Travel! For in Travel is a Benefit…

As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

Selected poetry from the Diwan of Imam al-Shafi’i (rahimahullah)

I recently managed to buy a very nice edition of the Diwan (Al-Shafi’i’s book of poems), complete with quotes, historical incidents and a biography bonus. So insha’Allah I’ll try translating some of his poetry and adding it to the (somewhat neglected) Mawa’idh al-Shafi’i project.

Ok, I know I have a problem staying in one city or town for a long time (you see, I’m a born explorer)… so this poem on the benefits of travelling made my day

فوائد الأسفار

The Benefits in Travelling

تغرب عن الأوطان في طلب العلى *** وسافر ففي الأسفار خمس فوائد
Leave your country in search of loftiness
And travel! For in travel there are 5 benefits,

تفرج هم واكتساب معيشة *** وعلم وآداب وصحبة ماجد
Relief of adversity and earning of livelihood
And knowledge and etiquettes and noble companionship

فإن قيل في الأسفار ذل ومحنة *** وقطع الفيافي وارتكاب الشدائد
If it is said that travelling brings humiliation and difficulty
And long journeys across deserts and toil and trouble,

فموت الفتى خير له من قيامه *** بدار هوان بين واش وحاسد
Then death is better for a person than him remaining
In a humiliating land between traitors and enviers

 

الورع

المرء إن كان عاقلا ورعا *** أشغله عن عيوب غيره ورعه
If a person is intelligent and pious
His piety occupies him from the sins of others

كما العليل السقيم أشغله *** عن وجع الناس كلهم وجعه
Just like the ill one is kept preoccupied
From the sickness of others by his own sickness

 

هكذا الحظ

Due Provision

تموت الأسد في الغابات جوعا *** ولحم الضأن تأكله الكلاب
Lions die hungry out in the wild
And the meat of sheep is only eaten by dogs

وعبد قد ينام على حرير *** وذو نسب مفارشه التراب
Indeed, a slave may end up sleeping on silk
Whilst the bed of masters turns out to be dust

أدب التعلم

The Etiquettes of Learning

اصبر على مر الجفا من معلم *** فإن رسوب العلم في نفراته
Be patient over the teacher’s strictness and harshness
For the stores of knowledge are present in his harshness

ومن لم يذق ذل التعلم ساعة *** تجرع ذل الجهل طول حياته
Whoever does not taste the humility of learning, even for an hour
Will drink the humility of ignorance for the rest of his life

ومن فاته التعليم وقت شبابه *** فكبر عليه أربعا لوفاته
For him who misses out on learning in his youth,
Then announce four takbirs over him for his death is due

حياة الفتى – والله – بالعلم والتقى *** إذا لم يكونا لا اعتبار لذاته
By Allah, the life of a youth is by knowledge and piety
If they are not present, then nothing can express his existence

‘… Except the people of Yunus’

As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

Some thoughts over Surah Yunus. Hope it benefits…

وَقَالَ مُوسَى رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ آتَيْتَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلأهُ زِينَةً وَأَمْوَالاً فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا رَبَّنَا لِيُضِلُّواْ عَن سَبِيلِكَ رَبَّنَا اطْمِسْ عَلَى أَمْوَالِهِمْ وَاشْدُدْ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ فَلاَ يُؤْمِنُواْ حَتَّى يَرَوُاْ الْعَذَابَ الأَلِيمَ

“And Musa said: “Our Lord! You have indeed bestowed on Fir’awn and his chiefs splendour and wealth in the life of this world, our Lord, that they may lead men astray from Your Path. Our Lord! Destroy their wealth, and harden their hearts, so that they will not believe until they see the painful torment.”
[Yunus: 88]

Fawa’id:

• From the ayah, it is clear that only Musa (`alayhisalam) made the du’a for Fir’awn’s destruction. However, in the next verse, Allah `azza wa jall responds by saying: قَالَ قَدْ أُجِيبَت دَّعْوَتُكُمَا – “Verily, the invocation of you both is accepted.” It was Musa who made the du’a but in the response Harun was also included as if he too made the du’a.

This is because Harun was in the presence of Musa and according to the mufassirin: كان يؤمِّن – he was saying ‘Amin after his brother. Now, there is the existing rule: المؤمن يأخذ حكم الداعي – the Mu’ammin (one saying ‘Amin) takes the same ruling as the Da’i (one making du’a) and as Imam al-Tabari said in his tafsir of this verse: فلذلك نسبت الإجابة إليهما لأن المؤمن داع – ‘For this reason the answer came for both for them because the mu’ammin is also a da’i’. Hence, the du’a of a person becomes the du’a of another if they pronounce the Ta’min (Amin) and consequently because of this strong link, if the du’a is answered for the da’i it is also answered for the mu’ammin.

