In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you
"Portraits from the Lives of the Companions"
by Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy on him.
Sa'id Ibn al-'As, may Allah be pleased with him.
Sa'id Ibn al-'As al-Umawi al-Qurashi
was a Companion deeply rooted in glory,
of illustrious nobility.
His grandfather, Sa'id,
used to be called "Dhu al-Taj" (The Crowned One),
because whenever he wore a turban,
no one from Quraysh would wear
a turban of the same color as his
until he took it off,
out of deep respect for him and veneration
of his stature.
His father, al-'As Ibn Sa'id,
was a chieftain among the chieftains of Quraysh,
and one of their foremost leaders.
He fought alongside the polytheists
in the Battle of Badr,
together with his brother 'Utbah,
and both were killed there.
Al-'As met his death
at the hands of 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib,
may Allah be pleased with him.
When his father and uncle were slain at Badr,
Sa'id
was only two years of age.
Thereupon, 'Uthman Ibn 'Affan took him under his guardianship,
may Allah be pleased with him,
owing to the close bonds of kinship
that tied him to the young boy.
Thus, Sa'id Ibn al-'As grew up
under the care of the generous, devout,
constantly prostrating Possessor of the Two Lights,
'Uthman Ibn 'Affan,
and was raised under the watchful eyes of 'Uthman's wives,
Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum,
the daughters of the Master of the Messengers,
Muhammad Ibn 'Abdullah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Thus he inherited glory from generation
to generation,
and imbibed noble Prophetic characteristics
and magnificent morals
from their sweetest
and purest springs,
drawing Islam from its most abundant
and robust sources.
He recited the Qur'an alongside the close companion
of the Book of Allah, 'Uthman Ibn 'Affan,
and received it fresh
and tender from the mouth of the Prophet,
peace be upon him.
He was among the people whose dialect was most similar
to that of the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
He was also among the twelve
men who transcribed
the Qur'an during the era of 'Uthman
and taught it to the people.
Marks of leadership appeared upon Sa'id Ibn al-'As
ever since
he was a young youth.
It is related that a woman once vowed
to give a precious cloak
she owned to the most noble of the Arabs;
they said, "Give it to this boy,"
meaning Sa'id Ibn al-'As.
Thereafter, luxurious garments
were named
"al-Sa'idiyyah" after him.
And indeed,
they were completely right
when they foresaw for Sa'id Ibn al-'As
that eminent leadership
and unmatched generosity.
For Sa'id Ibn al-'As governed
provinces for the Muslims,
led armies on their behalf,
and achieved great conquests for them;
Allah conquered Tabaristan and Jurjan at his hands.
He remained
a governor appointed by 'Uthman
over the city of the Messenger,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
until the wronged Caliph fell as a martyr,
may Allah be pleased with him.
Yet the trait that predominated
in Sa'id Ibn al-'As
was magnanimity and generosity,
to the extent that Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi
Sufyan nicknamed him "The Generous Man
of Quraysh."
For Allah bestowed abundance upon Sa'id Ibn al-'As
without measure,
and Sa'id bestowed it upon the servants of Allah
without measure as well.
Many splendid accounts
have been related about him
in this regard,
and extraordinary, captivating stories
have been told of him that filled the pages of history
with praise and radiance.
Among these is
that Sa'id Ibn al-'As used to tie up
purses of money every Friday
and place them before
the needy worshippers,
so that when they finished their prayer,
they would take them, rejoicing
in them without having to beg.
A man from among the reciters
used to attend his gathering
and learn the Book of Allah from him.
He fell into poverty and suffered severe
destitution.
His wife said to him,
"Our governor, Sa'id Ibn al-'As,
is renowned for generosity.
If only you would mention your condition to him,
perhaps he might grant you something."
He replied, "Woe to you!
Do you want me to strip away my dignity?
By Allah, I will not do so!"
Yet his need continued to grow dire,
and his wife persisted
in urging him to ask,
until he came to the gathering of Sa'id
Ibn al-'As as he was
accustomed to doing every time.
When the people departed,
the man remained sitting in his place.
Sa'id turned to him
and said, "I presume you remain seated
for a need?"
The man remained silent.
Sa'id said to his servants,
"Leave us."
When they left, he said to him,
"None remains except you and me,
so state your need."
The man remained silent.
So he extinguished the lamp and said to him,
"May Allah have mercy on you,
you cannot see my face now,
so state your need."
He said, "May Allah rectify the affairs of the governor!
