16ـ مَنْ قَبَضَ يَدَهُ مَخافَةَ الفَقْرِ فَقَدْ تَعَجَّلَ الفَقْرَ.

16ـ مَنْ قَبَضَ يَدَهُ مَخافَةَ الفَقْرِ فَقَدْ تَعَجَّلَ الفَقْرَ. One who is stingy with his wealth is abased. 17ـ مَنْ بَخِلَ بِمالِهِ ذَلَّ. One who is miserly with that which he does not [even] possess, has exceeded in meanness. 18ـ مَنْ بَخِلَ بِما لا يَمْلِكُهُ فَقَدْ بالَغَ فيِ الرَّذيلَةِ (بالرَّذيلة). One who withholds his hand from [spending on] his family has only held back one hand from them but caused many hands to be withheld by them [against him].

19ـ مَنْ يَقْبِضْ يَدَهُ عَنْ عَشيرَتِهِ، فَإنَّما يَقْبِضُ يَداً واحِداً عَنْهُمْ، ويَقْبِضُ عَنْهُ أيْديَ كَثيرَةً مِنْهُمْ. One who is stingy with his wealth towards himself, is generous with it to his wife’s [next] husband. 20ـ مَنْ بَخِلَ بِمالِهِ على نَفْسِهِ جادَ بِهِ على بَعْلِ عِرْسِهِ. He who is stingy to the one who needs what he possesses, Allah’s wrath upon him increases. 21ـ مَنْ بَخِلَ علَى المُحْتاجِ بِما لَدَيْهِ كَثُرَ سَخَطُ اللّهِ علَيْهِ.

He who is stingy with his favours has not fastened his faith [and made it firm]. 22ـ ما عَقَدَ إيمانَهُ مَنْ بَخِـلَ بإحْسانِهِ. He who is stingy with his favours is not intelligent. 23ـ ما عَقَلَ مَنْ بَخِلَ بِإحسانِهِ. While passing by some filth in a cesspit, he (‘a) said: This is what you were competing for yesterday. And in another narration, he said: This is what the misers were stingy with.

24ـ وقال ـ عليه السّلام ـ: وَقَدْ مَرَّ بِقَذِر عَلى مَزْبَلَة: هذا ما كُنْتُمْ (عَلَيْهِ بالأمْسِ تَتَنافَسُونَ) تَتَنافَسُونَ فيهِ بِالأمْسِ وفي خبر آخر أنَّهُ قال: هذا ما بَخِلَ بِهِ الباخِلُونَ. Woe to the miser who hastens towards the poverty which has fled from him and abandons the wealth that has sought him. 25ـ وَيْحَ البَخيلِ المُتَعَجِّلِ الفَقْرَ الَّذي مِنهُ هَرَبَ، والتَّارِكِ الغِنَى الَّذي إيَّاهُ طَلَبَ.

Do not be stingy by acting tightfistedly; and do not waste by acting extravagantly. 26ـ لاتَبْخَلْ فَتُقَتِّـرَ ولا تُسْرِفْ فَتُفْرِطَ. There is no magnanimity in a miser. 27ـ لامُرُوَّةَ لِبَخيل. Nothing holds back wealth except stinginess, and a miser is blameworthy and liable for punishment. 28ـ لايُبْقِى المالَ إلاَّ البُخْلُ، والبَخيلُ مُعاقَبٌ مَلُومٌ. A miser is rebuked in this world, and punished and chastised in the Hereafter.

29ـ اَلباخِلُ فيِ الدُّنيا مَذْمُومٌ، وفيِ الآخِرَةِ مُعَذَّبٌ مَلُومٌ. Previous…