To Profess One ’s Shortcomings

“Once abu Ja’far (a.s.) said to me, ‘O Jabir, (I wish) Allah grants you a chance to think of yourself as falling short in your worship and having deficiencies.’”

“I heard abu al-Hassan (a.s.) saying, ‘A man of banu Israel worshipped Allah for forty years. He then offered an offering that was not accepted. He said to his soul, “Whatever I face is only because of you and there is no sin but that you are responsible therefor.’” The Imam said, ‘Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, then revealed to him, “Your blaming your soul is better than your forty years of worship.’”

“You should say very often, ‘O Lord, do not include me among those whose beliefs are temporary and do not make me feel free of shortcomings.’ I (the narrator) then asked, ‘I know the meaning of people whose beliefs are temporary. They come into a religion and then abandon it. What is the meaning of, “Do not make me feel free of shortcomings?”’ The Imam said, ‘It is when after all the worship of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, that you may do, you still think that you are falling far short of doing true worship. All people fall far short in their worshipping Allah truly except those to whom Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has granted protection.’”