Intellect (Aqal)

Sayings of Maula Ali (as) on intellect(aqal).

The most self-sustaining wealth is the intellect.
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A person's intellect becomes apparent through his dealings, and a man's character is known by the way he exercises authority.
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The intellect is a king and characteristics are its subjects, so if it is weak in governing them, disorder overtakes it.
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The intellect is better than desire, for the intellect makes you a king over your destiny, and desire makes you a slave of your destiny.
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Bodies are sustained by food, and intellectsare sustained by wisdom, and whenever either one of them is deprived of its sustenance then it perishes and disintegrates.
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Keep company with the people of intellect, whether they are your enemies or your friends, for surely one intellect is only confirmed by another intellect.
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There is no more profitable wealth than the intellect.
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The most precious treasure is an intellect which is accompanied by good fortune.
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If the intellect is given free rein, and if it is not imprisoned by the desires of the self orby religious customs or by partisanship, then it will lead the one who possesses it, to salvation.
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If you want to conclude a book, then look through it once again, and then you will conclude it only in accordance with your intellect.
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When Allah wishes to remove a favour from His slave, the first thing He changes inhim is his intellect.
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The intellect is a natural disposition which learns from experience.
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The intellect is what arrives at what is correct through reasoning, and recognizes what has not yet happened through what has already taken place.
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The spirit gives life to the body, and the intellect gives life to the spirit.
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The intellect is what remembers what it has experienced.
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Your messenger is what is interpreted by your intellect.
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Use your intellect to understand somethingwhen you hear about it -- the intellect that examines, that is, and not just the intellect that repeats what it hears, for surely thereare many who repeat the knowledge that they hear, and there are few who examineit.
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The one who has an intellect longs to be like the righteous people so that he can be one of them, and he loves them so that he can be united with them in his love, even ifhe falls short in emulating their actions.
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When the one who has an intellect says something, he follows his words up wisely and by example.
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The most excellent of men as regards their intellect, and the most perfect of them as regards excellence, is the one who spends his days in reconciliation and peace with his brothers, accepting whatever forgiveness comes to him in the course of time.
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The one who has an intellect does not openly display it except in one of two situations: when he is furthest away from seeking something in the world, and when he is furthest away from abandoning it.
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The one who has an intellect should not openly display it in seeking to win the obedience of others when the obedience ofhis own self eludes him.
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The person of intellect is the one who questions his own opinions, and does not trust what his self incites him to do.
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The person of intellect is the one who is taught by experience.
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Surely the words of the wise are a cure when they are accurate, and an illness when they are mistaken.
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The enmity between persons of intellect is the most severe and most damaging of enmities, for surely it does not occur until after excuses and warnings have already been made, and reconciliation between them has become impossible.
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Surely hated adversity has final objectives in which it will inevitably end, so the one who has an intellect should try to sleep over it until this happens, for surely any attempt to stop it before it has come to an end will only intensify that hated adversity even more.
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The most likeable of people for the one who has an intellect is the enemy who has an intellect, for if he does have an intellect, then he will surely be safe from him.
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A rebuke from persons of intellect is harderto bear than the punishment of a potentate.
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The first opinion of the person of intellect isthe last opinion of an ignorant person.
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The one who has an intellect finds harshness of life amongst persons of intellect more agreeable than a life of ease amongst the foolish.
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