Sa’di is alluding to the first kind of piousness in his Gulistan when he says...

Sa’di is alluding to the first kind of piousness in his Gulistan when he says: Saw I a sage in the mountains, Happy in a cave, far from the world’s tide.

Said I, “Why not to the city and return, And lighten your heart of this burden?” He said, “The city abounds in tempting beauties, And even elephants slip where mud is thick.” The Nahj al-balaghah speaks of taqwa as a spiritual faculty acquired through exercise and assiduity, which on its emergence produces certain characteristic effects, one of which is the ability to abstain from sins with ease. I guarantee the truth of my words and I am responsible for what I say.

If similar events and experiences of the past serve as a lesson for a person, then taqwa prevents him from plunging recklessly into doubts. (2) Beware that sins are like unruly horses whose reins have been taken away and which plunge with their riders into hell-fire. But taqwa is like a trained steed whose reins are in the hands of its rider and enters with its rider into Paradise.

(3) In this sermon, taqwa is described as a spiritual condition which results in control and command over one’s self. It explains that the result of subjugation to desires and lusts and being devoid of taqwa degrades one’s personality making it vulnerable to the cravings of the carnal self. In such a state, man is like a helpless rider without any power and control, whom his mount takes wherever it desires.

The essence of taqwa lies in possessing a spiritual personality endowed with willpower and possessing mastery over the domain of one’s self. A man with taqwa is like an expert horseman riding a well-trained horse who with complete mastery and control drives his tractable steed in the direction of his choice. Certainly, the taqwa of God assists His awliya (friends) in abstaining from unlawful deeds and instils His fear into their hearts.

As a result, their nights are passed in wakefulness and their days in thirst [on account of fasting]. (4) Here Imam Ali (a) makes it clear that taqwa is something which automatically leads to abstention from unlawful actions and to the fear of God, which is its necessary effect.

Therefore, according to this view, taqwa is neither itself abstinence nor fear of God; rather, it is a sacred spiritual faculty of which these two are only consequences: For indeed, today taqwa is a shield and a safeguard, and tomorrow (i.e. in the Hereafter) it shall be the path to Paradise.