WEBVTT

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

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Mawaddah Association is pleased

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to present to you snapshots from the lives of the Companions,

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by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,

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may Allah have mercy on him.

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Rabi'ah ibn Ka'b,

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may Allah be pleased with him.

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Rabi'ah ibn Ka'b said:

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I was a young boy when my soul shone with the light of faith,

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and my heart filled with the meanings of Islam.

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When my eyes caught sight of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for the first time,

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I loved him with a love that took hold of my every limb,

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and I became so infatuated with him that it turned me away from all else.

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So I said to myself one day:

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"Woe to you, O Rabi'ah!

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Why do you not devote yourself to serving the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)?

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Offer yourself to him;

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if he accepts you, you will be blessed with his closeness, attain his love,

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and gain the best of this world and the Hereafter."

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Shortly thereafter, I offered myself in service to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

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begging him to accept me into his service.

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He did not disappoint my hope,

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and he agreed for me to be his servant.

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From that day on,

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I clung to the Noble Prophet closer than his own shadow.

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I walked with him wherever he walked,

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and orbited in his sphere wherever he turned.

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Whenever he cast a glance in my direction,

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I stood immediately before him, attent.

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And whenever he showed a need for anything,

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he found me rushing to fulfill it.

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I would serve him all day long,

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and when the day ended,

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he prayed the late night prayer ('Isha') and retired to his house.

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I would prepare to depart,

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but soon I would say to myself:

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"Where are you going, Rabi'ah?

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Perhaps the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) will have

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some need during the night."

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So I would sit at his door,

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never leaving the threshold of his house.

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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to

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spend his night standing in prayer.

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Sometimes I would hear him reciting the Opening of the Book (al-Fatihah),

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repeating it over and over for a large portion of the night,

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until I grew weary and would leave him,

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or my eyes would overcome me and I would sleep.

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Other times I would hear him saying:

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"Allah hears whoever praises Him,"

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repeating it for even longer than he repeated al-Fatihah.

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It was the custom of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

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that whenever anyone did him a favor,

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he loved to reward them with something even greater.

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He wished to reward me for my service to him,

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so he approached me one day and said:

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"O Rabi'ah ibn Ka'b!"

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I replied, "At your service and command, O Messenger of Allah!"

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He said, "Ask me for something, that I may give it to you."

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I pondered for a moment, then said:

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"Give me time, O Messenger of Allah, to consider what I should ask of you,

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and then I will inform you."

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He said, "There is no harm in that."

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At that time, I was a poor young man,

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having neither family, nor wealth, nor housing.

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I used to take refuge in the Suffah of the Mosque,

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along with others like me among the poor Muslims.

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People used to call us the guests of Islam.

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Whenever anyone among the Muslims brought

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charity to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

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he would send it all to us.

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And if someone presented him with a gift,

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he would take a little from it and give the rest to us.

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So my soul prompted me to ask the Messenger of Allah

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for some worldly good

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by which I might free myself from poverty

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and become like others, possessor of wealth, a wife, and children.

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But soon I said to myself:

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"Woe to you, O Rabi'ah ibn Ka'b!

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This world is fleeting and vanishing,

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while your provision in it has been guaranteed by Allah, Mighty and Majestic;

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it will inevitably come to you.

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And the Messenger (peace be upon him)

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holds such a status with his Lord

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that no request of his is turned down.

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So ask him to pray to Allah for you out of the bounty of the Hereafter."

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My soul was pleased with this idea

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and found comfort in it.

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Then I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

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and he said, "What do you say, Rabi'ah?"

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I said, "O Messenger of Allah,

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I ask that you supplicate to Allah Almighty for me,

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that He make me your companion in Paradise."

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He said, "Who advised you to ask for that?"

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I said, "No, by Allah,

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no one advised me.

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However, when you said to me,

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'Ask me, and I shall give you,'

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my soul urged me to ask you

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for some worldly benefit.

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But soon I was guided to

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prefer the everlasting over the transient.

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So I ask you to supplicate to Allah for me

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that I may be your companion in Paradise."

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The Messenger of Allah remained silent for a long time,

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then said:

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"Or anything besides that, Rabi'ah?"

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I said, "No, O Messenger of Allah,

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I would not equate anything with what I asked of you."

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He said:

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"Then help me against your own soul

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by prostrating abundantly."

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So I began to strive diligently in worship,

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hoping to attain the companionship of the Messenger of Allah

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(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

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in Paradise,

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just as I was blessed with serving him

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and accompanying him in this world.

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Not long after that,

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time passed

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until the Messenger of Allah

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(peace be upon him) called me

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and said:

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"Will you not marry, O Rabi'ah?"

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I said:

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"I do not wish for anything to distract me

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from serving you, O Messenger of Allah.

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Besides, I have nothing with which to pay a dowry to a wife,

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nor that with which to maintain her life."

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So he remained silent.

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Then he saw me a second time

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and said:

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"Will you not marry, O Rabi'ah?"

