🌷☘️Do Not Put Pride to the Test

🔅🌹 Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903) 🌹🔅

🌸The trial of pride is the heaviest of trials, and the affliction it brings is the most wearing.

🌸To multiply pride is to multiply the devil’s legacy.

🌸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 prostrate before Adam, whose devotion was still in its early stages: he was new to worship and only just beginning to serve God.

🌸The highest form of conceit is when someone of lower rank refuses to show humility before someone of higher rank—as did the people of Saqifah, even though the lofty station of our master Ali, peace be upon him, was plain to all. They were more satanic than Satan himself: though Iblis did not prostrate, he possessed spiritual gifts; the people of Saqifah had no such gifts, yet they rebelled against the very embodiment of humility!

🌸Those consumed by conceit and arrogance delay the advent!

🌷☘️The Remedy for Pride

The Remedy for Pride

🌸Collective pride breeds more collective pride and afflicts an entire society and people.

🌸Do not provoke or bolster anyone’s pride!

🌸Depending on a person’s disposition, stirring up pride can bring out viciousness and spite, greed for more, boastfulness, and more!

🌷☘️The Proud Must Be Exposed

The Proud Must Be Exposed

🌸Disgrace is more painful than death. Samiri was not executed, but he was exposed; the command “Touch me not” was the Samaritans’ punishment.

🌸Pride and conceit explain the descent from heights to depths, from the exalted to the lowly, from beauty to ugliness.

🌸Celebrating those devoted to frivolity and amusement pushes people of virtue to the margins.

Enjoining what is right strengthens the believers, while forbidding what is wrong weakens the power of the unbelievers.

🌸Enjoining what is wrong and making wrongdoing appealing breaks the believers’ backbone.

🌸With misguided attention, the snake of pride and conceit becomes a dragon that destroys morality, religion and nations.

🌸The media are nuclear fuel for the conceit and arrogance of those devoted to frivolity and amusement.

🌷☘️The Secret of the Evolution of Beings

The Secret of the Evolution of Beings

🌸The secret of progress, ascent, elevation and leaps forward—in body and soul, in beauty, dignity and radiance—lies in humility and in shunning pride and conceit.

🌸Pride, arrogance and conceit are among the causes of the corruption and impurity that take root in the human soul.

🌸Fame is one of the things that breeds narcissism, spiritual decline and, ultimately, a distortion of one’s very nature!

🌸Fame gained through frivolity and amusement is the most dangerous kind of narcissism. It corrupts individuals and society and ultimately brings about society’s moral and intellectual collapse.

🌸Whistles, applause, cheers, displays of emotion and flattering praise are devilish music that stirs the scorpion of pride and conceit in people’s souls!

🌸When pride mingles with other vices, its dangers multiply a hundredfold, adding to its deadly poison.

🌸Conceit reaches such heights that a person considers themselves above God and puts their own ideas and opinions ahead of divine laws.

🌷☘️A Society Afflicted by Pride and Conceit

A Society Afflicted by Pride and Conceit

🌸A narcissistic society reveals the triumph of ignorance within it.

🌸A humble society reveals that knowledge adorns its stature.

🌸Conceit takes hold where reason is absent.

🌸This is an age in which human and jinn devils have joined forces—the age of organised media seduction.

🌸Through their temptations, deceptions, embellishments, and satanic sorcery, devils turn human beings into robots, puppets, mere material, and virtual characters!

🌸Our inability to distinguish truth from falsehood is a sign that advanced sorcery has gained the upper hand over global society.

🌸The media alliance is a sign of dangerous developments.

🌸The fame of those devoted to frivolity isolates people of virtue and brings about the death of knowledge and its people.

🌸The ascendancy of knowledge brings ignorance to an end; the ascendancy of ignorance brings knowledge to an end.

🌸False self-admiration lets lies prevail over truths.

🌸When the lamp of knowledge shines, the ugly faces of the ignorant are exposed.

🌸Let us humble ourselves before knowledge so that we may be raised in stature.

🌸Undermining knowledge allows ignorance to rule!

🌸The law of the All-Wise is to exalt the humble and bring down the arrogant.

