Foresight

If the work we are doing is for the sake of seeking the pleasure of God, then it is an act of worship. It is so even though it may be a business or professional venture, the pursuit of knowledge, marriage, service to people, or anything that is meant to meet our needs or that[...]

Worship is an act, which we outwardly consider as a type of humility, but it has deeper profundity. Worship stems from the soul; it springs from gnosis {ma‘rifah}; it emanates from cognition; it originates from piety {taqaddus}; it radiates from adoration; it derives from admiration; it comes from seeking refuge and assistance; and it arises[...]

worship is outwardly a simple act, but if it is other than the above, worship will not be entertained by man. Worship means emptying the heart of material things, letting the spirit fly, and allowing the feet to make steps beyond the seeable and hearable things. Worship guarantees the love of man whose politeness in[...]

Hadrat ‘Ali (‘a) says: قَرَّتْ إِذاً عينه إذا ٱقتَدى بعد السنين المتطاولة بالبهيمة الهاملة و السائمة المرعيّة. “May I get blind if after having passed so many years of my life (and with the possession of all talent, capabilities, facilities, intellect, knowledge, and inspiration), I now turn into an animal in human form!

The roots of conduct have four aspects: conduct with Allah, conduct with the self, conduct with creation (i.e. people), and conduct with this world. Each of these aspects is based upon seven principles, just as there are seven principles of conduct with Allah: giving Him His due, keeping His limits, being thankful for His gift,[...]

Sincerity lies in all distinguished actions: it is a notion that starts with acceptance and ends with Allah's pleasure. Therefore he whose actions Allah accepts and with whom He is content is the sincere one, even if his actions are few. Whoever does not have his actions accepted is not sincere, even if his actions[...]

As the first Imam said, 'Those who act will perish, except for those who worship; those who worship will perish except for those who know; those who know will perish except for those who are truthful; those who are truthful will perish except for those are sincere; those who are sincere will perish except for[...]

Indeed, all sins poison the heart and lead to its illness, disease and destruction. Being in effect as harmful to the heart as actual poisons are to the body, they sicken it and define its will as other than what God wants (of His servant).