In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The life of authority lies between word and deed.
It is a matter of trust and responsibility.
'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, once said:
"If a camel were to die lost on the banks of the Euphrates,
I would fear that Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, would hold me accountable for it."
When Abu Lu'lu'ah al-Majusi stabbed him,
he called for his son 'Abdullah.
He said, "O 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar,
look at what debts I owe."
They calculated them and found them to be eighty-six thousand [dirhams] or thereabouts.
He said, "If the wealth of the family of 'Umar is sufficient to cover it,
then pay it from their assets.
If not, then ask the tribe of 'Adi ibn Ka'b.
If their wealth is not sufficient, then ask the Quraysh.
Do not go beyond them to anyone else."
When 'Utbah ibn Farqad arrived in Azerbaijan,
*khabis* (a sweet dish) was brought to him.
He tasted it and found it to be a sweet.
He said, "If you had prepared this for the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar..."
So they made two large containers of it for him,
and loaded them onto a camel with two men,
and sent them to him.
When it reached 'Umar,
he asked, "What is this?"
He replied, "This is *khabis*."
He tasted it and found it sweet.
He asked, "Do all the Muslims eat their fill of this in their homes?"
They said, "No."
He said, "Return them," and then wrote to him:
"To proceed:
It is not from your labor, nor from your father's labor,
nor from your mother's labor.
Feed the Muslims the same things you eat your fill of in your own home."
When the people suffered a famine during the time of 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him,
he would not eat anything fatty or ghee until the people had eaten.
Abu Salih al-Hanafi reported:
"I visited Umm Kulthum, may Allah be pleased with her,
and she said,
'Bring food for Abu Salih.'
They brought me broth containing some meat.
I said, 'Are you feeding me this while you are...?'"
She replied,
"How would you feel if you saw the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him?
Citrons were brought to him,
and al-Hasan or al-Husayn took a citron for a child of theirs.
He snatched it from his hand and distributed it among the Muslims."
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, used to distribute the apples of the *fay'* (public treasury).
His young son took an apple,
so he snatched it from his mouth and hurt him.
The boy went to his mother, weeping.
She sent someone to the market and bought him an apple.
When 'Umar returned, he smelled the scent of apples.
He asked,
"O Fatimah,
did you take anything from this *fay'*?"
She said, "No,"
and told him the story.
He said,
"By Allah, when I snatched it from my son,
it was as if I were snatching it from my own heart.
But I hated to squander my share from Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
for an apple from the wealth of the Muslims."
When 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, came to Medina as governor,
he prayed Dhuhr,
then called for ten men:
'Urwah,
'Ubaydullah,
Sulayman ibn Yasar,
al-Qasim,
Salim,
Kharijah,
Abu Bakr ibn 'Abd al-Rahman,
Abu Bakr ibn Sulayman ibn Abi Hathmah,
and 'Abdullah ibn 'Amir ibn Rabi'ah.
He praised Allah and extolled Him,
then said,
"I have called you for a matter in which you will be rewarded,
and in which we will be helpers for the truth.
I do not wish to decide any matter
except with your counsel,
or the counsel of those of you who are present.
If you see anyone transgressing,
or if news reaches you of an official committing an injustice,
then I adjure by Allah anyone who hears of it
to inform me."
They rewarded him with good and departed.
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him,
would not use the postal service
except for the needs of the Muslims.
He wrote to an official of his to buy him some honey,
and not to use any [postal] transport for it.
But his official loaded it onto a postal vehicle.
When it arrived, he asked,
"What was it loaded on?"
They said, "On the postal service."
He ordered that honey
to be sold and its price placed in the public treasury of the Muslims.
He said,
"You have spoiled our honey for us."
Muhammad ibn Wasi',
may Allah have mercy on him, offered a donkey of his for sale.
A man said to him,
"Would you be satisfied with it for me?"
He said,
"If I were satisfied with it for you, I would not be selling it."
Shaykh 'Abdullah al-Bassam, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The Shaykh told me,
Salih ibn 'Abdullah al-Zughaybi, may Allah have mercy on him,
that during his tenure as Imam in the Prophet's Mosque,
which exceeded twenty years,
he never missed a prayer,
and he never appointed a deputy."
Steadfastness in religion and sacrifice for its sake.
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"Do not be a 'follower' (imma'ah)."
They asked, "And what is a 'follower'?"
He said,
"He who says, 'I am with the people;
if they are guided, I am guided,
and if they go astray, I go astray.'
Rather, let each of you resolve that if the people disbelieve, he will not disbelieve."
He also said, may Allah be pleased with him:
"The first to manifest their Islam were seven:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
Abu Bakr, 'Ammar,
his mother Sumayyah, Suhayb,
Bilal, and al-Miqdad.
