Ali Ibn Abi Talib Quotes

Loving one another is half of wisdom.

The most helpless person is the one who is helpless in reforming himself.

When proven wrong, the wise man will correct himself and the ignorant will keep arguing.

Your souls are precious and can only be equal to the price of Paradise, therefore sell them only at that price

A moment of patience in a moment of anger prevents a thousand moments of regret.

Be like the flower that gives its fragrance to even the hand that crushes it.

When wisdom reaches the acme of perfection, it will suppress the vicious instincts and injurious desires.

Knowledge is of two kinds: that which is absorbed and that which is heard. And that which is heard does not profit if it is not absorbed.

Be a good man to Allah and a bad man to yourself (desires); and be one of the commoners among the people

The real Muslim is the one who prefers speaking the truth even when it is ruinous to him over lying even when it benefits him, and who finds inner peace in doing so.

Nothing hurts a good soul and kind heart more than to live amongst people who can't understand it.

If you find that somebody is not grateful for all that you have done for him, then do not get disappointed because often you will find that someone else feels under your obligation though you have done nothing for him and thus your good deeds will be compensated, and Allah will reward you for your goodness.

If what you achieve today is equal to what you achieved yesterday, then you are at a loss. And if what you have achieved today is less than what you achieved yesterday, then you are deprived from the Almighty's blessings. Anyone who is not progressing, is in fact regressing, and if you are regressing, then you might as well be dead.

Your cure is within you, yet you do not sense it! Your sickness is from you, yet you do not see it! You consider yourself a small body; Yet encapsulated within you is the entire universe!

The disease of the heart is worse than the disease of the body.

O Alaah, i haven't worshiped you because of lusting of heaven or fearing of hill. I've worshiped you because you deserve to be worshiped.

Whoever desires Paradise, proceeds towards goodness; whoever fears Hell, refrains from the impulses of passions; whoever believes firmly in death, detests wordly life; and whoever recognises the worldly life, the trials and tribulations (of life) become slight for him.

Greed takes a person to the watering place but gets him back without letting him drink. It undertakes responsibility but does not fulfill it. Often the drinker gets choked before quenching his thirst. The greater the worth of a thing yearned for, the greater is the grief for its loss. Desires blind the eyes of understanding. The destined share would reach him who does not approach it.

Justice is putting everything in its proper place

I was not created to be occupied by eating delicious foods like tied up cattle.

Fear the sins that you commit in secret, because the Witness of those sins is the Judge Himself!

I am amazed at the heart of man: It possesses the substance of wisdom as well as the opposites contrary to it ... for if hope arises in it, it is brought low by covetousness: and if covetousness is aroused in it, greed destroys it. If despair possesses it, self piety kills it: and if it is seized by anger, this is intensified by rage. If it is blessed with contentment, then it forgets to be careful; and if it is filled with fear, then it becomes preoccupied with being cautious. If it feels secure , then it is overcome by vain hopes; and if it is given wealth, then its independence makes it extravagant. If want strikes it, then it is smitten by anxiety. If it is weakened by hunger, then it gives way to exhaustion; and if it goes too far in satisfying its appetites, then its inner becomes clogged up. So all its shortcomings are harmful to it, and all its excesses corrupt it.

He who understands humanity seeks solitude

Do not feel lonely on the road of righteousness Because of the fewness of the walkers on it.

Beware of the flight of Blessings,
For nothing that runs away is returned.

The best which entailed from parents to children, is the good behavior.

A calamity does not descend except due to a sin and it is not lifted except with repentance.

Awaken your heart to kindness and mercy for the people and love and tenderness for them. Never, never act with them like a predatory beast which seeks to be satiated by devouring them, for the people fall into two categories: they are either your brethren in faith or your kindred in creation ... Do not ever say, 'I have been given authority' or 'My command should be obeyed.' Because it corrupts the heart, consumes one's faith, and invites calamities.

The worst of our faults is our interest in other people's faults.

Look for the man who's beaten. Feed him from my food, irrigate him from my water. Soul is for soul. He should be given only one equal hit regardless if I died. I would judge him regardless if I lived.

Happiness comes towards those which believe in him

The word of God is the medicine of the heart.

Many a spoken word is more piercing than an attack.

Not every man with a heart is understanding, nor every man with an ear a listener, and nor every man with eyes able to see.

Work for this world as if you will live forever and work for the here-after as if you will die tomorrow.

The emaan of a person cannot be true until he has more trust in that which is in Allah's Hands than that which is in his own hands.

There is no capital more useful than intellect and wisdom, and there is no indigence more injurious than ignorance and unawareness.

Let me alone, and go in search of someone else.

Always consider your intellect to be lacking; otherwise too much faith in it surely leads to error.

In this world, man is a target of death, an easy prey to calamities, here every morsel and every draught is liable to choke one, here one never receives a favour until he loses another instead, here every additional day in one's life is a day reduced from the total span of his existence, when death is the natural outcome of life, how can we expect immortality.

How foolish is man! He ruins the present while worrying about the future, but weeps in the future by recalling his past!

The value of a person is what he does best.

Everyone who is taken by death asks for more time, while everyone who still has time makes excuses for procrastination.

Hide the good you do, and make known the good done to you.

O World, try to deceive someone else. Are you trying to tempt me or attract me? No way! I divorce you irrevocably. Your time is short and you are insignificant. Alas! The provision is little, the journey is long and the way is lonely.

I wonder at a man who loses hope of salvation when the door of repentance is open for him.

Do not be misled by appearances for these are apt to be deceptive.

