Chapter 1 - On Anger

In Al-Mahasin it is narrated that God's Prophet (a.s) forbade one to discipline when he is angry.”

“Anger is the key to all evil.”

“The hardest thing is God's Anger.” They asked him: “How can we be secure from God's Anger?” He said: “You should not get angry.” They asked him: “How does anger start?” He said: “Through selfishness, haughtiness and belittling people.”

God's Prophet (a.s) said: “Whoever gets angry will lose his comfort.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “God will forbid the Fire of Hell to touch your body if you control yourself when you are aroused, afraid, hungry, angry, pleased or unhappy.”

Some people talked about anger in front of Imam Baqir (a.s). He said: “When a man gets so angry that he cannot be conciliated (and commits a sin) he will enter the Fire of Hell. If a man gets angry when he is standing up, he should sit down to fend off Satan's evilness. If he is sitting, he should stand up. Whoever gets angry with a relative should stand up, go towards him and touch him, since by touching his relative he will get calm.”

Imam Reza (a.s) said: “On the Resurrection Day three groups of people are closest to God until the end of the Reckoning: those who quench their anger and do not oppress others when they have power, those who mediate between two people and do not favor either side in the least amount, and those who tell the truth whether it be in their favor or not.”

God's Prophet (a.s) said: “Manliness does not depend on physical strength. Rather it depends on the ability to restrain anger.”

A man told Abuzar- May God have Mercy upon him: “You are the man who was deported. If you were a good person, you would not have been deported.” Abuzar said: “There are very hard to cross obstacles on my way. If I can pass over them safely, what you said will not harm me at all. But if I cannot make it through, I am even worse than what you have said.”

Imam Baqir (a.s) said: “Solomon, the son of David said: “We have whatever the people have. We know whatever the people know of or not know. We have not come across anything better than fearing God in public and in private. Nothing is better than moderation during times of affluence or poverty, telling the truth during times of contentment or anger, and being humble to God under all circumstances.”

“God revealed the following to one of His Prophets: When you leave the house in the morning, eat the first thing that you encounter, hide the second thing, accept the third thing, do not disappoint the fourth and escape from the fifth. When he first left the house in the morning, he encountered a big black mountain. He said to himself that God had ordered him to eat it, and wondered how to do it. He then thought that God would not order him to do what was beyond his power. So he moved towards the mountain. The closer he got to the mountain, the smaller it became. When he finally reached it, it had turned into a small bite to eat. He ate it, and it was really delicious. He continued to go on until he reached a golden pan. He said to himself that God had ordered him to hide it. He dug a ditch, threw the golden pan in the ditch, covered it up with dirt, and started to go on his way again. But then he noticed that the pan was visible out of the ground. He said to himself that he had done what God had ordered him to and continued to go on. Then he suddenly saw a bird being pursued by a falcon trying to hunt it. The falcon was flying around the bird. The Prophet remembered that God had ordered him to accept this one. He opened his sleeve, and the bird entered it. The falcon told the Prophet (a.s): You have caught the prey that I was after for a few days. Then he remembered that God had ordered him not to disappoint this one. Then he cut a piece of the bird's leg and threw it to the falcon. He continued to go on, and saw a piece of rotten meat. He remembered that God had ordered him to escape this one, and he escaped from it. When he returned home and went to sleep, he had a dream. He was told: “You performed your mission, and did whatever you were instructed to do. Do you know what the philosophy behind all these issues is?” He said: “No.” He was told: “That mountain was anger. Whenever one gets angry, he does not see himself and does not realize his situation. If he restrains himself, recognizes his position and quenches his anger, the end is like a delicious bite which he eats. The golden pan is indeed man's good deeds which are better to hide, but God will make them apparent so that he is adorned by them, and he receives the reward in the Hereafter. But the bird is like a man who advises you, and you should accept his advice. The falcon is like a man who comes to you and asks you to fulfill his needs. You should not disappoint him. The rotten meat is like gossip which you should avoid.”