Short Maxims of Imam Musa al-Kazim (AS)

1- Anyone who acknowledges Allah should not complain when his earnings are delayed and should not suspect the acts of Allah.

2- As a man asked him about conviction, Imam Al-Kazim (AS) answered: the conviction is to depend upon Allah, submit to Him, consent to His acts, and entrust Him with the affairs.

3- Abdullah-bin-Yahya said: Within the supplication that I wrote to Imam Al-Kazim (AS), there was the sentence, 'Praise be to Allah as much as the utmost of His knowledge.' The Imam answered my missive saying: Do not say, 'the utmost of his knowledge,' because His knowledge has no limits. You may say, 'the utmost of His satisfaction.'

4- As a man asked him about the munificent, Imam Al-Kazim (AS) answered: Your question has two references. If you refer to the created munificent, I can tell you that he is the one who fulfills what Allah has imposed upon him, while the miserly is the one who witholds what Allah has imposed upon him. If you refer to the All-munificent Allah, I can tell you that He is the All-munificent whether He gives or not. If He gives, he gives you what is not yours, and if He does not give, He deprives you of what in not yours.

5- Imam Al-Kazim (AS) said to one of his adherents: Fear Allah and say the truth even if it will cause you to perish, for your salvation lies in telling the truth. Fear Allah and leave the wrong even if it will save you, for your perdition lies in telling the wrong.

6- As his agent swore he had not betrayed him, Imam Al-Kazim (AS) said to him: To betray me and waste my wealth are the same. However, betrayal is more harmful for you.

7- Beware of depriving anyone in fields of obedience to Allah lest, you will lose two folds in fields of disobedience to Allah.

8- The believer is like the two pans of a balance-the more faith he enjoys the more misfortunes he faces.

9- Imam Al-Kazim (AS) said as he stopped near a grave: It is quite proper to leave the first of a matter the end of which is this (grave). It is also quite proper to fear the end of a thing the first of which is this (grave).

10- He who speaks in the Essence of Allah will perish, he who seeks power will perish, and he who feels self-conceited will perish.

11- The supplies of this world and the religion are difficult. Whenever you extend your hand towards any source of the worldly supplies, you will find out that a sinful has preceded you there. When you intend to obtain a source of the religious supplies, you will not find anyone helping you.

12- Four deeds are originated from extreme solicitude. They are eating soil, crumbling the clay, clipping the nails with the teeth, and biting the hair of the beard. Looking at three things improves the sight. They are verdure, flowing water, and handsome faces.

13-Good neighborhood is not the abstinence from harm. It is to tolerate the harm (of the neighbors).

14- Do not take liberties with your friend. You should keep any quantity of respect among you lest you will lose prudence.

15- Imam Al-Kazim (AS) said to one of his sons: O son, let not Allah see you committing an act of disobedience against which he warned you, and let Him not miss you in an act of obedience to him of which He ordered you. Keep serious and do not convince yourself that you are worshipping and obeying Allah perfectly, because no one can achieve perfection in the fields of worshipping Allah. Beware of joking because it extinguished the illumination of your faith and disgraces your personality. Beware of indolence and laziness because they both prevent you from receiving your shares of the pleasures of this world and the world to come.

16- When injustice predominates over the right, it is unacceptable to expect good from anybody before investigation.

17- Kissing on the mouth is not acceptable except for the wife and the little child.

18- Try to divide your time into four parts. The first part should be dedicated to (secret) supplication to Allah, the second to seeking earnings, the third to associating with the friends and the trusty people who show you your defects and treat you sincerely, and the fourth to your legal pleasures.

Through this part, you can manage the other three parts. Do not think of poverty and long age. He who thinks of poverty will be stingy and he who thinks of long age will be acquisitive. Offer a share of the worldly pleasures to yourselves by enjoying moderately the legal pleasures that do not injure your personalities. Make such pleasures help you fulfill your religious duties perfectly. It is said that, "As for those who neglect the legal worldly pleasures completely and adhere to the religious duties or neglect the religious duties and adhere to the worldly affairs, they are not from us.

19- Learn the religious question, for jurisprudence is the key of intelligence, the perfection of worship, and the means to the high standings and the respectful positions in this world and the world to come. The priority of the knowledgeable over the worshipper is as same as the priority of the sun over the stars. Allah will not accept the deeds of those who avoid learning the religious questions.

20- Imam Al-Kazim (AS) said to Ali-bin-Yaqtin: The expiation of working with the (unjust) rulers is to treat the friends with kindness.

