Eternal Words Nahj al-Balaghah Letters letter71 - To Mundhir ibn Jarad al-`Abdi Who, in His Administrative Charge, Had Misappropriated Certain Things
letter71 - To Mundhir ibn Jarad al-`Abdi Who, in His Administrative Charge, Had Misappropriated Certain Things
- Details
- Hits: 2073
The good behavior of your father deceived me about you, and I thought that you would follow his way and tread on his path. But according to what has reached me about you, you are not giving up following your own inclinations and are not retaining any provision for the next world. You are making this world by ruining your next life and doing good to your kinsmen by cutting yourself off from religion.
If what has reached me about you is correct, then the camel of your family and the strap of your shoe are better than your own self. A man with qualities like yours is not fit to close a hole in the ground, nor for performing any deed, nor for increasing his status, nor for taking him as a partner in any trust, nor for trusting him against misappropriation. Therefore, proceed to me as soon as this letter reaches you if Allah so wills.
Sayyid ar-Razi says the following: “Mundhir ibn Jarad al-`Abdi is the one about whom Imam Ali ibn Aba Talib (p.b.u.h.) said the following: ‘He looks very often at his own shoulders, feeling proud of his garments (appearance) and usually blowing away (dust) from his shoes.’”
