الشَّقاوَة

WRETCHEDNESS

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2– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Verily the wretched person is he who is deprived of drawing any benefit from his intellect and the experiences that he has been granted.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 78]

3– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Be on your guard against sins and restrain yourself from them, for verily the wretched one is he who gives himself free rein to them.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4499]

4– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The prosperous one is he who prospered from when he was in his mother’s womb, and the wretched one is he who was wretched from when he was in his mother’s womb.’
[Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 491]

5– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Verily Allah, Mighty and Exalted, created prosperity and wretchedness before He even created His creation. So whoever Allah knows will be prosperous, He will never despise, and even when he commits an evil deed, He will despise the deed but not the person. And if He knows that someone will be wretched, He will never love him, and even when he performs a good deed, He will love the deed but despise the person because of what he is to become.’
[al-Tawhid, p. 357, no. 5]

6– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Verily Allah, Blessed and most High, may transfer a servant from wretchedness to prosperity, but He never transfers anyone from prosperity to wretchedness.’
[al-Tawhid, p. 358, no. 6]

7– Imam al-Kazim (AS) was once asked by Ibn Abi ‘Umayr about the Prophet (SAWA)’s saying, ‘The prosperous one is he who prospered from when he was in his mother’s womb, and the wretched one is he who was wretched from when he was in his mother’s womb’, to which he replied, ‘The wretched one is he who, from when he was in his mother’s womb, Allah knew would commit acts characteristic of wretched people, and the prosperous one is he who, from when he was in his mother’s womb, Allah knew would perform acts characteristic of prosperous people.’
[al-Tawhid, p. 356, no. 3]

8– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The cause of wretchedness is love of this world.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 4499]

9– Imam al-Husayn (AS) said in his supplication of `Arafa, ‘O Allah, make me fear you as if I see you, let me prosper through being conscious of my duty to You, and keep me from becoming wretched as a consequence of Your disobedience.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 98, p. 218, no. 3]

10– Prophet Jesus (AS) said, ‘The most wretched of people is he who is reputed amongst people for his knowledge but not known for his action thereof.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 2, p. 52, no. 19]

11– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The most wretched of all wretched people is he who faces both poverty in this world as well as punishment in the Hereafter.’
[Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 16683]

12– Imam Ali (AS) when asked who the most wretched of all people was, replied, ‘He who sells his Hereafter for someone else’s profit in this world.’
[Amali al-Saduq, p. 322, no. 4]

13– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Among the symptoms of wretchedness are: a look of apathy in the eyes, hardness of the heart, intense greed in seeking out one’s livelihood, and persistence in committing sins.’
[al-Khisal, p. 243, no. 96]

14– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘One of the symptoms of wretchedness is swindling one’s own friend.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 9297]

15– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Among the symptoms of wretchedness is maltreatment of good people.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 9307]