ومن كتاب له (عليه السلام)
إليه

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ الدُّنْيَا مَشْغَلَةٌ عَنْ غَيْرِهَا، وَلَمْ يُصِبْ صَاحِبُهَا مِنْهَا شَيْئاً إِلاَّ فَتَحَتْ لَهُ حِرْصاً عَلَيْهَا، وَلَهَجاً بِهَا، وَلَنْ يَسْتَغْنِيَ صَاحِبُهَا بِمَا نَالَ فِيهَا عَمَّا لَمْ يَبْلُغْهُ مِنْهَا، وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ ذلِكَ فِرَاقُ مَا جَمَعَ، وَنَقْضُ مَا أَبْرَمَ!لَوِ اعْتَبَرْتَ بِمَا مَضَى حَفِظْتَ مَا بَقِيَ، وَالسَّلاَمُ.

[ A letter to Mu'awiya. ]

This vicious world will try to turn a man away from religion and from having faith in the Hereafter. And when a worldly-minded person grasp a little of it, it always opens before him vistas of false hopes, ambitions, temptations and greed, so that he is never satisfied with what he has grabbed and will always covet for more. The result often is that he loses what he has already amassed and his plans do not work out. If you take a lesson from the past then you can guard your future very well.