1. I command you to fear God exclusively without associating with him anything. I command you to declare that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. Fear God and utter only the good wording. Seek the satisfaction of God and fear of His wrath. Keep up the traditions of God, do not exceed His limits, watch Him in all of your affairs, and satisfy yourselves with His act, whether they are for you good or evil.

2. Cling to enjoining good and forbidding evil.

3. Do them who did you favors as many favors as possible, pardon them who mistreated you, and do to people what you want them to do to you.

4. Associate with people as much as possible. You should not let any point be taken against you. Stick on religious knowledge, show piety against the forbidden (matters), and respect the friendship of him whoever befriends you whether he was pious or sinful.

5. Commit yourselves to excessive piety, for it is the source of the religion. Offer the (obligatory) prayers in their proper times and fulfill the obligatory rituals as exactly as possible.

6. Do not show any negligence in performing the rites that God has made incumbent upon you and the matters that bring God’s satisfaction. I have heard Abu Abdillah (Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq, peace be upon him) saying: “Learn the religious affairs and do not be like the Bedouins.1 God will not regard (by a look) those who lack any acquaintance with the religious affairs on the Day of Resurrection.

7. Be moderate whether you are rich or poor. Take some of the worldly affairs as means to the life to come. I have heard Abu Abdillah (‘a) saying: “Take some of this (the world) as means to that (the life to come), and do not be burdens on people.” Behave courteously with everybody and do favors to everyone.

8. Beware of aggression, for I have heard Abu Abdillah (‘a) saying: “Aggression is the quickest in punishment.”

9. Carry out the prayers and the fasting, as well as the other obligatory rituals, that God has made incumbent upon you, and defray the obligatory zakat to their proper people. Abu Abdillah (‘a) said: “O Mufadhdhal, tell your acquaintances to defray the zakat to its proper people and I will guarantee for them.2”

10. Adhere to the loyalty to (the leadership of) Muhammad’s family (peace be upon them). Reconcile the quarreling parties and do not backbite each other.

11. Exchange visits, cherish each other, and do favors to each other. Meet each other and exchange conversations. Do not hide (malice or other affairs) from one another. Beware of disagreement. Beware of abandoning each other, for I have heard Abu Abdillah (‘a) saying: “By God I swear, I disavow and curse one of the two Shiites who leave one another out of disagreement. In most cases, I curse both of them.” Muattib3 said: “May God make me your sacrifice. You may curse the wrong party, why is then the wronged party cursed, too?” The Imam (‘a) answered: “The wronged party is cursed because he does not call the other party to reconciliation.” The Imam then added: “I heard my father saying: If two of our adherents (Shi’a) disagree and one of them transcends the other, the wronged party should come to the other and confess that he was wrong, so that their disagreement will come to an end. God the Blessed the Exalted is surely fair judge; He will surely judge for the good of the right party.”

12. Do not debase or leave the poor adherents of Muhammad’s family (peace be upon them). Treat them kindly and give them from the right of God that He has made incumbent in your properties. Do them favors. Do not take the family of Muhammad (peace be upon them) as means by which you collect earnings. I heard Abu Abdillah (‘a) saying: “People have taken three different courses in following us. Some people have followed us and expected our Relief for the purpose that they may obtain worldly pleasures. They have declared their adherence to us and repeated our words, but they have omitted abiding by our deeds.

God will take them to Hell in hoards. Some people declared their adherence to us, listened to our words, and showed no negligence in carrying out our orders. All that has been purposed for gaining the (worldly) donations of people. God will fill in their bellies with fire and will impose upon them starvation and thirst. Some people have declared their adherence to us, retained our wording, carried out our instructions, and have not dissented from our deeds. Those are from us and we are from them.”

13. Do not leave regarding the family of Muhammad (peace be upon them) out of your riches. The rich ones should pay in proportion to their wealth and the poor in proportion to their poverty. He who wants God to solve his most complicated problems should regard the family of Muhammad (peace be upon them) and their adherents (Shi’a) by means of his most needed property.

14. Do not be angry with the right that is said to you and do not detest the people of right when they say it in your faces. The true believers are not angry with the right that is said in their faces.

15. I was accompanying Abu Abdillah (‘a) when he asked me: “O Mufadhdhal, how many are your companions?” “They are few,” answered I. When I arrived in Al-Kufa, the Shiites received me with showers of insults, backbiting, and revilement at my honor. Moreover, some of them jumped in my face, others waylaid me for beating me, and others accused me falsely of every ill matter. This event was reported to Abu Abdillah (‘a). Next year, the first thing about which Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) asked me was this event. “I do not care for them,” I answered. “Yes,” said the Imam (‘a), “They are only harming themselves. How do they become angry? Woe to them. You said that your companions are few. No, by God. They are not our adherents (Shi’a).

They would not have been angry at your answer if they had been true Shi’a. God has mentioned other characters for our Shi’a. The adherents (Shi’a) of Ja’far are only those who stop uttering ill wording, work for the sake of their Creator, hope for their Master, and fear God so properly. Woe to them! Has anyone of them become like a bending bow because of the very much offering of prayers? Has anyone of them become like a lost man because of intense fear (of God) ? Has anyone of them become like a blind man because of excessive apprehension of God? Has anyone of them become like an excessively languished man because of the very much fasting? Has any-one of them become like a mute man because of long silence? Has anyone of them passed all nights with worship and passed all days with fasting? Has anyone of them deprived himself of the worldly pleasures out of fear of God and desire for us; the Prophet’s family? How can they be our Shi’a? They are disputing our enemies about us so excessively that they cause them antagonize us more and more. They are barking like dogs and greedy like crows. I would have ordered you to keep yourself indoors and close your door in their faces unless I had had the apprehensions that they might hurt you. Anyhow, accept their apologies if they come to you. God has made them the claim against themselves and made them the claim against others.

16. Do not be deceived by this world with all its bliss, pleasures, delight, and possessions. It is not yours and will not persist for you. In fact, it will not persist even for its people.

All praise is due to Allah the Lord of the worlds.

All peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his immaculate family.

• 1. Because the Bedouins lack knowledge of the religious affairs, due to their remoteness from the sources of knowledge that are usually in the towns, the Imam (‘a) warn his adherents from being like them in this regard only.
• 2. The Imam (‘a) means that he will guarantee that they will be recompensed, and the properties that they defray as zakat will be returned to them through the bestowals of God.
• 3. Muattib is one of the close companions of Imam As-Sadiq (‘a).