If a person is praised for something that is not actually in him (2)

The reply is: the praised person is not obligated to expose the falsity of the praise, for several reasons:
1. There is no certainty that the one offering praise intended to lie; perhaps he imagined it, supposed it, or was informed of it by someone else.
2. No harm or corruption results from leaving it unclarified.
3. Clarifying the falsity of the praise would entail injuring the one who offered it. The apparent state of the praiser is that he intends nothing but good by his praise, and it is not permissible to respond to his kindness with harm. His error in praise does not remove him from being a benefactor. Allah Almighty says: “Is the reward for goodness anything but goodness?” [al-Raḥmān:60], and He also says: “And when you are greeted with a greeting, respond with one better than it, or return it” [al-Nisāʾ: 86].
As for what is reported from the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), when he said to one who exaggerated in praising him, “I am less than what you say, and greater than what is in your heart,” this was because he (peace be upon him) knew that his praiser was a hypocrite of vile character. Therefore, he did not refrain from exposing his falsehood and hypocrisy. His response (peace be upon him) combined both matters:
1. Exposing his lie: “I am less than what you say.”
2. Exposing his hypocrisy: “and greater than what is in your heart,” because he (peace be upon him) knew the praiser’s corrupt belief regarding his person (peace be upon him).
If praise reaches the level of blameworthy exaggeration, then it must be repudiated. An example of this is what is reported that the poet of Imām al-Ḥasan ibn Zayd (peace be upon him) praised him on the day of a festival, saying:
“Allah is One, and Ibn Zayd is One.”
The Imām (peace be upon him) rebuked and reprimanded him, then prostrated to Allah in humility and submission, and said to his poet: say instead, “Allah is One, and Ibn Zayd is a servant.”
What appears—Allah knows best—is that a morally responsible person is not free from impulses toward showing off (riyāʾ), nor is he able to rid himself of them entirely. Rather, he is obligated to resist them and struggle against them. Were it not for these natural impulses, a person would not deserve reward for sincerity, nor would moral responsibility be valid. Reward is deserved for preferring obedience to Allah over the inclinations of the self, and this entails considerable hardship for the soul. Preferring obedience to Allah over the desires of the self is called moral obligation because of the difficulty and burden it imposes on the soul. If the believing person’s soul were entirely devoid of impulses toward showing off and love of it, to the extent that none remained, then sincerity in worship would be an easy psychological disposition requiring no hardship or effort.
For this reason, we say that the believing, morally responsible person is never entirely free from impulses toward showing off. Consequently, he must constantly strive against them and resist them. It is not permissible for him to neglect them or neglect striving against them, for if he does so, his soul will gradually incline toward showing off without his awareness. Thus, the responsible person must remain vigilant at all times.
Let the responsible person know that even if he guards himself against showing off, persists in resisting and striving against it, and is diligent in that, he will not be safe from the slips and lapses of his soul. Therefore, he should end his day in repentance and begin his morning in repentance, increase in seeking forgiveness, and ask Allah for assistance, success, right guidance, and sincerity.
A person may think himself sincere, while in reality something of showing off has crept into his heart without his awareness.
Conversely, a person may persist in accusing himself of showing off, continually reproaching and detesting his soul, and seeking forgiveness from Allah—such a person is among the sincere in the sight of Allah. This is because even if something of showing off has in fact entered his heart, his self-accusation, self-reproach, and seeking forgiveness render him among the sincere before Allah.
It has been reported from the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) in this regard that he said: “The believer does not enter evening or morning except that his soul is under suspicion.”
That is, the believer continually accuses himself of shortcoming, heedlessness, and negligence in obedience to Allah, including sincerity.

Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3