Description: The Prophet (S) said, 'People cannot worship Allah with anything better than asceticism from worldly pleasures.
رسولُ اللّٰهِِ (صَلَّيَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): ما تَعَبَّدُوا للّهِِ بشَيءٍ مِثلِ الزُّهدِ في الدنيا.
Reference:’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 70, p. 322]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'Asceticism is the distinguishing characteristic of Godwary people and the natural disposition of those who turn to Allah.
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'Verily among the qualities that greatly develop one’s faith is abstention from worldly pleasures.’
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): إنَّ مِن أعوَنِ الأخلاقِ علي الدِّينِ الزُّهدَ في الدنيا.
Reference:[al-Kafi, v. 2, p. 128, no. 3]
Description: Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) said, 'In one of His conversations with Prophet Moses (a.s.), Allah told him the following, '…those who seek to adorn themselves [for Me] have no better apparel than abstention from the worldly pleasures that they find indispensable.
الإمامُ الباقرُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): كانَ فيما ناجَي اللّهُ به موسي (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): ... ما تَزَيَّنَ لي المُتَزَيِّنُونَ بمِثلِ الزُّهدِ في الدنيا عَمّا بِهِمُ الغِني عنه.
Reference:’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 13, p. 349, no. 37]
Description: Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) said, 'All goodness has been placed in one house, and its key is asceticism and restraint from worldly pleasures.’
لإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): جُعِلَ الخَيرُ كُلُّهُ في بَيتٍ ، وجُعِلَ مِفتاحُهُ الزُّهدَ في الدنيا .
Reference:[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 49, no. 20]
Description: The Prophet (S) said, ‘Asceticism from worldly pleasures means to cut short one’s hopes of this world, to be grateful for every single bounty, to have piety and to keep away from all that which Allah has prohibited.’
رسولُ اللّٰهِِ (صَلَّيَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): الزُّهدُ في الدنيا قَصرُالأمَلِ ، وشُكرُ كُلِّ نِعمَةٍ ، والوَرَعُ عن كُلِّ ما حَرَّمَ اللّهُ.
Reference:[Tuhaf al-’Uqul, no. 58]
Description: The Prophet (S) said, 'Asceticism is not to prohibit oneself that which is allowed. Rather it is to find that which is with Allah more secure than that which is in one's own possession.
الإمامُ عليٌّ (صَلَّيَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): الزُّهدُ لَيسَ بتَحريمِ الحَلالِ ، ولكنْ أن يكونَ بما في يَدَيِ اللّهِ أوثَقَ مِنهُ بما في يَدَيهِ.
Reference:’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 172, no. 8]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'Asceticism is summed up between two phrases in the Qur’an, where Allah, most High, says, "So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you.” [Qur’an 57:23] Therefore, one who neither grieves about past losses nor is overjoyed about the possessions he is granted has perfected his asceticism from both sides.
Reference:’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 70, p. 317, no. 23]
Description: Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) said, 'Asceticism is the key to the door of the Hereafter and immunity from the Fire, and it is to abandon all those things that preoccupy you from Allah, neither experiencing regret upon their loss, nor self-admiration for having abandoned them, nor awaiting deliverance from them, nor seeking praise on account of them, and nor anything else in exchange for them. Rather you see their loss as a source of comfort and their presence as a source of misfortune, such that you consistently run away from misfortune and seek refuge in comfort.’
الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): الزُّهدُ مِفتاحُ بابِ الآخِرَةِ ، والبَراءةِ مِنَ النارِ ، وهُو تَركُكَ كُلَّ شيءٍ يَشغَلُكَ عنِ اللّهِ ، مِن غَيرِ تَأسُّفٍ علي فَوتِها ، ولا إعجابٍ في تَركِها ، ولا انتِظارِ فَرَجٍ مِنها ، ولا طَلَبِ مَحمَدَةٍ علَيها ، ولا عِوَضٍ مِنها ، بل تَري فَوتَها راحَةً وكَونَها آفَةً ، وتكونُ أبدا هارِبا مِنَ الآفَةِ ، مُعتَصِما بِالرّاحَةِ.
Reference:[Bihar al-Anwar, p. 315, no. 20]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'The one who practices asceticism from worldly pleasures is such that he neither allows the prohibited things to overcome his perseverance [in the way of Allah], nor the permissible things to distract him from gratefulness to Allah
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): الزاهدُ في الدنيا مَن لَم يَغلِبِ الحَرامُ صَبرَهُ ، ولَم يَشغَلِ الحَلالُ شُكرَهُ .
Reference:.’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 37, no. 3]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'Those who restrain themselves from worldly pleasures are such that their hearts are weeping though outwardly they may laugh, they experience great sorrow though they display joy, and they are filled with self-contempt though they rejoice at all that they have been bestowed.’
