The importance of Intelligence in Shia narrations – 4
“In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful”
The importance of Intelligence in Shia narrations – 4
H 4, Ch. 1, h 4
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from ibn Faddal from al-Hassan ibn al-Jahm who has said the following.
“I heard (Imam) al-Riza (A) saying, “The friend of a person is his/her Intelligence, and the enemy of a person is his/her ignorance”[1].
It means that everyone’s friend is his intellect and his enemy is his ignorance. In Arabic, we have several words for “friend”: Habib, Shafiq, Rafiq, Siddique, Khalil, and many others. But what are the differences between them, or do they all have the same meaning? No. But each one is different because the Arabic language is very eloquent.
“Habib”[2]: The friendship and relationship based on love and affection called: “Habib”. This is my “Habib”, which means I love him.
“Rafiq”[3]: When two people are Rafiq, they are friends and tolerate each other. If he tells him something, he says: “Okay, no problem.” If he asks him to borrow money, he will give it to him. And these become “Rafiq”.
“Shafiq”[4]: They are two friends who sympathize with each other and run to seek treatment if they fall ill. He runs to pay off his debt and is sad if he doesn’t get enough money.
“Shaqiq”[5]: It is the friend who says that this person is part of me. Because “Shaqiq” means partitioning, it means that they are a part of me; it is so close to me.
“Saddiq”[6]: Those two friends who are very honest with each other, do not hide anything from each other, and do not lie to their friends. “Sadiq” friends are very few. A sincere friend is very rare to find.
Of course, as I said, there are many names for a friend in Arabic, “Samim” and “Khalil” which also means friend. Imam says the “Siddiq” of each person is “Aql” (Intelligence). The intellect is your best honest friend. It is honest; he does not lie. In some places, a person sees some benefits coming to him, but his intellect does not betray him and says: No, this is not yours, don’t do it. This is why you get upset if you want to go towards sin and leave the straight path because the intellect is honest with you. In the most difficult places where a person can’t tell whether this is good or bad, should I do it or not? The intellect says: Put yourself in other people’s place, see if someone else did this to you, would you be satisfied, would you like it? The intellect won’t lie to you, but ignorance is not like this. Ignorance says, OK, do it; no one will see it. This lady is talking to you; you didn’t follow her. But Intellect says: If this was your wife, would you like someone to speak with her with the same intention? This “wisdom and ignorance” in humans has two branches. Which we sometimes call “angel and devil”. A narration says, “An angel blows from one ear of a person, and a devil blows from the other ear”. Angel says, Don’t do this. Satan says, Let him go, don’t listen to him. Look at everyone eating; look at everyone stealing!
Imam Riza(A) said, “Everyone’s friend is his intellect”. So don’t betray your friend (intellect); listen to him as a sincere friend. Listen to his advice because if you follow this wisdom, it will lead you to your perfection, as intellect is the most beloved creation of God. Once, we discussed that an ignorant person is not one who does not know how to read and write according to the Qur’an. Because knowledge comes from the higher-level world. We have already proved this in the topics of self-knowledge. Everyone gets their knowledge from the Intellect world. It does not matter whether it is an infidel or a believer. Whether it is experimental science or non-experimental science, any science, any knowledge, whether you learn it by reading a book or you learn it by going to class, they all come from a higher-level world. Because there is no knowledge in the material world, the material world is ignorance and pure darkness.
