Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'Make do with little rather than disgracing yourself [by begging].’
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): التَّقَلُّلُ ولا التَّذَلُّلُ.
Reference:[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 362]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'Death is preferable over a life of disgrace. Frugal living is preferable over begging from others.’
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): المَنِيَّةُ ولا الدَّنِيَّةُ ، والتَّقَلُّلُ ولا التَوَسُّلُ.
Reference:[Nahjul Balaghah, Saying 396]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said, 'A lifetime of honour can never compensate for an hour of disgrace.’
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): ساعَةُ ذُلٍّ لا تَفِي بِعِزِّ الدَّهرِ.
Reference:[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 5580]
Description: Imam Ali (a.s.) said in one of his intimate supplications, 'O Allah! Let my soul be the first of those precious objects that you will wrest from me, and the first thing to be reclaimed out of all Your bounties held in trust with me.’
Description: Imam al-Husayn (a.s.) said, 'Death with dignity is better than living with disgrace', and articulated the following couplet on the day he was martyred:
‘Death is better than embarking on (a life of) indignity [lit. 'embarking on a bare backed horse' (ed.)]
And indignity is preferable over plunging into the Fire.
قالَ الإمامُ الحسينُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): مَوتٌ في عِزٍّ خَيرٌ مِن حياةٍ في ذُلٍّ . وأنشَأ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) في يَومِ قَتلِهِ: الموتُ خيرٌ من رُكُوبِ العارِ والعارُ أولي من دُخُولِ النارِ واللّهِ ما هذا وهذا جاري .
Reference:’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 44, p. 192, no. 4]
Description: The Prophet (S) said, 'Whoever succumbs to degrading himself is not considered from among us, the ahl al-bayt.
Description: Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) said, 'Verily Allah, Blessed and most High, has placed everything at the disposal of the believer except that which brings disgrace upon him.’
Description: Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) said, 'A believer must never disgrace himself.’ When asked by someone how this disgrace comes about, he replied, 'By going out of his way to obtain that which is beyond his control, he ends up disgracing himself.’
عن داوود الرَّقّي: سمعتُ أبا عبدِاللّهِ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) يقولُ: لا يَنبَغي للمؤمنِ أن يُذِلَّ نفسَهُ ، قيلَ لَهُ: وكيفَ يُذِلُّ نَفسَهُ ؟ قالَ: يَتَعَرَّضُ لِما لايُطيقُ فَيُذِلُّها.
Reference:[Mishkat al-Anwar, no. 245]
Description: The Prophet (S) said, 'When people are miserly with their dinars and their dirhams [i.e. their wealth] and conclude bargains only upon sampling, and are too busy running after their livestock, and abandon fighting in the way of Allah (jihad), Allah brings down such disgrace upon them that can never be revoked until they turn back to their religion.’
Description: Someone once came to one of the Imams (a.s.) complaining about a man who was wronging him. The Imam (a.s.) replied, 'Be patient with him.’ The man retorted, 'But people are taking me for a disgraced fool.’ The Imam replied, 'The disgraced one is actually the one who wrongs others.
وفي نَقلٍ: شَكا إلي أبي عَبدِ اللّهِ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) رجُلٌ جارَهُ فَقالَ: اِصبِرْ عَليهِ، فقالَ: يَنسُبُنِي الناسُ إلي الذُّلِّ، فقالَ: إنّما الذليلُ مَن ظَلَمَ.
Reference:’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 46, p. 205, no. 78]