Muhammad al-Baqir

"Take the good speech from whoever said it even if his practice was not accordingly."

"The parable of a man greedy of this world is the parable of the silk worm: the more it winds the thread round itself the farther it becomes from salvation, until it dies of grief."

"Being sociable and affable with people brings kindness and friendship."

"There is no strength higher than overcoming carnal desire."

"How beautiful it is when goodness succeeds badness; and how unappealing it is when evil succeeds goodness."

"Learn knowledge and science from him who teaches it, even if he doesn't practice what he preaches."

"There is no pain worse than ignorance and lack of intelligence."

"Opposition of one's desires is the sign of the highest level of wisdom in a human being."

"On the Day of Judgement, God will interrogate people according to the wisdom he has granted them."

"Knowledge and science is the fruit of paradise; in times of threat it is one's ally, in exile it keeps one company, and in solitude it is one's intimate friend and companion."

"The person who teaches one chapter of guidance to the people will have a reward similar to all those who would act upon it, and nothing would be lessened or subtracted from the reward of those who practise it; and the one who teaches a chapter of misguidance, he will have the burden similar to each one who acts upon it, and nothing will be lessened from their burden of sin."

"The virtue of knowledge is more lovable with Allah than the virtue of worship. The best (thing) in your religion is piety."

"Consider the world as an abode where in you have dropped down for an hour, then you have got to leave it and go ahead; or (suppose it is) like the wealth which you lay hands upon in a dream and become over-joyed and glad. Then you wake up to find yourself empty handed."

"Whoevers tongue utters the truth, his practise becomes purified; and the one whose intention is decent and good, his sustenance increases; and whoever adopts good attitude and decent behavior with his family, his life span lengthens."

"Three things destroy a man: considering his own deeds to be really great, forgetting the sins that have been committed, considering his own opinion to be the highest."

"Fasting is a shield against (hell) fire. Charity and dole remove and finish sin, as does the remembrance of God in the midnight."

"The scholar whose knowledge is made use of and benefited from, is worthier and more virtuous than seventy thousand worshippers and adorers."

"Beware of sluggishness, annoyance and impatience, since they are the keys of all the evils. The person who commits sluggishness and slackness never at all discharges any rights (obligations); and the one who gets annoyed and restless, does never at all remain patient over the right (God's decree on him)."

"Indeed, the most terrifically sorry of all the people on the day of resurrection, will be the servant who defines and shows the way of justice to the people, while he himself opposes it."

"Being religious equals being extremely loving, and being extremely loving equals being religious."

"Goodness to parents, and paying visits to ones own relatives, will ease the accounting on the Day of Judgement."

"Indeed, when a man earns wealth from a haraam (prohibited source) - neither Hajj, nor Umra, nor strengthening of his blood kinship, is ever at all accepted or approved. By God, Almighty."

"Indeed, faithful is the one who - when pleased and glad, his pleasure does not make him enter into sin and falsehood; and when unhappy and angry, his anger does not oust him from the world of righteousness; and when he gains power, his power does not make him commit excess, nor opression, nor make him go for a thing upon which he does not have any right."

"Two kinds of my community have no share in Islam. (They are): the extremists and the fatalists."

"There is no servant except that there exists a white spot upon his heart. So when he commits a sin, a black spot arises into that white spot. Then when he repents, this black spot moves away. But if he continues on committing sins, the blackness of this spot increases till such time that it overwhelms and overrides the whiteness. When the whiteness is all covered over (by the blackness), the owner of it (the heart) does never at all return towards beneficence and goodness. And This is what God means when he says: "Nay! rather, what they used to do has become like a rust upon their hearts." (Qur'an, 83:14)"

"There are three hinges out of the completion of values, of this world and the here-after:"

"I admonish you regarding five things:"

"By Allah no one is our Shī‘ah except that he has piety for God and obeys him. They (the Shī‘ah) are not known and recognized except for their humility, modesty, fear of God, trustworthiness, plenty of remembrance of God, fasting, service, kindness to the parents, looking after the poor neighbours and afflicted people, mentioning them with nothing except goodness and beneficence; and they are the trustees for their tribes in all the affairs."

"The person who loves for the sake of God, and detests and despises for the sake of God, and gives for the sake of God, is among those whose faith has achieved completion."

"The believer does not spend an expense more lovable with Allah than saying the truth during consent and anger."

"Whoever has three qualities or one of them will be in the shade of the throne of Allah: He should treat people with justice. He should do nothing unless he knows whether it pleases or angers Allah. He should seek no fault in his Muslim brother until he frees himself from that fault. For when he frees himself from a fault, he finds another fault in him. It is enough for the person that his own self diverts him from the people."