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What does the Imam mean by freedom?
Amir al-Mu’minin, Imam Ali (AS)
لا تکونن عبد غیرک و قد جعلک الله سبحانه حرا
Do not be a slave to anyone else, for God, Glorified is He, created you free.
Ghurar al-Hikam: 10371
The freedom Imam Ali (AS) speaks of in the words «لا تکونن عبد غیرک و قد جعلک الله سبحانه حرا» means not being a slave to anyone else, for God has created human beings free. This freedom entails avoiding any unlawful dependence on others, whether for wealth, influence, status, or professional and intellectual ties.
The elevated meaning of the Imam’s words can be better understood from this blessed passage of the Nahj al-Balāgha:
و لا تکن عبد غیرک و قد جعلک الله حرا و ما خیر خیر لا ینال إلا بشر و یسر لا ینال إلا بعسر و إیاک أن توجف بک مطایا الطمع فتوردک مناهل الهلکه و إن استطعت ألا یکون بینک و بین الله ذو نعمه فافعل فإنک مدرک قسمک و آخذ سهمک و إن الیسیر من الله سبحانه [أکرم و أعظم] أعظم و أکرم من الکثیر من خلقه و إن کان کل منه
Nahj al-Balāgha (ed. al-Ṣubḥī al-Ṣāliḥ), p. 401
“Do not be the servant of another, for God created you free. What good is there in a good that can be gained only through evil? And what comfort is there in a comfort that can be gained only through hardship? Beware lest the mounts of greed carry you off to the watering places of ruin. If you can ensure that no benefactor stands between you and God, then do so. You will receive your allotted share and take what is yours. What little comes to you from God, Glorified is He, is greater and more honorable than much that comes from His creation—even though all things come from Him.”
Examples of one person becoming subservient to another:
Showing deference and respect to someone because of their wealth, influence, rank, or status.
Becoming dependent on another person in ways that violate religious law or professional and intellectual norms.
Any form of being held in pledge, leased, or enslaved by another.
Turning professional relationships, cooperation, or partnership into professional dependence.
Giving attention and favor to others when they have no right to it.
Any conduct that produces, reinforces, or intensifies another person’s vanity and arrogance.
Ideological dependence on atheists and hypocrites.
Any neglect of the remembrance of God or deviation from the innate disposition toward divine oneness.
And so on.