The Secret of Noble Traits and Perfection

Treating Arrogance, Self-Admiration and Pride: The Secrets of Spiritual Ascent and Perfection in the Mirror of the Sahifa Sajjadiyya (Supplication 20)

Contents

Chapter One

• The Pure Laws of Spiritual Growth in the Words of Imam Sajjad (AS)
• The Sahifa Sajjadiyya: A Shield, a Charter of Salvation and a Way Through the Tribulations of the End Times
• Supplication 20 of the Sahifa Sajjadiyya: A Center for the Restoration and Renewal of the Soul and Society
• The Living, Awakening Words of the Sahifa and Connection to the Wellspring of Prophetic Life

Chapter Two

• The Ordeal of Arrogance and the Fall from the Heights of Worship: The Story of Azazil
• Collective Arrogance and the Loss of Identity among Peoples Throughout History
• The Shameful Fate of the Arrogant and the Punishment of the Samiri-like
• Whistling, Cheering and Flattery: The Devil’s Music for Stirring Arrogance in Society

Chapter Three

• How Does a Person Become Their Own Prison? An Analysis of the Loneliness and Depression of Narcissists
• How Self-Admiration Corrodes and Ruins One’s Deeds
• Self-Admiration’s Envy of Human Reason and the Descent into the Abyss of Folly
• Illuminating Reports on the Trials of God’s Friends and Their Protection from Self-Admiration

Chapter Four

• The Hierarchy of Self-Admiration: From Pride in One’s Lineage and Appearance to Intellectual Vanity and Claims to Divinity
• A Civilizational Critique of Soulless, Dark Technology and Knowledge Poisoned by Narcissism
• Frivolous Fame and Celebrity Culture as the Nuclear Fuel of a Nation’s Ruin
• The Garb of Fame and the Dangers of Falling into Ostentation and Reputation-Seeking

Chapter Five

• The Unchanging Divine Law: Raising the Humble and Humbling the Arrogant
• The Meaning of Humility According to Imam Sadiq (AS), and Submission to the Truth
• From Self-Admiration to Ostentation: The Shift from Self-Worship to Worship of Others and Hidden Shirk
• Preparing for a Fragrant Martyrdom and the Soul’s Immortality in the Sanctuary of Divine Authority

Golden Passages from the Book

The Trial of Arrogance: The Heaviest Trial of the Fall
“The trial of arrogance is the heaviest of trials, and the affliction of arrogance the most exhausting. To multiply arrogance is to multiply the devil’s likeness. Everyone, in one way or another, faces a trial resembling the one Iblis faced when he was still Azazil! Azazil, adorned with centuries of worship, was commanded to bow before Adam, whose first bricks of servitude had barely dried and who was still new to the practice of worship, just beginning to serve God… Those who are self-admiring and proud delay the advent!”

The Secret of Ascent and the Law of Creation’s Perfection Through Humility
“The secret of progress, ascent, elevation and leaps forward—in body and soul—and of grace, majesty and radiance lies in humility and in fleeing arrogance and self-admiration. Whistling, clapping, cheering, displays of emotion and fawning praise are the devil’s music, goading the scorpion of arrogance and self-admiration in people’s souls! When moral vices combine with arrogance, the danger of arrogance, self-admiration and pride multiplies many times over. Self-admiration reaches such heights that a person considers themselves superior to God and prefers their own ideas and opinions to divine laws.”

The Meaning of Humility: The Source of Nobility and Submission to the Truth
“قَالَ الصَّادِقُ (ع): التَّوَاضُعُ أَصْلُ كُلِّ شَرَفٍ نَفِيسٍ وَ مَرْتَبَةٍ رَفِيعَةٍ وَ لَوْ كَانَ لِلتَّوَاضُعِ لُغَةٌ يَفْهَمُهَا الْخَلْقُ لَنَطَقَ عَنْ حَقَائِقِ مَا فِي مَخْفِيَّاتِ الْعَوَاقِبِ… سُئِلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَنِ التَّوَاضُعِ قَالَ: هُوَ أَنْ يَخْضَعَ لِلْحَقِّ وَ يَنْقَادَ لَهُ وَ لَوْ سَمِعَهُ مِنْ صَبِيٍّ… وَ التَّوَاضُعُ مَزْرَعَةُ الْخُشُوعِ وَ الْخُضُوعِ وَ الْخَشْيَةِ وَ الْحَيَاءِ وَ لَا يَسْلَمُ الشَّرَفُ التَّامُّ الْحَقِيقِيُّ إِلَّا لِلْمُتَوَاضِعِ فِي ذَاتِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى.”

