WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:18.219 The Mawaddah Association is pleased 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:22.219 to present to you "Portraits from the Lives of the Companions" 00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:25.219 by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha, 00:00:25.219 --> 00:00:27.260 may Allah have mercy on him. 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:32.820 Abu al-Darda', may Allah be pleased with him. 00:00:45.929 --> 00:00:48.929 'Uwaymir ibn Malik al-Khazraji, 00:00:48.929 --> 00:00:52.929 known by his kunya Abu al-Darda', rose early from his sleep 00:00:52.929 --> 00:00:57.929 and went to his idol, which he had set up in the most honored place in his house. 00:00:57.929 --> 00:01:03.929 He greeted it and anointed it with the finest perfumes stocked in his great shop, 00:01:03.929 --> 00:01:07.930 then draped over it a new garment of luxurious silk 00:01:07.930 --> 00:01:12.930 presented to him the day before by a merchant who had arrived from Yemen. 00:01:12.930 --> 00:01:14.930 When the sun had risen high, 00:01:14.930 --> 00:01:18.930 Abu al-Darda' left his house, heading toward his shop, 00:01:18.930 --> 00:01:23.930 only to find the streets and alleys of Yathrib crowded with the followers of Muhammad, 00:01:23.930 --> 00:01:26.930 who were returning from Badr, 00:01:26.930 --> 00:01:29.930 driving before them herds of captives from Quraysh. 00:01:29.930 --> 00:01:30.930 He turned away from them, 00:01:30.930 --> 00:01:35.930 but soon approached a young man among them from the Khazraj 00:01:35.930 --> 00:01:38.930 and asked him about 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah. 00:01:38.930 --> 00:01:40.930 The Khazraji youth replied, 00:01:40.930 --> 00:01:43.930 "He fought with the utmost gallantry and excellence in battle, 00:01:43.930 --> 00:01:47.930 and has returned safe and victorious," setting his mind at ease. 00:01:47.930 --> 00:01:52.930 The young man was not surprised by Abu al-Darda's inquiry concerning 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah, 00:01:52.930 --> 00:01:58.930 for everyone knew the strong bonds of brotherhood that united them. 00:01:58.930 --> 00:02:02.930 That was because Abu al-Darda' and 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah 00:02:02.930 --> 00:02:05.930 had been sworn brothers during the pre-Islamic period of ignorance (Jahiliyyah). 00:02:05.930 --> 00:02:09.930 When Islam came, Ibn Rawahah embraced it, 00:02:09.930 --> 00:02:11.930 while Abu al-Darda' turned away from it. 00:02:11.930 --> 00:02:16.930 Yet that did not sever the strong ties between the two men; 00:02:16.930 --> 00:02:21.930 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah continued to visit Abu al-Darda' faithfully, 00:02:21.930 --> 00:02:25.930 inviting him to Islam, stirring his longing for it, 00:02:25.930 --> 00:02:29.930 and grieving over every day of his life that passed while he remained an idolater. 00:02:29.930 --> 00:02:32.960 Abu al-Darda' arrived at his shop, 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:35.960 sat cross-legged upon his elevated seat, 00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:37.960 and began buying and selling, 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:40.960 commanding and forbidding his servants, 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:43.960 completely unaware of what was taking place at his home. 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:45.960 For at that very time, 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:49.960 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah was making his way to the house of his companion, Abu al-Darda', 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:51.960 having resolved upon a matter. 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:53.960 When he reached the house, 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:55.960 he saw its door open 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:58.960 and spotted Umm al-Darda' in its courtyard. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.960 He said, "Peace be upon you, O bondwoman of Allah." 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:06.960 She replied, "And upon you be peace, O brother of Abu al-Darda'." 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.960 He asked, "Where is Abu al-Darda'?" 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.960 She said, "He has gone to his shop, 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:14.960 and will return shortly." 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.960 He asked, "Do you permit me to enter?" 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:20.960 She replied, "You are most welcome," 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:22.960 and stepped aside to clear the way for him, 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:24.960 then went to her room, 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:27.960 occupied away from him with attending to her household chores 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:29.960 and caring for her children. 