:sl:
On the authority of al-Asma‘ī, that he said, “I was once walking in the village when I came across a stone. Someone had written on it:
أيا معشر العشاق بالله خبروا **** إذا حل عشق بالفتى كيف يصنع
O lovers! By Allah, tell me!
If a young man is overcome by love, what should he do?
So I wrote underneath it:
يداوي هواه ثم يكتم سره **** ويخشع في كل الأمور ويخضع
Let him treat his desire, then conceal his secret
And humble himself in every matter and submit (before his Lord)
I returned the next day and I found written underneath it:
فكيف يداوي والهوى قاتل الفتى **** وفي كل يوم قلبه يتقطع
But how can it be treated when that desire fights the man
And every day his heart is torn to pieces?!
So I wrote underneath it:
إذا لم يجد صبراً لكتمان سره **** فليس له شيء سوى الموت أنفع
If he is unable to be patient with concealing his secret
Then there is nothing for him except death that will benefit!
I then returned on the third day to find a young man lying dead at the stone. I said,
‘Lā hawla wa lā quwwata illā billāhil-‘Alī’l-‘Adhīm!’ and found that he had written before his death:
سمعنا , أطعنا , ثم متنا فبلغوا **** سلامي إلى من كان للوصل يمنع
We have heard and we have obeyed; now we have died so tell everyone
My salām to the one who prevented me from attaining her.
(Narrated by al-Abshīhī in
al-Mustatrif, 1/410)
So dear brothers and sisters, next time we give advice to such people, just remember you’re dealing with hearts full of love not vessels full of stone.
Now a little about
al-Imam, al-Hafidh: Al-Asma‘ī.
Al-Asma‘ī was one of the early Imams and leading scholars of Arabic, Grammar and Poetry. He narrated from some of the greatest scholars in Islam such as Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfi‘ī, Ibn ‘Awn, Ibn Abi’l-Zinād, ‘Atā b. Abi Rabāh, Hammād b. Salamah, Shu‘bah and many others.
He was praised by the major Imams of the Salaf, including Imām Ahmed, Imām al-Shāfi‘ī and Ibn Ma‘īn who said about him,
“Asma‘ī is the most knowledgeable of all in his field.”
Read completely
here.