السِّرُ

SECRECY

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2– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Victory comes about through determination, and determination comes about through carefully weighing up one's ideas, and ideas are formed through guarding secrets.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 48]

3– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Your secret is your prisoner which, if let loose, will make you its prisoner.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 563]

4– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'The bosom of the wise man is the strongbox guarding his secret.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 6]

5– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'The more the keepers of secrets increase, the more the divulgers of secrets increase.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 7197]

6– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Shower all your love on your friend but do not shower all your trust on him.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2463]

7– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'The most successful of matters is the one that is kept confidential.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 3384]

8– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Do not entrust your secret, except to someone who has your absolute trust.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 235, no. 3]

9– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'It does not matter if your secret is unknown.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, p. 269, no. 1]

10– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'The one who is unable to keep his own secret will be unable to keep anyone else's.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 8941]

11– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, 'Divulging a secret is a breakdown
[of trust].’
[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 315]

12– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, 'Your secret is of your own blood, so never let it flow from other than your own veins.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 75, p. 71, no. 15]

13– Imam al-Rida (AS) said, 'A believer is not a believer unless he possesses three qualities within him: one quality characteristic of his Lord, one quality from His Prophet, and one quality from His vicegerent. The quality that is characteristic of his Lord is guarding a secret, for verily Allah has said, "Knower of the Unseen, He does not disclose His Unseen to anyone, except to an apostle He approves of"
[ Qur'an 72:26].
[ Bihar al-Anwar, v. 75, p. 68, no. 2]

14– Imam al-Jawad (AS) said, 'Exposing something before it has become consolidated will ruin it.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, p. 71, no. 13]

15– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Do not confide anything in an ignorant person for he will not be able to guard it.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 10265]

16– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Do not ever entrust your secret to someone who has no integrity.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 10166]

17– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Three types of people should not be entrusted with a secret: a woman, a slanderer and an idiot.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4662]

18– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, 'There are four things that go to waste: …and a secret you entrust to an injudicious person.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 75, p. 69, no. 4]