00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:34.960 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah entered the room where Abu al-Darda' had placed his idol, 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.960 drew out an adze he had brought with him, 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:39.960 bent over the idol, 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:42.960 and began hacking it to pieces, declaring: 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.960 "Behold! Everything invoked besides Allah is falsehood! 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:48.960 Behold! Everything invoked besides Allah is falsehood!" 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:52.960 When he finished shattering it, he left the house. 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.990 Umm al-Darda' entered the room where the idol was, 00:03:56.990 --> 00:03:59.990 and was horrified when she saw it reduced to splinters, 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:03.990 finding its shattered remains scattered across the floor. 00:04:03.990 --> 00:04:06.990 She began slapping her cheeks, crying out: 00:04:06.990 --> 00:04:08.990 "You have ruined me, O Ibn Rawahah! 00:04:08.990 --> 00:04:12.020 You have ruined me, O Ibn Rawahah!" 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:14.020 It was not long 00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:17.019 before Abu al-Darda' returned home. 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:21.019 He saw his wife sitting by the door of the room containing the idol, 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:24.019 weeping and sobbing, 00:04:24.019 --> 00:04:27.019 with signs of terror toward him evident on her face. 00:04:27.019 --> 00:04:30.019 He asked, "What is the matter with you?" 00:04:30.019 --> 00:04:34.019 She said, "Your brother 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah came to us in your absence, 00:04:34.019 --> 00:04:37.019 and did to your idol what you see!" 00:04:37.019 --> 00:04:39.019 He looked at the idol 00:04:39.019 --> 00:04:41.019 and found it reduced to rubble. 00:04:41.019 --> 00:04:43.019 He flared up with rage 00:04:43.019 --> 00:04:45.019 and resolved to avenge it, 00:04:45.019 --> 00:04:49.019 but soon his fury subsided, 00:04:49.019 --> 00:04:51.019 his anger cooled, 00:04:51.019 --> 00:04:53.019 and he reflected on what had occurred. 00:04:53.019 --> 00:04:54.019 Then he said, 00:04:54.019 --> 00:04:58.060 "If there were any good in this idol, it would have defended itself from harm!" 00:04:58.060 --> 00:05:02.060 He then went straight away to 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah, 00:05:02.060 --> 00:05:06.060 and together they proceeded to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, 00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:09.060 where he announced his entry into the religion of Allah. 00:05:09.060 --> 00:05:12.060 He was the last person of his quarter to embrace Islam. 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:15.060 From that very first moment, Abu al-Darda' believed 00:05:15.060 --> 00:05:17.060 in Allah and His Messenger 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:20.060 with a faith that permeated every fiber of his being. 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:24.060 He felt profound regret for the good he had missed, 00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:26.060 and realized with deep awareness 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:30.060 how far his companions had surpassed him in the fiqh of Allah's religion, 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:32.060 the memorization of the Book of Allah, 00:05:32.060 --> 00:05:34.060 and acts of worship and piety 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:37.060 that they had stored up for themselves with Allah. 00:05:37.060 --> 00:05:40.060 He resolved to make up for what had passed him by through tireless exertion, 00:05:40.060 --> 00:05:44.060 joining the toil of the night to the toil of the day, 00:05:44.060 --> 00:05:47.060 until he might catch up with the vanguard and even advance ahead of it. 00:05:47.060 --> 00:05:51.060 Thus he devoted himself to worship with the complete dedication of an ascetic, 00:05:51.060 --> 00:05:54.060 turned to knowledge with the eagerness of a thirsty soul, 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:58.060 and applied himself diligently to the Book of Allah, memorizing its words 00:05:58.060 --> 00:06:00.060 and deepening his understanding of its verses. 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:04.060 When he realized that trade disrupted the sweetness of worship 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:06.060 and caused him to miss the gatherings of knowledge, 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:09.060 he abandoned it without hesitation or regret. 