Part of Glimpses from the Lives of the Tabi‘un (the Successors) (series completed)
· Lesson 2 of 37
Pictures from the lives of the followers | D. Abdul Rahman Raafat Al-Basha | Episode (2) | Amer bin Abdullah Al-Tamimi, may God have mercy on him
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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The best of generations in character and exemplary conduct,
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Followed the Messenger whenever he strove or spoke.
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Mawaddah Association
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Presents:
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"Portraits from the Lives of the Tabi'un"
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By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
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May Allah have mercy on him.
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'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi,
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May Allah have mercy on him.
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We are now in the fourteenth year after the Hijrah,
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And here are the guiding builders among the noble Companions and the leading Tabi'un,
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Planning and laying out the city of Basra,
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By the command of the Caliph of the Muslims, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him.
1:00
For they resolved to make this new city
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A base for the Muslim armies campaigning in the lands of Persia,
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A stronghold for calling people to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic,
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And a beacon for elevating His word in the earth.
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And here are the throngs of Muslims,
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Migrating to this nascent city from every corner of the Arabian Peninsula—
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From Najd, the Hijaz, and Yemen—
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To garrison one of the vital frontiers of the Muslims.
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Among the migrants who came to it from Najd
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Was a young man from Banu Tamim
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Named 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi al-'Anbari.
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'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah was then a youth in the prime of his early years,
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Radiant with fresh vigor and youthful vitality,
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Luminous-faced, pure of soul, and pious of heart.
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Despite its recent founding, Basra was among the wealthiest of Muslim lands,
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And the most abundant in riches,
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Due to the spoils of war that poured into it
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And the pure, gleaming gold that flowed abundantly through it—
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That is, pure, unalloyed gold.
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Yet the young Tamimi, 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah,
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Had no desire for any of that at all;
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He was thoroughly detached from what was in the hands of people,
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Longing earnestly for what is with Allah,
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Turning away from this worldly life and its adornments,
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Wholly devoted to Allah and seeking His pleasure.
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The foremost leader and preeminent figure of Basra in those days was
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The illustrious Companion Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, may Allah be pleased with him,
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May Allah brighten his face in Paradise.
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He was the governor of the flourishing city,
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The commander of the Muslim armies advancing from it in every direction,
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The imam of its people and their teacher,
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And their guide to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.
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'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah adhered closely to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari in peace and war,
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Accompanying him in residence and travel.
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From him he received the Book of Allah fresh and vibrant,
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Just as it was revealed to the heart of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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He narrated from him the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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Authentically and directly connected to the Noble Prophet,
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And acquired deep fiqh under his guidance in the religion of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.
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When he had acquired all the knowledge he sought,
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He divided his life into three distinct parts:
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One portion was devoted to circles of remembrance,
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In which he taught the people the Qur'an in the Mosque of Basra;
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Another portion was spent in secluded worship,
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Standing in prayer before Allah
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Until his feet grew weary;
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And the third portion was dedicated to the arenas of jihad,
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Drawing his sword as a warrior in the cause of Allah.
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He never left any room in his life for anything else,
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To the point that he was called the devout worshiper and ascetic of Basra.
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Among the accounts related about 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah
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Is a story narrated by one of the men of Basra,
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Who said: "I traveled in a caravan in which 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah was present.
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When night fell upon us,
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We halted near a dense thicket—
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A cluster of trees where rainwater collects.
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'Amir gathered his belongings,
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Tied his horse to a tree,
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Lengthened its tether,
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Gathered enough grass from the ground to satisfy its hunger,
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And placed it before it.
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He then entered the thicket and went deep into it.
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I said to myself,
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'By Allah, I will surely follow him
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And see what he does in the depths of the thicket tonight.'
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He walked on until he reached a knoll surrounded by dense trees,
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Concealed from all eyes.
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He faced the Qiblah
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And stood upright in prayer.
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I have never seen a prayer more beautiful, more complete, or more filled with humility and awe than his.
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When he had prayed as much as Allah willed for him to pray,
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He began to supplicate Allah and converse intimately with Him.
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Among the words he uttered were:
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'O my Lord, You created me by Your command,
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And You placed me amidst the trials of this world by Your will,
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Then You said to me,
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"Hold fast!"
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So how can I hold fast unless You sustain me with Your gentle grace, O All-Powerful, O Ever-Enduring?
