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the Message Continues ... 3/178
Newsletter for September 2016
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Jesus on Ethics Pieces of Advice from the ‘Word of God’
By Hasnain Walji
Self Training
It was said to Jesus, “Who trained you?” He said, “No one trained
me. I saw the ugliness of
ignorance and, so, I avoided
it.”
The Apostles met with Jesus and said to him, “O teacher of the
good! Guide us!” He said to
them, “Verily Moses the
interlocutor of God, commanded
you not to swear by God, the
Blessed and Exalted, falsely,
and I command you not to swear
by God falsely or truly.” They
said, “O Spirit of God! Guide us
more!” Then he said, “Verily
Moses, the prophet of God,
commanded you not to commit
adultery, and I command you not
to talk to yourselves about
adultery, let alone to commit
adultery. Verily, one who talks
to himself about adultery, is
like one who sets fire to a room
that is decorated so the smoke
damages the decor, even though
the room is not burnt.” Have a Good Regard
for Others
It is reported that Jesus passed by a carcass with his disciples.
Then the disciples said, “How
putrid the smell of this dog
is!” Then Jesus said, “How
intense is the whiteness of his
teeth!”
Whom to Associate With
The Apostles said to Jesus, “O Spirit of God! With whom should we
keep company?” He said, “He the
sight of whom reminds you of
God, the speech of whom
increases your knowledge, and
the works of whom make you
desirous of the other world.”
Knowing the Prophet
Jesus the son of Mary used to spend some time with the disciples
and advise them, and he used to
say, “He does not know me, who
knows not his soul, and he who
does not know the soul between
his two sides, does not know the
soul between my two sides. And
he who knows his soul which is
between his sides, he knows me.
And he who knows me, knows He
who sent me.”
Moral Traits
“He who often becomes upset, his body becomes sick; he whose
character is bad, his self
becomes his torment; he who
often talks, often stumbles; he
who often lies, loses his worth;
he who quarrels with men, loses
his manliness.”
“That which is not loved
by you for someone to do to you,
do not do that to others; if
someone strikes you on the right
cheek, turn to him your left
cheek also.”
“O Children of Israel! Do
not be excessive in eating, for
those who are excessive in
eating are excessive in
sleeping; those who are
excessive in sleeping are
deficient in praying; of those
who are deficient in praying, it
is written that they are
negligent.”
“Mind your tongue to
reform your heart, be satisfied
with your house, beware of
pretentiousness and excess, be
ashamed before your Lord, cry
over your mistakes, and escape
from people as you would run
from the lion or viper, [for]
they were medicine but today,
they have become illness. Then,
encounter God when you will.”
The Life of the World
“Who would build a house on the waves of the sea? This world is
that house, so you should not
take it as a dwelling.”
“The love of this world
and the next cannot be aligned
in the heart of a believer, like
water and fire in a single
vessel.”
“When one of you sits in
his house, he should have
clothes on. Verily, God has
allotted modesty for you, just
as He has allotted your
sustenance.”
“If you are my lovers and
my brothers, you must accustom
yourself to the enmity and
hatred of the people, otherwise
you will not be my brothers. I
teach you this that you may
learn it; I do not teach you so
that you may become proud.
Verily, you will not achieve
that which you desire unless you
give up that which you desire,
and by enduring patiently that
which you detest, and guard your
gaze, for it plants lust in the
heart, and it is sufficient to
tempt him. Happy are they who
see that which they desire with
their eyes, but who commit no
disobedience in their hearts.
How far is that which is in the
past, and how near is that which
is to come. Woe to those who
have been deluded when what they
loathe approaches them, and what
they love abandons them, and
there comes that which they were
promised. Woe to those whose
efforts are for the sake of this
world, and whose works are
mistaken. How he will be
disgraced before his Lord!
Moreover, do not speak much for
aught but the remembrance of
God. Those who speak much about
aught but God harden their
hearts, but they do not know it.
