Imam Khamenei

Supreme Leader’s Commentary on a Hadith about vivacity when working

The following is the Supreme Leader’s commentary on a well-known hadith by Imam Ja’far Sadiq about being vivacious when works, as stated on February 24, 2019 at the beginning of Dars-e Kharej Fiqh lecture.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master Muhammad, and upon his pure household and May God curse all their enemies.

Imam Sadiq (greetings be upon him) has been narrated to have said, “A person who is under the pressure [the Arabic word uses the metaphor of being pressured by the need and urge to urinate] has no opinion (as they cannot think clearly); an individual who is impatient has no friends and a person who is jealous is never satisfied. And a person who does not think of the consequences of their action is not a wise and prudent individual because thinking about the consequences of one’s actions opens the gates in one’s heart” [Amali al-Tusi, chapter 11, page 301].

A person who is under the pressure [of the urge to urinate or any pressure] has no opinion. That is why prayers performed under such pressure are makrooh [discouraged] for the person cannot concentrate. This was for the beginning of the hadith.

Then, he says, “An individual who is impatient has no friends”

An impatient person will find no friends and companions. The Arabic word means lethargic. The individuals who are tired, depressed and lethargic will find no friends and companions. That is true. If you want to do a collective task and if you want to accompany a group of people or compete against them and overtake them, you should be vivacious. When I speak about being vivacious – I have repeatedly spoken about being vivacious in my speeches – some people think that vivacity means dancing, setting up music and organizing such programs, whether in theatres, or on TV in order to make the people vivacious! This is not what vivacity means.

Being vivacious means being motivated and having the dynamism to work; it means that one’s heart is willing to move forward, to work and to do different activities. It means that one does not feel fatigued, lethargic, depressed and the like. This is the meaning of vivacity. If this happen, then you will find companions; people will gather by you and then you can progress with your tasks. In particular, you the young people need this to a great extent.

After that, he says, “A person who is jealous is never satisfied.”

A person who is jealous will never feel content. This is the nature of a jealous person. Because he is jealous of other people’s achievements, Allah the Exalted has placed a natural effect in jealousy which makes one fall behind others.

 “And a person who does not think of the consequences of their action is not a wise and prudent individual.”

The Arabic word “hazim” means a wise and intelligent person; a person who makes sure that they do something correctly. All these attributes exist in the word “hazim”. It means making sure that you do something correctly; in Arabic they call “hizam’ a string with which you firmly fasten something: either the rope that is fastened underneath a camel’s stomach or even a shoe lace. It also implies intelligence, wisdom and acumen. All these concepts exists in the word “hazm”.

Imam Ja’far Al-Sadiq has said that, a person who does not think about the consequences of their action is not a wise and prudent person. Notice that all these are lessons for us, in particular for those of you and us who have certain responsibilities and who play a part in decision-making anywhere. Well, imagine that there is a task that you would like to carry out and that is beneficial, but you do not think about the consequences of that. You decide to do it without pondering over the consequences. For example, in one hot summer day, you enter the yard—in the present times, few houses have yards, but in the past, when I used to give this example, people would understand it easily—and you decide to swim in the small pool in the yard where there is fresh water. You feel hot, you have sweated and you take off your shirt immediately and throw yourself inside the water. Is that a bad thing to do? No, but when you throw yourself inside the pool, it creates waves and it hits an expensive crystal glass which has been placed next to the pool. If you had thought about it before, you would have entered the pool in a different way. You did not think about the consequences and you threw yourself inside the water and that is what has happened. A person who does not think of the consequences of an action is not “hazim”.

Of for instance, when you are to compete at a tournament, you should know what the contestant you play against plans to do in the response to your move. You should think about it, and then you prepare yourselves for the move that he wants to make. It is only then that you can make your move. This means foreseeing the consequences. All these are lessons [to learn from]. And they are not lessons only for individuals; rather, they are important lessons for the important affairs of the country and for managing it at high levels. Of course, it is beneficial for familial relationships and for one’s personal life as well. Moral instructions are like that.

 “Thinking about the consequences of one’s actions opens up one’s heart.”

That is to say, if we think carefully about the consequences of our actions, this opens up our hearts. It breaks open our intellectual, psychological and spiritual openings. If we carefully ponder over the consequences of our actions, we do not commit sins and other wrongdoings. If we ponder over the consequences of our actions, we avoid the mistakes that usually come our way. This is the case both on personal matters and on main issues related to the major matters of the country. If this happens, then we should move forward with hope.

My advice to all those who have certain managerial positions and responsibilities—whether in the executive branch, in the judiciary branch or in other managerial positions—is that they should push away depression, lethargy, impatience, and hopelessness in themselves. They should know that tasks are being carried out and that the Revolution is moving forward. You witness what a great incident happened in the country on the 22nd of Bahman [February 11 popular rally on the 40th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution], by Allah’s favor. This is the Revolution and the Revolution is advancing and moving forward.

Forty years have passed from the great movement of the nation led by our magnanimous Imam. Normally, everything should have been forgotten by now, but the people regard it in a manner as if it all happened yesterday. They take to the streets in a way that the crowd could hardly move on the streets leading to the Azadi Square. This is according to the reports they have delivered to me from different places. The turn-out was much higher than previous years. Why is that? It is because the enemy’s threats had increased. So, the people felt vivacious and they had a sense of responsibility. Tasks are moving forward. Therefore, everyone—including high-ranking, average-ranking and low-ranking managers—should put aside lethargy and other unfavorable traits. This is one point I wanted to make in this regard.

Another point is about having foresight. Officials should see what the consequences of their actions will be. You should ponder over the consequences of the decision that you want to make and the laws that you want to pass or annul. You should think about the enemy’s move in the face of your decision and about what you can do in response. You should think about these issues and after that, you should take action sincerely for the sake of God.

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