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O my Lord,
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You know that if this entire world and all it contains belonged to me,
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And it were demanded of me for Your pleasure,
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I would willingly surrender it to whoever sought it.
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So grant me my own soul, O Most Merciful of the merciful!
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O my Lord,
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I have loved You with a love that has made every calamity easy for me to bear,
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And made me well-pleased with all of Your decrees,
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So with my love for You, I care not
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In what state I greet the morning or enter the evening.'
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The man from Basra continued:
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'Then drowsiness overcame me,
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So I surrendered my eyes to sleep.
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I kept waking up and falling back asleep,
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While 'Amir remained standing upright where he was,
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Continuing his prayer and intimate supplication,
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Until the break of dawn.
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When dawn became distinct to him,
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He performed the obligatory prayer,
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Then turned to supplicate, saying:
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"O Allah, morning has arrived,
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And the people have begun going forth and returning,
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Seeking from Your bounty,
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And each of them has a need;
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But 'Amir's only need with You
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Is that You forgive him.
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O Allah, fulfill my need and fulfill their needs,
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O Most Generous of the generous!
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O Allah, I asked You for three things;
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You granted me two
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And withheld one from me.
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O Allah, grant it to me,
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So that I may worship You as I love and desire."'
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Then he stood up from his place,
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And his gaze fell upon me.
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He realized that I had been watching him throughout the night,
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Which distressed him exceedingly,
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And he said to me in sorrow:
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'I see you were watching me tonight, O brother of Basra.'
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I said, 'Yes.'
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He said:
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'Conceal what you saw of me, may Allah conceal your faults.'
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I replied:
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'By Allah, you must tell me about those three things you asked of your Lord,
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Or else I will inform the people of what I saw of you.'
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He said:
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'Woe to you, do not do so!'
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I said, 'It is just as I have told you.'
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When he saw my insistence, he said:
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'I will tell you, on condition that you give me the pledge and covenant of Allah
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That you will not inform anyone of this.'
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I said:
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'You have my pledge and covenant with Allah
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That I will never disclose your secret as long as you live.'
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He said:
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'There was nothing I feared more regarding my religion than women,
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So I asked my Lord to remove the desire for them from my heart,
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And He answered my prayer,
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To the extent that I no longer care
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Whether I see a woman or a wall.'
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I said, 'That is the first;
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What is the second?'
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He said:
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'The second is that I asked my Lord not to let me fear anyone other than Him,
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And He answered my prayer,
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So that, by Allah, I fear nothing in the earth nor in the heavens besides Him.'
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I said, 'And what is the third?'
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He said:
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'I asked my Lord to take sleep away from me,
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So that I might worship Him night and day as I desire,
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But He withheld this third one from me.'
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When I heard that from him,
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I said to him:
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'Be gentle with yourself,
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For you spend your night standing in prayer
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And pass your day fasting.
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Paradise can be attained with less than what you do,
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And the Fire can be avoided with less hardship than you endure.'
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He said:
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'I truly fear that I might regret when regret is of no avail.
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By Allah, I will strive in worship
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As long as I find any way to strive.
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If I am saved,
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It is by the mercy of Allah;
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And if I enter the Fire,
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It is due to my own shortcomings.'
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Yet 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah
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Was not merely a monk of the night;
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Rather, he was also a knight of the day.
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Whenever a caller summoned to jihad in the cause of Allah,
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He was in the forefront of those answering the call.
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Whenever he set out for an expedition with the fighters,
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He would stand inspecting the men
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In order to choose his companions.
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When he found a company that suited him,
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He would say to them:
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'O you people,
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I wish to accompany you,
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Provided you grant me three conditions from yourselves.'
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They would ask, 'What are they?'
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And he would say:
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'The first is that I be your servant,
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And that none of you ever dispute with me over serving;
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The second is that I be your caller to prayer,
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And that none of you dispute with me over calling to prayer;
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And the third is that I spend upon you according to my means.'
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If they agreed, then yes, provided they joined them.
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Whenever anyone disputed any of that with him,
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he would depart from them and go to others.
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Indeed, 'Amir was among those warriors
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who are numerous in times of panic,
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and few in times of greed.
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He plunged into the thick of battle
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as no one else did,
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yet he showed restraint regarding the spoils
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like no one else could.
