The Test of True Brotherhood: Staying Loyal in Absence, Prosperity, and Trial

Hawzah News Agency- Muhammad ibn al-Hassan ibn Ahmad ibn al-Walid narrated that Muhammad ibn al-Hassan al-Saffar narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Hussein ibn Abil-Khat’tab, from Ali ibn An-Nue’man, from Abdullah ibn Miskan, from Davood ibn Farqad, from Abi Shaybih az-Zahri that Imam Baqir (pbuh) said:

بِئْسَ الْعَبْدُ عَبْدٌ يَكُونُ ذَا وَجْهَيْنِ وَذَا لِسَانَيْنِ، يُطْرِي أَخَاهُ فِي اللَّهِ شَاهِدًا، وَيَأْكُلُهُ غَائِبًا، إِنْ أُعْطِيَ حَسَدَهُ، وَإِنِ ابْتُلِيَ خَذَلَهُ.

Wretched is the servant (person) who is two-faced and two-tongued: he praises his brother for the sake of Allah when he is present, but consumes him [through slander and backbiting] when he is absent. If [the brother] is granted [a blessing], he envies him; and if he is afflicted [with a trial], he abandons him.

Al-Khisal,Book 3,Chapter 13