00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:12.060 A questioner once asked him about that, 00:06:12.060 --> 00:06:15.060 to which he answered, "I was a merchant before my covenant 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:18.060 with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:20.060 When I embraced Islam, 00:06:20.060 --> 00:06:23.060 I wished to combine trade with worship, 00:06:23.060 --> 00:06:25.060 but what I wanted would not come together for me. 00:06:25.060 --> 00:06:28.060 So I abandoned trade and turned wholly to worship. 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:31.060 By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Abu al-Darda', 00:06:31.060 --> 00:06:34.060 I would not wish today to own a shop 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:36.060 at the door of the mosque 00:06:36.060 --> 00:06:39.060 such that I would never miss a prayer in congregation, 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:41.060 and then buy and sell, 00:06:41.060 --> 00:06:44.060 earning three hundred dinars every single day!" 00:06:44.060 --> 00:06:47.060 Then he looked at his questioner and said: 00:06:47.060 --> 00:06:49.060 "I am not saying 00:06:49.060 --> 00:06:52.060 that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has forbidden trade, 00:06:52.060 --> 00:06:55.060 but rather I love to be among those whom neither trade nor sale distracts 00:06:55.060 --> 00:06:58.060 “Men whom neither merchandise nor sale beguileth from remembrance of Allah and constancy in prayer and paying to the poor their due; who fear a day when hearts and eyeballs will be overturned;” (24:37) 00:06:58.060 --> 00:07:01.060 Abu al-Darda' did not merely abandon trade; 00:07:01.060 --> 00:07:03.060 rather, he renounced the worldly life altogether, 00:07:03.060 --> 00:07:06.060 turning away from its adornments and superficial glamour, 00:07:06.060 --> 00:07:10.060 contenting himself with a coarse morsel to keep his back straight 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:13.060 and a thick, simple garment to cover his body. 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:17.060 Once, a group of guests stayed with him on a severely freezing night 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:19.060 of biting cold. 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:22.060 He sent them hot food, 00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:24.060 but did not send them any blankets. 00:07:24.060 --> 00:07:26.060 When they prepared to sleep, 00:07:26.060 --> 00:07:29.060 they began conferring among themselves about the blankets. 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:32.060 One of them said, 00:07:32.060 --> 00:07:34.060 "I will go to him and speak to him." 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:36.060 Another said to him, 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:37.060 "Leave him be." 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:38.060 But he refused, 00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:41.060 went ahead, and stood at the door of his room. 00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:43.060 He saw that Abu al-Darda' had lain down, 00:07:43.060 --> 00:07:46.060 with his wife sitting near him, 00:07:46.060 --> 00:07:49.060 wearing nothing between the two of them but a flimsy garment 00:07:49.060 --> 00:07:53.060 that protected against neither heat nor cold. 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:56.060 The man said to Abu al-Darda', 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:59.060 "I see that you are spending the night just as we are! 00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:01.060 Where are your furnishings?" 00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:04.060 He replied, "We have another home yonder, 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:08.060 to which we send on ahead every furnishing we obtain. 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:12.060 Had we retained anything in this temporary dwelling, 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:14.060 we would have sent it to you! 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:18.060 Moreover, on the path we must traverse to that eternal home, 00:08:18.060 --> 00:08:20.060 there is a steep, arduous mountain pass; 00:08:20.060 --> 00:08:23.060 the unburdened traveler fares far better on it than the heavily laden. 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:26.060 Therefore, we wanted to lighten our loads 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:28.060 so that we might safely cross it." 00:08:28.060 --> 00:08:30.060 Then he said to the man, 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:31.060 "Do you understand?" 