In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The best of generations in their conduct and example,
Following the Messenger whenever he strove or spoke.
The Mawadda Association
Presents:
Portraits from the Lives of the Tabi'un
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
Silah Ibn Ashyam al-'Adawi,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
Silah Ibn Ashyam al-'Adawi:
A worshiper among the worshipers of the night,
And a knight among the knights of the day.
When the darkness would spread its curtains over the universe,
And people would surrender their sides to their beds,
He would rise and perform a perfect ablution.
Then he would stand in his prayer niche and enter into his prayer,
Becoming lost in longing for his Lord.
A divine radiance would shine within his soul,
Illuminating the horizons of the universe for his inner vision,
And showing him the signs of Allah in the heavens and the earth.
Furthermore, he was passionate about the Qur'an of the dawn.
When the final watch of the night approached,
He would bow his back over the parts of the Qur'an,
And begin to recite the clear verses of Allah
With a tender voice and a poignant tone.
Sometimes he would find a sweetness in the Qur'an
That would seize the depths of his heart,
And captivate the innermost recesses of his mind out of fear of Allah.
At other times, he would feel from the Qur'an
A reverence that would shatter his very soul.
Silah Ibn Ashyam never
Slackened in this worship of his at all;
There was no difference in that regard between his staying at home
And his traveling, or his being busy and his being free.
Ja'far Ibn Zayd narrated, saying:
We went out with an army of the Muslim armies
On an expedition to the city of Kabul,
Hoping that Allah would grant us its conquest.
Silah Ibn Ashyam was in the army.
When the night let down its veils,
And we were on the road,
The soldiers set down their baggage,
Ate some food,
And performed the final evening prayer.
Then they went to their resting places, seeking
A share of rest.
I saw Silah Ibn Ashyam
Going to his resting place just as they did,
And surrendering his side to sleep just as they did.
So I said to myself,
"Where is what they say about this man's prayer,
And his worship,
And what they report of his standing in prayer
Until his feet would swell?
By Allah, I will watch him tonight
Until I see what becomes of him."
No sooner had the soldiers drowned in their sleep
Than I saw him wake from his slumber,
Move away from the camp,
Concealed by the darkness,
And enter a dense forest
Of towering trees
And wild thickets,
As if no feet had trodden there for a long age.
I followed in his footsteps.
When he reached a remote place within it,
He sought the direction of the Qibla and turned toward it,
Said the takbir for prayer,
And became absorbed in it.
I looked at him from a distance,
And saw his face radiant,
His limbs still,
His soul tranquil,
As if he found companionship in the wilderness,
Nearness in the distance,
And a shining light in the darkness.
While he was in that state,
A lion appeared to us from the eastern side of the forest.
As soon as I caught sight of it, my heart was torn with terror.
I climbed a towering tree
To hide from its harm.
The lion kept drawing closer to Silah Ibn Ashyam,
While he was drowned in his prayer,
Until it was only steps away from him.
By Allah, he did not turn toward it, nor did he pay it any mind.
When he prostrated,
I said, "Now he will be devoured."
But when he rose from his prostration and sat,
The lion stood before him as if it were observing him.
When he finished his prayer with the taslim,
He looked at the lion in calmness,
And moved his lips with words I did not hear.
Suddenly, the lion turned away from him in peace,
And returned from whence it came.
When the dawn broke,
He rose and performed the obligatory prayer,
Then he began to praise Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
With praises the likes of which I had never heard before.
Then he said,
"O Allah, I ask You to protect me from the Fire.
And would a sinful servant like me dare
To ask for Paradise?"
He kept repeating it until he wept and made me weep.
Then he returned to the army without anyone noticing him.
And to the eyes of the people, he appeared as if he had spent the night on soft cushions.
I returned in his footsteps,
Suffering from the wakefulness of the night, the exhaustion of the body, and the fear of the lion,
To a degree known only to Allah.
Silah Ibn Ashyam, along with all this,
Would not let any opportunity for exhortation and reminding pass
Without seizing it.
His method in that was
To call to the path of his Lord
With wisdom and beautiful preaching,
Thereby winning over alienated souls,
And softening hardened hearts.
Among these instances was that he would go out to the wilderness
On the outskirts of Basra for seclusion and worship.
A group of young men would pass by him,
Who had given free rein to their youth,
Playing, having fun, wandering, and frolicking.
He would greet them with friendliness,
Address them gently, and say to them,
"What do you say about a people who have resolved to travel for a great matter,
Yet during the day they deviate from the path to play and have fun,
And at night they sleep to rest?
When do you think they will complete their journey,
And reach their destination?"
He persisted in saying this time after time.
Once, he met them,
And said that statement of his to them.
A young man among them stood up and said,
"By Allah, he means no one but us!
For we play by day and sleep by night."
Then the young man separated from his companions,
And followed Silah Ibn Ashyam from that day on,
Remaining in his company until certainty (death) came to him.
Also among these instances
Is that he was walking one day with a group of his companions toward a destination of theirs,
When a young man passed by them, in the prime of his youth and the freshness of his age,
Who had let his garment hang so low that he was dragging it on the ground like the proud.
His companions were about to confront the young man,
And wanted to seize him severely with their tongues and hands.
But Silah said to them,
"Leave him to me; I will handle his matter for you."
Then he approached the young man,
And said with the gentleness of a compassionate father,
And the tone of an intimate friend,
"O son of my brother,
I have a need of you."
