Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (97) - Kaab bin Malik, may God be pleased with him

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

0:15 The Mawaddah Association is pleased

0:17 to present to you glimpses from the lives of the Companions,

0:21 by Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,

0:25 may Allah have mercy upon him.

0:26 Ka'b ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him.

0:46 Today’s story is truly intense,

0:52 profoundly sincere,

0:54 and reaches the absolute pinnacle of intensity, depth, and excitement in storytelling.

0:59 I had intended, dear listener,

1:03 to narrate it to you myself,

1:05 but when I began, I found my expression too inadequate to convey its exquisite, subtle nuances,

1:13 its brilliant and masterful imagery,

1:16 and its overflowing, surging emotions.

1:19 So, I chose to leave that to the protagonist of the story himself,

1:23 for he is more eloquent than I,

1:25 more capable of expressing the stirrings of his own soul,

1:28 and more precise in depicting the whispers of his conscience.

1:31 So, listen to Ka'b ibn Malik al-Ansari,

1:34 a Companion of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

1:38 for he shall tell you his story.

1:41 Ka'b said:

1:42 "I never stayed behind from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

1:46 in any expedition he undertook,

1:48 except for the day of Tabuk.

1:50 I had never been stronger or better equipped for an expedition

1:54 than I was when I stayed behind from that one.

1:57 The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

2:01 used to conceal his destination whenever he intended an expedition,

2:04 and would hint at a different one,

2:06 except for this expedition.

2:08 Perhaps what made the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

2:12 not conceal his destination

2:14 was that the heat was intense,

2:16 the journey was long,

2:19 the fruits had ripened,

2:21 and the shade was pleasant.

2:23 The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, prepared himself,

2:27 and the Muslims prepared with him.

2:30 I began to go to the market to prepare with them,

2:34 but I would return each time

2:37 without having done anything.

2:39 I would say to myself,

2:41 'I am capable of preparing at any moment.'

2:45 I continued to procrastinate in this manner

2:48 until the Muslims became earnest in their preparations,

2:50 and I had not completed any of my own.

2:53 While I was in that state,

2:55 the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

2:58 and those with him set out.

3:00 I intended to set out after them

3:03 and catch up with them,

3:04 and I wish I had done so,

3:06 but it was not decreed for me.

3:09 Soon after, I was overcome with grief and regret for what I had done.

3:14 What added to my grief

3:16 was that whenever I went out from my house and walked among the people,

3:20 I saw no one but a man accused of hypocrisy,

3:24 or one who was incapacitated, whom Allah had excused for his incapacity.

3:27 The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, did not mention me

3:30 until he reached Tabuk.

3:32 He said to his Companions,

3:34 'What has happened to Ka'b ibn Malik?'

3:37 A man from Banu Salamah said,

3:39 'He was held back by his two beautiful garments

3:42 and his looking at his own sides.'

3:44 Mu'adh ibn Jabal said,

3:46 'What a terrible thing you have said!

3:48 By Allah, O Messenger of Allah,

3:50 we know nothing of him but good.'

3:53 The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, remained silent

3:56 and added nothing.

3:58 Then it reached me that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

4:02 had turned back toward Medina.

4:04 My grief overcame me,

4:06 and I began to consider lying, saying to myself,

4:09 'How can I apologize to him and escape his anger tomorrow?'

4:13 I sought the advice of every wise person in my family,

4:17 but I found no solution with them.

4:19 When it was said to me

4:21 that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

4:24 was approaching,

4:26 falsehood departed from me,

4:28 and I knew that I would not escape his anger

4:31 with anything involving a lie.

4:33 So, I resolved to speak the truth.

4:35 Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, arrived

4:38 in Medina.

4:40 Whenever he returned from a journey,

4:42 he would begin with the mosque,

4:44 where he would pray two rak'ahs.

4:46 When the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, finished

4:49 the two rak'ahs, he sat for the people.

4:52 Those who had stayed behind, like me, came to him,

4:55 offering excuses and swearing oaths to him.

4:58 They were over eighty men.

5:01 The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, accepted from them

5:05 based on what they professed,

5:07 asked forgiveness for them,

5:09 and left their inner secrets to Allah.

5:11 Then I came to him.

5:13 When I greeted him,

5:15 he smiled the smile of one who is angry, then said,

5:18 'Come here.'

5:20 I walked until I sat before him.

