ভূমিকা
Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Self Building The Characteristics of Pious (Sermon of Hammam) In order to appreciate the attributes of piety and to understand its profundities in detail, let us quote here the famous sermon of Hammam from the Nahjul-Balagha explaining the qualities of pious and God-fearing persons.
In this sermon the Commander of the Faithful Imam ‘Ali (a.s.) has explained what piety really means and what sort of human beings pious people are, describing the graphic details of their ways of living, thinking, praying, and dealing with other men. Hammam was one of the companions of Imam ‘Ali (a.s.), a very pious and God fearing man. He once asked Imam to explain at length the qualities of pious person.
He pressed so much and others joined him and seconded his request that Imam reluctantly delivered the following sermon. After praising the Lord and praying Him to bless the Holy Prophet (a.s.) Imam thus, continued the sermon as follows: “When God created mankind He was not in need of their obedience and prayers, neither was He nervous of their disobedience. Because, disobedience or insubordination of men cannot harm Him, similar obedience of obedient people cannot do Him any good.
He is beyond the reach of harm and benefit. After creating man He decided for him the variety of food which his body could absorb and assimilate, and the places which were congenial for him to live and to propagate.
Among these human beings excellent are those who are pious and who fear God.” “They possess pre-eminence and excellence because they always speak truthfully, rightly and to the point, their way of living is based upon moderation, and their mode of dealing with other men is founded on their good will, fellow feeling and courtesy towards them. They deny themselves the things prohibited by God. They concentrate their minds upon knowledge of things which will bring them eternal bliss.
They bear hardships and sufferings as happily as they enjoy comforts and pleasures.