1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:02,399 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 2 00:01:15,209 --> 00:01:18,209 "Send me a messenger from your soldiers so that I may speak with him." 3 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:24,560 Sa'd, may Allah be pleased with him, stood at the gates of the kingdom of Rustam, the commander of its army. 4 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:31,560 After some reflection, he sent Rib'i Ibn 'Amir to him, who was thirty years of age. 5 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,560 He was a young man among the scholars of the Companions. 6 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:40,560 Sa'd said to him, "Go, and do not change anything about your appearance." 7 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,560 "For we are a people whom Allah has honored with Islam." 8 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,560 "And whenever we seek honor in anything else, Allah will humiliate us." 9 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,560 This is an eloquent lesson: honor lies in Islam. 10 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,560 And seeking honor in anything else is humiliation. 11 00:01:56,819 --> 00:01:58,819 Rib'i set out with his lean horse. 12 00:01:59,819 --> 00:02:02,819 His worn-out clothes, and his simple spear. 13 00:02:03,980 --> 00:02:07,980 When Rustam heard that the envoy of the Muslims was about to enter upon him, 14 00:02:07,980 --> 00:02:12,979 He gathered the ruling family, the ministers, and the soldiers around him. 15 00:02:13,979 --> 00:02:17,979 They prepared themselves to intimidate this envoy, hoping he would falter, 16 00:02:18,979 --> 00:02:20,979 And be unable to speak. 17 00:02:21,979 --> 00:02:24,979 When Rustam sat down, he said, "Bring him in to me." 18 00:02:26,009 --> 00:02:27,009 He entered, leading his horse. 19 00:02:28,009 --> 00:02:34,009 He leaned with his spear upon their carpets to show them that this world is insignificant, 20 00:02:34,009 --> 00:02:36,009 And that it is cheap, 21 00:02:37,009 --> 00:02:39,009 And that it is worth nothing in the sight of Allah. 22 00:02:40,009 --> 00:02:42,009 Among the signs of its cheapness and insignificance, 23 00:02:43,009 --> 00:02:45,009 Is that Allah gives it to those He does not love, 24 00:02:46,009 --> 00:02:49,009 And causes those He does love to sleep upon the dust. 25 00:02:50,330 --> 00:02:53,330 When he stood before him, Rustam said to him, 26 00:02:54,330 --> 00:02:55,330 "Sit down." 27 00:02:56,330 --> 00:02:57,330 Rib'i replied, 28 00:02:58,330 --> 00:02:59,330 "I have not come to you as a guest that I should sit." 29 00:03:00,330 --> 00:03:02,330 "I have only come to you as an envoy." 30 00:03:02,330 --> 00:03:05,360 Rustam said, with the interpreter between them, 31 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:07,360 "What is the matter with you, O Arabs?" 32 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,360 "We have never known a people more humiliated than you," 33 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,360 "Nor of lower status than you." 34 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:15,360 "You are a people of ignorance," 35 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:17,360 "Chasing camels in the desert." 36 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:20,360 "So what has brought you here?" 37 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:22,360 Rib'i said, 38 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:24,360 "Yes, O King." 39 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:26,360 "We were as you said, and even worse." 40 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,360 "We were a people of ignorance, worshipping idols," 41 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,360 "Where a relative would kill his own kin over a sheep." 42 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,419 "But Allah has raised us up," 43 00:03:37,419 --> 00:03:39,419 "To bring the servants out from the worship of servants," 44 00:03:40,419 --> 00:03:42,419 "To the worship of the Lord of the servants," 45 00:03:43,419 --> 00:03:44,419 "And from the narrowness of this world," 46 00:03:45,419 --> 00:03:46,419 "To the vastness of the Hereafter." 47 00:03:47,780 --> 00:03:48,780 Yes. 48 00:03:49,780 --> 00:03:50,780 This is how the Ummah rose, 49 00:03:51,780 --> 00:03:53,780 On the day it held fast to its religion. 50 00:03:54,780 --> 00:03:55,780 We were shepherds of sheep, 51 00:03:56,780 --> 00:03:58,780 Then we became leaders of nations. 52 00:03:58,780 --> 00:04:00,840 But when we abandoned our religion, 53 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:03,840 And immersed ourselves in sins and transgressions, 54 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:06,840 And became preoccupied away from precious things, 55 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:08,840 With base things, 56 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:11,840 Our enemies became ingenious in impoverishing us, 57 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:14,840 And in leading us astray and corrupting us. 58 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:17,839 The news is before you, 59 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:20,839 And reality is the best proof. 60 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,839 So when shall we return to leading the nations?