In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The best of generations in their conduct and example,
Following the Messenger, peace be upon him, whether he hastened or lingered.
A collection of affection,
Proceed.
Scenes from the lives of the Tabi'un,
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
Tawus Ibn Kaysan,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
No sooner had the Caliph of the Muslims, Sulayman Ibn Abd al-Malik,
Settled his belongings in the vicinity of the Ancient House (the Ka'bah),
And quenched his longing for the Sacred Ka'bah,
Than he turned to his chamberlain and said,
"Find us a scholar who can give us understanding of the religion,
And remind us on this glorious day among the days of Allah, the Almighty."
The chamberlain went out to the prominent figures among the pilgrims,
And began asking them about what the Commander of the Faithful desired.
It was said to him,
"This is Tawus Ibn Kaysan,
The master of the jurists of his era,
And the most truthful of them in speech when calling to Allah.
You should seek him out."
The chamberlain approached Tawus and said,
"Answer the call of the Commander of the Faithful, O Shaykh."
Tawus responded to him without delay,
For he believed that those who call to Allah, the Almighty,
Must seize every opportunity that presents itself,
And hasten to every opening that arises.
He was certain that the best word to be spoken
Is a word of truth intended to rectify the crookedness of those in power,
To spare them from injustice and tyranny,
And to draw them closer to Allah, the Almighty.
Tawus went with the chamberlain,
And when he entered upon the Commander of the Faithful, he greeted him.
The Caliph returned the greeting with one better,
Honored his visitor, and brought him close to his seat.
Then he began to ask him about matters of the Hajj rituals that were unclear to him,
Listening to him with reverence and respect.
Tawus said: "When I felt that the Commander of the Faithful
Had attained his goal,
And had nothing left to ask about,
I said to myself, 'This gathering
Is a gathering for which Allah will hold you accountable, O Tawus.'"
Then I turned to him and said,
"O Commander of the Faithful,
A rock was on the edge of a well
In the depths of Hell,
And it had been falling into this well for seventy autumns
Until it reached its bottom.
Do you know for whom Allah has prepared this well,
One of the wells of Hell, O Commander of the Faithful?"
He replied without hesitation,
"No." Then he returned to himself and said,
"Woe to you, for whom was it prepared?"
I said, "Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, prepared it
For those who associate partners with Him in His rule,
And act unjustly."
A tremor seized Sulayman at that,
Such that I thought his soul
Would depart from his body.
He began to weep,
And his weeping had a sob that tore at the heartstrings.
So I left him and departed,
While he was rewarding me with goodness.
When Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz assumed the Caliphate,
He sent word to Tawus Ibn Kaysan, saying,
"Advise me, O Abu Abd al-Rahman."
Tawus wrote him a letter
In one line, in which he said,
"If you wish for your work to be entirely good,
Then employ people of goodness.
Peace."
When Umar read the letter, he said,
"This is sufficient as an admonition."
"This is sufficient as an admonition."
When the Caliphate passed to Hisham Ibn Abd al-Malik,
Tawus Ibn Kaysan had with him
Famous and recorded encounters.
Among them is that Hisham came
To the Sacred House for Hajj.
When he arrived in the Haram,
He said to his close associates from the people of Makkah,
"Find us a man from the Companions of
The Messenger, peace be upon him."
They said to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, the Companions
Have joined their Lord,
Until not one of them remains."
He said, "Then from the Tabi'un."
So Tawus Ibn Kaysan was brought to him.
When he entered upon him,
He took off his sandals at the edge of his carpet,
And greeted him without addressing him
As Commander of the Faithful,
And addressed him by his name without using his kunya (honorific title).
And he sat down before he was given permission to sit.
Hisham was enraged,
Until the anger appeared in his eyes,
For he saw in those actions
An audacity toward him and a slight to his prestige
Before his courtiers and the men of his retinue.
However, he soon remembered
That he was in the sanctuary of Allah, the Almighty,
So he returned to himself and said to Tawus,
"What prompted you, O Tawus, to do what you did?"
He said, "And what is it that I did?"
The Caliph's anger returned to him,
And his fury, and he said,
"You took off your sandals at the edge of my carpet,
You did not greet me as Commander of the Faithful,
You called me by my name and did not use my kunya,
And then you sat down without my permission."
Tawus said calmly,
"As for taking off my sandals at the edge of your carpet,
I take them off before the Lord of Might
Five times every day,
And He does not rebuke me nor get angry with me.
As for your saying that I did not greet you
As Commander of the Faithful, it is because all
The believers are not satisfied with your command,
And I feared that I would be a liar
If I called you Commander of the Faithful.
As for what you criticized me for, that I
Called you by your name and did not use your kunya,
Allah called His prophets by their names,
Saying, 'O Dawud,'
'O Yahya,' 'O Isa.'
And He called His enemies by their kunyas (e.g., Abu Lahab).
“The power of Abu Lahab will perish, and he will perish.” (111:1)
As for your saying that I sat before you gave me permission,
I heard the Commander of the Faithful, Ali
Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, say:
'If you want to look at a man from the people of the Fire,
Look at a man sitting,
While people are standing before him.'
So I disliked for you to be that man
Who is counted among the people of the Fire."
Hisham lowered his head to the ground in shame,
Then he raised his head and said,
"Admonish me, O Abu Abd al-Rahman."
