Abstinence

Abstinence from vice is better than the pursuance of virtue.

It is wiser to abstain from evil than to repent.

Fear none but your sins.

Asceticism

Wealth and greed are the roots of all evil.

Do not sell the Hereafter for the World.

He who seeks more than what is necessary indulges in error.

When your power increases, decrease your desires accordingly.

Do not become a slave to your desire.

Suppress all lust with piety.

Contentment is a treasure which is never exhausted.

Anger

Giving way to anger is shame and sin.

Attitude

Greatness lies in the nobility of your aspirations. Not in the decaying bones of your ancestors.

Foresight and Wisdom

The highest wisdom is to take up arms against your desires.

Forgiveness

If you find yourself in a position of strength over your adversary, then in gratitude to Allah, forgive him.

To 'forgive and forget' is among the best deeds of a great person.

Forgiveness is the crown of greatness.

Generosity

Be generous but not extravagant. Be frugal but not miserly.

There is no shame in giving a little: there is greater shame in sending the needy away.

Honor

He who does not know his own worth is shameful.

When a man begs, he loses his faith.

It is better to die than to beg.

He who does not know his own worth is doomed to destruction.

Humanity and Human Relations

Coming to the aid of the distressed and oppressed is expiation for many sins.

Treat people in a way and live amongst them in a manner that if you die they weep for you, if you live they long for you.

Courtesy costs nothing but buys everything.

Humility

Humility in spite of position is like mercy despite of power.

A man who praises himself displays his deficiency of intellect.

Pride impedes progress and mars greatness.

Jihad

Jihad is the highway to prosperity.

He who has no courage has no religion.

Justice

He who seeks to do justice with men, let him desire for them what he desires for himself.

To assist the wrong is to oppress the right.

To oppress the weak is the worst tyranny.

Knowledge

Knowledge is the ornament of the rich and the riches of the poor.

That knowledge is superficial which is merely on the tongue; that knowledge is real which demonstrates itself in your practice.

The learned lives although he dies.

To respect the learned is to respect Allah.

As a man's wisdom increases, his desire to speak decreases.

When Allah wants to humiliate a person, he deprives him of knowledge.

Patience

Patience is of two kinds: - Endurance of suffering, and Abstinence from pleasure.

Patience is the fruit of faith.

Repentance

How one wonders at a peron who loses hope of salvation while the door of repentance is still open to him!

Sin

Sinning is a disease, the treatment for which is repentance, and the cure abstinence.

The sin which makes you feel sad and repent finds more favor with Allah than the good deed which makes you proud and conceited.

Speech

A fool's mind is at the mercy of his tongue. The wise person's tongue is controlled by his mind.

A wise person thinks first and then speaks. The fool speaks frist and then thinks.

Watch your tongue, for it is an arrow that often goes wrong.

A man is hidden under his tongue.

The tongue pierces deeper than a spear.

Silence is the best reply to a fool.

The best of speech is that which is short and reasonable.

Do not speak in a state of ignorance.

Source:

Sayings of the Prophet [S.A.A.S.] and Four Caliphs [R.A.], PP. 55-61