• The end of Musa’s supplication was a call for destruction. But as a lesson for Fir’awn and his mala’ (chiefs), Musa asked that this punishment take place just after they saw the indisputable signs of Allah which would leave with no choice except to believe. Allah `azza wa jall fulfilled this completely when the end came for Fir’awn and his mala’:

وَجَاوَزْنَا بِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ الْبَحْرَ فَأَتْبَعَهُمْ فِرْعَوْنُ وَجُنُودُهُ بَغْياً وَعَدْواً حَتَّى إِذَا أَدْرَكَهُ الْغَرَقُ قَالَ آمَنتُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلِـهَ إِلاَّ الَّذِي آمَنَتْ بِهِ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ وَأَنَاْ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

‘And We took the Children of Israel across the sea, and Fir’aun (Pharaoh) with his hosts followed them in oppression and enmity, till when drowning overtook him, he said: “I believe that none has the right to be worshipped but He in Whom the Children of Israel had believed, and I am one of the Muslims.’

• Allah `azza wa jall says ‘حتى إذا أدركه الغرقُ’ – this literally means: ‘until the deep sea/drowning’ caught up with him.’ The فاعل (subject) here is the sea, although it’s غير عاقل (an inanimate object); and this in the Arabic language is what’s referred to as تشخيص – personification.

The sea has been made out to be a living & moving entity, almost as if Allah `azza wa jall describes it as being an army from among His armies which has been sent ahead to take down an enemy – just like one would say: أدرك الجيشُ العدوَ عند مكان ما (the army met their enemy at such and such a place etc), the sea is the force which caught up with Fir’awn and his chiefs. وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ – ‘… And no-one knows the forces of your Lord except He Himself…’ [al-Muddathir: 31] 

• Fir’awn’s disbelief blinded him. He saw how Allah saved Musa by parting the sea for him and the believers, but he forgot the ultimate qadhiyya and Divine plan: That he was destined to be drowned and that the sorcerers’ news from beforetime was to take place any moment (the news that a man from Bani Isra’il would take over his kingdom was what caused Fir’awn to begin killing every male newborn on alternate years). The reason the ayah says بغيا و عدوا (in oppression and enmity) is because these characteristics are what blind a person from the truth and encourage him to persist in wrongdoing and in seeking unachievable (and often wrong) aims. These two characteristics are what caused Fir’awn to go after the believers and hasten to his place of destruction – so it should be realized that if these characteristics persist in a person (enmity and oppression of the believers), they will also eventually cause a person’s destruction in this world and ruin their affairs in the Hereafter.

 

• The audacity and boldness of Fir’awn didn’t seem to halt even at the time of destruction. The ayah states his ’shahadah’ (testimony of faith) but we find that it is devoid of the Name of Allah. He surrendered, but in his own words he surrendered to ‘the One whom Bani Isra’il believed in’ – even though he may have intended to avoid uttering the name of Allah, in effect he ended up giving Bani Isra’il full credit for being right and him being wrong.

This highlights 2 things: Firstly, when Signs come to a person, if they’ve previously lived a life of arrogance, this arrogance will not let him fully and completely acknowledge or submit to a superior being or even allow him to have the humbleness he needs to surrender to Allah `azza wa jall. And secondly, opposing the believers doesn’t do a person any good because in the end he will be forced to recognize the virtue of the believers and the correctness of the path they have taken. So every oppressor and opponent of a believing people should realize that he will one day be humbled to these ‘Ibad and forced to recognize them as being superior.

• The response of Allah `azza wa jall to Fir’awn was clear:

آلآنَ وَقَدْ عَصَيْتَ قَبْلُ وَكُنتَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ

“Now? When you had refused to believe before and you were from the Mufsidin?’

• Fir’awn proclaimed the testimony of belief but his time had run out (hence: ءآلآن وقد عصيت قبل…؟) and his soul had reached the point of yaqin (certainty) – the point at which no-one’s Iman or deeds are accepted any longer. His was an Iman of اضطرار (coercion) and not إختيار (choice), and thus it was further rejected.

 

• It is interesting to note how Allah `azza wa jall responded. It wasn’t a direct answer, in fact it was a question – a rhetorical one: استفهام إنكاري – i.e. ‘Do you claim belief now?’ Fir’awn’s act was insulting and didn’t deserve a direct response. He claimed by saying ‘… And I am one of the Muslimin.’ But Allah responded by saying , ‘… You were from the Mufsidin.‘  – Fasad (corruption and wrong-doing) is therefore not something compatible with one’s true practice of Islam and to be a Muslim means to be a Muslih (one who rectifies things) and not a Mufsid (who corrupts).

