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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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The life of the salaf was defined by the harmony between their speech and their actions.

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This includes guarding the tongue against excessive talk.

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And avoiding speech that holds no benefit.

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Umar Ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

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"May Allah have mercy on a person who restrains the excess of his speech,

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And prioritizes the excess of his deeds."

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Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

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"By Allah, besides Whom there is no god,

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There is nothing on the face of the earth more deserving of long-term imprisonment than the tongue."

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Abu al-Darda’ (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

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"Be fair to your ears against your mouth;

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For you were given two ears and only one mouth,

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So that you may listen more than you speak."

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Ali Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

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"The tongue is the foundation of the body;

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If the tongue is upright, the limbs will be upright,

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But if the tongue falters, no limb will remain steady."

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Mutarrif Ibn al-Shikhkhir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"Whoever purifies his deeds will purify his speech,

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And whoever mixes them [with corruption], it will be mixed for him."

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Wuhayb Ibn al-Ward (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"Whoever counts his speech as part of his deeds will speak less."

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He also said (may Allah have mercy on him):

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"The physicians have agreed that the essence of medicine is dietary restraint,

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And the wise have agreed that the essence of wisdom is silence."

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He further said: "A man may remain silent,

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And thereby his intellect becomes gathered and focused."

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A man once praised another man,

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And one of the salaf said to him:

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"What do you know of him?"

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He replied: "I saw him guarding his speech."

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Ibrahim al-Taymi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"When a believer intends to speak, he reflects;

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If his speech is for his benefit, he speaks,

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But if it is against him, he refrains."

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It is said in the aphorisms:

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"When the intellect is perfected, speech diminishes."

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Yahya Ibn Abi Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"There are two traits; if you see them in a man,

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Know that what lies beyond them is even better:

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If he restrains his tongue,

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And guards his prayer."

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Yunus Ibn ‘Ubayd (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"There are two traits; if they are sound in a servant,

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The rest of his affairs will be sound:

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His prayer and his tongue."

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Some of the salaf said:

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"My tongue is a beast of prey;

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If I let it loose, I fear it will devour me."

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It used to be said:

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"Excessive speech strips away dignity."

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Al-Fudayl Ibn ‘Iyad and Ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on them) said:

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"The most intense form of piety is in the tongue."

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‘Umar Ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"I refrain from much speech,

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For fear of showing off."

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He also said (may Allah have mercy on him):

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"If you see a man who maintains long silence,

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And flees from people,

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Then draw near to him,

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For he is being taught wisdom."

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Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:

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"When you engage in hadith, you are energetic, but when I speak to you, you ignore me,

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And when you are not in a hadith session,

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You are as if you were dead."

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He replied: "Do you not know that speech is a trial?"

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He also said (may Allah have mercy on him):

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It used to be said:

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"Silence is the ornament of the scholar and the veil of the ignorant."

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Some said:

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"If there are inherent flaws in being inarticulate,

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Then there are equal flaws in eloquence."

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Hatim al-Asamm (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"If a spy were sitting with you to record your words,

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You would be cautious of him;

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Yet your words are presented to Allah the Almighty,

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So why are you not cautious?"

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It was said to Ibrahim Ibn Adham (may Allah have mercy on him):

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"So-and-so is learning grammar."

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He replied: "He is in greater need of learning silence."

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Abu Bakr Ibn ‘Ayyash (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"The lowest benefit of silence is safety,

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And safety is sufficient as a blessing;

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The lowest harm of speech is fame,

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And fame is sufficient as a calamity."

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Some eloquent scholars said:

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"[Silence] earns you friendship and love,

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Protects you from a bad outcome,

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Clothes you in the garment of dignity,

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And spares you the trouble of apologizing."

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Our Imam,

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Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him),

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Used to marvel at Badr al-Maghazili (may Allah have mercy on him),

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And would say: "Who is like Badr?

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He has mastered his tongue."

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Hamdan Ibn Dhunun said:

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"My eyes have never seen anyone like Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him)

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In his piety and his guarding of his tongue."

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‘Ata’ Ibn Abi Rabah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"Those who came before you

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Used to dislike superfluous speech.

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Do you not fear that there are guardians over you?

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Is one of you not ashamed

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That if his scroll, which he filled at the beginning of his day, were spread out before him,

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Most of what is in it would be neither of his religion nor his worldly life?"

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Some wise men said:

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"A person’s intellect is hidden beneath his tongue."

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Ibn Daqiq al-‘Id (may Allah have mercy on him) used to say:

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"I have never spoken a word nor performed an action

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Without preparing an answer for it before Allah the Almighty."

