1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:12,140 Pause and reflect upon the Companions, the scholars, and the eminent figures of our history. 2 00:00:12,140 --> 00:00:16,140 A new challenge: who am I? 3 00:00:16,140 --> 00:00:23,059 I am a Companion from among the youths of the Ansar. 4 00:00:23,059 --> 00:00:28,059 I embraced Islam before the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, arrived in Medina. 5 00:00:28,059 --> 00:00:32,060 Then, I pledged allegiance to him upon his arrival there. 6 00:00:32,060 --> 00:00:36,060 I was always in the outskirts, tending to my small flock of sheep. 7 00:00:36,060 --> 00:00:44,060 The Prophet, peace be upon him, gave me the choice to pledge allegiance as a Bedouin or as a Muhajir (emigrant). 8 00:00:44,060 --> 00:00:48,119 I replied, "Rather, the pledge of the Muhajirin." 9 00:00:48,119 --> 00:00:53,079 Then I went out to my sheep to tend to them. 10 00:00:53,079 --> 00:00:59,079 There were twelve of us who had embraced Islam, living far from Medina. 11 00:00:59,079 --> 00:01:03,079 We would graze our sheep in the surrounding wilderness. 12 00:01:03,079 --> 00:01:08,079 We agreed that one of us would go to Medina each day. 13 00:01:08,079 --> 00:01:12,079 He would leave his sheep with us for us to tend to them for him. 14 00:01:12,079 --> 00:01:16,140 When he returned, we would learn from him what he had learned. 15 00:01:16,140 --> 00:01:22,140 I said to them, "Go to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him." 16 00:01:22,140 --> 00:01:27,140 "I will stay here and tend to your sheep along with my own." 17 00:01:27,140 --> 00:01:31,269 I was extremely diligent in caring for them. 18 00:01:31,269 --> 00:01:37,269 My companions began going back and forth to the Prophet, peace be upon him. 19 00:01:37,269 --> 00:01:39,269 While I remained tending the sheep. 20 00:01:39,269 --> 00:01:42,269 Until I took myself to task and said, 21 00:01:42,269 --> 00:01:47,269 "Woe to you! For the sake of a few sheep that neither fatten nor nourish," 22 00:01:47,269 --> 00:01:53,269 "Will you miss out on the companionship of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him?" 23 00:01:53,269 --> 00:01:56,299 "And taking the Qur'an directly from his lips?" 24 00:01:56,299 --> 00:02:00,299 Then I abandoned my sheep and set off for Medina. 25 00:02:00,299 --> 00:02:06,299 To reside in the mosque, adjacent to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. 26 00:02:06,299 --> 00:02:11,199 I kept close company with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. 27 00:02:11,199 --> 00:02:16,199 He would often have me ride behind him on his mount. 28 00:02:16,199 --> 00:02:21,330 To the point that I became known as the one who rode behind the Prophet, peace be upon him. 29 00:02:21,330 --> 00:02:23,330 On one occasion, 30 00:02:23,330 --> 00:02:28,330 I was holding the reins of the mule of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 31 00:02:28,330 --> 00:02:30,330 While he was riding it. 32 00:02:30,330 --> 00:02:33,330 We were traveling through the outskirts of Medina. 33 00:02:33,330 --> 00:02:36,330 He said to me, "Will you not ride?" 34 00:02:36,330 --> 00:02:42,330 I felt too much reverence for the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, to ride in his place. 35 00:02:42,330 --> 00:02:45,419 He repeated the offer to me three times. 36 00:02:45,419 --> 00:02:48,419 I intended to say no, 37 00:02:48,419 --> 00:02:52,419 But I feared that doing so might be an act of disobedience. 38 00:02:52,419 --> 00:02:54,419 So I said, "Yes." 39 00:02:54,419 --> 00:02:58,419 He dismounted, I rode for a brief moment, and then I dismounted. 40 00:02:58,419 --> 00:03:02,419 Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, mounted again. 41 00:03:02,419 --> 00:03:04,460 Then he said to me, 42 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:08,460 "Shall I not teach you two surahs the likes of which have never been seen?" 43 00:03:08,460 --> 00:03:11,550 I said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." 44 00:03:11,550 --> 00:03:13,550 So he recited to me, 45 00:03:13,550 --> 00:03:15,550 “Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak” (113:1) 46 00:03:15,550 --> 00:03:18,550 "Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind." 47 00:03:18,550 --> 00:03:20,550 Then the prayer was called. 48 00:03:20,550 --> 00:03:24,550 The Prophet, peace be upon him, stepped forward, 49 00:03:24,550 --> 00:03:26,550 And recited them in the prayer. 50 00:03:26,550 --> 00:03:28,550 Then he said to me, 51 00:03:28,550 --> 00:03:33,259 "Recite them whenever you go to sleep and whenever you wake." 52 00:03:33,259 --> 00:03:38,259 Because of my constant attendance upon the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 53 00:03:38,259 --> 00:03:40,259 I learned the Qur'an from him, 54 00:03:40,259 --> 00:03:43,259 Until I became one of the reciters. 55 00:03:43,259 --> 00:03:46,259 I was known for my beautiful voice in reciting it. 56 00:03:46,259 --> 00:03:51,259 Often, the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, 57 00:03:51,259 --> 00:03:56,259 Would ask me to recite some of the Qur'an to him. 58 00:03:56,259 --> 00:04:00,449 And when I would recite, he would weep, may Allah be pleased with him. 59 00:04:00,449 --> 00:04:02,449 When death approached me, 60 00:04:02,449 --> 00:04:06,449 I gathered my sons and advised them, saying, 61 00:04:06,449 --> 00:04:08,449 "O my sons," 62 00:04:08,449 --> 00:04:10,539 "I forbid you from three things:" 63 00:04:10,539 --> 00:04:16,540 "Do not accept a hadith from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, except from a trustworthy source," 64 00:04:16,540 --> 00:04:20,579 "Do not incur debt, even if you have to wear a patched cloak," 65 00:04:20,579 --> 00:04:22,579 "And do not write poetry," 66 00:04:22,579 --> 00:04:25,579 "Lest you become preoccupied with it and neglect the Qur'an." 67 00:04:25,579 --> 00:04:27,899 So, who am I?