 

• As is known, when Fir’awn claimed belief at this point, Jibril (`alayhisalam) stuffed the dirt from the seabed into the mouth of Fir’awn out of fear that Fir’awn would praise Allah which in turn would bring the Mercy of Allah*. This act of Jibril tells us a number of things:

1) The knowledge that Jibril had of the Greatness of Allah’s Mercy (that it can reach even the staunchest of enemies)

2) His hatred of Fir’awn, and we know this from his own statement in a hadith narrated by al-Tabarani: يا محمد ما أبغضت أحدا كبغضي لفرعون عندما قال: “ما علمت لكم من إله غيري” – ‘O Muhammad, I have never hated anyone as much as I’ve hated Fir’awn when he said (to the people): ‘I do not know of another God for you, apart from me.’ [Al-Qasas: 38]

3) The angels are aware of the slaves of Allah `azza wa jall and accordingly they love and hate for the sake of Allah.

 

Major point of benefit: These details of how Fir’awn decided to believe at the last minute and utter his (rejected) statement of belief are mentioned in the Qur’an here only. Nowhere else in the Qur’an is this statement of his quoted. Why? Well, perhaps this is where the name of the Surah comes into the discussion:

Surah Yunus is the first surah (in chronological order) named after a Prophet and interestingly it tells us of one major exception that took place in the history of the Da’wah of the Messengers and in the history of Mankind – an exception to the rule of disbelief and destruction. As is known, nations who belied and disbelieved in their Messengers were often destroyed, and their belief at time of punishment was not accepted nor did it benefit them in the least. But…

فَلَوْلاَ كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلاَّ قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّا آمَنُواْ كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ

“And there was not a single town which believed (at the time of destruction) and whose faith saved them, except the people of Yunus (Jonah); when they believed, We removed from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the world, and permitted them enjoyment for a while.”
[Yunus: 98]

Belief at the time of halak (destruction) never benefited a person or a nation, except for the people of Yunus (`alayhisalam). The scholars differed as to why this nation was exempt from the Sunnah of perished Nations, but it’s something that happened by the Will of Allah for a wisdom that none knows except the Lord of Mankind, `azza wa jall.

Therefore, for Fir’awn, claiming to believe when he saw the descent of halak, was a lost cause. It is impossible for a disbelieving nation to be saved at the time of destruction, and the one & only exception to this Divine Law had already taken place with the people of Yunus – for they were given what everyone else (including Fir’awn) was denied; Decree thereafter is sealed upon Mankind:

يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْساً إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْراً

“… The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he did not believe before, nor earned good (deeds)…”
[Al-An'am: 158]

• Verses 90 and 91 are held by some scholars and linguists to be from the most eloquent verses in the Qur’an which hold the greatest form of balagha (rhetoric).

الله تعالى أعلى وأعلم

______________________________

* According to the narration:

قال جبريل: يا محمد لو رأيتني وأنا آخذ من حال البحر وأدسه في فيه مخافة أن تدركه الرحمة
Jibril said: ‘O Muhammad, if you could but see me as I took from the dust of the sea and thrust it into his mouth out of fear that Mercy would come to him.’ – Sahih (al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad)

- Some points were based on Silsilat Ta’ammulat al-Qur’an by Shaykh al-Maghamisi

Secrets

As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

Rawdhatul-’Uqala [Post 4]

Abu Hurayrah: The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, ‘Guard your affairs by concealing your secrets, for indeed every blessing has one who will envy it.’ [Majma' al-Tabarani]

‘Amr ibn al-’Aas said, ‘I’m surprised at a man who flees from the Qadr (Decree) when it is only going to befall him, and a man who sees the dust in his brother’s eye while he is oblivious to the chunk that is in his. And I am amazed at a man who removes grudges and malice from others but leaves it within himself. I have never regretted anything and then blamed myself for regretting it, and I have never shared my secrets with someone and then criticized him for spreading it – how can I criticize him when it has become too much for him to conceal?’

Al-Basami recited,

تبيح بسرك ضيقا به *** وتبغي لسرك من يكتم
You disclose your secret when it becomes too great,
Yet you wish to share it with one who shall conceal it.

وكتمانك السر ممن تخاف *** ومن لا تخافنه أحزم
Concealing your secret from one whom you fear,
As well as one whom you do not fear, is more resolute.

إذا ذاع سرك من مخبر *** فأنت وإن لمته ألوم
If your secret is leaked out by one whom you informed,
Then even if you blame him, you are more blameworthy.