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Here is Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
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after the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, taking residence in the White Palace of Khosrow.
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He ordered 'Umar ibn Muqarrin
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to gather and inventory the spoils of war,
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in order to send a fifth to the Treasury of the Muslims
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and distribute the rest among the fighters.
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Before him were gathered riches, precious artifacts, and valuables
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beyond description and too vast to count.
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There were large baskets
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sealed with lead,
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filled with gold and silver vessels
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used by the kings of Persia.
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And over there were chests of fine wood,
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piled high with the garments, sashes,
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and armor of Khosrow, encrusted with jewels and pearls.
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There were leather hampers filled with exquisite jewelry
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and marvelous treasures,
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and scabbards containing the swords of the Persian kings,
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passed down monarch after monarch,
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as well as the swords of kings and commanders
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who had submitted to the Persians throughout history.
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As the officials were taking inventory of these spoils
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in full view and hearing of the Muslims,
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a disheveled, dust-covered man approached the people,
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carrying a large,
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heavy casket
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in both his hands.
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They looked closely,
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and behold, it was a casket
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the likes of which their eyes had never seen,
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nor had they found among all they had collected
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anything that equaled or even approached it.
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They looked inside
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and found it filled with splendid pearls and jewels.
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They asked the man,
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"Where did you acquire this precious treasure?"
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He replied,
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"I took it as spoils in such-and-such battle,
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in such-and-such place."
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They asked,
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"And did you take anything from it for yourself?"
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He said,
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"May Allah guide you!
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By Allah, this casket
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and everything the kings of Persia ever owned
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are not worth a fingernail clipping to me.
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Were it not for the right of the Muslim Treasury to it,
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I would not have picked it up from the ground,
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nor brought it to you."
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They said, "Who are you, may Allah honor you?"
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He replied,
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"No, by Allah!
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I will not tell you so that you praise me,
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nor will I tell anyone else so that they commend me—"
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meaning, so that they extol him—
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"rather, I praise Allah Almighty
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and hope for His reward."
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He then left them and walked away.
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They ordered a man from among them to follow him
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and bring back news of who he was.
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The man kept walking behind him
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without his knowledge,
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until he reached his companions.
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When he asked them about him,
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they said, "Do you not know him?
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He is the ascetic of Basra,
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'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi."
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Yet the life of 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah,
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despite what you have learned about him,
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was not devoid of hardship,
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nor was it free from the harm of people.
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For he was subjected to what all truthful proclaimers face
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when speaking the word of truth,
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denouncing wrongdoing,
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and striving to eradicate it.
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The direct cause
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of the harm that befell him
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was that he saw an officer from among the guards
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of the chief of police in Basra
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seizing by the throat
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a non-Muslim protected subject (*dhimmi*)
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and dragging him along,
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while the *dhimmi* was appealing to the people for help, saying,
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"Protect me, may Allah protect you!
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Protect the covenant of your Prophet, O gathering of Muslims!"
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'Amir approached him and asked,
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"Have you paid your *jizyah*?"
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He replied, "Yes, I have paid it."
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'Amir turned to the man holding him by the throat and said,
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"What do you want from him?"
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He answered,
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"I want him to come with me
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to sweep the garden of the chief of police"—
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meaning, to clean it.
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He asked the *dhimmi*,
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"Are you willingly agreeable to this work?"
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He said, "No,
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for it breaks my strength
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and diverts me from earning sustenance for my family."
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'Amir turned to the man and said, "Let him go."
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He replied, "I will not let him go."
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Thereupon, 'Amir
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threw his cloak
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over the *dhimmi* and said,
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"By Allah, the protection guaranteed by Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) shall not be violated while I live!"
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Then the people gathered
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and assisted 'Amir against the man,
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rescuing the *dhimmi* by force.
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The guards of the chief of police then
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accused 'Amir of defying authority
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and charged him with dissenting from the Sunnah and the community.
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They said,
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"He is a man who does not marry women,
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does not eat the meat or milk of animals,
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and considers himself above attending the gatherings of governors."
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They raised his matter to the Commander of the Faithful,
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'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him).
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The Caliph ordered his governor over Basra
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to summon 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah to his council,
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question him about what was attributed to him,
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and report back to him.
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The governor of Basra summoned 'Amir and said,
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"The Commander of the Faithful—may Allah prolong his life—
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has ordered me to question you regarding matters attributed to you."