Destitution has afflicted us,
and I wanted to mention it to you,
but I felt too ashamed."
Sa'id said, "Take it easy!
When morning comes, go meet my agent, so-and-so."
In the morning,
the man met the agent of
Sa'id Ibn al-'As,
who said to him, "The governor
has ordered something for you,
so bring someone to help you carry it."
He replied, "I have no one to carry it."
He then went back to
his wife, blamed her, and said,
"You drove me to forfeit
my self-respect before Sa'id Ibn al-'As,
and he only ordered something for me
that requires someone to carry it!
I do not see that he ordered for me
anything other than flour or food;
had it been money,
it would not have required someone to carry it,
and he would have handed it directly to me!"
The woman said,
"Whatever he gives you, we are
in dire need of it, so go take it!"
The man returned to the agent,
and the agent said,
"I informed the governor that
you have no one to carry
his gift to you,
so he ordered these three servants
to carry it with you."
The man walked ahead of them,
and when they reached the house,
upon the head of each
of them was ten thousand dirhams!
He said to the servants,
"Put down what you are carrying and depart."
But they said,
"The governor has gifted us to you as well;
for he never sends a servant
with a gift to anyone
except that the servant himself becomes part of
the gift!"
A Bedouin once came to Sa'id Ibn al-'As,
so he ordered five hundred for him.
So his agent asked him,
"Five hundred dirhams,
or dinars?"
He replied, "I had intended to give you
five hundred dirhams;
but since the thought crossed your mind
that they might be dinars,
then give him five hundred dinars."
When he received the money,
the Bedouin sat down and began to weep.
Sa'id asked him,
"What is the matter with you? Did you not receive it?"
He said,
"Yes, by Allah!
Rather, I weep for the earth:
how can it bury a man like you?"
Sa'id used to advise his son 'Amr,
"O my son,
offer your kindness spontaneously
without being asked.
For if a man comes to you,
you can almost see the blood draining from his face
out of modesty and shame;
or he comes taking a great risk,
not knowing whether you will grant his request or turn him away.
By Allah, even if you were to give him all you possess,
you would still not fully compensate him for that."
And when death approached Sa'id ibn al-'As,
he gathered his sons
and said to them:
"O my sons, let not
my companions lose anything by my death except the sight of my face.
Maintain ties with them just as I used to
maintain ties with them; continue
their stipends just as I used to grant them;
and spare them the hardship
of asking. For indeed, when a man
asks for his need,
his limbs tremble
and his heart quivers with dread.
By Allah, a man tossing and turning restlessly
on his bed,
seeing you as worthy of fulfilling his need,
bestows a greater favor
upon you than anything you could ever give him."
When he passed away,
his son, 'Amr ibn Sa'id—
known as al-Ashdaq—
went to Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan
in Damascus to inform him
of his father's death.
Mu'awiyah wept and recited the verse of returning to Allah,
and asked, "Did
your father leave behind any debt?"
He replied, "Yes."
He asked, "And how much is it?"
He said, "Three hundred thousand dirhams."
Mu'awiyah said,
"It is upon me to pay it."
'Amr replied, "He instructed me
not to settle his debt except from the proceeds
of his own lands."
So Mu'awiyah purchased a land from him
equal to the amount of the debt.
'Amr ibn Sa'id then returned
to Medina
and instructed a herald to announce among the people:
"Whoever is owed a debt,
let him come to his son 'Amr to collect it."
A young man came to him
carrying a piece of leather
on which was written in his favor:
"Twenty thousand."
'Amr asked, "How did this debt become due
against my father?"
The young man replied,
"Your father was leaving the governor's
residence after having been dismissed from office,
so I followed him, walking alongside him.
When he saw me, he asked,
'Do you have a need?'
I replied, 'No,
but I simply wished to be with you
at this hour.'
He said,
'May Allah be with you.'
Then he said, 'O my nephew,
bring me an inkpot and a piece of leather.'
So I brought them to him,
and he wrote down twenty thousand for me,
and said,
'O my nephew, when our
harvest comes, we will pay that to you.'"
So 'Amr paid him
the money and added to it
a generous extra amount.
Whoever leaves behind the likes of 'Amr ibn Sa'id
has not truly died.
May Allah be pleased with the generous and noble soul,
the memorizer of the Book of Allah,
Sa'id ibn al-'As,
and may Allah illuminate his grave.
Sa'id ibn al-'As was
the most similar among the people
in his manner of speech to the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Let us proceed to the next account.