Part of Lives of the Salaf — the Pious Predecessors (series completed)
· Lesson 28 of 72
A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (28) | The condition of the predecessors with the Qur’an
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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 life of the salaf.
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Between speech and action.
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The state of the salaf regarding the Qur'an and its instruction.
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And its impact upon them.
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Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to—
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whenever Abu Musa sat with him—
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often say to him:
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"Remind us, O Abu Musa."
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So he would recite.
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And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him:
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He said:
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'Uyaynah ibn Hisn ibn Hudhayfah arrived,
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and he stayed with his nephew, al-Hurr ibn Qays.
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He was among those whom Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to bring close to him.
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The reciters (Qurra') were the members of Umar's councils and his consultants,
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whether they were mature men or youths.
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'Uyaynah said to his nephew:
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"O my nephew,
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do you have influence with this leader?
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Seek permission for me to see him."
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He said:
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"I will seek permission for you."
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Ibn Abbas said:
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So al-Hurr sought permission for 'Uyaynah,
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and Umar granted it.
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When he entered upon him, he said:
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"O Ibn al-Khattab,
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by Allah, you do not give us much,
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nor do you judge between us with justice."
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Umar became angry,
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to the point that he intended to strike him.
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Al-Hurr said to him:
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"O Commander of the Faithful,
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Allah the Exalted said to His Prophet, peace be upon him:
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﴿Take what is given freely, enjoin what is good,﴾
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﴿and turn away from the ignorant.﴾
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And this man is one of the ignorant."
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By Allah, Umar did not go beyond this verse when he recited it to him;
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he was one who would stop at the Book of Allah.
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Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, met
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Nafi' ibn 'Abd al-Harith at 'Usfan,
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and Umar had appointed him over Makkah.
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He asked, "Whom have you appointed over the people of the valley?"
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He replied, "Ibn Abza."
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He asked, "And who is Ibn Abza?"
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He said, "One of our freed slaves."
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He said, "You have appointed a freed slave over them?"
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He replied, "He is a reciter of the Book of Allah the Almighty,
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and he is knowledgeable about the laws of inheritance."
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Umar said:
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"Indeed, your Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
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'Verily, Allah raises some people by this Book,
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and lowers others by it.'"
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And from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
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"The bearer of the Qur'an should be known by his night
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when people are sleeping,
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and by his day when people are breaking their fast,
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and by his sadness when people are joyful,
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and by his weeping when people are laughing,
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and by his silence when people are gossiping,
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and by his humility when people are arrogant."
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"It is fitting for the bearer of the Qur'an
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to be weeping, sorrowful,
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forbearing, wise, and quiet.
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It is not fitting for the bearer of the Qur'an to be harsh, heedless,
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nor clamorous, loud-mouthed, or hot-tempered."
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He also said, may Allah be pleased with him:
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"These hearts are vessels,
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so occupy them with the Qur'an,
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and do not occupy them with anything else."
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He also said, may Allah be pleased with him:
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"If you desire knowledge, then stir up the Qur'an,
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for in it is the knowledge of the first and the last."
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A man said to him:
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"I recite the Mufassal (surahs) in one rak'ah."
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He said to him, "Like the reciting of poetry?
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There are people who recite the Qur'an, but it does not pass their throats;
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but if it settles in the heart and takes root, it brings benefit."
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And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, who said:
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"That I recite Surah al-Baqarah and chant it (with tartil)
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is more beloved to me than reciting the entire Qur'an."
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And from Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
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"We learned the Qur'an from a people who informed us
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that when they learned ten verses,
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they would not move on to the next ten
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until they learned what was in them.
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So we learned the Qur'an and how to act upon it.
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And after us, a people will inherit the Qur'an
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who will drink it down like water,
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but it will not pass their throats."
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He, may Allah have mercy on him, recited the Qur'an in the mosque for forty years.
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Some of the salaf said:
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"Whoever wishes to know who he is,
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let him present himself to the Qur'an."
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Nafi' ibn Abi Nu'aym al-Muqri', may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"This Qur'an is magnificent;
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it came from the Magnificent.
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So when you recite it,
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do not be occupied with anything else,
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and consider whom you are addressing."
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Ibn Kathir al-Muqri', may Allah have mercy on him, used to—
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when his students wanted to recite—
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gather them and exhort them,
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and say:
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"I only do this
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so that you may approach the recitation of the Qur'an
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with humble hearts,
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submissive souls,
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and tearful eyes."