The young man stopped,
And said, "What is it, O uncle?"
He said, "That you raise your garment,
For that is cleaner for your garment,
More pious before your Lord,
And closer to the Sunnah of your Prophet."
The young man said in shyness,
"Yes, and with pleasure."
Then he hastened and raised his garment.
Silah said to his companions,
"This is better than what you intended.
Had you struck him and insulted him,
He would have struck you and insulted you,
And kept his garment trailing, wiping the ground with it."
Once, a young man from the youth of Basra came to him,
And said,
"Teach me, O Abu al-Sahba', from what Allah has taught you."
Silah welcomed him warmly,
And said,
"O son of my brother, you have reminded me of a past I do not forget,
When I was a young man like you,
And I came to those who remained of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
And said to them,
'Teach me from what Allah has taught you.'
They said to me,
'Make the Qur'an the protection of your soul and the spring of your heart,
Seek advice from it and advise the Muslims with it,
And supplicate to Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, as much as you can.'"
The young man said to him,
"Supplicate for me, may you be rewarded with good."
He said,
"May Allah, the Exalted, make you desire what remains,
Make you ascetic toward what perishes,
And grant you the certainty in which souls find rest,
And upon which one relies in religion."
Silah Ibn Ashyam had
A cousin named Mu'adhah al-'Adawiyyah.
She was also a Tabi'iyyah like him,
Having met the Mother of the Believers, 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
And learned from her.
Then al-Hasan al-Basri met her,
May Allah brighten his soul,
And heard from her.
She was pious, pure, a worshiper, and an ascetic.
It was her habit, when the night approached, to say,
"This might be my last night,"
And she would not sleep until morning.
And when the day dawned, she would say:
"This may well be my final day."
Thus, she would not allow herself any rest until evening fell.
She would wear thin garments during the winter,
so that the cold would prevent her from succumbing to sleep
and becoming distracted from her worship.
She would spend the night in prayer and recitation.
And when drowsiness overcame her,
she would stand and pace the house, saying:
"O soul, a long sleep lies ahead of you;
tomorrow your slumber in the grave will be long,
either in regret or in joy.
So choose for yourself today, O Mu'adhah,
what you would wish to be upon tomorrow."
Despite his intense worship and extreme asceticism, Silah Ibn Ashyam
would never turn away from the Sunnah of his Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
He sought the hand of his cousin, Mu'adhah, in marriage.
When the day came for her to be brought to him,
his nephew took charge of the preparations.
He took him to the bathhouse,
and then led him to her in a perfumed room.
Once they were alone together,
he stood to perform the two Sunnah rak'ahs.
She stood to pray behind him, following his lead.
Then, the sweetness of prayer drew them both in,
and they continued praying together until the dawn broke.
When morning came,
his nephew came to him and said,
"O uncle, I brought your cousin to you,
yet you stood praying all night and left her alone."
He replied, "O my nephew,
you brought me yesterday into a house that reminded me of the Fire,
and then you brought me into another
that reminded me of Paradise.
My thoughts remained fixed on them until morning."
The young man asked,
"How so, uncle?"
He replied,
"You took me to the bathhouse,
and its heat reminded me of the heat of Hell.
Then you took me to the bridal chamber,
and its fragrance reminded me of the fragrance of Paradise."
Silah Ibn Ashyam was not merely a devout worshiper
and an ascetic;
he was also a valiant warrior
and a heroic fighter.
Rarely did the battlefields know a man of greater might,
or stronger spirit, or sharper sword.
So much so that the Muslim commanders would compete to have him in their ranks,
each of them wanting to secure him for their army
to reap, through his courage, the great victory they aspired to.
Ja'far Ibn Zayd narrated:
"We went out on an expedition, and with us were Silah Ibn Ashyam
and Hisham Ibn 'Amir.
When we encountered the enemy,
Silah and his companion stepped forward from the ranks of the Muslims
and plunged into the enemy lines, thrusting with spears and striking with swords,
until they made a profound impact on the vanguard of the army."
Some of the enemy commanders said to one another,
"Two men from the Muslim army have brought all this upon us;
what would it be like if they all fought us?"
"Submit to the rule of the Muslims and pledge them your obedience."
In the year 76 AH,
Silah Ibn Ashyam went out on a campaign with the Muslim armies
heading toward Transoxiana.
His son was in his company.
When the two armies met
and the battle grew fierce,
Silah said to his son,
"O my son,
go forward and fight the enemies of Allah
until I count you as a martyr before the One with Whom no trust is ever lost."
The young man set out to fight the enemy
like an arrow released from a bow,
and he continued fighting until he fell as a martyr.
His father did nothing but follow in his footsteps,
and he continued to fight until he, too, fell as a martyr beside him.
When the news of their death reached Basra,
the women went to Mu'adhah al-'Adawiyyah to console her.
She said to them,
"If you have come to congratulate me,
then welcome.
But if you have come for any other reason,
then turn back, and may you be rewarded with good."
May Allah illuminate these noble and generous faces,
and reward them well on behalf of Islam and the Muslims.
For the history of humanity has known none more pious or pure than them.
Silah Ibn Ashyam learned from the great Companions,
drew inspiration from them,
and embodied their character.
Al-Asbahani said:
"The best of the flock, in standing and example,
following the Messenger whether in action or word.
They were here, watering the clouds of our lives,
and their memory remains exalted among us.
They departed, leaving 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."