A man said to Maulana Ali, peace be upon him: There are some people claiming that faithful servants will not commit fornication, drink intoxicants, use usury, or shed forbidden blood. I could not accept so. It is surely difficult for me to claim that the servant, who offers prayers and will bury me when I die and I will bury him when he is dead, is unfaithful just because he committed an insignificant sin. Maulana Ali, peace be upon him, said:
Yes, it is. This is true. I heard the Rasulullah (SAW) say: “God created people on three characters, and made them three classes.” This is God’s saying:
The people of the right hand. How happy they will be! (56:8).
The people of the left hand. How miserable they will be! (56:9).
The foremost ones (56:10).
will be the nearest ones to God. (56:11).
The foremost ones to whom God refers are the prophets whether messengers or not. God sup-plied them with five spirits: spirit of holiness, spirit of faith, spirit of power, spirit of passion, and physical spirit. With the spirit of holiness, they were sent as prophets and messengers. With the spirit of faith, they worshipped God exclusively without betaking any associate with Him. With the spirit of power, they fought their enemies and made their livings. With the spirit of passion, they enjoyed the sweetness of food and drink and married women legally. With the physical spirit, they grew up and took their courses. Those are forgiven and their sins are overlooked. For them, God says:
We gave some of Our messengers preference over others. To some of them God spoke and He raised the rank of some others. We gave authoritative proofs to Jesus, son of Mary, and supported him by the Holy Spirit. (2:253).
About them, God also says:
…And supported them by a Spirit from Himself. (58:22).
By this spirit, God honored and favored them to the others. They are forgiven.
God then refers to the people of the right hand. They are the faithful believers. God supplied them with four spirits: spirit of faith, spirit of power, spirit of passion, and physical spirit.
A servant is still keeping these four spirits perfectly until he encounters some manners.
“What are these manners?” asked the man. Maulana Ali (‘a) answered:
The first manner is that to which God refers in His saying:
Some of you will grow to an extremely old age and lose your memory. God is All-knowing and Almighty. (16:70).
Thus, all the spirits will disappear due to such an extreme old age. However, he does not desert faith, because it is God who caused him to encounter such an extreme old age due to which he could not recognize the times of prayers, practice the night worship, or fast during days. This is a reduction of the spirit of faith although it will not harm, God willing.
The spirit of passion is also reduced to the degree that even if the most beautiful woman passes by him, he will not have any desire towards her. The physical spirit, by which he moves and advances in age until death overcomes, only remains. This is the good manner, because it is God who does this to him. He may pass by manners in his power and youth. When he intends to commit a sin, the spirit of power encourages him, the spirit of passion makes it attractive, and the physical spirit leads him to commit the sin. If he commits it, he will separate from faith and faith will separate from him. He will not regain the faith unless he repents. If he repents and recognizes the (obligatory) loyalty to the Prophet and his family, God will accept his repentance. If he commits the sin again, he then will be in Hell because he will be disloyal to the Prophet and his family.
The people of the left hand are the Jews and the Christians. God the Majestic says:
Those to whom We have given the Book (Bible), know you i.e., they know the obligatory loyal-ty to the Prophet and his family that is recorded in the Torah and the Bible, just as well as they know their sons in their houses. It is certain that some of them deliberately hide the truth. (2:146).
Never doubt that the essence of truth comes from your Lord. (2:147).
When they denied what they had known, God punished them for so. He seized the spirit of holiness from them and made their bodies carry three spirits only: spirit of power, spirit of passion, and physical spirit. God then attached them to the animals. He says:
They are like cattle… (25:44).
This is because animals carry things with the spirit of power, eat with the spirit of passion, and walk with the physical spirit.
“You have surely enlivened my heart,” said the asker.