Gentleness in Dealings

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص‌ ثَلَاثٌ مَنْ لَمْ يَكُنَّ فِيهِ لَمْ يَتِمَّ لَهُ عَمَلٌ وَرَعٌ يَحْجُزُهُ عَنْ مَعَاصِي اللَّهِ وَ خُلُقٌ يُدَارِي بِهِ النَّاسَ وَ حِلْمٌ يَرُدُّ بِهِ جَهْلَ الْجَاهِلِ.

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘There are three things for the absence of which none of one’s deeds is complete: restraint from the worldly things to keep him from disobeying Allah, moral behavior with which one can gently deal with people and forbearance with which one can repel the ignorance of ignorant people.’”

سَمِعْتُ جَعْفَراً ع يَقُولُ‌ جَاءَ جَبْرَئِيلُ ع إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ص فَقَالَ- يَا مُحَمَّدُ رَبُّكَ يُقْرِئُكَ السَّلَامَ وَ يَقُولُ لَكَ دَارِ خَلْقِي.

‘Jibril (the Archangel) once came to the Holy Prophet and said, “O Muhammad, your Lord sends you greetings of peace and says to you, ‘Be gentle and kind to My creatures.’””

فِي التَّوْرَاةِ مَكْتُوبٌ فِيمَا نَاجَى اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ بِهِ مُوسَى بْنَ عِمْرَانَ ع يَا مُوسَى اكْتُمْ مَكْتُومَ سِرِّي فِي سَرِيرَتِكَ وَ أَظْهِرْ فِي عَلَانِيَتِكَ الْمُدَارَاةَ عَنِّي‌[1] لِعَدُوِّي وَ عَدُوِّكَ مِنْ خَلْقِي وَ لَا تَسْتَسِبَّ لِي عِنْدَهُمْ بِإِظْهَارِ مَكْتُومِ سِرِّي فَتَشْرَكَ عَدُوَّكَ وَ عَدُوِّي فِي سَبِّي.

“In the Torah it is of the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, to Moses ibn ‘Imran, ‘O Moses, keep My secret as secret in your secrecy. Demonstrate gentleness from Me in your public life toward your enemy and My enemy among My creatures. Do not express My secret (condemnation of the enemy) for Me before t

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص‌ أَمَرَنِي رَبِّي بِمُدَارَاةِ النَّاسِ كَمَا أَمَرَنِي بِأَدَاءِ الْفَرَائِضِ.

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘My Lord (Allah) has commanded me to be gentle to people just as He has commanded me to fulfill my obligations.’”

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص‌ مُدَارَاةُ النَّاسِ نِصْفُ الْإِيمَانِ وَ الرِّفْقُ بِهِمْ نِصْفُ الْعَيْشِ ثُمَّ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع خَالِطُوا الْأَبْرَارَ سِرّاً وَ خَالِطُوا الْفُجَّارَ جِهَاراً وَ لَا تَمِيلُوا عَلَيْهِمْ فَيَظْلِمُوكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ سَيَأْتِي عَلَيْكُمْ زَمَانٌ لَا يَنْجُو فِيهِ مِنْ ذَوِي الدِّينِ إِلَّا مَنْ ظَنُّوا أَنَّهُ أَبْلَهُ وَ صَبَّرَ نَفْسَهُ عَلَى أَنْ يُقَالَ [لَهُ‌] إِنَّهُ أَبْلَه

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘Dealing kindly with people is half of belief and leniency to them is half of livelihood.’ The Imam then said, ‘Meet the virtuous people privately. Meet the criminals in public and do not be attracted to them; they will do injustice to you. There will come a time when, from the religio

سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع يَقُولُ‌ إِنَّ قَوْماً مِنَ النَّاسِ قَلَّتْ مُدَارَاتُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ فَأُنِفُوا مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ‌[2] وَ ايْمُ اللَّهِ مَا كَانَ بِأَحْسَابِهِمْ بَأْسٌ- وَ إِنَّ قَوْماً مِنْ غَيْرِ قُرَيْشٍ حَسُنَتْ‌ مُدَارَاتُهُمْ فَأُلْحِقُوا بِالْبَيْتِ الرَّفِيعِ قَالَ ثُمَّ قَالَ مَنْ كَفَّ يَدَهُ عَنِ النَّاسِ فَإِنَّمَا يَكُفُّ عَنْهُمْ يَداً وَاحِدَةً وَ يَكُفُّونَ عَنْهُ أَيْدِيَ كَثِيرَةٍ.

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) say, ‘Certain people lacked gentle dealings with others, they were expelled from the tribe of Quraysh. I swear by Allah, there was nothing wrong with their birth. On the other hand, certain people who were not from the tribe of Quraysh dealt with people gently and they were joined in the f