Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) said:
“Self-sufficiency and wealth lie in having few desires and being content with what is sufficient for you.”[1]
In a competition on the topic “What do you wish for?”, the winner was the one who wrote: “I wish to have no wishes.”
This can mean that all my desires and wishes have been fulfilled, or it can mean that I have such a high, enriched, and abundant spirit that I feel no lack and have no wishes, being content with what I have.
A person is always a prisoner of their desires. The desires of the heart are endless, and some are unattainable, leaving only sorrow and regret for not achieving them. One remains far from reaching the peaks of excellence and virtue. In this regard, it is narrated from Amir al-Mu’minin (peace be upon him):
“Beware of the deception of desires, for how many people have longed for sustenance, but never received it; how many people built a house, but never lived in it; and how many gathered wealth, but never enjoyed it.”[2]
The person who is content and satisfied with what is sufficient for them, who is not enslaved by greed, will live a more peaceful and tranquil life, and this in itself is a blessing. On the other hand, the greedy person is always in distress and suffering. The one who does not “have” more than necessary to be threatened, nor “want” more than necessary to be tempted, is free and independent.
Wealth and affluence are not only about money and possessions; contentment and satisfaction are the highest forms of wealth.
(Adapted from the book “Hikmat al-Naqawi,” authored by “Javad Muddhadi” (with some abridgment and additions))
Footnotes:
[1] (Al-Durra al-Bahira, p. 42; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 75, p. 368)
[2] (Ghorar al-Hikam: 2563)