🌸If we humble ourselves for Allah and in Allah, Allah will raise us above others.

🌷🔆☘️وَ قَالَ الْحَسَنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ ع‏ أَعْرَفُ‏ النَّاسِ‏ بِحُقُوقِ إِخْوَانِهِ، وَ أَشَدُّهُمْ قَضَاءً لَهَا، أَعْظَمُهُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ شَأْناً، وَ مَنْ تَوَاضَعَ فِي الدُّنْيَا لِإِخْوَانِهِ- فَهُوَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مِنَ الصِّدِّيقِينَ، وَ مِنْ شِيعَةِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ع حَقّاً.

Tafsir attributed to Imam al-Hasan al-Askari, peace be upon him; p. 325Hasan ibn Ali, the eleventh Imam, 1 volume, Imam al-Mahdi School, may Allah hasten his noble reappearance—Qom, Iran; first edition, 1409 AH.

🌷🔆☘️ وَ إِنَّ التَّوَاضُعَ يَزِيدُ صَاحِبَهُ‏ رِفْعَةً فَتَوَاضَعُوا يَرْفَعْكُمُ اللَّه‏

Al-Kafi (Islamic edition), vol. 2, p. 121Al-Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq, 8 volumes, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya—Tehran, fourth edition, 1407 AH.

🌷🔆☘️ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ سَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ‏ إِنَّ فِي السَّمَاءِ مَلَكَيْنِ‏ مُوَكَّلَيْنِ‏ بِالْعِبَادِ فَمَنْ تَوَاضَعَ لِلَّهِ رَفَعَاهُ وَ مَنْ تَكَبَّرَ وَضَعَاهُ.
Al-Kafi (Islamic edition), vol. 2, p. 122 Al-Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq, 8 volumes, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya—Tehran, fourth edition, 1407 AH.

🌷🔆☘️ وَ لَكِنْ أَتَوَاضَعُ لِلَّهِ فَإِنَّ مَنْ تَوَاضَعَ لِلَّهِ رَفَعَهُ‏ اللَّهُ‏ وَ مَنْ تَكَبَّرَ خَفَضَهُ اللَّهُ

Al-Kafi (Islamic edition), vol. 2, p. 122Al-Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq, 8 volumes, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya—Tehran, fourth edition, 1407 AH.

🌷🔆☘️قَالَ الْحَسَنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ ع‏ أَعْرَفُ النَّاسِ لِحُقُوقِ إِخْوَانِهِ وَ أَشَدُّهُمْ قَضَاءً لَهَا أَعْظَمُهُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ شَأْناً وَ مَنْ تَوَاضَعَ فِي الدُّنْيَا لِإِخْوَانِهِ فَهُوَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مِنَ الصِّدِّيقِينَ وَ مِنْ‏ شِيعَةِ عَلِيِ‏ بْنِ‏ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ع

Majmu‘at Warram, vol. 2, p. 107Warram ibn Abi Firas, Mas‘ud ibn Isa, Tanbih al-Khawatir wa Nuzhat al-Nawazir, known as Majmu‘at Warram, 2 volumes, Faqih Bookshop—Qom, first edition, 1410 AH.