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:32.059 The man replied, 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:34.059 "Yes, I understand, 00:08:34.059 --> 00:08:36.059 and may you be rewarded with good." 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:39.059 During the caliphate of al-Faruq, may Allah be pleased with him, 00:08:39.059 --> 00:08:43.059 'Umar wanted Abu al-Darda' to assume an official post for him in the Levant (al-Sham), 00:08:43.059 --> 00:08:44.059 but he refused. 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:45.059 'Umar insisted upon it, 00:08:45.059 --> 00:08:46.059 so Abu al-Darda' said, 00:08:46.059 --> 00:08:51.059 "If you are content that I go to them merely to teach them the Book of their Lord 00:08:51.059 --> 00:08:53.059 and the Sunnah of their Prophet, 00:08:53.059 --> 00:08:55.059 and lead them in prayer, then I will go." 00:08:55.059 --> 00:08:58.059 'Umar agreed to that, 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:00.059 and Abu al-Darda' departed for Damascus. 00:09:00.059 --> 00:09:04.059 When he arrived there, he found that the people had grown infatuated with luxury 00:09:04.059 --> 00:09:06.059 and immersed in worldly pleasures. 00:09:06.059 --> 00:09:07.059 That appalled him, 00:09:07.059 --> 00:09:09.059 so he summoned the people to the mosque, 00:09:09.059 --> 00:09:11.059 and they gathered around him. 00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:13.059 He stood up among them and said: 00:09:13.059 --> 00:09:15.059 "O people of Damascus! 00:09:15.059 --> 00:09:17.059 You are brothers in faith, 00:09:17.059 --> 00:09:19.059 neighbors in dwelling, 00:09:19.059 --> 00:09:21.059 and helpers against enemies. 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:23.059 O people of Damascus! 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:25.059 What prevents you from showing me affection 00:09:25.059 --> 00:09:27.059 and heeding my sincere counsel, 00:09:27.059 --> 00:09:30.059 when I seek nothing from you? 00:09:30.059 --> 00:09:32.059 My counsel is for your benefit, 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:34.059 while my sustenance is provided by someone other than you! 00:09:34.059 --> 00:09:37.059 Why is it that I see your scholars passing away, 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:39.059 while your ignorant do not learn? 00:09:39.059 --> 00:09:44.059 And I see you pursuing that which Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has already guaranteed you, 00:09:44.059 --> 00:09:46.059 while neglecting that which you were commanded to do! 00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:50.059 Why is it that I see you amassing what you do not eat, 00:09:50.059 --> 00:09:52.059 building what you do not inhabit, 00:09:52.059 --> 00:09:55.059 and harboring hopes you will never attain? 00:09:55.059 --> 00:09:59.059 The generations before you also amassed wealth and indulged high hopes, 00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:01.059 but it was not long 00:10:01.059 --> 00:10:03.059 Until their multitude became ruined, 00:10:03.059 --> 00:10:05.059 their hopes turned to delusion, 00:10:05.059 --> 00:10:07.059 and their homes became graves. 00:10:07.059 --> 00:10:10.059 This was 'Ad, O people of Damascus! 00:10:10.059 --> 00:10:13.059 They had filled the earth with wealth and children. 00:10:13.059 --> 00:10:17.059 Who will buy from me the legacy of 'Ad today for just two dirhams?" 00:10:17.059 --> 00:10:19.059 The people began to weep, 00:10:19.059 --> 00:10:23.059 until their sobbing could be heard outside the mosque. 00:10:23.059 --> 00:10:25.090 From that day on, 00:10:25.090 --> 00:10:29.090 Abu al-Darda' began frequenting the gatherings of the people in Damascus 00:10:29.090 --> 00:10:31.090 and walking through their markets, 00:10:31.090 --> 00:10:33.090 answering the questioner, 00:10:33.090 --> 00:10:35.090 teaching the ignorant, 00:10:35.090 --> 00:10:37.090 and alerting the heedless, 00:10:37.090 --> 00:10:39.090 seizing every opportunity 00:10:39.090 --> 00:10:41.090 and making use of every occasion. 00:10:41.090 --> 00:10:44.179 Thus, he once passed by a group of people 00:10:44.179 --> 00:10:46.179 who had crowded around a man, 00:10:46.179 --> 00:10:48.179 beating him and insulting him. 00:10:48.179 --> 00:10:50.179 He approached them and asked, 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:52.179 "What is the matter?" 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:55.179 They replied, "A man who fell into a grave sin." 00:10:55.179 --> 00:10:58.179 He said, "Tell me: if he had fallen into a well, 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:01.179 would you not have pulled him out of it?" 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:03.179 They replied, "Yes, certainly." 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:07.179 He said, "Do not revile him and do not beat him; 00:11:07.179 --> 00:11:09.179 rather, admonish him and help him see reason, 00:11:09.179 --> 00:11:13.179 and praise Allah, Who has spared you from falling into his sin." 00:11:13.179 --> 00:11:16.179 They asked, "Should we not hate him?" 00:11:16.179 --> 00:11:19.179 He replied, "I only hate his deed; 00:11:19.179 --> 00:11:21.179 if he abandons it, he is my brother." 