In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The life of the salaf between speech and action.
Seeking reward from Allah (al-ihtisab).
Mu'adh Ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"As for me, I sleep and I rise for prayer."
"I seek the reward of Allah for my sleep just as I seek it for my rising."
On the authority of al-Tufayl Ibn Abi Ka'b:
He used to visit Abdullah Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both).
And he would go with him to the marketplace in the morning.
He said: "When we would go to the market,"
"Abdullah Ibn Umar would not pass by a merchant, a poor person, or anyone else,"
"But that he would greet them with peace."
"I said to him, 'What do you do in the market when you do not stop to trade,'"
"'Nor ask about goods, nor bargain for them,'"
"'Nor sit in the gathering places?'"
"He replied, 'We only go out for the sake of offering the greeting of peace.'"
"So greet whomever you meet."
Makhul (may Allah have mercy on him) once visited a sick man.
He said to him, "Do you consider yourself a guardian of the frontier (murabit) this year?"
The man replied, "How can you ask me this when I am in this state?"
He said, "What prevents you from intending that?"
"For if Allah heals you, you will proceed on your way,"
"And if your appointed time comes between you and that goal,"
"Your intention will be recorded for you."
On the authority of Zubayd Ibn al-Harith al-Yami (may Allah have mercy on him), he said:
"It pleases me to have an intention for everything,"
"Even for eating and sleeping."
Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"I have not cast my gaze, nor spoken with my tongue,"
"Nor struck with my hand, nor risen upon my feet,"
"Without first considering whether it is an act of obedience or disobedience."
"If it is obedience, I proceed,"
"And if it is disobedience, I refrain."
Muhammad Ibn al-Fadl al-Balkhi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"For forty years, I have not taken a single step for other than the sake of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic."
Allah’s elevation of the believers and the righteous.
Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"Abu Bakr is our master,"
"And he freed Bilal, our master (may Allah be pleased with them both)."
When Harun al-Rashid arrived in al-Raqqah,
The people rushed behind Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him).
Sandals were torn and dust rose into the air.
A slave-mother of the Commander of the Faithful looked out from a tower of the wooden palace.
When she saw the people, she asked, "What is this?"
They said, "A scholar from the people of Khurasan has arrived in al-Raqqah,"
"He is called Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak."
She said, "By Allah, this is the true kingdom,"
"Not the kingdom of Harun, which only gathers people through conditions and aides."
Salim Ibn Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him) entered upon Sulayman Ibn Abd al-Malik.
Salim was wearing coarse, worn-out garments.
Sulayman kept welcoming him and honoring him,
Until he seated him beside him on his throne.
Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz was present in the gathering.
A man from the back of the assembly said to him,
"Could your uncle not afford to wear finer clothes than these,"
"To enter upon the Commander of the Faithful?"
The speaker himself was wearing expensive, elegant clothes.
Umar said to him,
"I have not seen these clothes on my uncle lower him to your position,"
"Nor have I seen your clothes raise you to my uncle’s position."
The miracles (karamat) of the scholars and the righteous.
And Allah’s protection of them.
On the authority of Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:
"The likeness of the believer in this world is like a sick person,"
"Who has with him his physician, who knows his ailment and his cure."
"If he desires what harms him,"
"He forbids him and says, 'Do not go near it,'"
"'For if you approach it, it will destroy you.'"
"He continues to restrain him until he recovers from his pain."
"Likewise is the believer,"
"He desires many things,"
"Many of the worldly comforts that others have been favored with,"
"But Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, denies them to him and protects him,"
"Until He takes his soul and admits him into Paradise."
Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"Allah, the Exalted, protects the believer from the world,"
"Just as the family of a sick person protects their patient from food."
Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"A servant may intend to pursue a matter of trade or authority,"
"Until it is made easy for him,"
"Then Allah looks at him,"
"And says to the angels,"
"'Turn him away from it,'"
"'For if I make it easy for him, I will cast him into the Fire.'"
"So Allah turns him away from it,"
"And he remains feeling unlucky,"
"Saying,"
"'So-and-so has outpaced me,'"
"'So-and-so has deceived me,'"
"Yet it is nothing but the grace of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic."
On the authority of Muhammad Ibn Ka'b (may Allah have mercy on him), he said:
"Whoever recites the Qur'an, his intellect remains sharp,"
"Even if he reaches two hundred years of age."
Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Whoever perfects his worship of Allah in his youth,"
"Allah will grant him wisdom in his old age."
That is the meaning of His saying:
﴾ And when he attained his full strength ﴿
“And when he reached his full strength and was ripe, We gave him wisdom and knowledge. Thus do We reward the good.” (28:14)
﴾ And thus do We reward the doers of good. ﴿
On the authority of Muhammad Ibn al-Munkadir (may Allah have mercy on him), he said:
"Verily, Allah rectifies the children and grandchildren of a servant through that servant's righteousness,"
"And He protects him in his own home,"
"And the homes around him, as long as he is among them."
On the authority of Khaythamah (may Allah have mercy on him), he said:
"Glad tidings to the believer,"
"For how he is protected in his offspring after him."