World and its people
1
ومن كلام له (عليه السلام) في صفة الدنيا
About the world and its people
2
مَا أَصِفُ مِنْ دَار أَوَّلُهَا عَنَاءٌ وَآخِرُهَا فَنَاءٌ! فِي حَلاَلِهَا حِسَابٌ، وَفِي حَرَامِهَا عِقَابٌ. مَنِ اسْتَغْنَى فِيهَا فُتِنَ، وَمَنِ افْتَقَرَ فِيهَا حَزِنَ، وَمَنْ سَاعَاهَا فَاتَتْهُ، وَمَنْ قَعَدَ عَنْهَا وَاتَتْهُ، وَمَنْ أَبْصَرَ بِهَا بَصَّرَتْهُ، وَمَنْ أَبْصَرَ إلَيْهَا أَعْمَتْهُ.
In what way shall I describe this world whose beginning is grief and whose end is destruction? [1] The lawful actions performed here have to be accounted for, while for the forbidden ones there is punishment. Whoever is rich here faces mischief and whoever is poor gets grief. One who hankers after it does not get it. If one keeps away from it then it advances towards him. If one sees through it, it would bestow him sight, but if one has his eye on it then it would blind him.
3
قال الشريف : أقول: وإذا تأمل المتأمل قوله (عليه السلام): «وَمَنْ أبْصَرَبِهَا بصّرَتْهُ» وجد تحته من المعنى العجيب، والغرض البعيد، ما لا تُبلغ غايته ولا يدرك غوره، لا سيما إذا قرن إليه قوله: «ومَن أبْصَرَ إليها أعْمَتْهُ»، فإنه يجد الفرق بين «أبصر بها» و«أبصر إليها» واضحاً نيراً عجيباً باهراً! صلوات اللّه وسلامه عليه.
as-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: If a thinker thinks over this phrase of Amīr al-mu’minin “waman abṣara bihā baṣṣarat-hu” (“If one sees through it, it would bestow him sight”) he would find there-under very amazing meaning and farreaching sense whose purpose cannot be appreciated and whose aim cannot be understood particularly when he joins it with Amīr al-mu’minin’s phrase “waman abṣara ilayhā a'mat-hu” (“If one has his eye on it, then it would blind him”) he would find the difference between “abṣara bihā” and “abṣara lahā”, clear, bright, wonderful and shining.