The 4 things to learn in life
Posted on 31. Jan, 2007 by dimaks in Life
Once again, I stumbled upon one of the advises of Imam Ali (Peace be upon him), the brother-in-law of the last prophet of Islam Muhammad (Peace be upon him) to his son Imam Hassan (Peace be upon him) on four (4) things to learn. And I would like to share it with all of you out there, no matter what religious affiliations, beliefs and principles you stand on. Because, to my humble understanding, the wisdom implied below is encompassing enough to ponder upon with every passing segments of our life in this world. I seek for the open minds (As I myself is an avid reader of the Old and New Testaments) 
Here goes;
Imam Ali once said to his son Imam Hasan, My son, learn four things from me and through them you will learn four more. If you keep them in mind your actions will not bring any harm to you: (1) The greatest wealth is Wisdom; (2) the greatest poverty is stupidity; (3) the worst unso- ciableness is that of vanity and self-glorification; (4) and the best nobility of descent exhibits itself in politeness and in refinement of manner. The next four things, my son, are: (1) “Do not make friendship with a fool because when he will try to do you good he will do you harm; (2) do not make a miser your friend because he will run away from you at the time of your dire need; (3) do not be friendly with a vicious and wicked person because he will sell you and your friendship at the cheapest price and (4) do not make friend of a liar because like a mirage he will make you visualize very near the things which lie at a great distance and will make you see at the great distance the things which are near to you“.
The “Peak of Eloquence” or in arabic “Nahj ul Balagha” is known to both the Muslim and Non-Muslim world, as the christian author and researcher, George Jordaq in his tribute to Imam Ali (AS), says:
The Imam’s sermons are full of wise thoughts. O’ world, what would have happen if you mobilized your forces to produce in every era a man as great as Imam Ali (AS) in terms of wisdom, moral, expression, eloquence, valour, simplicity, generosity, patience, piety, and magnitude, for the human societies?
What more can I say? Who can argue that there is greater wealth than wisdom? Where is nobility of descent best portrayed other than the politelness and refinement of manner? And on friends, I think the Imam is very lucid. Befriending a fool, a miser, wicked and liars are I think the worst friends one can have in life. So where do your friends belong in the above denominations? Or perhaps, ourselves being a friend?
Should you be interested in owning a copy of the book “Peak of Eloquence”, you may want to consider taking a peek here.
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Dimaks is a part-time blogger born in Cotabato City, Southern Philippines. He loves a wide array of things: Martial arts, Scootering, Painting, Photography, Cooking and of course eating. Indulge with his blogging rounds!
annamanila
Jan 31st, 2007
Very eloquent! Nice read though a bit heavy .. should be savored and digested slowly. I know very little about Muslim philosophy though I explore a lot (Taoism, Zen, “new age”) and one of my good friends in the office is a haj (he’s been to Mecca). Will come back to read more of the great Imam’s thoughts. Thank you.
dimaks
Jan 31st, 2007
@annamanila
Thanks for reading and I am happy for your open-mindedness. I suppose you are not among those who believe and do things because its what their forefathers have taught. I can see, you are among those who are reaching and going out to explore the vastness of human intellect, reasoning and heart.
verns
Jan 31st, 2007
“Should you be interested in owning a copy of the book “Peak of Eloquenceâ€
I thought you’re gonna say after that “just get in touch with me and I’ll give you a copy hehe
Seriously thanks for sharing this Dimaks. Imam Ali is truly wise. Actually his words are pretty simple…in a way parang basic nga sha na guide for us. However it’s easier said and done. Some people wear masks to cover their real identity. People con and hurt people everyday. That’s why wisdom is needed, knowledge too.
tina
Jan 31st, 2007
Thanks for this. Sure quite learned a few things. And it’s true really that the greatest wealth is wisdom. When one attains wisdom… everything else would follow (health, peace, happiness).
dimaks
Jan 31st, 2007
@verns and tina
Lucky you! I just found the website of “Peak of Eloquence”. Here!
Monalisa
Jan 31st, 2007
very inspiring po. actually, mga paalala sa ating lahat ‘yan na magpakabait tayo.
and that reminds me to be careful in choosing my friends. Kung sino ba ang mga GI’s or BI’s.
Ingats
annamanila
Jan 31st, 2007
Dimaks, at my age, I still do not know many things. And sometimes I envy others their certainties. The only thing I am sure of is that I am not sure. Wait … I think I am pretty certain that there is a God and that he’s so big he cannot be missed. I tend to think there is a God but he may have different names (Jesus, Allah, Khrishna, maybe leading back to the same God. Anyway, I dont like exclusivity when it comes to God. Chos. sobra seryoso ah — pero seryos ang topic eh.
Nasa Japan ka pala … trained at NITC too .. long time ago. Wish I could go back for a fun visit.
Prab
Jan 31st, 2007
I’ve been exposed to some Muslim ideas back when I was in High School in Riyadh, and yes, I have to agree that some of the teachings is pretty “heavy,” and have to be reflected upon much more.
On a less serious side, Yoda popped into my head as I was re reading the comments. Something about “anger leads to hate… etc.”
dimaks
Jan 31st, 2007
@Monalisa
Thanks. I am glad it strum a chord even though we are standing on different poles of religious beliefs.
dimaks
Jan 31st, 2007
@annamanila
Yes, I’m here for a graduate study.
I commend your open mindedness. I bet you are also an advocate of religious tolerance (with respect of course) by heart and by deeds
dimaks
Jan 31st, 2007
@Prab
As what you may find (just in case) in the Qur’an, the passages are generally metaphoric/allegoric.
Hmm, yoda.. “Don’t be unwise, judge me not by my size”
kathy
Jan 31st, 2007
Very thought-provoking post, Dimaks. Thanks for sharing.
I remember when I was in high school, we were asked to rank various human virtues such as wisdom, intelligence, honesty, trustworthiness, etc. We were then asked to raise our hands if we had ranked a particular virtue as our #1. When our teacher asked who ranked “wisdom” as #1, I remember that I was the only one who raised my hand. My teacher then said, look at her, she is sooo mature. Not wise, just mature heheh.
dimaks
Jan 31st, 2007
@kathy
Welcome. Suddenly I remember the famous line, “wisdom comes with age”
annamanila
Feb 1st, 2007
Ang sarap pagusapan nito. Favorite subject!! Tolerant? I am like a sponge, according to friends — absorb nang absorb. Not true — many things I reject din naman. I say .. there are things you know instinctively to be true or likely to be true — ito yata yung tinatawag na “striking a chord in you,” di ba? So, I tell my friends not to fear for my soul pero the more i tell them the more they worry.
annamanila
Feb 1st, 2007
And yes, the eloquent Imam’s words do strike a chord.
sasha
Feb 1st, 2007
“and the best nobility of descent exhibits itself in politeness and in refinement of manner” –> I love this one, Dimaks! I have a lot of these learnings from Imam Ali…
Will post some nga. Para some people will learn! Hehehe
dimaks
Feb 1st, 2007
@annamanila
and wisdom does a very big role there, to choose which is which.　With regards to your friends, a man is an enemy of what he do not know 
Even sponges need to be squished sometime to let out junk substances
dimaks
Feb 1st, 2007
@sasha
Thanks.. I am glad you found this post worth treasuring.
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