If you wish to sever relations with your brother...
If you wish to sever relations with your brother, leave some room for him to return to your friendship if he wishes to someday. If one has a good opinion of you, confirm his opinion of you. Never neglect your brother’s right by relying on the friendship that is between you and him, because one whose rights you neglect is not your brother. Do not let your family be the most wretched of people because of you. Do not desire (the friendship of) one who shuns you.
Your brother should not be more powerful in severing relations with you than you are in establishing relations with him, and he should not be stronger in ill-treatment of you than you are in doing good to him. Do not consider as great the wrong-doing of one who wrongs you because he is harming himself and benefiting you. The reward of one who makes you happy is not that you should offend him” .
Commentary Imam ‘Ali (as), in this letter, mentions some of the delicate tasks of a man towards his friend. We will refer to some of these points below: The Role Of Friendship And The Tasks Imposed By It Although some of these points have already been dealt with sporadically in this book, a compact summary of them is in order here. As we know, a man needs a genuine friend and companion for the following reasons: 1. Man is a sociable creature by nature.
He may not carry on living without a companion. Thus, Raghib, under the item "insan" (man) writes: "Man is called (man) because he is created in such a way that he can not continue his life without others. Thus, it is said that man is sociable by nature. This is because he may not solve his problems without others’ cooperation"[^1] 2. One of the ways a man’s personality takes form is his association with his fellow-creatures.
This is because, due to his trait of forming habits, he learns from others. It is said, "المَرءُ عَلى دِينِ خَلِيله وقَرِينه"702 "A person follows the religion of his intimate friend and companion”. 3. A man has needs which he can not satisfy single-handedly. A friend can help him out of his difficulties.