Lesson one hundred twenty two :Length and shortness of life

Imam Ali( A. S. )says:

مَوْتُ الْاءِنْسانِ بالذُّنُوبِ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ مَوتِهِ بِالأَجَلِ وَ حَياتُهُ بِالْبِرِّ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ حَيَاتِهِ بِالْعُمْرِ

Translation

Early death of men due to sin is more than natural death, and long life of individuals due to their righteousness is more than long life for natural life..

Brief description

Undoubtedly, a lot of sins and bad attributes shorten life directly( such as drinking, gambling, jealousy, envy and vindictiveness )and also a lot of them shorten it indirectly through affecting on the social disorders and taking away public security and occurrence of wars) such as usury, injustice and oppression (. On the other hand, righteousness could be the cause of a long life due to its deep effect on the peace of spirit and conscience.

Therefore, sin, disregarding its harmful spiritual effects, is very effective on shortening man's life, as righteousness is fully effective in long life in addition to all of its other effects.