Such proud persons build grand mansions for themselves...

Such proud persons build grand mansions for themselves, wear expensive raiment and ride on pedigree steeds to make a show of their wealth to the people. They will have a fleet of slaves and servants hovereing around them. All these things are the concomitants of the pride of the person. Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (as) has said that the man of false pride is one who has no knowledge of the truth and belittles and looks down upon the men of truth. One person asked the Imam (as), “Ya Imam!

I live in a decent house, eat good food, I use a horse for my traveling and a slave accompanies me on my visits out. Are all these the signs of pride?” The Imam (as) asked him, “Are you doing all this to show-off to the people?” “Definitely not!” The man replied. The Imam (as) rejoined, “Then it is not pride! Pride is that which makes one forget the truth and makes him belittle the truthful ones.

If a person has this pride to the extent of the size of a sesame seed, he will not be able to enter the precincts of the Heaven!” The Prophet of Allah (S) once passed through a place where lots of people were gathered. He enquired why such a large assemblage of people had gathered there. He was told that a mad person lived in the neighborhood and people have come out of curiosity to see him. The Prophet (S) said: He is neither mad nor deranged. The person is sick.

In fact, mad are those people who think that others are abnormal and make a curiosity out of them. Making a jest of such sick persons, they are ridiculing God’s will!

In another tradition the Prophet of Allah (S) says, “When my Ummat walks in misplaced pride, and walks with a proud gait with the slaves from Persia and Rome in attendance, then there will appear war and fighting amongst them.” Then the Prophet (S) added, “The fragrance of the Heaven will travel to a distance equal to the length traveled in one thousand years, but those who are disobedient to their parents, who deny others’ rights, who are adulterers, who have their coat tails trailing behind them in pride, who harm others with cunning, who brag about small mercies shown to others and who are victims of avarice will not be able to smell.” In another tradition the Prophet of Allah (S) says, “One who has constructed grand mansions more than necessary for his use, just to make the show of his riches to others, Allah will convert these mansions as a fiery ring and tie to the neck of the proud person.