Tradition

إذا رَأَيْتُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَ صَمُوتاً فَادْنُوْا مِنْهُ فَإنَّهُ يُلْقِى الحِكْمَةَ وَ الْمُؤْمِنُ قَلِيلُ الْكَلامِ كَثِيرُ الْعَمَلِ وَ الْمُنافِقُ كَثِيرُ الْكَلامِ قَلِيلُ الْعَمَلِ

The Prophet (S) is narrated to have said: “Whenever you see a believing individual engrossed in silence, then gather close to him for you will hear words full of wisdom. Faithful individuals are of few words and much action, while the hypocrites are of many words and few actions.”1

Brief Commentary

Human beings have a finite amount of energy and it is for this reason that when they expend much of their energy towards a specific task, they will find themselves limited in what they can do in regards to other things in their lives. Therefore, it is not surprising that people who speak too much will fall short when it comes to their actions.

The Prophet of Islam (S) has described the people of faith as those who are filled with the spirit of hard work, rather than the spirit of talkativeness. The hypocrites, who are devoid of the spirit of faith, are the opposite of this and they spend their time talking instead of working. We should always strive to be like those the Prophet (S) has described as believers and not those who are hypocrites.

• 1. Taken from the book: Tuhaf al-’Uqul, p. 296, Irshad Al-Qulub, vol. 1, p. 104, Sharh Nahj Al-Balaghah, vol. 7, p. 93.