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In the name of All°h, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Topic of Discussion: Five Good Qualities

Øad¢th #10
#10 [ Discussion #11
#11 ]
Lectures on Akhl°q given by His Eminence
Ayatull°h al-`U®m° al-Ø°jj ash-Shaykh N°•ir Mak°rim ash-Sh¢r°z¢ (may All°h protect him)
Translated by Saleem Bhimji – www.al-mubin.org – al-mubin@al-mubin.org

Topic: Five Good Qualities

Text of the Øad¢th:

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Translation of Øad¢th: It has been narrated from Anas ibn M°lik that, “I heard the Messenger of All°h
(blessings of All°h be upon him and his family) say in one of his speeches and words of admonition, ‘May
the mercy of All°h be upon that person who sends forth (for himself) something good, and who gives in
charity from the middle path (not too much) and who speaks the truth and who is the owner (in control) of
his own desires and wishes and not held captive by them and who controls his own soul so that it (the soul)
does not take charge over him.”1

Commentary of Øad¢th:

In this Øad¢th, the Noble Prophet (blessings of All°h be upon him and his family), has sent mercy upon that
person who possess the following five characteristics:

1. [ F, 46 ] He is not waiting for others to send things ahead for him (in Paradise), rather he himself – before
others - sends things forward for his own soul and he himself is making his home in the next life a habitable
place.

2. [ 6: ;< 9] He treads upon the middle path (in giving in charity) – not through either extravagance or being
miserly – he gives out of his wealth. When he gives in charity, he is sure to follow the middle course – he
does not give out so much that he makes himself poor and without anything nor does he give out so little
that the goodness that he has been given does not reach other people:

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1 Bi¶°r al-Anw°r, Volume 74, Page 179

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“Do not make your hand tied to your neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach so that you become
blameworthy and destitute.”2

In another verse of the Qur˜°n, it is mentioned that:

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“Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not stingy, but hold a just (balance) between those
(extremes).”3

3. [ #$ % &] The person’s tongue is not polluted with lies and speaking untruths.

All of these three characteristics listed are very good, however, our emphasis is more on the fourth and fifth
characteristics:

4 and 5. ['( )* ) ' + ,-. '( )* / '0 12 3. 4 ) ] what is important here is that a person captures his own soul
and enslaves it and controls and keeps reins on it - not that he is made the slave of his own soul. The
complete worth of a person is in this point that he becomes the leader of his own soul and not the slave of it.

For example, when a person becomes angry, is his tongue in his control or not? Or when a person has the
flames of jealousy burning up inside of him, does his true faith (´m°n) put out such a fire? In summary, the
person has been placed at the intersection of two roads – one road leads towards All°h (Glory and Greatness
be to Him) and Paradise while the other path – which is not limited to one particular path, rather it is a path
that has many other paths branching off of it – is going towards the Hell Fire.

It is easy to discuss this issue however putting these things into practice is extremely difficult. Sometimes,
our leaders who have and are traversing the path of getting closer to All°h (Sair wa Sul£k) use the following
expression, “He is a person who has done a lot of work” and by this phrase they mean that the person has
fought again his own soul so much that he has fallen down to the ground and has gotten back up again and
has continued to fight against his soul till the point where he has become triumphant and has taken control
of it as it takes self-discipline to win control over the soul. It also takes a complete knowledge of the
meanings of the Qur˜°n and the a¶°d¢th of the Ahl al-Ba¢t (prayers be upon all of them). Each and every day,
such a person must read the Qur˜°n, the commentaries of the Qur˜°n and the a¶°d¢th and transfer this
knowledge into his mind and must take energy and power from these things.

There are some people who say that, “We know that such and such an act is not right, however, we do not
know why when we reach to performing this act, we lose control over ourselves!”

This is the meaning of being a servant that the person knows why (he is doing an act) but he does not know
how to stop it since he is not the one in control of his own self. It is similar to a driver who is going down a
steep hill and his car is picking up speed and he says, “I have lost control of my car” and then smashes his
car on the side of a mountain. Or he ends up in the ditch and is killed. Another example is that of a person
at the top of a mountain and is going down at a fast speed with nothing in front of him to control his descent
and control his speed coming down. However, when he reaches to the bottom of the mountain, then his
speed will eventually slow down and he will come to a rest.

2 S£rah Isr° (17), Verse 29

3 S£rah al-Furqan (25), Verse 67
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Our soul works in the same manner! How painful it is for a person that he knows (right from wrong)
however he does not have the ability to prevent himself (from sinning) since for that time period when he
does not know and he commits sins, it is possible that he may not have a great responsibility (in the
presence of All°h).

These are all warnings that we must be careful of our actions and that we must sent forth good deeds for our
own benefit. However, if we fall prey to performing wicked deeds and we are not successful in repenting to
All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) and we leave the world in this state (of being sinners), then we must
be ready and prepared to face the punishment since after we die, the ink in the pen of responsibility will
have dried up and at this time, a person will not be able to ask for forgiveness nor send any good deeds for
his use in the next world.

…and all praise belongs to All°h, Lord of the Worlds, only the mistakes are mine. (Tr.)