signs for acting accordingly which are praying, fasting and paying the alms-tax. There are three signs for one who is a show-off which are quarrelling with ones who are better; speaking out of ignorance; and seeking what is extremely hard to find. There are three signs for the oppressor which are oppressively harming those who are superior; being forceful with those who are inferior; and helping those who are oppressors. There are three signs for the corrupt which are constant disagreement between what he says and what is in his heart; constant disagreement between his heart and his deeds; and constant disagreement between his outward appearance and his inward thoughts. There are three signs for the sinner which are he is treacherous, he lies and he acts opposite to what he says. There are three signs for the show-off which are he is lazy, but he acts as if he is steadfast in public and he always seeks to be praised.There are three signs for the haughty which are he blames others in their absence; he boastfully praises others in front of them; and he blames the events which bring about calamities. There are three signs for the wasteful which are he buys what he doesn’t deserve to have; he wears what he doesn’t deserve to wear; and he eats what he doesn’t deserve to eat. There are three signs for the lazy which are he is so sluggish that he starts to commit criminal acts; he has shortcomings that lead him to being ungrateful; and he wastes things so much that he becomes a criminal. There are three signs for the ignorant which are inattentiveness, playfulness and forgetfulness.” Hammad ibn Isa added that Aba Abdullah as-Sadiq (MGB) said, “For each of these signs there are more than a thousand indications. O Himad! Seek knowledge during the day and the night. Stop being greedy for what others possess, if you wish to be able to see the good in this world and attain the Eternal Abode. Consider yourself to be amongst the dead. Do not consider yourself to be superior to anyone else. Keep your mouth shut and keep your aspirations to yourself.”

Al-Khiṣāl

Book 4, Chapter 88