WEBVTT

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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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"Send me a messenger from your soldiers so that I may speak with him."

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Sa'd, may Allah be pleased with him, stood at the gates of the kingdom of Rustam, the commander of its army.

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After some reflection, he sent Rib'i Ibn 'Amir to him, who was thirty years of age.

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He was a young man among the scholars of the Companions.

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Sa'd said to him, "Go, and do not change anything about your appearance."

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"For we are a people whom Allah has honored with Islam."

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"And whenever we seek honor in anything else, Allah will humiliate us."

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This is an eloquent lesson: honor lies in Islam.

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And seeking honor in anything else is humiliation.

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Rib'i set out with his lean horse.

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His worn-out clothes, and his simple spear.

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When Rustam heard that the envoy of the Muslims was about to enter upon him,

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He gathered the ruling family, the ministers, and the soldiers around him.

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They prepared themselves to intimidate this envoy, hoping he would falter,

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And be unable to speak.

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When Rustam sat down, he said, "Bring him in to me."

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He entered, leading his horse.

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He leaned with his spear upon their carpets to show them that this world is insignificant,

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And that it is cheap,

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And that it is worth nothing in the sight of Allah.

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Among the signs of its cheapness and insignificance,

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Is that Allah gives it to those He does not love,

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And causes those He does love to sleep upon the dust.

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When he stood before him, Rustam said to him,

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"Sit down."

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Rib'i replied,

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"I have not come to you as a guest that I should sit."

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"I have only come to you as an envoy."

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Rustam said, with the interpreter between them,

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"What is the matter with you, O Arabs?"

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"We have never known a people more humiliated than you,"

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"Nor of lower status than you."

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"You are a people of ignorance,"

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"Chasing camels in the desert."

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"So what has brought you here?"

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Rib'i said,

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"Yes, O King."

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"We were as you said, and even worse."

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"We were a people of ignorance, worshipping idols,"

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"Where a relative would kill his own kin over a sheep."

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"But Allah has raised us up,"

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"To bring the servants out from the worship of servants,"

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"To the worship of the Lord of the servants,"

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"And from the narrowness of this world,"

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"To the vastness of the Hereafter."

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Yes.

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This is how the Ummah rose,

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On the day it held fast to its religion.

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We were shepherds of sheep,

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Then we became leaders of nations.

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But when we abandoned our religion,

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And immersed ourselves in sins and transgressions,

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And became preoccupied away from precious things,

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With base things,

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Our enemies became ingenious in impoverishing us,

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And in leading us astray and corrupting us.

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The news is before you,

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And reality is the best proof.

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So when shall we return to leading the nations?