Amir al-mu'minin cast an angry look at him and said to him...

Amir al-mu'minin cast an angry look at him and said to him: روي أنّ شريح بن الحارث قاضي أميرالمؤمنين(عليه السلام) اشترى على عهده داراً بثمانين ديناراً، فبلغه (عليه السلام) ذلك، فاستدعى شريحاً، وقال له: بَلَغَنِي أَنَّكَ ابْتَعْتَ دَاراً بِثَمانِينَ دِينَاراً، وَكَتَبْتَ لَهَا كِتَاباً، وَأَشْهَدْتَ فِيهِ شُهُوداً. فقال شريح: قد كان ذلك يا أميرالمؤمنين.

قال: فنظر إليه(عليه السلام) نظر مغضب ثمّ قال له: O Shurayh, beware, shortly one body (the angel of death) will come to you who will not look at the document, nor question you about your evidence but take you out of it far away and deposit you in your grave quite alone. Look! O Shurayh, if you have purchased this, house from money other than yours or paid the price from unlawful source, you have incurred loss of this world as well as of the next.

If you had come to me at the time of purchase I would have written for you a document on this paper and then you would not have liked to purchase the house even for one Dirham, not to speak of more. That document is this:- يَا شُرَيْحُ، أَمَا إِنَّهُ سَيَأْتِيكَ مَنْ لاَ يَنْظُرُ فِي كِتَابِكَ، وَلاَ يَسْأَلُكَ عَنْ بَيِّنَتِكَ، حَتَّى يُخْرِجَكَ مِنْهَا شَاخِصاً، وَيُسْلِمَكَ إلَى قَبْرِكَ خَالِصاً.

فَانْظُرْ يَا شُرَيْحُ لاَ تَكُونُ ابْتَعْتَ هذِهِ الدَّارَ مِنْ غَيْرِ مَالِكَ، أَوْ نَقَدْتَ الَّثمَنَ مِنْ غَيْرِ حَلاَلِكَ! فَإِذَا أَنْتَ قدْ خَسِرْتَ دَارَ الدُّنْيَا وَدَارَ الاْخِرَةِ! أَمَا إِنَّكَ لَوْ كُنْتَ أَتَيْتَنِي عِنْدَ شِرَائِكَ مَا اشْتَرَيْتَ لَكَتَبْتُ لَكَ كِتاباً عَلَى هذِهِ النُّسْخَةِ، فَلَمْ تَرْغَبْ فِي شِرَاءِ هذِهِ الدَّارِ بِدِرْهَم فَمَا فَوْقُ.

والنسخة هذه: This is about a purchase made by a humble slave (of Allah) from another slave ready to depart (for the next world). He has purchased a house out of houses of deceit in the area of mortals and the place of those liable to perish.

This house has four boundaries as follows: The first boundary is contiguous to sources of calamities; the second boundary adjoins the sources of distress; the third boundary adjoins devastating desire; and the fourth boundary adjoins deceitful Satan and towards this opens the door of this house.

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