Do not look at the faults of
others over much [the phrase
used here indicates spying], but
look after the purity of your
own selves, for you are enslaved
servants. How much water flows
in a mountain without its
becoming soft? And how much
wisdom are you taught without
your hearts becoming soft? You
are bad servants, and you are
not pious servants. You are not
nobly free. Indeed, you are like
unto the oleander, all who see
it wonder at its flower, but
when they eat from it they die.
So, peace be unto you.”
“This world and the next
are rivals. When you satisfy one
of them you irritate the other;
when you irritate one of them
you satisfy the other.”
“In truth I say to you,
just as one who is sick looks at
food and finds no pleasure in it
due to the severity of the pain,
the masters of this world find
no pleasure in worship and do
not find the sweetness of it,
for what they find is the
sweetness of this world. In
truth I say to you, just as an
animal which is not captured and
tamed becomes hardened and its
character is changed, so too
when hearts are not softened by
the remembrance of death and the
effort of worship they become
hard and tough, and in truth I
say to you, if a skin is not
torn, it may become a vessel for
honey, just as hearts, if they
are not torn by desires, or
fouled by greed, or hardened by
blessings, may become vessels
for wisdom.”
“Do not take the world as
a master, for it will take you
as its servants. Keep your
treasure with One who will not
squander it. The owners of the
treasures of this world fear for
its ruin, but he who owns the
treasure of God does not fear
for its ruin.”
Jesus said to the disciples, “Be satisfied with a little of the
world, while your religion is
safe, likewise the people of
this world are satisfied with a
little of the religion, while
their world is safe; love God by
being far from them, and make
God satisfied by being angry
with them.” The disciples said,
“O spirit of God, so with whom
should we keep company?” He
said, “He the sight of whom
reminds you of God, his speech
increases your knowledge and his
action makes you desirous of the
other world.”
Conduct with Others
“O Children of Israel! Do not speak with the ignorant of wisdom,
for otherwise you do injustice
with it, and do not keep it from
its folk, for otherwise you do
injustice to them, and do not
help the unjust with his
injustice, for otherwise your
virtue becomes void. Affairs are
three: the affair whose
righteousness is clear to you,
so follow it; the affair whose
error is clear to you, so avoid
it; and the affair about which
there are differences, so return
it to God, the Almighty and
Glorious.”
A man said to Jesus the son of Mary, “O good teacher, indicate to
me a work by which I may enter
the Garden.” Then he said to
him, “Beware of God secretly and
openly, and do good to your
parents.”
Lowering the Gaze
“Beware of looking at what is prohibited, for it is the seed of
lust and plant of depravity.”
Entering into Paradise
“In truth I say to you, the folds of heaven are empty of the
rich; the entering of a camel
through the eye of a needle is
easier than the entering of a
rich man into heaven.”
A Prayer of Jesus
Among the supplications narrated from Jesus, the son of Mary, is:
“O God! You are the Deity of all
who are in heaven and the Deity
of all on the earth. There is no
Deity in them other than You,
and You are the All-wise for all
in heaven and the All-wise for
all on the earth. There is no
All-wise in them other than You.
And you are the King of all in
heaven and all on the earth.
There is no King in them other
than You. Your power in heaven
is like Your power on the earth.
And Your sovereignty in heaven
is like Your sovereignty on the
earth. I ask you by Your
All-generous Name and Your
radiant face and Your eternal
kingdom, do such and such for
me.”
It is reported that a man complained to Jesus about his debts.
Jesus said to him, “Say: ‘O God,
Who takes away grief, removes
sadness, disposes of sorrow, and
answers the prayers of the
needy! O Merciful of this world
and the other world and the
Compassionate of them! You are
Merciful to me and Merciful to
all things! So, be Merciful to
me, with a mercy that will make
me needless of the mercy of
others than You, and by that
mercy let my debts be paid.’”
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