Part of The Pre-Dawn Breeze (series completed)
· Lesson 27 of 30
Breeze of Magic | Episode (27) | People of happiness and joy are sitting
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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The dawn breeze.
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Sit with those who possess happiness and bring it to others.
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Man is by nature a social being.
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He tends to mingle with others and finds comfort in those around him.
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In states of health and free choice, he is unable
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to live alone or remain distant from socializing and meeting people.
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Such association
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can result in the transfer of temperaments, morals, deeds, and conduct,
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because man has an inherent capacity to influence and be influenced.
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He affects others and is affected by them.
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Therefore, Islam has urged us to be selective in choosing our companions.
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The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
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"A person follows the religion of his close friend,
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so let each of you look at whom he takes as a friend."
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When our upright religion urges us to keep the company of a righteous friend
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and warns us against a bad companion,
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we must understand this within a broad framework.
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Righteousness is not limited to the soundness of creed and the correctness of deeds,
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but it also encompasses a person’s nature,
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their perception of things, and their attitude toward them.
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For instance, in the realm of happiness:
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If we find a person who is righteous in his creed and deeds,
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but he is pessimistic and despondent,
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frequently complaining and grumbling,
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and viewing matters and events from a dark perspective,
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then this person, in our context, is a bad companion.
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Because sitting with him will bequeath to his companion misery and distress,
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anguish and sadness.
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One leaves him carrying the burdens of the world upon his shoulders,
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with mazes of deep sorrow before his eyes,
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even though he had come to him with a smiling face and an open heart.
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He cast that joy upon the table of the bad companion,
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so how excellent was what he brought, and how wretched was what he left with!
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There is a vast difference between this righteous person—who is lacking in his righteousness—
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and one who is complete in his righteousness,
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to the point that even in the darkest of circumstances,
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he remains radiantly optimistic and bright-spirited,
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a fountain of cheer,
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and a cloud shading others from the heat of hardship.
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Ibn al-Qayyim said about his teacher, Ibn Taymiyyah:
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"By Allah, I have never seen anyone with a better life than his,
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despite the hardship of his living conditions,
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and the lack of luxury and comfort—
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indeed, the very opposite of them.
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And despite all the imprisonment, threats, and exhaustion he endured,
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he was, nonetheless,
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among the most pleasant of people in life, the most open-hearted,
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the strongest in heart, and the most joyful in soul.
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The glow of bliss would shine upon his face.
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Whenever fear intensified for us,
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and our thoughts turned dark,
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and the earth felt narrow for us,
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we would come to him.
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No sooner would we see him and hear his words
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than all of that would vanish,
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and we would be transformed into a state of openness, strength, certainty, and tranquility."
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Therefore, we say to everyone who desires comfort:
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Sit with the happy ones,
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those who, when you see them, you read happiness in their smiles,
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hear the rhythm of tranquility in their optimistic words,
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and taste the sweetness and comfort of the soul in sitting with them.
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Sitting with such people is health for the soul and pleasure for the mind.
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Al-Muhallab Ibn Abi Sufrah said:
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"The entirety of life is found in an enjoyable companion."
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And beware of sitting with those who, when you see them, you read distress in their facial features,
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see despair in the darkness of their thinking,
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and hear the clamor of pessimism in the tones of their words, stained with sadness.
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Sitting with this type is a sickness and a rapidly spreading contagion.
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Sit, likewise, with companions who, when you come to them with the rags of pain,
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you return from them with the garments of hope.
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Whenever you come to them worried, they bring you solace;
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when you feel lonely, they comfort you; when life’s sorrows narrow your path,
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they widen its horizons for you;
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when the way to relief seems blocked before your eyes,
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they open doors of relief for you.
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The poet said:
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"I have companions whose conversation I never tire of,
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intelligent, trustworthy in absence and presence.
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When we gather, their good speech
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is an aid in repelling worries and a source of support."
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Do not sit with those who, when you visit them feeling gloomy and sad,
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seeking solace with them,
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send you back to your origin even more gloomy and sad,
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when you were in a better state had you not visited them at all.
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It is as if their only mission is to blow upon the embers of sorrow
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and tighten the knots of distress,
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until the soul finds no breath to relieve itself.
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Also, sit with your equals,
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so that you do not wound your soul with the arrow of disdain.
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If you mingle with someone of a higher status than you,
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and you do not possess a sturdy shield of patience and contentment
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to ward off the feeling of inferiority and insignificance, [it will harm you].
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Al-Harani said:
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"The righteous companion is like a shining lamp,
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while the bad companion exposes a person to shame."
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Sitting with those who are like you invites connection,
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while sitting with opposites melts the liver.
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If you do not find anyone among those we have described for you to sit with,
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then hasten to the tent of solitude,
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and distance yourself from the types of bad companions,
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even if it means biting onto the root of a tree,
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until happiness returns to you while you are in that state.
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Abu 'Ubayd said:
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"Among their proverbs that have circulated in ancient and modern times
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is their saying:
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'Solitude is better than a bad companion.'"
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The dawn breeze in bringing happiness to mankind.