People are of two types, they are either your brothers in faith or your equals in humanity.

There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.

One who thinks and reflects develops his foresight and vision.

There is no greater wealth than wisdom, no greater poverty than ignorance; no greater heritage than culture and no greater support than consultation.

Like your body your mind also gets tired so refresh it by wise sayings.

To maintain nice relation with the people is half of intelligence, nice questioning is half of knowledge, and nice domestic arrangements is half of the management of livelihood.

Do not share the knowledge with which you have been blessed with everyone in general, as you do with some people in particular; and know that there are some men in whom Allah, may He he glorified, has placed hidden secrets, which they are forbidden to reveal.

Two things cause people to be destroyed: fear of poverty and seeking superiority through pride.

There are so many highly esteemed ones who became miserable and humiliated just because of their bad temper and morals; and humble people who have attained eminence and the highest honors because of good temper and morals.

No one has ever suffered from his people as I have.

Don't engage your heart in grief over the past or you wont be ready for what is coming.

The most precious wealth is wisdom, and the most miserable poverty is stupidity.

There is no knowledge and science like pondering and thought; and there is no prosperity and advancement like knowledge and science.

I will be patient till even patience tires of my patience.

A person of riyaa (showing off) has three characteristics : He is lazy when alone, energetic when with others, and increases in his actions when he is praised while decreasing in them when he is criticized.

Poverty is the worst form of death.

Bear sorrows and calamities patiently, otherwise you will never be happy.

True friends are a single soul divided between different bodies.

Know you that Allah has made Islam the most sublime path for attainment of His supreme pleasure and the highest standards of his worship and obedience. He has favoured it with noble precepts, exalted principles, undoubtable arguments, unchallengeable supremacy and undeniable wisdom. It is up to you to maintain the eminence and dignity granted to it by the Lord, to follow it sincerely, to do justice to its articles of faith and belief, to obey implicitly its tenets and orders and to give it the proper place in your lives.

Associating with the wise and the knowledgeable people adds to the prestige of a person.

Work for a Better Life as if you live forever,
And work for Better End as if you die tomorrow

I am the guide and the guided. I am the father of the orphans and the destitute, and the guaridan of the widows. I am the refuge of the weak person and the haven of every fearful one. I am the leader of the believers to paradise. I am the strong rope of Allah(swt); I am Allah's firmest handle and the word of Godwariness. I am the eye of Allah(swt), His truthful tongue and His hand.

People's hearts are like wild animals. They attach their selves to those that love and train them.

Glory is for none but the learned,
Guided are they - and proofs for seekers of guidance.
Every person is measured based on how much of it (knowledge) he mastered,
The ignorant are to the learned their enemies,
Succeed with knowledge and live energetically forever,
Men are all dead, only the possessors of knowledge are truly alive

He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare,
And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.

O Malik, people have either a brother of you in the religion, or brother of you in the creation

He who is greedy is disgraced; he who discloses his hardship will always be humiliated; he who has no control over his tongue will often have to face discomfort.

Often your utterances and expressions of your face leak out the secrets of your hidden thoughts.

Body is purified by water. Ego by tears. Intellect is purified by knowledge. And soul is purified with love.

Never explain yourself to anyone, because the one who likes you would not need it, and the one dislikes you wouldn't believe it.

If you are greeted then return the greetings more warmly. If you are favored, then repay the obligation manifold; but he who takes the initiative will always excel in merit.

Abstinence from sins is better than seeking help afterwards.

Lead such a life, that, when you die, the people may mourn you, and while you are alive they long for your company.

The best revenge is to improve yourself.

Be afraid of a dignified man when he is hungry and a wicked man when his belly is full.

Do not hate what you do not know, for the greater part of knowledge consists of what you do not know.

Patience to faith is like the head to the body. The person who has no patience has not faith.

Get to know the right, then you would know the people of right. Right Is not measured by its men, but men are measured by their right.

Greed is permanent slavery

A man's behavior is the index of the man, and his discourse is the index of his understanding.

Asceticism is not that you should not own anything, but that nothing should own you.

Never make a decision in anger and never make a promise in happiness.

Allah, the Exalted, gave the angels intellect without desires, He gave the animals desires without intellect, and He gave both to the sons of Adam. So a man whose intellect prevails over his desires is better than the angels, whilst a man whose desire prevails over his intellect is worse than the animals.

Fear only the will of God and you will have no cause to fear anyone else.

Love is an illness which doesn't have good nor recompense.

Allah's Generosity is connected to gratitude, and gratitude is linked to increase in His generosity. The generosity of Allah will not stop increasing unless the gratitude of the servant ceases

Do not be like those on whom advice has no effect and who require punishment to correct themselves.

The relation of patience to iman is like the relation of the head to the body. If the head is chopped off, the body becomes useless. Then he raised his voice and said: Certainly, the one who has no patience has no iman, and patience is like a riding-beast that nevers gets tired

An alert and learned man will take advice from any event.

When my prayers are answered, I am happy because it was my wish. When my prayers are not answered, I am even more happy because that was gods wish.

Blessed is he whose own faults keep him from seeing the faults of others.

To make one good action succeed another, is the perfection of goodness.

Your Remedy is within you, but you do not sense it.
Your Sickness is from you, but you do not perceive it.
You Presume you are a small entity,
But within you is enfolded the entire universe.
You are indeed the evident book,
By whose alphabet the hidden becomes the manifest.
Therefore, you have no need to look beyond yourself,
What you seek is within you, if only you reflect.