<a></a>The Ruby of Humility

🌼🔆🌼Ethics on the Horizon of the End Times🌼🔆🌼

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌹 “Managing Humility”  “Knowing the Worth of Humility”  “Humility’s Destructive Power” “Commentary on Supplication 20 of al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya”  “Session 213”  Summary with Addendum …       1402.12.03    Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌹🔅

🔅🌼 Scholarly Humility🌼🔅

🌹 Scholarly humility and humility before knowledge are two important aspects of managing humility.

🌹 A teacher must be humble before the student, but the student must dissolve before the teacher, fading away like a shadow before the light.

🔅🌼Ethics on the Horizon of the End Times🌼🔅

🌹 In this age, ethics must be defined in light of the end times. Changes in the pace of life, resources and privileges, and the spread of the sciences and arts all intensify human obligations in various fields—especially in ethics, worship, and servitude to God.

🌹 On the horizon of the end times, we must draw upon all the noble virtues of character! When humanity’s noble virtues reach their fullness, people will be adorned with the perfect beauty of servitude, and the highest aim of the prophets’ mission will be fulfilled.

🌷🔆فَقَالَ ع‏ إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ‏ لِأُتَمِّمَ‏ مَكَارِمَ الْأَخْلَاق‏[1]

🔆I was sent only to perfect the noble virtues of character

🌹 We must not fall behind the caravan of ethics.

🌹 If ethics falls behind the caravan of knowledge, it shows that knowledge has been mounted on the steed of ignorance.

🌹 Cultivating ethics in preparation for the presence of Imam al-Zaman is to refine the soul so that it may receive the outpourings of God’s Proof.

🌹 Growth in virtuous character is made easier by advanced knowledge and reason: the more the means are available, the more clearly the noble virtues of character emerge.

🌹 The ethics of those who await the Imam must befit the sovereign of the noble virtues of character. In this end-times age, a contest between bad and good manners—among devils and believers alike—is already unfolding.

🌹 In the end-times age, the noble virtues of character are being severely distorted.

🌻🔆al-Jāthiya: 23   أَ فَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلهَهُ هَواهُ وَ أَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلى‏ عِلْمٍ وَ خَتَمَ عَلى‏ سَمْعِهِ وَ قَلْبِهِ وَ جَعَلَ عَلى‏ بَصَرِهِ غِشاوَةً فَمَنْ يَهْديهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ اللَّهِ أَ فَلا تَذَكَّرُونَ

🌻🔆Have you seen the one who has taken his own desires as his god, whom God has led astray despite his knowledge, sealing his hearing and heart and casting a veil over his eyes? Who, then, can guide him apart from God? Will you not take heed?

🔅🌼 The arrogant has waged war against God🌼🔅

🌻🔆al-Jāthiya: 37   وَ لَهُ الْكِبْرِياءُ فِي السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ هُوَ الْعَزيزُ الْحَكيمُ

🔆All greatness in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him alone, and He is the Mighty, the Wise!

🌷🔆قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى يَقُولُ‏ الْكِبْرِيَاءُ رِدَائِي‏ وَ الْعَظَمَةُ إِزَارِي فَمَنْ نَازَعَنِي فِي وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا أَلْقَيْتُهُ فِي النَّار[2]

🔆The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: God, Glorified and Exalted, says: الْکِبْرِیَاءُ، رداء  من است و عظمت، ازار  من است. Whoever contends with Me over either of these two, I will cast into the Fire of Hell.

🔅🌼 Humility before God’s Majesty and Beauty🌼🔅

🌹 The humility of servitude means being humble before the Exalted Creator in the face of both His might and His mercy; both His all-encompassing mercy and His special mercy; both His irresistible power and majesty, and His compassion and subtle grace.

🌹 Humility before God’s servants must be practiced solely for God’s sake; otherwise, it is abasement.

🌹 Arrogance before God leads to denial and disobedience.

🌹 Kings sit at the test of kingship: their rule is a gift from God, and they must not regard themselves as the owners of what God has entrusted to them.

🌻🔆An-Nāzi‘āt: 24   فَقالَ أَنَا رَبُّكُمُ الْأَعْلى‏

🔆And (Pharaoh) said, “I am your supreme lord!”

🌻🔆Al-Baqarah: 258   أَ لَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذي حَاجَّ إِبْراهيمَ في‏ رَبِّهِ أَنْ آتاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ إِذْ قالَ إِبْراهيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذي يُحْيي‏ وَ يُميتُ قالَ أَنَا أُحْيي‏ وَ أُميتُ قالَ إِبْراهيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتي‏ بِالشَّمْسِ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِها مِنَ الْمَغْرِبِ فَبُهِتَ الَّذي كَفَرَ وَ اللَّهُ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمينَ

🔆Have you not considered the one [Nimrod] who argued with Abraham about his Lord, because God had granted him kingship? When Abraham said, “My Lord is the One who gives life and causes death,” he replied, “I too give life and cause death.” Abraham said, “God brings the sun from the east; so bring it from the west!” Thereupon the disbeliever was confounded. And God does not guide the wrongdoing people.

