Pearls of Wisdom of the Salaf

It is reported that Ibrāhīm b. Adham – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Whoever seeks knowledge sincerely, for the servants of Allāh to benefit by and to benefit himself, then being hidden (from fame) is more beloved to him than seeking loftiness. He is the one who becomes more lowly to himself, strives more in worship, fears Allāh more, yearns for Allāh more, and becomes more humble amongst people. He cares not what he has of this dunyā night or day.

Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab Al-Īmān article 1653.

It is reported that Yūnus b. ‘Ubayd (d. 139H) – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

I only liken the worldly life (dunyā) to a man who, whilst sleeping, sees in his dream things he likes and things he does not like. Then he wakes up (the world ends and the next life starts).


Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Dham Al-Dunyā article 21.

It is reported from Anas b. Sīrīn that he said:

It once reached us in Kūfā that Masrūq used to flee from the plague. Muḥammad denied this and said, “Let us go to his wife and ask her.” So we entered upon her and asked her about this, and she replied, “No, by Allāh, he never used to flee, but he would say, ‘These are days of preoccupation, so I like to be alone during them to worship.’ So he used to go aside and be alone to do worship. Sometimes, I would sit behind him and cry because of what I saw him doing to himself; he would pray so much that his feet would swell. I heard him say, ‘the plague, abdominal disease, postpartum bleeding and drowning: whoever dies during any of them will have it in his credit as martyrdom.'”

Ibn Saʿd, Al-Ṭabaqāt Al-Kubrā 8:202 (Al-Khānji)

ʿAlqamah reports:

Ibn Masʿūd and [the rest of] the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ used to say the qunūt supplication before bowing in the witr prayer.

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf ḥadīth 6911, and others.

Al-Albānī states, commenting on the chain of transmission of the narration in Al-Maṣannaf:

This is a good (jayyid) chain of transmission, and it comforms to the conditions stipulated by Muslim (for his Ṣaḥīḥ) … in summary: that which is authentic and established from the Companions is qunūt before bowing in the witr prayer.

Irwāʾ Al-Ghalīl 2:166.

It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

The dunyā, from its beginning to its end, is only like a man who takes a nap, sees in his dream what pleases him, and then wakes up.


Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-ʿIlm article 2056.

It is reported that Muʿādh b. Jabal – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

“O people, there are four characteristics to come, whoever can avoid reaching them should do so.” [People] asked, “And what are they?” He replied, “There will come a time in which falsehood will rise, and a time will come in which a man will say, ‘By Allāh, I do not know what I am’, he will neither live nor die upon insight (knowledge of what he should be). And a time will come in which a man will start his day on one religion and end it on another. And a time will come when a man will be given wealth from the wealth Allāh provides, in return for saying what is wrong and false and for which Allāh will be angry with him.”

Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh Dimishq 58:442

It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

How fast these days are in doing away with our lifespans, and how fast this year is in doing away with its months, and how fast this month is in doing away with its days.

Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Al-ʿUmr was Al-Shayb article 25.

It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Whoever hears of a bidʿah, let him not tell it to those who are with him, lest he cast it into their hearts.

Commenting, Al-Dhahabī states, “The majority of the Imāms of the Salaf are upon this; they see that the hearts are weak, and specious arguments ensnare.”

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 7:261.

It is reported that Harim b. Ḥayyān – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Never does the servant turn wholeheartedly to Allāh except that Allāh turns the hearts of the believers to him, providing him their love.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 4:49.

It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

Fulfil what Allāh has obligated you to do and you will be from the most devout of people, stay away from what Allāh has forbidden you and you will be from the most careful of people, and be satisfied with what Allāh has apportioned for you and you will be from the richest of people.

Hannād b. Al-Sarī, Al-Zuhd, article 1032

ʿAṭāʾ b. Yasār reports:

A man once came to Ibn ʿAbbās and said, “I proposed to a woman and she refused to marry me, then someone else proposed to her and she wanted to marry him; so I became jealous and killed her. Can I repent from this?” [Ibn ʿAbbās] asked, “Is your mother alive?” He replied, “No.” So he said, “Repent (tawbah) to Allāh the mighty and majestic, and worship him as much as you can.”

ʿAṭāʾ said, “So I went and asked Ibn ʿAbbās, ‘Why did you ask him if his mother was alive?’ He replied, ‘I do not know of any action that brings one closer to Allāh than dutifulness to the mother.'”

Al-Bukhārī, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad ḥadīth 4. Graded ṣaḥīḥ by Al-Albānī. See Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, Chapter on Dutifulness to the Mother; Al-Ṣaḥīḥah 6:711 ḥadīth 2799.

Muhammad Ibn Al-Hanafīyah – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

He is not wise who does not live in a good way with the person he has no choice but to live with, until Allāh gives him relief from that [situation].


Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 4:117 et al. Shaykh Al-Albānī graded it Sahīh in Silsilatu Al-Da’īfah 6:172, after explaining that it is not authentic as a hadīth from the Prophet – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him.

Calami-ties that Af-flict Knowl-edge
Imām Al-Zuhrī said:Verily, knowledge has calamities [that afflict it]. One of its calamities is when the scholar is left, until he goes away with his knowledge. Another calamity is forgetting [knowledge]. Yet another calamity is lying about [knowledge], and this is the worst type.

Ibn ‘Abd Al-Barr, Jāmi’ Bayān Al-‘Ilm article 684.

ʿAlqamah reports:

Ibn Masʿūd and [the rest of] the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ used to say the qunūt supplication before bowing in the witr prayer.

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf ḥadīth 6911, and others.

Al-Albānī states, commenting on the chain of transmission of the narration in Al-Maṣannaf:

This is a good (jayyid) chain of transmission, and it comforms to the conditions stipulated by Muslim (for his Ṣaḥīḥ) … in summary: that which is authentic and established from the Companions is qunūt before bowing in the witr prayer.

Irwāʾ Al-Ghalīl 2:166.

Stupid: Asking for Quran without Sunnah

It is reported that ‘Imrān b. Husayn – Allāh be pleased with him – was once relating hadīth amongst a group of people, when a man said:
Leave this and give us something from the Book of Allāh. ‘Imrān said, “You are a dunce (stupid). Do you find in the Book of Allāh details of prayer. Do you find in the Book of Allāh details of fasting!? This Qur`ān prescribes those matters, and the Sunnah explains them.”
Al-Harawī, Dham Al-Kalām article 244, et al with various wordings.

Non-Racial Supremacy

It is reported that Abū ‘Ubaydah b. Al-Jarrāḥ – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
O people! Yes, I am a man from Quraysh, but there is not a white man (literally: red), nor a black man amongst you who exceeds me in righteousness (taqwā) except that I wish I was in his skin.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 1:18.

Non-Racial Supremacy - Sayings of the Salaf Race versus righteousness. No racial discrimination or racial supremacy in Islam....