5:23 He said to me,

5:25 'What held you back, O Ka'b?

5:27 Had you not purchased your mount?'

5:30 I said,

5:31 'By Allah, O Messenger of Allah,

5:34 if I had sat before anyone else among the people of this world,

5:37 I would have escaped his anger with an excuse I could fabricate for him.

5:40 For, by Allah, I have been given eloquence and a way with words.

5:44 But, by Allah,

5:46 I knew that if I told you a lie today

5:50 to satisfy you,

5:52 Allah would soon make you angry with me.

5:55 And if I told you the truth, which would anger you,

5:59 I hope for Allah’s pardon through it.

6:02 By Allah, O Messenger of Allah,

6:04 I had no excuse for what I did.

6:08 I have never been stronger or better equipped than I was when I stayed behind from you.'

6:13 The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,

6:16 'As for this man, he has spoken the truth.'

6:19 Then he turned to me and said,

6:21 'Rise until Allah decides your case.'

6:24 I rose and left the mosque.

6:27 Ka'b said,

6:29 'Soon, men from my tribe followed me

6:32 and said to me,

6:33 "By Allah, we have never known you to commit a sin before this.

6:37 Why were you unable to apologize to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

6:42 as the others who stayed behind did?"

6:45 By Allah, they continued to rebuke me

6:48 until I intended to return to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

6:52 and declare myself a liar.'

6:54 But I soon asked them,

6:57 'Has anyone else shared in what I have done?'

7:00 They said, 'Yes,

7:02 two men who said exactly what you said,

7:04 and were told exactly what you were told.'

7:07 I asked, 'Who are they?'

7:09 They said,

7:10 'Murarah ibn al-Rabi' and Hilal ibn Umayyah.'

7:14 They were two righteous men

7:16 who had witnessed Badr.

7:18 I said, 'Then I have an example in them.'

7:21 So I went on.

7:23 Ka'b ibn Malik said,

7:25 'Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, forbade anyone from speaking to us three,

7:30 out of all those who had stayed behind.

7:32 People avoided us and changed toward us,

7:35 until the very earth felt strange to me.

7:38 It was no longer the earth I knew.

7:41 We remained in that state for fifty nights.

7:45 As for my two companions,

7:47 they remained submissive and stayed in their houses, weeping.

7:51 But as for me,

7:52 I was the youngest and most resilient of the three.

7:55 I would go out and attend prayer with the Muslims

7:59 and walk in the markets,

8:01 but no one would speak to me.

8:03 I would come to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

8:07 and greet him while he was in his gathering after prayer,

8:11 then I would say to myself,

8:13 "Did he move his lips to return my greeting or not?"

8:17 I would try to pray near him,

8:21 so I could steal a glance at him.

8:23 When I was occupied with my prayer, he would look at me,

8:27 but when I turned toward him, he would turn away from me.

8:30 When the people’s coldness toward me lasted too long,

8:33 my distress became severe.

8:35 I climbed the wall of the garden of Abu Qatadah,

8:38 who was my cousin and the most beloved of people to me.

8:41 I greeted him,

8:43 but by Allah, he did not return my greeting.

8:46 I said, "O Abu Qatadah,

8:49 I adjure you by Allah,

8:51 do you know that I love Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him?"

8:56 He remained silent.

8:58 I repeated it to him, and he remained silent.

9:00 I repeated it again,

9:02 and he said,

9:03 "Allah and His Messenger know best."

9:05 At that,

9:07 I turned back from where I had come.

9:10 Then, something unexpected happened.

9:13 While I was walking in the market of Medina, with no one speaking to me,

9:18 a Nabataean from the Nabataeans of Syria said,

9:22 "Who will direct me to Ka'b ibn Malik?"

9:25 People pointed toward me.

9:27 He came to me and handed me a letter from the King of Ghassan.

9:31 It read:

9:33 "To proceed:

9:34 It has reached me that your master has treated you coldly.

9:37 Come join us, and we will comfort you."

9:41 I said when I read it,

9:43 "This, too, is a trial."

9:45 I directed the letter toward the glowing light.

9:49 I cast the letter into it.

9:51 Ka'b said:

9:53 When forty nights of the fifty had passed,

9:56 a man came to me from the Prophet, peace be upon him.

10:00 He said, "The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

10:04 commands you to separate from your wife."

