Ali ibn Abi Talib Quotes

The world is darkness; knowledge is light; but knowledge without truth is a mere shadow.

The disease of the heart is worse than the disease of the body.

Let me alone, and go in search of someone else.

The days of life pass away like clouds, so do good while you are alive.

Greed takes a person to the watering place but gets him back without letting him drink. It undertakes responsibility but does not fulfill it. Often the drinker gets choked before quenching his thirst. The greater the worth of a thing yearned for, the greater is the grief for its loss. Desires blind the eyes of understanding. The destined share would reach him who does not approach it.

Man comes from a drop of semen and leaves as a piece of dust. He doesn't know when he came and he doesn't know when he's leaving, yet he walks on the earth thinking he knows everything.

Like your body your mind also gets tired so refresh it by wise sayings.

Poverty is the worst form of death.

A person of riyaa (showing off) has three characteristics : He is lazy when alone, energetic when with others, and increases in his actions when he is praised while decreasing in them when he is criticized.

Be afraid of a dignified man when he is hungry and a wicked man when his belly is full.

Never explain yourself to anyone, because the one who likes you would not need it, and the one dislikes you wouldn't believe it.

Blessed is he whose own faults keep him from seeing the faults of others.

Patience to faith is like the head to the body. The person who has no patience has not faith.

You should desire for others what you desire for yourself, and hate for others what you hate for yourself. Do not oppress, just as you do not like to be oppressed. Do good to others just as you would like good to be done to you. Dislike in yourself what you dislike in others. Accept that treatment from others which you would like others to accept from you. Do not say to others what you do not like to be said to you.

To maintain nice relation with the people is half of intelligence, nice questioning is half of knowledge, and nice domestic arrangements is half of the management of livelihood.

A True friend is one who sees a fault, gives you advice and who defends you in your absence.

Either you are just or unjust. If you are just, then you will not keep aloof from the people, but will listen to them and meet their requirements. But if you are unjust, the people themselves will keep away from you.

Not every man with a heart is understanding, nor every man with an ear a listener, and nor every man with eyes able to see.

"The best form of devotion to the service of Allah is not to make a show of it."

Vanity prevents improvement

I will be patient till even patience tires of my patience.

Many a spoken word is more piercing than an attack.

A man's behavior is the index of the man, and his discourse is the index of his understanding.

Wealth tends to create enemies, whereas knowledge tends to warm hearts.

People's hearts are like wild animals. They attach their selves to those that love and train them.

A man is hid under his tongue.

Patience is of two kinds: patience over what pains you, and patience against what you covet.

The wiser a man is, the less talkative will he be.

Do for this life as if you live forever, do for the afterlife as if you will die tomorrow.

Often your utterances and expressions of your face leak out the secrets of your hidden thoughts.

Allah's Generosity is connected to gratitude, and gratitude is linked to increase in His generosity. The generosity of Allah will not stop increasing unless the gratitude of the servant ceases

Knowledge is of two kinds: that which is absorbed and that which is heard. And that which is heard does not profit if it is not absorbed.

If you find that somebody is not grateful for all that you have done for him, then do not get disappointed because often you will find that someone else feels under your obligation though you have done nothing for him and thus your good deeds will be compensated, and Allah will reward you for your goodness.

There is no rest for the person who has envy, and there is no love for the person who has bad manners.

Be a good man to Allah and a bad man to yourself (desires); and be one of the commoners among the people

Know thyself, and thou shalt know God.

He who busies himself with things other than improvement of his own self becomes perplexed in darkness and entangled in ruin. His evil spirits immerse him deep in vices and make his bad actions seem handsome.

The relation of patience to iman is like the relation of the head to the body. If the head is chopped off, the body becomes useless. Then he raised his voice and said: Certainly, the one who has no patience has no iman, and patience is like a riding-beast that nevers gets tired

Asceticism is not that you should not own anything, but that nothing should own you.

The best deed of a great man is to forgive and forget.

No wealth like education and no poverty like ignorance

Hate no one, no matter how much they've wronged you. Live humbly, no matter how wealthy you become. Think positively, no matter how hard life is. Give much, even if you've been given little. Keep in touch with the ones who have forgotten you, and forgive who has wronged you, and do not stop praying for the best for those you love.

Do not share the knowledge with which you have been blessed with everyone in general, as you do with some people in particular; and know that there are some men in whom Allah, may He he glorified, has placed hidden secrets, which they are forbidden to reveal.

When proven wrong, the wise man will correct himself and the ignorant will keep arguing.

Two things cause people to be destroyed: fear of poverty and seeking superiority through pride.

He who trusts the world, the world betrays him.

Oh writer! An Angel watches over all you write. Make your writing meaningful for it will eventually return to you and you will be questioned about what you wrote.

Silence is the garden of thought.