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He said,
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"Ask about whatever the Commander of the Faithful has commanded."
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He said,
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"Why do you turn away from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
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and refuse to marry?"
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He replied,
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"I did not forego marriage out of aversion to the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
17:28
for I bear witness that there is no monasticism in Islam.
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Rather, I am a man who realized he has only one soul,
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so he dedicated it to Allah Almighty,
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and feared that a wife might distract him from Him."
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He then asked,
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"Why do you not eat meat?"
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He replied,
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"Indeed I eat it if I crave it and find it.
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But if I do not crave it,
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or if I crave it and do not find it,
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then I do not eat it."
17:59
He asked,
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"Why do you not eat cheese?"
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He replied,
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"We live in a region where Zoroastrians make cheese,
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and they are a people who do not distinguish between carrion and ritually slaughtered meat.
18:15
I fear that the rennet used to make the cheese
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might come from an unslaughtered sheep.
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Whenever two Muslim witnesses bear witness
18:25
that it is cheese made with the rennet of a ritually slaughtered sheep,
18:30
I eat it."
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He asked,
18:32
"And what prevents you from visiting the governors and attending their gatherings?"
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He replied,
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"At your doors are many seekers of needs,
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so call them to you
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and fulfill their needs,
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and leave alone him who has no need of you."
18:51
The statements of 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah were conveyed
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to the Commander of the Faithful, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan,
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who found in them no defiance of authority
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nor any departure from the Sunnah and the community.
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However, that did not extinguish the fire of discord,
19:08
as gossip and rumor multiplied around 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah,
19:12
nearly causing sedition between the man's supporters and his detractors.
19:17
So 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered that he be relocated to the Levant
19:22
to make it his place of residence.
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He commended him to his governor over the Levant,
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Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan,
19:30
instructing him to receive him warmly
19:32
and uphold his honor.
19:34
On the day 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah resolved
19:40
to depart from Basra,
19:42
a vast crowd of his brothers and students went out to bid him farewell.
19:47
They escorted him until they reached the outskirts of al-Mirbad,
19:51
a district on the outer edge of Basra.
19:54
There, he said to them,
19:56
"I am going to supplicate, so say *amin* to my supplication."
20:01
The people craned their necks toward him,
20:04
fell completely still,
20:06
and fixed their eyes upon him.
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He raised his hands and said,
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"O Allah, whoever slandered me and lied against me,
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and was the cause of my expulsion from my homeland
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and the separation between me and my companions—
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O Allah, I have forgiven him,
20:24
so forgive him,
20:26
Grant him well-being in his religious and worldly affairs,
20:29
and encompass me, him, and the rest of the Muslims
20:33
in Your mercy, Your pardon, and Your benevolence,
20:36
O Most Merciful of those who show mercy.
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Then he turned his mount toward the lands of the Levant
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and went on his way.
20:44
'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah spent
20:48
the remainder of his life in the lands of the Levant.
20:51
He chose Jerusalem as his residence,
20:55
and he received from the righteousness of the governor of the Levant,
20:58
Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan,
21:00
as well as his veneration and honor, that which he truly deserved.
21:04
When he fell terminally ill, his companions entered upon him,
21:09
and they found him weeping.
21:11
They asked, "What makes you weep, when you were such and such?"
21:15
He replied,
21:17
"By Allah, I do not weep out of eagerness for this world, nor out of panic over death;
21:22
rather, I weep because of the length of the journey and the scantiness of my provisions.
21:26
I have reached the evening standing between ascent and descent,
21:30
leading either to Paradise or to the Fire,
21:34
and I do not know to which of the two I shall go."
21:37
Then he breathed his last,
21:39
while his tongue was moist with the remembrance of Allah.
21:43
And there, at the first of the two qiblahs,
21:47
the third of the Two Holy Sanctuaries,
21:49
and the place of the Night Journey of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
21:53
'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi was laid to rest.
21:57
May Allah illuminate 'Amr's grave,
22:00
and may He brighten his countenance in the Gardens of Eternity.
22:04
Asceticism culminated in eight individuals,
22:10
chief among them 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi,
22:15
as reported by 'Alqamah ibn Marthad.
22:49
They filled life with glorious deeds by their actions,
22:54
and through them, the world of mankind flourished.