🌷🔆☘️ قَالَ الصَّادِقُ ع‏ التَّوَاضُعُ أَصْلُ‏ كُلِ‏ شَرَفٍ‏ نَفِيسٍ وَ مَرْتَبَةٍ رَفِيعَةٍ وَ لَوْ كَانَ لِلتَّوَاضُعِ لُغَةٌ يَفْهَمُهَا الْخَلْقُ لَنَطَقَ عَنْ حَقَائِقِ مَا فِي مَخْفِيَّاتِ الْعَوَاقِبِ وَ التَّوَاضُعُ مَا يَكُونُ لِلَّهِ وَ فِي اللَّهِ وَ مَا سِوَاهُ مَكْرٌ وَ مَنْ تَوَاضَعَ لِلَّهِ شَرَّفَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ سُئِلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَنِ التَّوَاضُعِ قَالَ هُوَ أَنْ يَخْضَعَ لِلْحَقِّ وَ يَنْقَادَ لَهُ وَ لَوْ سَمِعَهُ مِنْ صَبِيٍّ وَ كَثِيرٌ مِنْ أَنْوَاعِ الْكِبْرِ يَمْنَعُ مِنِ اسْتِفَادَةِ الْعِلْمِ وَ قَبُولِهِ وَ الِانْقِيَادِ لَهُ وَ فِيهِ وَرَدَتِ الْآيَاتُ الَّتِي فِيهَا ذَمُّ الْمُتَكَبِّرِينَ وَ لِأَهْلِ التَّوَاضُعِ سِيمَاءُ يَعْرِفُهَا أَهْلُ السَّمَاوَاتِ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ- وَ أَهْلُ الْأَرْضِ مِنَ الْعَارِفِينَ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى‏ وَ عَلَى الْأَعْرافِ رِجالٌ يَعْرِفُونَ كُلًّا بِسِيماهُمْ‏ وَ قَالَ تَعَالَى أَيْضاً مَنْ يَرْتَدَّ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَ يُحِبُّونَهُ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكافِرِينَ‏ وَ قَالَ تَعَالَى أَيْضاً إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقاكُمْ‏ وَ قَالَ تَعَالَى‏ فَلا تُزَكُّوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ‏ وَ أَصْلُ التَّوَاضُعِ مِنْ إِجْلَالِ اللَّهِ وَ هَيْبَتِهِ وَ عَظَمَتِهِ وَ لَيْسَ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ عِبَادَةٌ يَرْضَاهَا وَ يَقْبَلُهَا إِلَّا وَ بَابُهَا التَّوَاضُعُ وَ لَا يَعْرِفُ مَا فِي مَعْنَى حَقِيقَةِ التَّوَاضُعِ إِلَّا الْمُقَرَّبُونَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْمُتَّصِلُونَ بِوَحْدَانِيَّتِهِ قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَ‏ وَ عِبادُ الرَّحْمنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ‏ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْناً وَ إِذا خاطَبَهُمُ الْجاهِلُونَ قالُوا سَلاماً وَ قَدْ أَمَرَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَعَزَّ خَلْقِهِ وَ سَيِّدَ بَرِيَّتِهِ مُحَمَّداً بِالتَّوَاضُعِ فَقَالَ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ- وَ اخْفِضْ جَناحَكَ لِمَنِ اتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ‏ وَ التَّوَاضُعُ مَزْرَعَةُ الْخُشُوعِ وَ الْخُضُوعِ وَ الْخَشْيَةِ وَ الْحَيَاءِ وَ إِنَّهُنَّ لَا يَتَبَيَّنَّ إِلَّا مِنْهَا وَ لَا يَسْلَمُ الشَّرَفُ التَّامُّ الْحَقِيقِيُّ إِلَّا لِلْمُتَوَاضِعِ فِي ذَاتِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى‏

Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿa, p. 72Attributed to Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad (peace be upon him), the Sixth Imam (peace be upon him), Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿa, 1 volume, Aʿlamī, Beirut, first edition, 1400 AH.

🌷🔅When a deed is eaten away by worms

🌷🔅When a deed is eaten away by worms

When a deed is eaten away by worms

🌿Self-conceit eats away at a person’s deeds, corrupting and defiling them.

🌷🔅How a person becomes their own dungeon

🌿The self-admiring person is submerged in their own self.

🌿The self-admiring person is confined, imprisoned and condemned within their own dungeon.

🌿A sense of dread and loneliness, along with depression, are among the characteristic afflictions of the self-admiring.

🌿The self-admiring person is imprisoned in their own wretched, darkened being, because they see nothing beyond themselves!

🌿The self-admiring person has no horizon, no sky, no sea or depth; they are a prisoner within themselves!

🌿Self-admiration is a kind of suicide—not merely the destruction of the body, but the killing of heart and soul! It means killing virtue, killing humanity, killing progress.

🌿The self-admiring person is blind in understanding and blind to delight, because they imagine themselves to be the ultimate limit, the final boundary.

🌿The self-admiring person is an embodiment of ignorance; the humble person, an embodiment of reason.