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When Abdullah ibn Idris
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al-Muqri', may Allah have mercy on him, was dying,
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his daughter wept.
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He said to her, "Do not weep,
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for I have completed the Qur'an in this house
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four thousand times."
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Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"It is grievous to me that the world should consume the hearts of men
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while the Qur'an is in their chests."
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And the Qadi Abdullah ibn Talib, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"True honor belongs to the one who possesses the Qur'an and knowledge;
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this is the honorable one.
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As for the one who possesses the honor of authority,
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he is not truly honorable."
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Al-Fadl al-Raqashi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"The worshippers have not found pleasure,
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and their hearts have not taken flight for anything,
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like the beauty of a voice reciting the Qur'an.
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And every heart that does not respond to the beauty of a voice reciting the Qur'an
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is a dead heart."
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Al-Fadl also said:
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"And what eye does not shed tears at a beautiful voice,
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except the eye of one who is heedless or distracted?"
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Iyas ibn Mu'awiyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"The likeness of those who recite the Qur'an
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while not knowing its Tafsir
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is like a people to whom a letter from their king came at night,
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and they had no lamp,
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so they were filled with awe,
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yet they did not know what was in the letter.
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And the likeness of one who knows the Tafsir
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is like a man who brought them a lamp,
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so they read what was in the letter."
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And from al-Sha'bi, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
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"Whoever recites the Qur'an will not suffer from senility."
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Khaythamah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman, may Allah have mercy on him,
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used to complete the Qur'an every three days.
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Ibn Muhayriz, may Allah have mercy on him,
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used to complete the Qur'an every seven days.
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And from 'Ammar ibn 'Umar al-Bajali, who said:
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"We went out with Muhammad ibn al-Nadr al-Harithi,
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may Allah have mercy on him, to Makkah.
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We would not wake up at any hour of the night
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but that he was sitting on his camel reciting."
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He said, "We used to think
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that he did not sleep until he entered Makkah."
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He said, "And when he would stop,
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he would be in the service of his companions."
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It was said to him, 'O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman,
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we will take care of this for you.'
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He would come to them and say:
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'Are you depriving me of the reward?'"
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And from Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him:
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He used to complete the Qur'an once every seven nights.
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When Ramadan arrived,
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he would complete it once every three nights.
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And when the last ten days arrived,
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he would complete it once every night.
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And from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, may Allah have mercy on him:
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He used to complete the Qur'an every two nights.
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Malik ibn Dinar,
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may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"When the Qur'an is recited to the truthful ones,
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their hearts yearn for the Hereafter."
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He also said, may Allah have mercy on him:
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"O bearers of the Qur'an,
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what has the Qur'an planted in your hearts?
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For the Qur'an is the spring of the believer,
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just as rain is the spring of the earth.
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For Allah sends down rain from the sky
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to the earth, and it reaches the seed,
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and the grain is within it;
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the foulness of its location does not prevent it
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from stirring, turning green, and becoming beautiful.
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So, O bearers of the Qur'an,
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what has it planted in your hearts?
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Where are the people of one surah?
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Where are the people of two surahs?
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What have you done with them?"
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Muhammad ibn Wasi', may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"The Qur'an is the garden of the gnostics (those who know Allah).
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So where are those who have found sweetness in it?"
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Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"The bearer of the Qur'an
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is the bearer of the banner of Islam.
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It is not fitting for him to engage in idle talk with those who do,
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nor to play with those who play,
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nor to be heedless with those who are heedless."
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Wahib Ibn al-Ward, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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We examined this hadith,
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and we found nothing more softening to these hearts,
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nor more effective at drawing one toward the truth,
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than the recitation of the Qur'an for one who reflects upon it.
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Some of the salaf said:
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I used to recite the Qur'an without finding its sweetness,
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so I said to myself:
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"Recite it as if you are hearing it
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from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
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And a little sweetness came to me.
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Then I said to myself:
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"Recite it as if you are hearing it
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from Jibril, peace be upon him,
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when he was conveying it to the Prophet, peace be upon him."
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He said: "Then the sweetness increased."
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Then I said to myself:
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"Recite it as if you are hearing it
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at the moment Allah spoke it."
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He said: "Then the sweetness became complete."