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On the Reprehensibility of Arrogance

The Prophet said: 'The tyrants and arrogant people will be gathered in the Day of Resurrection in the form of small ants to be stepped on by the people because of their baseness in the eyes of Almighty God.' 254

He also said: 'He who considers himself to be magnificent and swaggers in his gait will have the wrath of Almighty God upon him when he meets Him.' 255

He also said: 'He who loves men to remain standing in his presence then let him prepare his place in Hellfire.' 256 He also said: 'He who drags his robe in the dust haughtily will not be looked upon by God on the Day of Resurrection.' 257 Once the Apostle of God passed by a group of people who had gathered and made a circle around a man so he said: 'Why have you gathered?

They said: 'O Apostle of God, he is possessed and is having a fit so we have gathered around him.' He said: 'He is not possessed but he is afflicted.' Then he said: 'Shall I tell you who one truly possessed is?' They said: 'Yes, O Apostle of God!'

He said: 'He who swaggers in his gait and looks to his sides and moves his flanks with his shoulders. He hopes that God will give him Paradise but he disobeys Him. None are safe from his evils and none hope for any good from him. That is one possessed and this man is but afflicted.' 258

When he entered the House [the Ka!bah] on the day of the liberation of Mecca he said: 'Almighty God has done away with the pride and arrogance of the Arabs about their forefathers. All of you are from Adam, and Adam is from dust, and the most noble of you in the sight of God is the most pious of you.' 259

He also said addressing AbY Dharr: 'Whoever dies and within his heart there is an atom's weight of arrogance will never experience the aroma of Paradise, except he who repents beforehand.' Then a man said: 'O Apostle of God, I am a great admirer of beauty. So much so that even the emblem of my whip and the straps of my sandals must be fine. Should this be a cause of concern?' He said: 'And how do you find your heart.' He said: 'I find it recognising the truth and content with it.' The Prophet said: 'This then is not arrogance but arrogance is to neglect the truth and to traverse it to something other than the truth, and to look to the people and think that there is no-one whose honour is like yours and whose blood is like yours.' 26

It is related that Im"m Ja!far Sadiq said: 'A poor man came to the Apostle of God when he was with a rich man. The rich man pulled up his robe and recoiled from the poor man. The Apostle of God said to him: 'What made you do what you did? Did you fear that his poverty would adhere to you or that your riches would adhere to him?' The rich man said: 'Now that you have said this then he can have half my wealth.' The Apostle of God said to the poor man: 'Do you accept?' The poor man said: 'No.' He said: 'Why?' The poor man said: 'I fear that I will become what he has become.' 261

Notes:

254. al-ma9ajjah al-bay+"'; vol.6, p.215.

255. tanbih al-kh"waUir wa nuzhah al-naw")ir; vol.1, p.207, 2nd edition.

256. mak"rim al-akhl"q; p.471.

257. ibid.

258. bihar al-anwar; vol.70, chap.130, p.223, 9ad:th 32.

259. ibid. vol.67, chap.56, p.287.

260. mak"rim al-akhl"q; p.471.

261. !uddah al-d"!:; p.114, 5th edition.

Adopted from the book : "The Prophet Muhammad; a Mercy to the World" by : "Ayatullah Muhammad Sadiq al-Shirazi"

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