🔅🌼The sense of being independent of God breeds rebellion🌼🔅

🌻🔆Al-‘Alaq: 6   كَلاَّ إِنَّ الْإِنْسانَ لَيَطْغى‏

No indeed! Surely man transgresses,

🌻🔆Al-‘Alaq: 7   أَنْ رَآهُ اسْتَغْنى‏

when he sees himself as self-sufficient!

🌻🔆Al-Qaṣaṣ: 76   إِنَّ قارُونَ كانَ مِنْ قَوْمِ مُوسى‏ فَبَغى‏ عَلَيْهِمْ وَ آتَيْناهُ مِنَ الْكُنُوزِ ما إِنَّ مَفاتِحَهُ لَتَنُوأُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُولِي الْقُوَّةِ إِذْ قالَ لَهُ قَوْمُهُ لا تَفْرَحْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُحِبُّ الْفَرِحينَ

🌻🔆Korah was one of Moses’ people, but he oppressed them. We had given him such vast treasures that a company of strong men could barely carry their keys. Remember when his people said to him, “Do not exult arrogantly; God does not love those who exult in their pride!”

🔅🌼The practice of humility🌼🔅

🌹 Take care not to waste humility on the undeserving: it makes the wolf more ferocious and the snake more venomous.

🌹 Spend God’s rubies and pearls where they belong; seek the places that earn God’s pleasure. Be as generous as you can in serving others. Be God’s kind, gentle hand upon the heads of the destitute. God has made you His messenger and envoy—what a tremendous gift He has given you.

🌹 The wealthy sit at the test of wealth.

🌷🔆وَ قَالَ ع: مَا أَحْسَنَ تَوَاضُعَ الْأَغْنِيَاءِ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ طَلَباً لِمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَ أَحْسَنُ مِنْهُ تِيهُ الْفُقَرَاءِ عَلَى الْأَغْنِيَاءِ اتِّكَالًا عَلَى اللَّهِ [سُبْحَانَهُ‏][3]

🌷🔆Imam Ali, peace be upon him: How beautiful is the humility of the wealthy toward the poor, in seeking God’s pleasure and reward! Yet more beautiful still is the poor person’s indifference and self-respect before the wealthy, through trust in God.

🌹 How beautiful it is when the rich humble themselves before the poor, scholars before ordinary people, the educated before the uneducated, and the powerful before the weak.

🌹 How beautiful it is when those rich in wealth, knowledge, or status show humility: a teacher toward a student, a father toward his child, an elder toward a younger person. How beautiful it is when a great person speaks to a child in a child’s own language, gently stooping to the child’s level to make them happy, and taking on the role of a playmate.

🌹 How beautiful it is when the poor maintain their self-respect before the wealthy and do not abase themselves before them. Surely the poor, too, face the test of poverty. Which test is harder: the test of wealth or the test of poverty?

🌹 Beware! Any faith that departs when poverty comes is no faith at all. Surely everyone will be tested by poverty, even if only for a short while.

🌻🔆 Al-Baqarah 2:155   وَ لَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْ‏ءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَ الْجُوعِ وَ نَقْصٍ مِنَ الْأَمْوالِ وَ الْأَنْفُسِ وَ الثَّمَراتِ وَ بَشِّرِ الصَّابِرينَ

🔆We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth, lives, and crops. Give glad tidings to those who are steadfast.

🌷🔆إِنَّ اللَّهَ سُبْحَانَهُ فَرَضَ فِي أَمْوَالِ الْأَغْنِيَاءِ أَقْوَاتَ الْفُقَرَاءِ فَمَا جَاعَ فَقِيرٌ إِلَّا بِمَا مَنَعَ غَنِي‏[4]

🔆God, exalted is He, has placed the provision of the poor in the wealth of the rich. No poor person in this world goes hungry unless some wealthy person has withheld what is due to them.

🌹 Of course, it is clear that “the poor” here refers to those who are poor through no fault of their own.

🔅🌼 Greetings: humility in practice 🌼🔅

🌹 One wisdom behind giving precedence in offering greetings is that it trains us in humility. This does not mean that certain people should wait for others to greet them; rather, it clarifies each person’s duty to be the first to offer greetings.

🌷🔆عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ: يُسَلِّمُ الصَّغِيرُ عَلَى الْكَبِيرِ وَ الْمَارُّ عَلَى الْقَاعِدِ وَ الْقَلِيلُ عَلَى الْكَثِيرِ.[5]

🔆Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, said: “The younger should greet the older, the passer-by the person sitting, and the smaller group the larger one.”