🌷🔅The envious foe of human reason

🌿Self-conceit envies human reason, and burns itself while setting others ablaze; it will not relent until it has ousted reason from a person’s heart.

🌿Reason is the adornment of a person’s heart and soul; but when self-conceit takes hold and reason is absent, a person becomes repulsive to behold.

🌿Self-conceit is the hidden pain and deadly illness of every person; the self-admiring person rises up against their own self.

🌿Nothing in the land of the human soul is more savage or venomous than self-conceit.

🌿Self-conceit obstructs the journey toward the heavenly realm.

🌷🔅Fame built on frivolity and empty talk

🌿Fame built on frivolity and empty talk is a ruinous scourge upon nations.

🌿Those who cheer such figures fuel their fame; its fire first burns the cheerleaders themselves, and in the end reduces society to ashes.

🌿To prevail in frivolity and empty talk is still to lose; only the form of the loss differs. In this kind of defeat, the true nature and inner reality of frivolity and empty talk remain concealed.

🌿Victory in frivolity and empty talk is a false disguise for defeat.

🌿The apparent victory of frivolity and empty talk is itself a form of defeat, made alluring by self-deception.

🌺🔆الْعُجْبُ‏ يُفْسِدُ الْعَقْل‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 65

🌺🔆آفَةُ اللُّبِّ الْعُجْب‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 65

🌺🔆الْعُجْبُ‏ رَأْسُ الْجَهْل‏

🌺🔆الْعُجْبُ أَضَرُّ قَرِين‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 308

🌺🔆إِذَا زَادَ عُجْبُكَ‏ بِمَا أَنْتَ فِيهِ مِنْ سُلْطَانِكَ فَحَدَثَتْ لَكَ أُبَّهَةٌ أَوْ مَخِيلَةٌ فَانْظُرْ إِلَى عِظَمِ مُلْكِ اللَّهِ وَ قُدْرَتِهِ مِمَّا لَا تَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ نَفْسِكَ فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ يُلَيِّنُ مِنْ جَمَاحِكَ [مِنْ جَنَاحِكَ‏] وَ يَكُفُّ عَنْ غَرْبِكَ وَ يَفِي‏ءُ إِلَيْكَ بِمَا عَزَبَ عَنْكَ مِنْ عَقْلِك‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 308

🌺🔆سَيِّئَةٌ تَسُوؤُكَ خَيْرٌ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ تُعْجِبُك‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 308

🌺🔆مَا أَضَرَّ الْمَحَاسِنَ كَالْعُجْب‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 308

🌺🔆مَا لِابْنِ آدَمَ وَ الْعُجْبِ وَ أَوَّلُهُ نُطْفَةٌ مَذِرَةٌ وَ آخِرُهُ جِيفَةٌ قَذِرَةٌ وَ هُوَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ يَحْمِلُ الْعَذَرَةَ

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 308

🌺🔆لَا وَحْشَةَ أَوْحَشُ مِنَ الْعُجْب‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 308

🌺🔆الْمُعْجَبُ لَا عَقْلَ لَه‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 308

🌺🔆إِعْجَابُ الْمَرْءِ بِنَفْسِهِ بُرْهَانُ نَقْصِهِ وَ عُنْوَانُ ضَعْفِ عَقْلِه‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 308

