Words from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib That Touch the Heart
The wisdoms of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib are a selection of brief sayings that touch the heart, character, and inner discipline of a person. Although each saying may appear as a simple note on its own, behind it lie fundamental matters such as the discipline of the nafs (the lower self), awareness of mortality, knowledge, adab (good manners), and maturity of the qalb (the heart).
On this page, a concise selection of 72 sayings attributed to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib is presented.
01
“The affliction is from within yourself, but you do not know; the remedy is also within you, but you do not see. Do you still consider yourself a small thing, when a vast universe has been placed within you?”
02
“Ṣalāh (ritual prayer) is the means by which every pure person draws near to Allah. Ḥajj (pilgrimage) is the struggle of every weak one. Everything has its zakāt (purification due); the zakāt of the body is fasting. The struggle of a woman is to get along well with her husband.”
03
“Never forget these two people: the one who is by your side in times of need, and the one who abandons you in times of hardship.”
04
“Fear is paired with despair; shame is paired with deprivation. Opportunity passes by like a cloud; strive to seize good opportunities.”
05
“There is no wealth like intellect, no friend like good character, no inheritance like adab (good manners), and no honor like knowledge.”
06
“There are not two people who call others to follow them, except that one of them is in misguidance.”
07
“The best thing that endears the hearts of friends to a person and removes rancor from the hearts of enemies is to meet them with a cheerful face, to inquire about their state in their absence, and to behave well and gently in their presence.”
08
“Find truthful friends and live among them. Honest and sincere friends are a help in hardship, and an adornment and beauty in times of ease.”
09
“Greed lightens the hearts of the ignorant and uproots them; desires take them captive; deceptions bind them.”
10
“A muʾmin (believer) divides his day into three parts: in one part, he supplicates to his Lord and worships Him; in another part, he holds his nafs (the lower self) to account; and in another part, he occupies himself with lawful and wholesome pleasures.”
11
“Do not go to extremes in friendship, for that friend may one day become an enemy; nor go to extremes in enmity, for that enemy may one day become a friend.”
12
“A believer has a smile on his face and sorrow in his heart. His heart is broader than anything, his nafs (the lower self) is lower than anything. He abhors loftiness, is an enemy to fame, his grief and anxiety are long, his contemplation is deep. He is often silent; he has no time to waste. He gives much shukr (gratitude), and much sabr (patient endurance). He is immersed in thought; when he sees those in need, he does not even remember his own need. His character is beautiful, his manner is pleasant and gentle. He is stern in honor and religion, but humble in character.”
13
“Make brothers for yourselves in the way of Allah, for they are needed both for this world and the Hereafter.”
14
“Forgive everyone, but never forgive traitors to the homeland!”
15
“My Lord, it is enough for me to boast that I am Your servant...”
16
“Once the qalb (the heart) is blind, there is no benefit in the eyes seeing.”
17
“The breaths of people are steps taken toward their appointed time (death).”
18
“Do not be indebted to anything in this world; only in this way can you preserve your freedom.”
19
“The greatest fault is to blame another for a fault that you yourself possess.”
20
“Taqwa (God-consciousness) is the foundation of iman (faith).”
21
“The best gift given to a beloved is loyalty.”
22
“People are enemies to what they do not know.”
23
“Doing good, concealing good deeds, being patient in the face of afflictions, and not complaining about calamities are among the treasures of Paradise.”
24
“Yesterday has passed, and tomorrow is uncertain; therefore, strive to make the best of today.”
25
“Whoever desires Paradise must surely make sacrifices from his desires in this world.”
26
“Sabr (patient endurance) is the key to reaching the goal; the end of resistance is victory. There is an appointed time for the fulfillment of every wish; destiny sets that time in motion and brings it into being.”
27
“The human being most resembles the pans of a scale; he is either light with his ignorance or heavy with his knowledge.”
28
“You may enter through a thousand doors and a hundred thousand fortresses, but you cannot enter a single small heart.”
