7th Century Muslims

"To whatever extent a person's knowledge increases, his attention will be turned more towards his soul."

"Reciter and listener of the Qur'an are alike in prize and reward."

"Understanding the knowledge and wisdom of the Qur'an is by far, higher than memorizing."

"The character of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.)(Ali bin Abu-Talib) was exceptional from birth to martyrdom. He was born inside the Ka'bah - which was unparalleled before his birth and remained unparalleled thereafter. And he was martyred while he was praying in the mosque. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) spent all the time between these two points in jihad, patience for the sake of God, acquiring knowledge and insight, and moving on the path of divine satisfaction. Early in his childhood, the hand of divine acumen gave Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) to the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.). The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was only six years old when the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) brought him to his own house from the house of Abi Talib. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) was educated by the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.)."

"Ali is acclaimed as the "Father of Sufism". Most of the Sufi orders claim their descent from Ali. According to Ali Hajjweri, the rank of Ali is very high in the line up of Sufism. According to Junayd of Baghdad, Ali is the Shaykh as regards the principles and practices of Sufism. … The roots of Sufism lie embedded in Islam itself. There are numerous passages in the Holy Quran which are of a mystical character. The Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be on him) himself displayed mystical inclinations and he very often retired to the cave of Hirah for the purpose of devotions, meditation and contemplation. The Holy Prophet was recipient of two types of revelations, one embodied in the Holy Quran, and the other that illuminated his heart. The former was meant for all, the latter for a selected few whose hearts could be illuminated with the Divine Light. The knowledge of the Holy Prophet was thus book knowledge (ilm-i-Safina), and heart knowledge (ilm-i-Sina). Ali got this heart knowledge from the Holy Prophet."

"“O Ali! You are to me as Aaron was to Moses, except that no prophet will come after me.”"

"“No new Muslim has surpassed Ali in zeal and virtue. He united the merits of a poet, a soldier, and a saint; his rationality still inspires in a collection of moral and religious sayings; And every enemy, in the battles of tongue or sword, was subdued by his eloquence and courage. From the first hour of his mission to the last funeral, the Prophet was never abandoned by a generous friend who was happy to call him his brother, his successor, and his faithful Aaron.”"

"“With a keen intellect, warm in influence, and trustworthy in friendship, he was from childhood the devotee of the Prophet in heart and soul. Simple, quiet, and unambitious, it was more a strain than a desire when, after a few days, he gained the rule of half the Muslim world.”"

"“The last will of the Prophet of Islam was not carried out; because he had appointed Ali as his successor, while after his death, some chose Abu Bakr"

"“A brilliant mind... full of fiery influence and boldness. There was something chivalrous about him; brave as a lion; but with the kindness, truth and love worthy of Christian chivalry... His martyrdom was due to the severity of his justice.""

"“In my opinion, Ali was the first Arab who came into contact with the universal spirit and entered into dialogue with it. He was martyred because of his greatness and died while praying between his lips. The Arabs did not recognize his value until they learned among their Persian neighbors some of the differences between sand and precious stones."

"There has not been a more ascetic than Ali in the world."

""Ali made the past forget and put the future in difficulty." [About knowing him]"

"People have made his character and method a means of blaming the caliphs."

"He is the foster-child of the Messenger of Allah and his educated son. Ali is a great jurist whose opinion, from the perspective of those seeking the light of truth, is the most correct opinion of the people. He is the leader and master of the ascetics before and after him."

""He never worshipped idols; therefore, the Sunnis also call him "May Allah have honored his face." In addition, he was given the privilege of breaking idols. God knows how difficult it would have been for those who had worshipped idols for years and had made many appeals to their idols if they had been ordered to break them, and how they would have refused!"

""I do not know which of you has visited Najaf, the house of the Commander of the Faithful in Kufa is behind the Kufa Mosque near the Dar al-Marah; I have entered that house; It is about one hundred to one hundred and fifty meters, it had two or three small rooms, at that time Ali had absolute power, from this house he ruled a country that was perhaps ten times the size of your Iran… Even though he was the ruler, the Imam would come to the market of Kufa…”"

"“Ali ibn Abi Talib is the spokesman of the word of God and his heart is alert and aware of it.”"

"“O world, what would happen if you gathered all your forces and again manifested a personality like Ali with that reason, heart, tongue and sword?”"

