At times when the theologians would arrive in Qum from the provincial towns and cities, it was customary for the theologians and qualified religious authorities to visit them. However, the Imam would visit only those with whom he was acquainted and sometimes when we would propose that he visit, he would not accept. One day I asked him whether visiting and expressing one’s affection to individuals wasn’t a part and parcel of Islamic etiquette to which he replied in the affirmative. I then asked him whether Islamic etiquette must not be put into practice to which he again replied in the affirmative. I continued telling him that we expected him to practice Islamic etiquette not for the sake of public relations or hypocrisy but rather for the sake of God to which he stated: “Yes, it is right that I must do such a thing, but what must I do with the evil of temptations?” Whereas some individuals would perhaps construe his behavior as pride although it was not so. In those very days I fell ill and was bedridden for about one month in the chamber of the Hujjatiyyah Seminary. Throughout this one month, the Imam would visit me in my chamber every Wednesday although I was no more than an unknown seminary student.
What should with the evil of the soul of temptations? Ayatullah Ibrahim Amini