In the noise of today’s life, it seems that many words have lost their meaning. Brotherhood, honor, nobility… It feels as though they belong to another time, a time when a father, despite his self-sufficiency, asks what he already knows, and the son, knowing that his father needs nothing, answers, hoping that in another time, someone like me, like you, or like us, may break their alienation from these words…
Imam Ali (peace be upon him): My son, what is truth?
Hasan ibn Ali (peace be upon him): Father, truth is the removal of evils through good deeds.
– What is honor?
– It is doing good to one’s relatives and enduring their wrongdoings.
– What is chivalry?
– It is being pure and modest.
– What is meanness?
– It is looking down upon small things and withholding even a little.
– What is generosity?
– It is giving before being asked.
– What is degradation?
– It is seeking only comfort for oneself and disregarding one’s spouse.
– What is nobility?
– It is giving in times of both poverty and wealth.
– What is stinginess?
– It is holding on to what you have as if it is your own honor and thinking that what you give away is wasted.
– What is brotherhood?
– It is loyalty in both hardship and ease.
– What is fear?
– It is courage for friends and retreat from enemies.
– What is a treasure?
– It is seeking piety and righteousness in this world, for it is the best treasure.
– What is patience?
– It is swallowing one’s anger and exercising self-restraint.
– What is self-sufficiency?
– It is being content with what God has allotted to you, even if it is little.
– What is poverty?
– It is being greedy for everything.
– What is humiliation?
– It is fear of truth and righteousness.
– What is futile suffering?
– It is talking about things that do not benefit you.
– What is greatness?
– It is giving in times of hardship and forgiving wrongdoings.
– What is wisdom?
– It is keeping that which has been entrusted to you.
– What is dignity?
– It is doing beautiful things and avoiding ugliness.
– What is foresight?
– It is being patient, acting gently with close ones.
– What is folly?
– It is following the base and associating with the misguided.
– What is deprivation?
– It is losing the benefit that has been given to you.
– What is ignorance?
– It is hastening to seize opportunities before they are available, and also refraining from responding (about what you know). And how great a helper silence is in many situations, even if you are a talker. [1]
When we think a little about these words, we realize that it is possible to look again, to taste a different flavor of life and experience another color of it, a different outlook, and a true color.
Footnote: [1] (From the book Kalimat al-Imam Hasan (peace be upon him), written by Sayyid Hasan Shirazi, translated by Alireza Mirza Mohammad)