In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The best of generations in their conduct and example.
Following the Messenger, peace be upon him, in his striving and his speech.
A society of affection.
Proceeding.
Portraits from the lives of the Tabi'un.
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha.
May Allah have mercy upon him.
Abu Hanifah al-Nu'man.
May Allah have mercy upon him.
He was of a handsome face and a striking appearance.
Eloquent in speech and pleasant in conversation.
He was not excessively tall.
Nor was he short, such that the eyes would turn away from him.
Beyond that, he was a man who dressed in elegant clothing.
He had a radiant appearance and used perfume generously.
Whenever he appeared before people,
They would recognize him by his fragrance before they even saw him.
That is al-Nu'man ibn Thabit ibn al-Marzuban,
Known by the kunya Abu Hanifah.
He was the first to unfold the blossoms of fiqh,
And extract from them the most exquisite of scents.
Abu Hanifah lived through the end of the Umayyad era,
And the beginning of the Abbasid era.
He lived in a time when the caliphs and governors were lavish
In their generosity toward those of talent,
To the point that their sustenance came to them easily from every place,
Without them even realizing it.
However, Abu Hanifah honored his knowledge and his own soul too much for that,
And he resolved to live only from the earnings of his own hands,
And that his hand would always be the upper one.
Once, al-Mansur asked to visit him.
When he arrived at his place,
He showed him great honor, respect, and welcome,
And brought him close to his own seat.
He began asking him about many matters of religion and worldly affairs.
When he intended to leave,
He handed him a bag containing thirty thousand dirhams,
Despite al-Mansur’s well-known stinginess.
Abu Hanifah said to him,
"O Commander of the Faithful,
I am a stranger in Baghdad,
And this money has no place with me,
And I fear for it,
So keep it for me in the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal),
Until I need it, at which point I will ask you for it."
Al-Mansur granted his request.
However, life did not last long for Abu Hanifah after that.
When his time came,
There were found in his house deposits belonging to people that exceeded many times that amount.
When al-Mansur heard of this, he said,
"May Allah have mercy on Abu Hanifah,
For he deceived us,
And refused to take anything from us,
And was subtle in turning us away."
And it is no wonder,
For Abu Hanifah was certain that
No person ever ate a morsel more wholesome,
Nor more honorable, than a morsel earned by the work of his own hands.
Therefore, we find him dedicating a portion of his time to trade.
He began trading in silk and fine fabrics.
His trade went back and forth between the cities of Iraq.
He had a well-known shop that people would seek out,
Where they would find honesty in transactions,
And integrity in taking and giving.
There is no doubt that they also found high taste there.
His trade brought him abundant goodness,
And bestowed upon him much wealth from the bounty of Allah.
He would take wealth from its lawful source and place it in its proper place.
It was known that whenever a year passed,
He would calculate the profits from his trade,
Keep what was sufficient for his own expenses,
And then buy with the remainder the needs of the reciters of the Qur'an and the scholars of hadith,
As well as the jurists and students of knowledge, providing their food and clothing.
He would allocate a sum of cash for each of them,
And hand it all to them, saying,
"These are the profits of your goods, which Allah has caused to reach you through my hands.
By Allah, I have not given you anything from my own wealth,
It is only the bounty of Allah upon me for your sake,
For in the provision of Allah, there is no power for anyone other than Allah."
The news of Abu Hanifah’s generosity and magnanimity spread far and wide,
Especially with his companions and associates.
Among these stories is that one of his companions came to his shop one day and said,
"I am in need of a silk garment, O Abu Hanifah."
Abu Hanifah asked him, "What color?"
He replied, "Such and such."
He said, "Be patient until I find one, and I will get it for you."
By the time the week had passed, he had found the requested garment.
His companion passed by, and Abu Hanifah said to him,
"I have found what you needed."
And he brought out the garment for him.
He liked it and asked,
"How much should I pay your assistant for it?"
He replied, "One dirham."
The man said in astonishment,
"One dirham?"
Abu Hanifah said, "Yes."
The man said to him,
"I did not think you would mock me, O Abu Hanifah."
Abu Hanifah replied,
"I have not mocked you,
I bought this garment and another one with it
For twenty gold dinars.
[I sold the first for twenty dinars and] one silver dirham.
I have already sold one of the two garments for twenty gold dinars,
And this one remains with me for one dirham.
And I would never seek profit from my companion."
An old woman came to him seeking a silk garment,
And he brought out the requested garment for her.
She said to him,
"I am an old woman,
And I have no knowledge of prices,
And this is a matter of trust,
So sell me the garment for what it cost you,
And add a little profit to it,
For I am weak."
He said to her,
"I bought two garments in a single transaction,
Then I sold one of them for the cost price,
Except for four dirhams.
So take it for that,
And I do not want any profit from you."
One day, he saw ragged clothes on one of his companions.
When the people had left,
And no one remained in the gathering except him and the man,
He said to him,
"Lift this prayer mat,
And take what is underneath it."
The man lifted the mat,
And there were a thousand dirhams underneath it.
Abu Hanifah said to him,
"Take it and improve your situation with it."
