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

4-7 حدثنا أحمد بن الحسن القطان قال: حدثنا الحسن بن علي السكري قال: حدثنا محمد بن زكريا الجوهري قال: حدثنا جعفر بن محمد بن عمارة، عن أبيه، قال: قال الصادق جعفر بن محمد عليهما السلام: مطلوبات الناس في الدنيا الفانية أربعة: الغنى والدعة وقلة الاهتمام والعز. فأما الغنى فموجود في القناعة، فمن طلبه في كثرة المال لم يجده، وأما الدعة فموجودة في خفة المحمل، فمن طلبها في ثقله لم يجدها. وأما قلة الاهتمام فموجودة في قلة الشغل، فمن طلبها مع كثرته لم يجدها. وأما العز فموجود في خدمة الخالق، فمن طلبه في خدمة المخلوق لم يجده

4-7 Ahmad ibn al-Hassan al-Qat’tan narrated that Al-Hassan ibn Ali al-Askari quoted Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Juwhary, on the authority of Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Am’marat, on the authority of his father that Ja’far ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq (MGB) said, “The people desire four things in this ephemeral world: wealth; comfort; easy life and respect. Wealth comes with contentment. Whoever seeks it in having a lot of wealth shall not find it. Comfort comes with having fewer worries. Whoever has more things to worry about shall not find it. An easy life comes with having very little work to do. Whoever seeks it in a lot of work shall not find it. Respect comes with obeying the Creator. Whoever seeks it in serving the people shall not find it.”

4-8 أخبرني الخليل بن أحمد السجزي قال: حدثنا أبوبكر محمد بن إسحاق بن خزيمة قال: حدثنا علي بن حجر قال: حدثنا شريك، عن منصور بن المعتمر، عن ربعي بن خراش عن علي عليه السلام قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: لا يؤمن عبد حتى يؤمن بأربعة: حتى يشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأني رسول الله، بعثني بالحق، وحتى يؤمن بالبعث بعد الموت، وحتى يؤمن بالقدر

4-8 Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Sejezy narrated that Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khozaymeh quoted Ali ibn Hijr, on the authority of Sharik, on the authority of Mansoor ibn al-Moe’tamar, on the authority of Rub’ay ibn Kharash, on the authority of Ali (MGB) that God’s Prophet (MGB) said, “One is not a true believer unless he does the following four things: bears witness to the fact that ‘There is no god but God, He is One and there are no partners for Him, and I (Muhammad) am God’s Prophet; I have been rightly appointed; there is resurrection after death; and there is destiny.’”

4-9 حدثنا أبوسعيد محمد بن الفضل بن محمد بن إسحاق المذكر قال: أخبرنا أبوجعفر محمد بن أحمد بن سعيد قال: حدثنا أبوعبد الله محمد بن مسلم ابن وارة الرازي قال: حدثنا محمد بن يوسف الفريابي قال: حدثنا سفيان الثوري، عن إسماعيل السدي عن عبد خير قال: كان لعلي عليه السلام أربعة خواتيم يتختم بها: ياقوت لنبله، وفيروزج لنصرته، والحديد الصيني لقوته، وعقيق لحرزه. وكان نقش الياقوت "لا إله إلا الله الملك الحق المبين" ونقش الفيروزج "الله الملك الحق" ونقش الحديد الصيني "العزة لله جميعا" ونقش العقيق ثلاثة أسطر "ما شاء الله، لا قوة إلا بالله، أستغفر الله ".

4-9 Abu Sa’id Muhammad ibn al-Fazl ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Mozakir narrated that Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Sa’id quoted Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Vareh al-Razi, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Foryani, on the authority of Sufyan al-Sowri, on the authority of Isma’il al-Sadi, on the authority of Abdeh Kheyr (ibn Yazid al-Hamedany), “Ali (MGB) had four rings. A ruby ring for nobility; a turquoise ring for help; a Chinese iron ring for power; and an agate ring for protection. The engraving on the ruby ring was ‘Lailaha illalah al-Mulkil Haq al-Mobin.’ The engraving on the turquoise ring was ‘Allah al-Mulkil Haq.’ The engraving on the Chinese iron ring was Al-Ezatallah jami’an. The engraving on the agate ring was in three lines ‘Masha Allah, La quwata illa billah, Istaqfurallah.’”

Al-Khiṣāl

Book 5, Chapter 6