«50»- وَ قَالَ عليه السلام إِعْجَابُ الْمَرْءِ بِنَفْسِهِ دَلِيلٌ عَلَى ضَعْفِ عَقْلِهِ.
«50»- And he, peace be upon him, said: A man's being pleased with himself is an indication of the weakness of his intellect.
«51»- وَ قَالَ عليه السلام عَجَباً لِلْعَاقِلِ كَيْفَ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى شَهْوَةٍ يُعْقِبُهُ النَّظَرُ إِلَيْهَا حَسْرَةً.
«51»- And he, peace be upon him, said: How wondrous is the man of intellect — how does he look at an appetite whose looking upon it bequeaths him regret?
«52»- وَ قَالَ: هِمَّةُ الْعَقْلِ تَرْكُ الذُّنُوبِ وَ إِصْلَاحُ الْعُيُوبِ.
«52»- And he said: The concern of the intellect is the leaving of sins and the setting right of faults.
باب 5 النوادر
Chapter 5: Miscellaneous reports
«1»- مع، معاني الأخبار ن، عيون أخبار الرضا عليه السلام أَبِي عَنْ سَعْدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ يَزِيدَ عَنْ عُبَيْدِ بْنِ هِلَالٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا الْحَسَنِ الرِّضَا عليه السلام يَقُولُ إِنِّي أُحِبُّ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمُؤْمِنُ مُحَدَّثاً قَالَ قُلْتُ وَ أَيُّ شَيْ ءٍ الْمُحَدَّثُ قَالَ الْمُفَهَّمُ.
«1»- m', Ma'ani al-Akhbar; n, 'Uyun Akhbar al-Rida, peace be upon him: my father, from Sa'd, from Ibn Yazid, from 'Ubayd b. Hilal, who said: I heard Abu al-Hasan al-Rida, peace be upon him, saying: I love that the believer should be one spoken to. He said: I said: And what thing is the one spoken to? He said: The one given understanding.
«2»- ع، علل الشرائع أَبِي عَنْ مُحَمَّدٍ الْعَطَّارِ عَنِ ابْنِ يَزِيدَ عَنِ الْبَزَنْطِيِّ عَنْ ثَعْلَبَةَ عَنْ مُعَمَّرٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِأَبِي جَعْفَرٍ عليه السلام مَا بَالُ النَّاسِ يَعْقِلُونَ وَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى حِينَ خَلَقَ آدَمَ جَعَلَ أَجَلَهُ بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ وَ أَمَلَهُ خَلْفَ ظَهْرِهِ فَلَمَّا أَصَابَ الْخَطِيئَةَ جَعَلَ أَمَلَهُ بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ وَ أَجَلَهُ خَلْفَ ظَهْرِهِ فَمِنْ ثَمَّ يَعْقِلُونَ وَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ.
«2»- 'a, 'Ilal al-Shara'i': my father, from Muhammad al-'Attar, from Ibn Yazid, from al-Bazanti, from Tha'laba, from Mu'ammar, who said: I said to Abu Ja'far, peace be upon him: What is it with people that they understand and yet do not know? He said: God, blessed and exalted, when He created Adam, set his appointed term between his eyes and his hope behind his back. And when he committed the fault, He set his hope between his eyes and his appointed term behind his back. So from then they understand and do not know.
بيان: لعل المراد بكون الأجل بين عينيه كونه دائما متذكرا له كما يقال فلان جعل الموت نصب عينيه و بكون الأمل خلف ظهره نسيان الأمل و عدم خطوره بباله فلا يطول أمله و هذا شائع في العرف و اللغة يقال نبذه وراء ظهره أي تركه و نسيه فمراد السائل أنه ما بال الناس مع كونهم من أهل العقل لا يعلمون و لا يبذلون جهدهم كما ينبغي في تحصيل العلم فالجواب أن سبب ذلك ما حصل لآدم عليه السلام بعد ارتكاب ترك الأولى و سرى في أولاده من نسيان الموت و طول الأمل فإن تذكر الموت يحث الإنسان على تحصيل ما ينفعه بعد الموت قبل حلوله و طول الأمل يوجب التسويف في فعل الخيرات و طلب العلم و يحتمل أن يكون مراد السائل بالعقل عقل المعاش و تدبير أمور الدنيا و بالعلم علم ما ينفع في المعاد أي ما بال الناس في أمر دنياهم عقلاء لا يفوتون شيئا من مصالح دنياهم و في أمر آخرتهم سفهاء كأنهم لا يعلمون شيئا فالجواب هو أن سبب ذلك نسيان الموت و طول الأمل فإنهما موجبان لترك ما
Elucidation: perhaps what is meant by the appointed term's being between his eyes is his being ever mindful of it, as it is said, so-and-so has set death before his eyes; and by hope's being behind his back, the forgetting of hope and its not occurring to his mind, so that his hope is not long. And this is common in usage and in the language: it is said, he cast it behind his back — that is, he left it and forgot it. So the questioner's meaning is: what is it with people that, being of the people of intellect, they do not know and do not expend their effort as they ought in acquiring knowledge? So the answer is that the cause of that is what befell Adam, peace be upon him, after committing what was less than the best, and passed into his children — the forgetting of death and length of hope; for the recollection of death urges a man to acquire what profits him after death, before its coming; and length of hope entails procrastination in the doing of good and in the seeking of knowledge. And it is possible that the questioner meant by intellect the intellect of livelihood and the managing of the affairs of this world, and by knowledge the knowledge of what profits in the hereafter — that is, what is it with people that in the matter of their world they are men of intellect who let nothing escape them of the interests of their world, while in the matter of their hereafter they are foolish, as though they knew nothing? So the answer is that the cause of that is the forgetting of death and length of hope; for these two entail the leaving of what