In the story of the Prophet Joseph Quran says, “When he reached his maturity, We gave him wisdom and knowledge. We thus reward the righteous. (22) She in whose house he was living tried to seduce him. She shut the doors, and said, “I am yours.” He said, “God forbid! He is my Lord. He has given me a good home. Sinners never succeed.” (23) She desired him, and he desired her, had he not seen the proof of his Lord. It was thus that We diverted evil and indecency away from him. He was one of Our loyal servants. (24) As they raced towards the door, she tore his shirt from behind. At the door, they ran into her husband. She said, “What is the penalty for him who desired to dishonor your wife, except imprisonment or a painful punishment?” (25) He said, “It was she who tried to seduce me.” A witness from her household suggested: “If his shirt is torn from the front: then she has told the truth, and he is the liar. (26) But if his shirt is torn from the back: then she has lied, and he is truthful.” (27) And when he saw that his shirt was torn from the back, he said, “This is a woman’s scheme. Your scheming is serious indeed.” (28) “Joseph, turn away from this. And you, woman, ask forgiveness for your sin; you are indeed in the wrong.” (29) Some ladies in the city said, “The governor’s wife is trying to seduce her servant. She is deeply in love with him. We see she has gone astray.” (30) And when she heard of their gossip, she invited them and prepared for them a banquet, and she gave each one of them a knife. She said, “Come out before them.” And when they saw him, they marveled at him and cut their hands. They said, “Good God, this is not a human, this must be a precious angel.” (31) She said, “Here he is, the one you blamed me for. I did try to seduce him, but he resisted. But if he does not do what I tell him to do, he will be imprisoned, and will be one of the despised.” (32) He said, “My Lord, prison is more desirable to me than what they call me to. Unless You turn their scheming away from me, I may yield to them, and become one of the ignorant.” (33)”[7] (Yusuf:22-33). At first, God says we gave him knowledge, and at the end, Prophet Joseph (A) If you do not turn their scheming away from me, I may yield to them, and become one of the “Ignorant”. This is the meaning of ignorant in the Holy Quran.
“Wise” is someone who is connected to the “Aql-e-Fa’al (Active intellect or Total Intellect). When Imam says his intellect is his righteous person. This is the medium of communication with the “Total Intellect” (Angel Gabriel (A)). From where inspiration, and knowledge, are given to man, that is the rope of connection. If this rope of connection is cut, man will no longer understand anything; he will become like an animal. You have seen some usurers take money from a widow with several orphaned children; they know they are hungry but do not feel sick or feel bad about them. You are surprised and probably say, what kind of people are these usurers? Even if it is an animal, the heart of a human being will hurt. He has so much capital; why don’t they care? Because it doesn’t have that connecting string, they do not understand or have intelligence. They can no longer distinguish between good and bad. They can no longer recognize the supernatural. They can no longer recognize humanity; he becomes one of the ignorant.
Prophet Joseph (A) said, If I do this, I will be among the ignorant. Because “fornication” is a sin that quickly cuts the link between man and the supernatural. Soon, perhaps no sin like this cuts off a person’s connection with the total intellect when he becomes ignorant. There are other sins, but this one is very fast in cutting, that they take whatever is given to man. Imam (A) said, “Ignorance” is man’s enemy. What should we do if we want to fight against “ignorance”? Whom should we fight?
Prophet Muhammad (S) said, “Your worst enemy is yourself, which is between your two sides”. Your worst enemy is your “Nafs” or “I”. This “I” is the greatest enemy of God. It is the biggest idol, the enormous veil, the “Nafs” is the veil that does not allow a person to worship God, and until man has “I” in oneself, there is multiplicity. Multiplicity is the opposite of monotheism. He is caught up in different things and cannot see God. Once I was in the presence of Allameh Hassanzadeh, I requested him. He replied, “Wait for now, first get rid of me”. The words of the Saints of God are all secret; he said: Now let you be free from the evil of “me”. I thought, there is no evil in the existence of saints! What does he mean by this short sentence, “Let you get rid of me”? After a while, I understood; he said, let you get rid of the “I”. The Ego! This “I” hinders you; if we become free from selfishness and “I,” then we become Monotheist. Until we say, “My” property, “My” house, “My” Car, “My” Child, “My” Money, “My” power, we have an idol, the enormous veil. Why do you think the infidels did not accept the Prophet’s call? Because of their ego, they did not accept miracles because of their “I”. The symbol of ignorance, the big idol, is the human ego. May God relieve all of us from the evil of “I”. Amen.
Muhammad Mahdi Me’marian
All praise is to God to the extent that He deserves it.
