Imām ‛Alī (a) said...

Imām ‛Alī (a) said: “I struggle against myself so that I will be safe on the Day of Judgment.”[^4] The First Step In Purifying One’s Self Is Thought Purification will not happen without struggle. The biggest part of the road to purification is thought and action. I will briefly explain this. The biggest step, as mentioned in the Holy Qurān, is thought. The Qurān has ordered us in different verses to ponder upon different subjects.

One must think about where he came from, where he is and where he's going and why. Thinking About One’s Creation First, we were all drops of water, and then Allah ordered us to be created.[^5] One would understand many things if he ponders upon this. One can understand the glory of his body and the amazing relations between the different parts of the body. Allah created different parts of the body from this one drop of water. For example, one's eyes, ears, liver and heart.

The liver does many things. Blood is always traveling through our veins. This is one thought where one can understand Allah as well as the fact that one is a servant of His. Allah's strength is unlimited; He is able to do all things. This thought is part of our fundamental beliefs. Standing Up Against False Ideas Everybody was a drop of sperm that did not have any knowledge or ability. There was no 'I'. If it was left that way, even for a hundred years, we would not have come into existence.

The Question comes up, what is this 'I'? The thought that one has power which comes from seeing one's existence, one's eyes, ears, tongue and so forth, must be corrected. One must understand that this power belongs to someone else; the one who created this body and allowed it to move. One stops saying 'I' when he understands this reality. One would no longer consider himself better than others, take pride in his self or seek popularity when he understands this reality.

The beginning and end of two people are the same. Between the two ends, no one is able to help or hurt his own self.[^6] Who is able to stop old age? One who sees power in himself forgets his beginning and his end. He is the one who says 'I'. Humility, Only For Allah One should not be humble in front of anyone except Allah. One should only prostrate in front of Allah. Everybody is a servant of Allah and needs Allah to the same degree.

The Qurān says that man needs Allah but Allah does not need anyone.[^7] No group of people is better than another; the only thing that makes somebody better is piety.