Gems Pearls of Wisdom of the Salaf

It is reported that the son of Al-Fuḍayl b. ‘Ayyāḍ – Allāh have mercy on him – said to his father:
Father! How sweet (beautiful) the speech of the Companions is! [Al-Fuḍayl] said, “Son, do you know why it was so sweet?” He replied, “No father, I do not.” He said, “Because they sought Allāh the Exalted when they spoke.”

Al-Bayhaqī, Shu’ab Al-īmān 2:299
 
‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdil-‘Azeez (rahimahullah) said:“

Taqwaa is not fasting by day and standing for prayers by night. But taqwaa is to desert/leave what Allah has forbidden and to fulfill what He has commanded - and whoever puts forth goodness after that, then that is khair upon khair.”

(Jaami’ ‘Uloom Wal Hikam, by Ibn Rajb p. 170)
 
It is reported that Imām Muḥammad b. Sīrīn – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

There were people who abandoned knowledge and sitting with the scholars, and [instead] took to their chambers and prayed until their skin dried [from exertion in worship]. Thereafter they began to contradict the Sunnah and thus were destroyed. By Allāh, never does a person act without knowledge, except that he spoils and corrupts more than he fixes and rectifies.

Al-Aṣbahānī, Al-Targhīb wa Al-Tarhīb 3:98
 
It is reported that Imām ‘Abdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him – was asked:
“Who are the [best] people?”
He replied, “The scholars.”
He was asked, “Who are the [real] kings?”
He replied, “the ascetics.”
He was asked, “And who are the dregs [of society]?”
He replied, “Those who use their religion as a means of devouring [wealth].”
He was asked, “Who are the rabble?”
He replied, “Khuzaymah b. Khāzim and his companions.”
And he was asked, “And who is the low person?”
He replied, “The one who talks about the rise in prices to his guest.”
Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm 2:181.
 
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
The believer does the best deeds yet is most fearful [that his deeds will not be accepted]. If he were to spend a mountain of wealth [in charity], he would not feel sure [of the reward] until he sees it. The more righteous and pious he becomes, the more he fears. But the hypocrite (munāfiq) says, ‘There are so many people, I will be forgiven, no problem.’ So he does wrong and evil deeds, yet holds foolish wishes about Allāh.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 4:586.
 
It is reported that Al-Fudayl b. ‘Ayyād – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Two things harden the heart, too much talking and too much food.
Ibn Hibbān Al-Bustī, Rawdatu Al-‘Uqalā` p45, Matba’ah Al-Sunnah Al-Muhammadīyah 1949.
 
Is-haaq ibn Abi Israaeel said: I heard Sufyaan ibn `Uyainah (rahimahullah) saying:

“There is no blessing, which Allaah bestowed upon His slaves, better than what He taught them about “Laa ilaaha illAllaah” (There is no deity worthy of being worshiped except Allaah). For verily “Laa ilaaha illAllaah” for them in the Hereafter will be like how water is for the people of the Dunyaa.”

Tahdheeb Al-Kamaal by Al-Mizzee (11/191)]
 
Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab (radi Allah) would write to his governors during his caliphate and say:

“The most important of your affairs in my view is prayer; whoever prays regularly has protected his faith, but whoever neglects it, is bound to be more negligent in other issues of faith.”

(At-Taareeqah Al-Hakamiyah, p.240)
 
Umar b. Al-Khattāb – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Verily, the followers of opinion are the enemies of the Sunan (the teachings of Allāh’s Messenger as passed down in hadith): they were unable to preserve them and their meanings escaped them, and when asked [questions] they were too embarrassed to say ‘We don’t know,’ so they opposed the Sunan with their opinions.
Ibn Abī Zamanīn, Uṣūl Al-Sunnah article 8; Al-Lālakā`ī, Sharḥ Uṣūl I’tiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah article 201 et al.
 
[h=2]A Treatment for Egotism[/h]It is reported that Imām Al-Shāfi’ī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
If you fear becoming deluded and impressed by your deeds then remember whose pleasure you are seeking, and the joy (Paradise) in which you want to be, and what punishment you fear. Whoever thinks about these things will diminish his deeds.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 10:42.
 
