قال عليّ، رضي الله عنه: «الحَذَرُ سوءُ الظنّ». وقال: «القريبُ مَنْ قرّبتْه المودّةُ وإنْ بَعُدَ نَسَبُه، والبعيدُ مَنْ باعدتْه العداوةُ وإنْ قَرُبَ نَسَبُه. وليسَ شيءٌ أقربَ إلى الجسدِ من اليدِ، فإنْ فَسَدَتْ قُطِعَتْ، فإذا قُطِعَتْ كُوِيَتْ». رواه أبو نُعيم.

Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Precaution is bad opinion.’ He said, ‘The close one (i.e. the near relative) is the one whom affection renders close even if his kinship makes him distant. The distant one is the one whom enmity makes far even though his kinship makes him a near relative. There is nothing nearer to the body than the hand, and yet the hand, if it is corrupt, is cut off and if it is cut off, then it is cauterised.’ Abu Nucaym narrated it.

قال: «خُذوا مِنِّي خَمْسًا: لا يَخافَنَّ أحَدُكُمْ إلَّا ذَنبَهُ، ولا يَرْجُوَنَّ إلَّا رَبَّهُ، ولا يَسْتَحْيِي مَنْ لا يَعْلَمُ أنْ يَتَعَلَّمَ، ولا يَسْتَحْيِي مَنْ لا يَعْلَمُ أنْ يَقولَ: اللهُ أعْلَمُ، والصَّبْرُ مِنَ الإيمانِ كالرَّأْسِ مِنَ الجَسَدِ».

He said, ‘Take five things from me: Let none of you fear anything but his wrong action; let him hope for nothing but his Lord; let someone who does not know, not be shy of learning; and let someone who does not know, not be shy of saying, “Allah knows best”; and patience has the same relation to iman as does the head to the body: