43. Kashf al-Ghummah, narrating from Ayyub ibn Nuh who said: “Yahyā ibn Zachariah [his wife] was expecting a child, so he wrote to him [i.e. Imām al-Hādi] (a.s.), saying: “I am expecting a newborn, so please beseech Allah to grant me a son.”
He [the Imām] (a.s.) wrote back to him: “Many a time it is that a daughter is better than a son!” And a daughter was born to him.”1
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The Bane of a Bad Child
44. Imām ‘Ali (a.s.) said: “A bad child destroys honor and denigrates the ancestors.”2
45. Imām ‘Ali (a.s.) said: “A bad child disgraces the ancestors and destroys the offspring.”3
46. Imām ‘Ali (a.s.) said: “A disobedient child is [the cause of] trouble and misfortune.”4
47. Imām ‘Ali (a.s.) said: “The worst of calamities is a bad offspring.”5
1.. Kashf al-Ghummah, vol. ۳, p. ۱۷۵. Bihār al-Anwār, vol. ۵۰, p. ۱۷۷.
2.. Ghurar al-Hikam, h. ۱۰۰۶۵.
3.. Ghurar al-Hikam, h. ۱۰۰۶۶. ‘Uyun al-Hikam wa al-Mawā‘iz, p. ۵۰۳, h. ۹۲۲۴, with ‘harms’ instead of ‘disgraces’.
4.. Ghurar al-Hikam, h. ۱۰۰۷۲. ‘Uyun al-Hikam wa al-Mawā‘iz, p. ۵۰۴, h. ۹۲۴۷.
5.. Ghurar al-Hikam, h. ۲۹۶۳.