As for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
Allah protected him through his uncle Abu Talib.
As for Abu Bakr,
Allah protected him through his people.
As for the others,
the polytheists seized them,
dressed them in coats of iron,
and scorched them in the sun.
There was not a single one among them
who did not agree to what they wanted,
except for Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him.
He held his own soul cheap for the sake of Allah,
and he became insignificant to his people.
They gave him to the children,
who began dragging him through the mountain passes of Mecca,
while he was saying, 'One, One!'"
Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
has made Paradise the price for your souls,
so do not sell them for anything else."
Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, used to say:
"The wonder is not at those who perished,
[wondering] how they perished;
the wonder is only at those who were saved,
[wondering] how they were saved."
It was said to Ibn al-Mubarak,
may Allah have mercy on him:
"By what did Ibn 'Awn rise?"
He said, "By steadfastness (istiqamah)."
Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah,
may Allah have mercy on him,
used to say:
"Follow the paths of truth,
and do not feel lonely because of the fewness of those who travel them."
'Ata' ibn Yasar,
may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Iblis appeared to a man at the time of death,
and said,
'You have escaped me.'
He replied,
'I am not yet secure from you.'"
'Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal,
may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"When death approached my father,
I sat beside him
with a cloth in my hand to bind his jaw.
He would break into a sweat,
then recover,
then open his eyes,
and gesture with his hand like this:
'Not yet,
not yet.'
He did this once and a second time.
When it happened the third time,
I said to him,
'O my father,
what is this that you keep repeating at this time?
You sweat until we say,
"He has passed away,"
then you return and say,
"Not yet,
not yet."'
He said to me,
'O my son,
do you not know what I was saying?'
I said, 'No.'
He said,
'Iblis, may Allah curse him,
was standing beside me, biting his fingertips,
saying to me,
"O Ahmad, you have tested me."
I replied,
"Not yet."
"Not yet, until I die."
Al-Hasan Ibn 'Arafah said,
may Allah have mercy on him,
"I visited Ahmad Ibn Hanbal,
may Allah have mercy on him, after the ordeal.
I said to him,
'O Abu 'Abdullah,
you have stood in the station of the prophets.'
He said to me,
'Be silent.
For I saw people selling their religion,
and I saw scholars who were with me speaking and wavering.
So I said,
"Who am I?
And what am I?
And what shall I say to my Lord tomorrow,
when I stand before Him, Majestic is His Majesty?"
He said to me,
"Sell your religion as others have sold theirs."
So I reflected on my situation,
and I looked at the sword and the whip,
and I chose them, saying,
"If I die,
I shall return to my Lord, the Almighty and Exalted.
I will say,
'I was called to say that one of Your attributes is created,
but I did not say it.'
The matter is His;
if He wills, He punishes, and if He wills, He shows mercy."
I asked,
"Did you feel the pain of their whips?"
He said to me,
"Yes.
I endured until I had passed twenty lashes,
then I felt nothing after that."
When the lashes were finished,
it was as if I felt no pain at all.
I even prayed the Dhuhr prayer standing.'
Al-Hasan said,
"Then I wept."
He said to me,
"What makes you weep?"
I said,
"I weep for what has befallen you."
He said,
"Have I not remained steadfast?
I do not care if I perish."
Al-Rabi' Ibn Sulayman, may Allah have mercy on him, said,
"I visited Al-Buwayti, may Allah have mercy on him,
during the days of the ordeal.
I saw him in chains,
reaching up to his shins,
with his hands shackled to his neck.
He was saying,
'The creation was created by the word "Be" (Kun).
If it were created,
then every created thing
would have been created by a created thing.'
'And if I am brought before him,'
meaning Al-Wathiq,
'I will speak the truth to him,
and I will die in these irons of mine,
until a people come
who know that
he died for this cause,
a people in their own irons.'
Al-Rabi' said,
"He wrote to me from prison,
saying,
'Times come upon me
when I do not feel the iron
upon my body,
until my hand touches it.
When you read this letter of mine,
then improve your character
with the people of your circle,
and show kindness to the strangers,
especially.'
For I often used to hear
Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him,
reciting this verse:
"I humble my soul for them,
so that they may honor it;
but there is no honor for the soul
that you do not humble."
'Abd al-'Aziz Ibn Abi Rawwad,
may Allah have mercy on him, said,
"It used to be said:
'Speaking the truth and being patient upon it
is equivalent to the deeds of the martyrs.'"
And Shaykh al-Islam Al-Harawi,
may Allah have mercy on him, said,
"I was presented to the sword
five times.
I was not told,
'Recant your school of thought,'
but I was told,
'Be silent about those who oppose you.'
So I said, 'I will not be silent.'"
The life of the salaf
was between speech and action.