The man said,
"I am well-off,
And Allah has blessed me,
And I have no need for it."
Abu Hanifah said to him,
"If Allah has blessed you,
Then where are the traces of His blessing?
Has it not reached you that the Messenger of Allah, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said:
'Indeed, Allah loves to see the trace of His blessing upon His servant.'
So you should improve your situation,
So that you do not sadden your friend."
The generosity of Abu Hanifah and his kindness to people reached such a point
That whenever he spent on his family,
He would give the same amount in charity to others in need.
And whenever he wore a new garment,
He would clothe the poor with the equivalent of its price.
And when food was placed before him,
He would set aside double what he usually ate,
And give it to the poor.
Among the things narrated about him
Is that he made a covenant with himself
That he would not swear by Allah during his speech
Without giving a silver dirham in charity.
Then he progressed in the matter,
And made a covenant with himself that if he swore by Allah,
He would give a gold dinar in charity.
So whenever he swore truthfully, he would give a dinar.
Hafs ibn Abd al-Rahman was
A partner of Abu Hanifah in some of his trade.
Abu Hanifah would prepare silk goods for him,
And send them with him to some of the cities of Iraq.
Once, he prepared a large amount of goods for him,
And informed him that there were defects in such-and-such a garment.
He said to him, "When you intend to sell them,
Inform the buyer of the defect in them."
Hafs sold all the goods,
And forgot to inform the buyers
Of the defects in the faulty garments.
He exerted himself to remember the men
To whom he had sold the faulty garments,
But he did not succeed.
When Abu Hanifah learned of the matter,
And was unable to identify those
Who had been wronged,
He could not find peace,
And his soul was not at rest until he gave away
The entire price of the goods in charity.
Abu Hanifah was,
Above all of that,
Pleasant in company,
Sweet in conversation,
His companion would be happy with him,
And those who were absent from him would not suffer,
Even if they were his enemies.
One of his companions narrated, saying:
"I heard Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak
Say to Sufyan al-Thawri,
'O Abu Abd Allah,
How far is Abu Hanifah from backbiting!
For I have never heard him
Mention an enemy of his with evil at all.'"
Sufyan said to him,
"Abu Hanifah is too wise to allow
His good deeds to be taken away."
Abu Hanifah was
Keen on capturing people’s affection,
He was keen to maintain their friendship.
For it was known of him
that a man might pass by him
from among the people,
and sit in his gathering without prior intent,
nor any prior acquaintance.
Yet, when the man would leave, he would inquire about him.
If the man were in need, he would assist him.
If he were ill, he would visit him.
And if he had a request, he would fulfill it,
until he drew the person into a lasting bond with him.
Before all of that, Abu Hanifah was,
and above all of that,
a man who fasted by day and stood in prayer by night,
a constant companion to the Qur'an,
and one who sought forgiveness in the hours before dawn.
Among the reasons for his deep immersion in worship
and his dedication to it
was that he once approached a group of people
and heard them saying,
"This man whom you see
does not sleep at night."
No sooner had their words touched his ears
than he said,
"I am in the eyes of the people different from what I am
in the sight of Allah.
By Allah, people shall not speak of me from this hour forth with what I do not do.
I shall not lay my head upon a bed at night from this day on,
until I meet Allah."
From that day, he committed himself to standing in prayer for the entire night.
When darkness cast its veil over the universe,
and people surrendered their sides to their beds,
he would rise and put on his finest clothes,
comb his beard, apply perfume, and adorn himself.
Then he would stand in his prayer niche,
spending his night in devout obedience,
or bowing his back over the verses of the Qur'an,
or raising his hands in humble supplication.
He would sometimes recite the entire Qur'an in a single rak'ah,
and at other times, he would spend the entire night reciting a single verse.
It is narrated that he spent the whole night
repeating the words of the Almighty,
"Nay, but the Hour is their appointed time,
and the Hour will be more grievous and more bitter."
"Nay, but the Hour is their appointed time,
and the Hour will be more grievous and more bitter."
He would weep out of fear of Allah with a weeping
that would rend the very heartstrings,
sobbing with a hoarse cry that would break the soul.
It was known of him that he performed the Fajr prayer with the wudu of Isha
for about forty years,
never once failing to do so during that time.
And that he completed the Qur'an in the very place where he passed away
seven thousand times.
When he would recite Surah al-Zalzalah,
his skin would tremble and his heart would quake.
He would take hold of his beard and begin to say,
"O You who rewards the weight of an atom of good with good,
and O You who rewards the weight of an atom of evil with evil,
save Your servant al-Nu'man from the Fire,
and distance him from that which brings him closer to it,
and admit him into Your vast mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful."
I have not seen anyone more intelligent, more virtuous, or more pious than Abu Hanifah.
Yazid ibn Harun [said this],
in stance and in example,
following the Messenger whether in his striving or his speech.
They were here, watering our lives like rain clouds,
and so, among us, their memory remains exalted.
They departed, leaving behind a question in the conscience:
Is there any star like them that has risen and shone?
They filled life with pride through their deeds,
and the world of humanity flourished because of them.