The Terrifying Prison of Narcissism and the Suicide of Virtue
“A narcissist is immersed in themselves. They are confined and imprisoned within their own prison, and condemned to it. Terror, loneliness and depression are characteristic afflictions of narcissists, because they see nothing beyond themselves! A narcissist has no horizon, no sky, no sea or depth… Narcissism is a kind of suicide—not merely the killing of the body, but the killing of the heart and soul: the killing of virtue, of humanity, of progress!”

The Accursed Tree of Self-Admiration and the Fire That Destroys Deeds
“قَالَ الصَّادِقُ (ع): الْعَجَبُ كُلُّ الْعَجَبِ مِمَّنْ يُعْجَبُ بِعَمَلِهِ وَ هُوَ لَا يَدْرِي بِمَ يُخْتَمُ لَهُ فَمَنْ أُعْجِبَ بِنَفْسِهِ وَ فِعْلِهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ عَنْ مَنْهَجِ الرَّشَادِ… وَ الْعُجْبُ نَبَاتٌ حَبُّهُ الْكُفْرُ وَ أَرْضُهُ النِّفَاقُ وَ مَاؤُهُ الْبَغْيُ وَ أَغْصَانُهُ الْجَهْلُ وَ وَرَقُهُ الضَّلَالُ وَ ثَمَرَتُهُ اللَّعْنَةُ وَ الْخُلُودُ فِي النَّارِ فَمَنِ اخْتَارَ الْعُجْبَ فَقَدْ بَذَرَ الْكُفْرَ وَ زَرَعَ النِّفَاقَ فَلَا بُدَّ مِنْ أَنْ يُثْمِرَ وَ يَصِيرَ إِلَى النَّار.”

Civilizational Pathology: Dark Technology and the Arrogance of Scientific Pride
“Despite advances in knowledge, today’s technology—deprived of reason—is dark and destructive. The waste products of modern knowledge outweigh its benefits, because narcissism prevails in the world’s scientific institutions. The technology of the narcissists is soulless and lifeless: a mirage without water. When pride takes hold of the souls of scientists, the fruits of knowledge become a killer of the earth and all who dwell upon it.”

The Descent Through the Levels of Pride: From Racism to Opposition to the Sacred Law
“Pride begins with self-admiration and ends in self-worship. It encompasses pride in one’s skin colour, race, ethnicity and country, as well as in one’s education, social standing, physical condition and acts of worship. It begins with self-admiration in relation to God’s creation, and can advance to the point where a person considers himself superior to God, criticises His laws and verses, and rises up against Him. Making laws in defiance of divine rulings and separating religion from politics amount to deeming oneself superior to God!”

Ostentation: From Self-Worship to Worship of Others and Hidden Shirk
“The distance from pride to ostentation is the distance from self-worship to worship of others. The ostentatious person, in God’s name, devotes himself to others—perhaps to people who are ‘like cattle; indeed, even further astray’ (كالانعام بل هم اضل). The ostentatious person seeks to attract others’ attention and urge them to serve him, yet he himself becomes caught up in worshipping others… قَالَ الصَّادِقُ (ع): لَا تُرَاءِ بِعَمَلِكَ مَنْ لَا يُحْيِي وَ لَا يُمِيتُ وَ لَا يُغْنِي عَنْكَ شَيْئاً وَ الرِّيَاءُ شَجَرَةٌ لَا تُثْمِرُ إِلَّا الشِّرْكَ الْخَفِيَّ وَ أَصْلُهَا النِّفَاقُ.”