Four Pillars of Religious and Worldly Stability

372. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said to Jābir ibn ‘Abdillāh al-Anṣārī:

O’ Jābir, the mainstay of religion and the world are four persons: The scholar who acts on his knowledge; the ignorant who does not feel ashamed of learning; the generous who is not niggardly in his favours; and the destitute who does not sell his next life for his worldly benefits. Consequently, when the scholar wastes his knowledge, the ignorant feels shame in learning; and when the generous is niggardly with his favours, the destitute sells his next life for the worldly benefits.

O’ Jābir, if favours of Allāh abound on a person the people’s needs towards him also abound. Therefore, he who fulfils for Allāh all that is obligatory on him in this regard will preserve them (Allāh’s favours) in continuance and perpetuity, while he who does not fulfil those obligations will expose them to decay and destruction.