He said, "I heard Ali Ibn Abi Talib,
May Allah be pleased with him, say:
'There are scorpions like mules,
That sting every shepherd who does not act justly toward his flock.'"
Then he stood up and departed.
Just as Tawus would approach some of those in authority
To remind and guide them,
He would turn away from others among them
To rebuke and reprimand them.
His son narrated, saying,
"We went out one year with my father for Hajj from Yemen,
And we stopped in one of the cities,
Governed by an official called Ibn Najih,
Who was among the most wicked of officials,
The most audacious toward the truth,
And the most deeply entrenched in falsehood.
We came to the city's mosque intending to perform the obligatory prayer,
And Ibn Najih had learned of my father's arrival,
So he came to the mosque,
Sat before him, and greeted him.
My father did not answer him and turned his back to him.
He came to his right and spoke to him,
But he turned away from him.
He moved to his left and spoke to him,
But he turned away from him as well.
When I saw that, I stood up to him,
Stretched out my hand toward him, greeted him,
And said to him, 'My father did not recognize you.'
He said, 'Rather, your father knows me,
And his knowledge of me
Is what made him do what you saw.'
Then he went away, silent, saying nothing.
When we returned to our dwelling,
My father turned to me and said,
'O fool, you sharpen your tongues against these people with sharp words
In their absence,
But when they are present, you are submissive to them in speech.
Is hypocrisy anything other than this?'"
Tawus Ibn Kaysan did not reserve his admonitions
For Caliphs and governors,
Rather, he offered them to everyone he felt
Had a need for them or a desire for them.
Among this is what Ata' Ibn Abi Rabah narrated:
"Tawus Ibn Kaysan saw me
In a situation he did not approve of,
So he said, 'O Ata',
Beware of taking your needs to one who has closed his door,
And has placed a chamberlain between you and him,
When you can seek them from the One who has opened His doors to you,
And has asked you to call upon Him, and has promised you
An answer.'"
He used to say to his son, "O my son,
Associate with the wise, for you will be attributed to them,
Even if you are not one of them.
And do not associate with the ignorant,
For if you associate with them, you will be attributed to them."
He knew that everything has an end,
And that the end of a person is the perfection of his religion
And the completion of his character.
His son ‘Abdullah grew up
following the upbringing his father provided,
embodying his character and following in his footsteps.
Among these instances is when the Abbasid Caliph,
Abu Ja‘far al-Mansur,
summoned his son, ‘Abdullah ibn Tawus.
When they entered his presence
and took their seats before him,
the Caliph turned to ‘Abdullah ibn Tawus
and said, "Relate to me something that
your father used to tell you."
He replied, "My father told me
that the person who will face the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection
is a man whom Allah, the Almighty, granted authority,
yet he introduced injustice into his rule."
When I heard this statement of his,
I pulled my clothes tightly around me,
fearing that some of his blood might touch me.
However, Abu Ja‘far remained silent
for a while, not speaking,
then he dismissed us in peace.
Life was extended for Tawus ibn Kaysan
until he reached one hundred years or slightly more.
Yet, despite his old age and advanced years,
he retained the clarity of his mind, the sharpness of his intellect,
and his quick wit.
‘Abdullah al-Shami narrated, saying:
"I came to Tawus in his house to learn from him,
and I did not know him.
When I knocked on the door, an old man came out to me.
I greeted him and said,
'Are you Tawus ibn Kaysan?'
He replied, 'No, I am his son.'
I thought to myself that the old man might have become senile and lost his memory,
and I had traveled from far away
to benefit from his knowledge.
He said, 'Woe to you!
Those who carry the Book of Allah do not become senile.
Go in to him.'
So I entered to see Tawus and greeted him,
and I said, 'I have come to you seeking your knowledge,
desiring your counsel.'
I will be brief;
I will be as brief as I can, if Allah wills."
He asked, "Do you want me to summarize for you
the essence of what is in the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel,
and the Qur'an?"
I said, "Yes," and he said,
"Fear Allah, the Exalted, with such fear
that nothing is more fearful to you than Him.
And hope in Him with a hope stronger than your fear of Him.
Love for people what you love for yourself."
On the night of the tenth of Dhu al-Hijjah,
in the year 106 AH,
the elderly scholar Tawus ibn Kaysan departed
with the pilgrims from ‘Arafat to Muzdalifah
for the fortieth time.
When he rested in its sacred grounds,
and performed the Maghrib and ‘Isha’ prayers,
and laid his side upon the earth,
certainty came to him.
He met his end far from his family and homeland,
seeking nearness to Allah,
reciting the Talbiyah, in the state of Ihram, hoping for the reward of Allah,
emerging from his sins as the day his mother bore him,
by the grace of Allah.
When the morning broke,
and they intended to bury him,
they were unable to bring out his funeral procession.
So the governor of Makkah sent guards to them
to keep the people away from the funeral
until they could bury him.
A great multitude prayed over him,
the number of whom none can count except Allah.
Among those who prayed was
the Caliph of the Muslims,
Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik.
I saw you, O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman, in dreams,
with the Prophet, peace be upon him, at its door,
and he was saying to you:
"Unveil your mask,
and clarify your recitation, O Tawus."
Remind them, O Exalted One.
They departed and left behind a question in the conscience:
Is there a star like them that has risen and shone?
They filled life with pride through their deeds,
and the world of the patient flourished because of them.