hadith
296
۞
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) narrated, ‘A man once came and told Ali b. al-Husayn (AS) [i.e. Imam Zayn al-Abidin], ‘Verily x has said that you are astray and that you are an innovator! So Ali b. al-Husayn (AS) said to him, ‘Neither have you observed the right of the man you sat with by transmitting to us what he spoke about, nor have you observed my right by informing me of something about my brother which I would not have known! … Beware of backbiting for verily it is the food of the dogs of Hell, and know that whoever frequently talks about peoples faults, the frequency of his backbiting is a witness [to the fact] that he only finds faults in others according to the extent present in himself.
الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): قالَ رَجُلٌ لعليِّ بنِ الحسينِ : إنَّ فُلانا يَنسُبُكَ إلى أنّكَ ضالٌّ مُبتدِعٌ ! فقالَ لَهُ عليُّ بنُ الحسينِ : مارَعَيتَ حقَّ مُجالَسَةِ الرجُلِ حيثُ نَقَلتَ إلَينا حَديثَهُ، ولا أدَّيتَ حَقِّي حيثُ أبلَغتَني عن أخي ما لَستُ أعلَمُهُ ! ... إيّاكَ والغِيبَةَ فإنّها إدامُ كِلابِ النارِ، وَاعلَمْ أنّ مَن أكثَرَ مِن ذِكرِ عُيوبِ الناسِ شَهِدَ علَيهِ الإكثارُ أنّهُ إنّما يَطلُبُها بقَدرِ ما فيهِ.