🌺🔆الْعُجْبُ رَأْسُ الْحَمَاقَة

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 309

🌺🔆الْإِعْجَابُ يَمْنَعُ الِازْدِيَاد

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 309

🌺🔆الْعُجْبُ آفَةُ الشَّرَفِ [Extravagance

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 309

🌺🔆أَوْحَشُ الْوَحْشَةِ الْعُجْب‏

Compiled in Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 309

🌺🔆 وَ إِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لَمَنْ يُرِيدُ الْبَابَ مِنَ الْعِبَادَةِ فَأَكُفُّهُ عَنْهُ لِئَلَّا يَدْخُلَهُ‏ عُجْبٌ‏ فَيُفْسِدَهُ ذَلِكَ وَ إِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لَمَنْ لَا يَصْلُحُ إِيمَانُهُ إِلَّا بِالْفَقْرِ وَ لَوْ أَغْنَيْتُهُ لَأَفْسَدَهُ ذَلِكَ وَ إِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لَمَنْ لَا يَصْلُحُ إِيمَانُهُ إِلَّا بِالْغِنَاءِ وَ لَوْ أَفْقَرْتُهُ لَأَفْسَدَهُ ذَلِكَ وَ إِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لَمَنْ لَا يَصْلُحُ إِيمَانُهُ إِلَّا بِالسُّقْمِ وَ لَوْ صَحَّحْتُ جِسْمَهُ لَأَفْسَدَهُ ذَلِكَ‏ «1» وَ إِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لَمَنْ لَا يَصْلُحُ إِيمَانُهُ إِلَّا بِالصِّحَّةِ وَ لَوْ أَسْقَمْتُهُ لَأَفْسَدَهُ ذَلِكَ إِنِّي أُدَبِّرُ عِبَادِي لِعِلْمِي بِقُلُوبِهِمْ فَإِنِّي عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ.

Al-Tawḥīd (by al-Ṣadūq); p. 400

🌺🔆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 ادَّعَى مَا لَيْسَ لَهُ وَ الْمُدَّعِي مِنْ غَيْرِ حَقٍّ كَاذِبٌ وَ إِنْ خَفِيَ دَعْوَاهُ وَ طَالَ دَهْرُهُ فَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ مَا يُفْعَلُ بِالْمُعْجَبِ‏ نَزْعُ‏ مَا أُعْجِبَ بِهِ لِيَعْلَمَ أَنَّهُ عَاجِزٌ حَقِيرٌ وَ يَشْهَدَ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ لِتَكُونَ الْحُجَّةُ أَوْكَدَ عَلَيْهِ كَمَا فُعِلَ بِإِبْلِيسَ 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

Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿa; p. 81

🌺🔆وَ إِنْ كَانَ الْمَمَرُّ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ حَقّاً فَالْعُجْبُ‏ لِمَاذَا؟

ʿUyūn al-Ḥikam wa’l-Mawāʿiẓ (by al-Laythī); p. 344

🌺🔆عَنْ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ ع قَالَ: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ الْعُجْبِ الَّذِي يُفْسِدُ الْعَمَلَ‏ فَقَالَ الْعُجْبُ دَرَجَاتٌ مِنْهَا أَنْ يُزَيَّنَ لِلْعَبْدِ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ فَيَرَاهُ حَسَناً فَيُعْجِبَهُ وَ يَحْسَبَ أَنَّهُ يُحْسِنُ صُنْعاً وَ مِنْهَا أَنْ يُؤْمِنَ الْعَبْدُ بِرَبِّهِ فَيَمُنَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ وَ لِلَّهِ عَلَيْهِ فِيهِ الْمَنُ‏

Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition); vol. 2, p. 313

🌺🔆وَ لَوْ أُخَلِّي بَيْنَهُ وَ بَيْنَ مَا يُرِيدُ مِنْ عِبَادَتِي لَدَخَلَهُ‏ الْعُجْبُ‏ مِنْ ذَلِكَ فَيُصَيِّرُهُ الْعُجْبُ إِلَى الْفِتْنَةِ بِأَعْمَالِهِ فَيَأْتِيهِ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مَا فِيهِ هَلَاكُهُ لِعُجْبِهِ بِأَعْمَالِهِ وَ رِضَاهُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ حَتَّى يَظُنَّ أَنَّهُ قَدْ فَاقَ الْعَابِدِينَ وَ جَازَ فِي عِبَادَتِهِ حَدَّ التَّقْصِيرِ فَيَتَبَاعَدُ مِنِّي عِنْدَ ذَلِكَ وَ هُوَ يَظُنُّ أَنَّهُ يَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَيَّ فَلَا يَتَّكِلِ الْعَامِلُونَ عَلَى أَعْمَالِهِمُ الَّتِي يَعْمَلُونَهَا لِثَوَابِي فَإِنَّهُمْ لَوِ اجْتَهَدُوا وَ أَتْعَبُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَ أَفْنَوْا أَعْمَارَهُمْ فِي عِبَادَتِي كَانُوا مُقَصِّرِينَ غَيْرَ بَالِغِينَ فِي عِبَادَتِهِمْ كُنْهَ عِبَادَتِي فِيمَا يَطْلُبُونَ عِنْدِي مِنْ كَرَامَتِي وَ النَّعِيمِ فِي جَنَّاتِي وَ رَفِيعِ دَرَجَاتِيَ الْعُلَى فِي جِوَارِي وَ لَكِنْ فَبِرَحْمَتِي فَلْيَثِقُوا وَ بِفَضْلِي فَلْيَفْرَحُوا وَ إِلَى حُسْنِ الظَّنِّ بِي فَلْيَطْمَئِنُّوا فَإِنَّ رَحْمَتِي عِنْدَ ذَلِكَ تَدَارَكُهُمْ وَ مَنِّي يُبَلِّغُهُمْ رِضْوَانِي وَ مَغْفِرَتِي تُلْبِسُهُمْ عَفْوِي فَإِنِّي أَنَا اللَّهُ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ وَ بِذَلِكَ تَسَمَّيْتُ.

Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition); vol. 2, p. 61

🌺🔆قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع‏ آفَةُ الدِّينِ الْحَسَدُ وَ الْعُجْبُ‏ وَ الْفَخْرُ.

Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition); vol. 2, p. 307

🌺🔆 وَ عَلَامَةُ الْخَفْضِ ثَلَاثَةُ أَشْيَاءَ الْعُجْبُ‏ وَ الرِّيَاءُ وَ الْحِرْص‏

Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿa; p. 122

🌷🔅Satan’s Sharpest Weapon

🌿Self-conceit is an effective weapon Satan uses to destroy a person!

🌿Arrogance flourishes in the absence of reason and knowledge; it is a clear sign that ignorance has prevailed!

🌿Arrogance darkens the light within the human soul.

🌷🔅Self-absorption is deadly

🌿Arrogance destroys the beauty of good works.

🌿When mixed with powerful emotions, arrogance becomes a bomb that tears society apart.

🌿The end-times form of arrogance is its intensification and culmination—and its final, self-destructive expression.

🌷🔅Satanic technology

🌿Despite advances in knowledge, today’s technology is dark and destructive because reason is absent from our age. The waste produced by modern knowledge outweighs its benefits! This is because self-absorption dominates the scientific institutions of the world.

🌿In the age of the self-absorbed, technology is devoid of spirit and life: a mirage without water.

🌿When arrogance takes hold of the souls of scientists, the fruits of knowledge become killers of the earth and its inhabitants.

🌺🔆الدُّنْيَا بِمَنْزِلَةِ صُورَةٍ رَأْسُهَا الْكِبْرُ وَ عَيْنُهَا الْحِرْصُ وَ أُذُنُهَا الطَّمَعُ وَ لِسَانُهَا الرِّيَاءُ وَ يَدُهَا الشَّهْوَةُ وَ رِجْلُهَا الْعُجْبُ وَ قَلْبُهَا الْغَفْلَةُ وَ كَوْنُهَا الْفَنَاءُ وَ حَاصِلُهَا الزَّوَالُ فَمَنْ أَحَبَّهَا أَوْرَثَتْهُ الْكِبْرَ وَ مَنِ اسْتَحْسَنَهَا أَوْرَثَتْهُ الْحِرْصَ وَ مَنْ طَلَبَهَا أَوْرَثَتْهُ الطَّمَعَ وَ مَنْ مَدَحَهَا أَلْبَسَتْهُ الرِّيَاءَ وَ مَنْ أَرَادَهَا مَكَّنَتْهُ مِنَ الْعُجْبِ وَ مَنْ رَكَنَ إِلَيْهَا أَوْلَتْهُ الْغَفْلَةَ وَ مَنْ أَعْجَبَهُ مَتَاعُهَا أَفْتَنَتْهُ وَ لَا تَبْقَى وَ مَنْ جَمَعَهَا وَ بَخِلَ بِهَا رَدَّتْهَا إِلَى مُسْتَقَرِّهَا وَ هِيَ النَّار

Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿa; p. 139

🌺🔆 قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ع يَقُولُ‏ إِنَّ النَّاسَ آلُوا “2”— بَعْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ص إِلَى ثَلَاثَةٍ آلُوا إِلَى عَالِمٍ عَلَى هُدًى مِنَ اللَّهِ قَدْ أَغْنَاهُ اللَّهُ بِمَا عَلِمَ عَنْ عِلْمِ غَيْرِهِ وَ جَاهِلٍ مُدَّعٍ لِلْعِلْمِ لَا عِلْمَ لَهُ مُعْجَبٍ‏ بِمَا عِنْدَهُ قَدْ فَتَنَتْهُ الدُّنْيَا وَ فَتَنَ غَيْرَهُ وَ مُتَعَلِّمٍ مِنْ عَالِمٍ عَلَى سَبِيلِ هُدًى مِنَ اللَّهِ وَ نَجَاةٍ ثُمَّ هَلَكَ مَنِ ادَّعَى وَ خابَ مَنِ افْتَرى‏.

Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition), vol. 1, p. 33

🌺🔆قَالَ الصَّادِقُ ع‏ الْمُتَقَرِّئُ بِلَا عِلْمٍ كَالْمُعْجَبِ‏ بِلَا مَالٍ وَ لَا مُلْكٍ يُبْغِضُ النَّاسَ لِفَقْرِهِ وَ يُبْغِضُونَهُ لِعُجْبِهِ فَهُوَ أَبَداً مُخَاصِمٌ لِلْخَلْقِ فِي غَيْرِ وَاجِبٍ وَ مَنْ خَاصَمَ الْخَلْقَ فِي غَيْرِ مَا يُؤْمَرُ بِهِ فَقَدْ نَازَعَ الْخَالِقِيَّةَ وَ الرُّبُوبِيَّةَ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى‏ وَ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُجادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَ لا هُدىً وَ لا كِتابٍ مُنِيرٍ وَ لَيْسَ أَحَدٌ أَشَدَّ عِقَاباً مِمَّنْ لَبِسَ قَمِيصَ الدَّعْوَى بِلَا حَقِيقَةٍ وَ لَا مَعْنًى قَالَ زَيْدُ بْنُ ثَابِتٍ لِابْنِهِ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا يَرَى اللَّهُ اسْمَكَ فِي دِيوَانِ الْقُرَّاء

Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿa; p. 57

🌷🔅Stages of arrogance

🌿Arrogance begins as self-absorption and ends in self-worship.

🌿It begins with displaying one’s virtues and taking pride in them, then progresses to flaunting one’s flaws and shameful deeds—and even boasting of them.

🌿Arrogance can attach itself to one’s appearance, race, ethnicity, country, city, village or neighbourhood; to one’s education, social standing, physical attributes or beauty; and even to one’s worship and beliefs.

🌿It begins with delight in fine food and continues all the way to pride in eating filth!

🌿Arrogance begins as self-absorption in relation to God’s creation, then extends to the prophets and saints, and may even reach the point of claiming divinity, crying, «انا ربکم الاعلی». Beyond that lies a stage in which the self-absorbed person considers themselves superior to God, criticises divine laws and verses, and rises up against God.

🌿Making laws in defiance of divine law reflects disdain for God’s laws and infatuation with human ones.

🌿To separate religion from politics is to be “infatuated with politics.” To remove religion from politics is to consider oneself superior to God!

🌿To hold one’s generosity toward God’s creatures over them—from the saints of God to the Divine Majesty Himself—is among the darker forms of abhorrent self-conceit.

🌿Claiming to be a scholar, a prophet or an Imam constitutes another rank of self-conceit.

🌿Among the many forms of self-conceit are a teacher’s conceit toward a student, a student’s conceit toward ordinary people, a student’s conceit toward another student, and a student’s conceit toward a teacher.

🌿Intellectual conceit is one of the worst forms of self-conceit.

🌿Accusing others of self-conceit is itself a hidden form of self-conceit.

🌿The distance from taking pride in good deeds to taking pride in sins is not great.