Words of Imam Ali

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The First Imam

HONOURABLE ALI [Peace be upon him]

His Holy Words:


Imam Ali: "People are hostile towards what they do not understand."

Imam Ali: "Do not force your children to behave like you, for surely they have been created for a time which is different to your time."

Imam Ali: "There is no poverty quite like ignorance."

Imam Ali: "There is no illness more debilitating than lack of intellect."

Imam Ali: "There is nothing as honourable as knowledge."

Imam Ali: "Every container becomes tightly packed with what is put in it, except for the container of knowledge, for surely it expands."

Imam Ali: "Do not keep the company of an evil person, for surely your character will take on something of his character without your even realizing it."

Imam Ali: "If you hear words that hurt you, then bow your head before them and they will miss you."

Imam Ali: "The most ignorant of those who are ignorant is the one who trips over the same stone twice."

Imam Ali: "Plunge into the depths until you reach the truth"

Imam Ali: "Supplication is the key to Divine mercy."

Imam Ali: "A man who overtly criticises himself is covertly praising it."

Imam Ali: "A person is found under his tongue."

Imam Ali: "Surely silence can sometimes be the most eloquent reply."

Imam Ali: "The value of each person lies in the good he does."

Imam Ali: "Whoever makes what does not concern him his business will fail to deal with what does concern him."

Imam Ali: "Search out sustenance. It is guaranteed to one who looks for it."

Imam Ali: "To delay is to lose."

Imam Ali: "Patience is one of the ways to achieve victory."

Imam Ali: "There is no successful outcome in treating people unjustly."

Imam Ali: "Every statement in which God is not mentioned is a vanity. Every silence in which there is no thought of Him is carelessness. Every reflection in which there is no consideration of Him is an idle pastime. "

Imam Ali: "Anger begins with madness and ends with regret."

Imam Ali: "Any wealth of yours that teaches you a lesson has not been wasted."

Imam Ali: "Train yourself in good behaviour with regards to what you dislike in others."

Imam Ali: "Dislike in yourself what you dislike in others."

Imam Ali: "Do not betray anyone who places his trust in you ... even if he betrays you."

Imam Ali: "Prefer to be one who is overcome while being just, rather than one who triumphs while being unjust."

Imam Ali: "If a blessing descends on you, then make it last by being grateful."

Imam Ali: "If the most abundant of benefits reach you, then do not drive them away by your lack of gratitude."

Imam Ali: "Know that this Quran is a source of advice that never deceives, and a guide that never leads astray, and an informer that never lies."

Imam Ali: "The one who is prudent is the one who has control over his passions."

Imam Ali: "I attained realization of God, may He be glorified, by the dissolution of resolutions, and by the solution of complexities."

Imam Ali: "I am amazed at the one who settles down in the abode that passes away, and ignores the abode that lasts for ever."

Imam Ali: "Tolerance is the graveyard of defects."

Imam Ali: "There are six traits that must not be found in a true believer [of complete faith], viciousness and ill-temperedness, miserliness, obstinacy, dishonesty, jealousy, and oppression."


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