Speak not with guile, deceit or craftiness to your fellow man.

 

107. Speak not with guile, deceit or craftiness to your fellow man, and do not live by or perform these wiles and actions in this life: Guile, deceit and craftiness are just a few in a long list of actions the religions of God warn us about. These actions can cause harm and break down relations man has with one another; and one of the things God’s religions are supposed to be about is man’s interactions with one another in a pleasing, peaceful and productive manner.  Judaism: Exodus 21:14 “If a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; (craftiness) thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.” Psalms 32:1 “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” 32:2 “Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Psalms 34:13 “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” 34:14 “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” 34:15 “The eyes of The LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” Job 15:5 “For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.” Job 27:4 “My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.”  Christianity: 1 Peter 3:10 “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:” (deceit) 3:11 “Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. Mark 7:21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit (guile), lasciviousness (lewd behaviour), an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” 2 Corinthians 4:1 “We faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”

 ISLAM: Letter 53. “Deception and fraud even against your enemy is a deception against Allah (God) and none but a wretched sinner would dare do that.”

(Islam, Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)

Islam: 112. “Likewise did We make for every Messenger an enemy, evil ones among men and Jinns, inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of deception (guile). If thy Lord had so planned, they would not have done it: so leave them and their inventions alone.” 113. “To such (deceit, guile) let the hearts of those incline, who have no faith in the Hereafter: let them delight in it, and let them earn from it what they may.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  6)

Islam: 10. “Those that lay Plots of Evil — for them is a Penalty terrible; and the plotting (craftiness) of such will be void (of result).”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  35)

 ZOROASTRIANISM: “She vainly thinks to foil us, and would beguile both Fire-priest and Haoma; but she herself, deceived therein, shall perish.” “Never shall the false Teacher destroy the Second Life, the Liar, in perversion by his tongue into evil.” “O thou, my perishable body, speak good words with thy tongue!”

(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasnas 10, 45 and Fragments)

 HINDUISM: 104. “Let him ever act without guile, and on no account treacherously; carefully guarding himself, let him always fathom the treachery which his foes employ.”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 7)

 Hinduism: “Fortune brings no weal to mortals who may win by wicked wile (guile), Sorrow brings no shame to mortals who are free from sin and guile!”

(Hindu, Mababharata (R. Dutt, abridged tr))

 BUDDHISM: 11. “Consider this dressed-up lump covered with wounds, joined with limbs, diseased, and full of many schemes which are neither permanent nor stable. This body is wearing out, a nest of diseases and frail; this heap of corruption falls apart; life ends in death.”     “What pleasure is there for one who sees these white bones like gourds thrown away in the autumn? A fortress is made out of the bones, plastered over with flesh and blood, and in it lives old age and death, pride and deceit (guile).”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards))

 SABEANISM: “The…tongue which is softer than fat and sharper than a sword.” Speaks guile to its own defeat. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 24)

 BABI RELIGION: “The Ministers and chief officers of the Court are almost always men of polished manners, well skilled in the business of their respective departments, of pleasant conversation, subdued temper, and very acute observation; but these agreeable and useful qualities are, in general, all that they possess. Nor is virtue or liberal knowledge to be expected in men whose lives are wasted in attending to forms; whose means of subsistence are derived from the most corrupt sources; whose occupation is in intrigues which have always the same objects: to preserve themselves or ruin others; who cannot, without danger, speak any language but that of flattery and deceit; and who are, in short, condemned by their condition to be venal, artful, and false.”

The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. xlii)

BAHA’I FAITH: “The beloved of The Lord are wrapped in utter sincerity and devotion, unmindful of this rancor and malice. Smooth and insidious are these snakes, these whisperers of evil, artful in their craft and guile. Be ye on your guard and ever wakeful! Quick-witted and keen of intellect are the faithful, and firm and steadfast are the assured. Act ye with all circumspection!”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 314)

Baha’i Faith: “O people! Fear ye God, and allow not your tongues to utter, in their deceitfulness, that which displeaseth Him.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 27)

Baha’i Faith: “Pluck asunder the chains of vain imaginings, in the name of The Lord of all men, and be not of the deceitful. Should ye turn unto God, and embrace His Cause, spread not disorder within it, and measure not the Book of God with your selfish desires. This, verily, is the counsel of God aforetime and hereafter….”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, p. 74)

Baha’i Faith: “Man’s merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches. Take heed that your words be purged from idle fancies and worldly desires and your deeds be cleansed from craftiness and suspicion.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 138)