جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليه السلام

“The similitude of a believer is like that of a newly- grown plant which the wind blows to either side. A believer suffers a lot of pain and suffers from many illnesses until he dies. But the similitude of a hypocrite is like that of a straight iron cane which nothing can damage. This situation exists for a hypocrite until his death approaches and smashes him down.”

“I swear by My Honor, Majesty, Beauty, Greatness, Grandeur, Exaltation, and Highness of Position. I swear that none of My servants choose My desires over their own desires, without Me establishing independence in their hearts and directing their efforts to the Hereafter; preventing him from wandering around; ordering the Heavens and the Earth to provide his sustenance; and pursuing his business and protecting his interests.”

“So that you kill your father?” The Arab man withdrew his hand. God's Prophet (a.s) turned to the people to talk, but the Arab man returned and said the same thing again. The Prophet (a.s) said: “So that you kill your father?” This time the man said “Yes” and the Prophet shook his hand in a pledge of allegiance to Islam, and said: “Now is the time for: “Take none for friends and protectors except God, His Apostle, and the (community of) Believers.” [The Holy Quran: Tauba 9:16] But I will not order you to disobey your parents. But treat them with kindness in this world.”

“Whoever expresses his needs to a king, and experiences a calamity for doing so will not have any reward, not even the reward of perseverance (over that calamity).”

“Do not make life hard for yourselves. Inform your religious brothers whenever you run into difficulties in life.”

I swear by God who controls my life that nothing blends with knowledge better than patience.”

“Whoever believes in God and the Hereafter should fulfill his promise.”

“There are people among God's creatures to whom others go to fulfill their needs. They are saved from God's Punishment.”

“O' Lord! Who are your friends on whom your shade will be spread on the Day when there is no other shade? God revealed: “They are people with pure hearts and empty hands. They are people who say words of God’s remembrance whenever they remember God. They are people who are pleased with obeying Me, just as babies are pleased with their mother's milk. They are people who take refuge in My mosques, just as hawks take refuge in their nests. They are people who get angry whenever they see that what I have forbidden is allowed. They get as angry as leopards get.

“By telling me what he told you, you did not respect the rights related to associating with him. You also did not respect my rights since you told me something about my believing brother of which I was unaware. We will all perish, and be resurrected on Resurrection Day, and God will judge between us. Avoid gossiping since it is the stew meat for the dogs of Hell. Know that many will gossip about anyone who spreads the word around about the faults of the people, and he will also be questioned about his own faults.”

“One who acts without any wisdom is similar to one who goes astray. He will get farther away from his destination the more he rushes.”

“Return whatever you are entrusted with to its owner, even if the owner is the murderer of Imam Hussein (a.s).”

“One day I left the house with my father, and saw some of our companions who were between the grave and the pulpit. My father approached them and said: “I swear by God that I like your smell and your breath. Please assist us with your piety and hard work. Beware that no one can attain our friendship except through piety and hard work. Whenever you decide to follow someone you must act like him. You are God's followers; you are God's soldiers. You are God's helpers. You are the first and the last forerunners. In this world you are the first forerunners to attain our friendship, and in the Hereafter you are forerunners towards Heaven. We guarantee you Heaven through the guarantees of God and God's Prophet (a.s). You are the pure ones. Your women are pure. Any believing woman is one of the Houris of Heaven, and any believing man is honest in his speech.”

“God has turned over the control of all affairs of the believers to themselves, except for humility. Have you not heard God the Almighty say: “But honor belongs to God and his Apostle, and to the believers.” [The Holy Quran: Munafiqun 63:8] Therefore believers are honorable, and not humiliated.”

Prophet of God (a.s) said: “Whoever studies for the sake of God will become humbler when he makes a scientific achievement. Then he will be more humble with the people, and will fear God more, and will strive more for the religion. Such a scientist will benefit from his knowledge and will also help others benefit from it. But whoever seeks knowledge in order to attain worldly gains, higher status, and a higher post near the king will get haughtier the more he learns, and will become debased near the people. He will get haughty before God, and will disobey religion. Such a person will not benefit from his knowledge and will not have any support for himself, and will only get sorry, and debased on the Resurrection Day.”

“Whoever acts and talks likewise is a perfect man, and whoever says something but does something else will only blame himself.”

“Say good words to be known for that, and do good deeds to be one of the good-doers.”

“The intent of a believer is better than his deeds, and the intent of a corrupt person is worse than his actions. Everybody will be rewarded according to his intentions.”

“God the Almighty told Moses: “This world is a punishment for Adam's mistake. I punished him by placing him in this world and, made this world cursed. Whatever is in this world is cursed unless it is for Me. O' Moses! My good servants abstained from this world according to the level of recognition they had of Me. The rest of the people got attached to this world due to their ignorance. There is no one who honors this world and his eyes get illuminated by it, and there is no one who considers it to be nothing and does not benefit from it.” Imam Sadiq (a.s) then said: “Try to remain unknown if you can. Do not be afraid of getting blamed by the people, since you will be praised by God. Ameer al-Momineen said: “There is no good in this world except for two people: those who add to their good deeds everyday, and those who compensate for their sins by repenting, but how do they know that their repentance is accepted? I swear by God that even if he prostrates so much that his neck breaks, God will not accept his repentance except through the friendship of us, the holy household (of the Prophet). Know that others who benefit from this world are those who respect our rights and hope to receive rewards through us, and are content with their food, clothing and head covering. In this affair they are fearful.

“A believer asks God for something he needs, but God puts it off and says: “I delay fulfilling his needs due to My eagerness to his supplication.” When the Hereafter comes, the Almighty God says: “O' My servant! You asked Me for something in the world, but I delayed fulfilling it. Here is the reward. You then asked Me for something else, but I delayed fulfilling it again. Here is the reward.” The The Imam (a.s) said: “At this time the believer who sees all the good rewards, wishes that his needs in the world for which he prayed had never been fulfilled.”