Fatal Vices

 

من استطاع أن یمنع نفسه من أربعة اشیاء فهو خلیق بأن لاینزل به مکروهٌ أبداً قیل: وما هنّ یا أمیرالمؤمنین! قال:   العجلة واللجاجة والعُجب والتّوانی

 

 

Rasa News Agency Reports –  One of Imam Ali’s (AS) sermons:

 

Somebody who can avoid doing the following four vices deserves being protected against undesirable things [makruh]. “O Commander of the Faithful, what are those four vices?” people asked. “Impetuousness, obstinacy, egotism and laziness,” He said.

 

(Tohfatul Oqul, p. 222)

 

Anybody – whether ordinary individuals or the officials or those who rule society – who rids himself of these four qualities will never be faced with an unpleasant incident: 1- Impetuousness: making rash or careless decisions or doing something in a careless manner (impetuousness does not include the sense of speed with which something is done). 2- Obstinacy: one of the dangerous and chronic habits is unfair insistence on something just because one had said it or taken a particular position on it and therefore, he is not prepared to back down even if the opposite is proven. 3- Pride and egotism: ignoring one's own faults and weak points and sometimes magnifying one's virtues. 4- Laziness: putting off to tomorrow what has to be done today. Many years of experience led me to the conclusion that this tradition by Imam Ali (AS) is the embodiment of all wisdom and that all the harms that have beset society have been caused by this. May Allah, through our efforts and by His favor, keep these qualities away from us.