🌷🔆عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ: الْقَلِيلُ يَبْدَءُونَ الْكَثِيرَ بِالسَّلَامِ وَ الرَّاكِبُ يَبْدَأُ الْمَاشِيَ وَ أَصْحَابُ الْبِغَالِ يَبْدَءُونَ أَصْحَابَ الْحَمِيرِ وَ أَصْحَابُ الْخَيْلِ يَبْدَءُونَ أَصْحَابَ الْبِغَالِ.[6]

🔆He also said, peace be upon him: “The smaller group should greet the larger; the rider should greet the pedestrian; the rider on a mule should greet the rider on a donkey; and the rider on a horse should greet the rider on a mule.”

🌹 The more wealth and means a person has, the more they should humble themselves.

🌹 The higher one’s wealth and possessions rise, the wider their shadow should spread.

🌷🔆عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ سَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ‏ يُسَلِّمُ‏ الرَّاكِبُ‏ عَلَى الْمَاشِي وَ الْمَاشِي عَلَى الْقَاعِدِ وَ إِذَا لَقِيَتْ جَمَاعَةٌ جَمَاعَةً سَلَّمَ الْأَقَلُّ عَلَى الْأَكْثَرِ وَ إِذَا لَقِيَ وَاحِدٌ جَمَاعَةً سَلَّمَ الْوَاحِدُ عَلَى الْجَمَاعَةِ.[7]

🔆Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, said: “The rider should greet the pedestrian, and the pedestrian the person sitting. When one group meets another, those who are fewer in number should greet those who are more numerous. And when one person meets a group, that person should greet the group.”

🔅🌼 Humbling oneself before the rich is a way of destroying one’s faith 🌼🔅

🌹 Whoever humbles himself before a wealthy person because of that person’s wealth may, without realizing it, be worshipping them.

🌷🔆وَ قَالَ ع‏ مَنْ أَصْبَحَ عَلَى الدُّنْيَا حَزِيناً فَقَدْ أَصْبَحَ لِقَضَاءِ اللَّهِ سَاخِطاً وَ مَنْ أَصْبَحَ يَشْكُو مُصِيبَةً نَزَلَتْ بِهِ فَقَدْ أَصْبَحَ [فَإِنَّمَا] يَشْكُو رَبَّهُ وَ مَنْ أَتَى غَنِيّاً فَتَوَاضَعَ لَهُ لِغِنَاهُ ذَهَبَ ثُلُثَا دِينِهِ‏ وَ مَنْ قَرَأَ الْقُرْآنَ فَمَاتَ فَدَخَلَ النَّارَ فَهُوَ مِمَّنْ كَانَ [مِمَّنْ‏] يَتَّخِذُ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ هُزُواً وَ مَنْ لَهِجَ قَلْبُهُ بِحُبِّ الدُّنْيَا الْتَاطَ قَلْبُهُ مِنْهَا بِثَلَاثٍ هَمٍّ لَا يُغِبُّهُ وَ حِرْصٍ لَا يَتْرُكُهُ وَ أَمَلٍ لَا يُدْرِكُه‏[8]

🌷🔆Imam Amir al-Mu’minin, peace be upon him, said: “Whoever grieves over worldly matters has resented God’s decree;

whoever complains of a misfortune that has befallen him has complained against his Lord;

and whoever visits a wealthy person and humbles himself on account of that person’s wealth loses two-thirds of his faith.

Whoever recites the Qur’an, then dies and enters Hell, has mocked God’s signs.”

Whoever’s heart is devoted to this world is dominated by three things: a sorrow that never leaves him, a greed that never lets him go, and a wish he can never attain.

🌼Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141 (903)🌼

[1] Makārim al-Akhlāq; p. 8  Tabarsi, Hasan ibn Fadl; Sharif Razi, Qom, 4th ed., 1412 AH / 1370 SH.

[2] Irshād al-Qulūb ilā al-Ṣawāb (by Daylami); vol. 1, p. 189  Daylami, Hasan ibn Muhammad; Sharif Razi, Qom, 1st ed., 1412 AH.

[3] Nahj al-Balāgha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p.547   Sharif al-Radi, Muhammad ibn Husayn; Hijrat, Qom, 1st ed., 1414 AH.

[4] Rawḍat al-Wāʿiẓīn wa Baṣīrat al-Muttaʿiẓīn (old edition); vol. 2, p. 454  Fattal Nishapuri, Muhammad ibn Ahmad; Razi Publications, Iran, Qom, 1st ed., 1375 SH.

[5] Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition); vol. 2, p. 646  Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq; Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.

[6] Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition); vol. 2, p. 646  Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq; Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.

[7] Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition); vol. 2, p. 647  Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq; Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.

[8] Nahj al-Balāgha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p.508   Sharif al-Radi, Muhammad ibn Husayn; Hijrat, Qom, 1st ed., 1414 AH.