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Guarding the tongue against backbiting,

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And tracking the slips, errors, and faults of others.

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‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say:

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"Do not occupy yourselves with mentioning people, for that is a trial;

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Instead, occupy yourselves with the remembrance of Allah, for that is a mercy."

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‘Amr Ibn al-‘As (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by a dead mule,

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And said: "For one of you to eat from the meat of this mule

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Until his stomach is full

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Is better for him than to eat the flesh of a Muslim man."

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Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

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"If you wish to mention the faults of your companion, remember your own faults."

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‘Awn Ibn ‘Abd Allah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"I do not think anyone becomes preoccupied with the faults of others

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Except out of heedlessness regarding his own self."

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It was said to al-Rabi‘ Ibn Khuthaym (may Allah have mercy on him):

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"Will you not mention people [their faults]?"

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He replied: "I am not pleased with my own self,

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So how could I be free from criticizing myself to criticize others?

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People fear Allah regarding the sins of others,

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Yet they feel secure regarding their own sins."

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Al-Awza‘i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"I heard Yahya Ibn Abi Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) say:

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'It will be said to the servant on the Day of Resurrection:

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Rise and go to so-and-so to take your right from him.'

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He will say: 'My Lord, I do not know of any right I have against him.'

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It will be said: 'Yes, he mentioned you on such-and-such day for such-and-such.'

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And on such-and-such day for such-and-such.'"

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Al-Awza‘i said:

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"Is he a sincere advisor to himself who will have his good deeds taken away tomorrow,

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While he looks on in humiliation and fear,

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Wishing there were a great distance between him and his brother in Allah?"

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Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"The expiation for eating the flesh of your brother [backbiting him]

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Is to praise him and pray for his good."

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Sufyan Ibn Husayn said:

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"I mentioned a man negatively in the presence of Iyas Ibn Mu‘awiyah (may Allah have mercy on him),

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He looked at my face and said:

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'Have you fought the Romans?'

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I said: 'No.'

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He said: 'The people of Sindh, India, and the Turks?'

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I said: 'No.'

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He said: 'So the Romans, the people of Sindh, India, and the Turks are safe from you,

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Yet your Muslim brother is not safe from you?'

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He said: 'I never did it again after that.'"

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When a man was mentioned negatively in the presence of Muhammad Ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him),

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Muhammad would mention him with the best qualities he knew of him.

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Ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"It is an injustice to your brother to mention the worst you know of him,

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While concealing his good."

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Bakr al-Muzani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"If you see a man preoccupied with the faults of others while forgetting his own,

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Know that he has been deceived."

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Al-Fudayl Ibn ‘Iyad (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"A man might say:

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'La ilaha illa Allah' [There is no god but Allah],

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Or 'Subhan Allah' [Glory be to Allah], and I fear for him the Fire."

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It was asked: "How so?"

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He said: "He backbites in his presence and finds it pleasing,

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So he says 'La ilaha illa Allah,'

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But this is not the place for it.

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The place for this is to advise him regarding his own self and say to him:

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'Fear Allah.'"

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It was said to Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him)

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Regarding a man to whom Ishaq Ibn Ibrahim gave a thousand dirhams:

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"Do not name anyone for us."

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He said (may Allah have mercy on him):

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"No one has ever spoken against people

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Except that he fell and his hadith was discarded."

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There was a man in Basra called al-Aftas,

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Who used to narrate from al-A‘mash and others,

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And he had gatherings,

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And his hadith was authentic,

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Except that no one was safe from his tongue,

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So his hadith and his reputation vanished.

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Al-Muwaffaq Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said about one of the scholars of his time,

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Who was afflicted with tracking the faults of people,

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Especially the people of knowledge and righteousness:

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"I thought he would be more prominent in issuing fatwas than his father and others,

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Until I saw fatwas of others that were more sound in answer and more correct.

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I thought he was afflicted with that

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Because of his love for proving people wrong,

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And his pursuit of their faults.

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It is not unlikely that Allah punishes a servant with the same type of his sin.

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He occupied much of his time refuting people in their writings,

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Exposing their hidden mistakes,

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And loving to point out their slips.

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A servant does not reach the reality of faith

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until he loves for people what he loves for himself.

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Do you think he would love for himself, after his death,

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for someone to stand up to expose his slips,

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criticize his writings, and highlight his mistakes?

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Just as he would not love that for himself,

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he should not love it for others,

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especially for the early Imams

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and the preeminent scholars.

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Allah the Almighty has shown us a sign in his deviation from what is correct,

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in matters that are apparent even to those beneath him in rank.

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The life of peace between word and deed.