Al-Kāfi - Volume 8


Book 1, Chapter 132

Prohibition on spying
1 Ḥadīth

وَ بِهَذَا الْإِسْنَادِ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ (عليه السلام) يَقُولُ لِأَصْحَابِهِ يَوْماً لَا تَطْعُنُوا فِي عُيُوبِ مَنْ أَقْبَلَ إِلَيْكُمْ بِمَوَدَّتِهِ وَ لَا تُوَقِّفُوهُ عَلَى سَيِّئَةٍ يَخْضَعُ لَهَا فَإِنَّهَا لَيْسَتْ مِنْ أَخْلَاقِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ (صلى الله عليه وآله) وَ لَا مِنْ أَخْلَاقِ أَوْلِيَائِهِ قَالَ وَ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ (عليه السلام) إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَا وَرَّثَ الْآبَاءُ لِأَبْنَائِهِمُ الْأَدَبُ لَا الْمَالُ فَإِنَّ الْمَالَ يَذْهَبُ وَ الْأَدَبَ يَبْقَى قَالَ مَسْعَدَةُ يَعْنِي بِالْأَدَبِ الْعِلْمَ قَالَ وَ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ (عليه السلام) إِنْ أُجِّلْتَ فِي عُمُرِكَ يَوْمَيْنِ فَاجْعَلْ أَحَدَهُمَا لِأَدَبِكَ لِتَسْتَعِينَ بِهِ عَلَى يَوْمِ مَوْتِكَ فَقِيلَ لَهُ وَ مَا تِلْكَ الِاسْتِعَانَةُ قَالَ تُحْسِنُ تَدْبِيرَ مَا تُخَلِّفُ وَ تُحْكِمُهُ قَالَ وَ كَتَبَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ (عليه السلام) إِلَى رَجُلٍ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَإِنَّ الْمُنَافِقَ لَا يَرْغَبُ فِيمَا قَدْ سَعِدَ بِهِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَ السَّعِيدُ يَتَّعِظُ بِمَوْعِظَةِ التَّقْوَى وَ إِنْ كَانَ يُرَادُ بِالْمَوْعِظَةِ غَيْرُهُ.


132. And by this chain, he said: I heard Abu Abdullah (a.s) saying to his (a.s) companions one day: ‘Do not find faults with the one who comes to you with his cordiality, and do not let him remain upon the sins which he is indulging in, for it is not from the morals of the Rasool Allah ﷺ, nor is it from the morals of his (a.s) friends. He (the narrator) said, ‘And Abu Abdullah (a.s) said: ‘The best inheritance which the fathers can leave for their children is the etiquettes (discipline) and not the wealth, for the wealth goes away whilst the discipline remains’. Mas’adat (the narrator) said, ‘What is meant by the discipline is the knowledge’. He (the narrator) said, ‘Abu Abdullah (a.s) said: ‘If there are two days left from your life, so make one of them for your manners to seek help for the day of your death’. So it was said to him (a.s), ‘And what is that which is the help?’ He (a.s) said: ‘Good management of what you leave behind and what you order for’. He (the narrator) said, ‘And Abu Abdullah (a.s) wrote to a man: ‘In the Name of Allah (azwj) the Beneficent, the Merciful. Having said that, so the hypocrite does not like that which makes the Believers to be happy, and the happy one is he who heeds the advice of the piety, even if the advice is meant for the others’.