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.

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:

when patience goes then iman goes, for when the head goes, then the body goes.’ Sacid ibn Mansur narrated it in his Sunan.

He said: The real faqih is the one who does not make people despair of the mercy of Allah; who does not grant them licence to disobey Allah; who does not make them feel secure from the punishment of Allah; who does not abandon the Qur’an longing for something other than it; because there is no good in worship in which there is no knowledge, there is no knowledge unless there is understanding along with it, and there is no recitation if there is no reflection in it. Ibn ad-Daris narrated it in the Fada’il al-Qur’an.

He said: The coolest thing for my liver, when I am asked about what I don’t know, is to say, Allah knows best.’ Ibn cAsakir narrated it.

He said: Whoever wants to give people what is due from him, let him love for them what he loves for himself. Ibn cAsakir narrated it.