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): إنّ الزاهِدينَ في الدنيا تَبكِي قلُوبُهُم وإن ضَحِكُوا ، ويَشتَدُّ حُزنُهُم وإن فَرِحُوا ، ويَكثُرُ مَقتُهُم أنفُسَهُم ، وإنِ اغتَبَطُوا بما رُزِقُوا .
Reference:[Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 113]
Description: Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.), when asked to define the ascetic, said, 'The ascetic is the one who renounces the permissible things in this world for fear of having to account for them, and renounces the forbidden things of this world for fear of punishment for them.’
الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ـ لمّا سُئلَ عن الزاهِدِ في الدنيا ـ: الذي يَترُكُ حَلالَها مخافَةَ حِسابِهِ ، ويَترُكُ حَرامَها مَخافَةَ عَذابِهِ
Reference:[‘Auyoun Akhbar al-Ridha (a.s.), v. 2, p. 52, no. 199]
Description: Imam Ar-Ridha’ (a.s.), when asked about the qualities of the ascetic, replied, 'He manages to still his hunger without pursuit of food, he is well-prepared for his death, and weary of his life in this world.’
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'How can one renounce the pleasures of this world when he has not yet fathomed the worth of the Hereafter?!
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): كيفَ يَزهَدُ في الدنيا مَن لا يَعرِفُ قَدرَ الآخِرَةِ؟!
Reference:’[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 6987]
Description: Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) said, 'Remember death frequently, for no sooner does man increase his remembrance of death than he begins to renounce this world's life.’
Description: Imam al-Kazim (a.s.) once said while standing at a graveside, ‘Indeed something that ends with this [i.e. death] is worthy of its beginning being spent in abstemiousness. And indeed something that begins with this is worthy of its end being feared with apprehension.
الإمامُ الكاظمُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ـ عند قبرٍ حَضَرَهُ ـ: إنَّ شيئاً هذا آخِرُهُ لَحَقِيقٌ أن يُزهَدَ في أوَّلِهِ، وإنَّ شيئاً هذا أوَّلُهُ لَحَقِيقٌ أن يُخافَ آخِرُهُ.
Reference:’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 320, no. 9]
Description: Imam al-’Aaskari (a.s.) said, 'If the inhabitants of this world used their intellect, the world would self-destruct [for it would cease to be of any importance].’
الإمامُ العسكريُّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): لَو عَقَلَ أهلُ الدنيا خَرِبَتْ .
Reference:[Bihar al-Anwar, p. 377, no. 3]
Description: The Prophet (S) said, 'Abstaining from the vain pleasures of this world puts the heart and the body at rest, whereas longing for them exhausts the heart and the body.’
رسولُ اللّٰهِِ (صَلَّيَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): الزُّهدُ في الدنيا يُرِيحُ القَلبَ والبَدَنَ ، والرَّغبَةُ فيها تُتعِبُ القَلبَ والبَدَنَ .
Reference:[Kanz al-’Ummal, no. 6060]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'He who renounces this worldly life, neither concerning himself with its baseness nor vying for its glory, Allah rewards him with a gift that is unobtainable through any of His creatures, grants him knowledge without the need for learning, secures wisdom in his heart and makes it flow upon his tongue.’
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): مَن زَهِدَ في الدنيا ، ولم يَجزَعْ مِن ذُلِّها ، ولَم يُنافِسْ في عِزِّها ، هَداهُ اللّهُ بغَيرِ هِدايَةٍ مِن مَخلوقٍ ، وعَلَّمَهُ بغَيرِ تَعلِيمٍ، وأثبَتَ الحِكمَةَ في صَدرِهِ وأجراها علي لِسانِهِ .
Reference:[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 63, no. 155]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'Abstain from the vain pleasures of this world and divine mercy will descend upon you.
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): اِزهَدْ في الدنيا تَنزِلْ علَيكَ الرَّحمَةُ .
Reference:’[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2275]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'Abstaining from the vain pleasures of this world is the greatest source of comfort.’
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): الزهدُ في الدنيا الراحَةُ العُظمي.
Reference:[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1316]
Description: Imam Zayn al-Abidin (a.s.) said, 'He who renounces the world's vain pleasures finds its afflictions trivial and is not bothered by them as a result.’
الإمامُ زينُ العابدينَ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): مَن زَهِدَ في الدنيا هانَتْ علَيهِ مَصائبُها ولم يَكرَهْها.
Reference:[Tuhaf al-’Uqul, no. 281]
Description: Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) said, 'It is forbidden for your hearts that they should taste the sweetness of faith until and unless they abstain from the pleasures of this world.’
الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): حَرامٌ علي قُلوبِكُم أن تَعرِفَ حَلاوَةَ الإيمانِ حتّي تَزهَدَ في الدنيا.
Reference:[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 63, no. 155]
Description:
The Prophet (S) said, 'The most abstemious of people is he who renounces the prohibited things.