29
“People are asleep while they live; they awaken when they die.”
30
“The value of a virtuous person is known only by another virtuous person.”
31
“The place of sabr (patient endurance) in iman (faith) is like the place of the head in the body. Whoever has no sabr has no iman.”
32
“Iman (faith) is to know with the qalb (the heart), to affirm with the tongue, and to serve with the limbs.”
33
“Let not greed make you a servant, for Allah created you free.”
34
“By the Lord of the Kaʿba, I have succeeded.” (His last words.)
35
“You people consider yourselves insignificant, but a vast universe is hidden within you.”
36
“If poverty were a man, I would kill him.”
37
“Good character is the best companion; the sign of a believer’s book of deeds is his good character.”
38
“It is not time that passes, but life itself.”
39
“Measure and weigh, then cut; think and reflect, then speak; understand and know, then act.”
40
“A man who is loved by everyone is a hypocrite.”
41
“O my Lord, grant me such a spouse that, seeing the perfection of her Islam, I may correct my own Islam.”
42
“Do not postpone good and beneficial deeds that you must do until tomorrow. Tomorrow may come, but you may not!”
43
“I sought loftiness, and I found it in humility.”
44
“In this world, the masters of the people are the generous; in the Hereafter, they are the God-fearing.”
45
“Return the trust to its owner, even if it belongs to the killer of the children of the prophets.”
46
“Advice given to a person in front of others is not advice, but an insult.”
47
“No matter how poor and hungry he may be, the contented person is rich.”
48
“Forgetting death is a sign of the qalb (the heart) becoming rusted.”
49
“It is difficult to appreciate the value of two things before losing them: one is health, the other is youth.”
50
“First advise your own nafs (the lower self), then advise others.”
51
“A person’s self-admiration is a sign of the weakness of his intellect.”
52
“Do not respond to a vile word with another, for its speaker has many more such low words.”
53
“It is easy to prove the ignorance of an ignorant person, but difficult to make him admit it.”
54
“Those who defend you in your absence are your true friends.”
55
“I understand that Allah loves me because He does not grant me everything I desire.”
56
“Do not be a slave to anyone, for Allah created you free.”
57
“Do not occupy yourself too much with a person whose opinion does not agree with yours. Differences in opinion are not easily resolved.”
58
“Punish the one who does evil to you by doing good to him.”
59
“The world stands upon four things: a scholar who acts upon his knowledge and teaches it to the people; an ignorant person who is not ashamed or afraid to learn; a generous person who is not stingy with his wealth; and a poor person who does not sell his Hereafter for his worldly life. If the scholar loses his knowledge, and the ignorant refrains from learning, if the rich becomes stingy with his wealth, and the poor sells his Hereafter for this world, the world will be ruined.”
60
“Raise your children not for today, but for the future.”
61
“Generosity is to give without being asked. To refuse after being asked is from shame and is evil.”
62
“The day when the oppressed takes revenge on the oppressor will surely be more severe than the day when the oppressor committed oppression.”
63
“O son of Adam, do not hoard what you earn in excess of your need for others.”
64
“The envious has no peace, the quick-tempered has no friendship, and the liar has no bravery.”
65
“The place where speech is planted is the heart; the place it is ordered is the mind; what strengthens it is the intellect; what brings it forth is the tongue; its body is the letters, its soul is the meaning; its adornment is its orderly expression; its soundness is its truthfulness.”
66
“Do not even kill a rabid dog.”
67
“A wise person travels only for three things: to earn his livelihood, to attain his Hereafter, or to benefit from lawful pleasures and delights.”
68
“If a person is not trustworthy with you, do not be trustworthy with him.”
69
“Character and virtue are the outward appearance of the intellect.”
70
“Do not be saddened if someone turns his back on you; in this way, you distinguish your friend from your enemy.”
71
“The wealth you will gain is not worth the honor you will lose.”
72
“To place a person in a position he does not deserve is injustice.”