Hadith:

🔹 أشَدُّ النّاسِ نَدامَةً و أكثَرُهُم مَلامَةً : العَجِلُ النَّزِقُ الّذي لا يُدرِكُهُ عَقلُهُ إلاّ بَعدَ فَوتِ أمرِهِ.

Imam ʿAlī (a.s.) said:

“The deepest regret and the greatest blame befall the one who is hasty and reckless—whose reason only reaches him after the matter has already slipped away.”

📚 Ghurar al-Ḥikam, 3308

Human psychology reveals that impulsive behavior often stems from emotional dominance over rational thinking. Modern neuroscience confirms that during emotional arousal—especially anger or excitement—the amygdala (the brain’s emotional center) can override the prefrontal cortex, which governs reason and judgment. This “amygdala hijack,” as Daniel Goleman describes, leads individuals to act before they think, only realizing their mistake once the emotional wave has subsided.

Imam ʿAlī (a.s.) expressed this same truth over a millennium ago: the ʿajil al-naziq—the hasty and impulsive person—acts before reflection, and his intellect arrives too late, only after the damage is done. This alignment between Islamic wisdom and psychological insight highlights the timeless human struggle between impulse and intellect.

The Qur’an, too, warns against haste and calls for deliberate reflection:

“وَكَانَ الإِنسَانُ عَجُولًا” — “Indeed, man is ever hasty.” (Surah al-Isra’, 17:11)

Human beings are naturally inclined toward impatience, but divine guidance teaches us to tame that impulse with ta’anni (deliberation) and ḥilm (forbearance).

In contrast to haste, the Prophet (ṣ) emphasized the virtue of calm decision-making:

“التأنّي من الله والعجلة من الشيطان”

“Deliberation is from Allah, and haste is from Shayṭān.”

This hadith provides a spiritual lens on what psychology calls self-regulation—the ability to pause, assess, and respond wisely instead of reacting impulsively. The one who cultivates this inner restraint lives with fewer regrets, because his reason governs his action before—not after—the event.

Imam ʿAlī (a.s.) therefore gives us more than a moral instruction; he offers a psychological remedy. By training the soul through patience (ṣabr) and reflection (tafakkur), one strengthens the intellect’s control over emotion. This discipline transforms the heart from a battlefield of impulses into a sanctuary of insight.

Conclusion:

Both Islam and psychology agree: true intelligence is not in the speed of our reaction, but in the depth of our reflection. The hasty person learns only after the loss, but the wise believer learns before the act. Thus, slowing down is not weakness—it is wisdom; it is the mark of a mind awake and a soul at peace.