Nahj al-Balagha Hadith n. 12
وَقَالَ (عليه السلام):
Amir al-mu'minin, peace be upon him, said:
أَعْجَزُ النَّاسِ
The most helpless of all men is
مَنْ عَجَزَ عَنِ اكْتِسَابِ الْإِخْوَانِ
he who cannot find a few brothers during his life,
وَ أَعْجَزُ مِنْهُ
but still more helpless is
مَنْ ضَيَّعَ مَنْ ظَفِرَ بِهِ مِنْهُمْ
he who finds such a brother but loses him. 7
7. It is not difficult to attract others by good manners and
cheerfulness and to befriend them by sweet speech because no physical exertion
or mental worry is required for this: and after making friends it is still
easier to maintain the friendship and good relations because for making friends
some effort or other is needed while for maintaining it no difficulty is to be
surmounted. Therefore, no one can be more wretched than the man who cannot even
retain a thing which could be retained just by keeping away a frown from the
face. The intention is that a man should meet everyone with good manners and
cheerfulness so that people may like to associate with him and extend a hand of
friendship towards him.
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