Salmān Al-Fārsī – Allāh be pleased with him – once visited a sick friend. When he entered upon him he said:
Have glad tidings, for verily Allāh makes the illness of a believer an expiation [for his sins] and a cause of being pleased, whereas the illness of a sinner is like a camel that has been tied by its owners, then released by them: it knows not why it was tied up nor why it was released.
Al-Bukhārī, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad in the Chapter on the Expiation [of sins through] illness. Graded ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Al-Albānī in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Adab Al-Mufrad.
 
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

“So compete in good deeds. The return of you (all) is to Allaah; then He will inform you about that in which you used to differ”
[Al Maidah 5:48].

Hasan Al Basri rahimahullah said:

"Whoever competes with you in religious commitment, compete with him, and whoever competes with you in worldly matters, give it up to him".

[Ihya Uloom Deen 4/369]
 
It is reported that ‘Awn b. ‘Abdillāh – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Those before you used to give to their worldly affairs what was left over from their pursuit of the hereafter. But today, you give to the matters of the hereafter the left-overs from your pursuit of worldly affairs.
Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyat Al-Awliyā` 10:242.
 
[h=2]A Morning with the Salaf[/h]It is reported that Imām Al-Awzā’ī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
At the time of Fajr, or a while before it, the Salaf would be as if birds were sitting on their heads: (still ) concentrating on themselves [and their worship], so much so that even if one of their closest friends came to them after having been parted from them, they would not notice him. They would remain in this state until just before sunrise. Then, they would meet each other and sit in the circles. The first thing they would discuss is the matter of their afterlife and what would become of them in the hereafter. Then they would begin the circles of Quran and Fiqh study.
Ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh Dimishq 35:184, 185.
 
[h=2]Two Days and Two Nights like no others[/h]It is reported that Anas b. Mālik – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
There are two days and two nights the likes of which no one has ever heard of before: the Day on which you will receive the news about Allāh the Exalted: whether you will receive His punishment or His mercy, the Day you will be given your book (of deeds): either in your right hand or your left, that [first] night you will spend alone in your grave, a night like no other you have spent, and that night on the morning of which will be the Day of Resurrection, after which there will be no more night.
Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 19.
 
It is reported that Al-Sha’bī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:Allāh the Exalted distinguished Abū Bakr Al-Ṣiddīq – Allāh be pleased with him – with four qualities He did not distinguish anyone else with: He called him Al-Ṣiddīq (the true believer), and He never named anyone else Al-Ṣiddīq; [Abū Bakr] was the companion of Allāh’s Messenger – praise and peace of Allāh be upon him – in the cave, and his companion during the Migration (Al-Hijrah); and Allāh’s Messenger – praise and peace of Allāh be upon him – told him to lead the prayer in the presence of the rest of the Muslims.Abu Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 2815.
 
Ibn Mubarak: "One is learned as long as he seeks knowledge, as soon as he thinks himself a scholar, he become ignorant"


[al-Mujaalasah p. 56]
 
[h=2]Troubled Times [corrupt scholars][/h]Mālik b. Dīnār – Allāh have mercy on him – once said:
Verily you are in greatly troubled times. Only one with true insight knows the times you live in. Verily you are in a time of [people] boasting and being proud.[SUP] [1][/SUP] Their tongues are swollen in their mouths, and they seek worldly gain through the deeds of the hereafter. So be warned against them for yourselves, lest they catch you in their nets. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you devour [wealth] with your knowledge. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you boast with your knowledge. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you seek to amass [wealth] with your knowledge. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you transgress [against others] with your knowledge. If you had truly sought this knowledge for Allāh, it would have been seen on you and in your deeds.
[1] The word in some reports is tafākhur (boasting and being proud) but in some other versions, other somewhat ambiguous words are found in its place.
Abū Bakr Al-Ājurrī, Kitāb Al-‘Ālim Al-Jāhil article 73 et al.
 
It is reported that Abū Hurayrah – Allāh be pleased with him – used to say about the house in which the Qur’ān is recited:
It becomes spacious for its inhabitants, the good of it becomes plentiful, the angels come to it and the devils leave it. And the house in which the Qur’ān is not recited becomes cramped for its inhabitants, has little good in it, and the devils come to it.
Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf articles 30645, 30647 and 30650.
 
It is reported that Abū Hurayrah – Allāh be pleased with him – used to say:
Whoever does not think that his speech is part of his deeds and that his character is part of his religion will be destroyed without even realizing.
Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā Dham Al-Kadhib wa Ahlī article 94.
 

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