The branches of listening to the advice are the increasing of the reason...

The branches of listening to the advice are the increasing of the reason, perfection of the mind, good results, salvation from meanness, consent, cordiality, ease, fairness, advancement in the affairs, and the ability of obeying God. Blessed are those who save themselves from the traps of fancies. These were the branches of the intellect. Shimon said: Tell me about the marks of the ignorant.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) replied: The ignorant is that who hurts you when you accompany him, reviles at you if you leave him, binds you with his favors if he gives you something and shows ingratitude if he is given something, betrays if you tell him a secret, and accuses you (of divulging his secrets) if he tells you a secret.

He becomes ungrateful, coarse, and rude if he is rich, denies God's graces openly if he is poor, exceeds the limits if he is happy, despairs if he is sad, guffaws if he laughs, and lows if he weeps. The ignorant reviles at the pious ones. He neither loves nor regards God. He is neither ashamed of God nor does he remember Him. He will praise you excessively if you please him; otherwise he will cancel the praising and accuse you of things that you do not have. This is the habit of the ignorant.

Shimon asked: What about the mark of Islam? The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) answered: The marks of Islam are faith, knowledge, and work. Shimon asked: What are the marks of faith, knowledge, and work? The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) replied: The marks of faith are four: they are the declaration of God's oneness, believing in Him, believing in His Books, and believing in His apostles.

The marks of knowledge are four: they are having knowledge of God, having knowledge of His disciples, having knowledge of the duties, and keeping on performing them. The marks of work are the prayer, the fasting, the almsgiving, and the sincerity.

Shimon asked: What about the marks of the honest, the faithful believer, the patient, the repentant, the thankful, the submissive, the virtuous, the adviser, the certain, the sincere, the abstinent, the pious, the God-fearing, the hurtful, the unjust, the ostentatious, the hypocrite, the envious, the spendthrift, the inadvertent, the traitor, the indolent, the liar, and the dissolute?