Virtues of the righteous
Beautiful stories about manliness and spiritual chivalry
Great instructive stories have come down to us from the righteous. We give some of them below:
1. They say that the following incident was the reason why the righteous Hatam was nicknamed “al-Asam” (The Deaf). A certain woman came to him for a legal opinion. As she was asking Hatam a question, accidentally wind loudly escaped her and she was most embarrassed. But then Hatam told her, “Speak louder!” so as to indicate that he was hard of hearing. The woman was delighted and thought, «So he heard nothing.» And after this, he became known as “al-Asam” (The Deaf).
2. Dhul-Nun al-Misri related, “When they brought me before the caliph on charges of heresy, I saw a water-carrier there. He was wearing a turban and an Egyptian-style shawl and in his hands was a fine earthenware pitcher. I asked, «Does this man serve water to the ruler?» They answered, «No, he serves water to the common folk.» Then I took a pitcher from him, drank some water and said to my companion, «Give him a dinar.» However, the water-carrier refused to take the money, saying, «You are a prisoner, it would not be chivalrous to take anything from you.»
3. Dhul-Nun al-Misri also said, “There was a chivalrous young man named Ahmad ibn Sahl among the merchants. I bought a piece of white material from him and he took only what it cost him. I asked him, “Won't you take more for it?” He replied, «I only took the price of the fabric, so as not to burden you with feelings of indebtedness, had I not charged you at all.»
4. It is said that a man who had made claims of chivalry travelled from Nishapur to Nisa [1], where someone invited him for a meal along with a group of (chivalrous) young men. When they had finished their feast, a maid came to pour water for them to wash their hands. The man from Nishapur retracted his hands, saying, “It is not fitting for a chivalrous man to have a woman pour water on his hands!”
5. It is related that a certain man was spending a night in Medina after the pilgrimage. He dreamed that his satchel was stolen. Coming out of his room he saw Ja`far alSadiq and accosted him, “Have you taken my satchel?” “What was in it?” asked Ja`far. “One thousand dinars,” answered the pilgrim. Ja`far brought him to his house and weighed out one thousand dinars for him. When the pilgrim returned to where he was staying, he discovered his satchel there. So the man went back to Ja`far to apologize and to return his money. However, the latter refused to accept it, saying: “I never take back something I have given away.”
6. Imam ash-Sha`rani said, “Know that the chivalry of the beloved servants (awliya) of Almighty Allah manifests itself in that, if they are allowed to intercede for anyone, they will first do so for those who caused them harm in this world or accused them of unbelief or heresy or the commission of ostentatious acts and other vices. They do this so as to release a person who has harmed them of pangs of conscience, when he sees their degree before the Almighty - of which he knew not in this world and which the beloved of Allah have gained in eternal life (i.e. closeness to the Creator and the attention of the Creator to their appeals). Having received intercession on the Day of Judgment, the souls of those who reproached the righteous will be calmed and the fear of the beloved of Allah due to the harm caused them will leave them.”
He also noted, “The righteous, Allah’s beloved, did not intercede for those who were friendly with them and believed in them in this world. This is because whoever has done good will be tranquil about what he has already committed. For his goodness is sufficient for him and it is this which will intercede for him before Almighty Allah.» Know that it is a condition of chivalry to conceal the shortcomings of one’s friends, especially those that elicit the glee of their enemies.
The righteous Abu `Ali alDaqqaq said, “No one has achieved perfection in chivalry, except the Messenger of God for on the Day of Judgement all the prophets will be saying, ‘Me, Me’, except the Prophet Muhammad who will be saying, ‘My community, my community!’ ”
Know that freedom (liberty) is more honourable than truthfulness and that spiritual chivalry is more precious than both. Manliness is a part of chivalry. The difference between a chivalrous person and an ascetic (zahid) lies in the zahid preferring others when there is sufficiency and the chivalrous when he himself is in need. As the Almighty (meaning) said, «They gave to them in preference over themselves even though poverty be their portion.” (Sura al-Hashr, ayah 9)
CHAPTER 13 FREEDOM
Know that true freedom (personal independence) means that the servant is free of bondage to creatures and he is not subject to the authority of created things. The sign of its soundness is that one no longer prefers one thing over another in his heart to the extent that all worldly contingencies are equal to him. One can also say that freedom is leaving the bliss of the world and choosing to worship the Lord.
Also know that the essence of freedom lies in the perfection of your servitude (`ubudiyah) to Almighty Allah. When Junaid f was asked about (the case of) a man whose worldly goods were equivalent to the moisture on a date stone, he replied, “A мukatab (a servant released on condition that a certain sum be paid) remains a servant, while he owes even a dirham.»
Husayn ibn Mansur f said, “Whoever desires freedom, let him be constant in servitude. Truly, the state of freedom is found very rarely.”
Know that the greatest kind of freedom lies in serving the poor. Yahya ibn Mu`adh said, “The sons of this worldly dunya are served by male and female servants, whereas the sons of the Hereafter are served by the righteous and the free.” Almighty Allah sent down a revelation to the prophet Dawud , «If you encounter one who seeks Me, be his servant.» The Prophet also said, «The master of a people is their servant.»
Beautiful statements about freedom
Many valuable words have been said about freedom, including the following:
- One of the righteous said, «I have relinquished this world, and the earth’s rocks and its gold have become equal to me.»
- The righteous ad-Daqqaq said, «Whoever is free from the worldly in this life, will be free from it (i.e. from sin) in eternal life.
- Ibrahim ibn Adham noted, “The righteous free person removes himself from the world before he is taken from it.”
- He also advised, «Keep the company of none but one who is noble and free: he will listen, but will not speak (to others).»
[1] Nisa is an ancient city now located in the Republic of Turkmenistan.
