سورة القلم

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Ishaq al-Nahwi said: I entered upon Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) and heard him say: Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, trained His Prophet upon His love, then said: وَ إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality]. Then He entrusted the matter to him and said: whatever the Messenger brings you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it. (Hashr/7) And He also said: whoever obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah. (Nisa/80) Then the Imam (peace be upon him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) entrusted the matter to Ali (peace be upon him) and considered him trustworthy. You (Shia) submitted, and they denied. By Allah, we love you to speak when we speak, and to be silent when we are silent, and we are the intermediary between you and Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. Allah has not placed any good for anyone in opposing our command."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, trained His Prophet, and when He brought him to what He willed, He said concerning him: وَ إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality]. Then He entrusted the affair of His religion to him and said: whatever the Messenger brings you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it. (Hashr/7)

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, trained His Prophet, and when He established him upon what He willed, He said to him: and enjoin what is good and turn away from the ignorant [and do not quarrel with them]. (A'raf/199) When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) did this, Allah praised him and said: وَ إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality]. And when He found him pure, He entrusted the affair of His religion to him and said: whatever the Messenger brings you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it. (Hashr/7) Allah forbade grape wine, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) forbade every intoxicant. And Allah confirmed all of that. And He sent down the command of prayer, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) set its times, and that too was confirmed.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Fudayl ibn Yasar said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say to some of the companions of Qays al-Masir: Indeed, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, trained His Prophet well, and when He completed his training, He said: وَ إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality]. Then He entrusted to him the affair of religion and the community, so that he might govern His servants. Then, the Mighty and Majestic said: whatever the Messenger brings you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it. (Hashr/7) Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was firm, successful, and supported by the Holy Spirit; he did not slip or err in anything by which he governed creation, and he was trained by the training of Allah.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Allah instructed His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) in etiquette and trained him excellently, and He said: "[In any case] deal with them gently and accept their excuse, and invite [them] to good, and turn away from the ignorant (and do not quarrel with them)!" (al-A'raf/199). When that [beautiful conduct from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)] came to pass, Allah revealed: إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظِیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality] and He entrusted to him the affair of His religion, and said: "Whatever the Messenger brings you, take it; and whatever he forbids you from, refrain from it." (al-Hashr/7). So Allah Himself forbade wine, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) forbade every intoxicant, and Allah permitted that [ruling of his]. And the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) would guarantee Paradise on behalf of Allah, and Allah would permit that for him. And Allah set forth the obligatory [inheritance] shares, and among them He did not mention the grandfather, but the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) gave him a share, and Allah permitted that. And [Allah] did not entrust [His religion] to any of the prophets other than him.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Regarding the interpretation of the words of the Truth وَ إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظِیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality], it is reported that whenever the disbelievers harmed the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), he would say: "O Allah, forgive my people, for they do not know."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was walking, and some of his companions were in his service. A bedouin Arab man came upon him and pulled him so violently that the coarse edge of the Najrani cloak he was wearing on his shoulder chafed his blessed neck. Then he said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Give me some of that wealth of Allah which is with you!" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) looked at that Arab man and smiled, and ordered that something be given to him. And when the people of the Quraysh tribe harmed and struck that great personage a great deal, he turned his face toward the sky and said: "O Lord, forgive my people, for they are ignorant!" And it is for this reason that Allah the Exalted said: وَ إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظِیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Qatada al-Ammi narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: ... Allah the Mighty and Majestic also loves noble character, and in His address to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) He said: "O Muhammad! وَ إِنَّکَ لَعَلَی خُلُقٍ عَظِیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality]." What is meant is generosity and good character.

Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him): Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him) said to Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him): "O Abu al-Hasan (peace be upon him), I bear witness that you are among those firmly rooted in knowledge." He said: "Woe to you! Why should I not say what I said concerning that personage about whose greatness Allah the Great says: وَ إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظِیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality]."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): What is meant by the verse إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظِیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality] is Islam.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظِیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality] — what is meant by "sublime morality" is the magnificent religion.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظِیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality] — that is faith.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Among the things that adorn Islam is good conduct with people. So maintain good character, fine behaviour and praiseworthy manners, for good character and pleasing conduct adorn you in the eyes of people; when they see that your speech is measured, they will be unable to refute your words. And Allah the Mighty and Majestic has rightly said: إِنَّکَ لَعَلی خُلُقٍ عَظِیمٍ [And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality], and this is the character which is the source of your honour.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): My Lord disciplined me and made my discipline excellent.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Indeed, through his good character the believer attains the rank of one who stands in prayer through the night and fasts through the day.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): On the Day of Resurrection, nothing in the scale of deeds is heavier than good character.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): I enjoin upon you good character, for the one of good character is without doubt in Paradise, and beware of bad character, for the one of bad character is without doubt in Hell.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The most beloved of you to Allah is the one of you with the best character, who places people beside him with utmost gentleness and kindness, who is intimate with people and with whom people are intimate; and the most hated of you to Allah are the tale-bearers, the sowers of division between brothers, who go about seeking out the slips of the pure.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The best of you are those whose character is the finest of all, who receive people with kindness and affection, become intimate with people, console them, and provide the means of their rest.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked, "What is the definition of good character?" He said, "Calmness and speaking well, and that you meet your brother with an open face."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Wash your hands in a single vessel so that your character may become good.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Allah sent down a houri [named Nazla, or Manzala] from Paradise to Adam (peace be upon him), and he married her to one of his sons (Habil) and contracted a marriage between another of his sons (Qabil) and a female jinn [named Jahana], and children were born from them. So whoever among people is beautiful in form and good in character is from that houri, and whoever is bad in character is from that female jinn [whereby goodness or badness has been inherited through procreation and marriages]. And Adam (peace be upon him) disliked marrying his daughters to his sons.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Umm Salama said to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), "May my father and mother be sacrificed for you — a woman whose two husbands have died and both are in Paradise, to which of them will she belong?" He said, "O Umm Salama, she will choose the one whose character was better and whose goodness to his family was greater. Truly, the person of good character has carried away the good of this world and the Hereafter."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): There is nothing better in the scale [of deeds] than good character.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Bahr al-Saqqa said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said to me, "O Bahr! Good character is easy." Then he said, "Would you like me to narrate for you a hadith from one of the people of Medina?" I said, "Yes." He said, "One day, while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was sitting in the mosque, a slave-girl of the Ansar came and took hold of the edge of his garment, and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) stood up for her. But the slave-girl said nothing and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) also said nothing to her. She did this three times, and on the fourth time the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) stood up while the slave-girl was behind him. She took a piece from his garment and returned. The Ansar said to her, 'May Allah do such-and-such to you — three times you detained the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and you said nothing to him and he said nothing to you. What was your need with him?' She said, 'We have a sick person and my family sent me to take a piece of his garment for healing. When I wanted to take it, he saw me and stood up, and I was embarrassed to take it while he was seeing me, and I disliked ordering anyone to take it for me, so I took it myself.'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ishaq ibn Ammar narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: Good character and praiseworthy traits are a divine gift which Allah, the Lord of the worlds, has bestowed upon His servants. It is of two kinds: in some people it is innate, in the form of a natural disposition; in others it is acquired, based on intention and will. Ishaq asked: "Which of the two is superior to the other?" The Imam said: "The innate trait is blended into a person's nature, and its possessor cannot by his nature be characterised by anything else; but the acquired character is obtained through striving and patience, and every praiseworthy trait that is attained through effort and patience is superior to the natural trait."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted lends to His enemies some of the character traits of His friends, so that His friends may live comfortably under their rule; had it not been so, they would have killed all of the awliya (friends of Allah).