00:11:21.179 --> 00:11:25.179 The man then began to weep bitterly and proclaimed his repentance. 00:11:25.179 --> 00:11:28.179 And here was a young man approaching Abu al-Darda', 00:11:28.179 --> 00:11:30.179 saying, 00:11:30.179 --> 00:11:34.179 "Advise me, O Companion of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him." 00:11:34.179 --> 00:11:35.179 So he said to him, 00:11:35.179 --> 00:11:37.179 "O my son! 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:39.179 Remember Allah in times of ease, 00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:41.179 and He will remember you in times of adversity. 00:11:41.179 --> 00:11:43.179 O my son! 00:11:43.179 --> 00:11:45.179 Be a scholar, or a student of knowledge, 00:11:45.179 --> 00:11:47.179 or an attentive listener, 00:11:47.179 --> 00:11:49.179 and do not be the fourth, lest you perish— 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:51.179 that is, the ignorant one. 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:53.179 O my son! 00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:55.179 Let the mosque be your home, 00:11:55.179 --> 00:11:59.179 for I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say, 00:11:59.179 --> 00:12:02.179 'The mosques are the home of every pious person.' 00:12:02.179 --> 00:12:04.179 And Allah, Almighty and Majestic, has guaranteed 00:12:04.179 --> 00:12:07.179 for those whose homes are the mosques 00:12:07.179 --> 00:12:09.179 comfort, mercy, 00:12:09.179 --> 00:12:13.179 and safe passage over the Sirat to the good pleasure of Allah, Almighty and Majestic." 00:12:13.179 --> 00:12:16.250 And there was a group of young men 00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:21.250 sitting on the roadside, chatting and watching the passersby. 00:12:21.250 --> 00:12:23.250 He approached them and said, 00:12:23.250 --> 00:12:25.250 "O my sons! 00:12:25.250 --> 00:12:27.250 The sanctuary of a Muslim man is his home, 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:30.250 wherein he restrains himself and his gaze. 00:12:30.250 --> 00:12:32.250 Beware of sitting in the markets, 00:12:32.250 --> 00:12:35.250 for it distracts and invites vain talk." 00:12:35.250 --> 00:12:38.250 During Abu al-Darda's stay in Damascus, 00:12:38.250 --> 00:12:41.250 its governor, Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan, sent to him, 00:12:41.250 --> 00:12:45.250 seeking the hand of his daughter, al-Darda', for his son Yazid. 00:12:45.250 --> 00:12:47.250 But he refused to marry her to him, 00:12:47.250 --> 00:12:50.250 and instead gave her in marriage to an ordinary young Muslim 00:12:50.250 --> 00:12:52.250 whose religious commitment and character he approved of. 00:12:52.250 --> 00:12:54.250 Word of this spread among the people, 00:12:54.250 --> 00:12:56.250 and they began saying, 00:12:56.250 --> 00:12:58.250 "Yazid Ibn Mu'awiyah proposed to 00:12:58.250 --> 00:13:00.250 the daughter of Abu al-Darda', 00:13:00.250 --> 00:13:02.250 yet her father turned him down 00:13:02.250 --> 00:13:05.250 and married her to an ordinary Muslim man!" 00:13:05.250 --> 00:13:08.250 An inquirer asked him about the reason for that, 00:13:08.250 --> 00:13:12.250 so he said, "I only sought, through what I did, 00:13:12.250 --> 00:13:14.250 the well-being of al-Darda'." 00:13:14.250 --> 00:13:16.250 The man asked, "And how so?" 00:13:16.250 --> 00:13:19.250 He said, "What do you think will become of al-Darda' 00:13:19.250 --> 00:13:22.250 when servants stand before her serving her, 00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:25.250 and she finds herself in palaces 00:13:25.250 --> 00:13:27.250 whose splendor dazzles the eye? 00:13:27.250 --> 00:13:30.440 Where will her religion be on that day?" 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:33.440 During Abu al-Darda's time in the Levant, 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:37.440 the Commander of the Believers, 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, arrived among them, 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:39.440 inspecting its conditions. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:43.440 One night, he visited his companion Abu al-Darda' at his home. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:46.440 He pushed the door open and found it without a latch, 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:50.440 so he entered a dark house with no light in it. 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:53.440 When Abu al-Darda' heard his movement, 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:56.440 he stood up, welcomed him, and seated him. 00:13:56.440 --> 00:13:59.440 The two men began conversing, 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:03.440 with the darkness veiling each of them from the eyes of his companion. