Qualities of the One Who Practices Asceticism

Imam Ali (AS) said, 'The one who practices asceticism from worldly pleasures is such that he neither allows the prohibited things to overcome his perseverance [in the way of Allah], nor the permissible things to distract him from gratefulness to Allah.

Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Those who restrain themselves from worldly pleasures are such that their hearts are weeping though outwardly they may laugh, they experience great sorrow though they display joy, and they are filled with self-contempt though they rejoice at all that they have been bestowed.

Imam al-Sadiq (AS), when asked to define the ascetic, said, 'The ascetic is the one who renounces the permissible things in this world for fear of having to account for them, and renounces the forbidden things of this world for fear of punishment for them.

Imam al-Rida (AS), when asked about the qualities of the ascetic, replied, 'He manages to still his hunger without pursuit of food, he is well-prepared for his death, and weary of his life in this world.