10:07 I asked, "Should I divorce her, or what should I do?"

10:10 He replied, "No, but separate from her and do not approach her."

10:14 He sent the same message to my two companions.

10:17 I said to my wife,

10:19 "Go to your family and stay with them

10:22 until Allah decides this matter."

10:25 So she went to her family.

10:27 As for the wife of Hilal Ibn Umayyah,

10:30 she came to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

10:33 and said, "O Messenger of Allah,

10:36 Hilal is an elderly man with no servant.

10:40 Do you dislike that I serve him?"

10:42 He replied, "No, but he must not approach you."

10:45 She said, "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah,

10:49 he has not ceased weeping since he confined himself to his house

10:52 until this very day."

10:54 Ka'b said:

10:56 At that time, some of my family said to me,

10:58 "If only you would ask the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

11:02 regarding your wife,

11:03 for he might grant you permission just as he granted Hilal Ibn Umayyah."

11:07 I said, "By Allah, I will not do so.

11:10 How do I know what the Messenger, peace be upon him, might say to me,

11:14 given that I am a young man?"

11:16 Ka'b said:

11:17 I remained in that state for another ten nights,

11:20 until fifty nights were complete for us.

11:23 When I performed the dawn prayer on the morning of the fiftieth night,

11:27 while I was on the roof of one of our houses,

11:30 and the earth, despite its vastness, had become constrained for me,

11:33 and my own soul had become severely constricted,

11:36 I heard the voice of a crier from the top of Mount Sal'

11:40 calling out at the top of his voice,

11:42 "O Ka'b Ibn Malik, rejoice!"

11:44 "O Ka'b Ibn Malik, rejoice!"

11:47 No sooner did the sound reach my ears

11:49 than I fell down prostrate to Allah,

11:52 for I knew that relief had come to me,

11:55 and that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

11:58 had announced this to his Companions.

12:01 People began to come to congratulate me.

12:03 The first of them to reach me was a rider who came on his horse.

12:07 Others also went to my two companions to congratulate them.

12:11 When the one whose voice I had heard came to me,

12:14 I took off my two garments for him,

12:16 and clothed him in them for his good news.

12:19 By Allah, I owned nothing else at that time.

12:22 Then I borrowed two garments and put them on,

12:25 and set out to the Messenger, peace be upon him.

12:29 The Muslims met me in groups,

12:32 congratulating me on my repentance and saying,

12:35 "May Allah’s acceptance of your repentance be blessed, O Ibn Malik!"

12:39 I entered the mosque,

12:41 and there was the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

12:45 sitting with people around him.

12:47 His face was radiant, as if it were a piece of the moon.

12:51 When I greeted him,

12:53 he said, his face beaming with joy,

12:56 "Rejoice, O Ka'b!

12:58 Rejoice, O Ka'b, at the best day that has passed over you

13:01 since your mother gave birth to you."

13:03 I asked, "Is it from you, O Messenger of Allah,

13:05 or from Allah, the Almighty and Majestic?"

13:08 He replied, "No, rather it is from Allah."

13:11 I said, "O Messenger of Allah,

13:13 part of my repentance is that I strip myself of all my wealth,

13:17 and give it as charity for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him."

13:23 The Messenger, peace be upon him, said,

13:26 "Keep some of your wealth, O Ka'b,

13:29 for it is better for you."

13:31 I said, "Then I shall keep my share in Khaybar,

13:34 and give the rest as charity."

13:36 Then I said, "O Messenger of Allah,

13:39 Allah has saved me only through truthfulness.

13:42 Part of my repentance

13:44 is that I will not speak anything but the truth as long as I live."

13:47 May Allah be pleased with Ka'b Ibn Malik al-Ansari,

13:51 the poet of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.

13:55 He defended Islam with his tongue and his pen.

13:59 Allah revealed Qur'an concerning him and his companions,

14:03 which is still recited in the hours of the night and at the ends of the day,

14:07 and will continue to be recited until Allah inherits the earth and those upon it.

14:13 Ka'b Ibn Malik, the poet of the Messenger, peace be upon him,

14:20 and one of the truthful Ansar

14:24 whom Allah forgave,

14:26 and about whom He revealed Qur'an.

14:36 O poetry, be generous

14:38 in their praise, for are they not eternal?

Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (97) - Kaab bin Malik, may God be pleased with him

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