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So I answered him with the same response I gave

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the previous time.

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But no sooner was I alone with myself

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than I regretted what I had done,

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and I said:

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"Woe to you, O Rabi'ah!

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By Allah, the Prophet

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knows better than you what is good for you

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in your religion and your worldly life,

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and he knows better than you what you possess.

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By Allah, if the Messenger of Allah

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(peace be upon him) calls me

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after this time

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to marry,

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I will surely accept his advice."

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Not long after that,

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time passed until he said to me—

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the Messenger:

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"Will you not marry, O Rabi'ah?"

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I said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah,

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but who would marry me when I am as you know?"

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He said:

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"Go to the family of so-and-so,

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and say to them:

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'The Messenger of Allah commands you

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to marry your daughter, so-and-so, to me.'"

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So I went to them bashfully

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and said to them:

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"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

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has sent me to you

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so that you may marry your daughter, so-and-so, to me."

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They said, "So-and-so?"

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I said, "Yes."

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They said, "Welcome to the Messenger of Allah,

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and welcome to the envoy of the Messenger of Allah!

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By Allah, the envoy of the Messenger of Allah shall not return

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except with his need fulfilled."

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So they concluded the marriage contract for me with her.

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Then I came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)

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and said, "O Messenger of Allah,

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I have just come from the best of households;

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they believed me, welcomed me,

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and concluded the marriage contract for their daughter with me.

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So from where shall I bring them the dowry?"

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Thereupon, the Messenger summoned Buraydah ibn al-Husayb,

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who was a chieftain of my tribe, Banu Aslam,

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and said to him:

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"O Buraydah,

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collect for Rabi'ah the weight of a date stone in gold."

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So they collected it for me.

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Then the Messenger (peace be upon him) said to me:

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"Take this to them

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and tell them, 'This is the dowry of your daughter.'"

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So I went to them and handed it over to them,

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and they accepted it, were pleased with it,

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and said, "This is abundant and good."

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Then I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

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and said:

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"I have never seen a people more noble than them;

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they were pleased with what I gave them despite its small amount,

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and said, 'It is abundant and good.'

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So from where shall I get that with which to host a wedding feast, O Messenger of Allah?"

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So the Messenger said to Buraydah:

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"Collect for Rabi'ah the price of a ram."

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So they bought for me a large, fat ram.

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Then the Messenger (peace be upon him) said to me:

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"Go to 'A'ishah,

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and tell her to give you whatever barley she has."

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So I went to her, and she said, "Take this large basket;

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in it are seven sa's of barley.

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By Allah, we have no other food besides it."

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So I took the ram and the barley to my wife's family.

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They said, "As for the barley, we will prepare it,

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but as for the ram, tell your companions to prepare it for you."

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So I took the ram—

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I and some people from the tribe of Aslam took it—

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and we slaughtered it, skinned it, and cooked it.

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So we had bread and meat.

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I hosted the wedding feast and invited the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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and he accepted my invitation.

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Later on, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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granted me a piece of land adjacent to a piece of land belonging to Abu Bakr.

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Then worldly gain came upon me,

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to the point that I disputed with Abu Bakr over a date palm.

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I said, "It is on my land,"

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and he said, "No, it is on my land."

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So I argued with him, and he uttered a word to me that I disliked.

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As soon as the word slipped out, he regretted it and said,

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"O Rabi'ah, say the same word back to me

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so that it may be equal retribution."

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I replied, "No, by Allah, I will not do so!"

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He said, "In that case, I will go to the Messenger of Allah

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and complain to him about your refusal to take retribution from me."

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So he set off to the Prophet,

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and I followed behind him.

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My people from the tribe of Aslam followed me

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and said, "He was the one who started it with you and insulted you,

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yet he precedes you to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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to complain about you?!"

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I turned to them and said, "Woe to you!

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Do you know who this is? This is al-Siddiq,

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the revered elder of the Muslims!

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Go back before he turns around and sees you,

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lest he think you only came to assist me against him,

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causing him to become angry, and then he goes to the Messenger of Allah,

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and the Prophet becomes angry on account of his anger,

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and Allah becomes angry on account of their anger, thus destroying Rabi'ah!"

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So they went back.

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Then Abu Bakr came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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and related the story to him exactly as it had happened.

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The Messenger raised his head toward me and said,

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"O Rabi'ah, what happened between you and al-Siddiq?"

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I said, "O Messenger of Allah,

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he wanted me to say to him what he had said to me,

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but I refused." He said, "Indeed,

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do not say to him what he said to you,

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but rather say: May Allah forgive Abu Bakr."

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So I said to him, "May Allah forgive you,

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O Abu Bakr."

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Whereupon he turned and walked away, his eyes overflowing with tears,

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saying, "May Allah reward you with good on my behalf, O Rabi'ah Ibn Ka'b.

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May Allah reward you with good on my behalf, O Rabi'ah Ibn Ka'b."