Imam Rida (peace be upon him) [part of a marriage sermon delivered by Imam Rida (peace be upon him)]: Praise belongs to Allah, in whose pre-eternal knowledge, speaking Quran [which speaks with the truth], and truthful speech it has been so that the most deserving of causes for connection and preference, and the most worthy of matters for eagerness towards it, is a cause that brings about a bond of kinship and a matter that brings wealth and freedom from need in its wake. [In this regard] Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: "He is the One who created a human being from water, then made for him lineage and kinship [and spread his progeny through these two means], and your Lord is ever Powerful." (Furqan/54) And He said: وَ أَنْکِحُوا الْأَیامی مِنْکُمْ وَ الصَّالِحِینَ مِنْ عِبادِکُمْ وَ إِمائِکُمْ إِنْ یَکُونُوا فُقَراءَ یُغْنِهِمُ اللهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ وَ اللهُ واسِعٌ عَلِیمٌ [And marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male slaves and your female slaves; if they are needy, Allah will make them free from want out of His grace; and Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing]. And even if there were regarding marriage and the kinship that results from it no clear verse, no sunna to be followed, and no widely-transmitted narration, these very effects which Allah has placed [in marriage] — such as goodness to the relative [in the case of marriage within the family], drawing near of strangers [in the case of marriage outside the family], establishing affection between hearts, the interweaving [and creation] of [mutual] rights [between husband and wife], increasing the number of the population, and storing up children for [seeking their aid in] the calamities of the age and the coming events — would [on their own] be enough that even for less than that the intelligent, wise person would long for it, the fortunate, upright person would hasten towards it, and the eloquent, sagacious person would crave it.