"Two groups were in love with Ali's way, one was wise and pure-hearted, and the other was good-hearted and full of taste. Ali ibn Abi Talib was a martyr of his own greatness. He passed away while prayer was flowing on his tongue and his heart was filled with the desire for God. The Arab people did not understand the truth of his position until a group of people from their neighboring country (Iran) arose, distinguished this precious gem from the stone, and recognized him."

"The most complete gift of God is a life based on knowledge."

"The innumerable fools have made the learned very scarce."

"The learned man understands the ignorant for he was once ignorant for he was once ignorant himself."

"The ignorant man does not understand the learned for he has never been learned himself."

"Knowledge gives life to the soul."

"To respect the learned is to respect God."

"Knowledge creates fear of God."

"Practice makes knowledge perfect."

"To teach is to learn."

"Honesty is Divine language."

"To fulfill promises is the highest form of integrity."

"Truth means conformity of speech with the Divine mode of working."

"Friendship is impossible with a liar."

"The wealth of a miser is as useless as a pebble."

"An ignorant person will always overdo a thing or neglect it totally."

"If you cannot get things as much as you desire than be contented with what you have."

"To refrain from unlawful and impious source of pleasures is an ornament to the poor and to be thankful for the riches granted is the adornment of wealth."

"Do not feel ashamed if the amount of charity is small because to refuse the needy is an act of greater shame."

"Not to have a thing is less humiliating than to beg it."

"Lack of friends means, stranger in one's own country."

"A fool's mind is at the mercy of his tongue and a wise man's tongue is under the control of his mind."

"A wise man first thinks and then speaks and a fool speaks first and then thinks."

"Endurance is composed of four attributes: eagerness, fear, piety and anticipation (of death). so whoever is eager for Paradise will ignore temptations; whoever fears the fire of Hell will abstain from sins; whoever practices piety will easily bear the difficulties of life and whoever anticipates death will hasten towards good deeds. Conviction has also four aspects to guard oneself against infatuations of sin; to search for explanation of truth through knowledge; to gain lessons from instructive things and to follow the precedent of the past people, because whoever wants to guard himself against vices and sins will have to search for the true causes of infatuation and the true ways of combating them out and to find those true ways one has to search them with the help of knowledge, whoever gets fully acquainted with various branches of knowledge will take lessons from life and whoever tries to take lessons from life is actually engaged in the study of the causes of rise and fall of previous civilizations. Justice also has four aspects depth of understanding, profoundness of knowledge, fairness of judgment and dearness of mind; because whoever tries his best to understand a problem will have to study it, whoever has the practice of studying the subject he is to deal with, will develop a clear mind and will always come to correct decisions, whoever tries to achieve all this will have to develop ample patience and forbearance and whoever does this has done justice to the cause of religion and has led a life of good repute and fame. Jihad is divided into four branches: to persuade people to be obedient to Allah; to prohibit them from sin and vice; to struggle (in the cause of Allah) sincerely and firmly on all occasions and to detest the vicious. Whoever persuades people to obey the orders of Allah provides strength to the believers; whoever dissuades them from vices and sins humiliates the unbelievers; whoever struggles on all occasions discharges all his obligations and whoever detests the vicious only for the sake of Allah, then Allah will take revenge on his enemies and will be pleased with Him on the Day of Judgment."

"When Imam Ali was asked about Faith in Religion, he replied that the structure of faith is supported by four pillars endurance, conviction, justice and jihad."

"Failures are often the results of timidity and fears; disappointments are the results of bashfulness; hours of leisure pass away like summer-clouds, therefore, do not waste opportunity of doing good."

"Our affairs are attached to the destiny decreed by Allah, even our best plans may lead us to destruction."

"Every person who is tempted to go astray, does not deserve punishment."

"During civil disturbance adopt such an attitude that people do not attach any importance to you — they neither burden you with complicated affairs, nor try to derive any advantage out of you."

"Allah seeks you to thank Him and assigns to you His affairs. He has allowed time in the limited field (of life) so that you may vie with each other in seeking the reward (of Paradise). Therefore, tight up your girdles and wrap up the skirts. High courage and dinners do not go together. Sleep causes weakness in the big affairs of the day and (its) darkness obliterates the memories of courage."

"Where are those who protect honour, and those self-respecting persons who defend respectable persons in the time of hardship? Shame is behind you while Paradise is in front of you."