Saying Number 40

Amīr al-mu'minīn Imam Ali (as), peace be upon him, said:

The tongue of the wise man is behind his heart,

and the heart of the fool is behind his tongue.

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.