٩٣. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): لَا يَقُولَنَّ أَحَدُكُمْ اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّى أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْفِتْنَةِ لِأَنَّهُ لَيْسَ أَحَدٌ إِلَّا وَهُوَ مُشْتَمِلٌ عَلَى فِتْنَةٍ وَلَكِنْ مَنِ اسْتَعَاذَ فَلْيَسْتَعِذْ مِنْ مُضِلَّاتِ الْفِتَنِ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ سُبْحَانَهُ يَقُولُ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَمَعْنَى ذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ يَخْتَبِرُهُمْ بِالْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ لِيَتَبَيَّنَ السَّاخِطَ لِرِزْقِهِ وَالرَّاضِيَ بِقِسْمِهِ وَإِنْ كَانَ سُبْحَانَهُ أَعْلَمَ بِهِمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَلَكِنْ لِتَظْهَرَ الْأَفْعَالُ الَّتِى بِهَا يُسْتَحَقُّ الثَّوَابُ وَالْعِقَابُ لِأَنَّ بَعْضَهُمْ يُحِبُّ الذُّكُورَ وَيَكْرَهُ الْإِنَاثَ وَبَعْضَهُمْ يُحِبُّ تَثْمِيرَ الْمَالِ وَيَكْرَهُ انْثِلَامَ الْحَالِ.

93. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: None of you should say, “O Allāh, I seek Your protection from trouble” because there is no one who is not involved in trouble, but whoever seeks Allāh’s protection he should seek it from misguiding troubles, because Allāh, the Glorified, says: And know you that your wealth and your children are a temptation!. (Qur’ān, 8:28) and its meaning is that He tries people with wealth and progeny in order to distinguish one who is displeased with his livelihood from the one who is happy with what he has been given. Even though Allāh, the Glorified, knows them more than they know themselves yet He does so to let them perform actions with which they earn reward or punishment because some of them like to have male (children) and dislike to have female (children), and some like to amass wealth, and dislike adversity.

قال السيد الرضى: وهذا من غريب ما سمع منه فى التفسير.

As-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: This is one of the wonderful interpretations related from him.

93. Que personne parmi vous ne dise: «Notre Seigneur, je Te demande de me sauver de la sédition», car il n’y a personne qui soit exempt des germes de celle-ci. Et que celui qui recourt à Dieu demande de ne pas être mis à l’épreuve, car Dieu dit «Sachez que vos biens et vos enfants ne sont qu’une épreuve» (8:28). Cela veut dire que Dieu éprouve les hommes à travers leurs biens et leurs enfants pour qu’on sache ceux qui se révoltent contre leur part des biens et ceux qui l’acceptent. Bien que Dieu connaisse leurs positions respectives, il faut que leurs actions qui méritent la récompense ou le châtiment soient déclarées publiquement. Car quelques-uns aiment leur fils et haïssent leurs filles, d’autres préfèrent fructifier leurs biens et n’aiment pas qu’ils diminuent.

Al Radi de commenter: c'est une des étranges interprétations imputées à ‘Ali

Nahj al-Balāgha

Chapter #93