In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The life of the salaf between speech and action.
Humility and the condemnation of arrogance.
Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, went out on a hot day.
With his cloak placed over his head.
He said:
A young man passed by him riding a donkey.
He said:
"O young man, carry me with you."
He said:
The young man jumped off the donkey.
He said:
"Ride, O Commander of the Faithful."
He said:
"No."
"You ride."
"And I will ride behind you."
"Do you wish to make me ride on the rough part,"
"while you ride on the comfortable part?"
"Rather, you ride,"
"and I will be behind you."
He said:
So he entered the city with him behind him,
while the people were looking at him.
When he, may Allah be pleased with him, arrived in the Levant,
he encountered a ford,
meaning a place where the water is shallow,
which people cross on foot or mounted.
He got down from his camel,
took his sandals,
and removed his socks.
He took them in his hands and waded through the water.
Abu Ubaydah, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"You have done a great deed today in the eyes of the people of the earth."
Umar struck his own chest and said:
"If only someone other than you had said this!"
"You were the most insignificant, the most humiliated, and the weakest of people,"
"then Allah honored you with Islam."
"So whenever you seek honor in anything else, He will humiliate you."
He, may Allah be pleased with him, said from the pulpit:
"When a servant humbles himself for the sake of Allah, Allah elevates his wisdom."
"He is small or poor in his own estimation,"
"but great in the estimation of the people."
"And when a servant becomes arrogant and exceeds his bounds,"
"Allah brings him low."
"He is great in his own estimation, but small in the eyes of the people,"
"to the point that he is more contemptible and smaller in the eyes of the people than a pig."
Abu al-Minhal, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"I asked al-Bara' ibn 'Azib and Zayd ibn Arqam, may Allah be pleased with them both, about currency exchange,"
"and each of them would say, 'This one is better than me.'"
'Utbah ibn Ghazwan, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"I seek refuge in Allah from being great in my own estimation,"
"while being small in the sight of Allah."
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, came into the market
carrying a bundle of firewood,
and he was the governor for Marwan at that time.
He said, "Clear the way for the leader!"
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, went out one day,
and people followed him.
He said to them, "Do you have a need?"
They said, "No,"
"but we wanted to walk with you."
He said, "Go back,"
"for it is a humiliation for the follower and a trial for the followed."
He, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"Whoever acts arrogantly, Allah will bring him low,"
"and whoever humbles himself out of reverence,"
"Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, will raise him up."
'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
"You are neglecting the best act of worship:"
"Humility."
A man said to Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both:
"O best of people, and son of the best of people!"
He said:
"I am not the best of people, nor the son of the best of people,"
"but I am a servant among the servants of Allah."
"I hope in Allah and I fear Him."
"By Allah, you will not cease to flatter a man until you destroy him."
A man came to him and asked him about a religious obligation,
and he said to him:
"Go to Sa'id ibn Jubayr,"
"for he is more knowledgeable in calculation than I am."
Mujahid said:
"I accompanied Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,"
"and I wanted to serve him,"
"but he was the one who served me."
Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said:
"I used to teach Qur'an to men from the Muhajirun,"
"among them 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf."
Ibn al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"In this is a reminder to take knowledge from its people,"
"even if they are young in age,"
"or of low status."
Hakim ibn Hizam used to
read to Mu'adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with them both.
It was said to him:
"You read to this young Khazraji man?"
He said:
"It is only arrogance that has destroyed us."
Some of the salaf, may Allah have mercy on them,
would buy something from the market and carry it himself.
It would be said to him:
"Give it to us, we will carry it."
He would refuse and say:
“Assuredly Allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim. Lo! He loveth not the proud.” (16:23)
Al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym, may Allah have mercy on him,
would sweep his own latrine himself.
It was said to him:
"You could be spared this."
He said:
"I like to take my share of the work."
When 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, buried Sulayman ibn 'Abd al-Malik,
and came out of his grave,
he heard a thud or a rumble from the earth.
He said:
"What is this?"
It was said:
"These are the mounts of the Caliphate, O Commander of the Faithful,"
"brought near for you to ride."
He said:
"What do I have to do with them?"
"Take them away from me."
"Bring me my mule."
His mule was brought to him, and he rode it.
The chief of police came to him, walking before him with a spear.
He said:
"Move away from me."
"What do I have to do with you?"
"I am only a man from among the Muslims."
'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar said:
Raja' ibn Haywah said to me:
"How perfect is your father's chivalry!"
"I spent the night with him,"
"and the lamp grew dim."
"Beside him was a sleeping servant."
I said:
"Shall I wake him?"
He said, "No."
"Leave him."
I said:
"I will get up."
He said:
"No."
"It is not part of a man's chivalry to use his guest as a servant."
He stood up to the oil container and fixed the lamp.
Then he returned,
and said:
"I stood up while I was 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz,"
"and I returned while I was 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz."
He also said, may Allah have mercy on him:
"Whoever commits a sin out of desire,"
"hope for his repentance,"
"for Adam disobeyed out of desire,"
"and he was forgiven."
"But if his sin is out of arrogance,"
"then fear the curse for its perpetrator,"
"for Iblis disobeyed out of arrogance, and he was cursed."
'Awn ibn 'Abd Allah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"It is enough of an arrogance for you"
"that you see yourself as having a merit over those who are beneath you."
It has been said:
"Whoever is arrogant during his tenure,"
"will be humiliated upon his dismissal."
Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"There are people who want to rise,"
"but Allah refuses except to bring them low."
"And others who want to be humble,"
"and Allah refuses except to raise them up."
Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him,
whenever he taught someone something,
he did not act as if he had taught him,
and whenever he learned something from someone,
he acted as if he had learned from him.
'Ubayd ibn Junad said:
"I have never seen anyone like Ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him."
"When he mentioned his companions, he would exalt them."
"He would say, 'Where is anyone like so-and-so?'"
Sa'id ibn Jubayr, may Allah have mercy on him, saw
people following him,
so he forbade them and said:
"This walking of yours is a humiliation for the follower,"
"and a trial for the followed."
Yusuf ibn Asbat, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked:
"What is the ultimate limit of humility?"
He said: "That you do not meet anyone"
"without seeing that they have merit over you."
Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Humility is among the characteristics of the noble,"
"and arrogance is among the traits of the base."
"Humility breeds love,"
"and contentment breeds comfort."
He said:
"The highest of people in status"
"is he who sees no status for himself."
"And the most meritorious of them"
"is he who sees no merit for himself."
Yahya ibn Ma'in said:
"I have never seen anyone like Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him."
"We accompanied him for fifty years,"
boasting to us about something
of the goodness he possessed.
Ahmad Ibn al-Hasan al-Tirmidhi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
I saw Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him,
buying bread from the market,
and carrying it himself in a basket.
I saw him buying fava beans more than once,
placing them in a bowl or some other container,
and carrying them while holding the hand of his son, 'Abdullah.
Salih said:
My father would sometimes go out to the grocer,
buy a bundle of firewood, and carry it himself.
Al-Fudayl Ibn 'Iyad, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked about humility,
and he said:
It is to submit to the truth, be guided by it,
and accept it from whoever speaks it.
Some have said:
Do not despise any of Allah's creation, for perhaps
he is a devoted servant of the Lord of the worlds, and you do not know.
For the one who has status with Allah is hidden from the people,
just as the Night of Decree is hidden from their knowledge.