Ali’s Aphorisms and sayings
Ali the Second Solomon
Ali, a giant of knowledge and wisdom has been called “a Second Solomon”. His witty sayings, which in Muslim countries are still on the lips of the people, dwell on all conditions of life and cover practically all phases of human behaviour. If the wisdom of a nation can rightly be judged by the meaning of its proverbs and aphorisms, then that nation to which Ali belonged must excel all the nations of the world. Great as are the words of Ali, they reveal in even greater degree a personality which was ever in communion with the divine power. Full of ripe wisdom, concise and to the point, they breathe a spirit of selflessness, of devotion to God and regulation of life; they also express eloquently the most profound experiences of human life. They are drawn in general from the precepts of Islam, some of them being ecclesiastical-those wise sentences which have the same force as proverbs and consequently passed into popular usage in a very short time. Some of these, the briefer ones, contain more wisdom than some writers can put into volumes.
Adverse Criticism by Europeans
Some European critics maintain that there is nothing new in these sayings, that some of them had been com-
posed by the ancient philosophers, many by the Hebrew prophets: and that analogous expressions can be found in the folk-lore of many nations. Nevertheless nowhere else do we find a stronger impression of Ali’s originality than in these sentences. They are strongly stamped with the impress of his personality and experience. He has been considered unique because of his breadth and depth of knowledge, prudence, fore-sighted vision and his humane and catholic sympathies. It is Ali’s sufferings that were epitomized in most of his sayings, together with his personal and universal love for humanity, a sympathy which was in no way superficial or sentimental but which was an essential charact- teristic of his personality. Muhammad (may peace be upon him) was the culmination of the Prophetic line: Ali is the testator of his will, invested with the authority to re-awaken his message and lead it to its fulfilment.
Some of the Aphorisms
Several hundred of Ali’s aphorisms have been recorded of which the following two hundred are a fair example, ranging as they do over a variety of subjects.
1. On God
1. Fear God and you will have no cause to fear anyone else.
2. O God! Shower your bounties on one whose principal treasure is hope and whose chief weapons are tears.
3. O Lord! Forgive me those sins as impede my prayers from reaching thee.
4. O Lord! Forgive me those sins as bring down thy wrath.
5. O Lord! Forgive me those sins as mar my fallibility. 6. Resignation to God’s will is the cure of the diseases of the heart.
7. Glorify God even for little blessings.
8. May fear of God check the soul from committing sins and restrain one from transgression.
9. Shedding tears for the fear of God enlightens the heart and fortifies it against the repetition of sins.
10. The word of God is the medicine of the heart. 11. To repose one’s trust in God is the Believer’s castle. 12. Resignation to God makes the greatest affliction. easy.
13. The most detestable person to God is he whose. thoughts are fixed upon his belly and his lust.
14. Pray to God to protect you from the mischievous; your wealth and children are trials for you.
15. If you are grateful to God for blessings, He will increase them but to be ungrateful is to stop His gifts.
16. Do not make provision for tomorrow, for God will provide you with subsistence.
17. Ô God! Strengthen my limbs for Thy service, and harden my wings to reach Thee. 18. He who fears God is safe.
19. A believer always remembers God and is full of thoughts: he is thankful in prosperity and patient in adversity.
20. Fear of God purifieth the heart.
2. World and Life
21. Lead such a life in this world that when you die, people may mourn you and while alive they may long for your company.
22., The days of life pass away like clouds, so do good deeds during these days which are numbered. 23. Love of the world is the source of misery.
24. The world is the shadow of a cloud and the dream of a slumber.
25. Remember that the worldly pleasures shall come to an end but sins shall remain (for ever).
26. This world is a bridge which leads to the next.
27. This world is a shop of misery.
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Literary Achievements
28. Of all the follies the greatest is to love this world. 29. The world is bitter with all its sweetness. 30. Live with your body in this world and with your faith and works for the next. 31. The diligence of the world is idleness, the honour of it vileness, the height of it lowness. 32. The world is worse than the bone of a pig which is in the hands of a leper. 33. Opportunity is swift of flight but slow to return.
3. Women
34. Pride, cowardice and miserliness are bad for men but good for women.
35. A woman’s Jihad (participation in the war of God) consists in pleasing her husband.
36. Woman is a scorpion whose sting is sweet. 37. The most happy is he to whom God had given the wherewithal to be content and a good wife.
38. Remembrance of youth is a sigh.
39. Happy is he who conquers himself.
40. He who knows himself, knows his
Lord.
41. It concerns thee more to flee from thyself than from a lion.
42. Your conscience is precious indeed. Do not sell it for anything but Heaven.
43. The disease of the heart is worse than the disease of the body.
44. What a pity to have a sickly spirit and a handsome body.
45. To fight against one’s own desires is the greatest of all fights. 46. The strongest from amongst you is he who subdues self.
47. The man who entertains a mean opinion of himself demonstrates the gravity of his understanding and the abundance of his excellence.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 