“May God have mercy upon the servant who is chaste...
“May God have mercy upon the servant who is chaste, and abstains (from what is unlawful), and refrains from asking, for it hastens baseness in this world, and people will not benefit from it at all.” ^5 Maintaining Human Nobility In his will, the Commander of the Faithful gave the following advice to Imam Hasan regarding human nobility, and the loss of one’s honor and respect due to begging: وَأكْرِم نَفْسَكَ عَن كُلّ دَنِيَّةٍ وإنْ ساقَتْكَ إلى الرّغائِبِ فإنّكَ لنْ تَعتاضَ بمَا تَبذُلُ مِن نَفْسِكَ عِوَضاً ولا تَكُن عَبْدَ غَيرِكَ وَقَد جَعلَكَ اللهُ حُرّاً.
“O my son! Honor yourself and do not debase yourself even if it will help you reach your goal. You can never get back the equivalent of your lost honor if you do so. Do not be a servant of others, since God has created you to be free.” ^6 In another part of the will we read: وَإنِ اسْتَطَعتَ أنْ لا يَكونَ بَينَكَ وَبَينَ اللهِ ذو نِعمَةٍ فافْعلْ، فإنَّكَ مُدرِكٌ قِسَمَكَ وَآخِذٌ سَهمَكَ وإنَّ اليَسيرَ مِن اللهِ سُبحانَهُ أعظَمُ وَأكْرَمُ مِن الكَثيرِ مِن خَلقِهِ وإنْ كانَ كُلٌّ مِنهُ.
“Try not to establish anyone between you and your God - who is the owner of the blessings. You will only get your share of the daily bread. Although all the blessings which are directed to you come from Him, a little bit received directly from God is loftier and more respectful than a lot received from His servants.” [^7] We can see that the Imam advises his son not to humiliate himself since God is the Nourisher of all.
Therefore, we should not beg since this will result in the loss of our honor. He also said: السّؤالُ يُضعِفُ لِسانَ المُتَكَلِّمِ وَيُكَسِّرُ قَلبَ الشُّجاعِ البَطلِ ويُوقِفُ الحُرَّ العَزيزَ مَوقِفَ العَبْدِ الذّليلِ وَيُذهِبُ بهَاءَ الوجْهِ ويمْحَقُ الرّزقَ. “Begging will weaken the speaker’s tongue; it will break the heart of the brave, and place a free and powerful person in the position of a lowly slave.
It will result in the loss of his honor and destroy his sustenance.” [^8] Avoid the Humiliation of Begging Imam Sajjad said: طَلَبُ الحَوائِجِ إلى النّاسِ مَذَلَّةٌ لِلحَياةِ وَمَذْهَبَةٌ لِلحَياءِ واسْتِخفافٌ بِالوَقارِ وَهُو الفَقْرُ الحاضِرُ.
“Seeking one’s needs from people is humiliation in this life a cause of becoming bereft of shame and taking one’s honor lightly, and it is present poverty.” [^9] The Imam Sadiq said: طَلَبُ الحَوائِجِ إلى النّاسِ استِلابٌ لِلعِزّةِ وَمُذهِبَةٌ لِلحَياءِ، واليَأسُ ممّا في أيْدِي النّاسِ عِزٌّ لِلمُؤمِنِ في دِينهِ، والطَّمَعُ هو الفَقْرُ الحاضِرُ.
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