الحَثُّ عَلَى مُراقَبَةِ النَّفْسِ Enjoinment of Self-Scrutiny

2ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): كان فيها [أي صُحُفِ إبراهيم (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ]...: على العاقِلِ ما لَم يَكُن مَغلوباً على عَقلِهِ أن يكونَ لَهُ ساعاتٌ: ساعَةٌ يُناجِي فيها رَبَّهُ عزّوجلّ ، وساعَةٌ يُحاسِبُ نَفسَهُ ، وساعَةٌ يَتَفَكَّرُ فيما صَنَعَ اللّه‏ُ عزّوجلّ إلَيهِ ، وساعَةٌ يَخلُو فيها بِحَظِّ نفسِهِ مِنَ‏الحَلالِ؛ فإنّ هذهِ الساعَةَ عَونٌ لِتلكَ الساعاتِ واستِجمامٌ للقُلوبِ وتَوزِيعٌ لها.

2– The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'The scriptures of Prophet Abraham (AS) contain the following: ‘…the rational man, as long as he is of sound reason, must put aside several hours during the day – an hour for conversing with his Lord, an hour for [self-scrutiny and] accounting for himself, an hour to ponder over Allah's favors bestowed upon him, and an hour to spend on his own lawful pleasures, for this one hour will be an aid to him in fulfilling his other hours, as well as a time to recuperate and relax.’[al-Khisal, p. 525, no. 13 and Ma`ani al-Akhbar, p. 334]
 

3ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): اِجعَلْ مِن نفسِكَ على نفسِكَ رَقيباً، واجعَلْ لِآخِرَتِكَ مِن دُنياك نَصيباً.

3– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Appoint your own self as a scrutinizer over yourself, and use this world to reserve your share in the Hereafter.’[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2429]
 

4ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): يَنبَغِي أن يكونَ الرجُلُ مُهَيمِناً عَلى نَفسِهِ ، مُراقِباً قَلبَهُ حافِظاً لِسانَهُ.

4– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Man must control and survey his own self, scrutinize his heart, and guard his tongue.’[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 10947]
 

5ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): رَحِمَ اللّه‏ُ امرَأً (عَبدا) سَمِعَ حُكْماً فَوَعى ، ودُعِيَ إلى رَشادٍ فَدَنا ، وأخَذَ بِحُجْزَةِ هادٍ فَنَجا ، راقَبَ رَبَّهُ ، وخافَ ذَنبَهُ.

5– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'Allah has mercy on the servant who scrutinizes his sins carefully and fears his Lord.’[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 5205]
 

6ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): على العاقِلِ أن‏يُحصِيَ على نفسِهِ مَساوِيَها في الدِّينِ والرَأيِ والأخلاقِ والأدَبِ ، فَيَجمَعَ ذلكَ في صَدرِهِ أو في كتابٍ ويَعمَلَ في إزالَتِها.

6– Imam Ali (AS) said, 'The rational man must calculate his soul's misdeeds against religion, reason, ethical virtues and good moral conduct. He must gather this information within himself or write it down in a book and work at eradicating them.’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 6, no. 58]
 

7ـ الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): كانَ فيما وَعَظَ اللّه‏ُ تَبارَكَ و تَعالى بهِ عيسَى بنَ مريمَ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) أن قالَ له: ... يا عيسى ، كُنْ حَيثُما كُنتَ مُراقِباً لي .

7– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, 'Among the advices that Allah, Blessed and most High, gave to Jesus son of Mary (AS) was, 'O Jesus, wherever you may be, scrutinize yourself on My behalf.’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 14, pp. 289 and 293, no. 14]
 

8ـ الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): مَنِ اعتَدَلَ يَوماهُ فهُو مَغبونٌ ، ومَن كانَ في غَدِهِ شَرّا مِن يَومِهِ فهُو مَفتونٌ ، ومَن لَم يَتَفَقَّدِ النُقصانَ في نفسِهِ دام نَقصُهُ ، ومَن دامَ نَقصُهُ فالمَوتُ خَيرٌ لَهُ .

8– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, 'The man for whom each day passes exactly the same as another [where there is no change in his character or his deeds] is indeed a loser. And the man for whom the next day is always worse than the previous day is indeed cursed. And the man who never sees to improve himself day after day is indeed at a loss, and whoever passes his days in such loss, death is surely better for him than life.’[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 277, no. 113]