In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The life of the salaf between speech and action.
Sincere counsel, seeking consultation, and seeking guidance (istikhara).
Ma'mar, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
It used to be said:
The most sincere person to you is the one who fears Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, regarding you.
Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
The believer is the mirror of his brother.
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, once sought consultation regarding some people he intended to appoint to positions.
One of his companions said to him:
You should choose those who have excuses.
He asked, "And who are they?"
He replied, "Those who, if they act justly, it is what you hoped for from them;
And if they fall short, people will say:
'Umar has surely exerted his best effort.'"
Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Seek guidance from Allah, and do not choose for yourself over His choice.
For how many a servant has chosen a matter for himself,
Only to find his ruin within it.
It used to be said:
Whoever is granted four things shall not be denied four others:
Whoever is granted gratitude shall not be denied increase.
Whoever is granted repentance shall not be denied acceptance.
Whoever is granted consultation shall not be denied what is correct.
Whoever is granted the seeking of guidance (istikhara) shall not be denied what is good.
Some eloquent scholars said:
It is the right of the wise person to add the opinions of others to his own,
And to combine the intellects of the sages with his own intellect.
For a solitary opinion may stumble,
And an individual intellect may go astray.
It used to be said:
Beware of consulting two types of men:
A youth infatuated with himself,
Who lacks experience with others;
Or an old man whom time has sapped of his intellect,
Just as it has sapped his body.
It was said in the scattered aphorisms:
Everything requires intellect,
And intellect requires experience.
Some sages said:
Half of your opinion lies with your brother;
So consult him to complete your opinion.
Condemning arrogance and vanity.
Yahya ibn Mu'adh, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
A sin for which I humble myself before Allah
Is dearer to me than a deed through which I show off before Him.
Abu Sulayman al-Darani, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
How can a wise person be vain about his deed,
When he should consider the deed itself a blessing from Allah?
He ought only to be grateful and humble.
Only the Qadariyyah are vain about their deeds,
Those who claim that they are the ones who perform them.
As for the one who claims that he is merely being used by Allah,
What is there for him to be vain about?
Abu 'Uthman al-Hiri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Despising people in your own heart
Is a disease that cannot be cured.
Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
If you fear vanity regarding your deed,
Then remember whose pleasure you are seeking,
In what bliss you desire,
And from what punishment you fear.
At that moment, your deed will seem small in your eyes.
What has been said regarding the intellect and the wise.
It is reported that Mutarrif ibn 'Abd Allah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
No servant has been given anything better after faith than intellect.
Wahb ibn Munabbih, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
I found in some of what Allah revealed
To His prophets:
That Satan has never struggled with anything
More difficult for him than a wise believer.
He struggles with a hundred thousand ignorant people,
Mocking them,
Until he rides upon their necks,
And they are led by him wherever he wishes.
But he struggles with the wise believer,
And it becomes difficult for him,
Until he gains nothing from him.
Some sages said:
Whoever does not guard himself with his intellect against his own intellect
Will perish by his own intellect.
Ibn Muflih, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
This is a statement of the utmost excellence.
It is said:
Whoever does not let his intellect prevail over his desires,
His destruction will lie in those very desires.
It was said to Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him:
"Who is the most enviable of people?"
He replied, "The wisest of them."
It was said, "The most knowledgeable of them?"
He replied, "The wisest of them."
From Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah, may Allah have mercy on him:
He said, "Do not judge a man's intellect by his speech,
But judge his intellect by how he handles his affairs."
Waki' ibn al-Jarrah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
The wise person is the one who understands his affairs from Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
Not the one who is merely clever in managing his worldly life.
Some sages said:
A wise person should not expose his intellect to examine everything,
Just as he should not strike at everything with his sword.
Ibn Jurayj, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
A person's foundation is his intellect,
And there is no religion for one who has no intellect.
The poet spoke the truth:
When a person's intellect is complete, his affairs are complete,
His aspirations are fulfilled, and his character is sound.
Some Arabs said:
The things that most assist in sharpening the intellect
Are learning.
And the clearest evidence of a wise person's intellect
Is sound management.
Ibn al-Muqaffa', may Allah have mercy on him, said:
The wise person must not belittle any error in judgment,
Any slip in knowledge,
Or any negligence in affairs.
For whoever belittles a small thing
Will likely accumulate small thing upon small thing,
Until the small becomes great.
These are but cracks caused by incapacity and neglect;
If they are not sealed,
They are likely to burst into something unbearable.
We have never seen anything
That was not brought down by a small thing that was taken lightly.
We have seen kingdoms brought down by a despised enemy,
We have seen health destroyed by a disease that was ignored,
And we have seen rivers burst forth from a stream that was underestimated.
The wise person must be cautious of an opinion for which he finds no supporter,
Even if he thinks he is certain.
And the wise person should not underestimate anyone.
The most deserving of not being underestimated are three:
The pious, the rulers, and one's brothers.
For whoever underestimates the pious ruins his religion,
Whoever underestimates the rulers ruins his worldly life,
And whoever underestimates his brothers corrupts his honor.
You will not find a wise person telling something to someone he fears will call him a liar,
Nor asking someone he fears will refuse him,
Nor promising what he cannot fulfill,
Nor hoping for what he will be rebuked for seeking,
Nor undertaking what he fears he is incapable of.
There is no wisdom for one whose worldly pleasures distract him from his afterlife.
It is not a sign of wisdom to be deprived of one's share of the world by being blind to its transience.
He, may Allah have mercy on him, also said:
Know that there is a type of caution in affairs that is called prudence,
And another type that is called cowardice.
If you can avoid a matter before you become involved in it,
Then do so;
For this is prudence.
Do not plunge into it and then fear it,
For this is cowardice.
The wise person does not wade into a river until he knows the depth of its bottom.
The concern of the salaf regarding thoughts and reflections.
Masruq, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Whoever is mindful of Allah regarding the thoughts of his heart,
Allah will protect him in the movements of his limbs.
It was said to Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him:
"When does a servant take hold of an intention?"
He replied, "When it becomes a firm resolve, he takes hold of it."
Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Beware, may Allah have mercy on you, of these vain wishes,
For no one has ever been given anything good in this world or the next through mere wishing.
Some of them said:
High aspiration is the precursor to all things.
Whoever has a sound aspiration and is truthful in it,
All his subsequent deeds and states will be sound.