[1]– صَدِیقُ کلِّ امْرِی عَقْلُهُ، وَ عَدُوُّهُ جَهْلُهُ
[2] -حبیب
[3] -رفیق
[4] -شفیق
[5] -شقیق
[6] -صدیق
[7] -وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ آتَيْنَاهُ حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿٢٢﴾ وَرَاوَدَتْهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا عَن نَّفْسِهِ وَغَلَّقَتِ الْأَبْوَابَ وَقَالَتْ هَيْتَ لَكَ ۚ قَالَ مَعَاذَ اللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّهُ رَبِّي أَحْسَنَ مَثْوَايَ ۖ إِنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ الظَّالِمُونَ ﴿٢٣﴾ وَلَقَدْ هَمَّتْ بِهِ ۖ وَهَمَّ بِهَا لَوْلَا أَن رَّأَىٰ بُرْهَانَ رَبِّهِ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ لِنَصْرِفَ عَنْهُ السُّوءَ وَالْفَحْشَاءَ ۚ إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُخْلَصِينَ ﴿٢٤﴾ وَاسْتَبَقَا الْبَابَ وَقَدَّتْ قَمِيصَهُ مِن دُبُرٍ وَأَلْفَيَا سَيِّدَهَا لَدَى الْبَابِ ۚ قَالَتْ مَا جَزَاءُ مَنْ أَرَادَ بِأَهْلِكَ سُوءًا إِلَّا أَن يُسْجَنَ أَوْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿٢٥﴾ قَالَ هِيَ رَاوَدَتْنِي عَن نَّفْسِي ۚ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِهَا إِن كَانَ قَمِيصُهُ قُدَّ مِن قُبُلٍ فَصَدَقَتْ وَهُوَ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ ﴿٢٦﴾ وَإِن كَانَ قَمِيصُهُ قُدَّ مِن دُبُرٍ فَكَذَبَتْ وَهُوَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ﴿٢٧﴾ فَلَمَّا رَأَىٰ قَمِيصَهُ قُدَّ مِن دُبُرٍ قَالَ إِنَّهُ مِن كَيْدِكُنَّ ۖ إِنَّ كَيْدَكُنَّ عَظِيمٌ ﴿٢٨﴾ يُوسُفُ أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هَٰذَا ۚ وَاسْتَغْفِرِي لِذَنبِكِ ۖ إِنَّكِ كُنتِ مِنَ الْخَاطِئِينَ ﴿٢٩﴾ ۞ وَقَالَ نِسْوَةٌ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ امْرَأَتُ الْعَزِيزِ تُرَاوِدُ فَتَاهَا عَن نَّفْسِهِ ۖ قَدْ شَغَفَهَا حُبًّا ۖ إِنَّا لَنَرَاهَا فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ ﴿٣٠﴾ فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ بِمَكْرِهِنَّ أَرْسَلَتْ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَأَعْتَدَتْ لَهُنَّ مُتَّكَأً وَآتَتْ كُلَّ وَاحِدَةٍ مِّنْهُنَّ سِكِّينًا وَقَالَتِ اخْرُجْ عَلَيْهِنَّ ۖ فَلَمَّا رَأَيْنَهُ أَكْبَرْنَهُ وَقَطَّعْنَ أَيْدِيَهُنَّ وَقُلْنَ حَاشَ لِلَّهِ مَا هَٰذَا بَشَرًا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا مَلَكٌ كَرِيمٌ ﴿٣١﴾ قَالَتْ فَذَٰلِكُنَّ الَّذِي لُمْتُنَّنِي فِيهِ ۖ وَلَقَدْ رَاوَدتُّهُ عَن نَّفْسِهِ فَاسْتَعْصَمَ ۖ وَلَئِن لَّمْ يَفْعَلْ مَا آمُرُهُ لَيُسْجَنَنَّ وَلَيَكُونًا مِّنَ الصَّاغِرِينَ ﴿٣٢﴾ قَالَ رَبِّ السِّجْنُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا يَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ ۖ وَإِلَّا تَصْرِفْ عَنِّي كَيْدَهُنَّ أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَأَكُن مِّنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ ﴿٣٣﴾