In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Lives of the Salaf Between Words and Deeds
The Stance of the Salaf Towards Wealth
Censuring the Heart's Attachment to Wealth
Wealth was brought to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) during his governorship.
He began to inspect it and look upon it,
and then his eyes overflowed with tears and he wept.
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf said to him,
"What makes you weep, O Commander of the Faithful?
By Allah, this is surely an occasion for gratitude!"
'Umar replied, "By Allah, whenever wealth was given to a people,
it inevitably cast enmity and hatred among them."
On the authority of Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), he said,
"The owner of two dirhams faces a far harder reckoning than the owner of one dirham."
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"By Allah, I met people—
even if one of them were to inherit immense wealth..."
He said, "...and by Allah, he was in severe poverty and hardship."
He said, "He would say to his brother,
'O my brother, I know that I have an inheritance, and it is lawful,
but I fear that it will corrupt my heart and my deeds.
Therefore, it is yours; I have no need of it.'
He would not take a single thing from it, ever."
He said, "And by Allah, he was in severe poverty and hardship."
And he used to swear by Allah,
"No one ever venerated the dirham except that Allah humiliated him."
Al-Mutanabbi said,
"And whoever spends hours amassing his wealth
for fear of poverty, his very actions are poverty itself."
And Abu Nuwas said,
"You belong to wealth as long as you withhold it,
but when you spend it, wealth belongs to you."
Leaving Wealth for One's Heirs
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) fell ill,
and making a bequest was mentioned to him.
He said, "As for my liquid wealth,
Allah knows best what I used to do with it.
But as for my real estate and lands,
I do not wish for anyone to share in them with my children."
And Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) left behind seventy thousand.
The total wealth of Al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) was
fifty million.
A wife of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) was bought out of her share of the inheritance—
a third of her share—
for three hundred and eighty thousand.
On the authority of 'Amir ibn 'Abd Qays (may Allah have mercy on him), he said,
"There is no wealth greater in reward
than wealth a man leaves behind for his children, making them independent of people."
Al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) passed away leaving behind ten thousand.
Prioritizing Actions
On the authority of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid, he said,
"I have never seen a scholar of fiqh who fasted less than 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him)."
It was said to him, "Why do you not fast?"
He replied,
"I prefer prayer over fasting.
When I fast, I grow too weak to pray."
On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), he said,
"To maintain a household of Muslims for a month, or a Friday-to-Friday, or whatever Allah wills,
is beloved to me than performing Hajj after Hajj.
And a tray of food worth a fraction of a dirham that I gift to a brother for the sake of Allah
is more beloved to me than a dinar I spend in the cause of Allah Almighty."
It was said to Malik ibn Anas (may Allah have mercy on him),
"What do you say regarding the pursuit of knowledge?"
He said,
"It is good and beautiful.
But look to that which is required of you from morning until evening, and adhere to it."
Abu Sulayman al-Darani (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"Whoever is engaged in a voluntary act of worship that brings him delight,
and when the time for an obligatory prayer arrives, that delight in the voluntary act does not cease,
then he is deluded in his voluntary worship."
Good Character
On the authority of Umm al-Darda', she said,
"Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) spent the night praying,
and he began weeping and saying,
'O Allah, You have made my physical creation fine, so make my character fine,'
until morning came.
I said, 'O Abu al-Darda',
your supplication all night long was only about good character!'
He said,
'O Umm al-Darda',
a Muslim servant continues to refine his character
until his good character admits him into Paradise;
and his character worsens until his bad character admits him into the Fire.'"
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)
was among the most lighthearted and cheerful of people.
He was asked,
"Did the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) laugh?"
He said, "Yes,
while faith in their hearts was greater than mountains."
On the authority of Mu'adh ibn Sa'id, he said,
"We were with 'Ata' ibn Abi Rabah (may Allah have mercy on him),
when a man began recounting a hadith,
and another man interrupted him during his account.
'Ata' said,
'Subhan Allah!
What manners are these?
Indeed, I hear a hadith from a man when I am more knowledgeable about it than he is,
yet I show him as if I know nothing of it.'"
'Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"Everything has a foundation,
and the foundation of Islam
is good character."
On the authority of 'Awn ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him),
he used to say,
"The believer is friendly and approachable,
and there is no good in one who neither brings harmony nor receives it."
A man acted foolishly toward one of the salaf (may Allah have mercy on him),
so he remained silent toward him,
and said, "O my brother,
even if you were to point out every flaw in me,
you could never diminish me as much as I know myself to be deficient."
Then he said,
"A man acted foolishly toward Ishaq ibn Rahawayh (may Allah have mercy on him),
so he bore it patiently and said,
'For what purpose did we learn sacred knowledge?'"
Qabisah said,
"Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) was lighthearted;
I used to fall behind him out of fear that he would disarm me with his humor."
One of the salaf was seen in a dream,
and he was asked about one of his righteous brothers.
He said,
"Where is he?
He was raised to high ranks in Paradise because of his good character."
Some of them said,
"Seekers of praise have never acquired it
with anything like cheerfulness and a welcoming face."
Zuhayr ibn 'Abbad (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"Whenever I said to Malik ibn Anas, 'May Allah have mercy on you,'
he would reply,
'And may Allah have mercy on you.'
And if I said to him, 'May Allah grant you wellbeing,'
he would reply,
'And may Allah grant you wellbeing.'"
Good Etiquette
He said,
"He had the finest character among people toward his family and children,
and he would say,
'In doing so lies the pleasure of your Lord.'"
The poet said,
"People may live an era without affection between them,
yet greeting with peace and gentleness plants it."
A wise man was asked,
"Who taught you etiquette?"
He said,
"I observed the ignorance of the ignorant person and avoided it."
Ibn al-Muqaffa' (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"It is the duty of a rational person to hold up two mirrors:
in one, he looks at his own faults
so that he humbles himself
and rectifies what he can of them;
and in the other, he looks at the virtues of people
so that he adopts what he can of them."
Censuring Bad Character and Explaining Its Evil Consequences
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"Whoever has bad character tortures himself."
One of the salaf said,
"He said: A person of good character is treated like family among strangers,
whereas a person of bad character is like a stranger among his own family."
On the authority of Abu Hazim (may Allah have mercy on him), he said,
"The person of bad character inflicts the greatest hardship upon the soul within his own chest;
it is in constant misery from him.
Next is his wife, then his child—
to the extent that he enters his house while they are in joy,
but when they hear his voice, they scatter in fear of him;
even his riding beast veers away to avoid the stones he throws at it,
his dog sees him and leaps onto the wall,
and even his cat flees from him."
'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
"A man should guard against meanness of character
just as he guards against what is forbidden."
A renunciate once visited Harun al-Rashid (may Allah have mercy on him) one day
and said, "O Harun, fear Allah!"
So Harun took him aside in private and said,
"O fellow, be fair with me!
Am I worse, or Pharaoh?"
He replied, "Rather, Pharaoh."
Harun said, "And are you better, or Moses?"
He replied, "Rather, Moses."
Harun said, "Do you not know that when Allah Almighty sent him and his brother to Pharaoh, He said: ﴿Speak to him gentle words﴾?
“And speak unto him a gentle word, that peradventure he may heed or fear.” (20:44)
Yet you confronted me with the harshest words!
You have neither disciplined yourself with the manners of Allah,
nor adopted the character of the righteous."
The man said, "I was mistaken, and I ask Allah's forgiveness."
Harun said, "May Allah forgive you,"
and he ordered twenty thousand dirhams for him,
but the man refused to accept it.