21- Whenever people perpetrate unprecedented sins, Allah will inflict upon them unexpected misfortunes.

22- In the time of the just ruler, you should thank and he will gain rewards, In the time of the unjust ruler, you should tolerate and he will burden the punishment of the sin.

23- Abu-Hanifa related: After I had performed the hajj I went to Medina to visit Abu-Abdillah Al- Sadiq (AS). I entered his house and sat in the entrance waiting for his permission. After a while, a male toddler went out. "O boy," I asked, "where should the stranger excrete in your country?" The boy asked for a respite before he sat to a wall and spoke: You should be away from riversides, places were fruits fall, yards of mosques, and roadbeds.

You should also hide against a wall, lift up your dress, avoid turning the face or the back to the Qiblah and then you can excrete any where. I was highly admired by the wording of that boy. I therefore asked about his name. "I am, Musa-bin-Ja'far-bin-Mohammed-bin-Ali-bin-Al-Hussein-bin-Ali- bin-Abi Talib", answered he. I then asked him about the source of the acts of disobedience to Allah, He answered: the source of any sin is unquestionably one of three: either the Allah, the Allah and the servant, or the servant. If Allah is the source of sins- yet.

He is not-, then it is improper for Him to punish the servants for what they did not commit. If Allah and the servants are together the source of sin-yet this is not accurate-, then it is improper for the stronger partner to wrong the weak partner. If the servant is the source of the sins-and
this is quite accurate-, then the Lord may pardon out of His generosity and liberty of punish for the commitment of such a sin. After I had heard so, I left before I could meet Abu-Abdillah since that wording was sufficient for me.

24- Abu-Ahmed Al-Khurasani asked Imam Al-Kazim (AS) whether atheism preceded polytheism or the opposite. "You have not been accustomed to ask such questions,' answered the Imam, 'I do not know that you intrude yourself in the theological discussions.' Abu-Ahmed confessed that it had been Husham-bin-Al-Hakam who ordered him to put such a question before the Imam. The Imam, then, answered: Atheism preceded polytheism. The foremost atheist was Eblis about whom Allah says: He refused and he was proud, and he was one of the unbelievers-atheists. Holy Qur'an (2:34) Atheism is one thing while polytheism is not. Polytheism is to believe in one (god) and associate others with him.

25- As he noticed two men reviling at each other, Imam Al-Kazim (AS) commented: The first person to revile is the more wrongful. He should burden-the inconvenience-of his sin as well as the sin of the other unless the other was the aggressor.

26- On the Day of Resurrection, a caller will summon those whose rewards should be presented by Allah individually. Except those who forgave and reformed themselves, no one will attend.

27- The liberal well-mannered ones are in the shelter of Allah Who will not abandon them until they reside in Paradise. Prophets of Allah are all liberal. My fatehr incessantly commanded me to hold on liberality and noble manners until he departed.

28- As-Sindi-bin-Shahek narrated: When Imam Al-Kazim (AS) was dying, I offered to enshroud him. He answered: We, the prophet's family, should cover the expenditure of our first pilgrimage, the dowries of our women, and our coffins from our legal fortunes.

29- Imam Al-Kazim (AS) said to Fadhl-bin-Younus: Convey the good, say the good, and do not be yes- man. "What is yes-man?" asked Fadhl, and the Imam instructed: Do not say, 'I am with people,' or 'I am like others,' for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his household) said: O people, they are only two ways-either good or evil. Do not prefer the way of evil to that of good."

30- Imam Al-Kazim (AS) passed by an ugly villager, greeted him, sat with him, talked with him for a considerable time, and then asked him to settle his needs when he would be in need for him. Some said, "O son of Allah's Messenger, how do you sit with this one and ask him to settle your needs while he is in need for you?" The Imam (AS) answered:

He was one of Allah's servants, a brother in the Book of Allah, and a neighbor in the lands of Allah. He and we enjoy the same best father-Adam (AS) and the same best religion that is Islam. Perhaps, our need will some day be in his hand and we will have to sit modestly before him. Imam Al-Kazim (AS) then recited a poetic verse: We regard even those who do not deserve our regard so that we will not be friendless.

31- Asking for-financial-help is acceptable only in blood money that is imposed on an insolvent, heavy debts, and extreme poverty.

32- The best kind of alms-giving is to help the weak.

33- The astonishment of the ignorant at the intelligent is greater than the astonishment of the intelligent at the ignorant.

34- For the steadfast, the misfortune is one, while it is two for the impatient.

35- Only the sufferers of injustice can realize its intensity.