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:06.440 'Umar felt Abu al-Darda's pillow, 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:08.440 only to find it was a pack-saddle— 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:11.440 that is, a cloth placed on the back of a beast of burden. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.440 He felt his mattress and found it was pebbles, 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:18.440 and he felt his blanket and found it was a thin garment 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:21.629 that offered no protection against the cold of Damascus. 00:14:21.629 --> 00:14:24.629 So he said to him, "May Allah have mercy on you! 00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:27.629 Did I not grant you ample provision? Did I not send you support?" 00:14:27.629 --> 00:14:30.629 Abu al-Darda' said to him, 00:14:30.629 --> 00:14:33.629 "Do you remember, O 'Umar, a hadith narrated to us 00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:36.659 by the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him?" 00:14:36.659 --> 00:14:39.759 He asked, "And what is it?" 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:42.759 He said, "Did he not say, 'Let the worldly provisions of any of you 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:45.759 be like the provision of a traveler'?" 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:48.789 He said, "Yes." Abu al-Darda' said, 00:14:48.789 --> 00:14:51.789 "Then what have we done after him, O 'Umar?" 00:14:51.789 --> 00:14:54.789 'Umar wept, and Abu al-Darda' wept, 00:14:54.789 --> 00:14:57.789 and they continued weeping together 00:14:57.789 --> 00:15:00.789 until morning dawned upon them. 00:15:00.789 --> 00:15:03.950 Abu al-Darda' remained in Damascus, 00:15:03.950 --> 00:15:06.950 admonishing its people and reminding them, 00:15:06.950 --> 00:15:09.950 and teaching them the Book and the Wisdom, 00:15:09.950 --> 00:15:13.019 until certainty (death) came to him. 00:15:13.019 --> 00:15:16.019 When he fell into his terminal illness, his companions entered upon him 00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:19.019 and asked, "What do you complain of?" 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:22.019 He said, "My sins." 00:15:22.019 --> 00:15:25.019 They asked, "And what do you desire?" 00:15:25.019 --> 00:15:28.019 He said, "The pardon of my Lord." 00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:31.019 Then he said to those around him, 00:15:31.019 --> 00:15:34.019 "Prompt me to say: 'There is no god but Allah, 00:15:34.019 --> 00:15:37.019 Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.'" 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:40.019 He kept repeating it until he departed this life. 00:15:40.019 --> 00:15:43.019 When Abu al-Darda' passed on to the presence of his Lord, 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:46.019 'Awf Ibn Malik al-Ashja'i saw in a dream a vast meadow, 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:50.019 expansive in its bounds and offering lush shade, 00:15:50.019 --> 00:15:53.019 in which stood a magnificent dome of leather, 00:15:53.019 --> 00:15:56.019 surrounded by resting sheep 00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:59.240 the likes of which no eye had ever seen. 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:02.240 He asked, "For whom is this?" 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.240 He was told, "For 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn 'Awf." 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:08.240 Then 'Abd al-Rahman emerged from the dome 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:11.240 and said to him, "O Ibn Malik! 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:14.240 This is what Allah, Almighty and Majestic, has granted me. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:17.240 And had you looked over this mountain pass, 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:20.240 you would have seen what your eye has never seen, 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:23.240 heard what your ear has never heard, 00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:26.240 and found what has never crossed your heart." 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:29.240 Ibn Malik asked, 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.240 "And for whom is all of that, O Abu Muhammad?" 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:35.240 He replied, "Allah, Almighty and Majestic, has prepared it for Abu al-Darda', 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.240 because he used to repel the world from himself 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:43.259 with both his hands and his chest." 00:16:43.259 --> 00:16:46.259 Thus said 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn 'Awf.