Be humble, and Allah will exalt you.

Be humble, and Allah will exalt you.” He (S) also said: “Most of those who go to hell are the arrogant.” He (S) also said: “Indeed, the most beloved of you to me and the nearest of you to my position on the Day of Judgement are the best of you in nature and in humility; and the furthest of you from me are the vainglorious, that is the arrogant.” Imam ‘Ali (a.s.) the Commander of the Faithful said: “The ugliest of vices is arrogance.” He (a.s.) also said: “The most harmful disaster for the intellect is arrogance.” He (a.s.) also said: “Beware of having arrogance; because it is the greatest sin and the basest deficiency; it is also the ornament of Satan.” He (a.s.) also said: “Humility exalts you and arrogance makes you despised.” He (a.s.) advised a governor general he had appointed to rule Egypt as: “Be humble to people, meet them gently and receive them with a cheerful face.” Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (a.s.) said: “It is of humility to be pleased with sitting in a lower place, to greet everybody encountered, to give up contending even when one is truthful, and to be unhappy of people’s praise for one’s piety.” He (a.s.) also said: “Beware of being haughty and arrogant; because arrogance is like a garment for the majesty of Allah.

He who competes with Allah in His majestic garment, Allah will break and disgrace him on the Day of Judgement.” He (a.s.) also said: “Keep on having love for poor Muslims; anyone who despises them and shows arrogance to them, he has slipped away from Allah’s religion; Allah will despise him and send His wrath upon him.” In another saying he (a.s.) listed the practice of arrogance and haughtiness among grave (mortal) sins; the same thing being found in an epistle of Imam ‘Ali al-Rida (a.s.) to the caliph al-Ma’mun.

Imam Musa al-Kazim (a.s.) said: “Humility means that your behaviour to people must be in the same way as you expect of their behaviour.” He (a.s.) also said: “There are degrees for humility. One of them is to understand one’s merits and capabilities, and to use them duly, with a pure heart. A man like this should not behave with people in a manner, which he dislikes for himself.

He will repay bad deeds with good deeds, restrain his anger and pardon men; and Allah loves the doers of good (to others).” Imam ‘Ali al-Rida (a.s.) said: “Anyone who greets a poor Muslim in a manner different from his greeting a rich one, Allah will be wroth with him on the Day of Judgement.” Previous…