وَقَالَ (عليه السلام):
Amir al-mu'minin, peace be upon him, said:
لِسَانُ الْعَاقِلِ وَرَاءَ قَلْبِهِ،
The tongue of the wise man is behind his heart,
وَقَلْبُ الاْحْمَقِ وَرَاءَ لِسَانِهِ.
and the heart of the fool is behind his tongue.
قال الرضي: و هذا من المعاني العجيبة الشريفة، والمراد به أنّ العاقل لا يطلق لسانه إلاّ بعد مشاورة الرَّوِيّةِ ومؤامرة الفكرة، والاحمق تسبق خذفاتُ لسانه وفلتاتُ كلامه مراجعةَ فكره ومماخضة رأيه، فكأن لسان العاقل تابع لقلبه، وكأن قلب الاحمق تابع للسانه.
As-Sayyid ar-Radi says: This sentence has a strange and beautiful meaning. It means that the wise man does not speak with his tongue except after consulting his mind and exercising his imagination, but the fool quickly utters whatever comes to his tongue without thinking. In this way, the tongue of the wise man follows his heart while the heart of the fool follows his tongue.
