Gems Pearls of Wisdom of the Salaf

It is reported that Abu Al-ʿĀlyah – Allāh have mercy on him – said:There are two blessings I have been blessed with, I know not which of them is greatest: that Allāh guided me to Islām, and that he did not make me a Ḥarūrī (from the Khawārij extremists).ʿAbd Al-Razzāq Al-Ṣanʿānī, Al-Muṣannaf ḥadīth 18667.
 
Abû Dardâ (radiyAllâhu ‘anhu) said, “From the completion of taqwâ is that the slave fears from his Lord even with regards to things the weight of an atom.”
 
It is reported that Al-Shaʿbī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:Stay away from the sinful amongst the scholars and the ignorant amongst the worshippers, for these two are the calamity of everyone who would fall into fitnah.Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab Al-Īmān ḥadīth 1753.
 
Whoever proposes to the world, then the world would not be satisfied until he gave up his Deen as dowry. [Malik bin Dinar]
 
The Correct Place of OpinionAl-Awzāʿī reports that Caliph ʿUmar b. ʿAbd Al-ʿAzīz – Allāh have mercy on him – wrote (in his orders):There is no place for anyone’s opinion [when it comes to] what is in the Book (revelation). The opinion of the imāms (great scholars) is only regarding what the Book did not come down with, and regarding which no Sunnah has passed from the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. And the opinion of no one is counted in the face of a Sunnah from the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ.Al-Ājurrī, Al-Sharīʿah #113 et al.
 
The Reality of Dhikr and Fear of AllahIt is reported that Saʿīd b. Jubayr – Allāh have mercy on him – said:Verily, fear (al-khashyah) is that you fear Allāh such that your fear comes between you and your disobedience (of Allāh). That is khashyah. And dhikr (remembrance) is obedience to Allāh: whoever obeys Allāh has remembered Him; and whoever does not obey Him is not a rememberer of Him, even if he says a lot of tasbīḥ and recites a lot of Qurān.Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 4:326.
 
Verily my happiness is my Iman; and verily, my Iman is in my heart; and verily, my heart does not belong to anyone but Allah - Asmaa Bint Abi Bakr
 
The Best Things a Person Can be GivenIt is reported from Ḥabīb Al-Jallāb that he asked ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him:“What is the best thing a person is ever given?” He replied, “Innate intelligence.” He then asked, “And if not that?” He replied, “Good conduct.” He then asked, “And if not that?” He replied, “A compassionate brother to consult.” He then asked, “And if not that?” He replied, “Long silence.” He asked, “And if not that?” Ibn Al-Mubārak replied, “Then an early death.”Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 8:397.
 
It is reported that Al-Zuhrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said to Yūnus b. Yazīd:O Yūnus! Do not try to overcome knowledge, for verily knowledge is [like vast] valleys: whichever of them you take will stop you before you traverse it. Instead, take it over the days and nights. And do not take knowledge all at once, for whoever tries to take it all at once will lose it all at once. Rather take it bit by bit over the days and nights.Ibn ʿAbd Al-Barr, Jāmiʿ Bayān Al-ʿIlm article 652.
 
It is reported that Abū Al-Dardāʾ – Allāh be pleased with him – said:When you adorn your copies of the Qurān and embellish your mosques, destruction will be upon you.Ibn Al-Mubārak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqāʾiq, article 746. Shaykh Al-Albānī stated that the chain of transmission of this narration consists of reliable reporters, except he did not know if the reporter Bakr b. Suwādah had heard directly from Abū Al-Dardāʾ. The narration corroborates a similar ḥadīth reported from the Prophet ﷺ himself. See Al-Ṣaḥīḥah ḥadīth 1351.
 
How to Look at Yourself and OthersIt is reported that Bakr b. ʿAbdillāh Al-Muzanī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:When you see someone older than you, say: he has preceded me in īmān and righteous actions so he is better than me; and when you see someone younger than you, say: I have preceded him in sinning and disobedience so he is better than me. And when you see your brothers honouring and revering you, say: this is a virtue they have attained; and when you see them falling short (in their treatment of you) say: this is [because of] a sin I committed.Ibn Al-Jawzī, Ṣifatu Al-Ṣafwah, article 505: Bakr b. ʿAbdillāh Al-Muzanī.
 
We Take Our Religion from the CompanionsʿAbbād b. Al-ʿAwwām narrates:Sharīk b. ʿAbdillāh came to us around fifty years ago, and we said to him, “O Abū ʿAbdillāh, here amongst us there are people from the Muʿtazilah who reject these āḥādīth [like]: ‘Allāh descends to the lowest heaven’, and ‘the people of Jannah will see their Lord’. So Sharīk narrated to me around ten such narrations, then said: ‘As for us, we have taken our religion from the sons of the Tābiʿīn, from the Ṣaḥābah. Who have they taken from?’”Al-Ḏahabī, Al-ʿUluw. Graded ṣaḥīḥ by Al-Albānī in Mukhtaṣar Al-ʿUluw article 146.
 
The Worst FitnahIt is reported that Ḥudhayfah – Allāh be pleased with him – was asked:“What is the worst fitnah?” He replied, “That good and evil is presented to you and you do not know which of them to follow.”Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf, Kitāb Al-Fitan, article 38565.
 
The Zuhd of Abu Ubaydah and the Tears of UmarIt is reported from ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar:When ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb arrived in Al-Shām, he said to Abū ʿUbaydah – Allāh be pleased with them: “Take us to your home.” Abū ʿUbaydah said, “And what will you do with my home?” ʿUmar replied, “Just take us there.” Abū ʿUbaydah said, “You only want to cry your eyes out over me.” So he entered his house and saw nothing [by way of furnishings] in it. ʿUmar asked, “Where are your things? I see nothing but rags, a water-skin and a dish (tray), and you are a governor! Do you have food?” So Abū ʿUbaydah went over to an old pail (bucket) and took out some scraps, and ʿUmar began to weep. Abu ʿUbaydah said to him, “I told you you would cry your eyes out over me. O Commander of the Believers, sufficient for you from the dunyā is what delivers you to your place of rest.” ʿUmar said, “The dunyā changed us all except you Abū ʿUbaydah.”Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb Al-Zuhd article 123, and others.
 
Whenever ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās – Allāh be pleased with them – saw a muṣḥaf (copy of the Qurān) decorated with silver or gold he would say:Do you tempt the thief, when its beauty is in its inside?Abū ʿUbayd Al-Qāsim b. Sallām, Faḍāʾil Al-Qurān article 907.
 
It is reported that ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib – Allāh be pleased with him – said:Blessings arrive with gratitude [to Allāh], and gratitude is connected with more [blessings], and the two are tied together: more blessings from Allāh will never stop unless gratitude from the servant stops.Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Al-Shukr article 18.
 
Three Exhorters
It is reported that ʿAbd Al-ʿAzīz b. Abī Rawwād – Allāh have mercy on him – said to a man:

Whoever does not take exhortation [and is not effected] by three things, will not be exhorted by anything: Islām, the Qurān and old age (graying).
Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Al-ʿUmr Wa Al-Shayb #40
 
Imam Ibn al Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah said:
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The heart will rest and feel relief if it is settled with Allah. And it will worry and feel anxious if it is settled with the people.
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Teaching Children To Love Abu Bakr & Umar

It is reported that Imām Mālik said:
The Salaf used to teach their children to love Abū Bakr and ʿUmar like they used to teach them a sūrah of the Qurān.

Al-Lālakāʾī, Sharḥ ʾUsūl ʾIʿtiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah #2325.
 

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