‘Abdul-’Aziz Sulayman said,

إذا ضاق صدر المرء عن بعض سره *** فألقاه في صدري فصدري أضيق
If a person’s chest constricts due to some of his secrets
And he casts it at me, then my chest constricts more so

ومن لامني في أن أضيع سره *** وضيعه قبلي فذو السر أخرق
And whoever blames me for revealing his secret
Then he is a fool for revealing it before me!

Hammad ibn Ishaq narrated from al-Mada’ini that he said, ‘The most patient of people is the one who does not disclose his secret to his friend out of fear that something will take place between them and he in turn spreads it.’

Ibn Ishaq al-Wasiti said,

إذا المرء لم يحفظ سريرة نفسه *** وكان لسرالأخ غير كتوم
If a person does not guard his inner secrets,
And he does not safeguard his brother’s secrets,

فبعدا له من ذي أخ ومودة *** وليس على ود له بمقيم
Then how far-fetched that he will ever have a loyal brother
And love for him is something that will never last

Abu Hatim: Whoever protects himself by guarding his secrets will be able to contemplate over it fully. He will triumph with what he wishes for and also be safe from blame and harm. And even if he does not triumph or keep good ground, his resolve will allow him to place his secret in a vessel whereby he’s able to conceal it from everyone. So if his affairs tighten upon him and overwhelm him, he releases it to an advisor of his, for secrets are trusts and disclosing them is betrayal (to the one who shared it with you). The heart is only a vessel but from among vessels are that which become constricted when something is placed in them, and from them are those that are wide enough to hold what is placed in them.

Al-Muntasir ibn Bilal al-Ansari said,

سأكتمه سري وأكتم سره *** ولايغرني أني عليه كريم
I will surely make sure he guards my secret and I shall guard his
I will not be fooled by the fact that I am a noble one

حليم فيفشي أو جهول يذيعه *** وما الناس إلا جاهل وحليم
Or that he may be a forbearing one such that he’s made to spread it,
Or an ignorant one such that he betrays it
And people are not except ignorant or forbearing…

Ibn al-’Arabi [2] said, ‘It used to be said that the wise one is he who remains cautious of his friend.’

Abu Hatim: Always telling people one’s secrets will lead to incapacity and injury. If a person hides something from his rivals, it doesn’t necessitate him to tell his friends; and for the people of wisdom, what they have experienced and came to learn is sufficient for them as a lesson. Whoever is trusted with something (secret), let him conceal it and not expose it or spread it, for secrets are only named secrets because they are not spread.

Al-A’mash said (as if amazed), ‘The chest of one of them (people) feels constricted by his secret so he reveals it to someone and then he says, ‘Conceal it for me!’

Al-Husayn ibn ‘Abdillah:

لا يكتم السر إلا من له شرف *** والسر عند كرام الناس كتوم
None can keep a secret except a dignified one
For secrets are ever hidden by the people of nobility

السر عندي في البيت له غلق *** ضلت مفاتيحه والباب مختوم
And secrets with me are kept in a house, locked up
Whose keys are lost and its door is forever sealed

Abu Hatim said, ‘Success is in having resolve, and resolve is in having a strong and correct opinion and such an opinion can only be attained by fortifying one’s secrets. Whoever conceals his secrets, goodness will be in his hands and whoever tells people all his secrets will become lowly to them and they will spread it. Whoever cannot keep secrets will soon come to regret and whoever falls into regret will become short of intellect and whoever remains upon such a state will return to ignorance (jahl).

_______________________________

[1] Also reported in Hilyat al-Awliya. Hadith declared Hasan by Ibn Hibban

[2] Abu ‘Abdillah Muhammad ibn Ziyad al-Ahwal al-Kufi, known as Ibn al-’Arabi: He was hafidh al-riwayaat  (used to memorise Hadith) and was knowledgeable in the Arabic Language.

Imam al-Shafi’i and the Old Man

As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

Rabi’ ibn Sulayman (a companion of Imam al-Shafi’i) said:

‘We were with al-Shafi’i one day when an old man wearing garments of wool came to us with a walking-stick in his hand. Al-Shafi’i stood up, fixed his clothes and greeted the old man. He sat down and al-Shafi’i began looking at him in admiration when the man said:

Old man: Can I ask?
Al-Shafi’i: Ask.

Old man: What is the Hujjah (evidence) in the religion of Allah?
Al-Shafi’i: The Book of Allah.

Old man: What else?
Al-Shafi’i: The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam).

Old man: What else?
Al-Shafi’i: The consensus of the Ummah.

Old man: Where did you get ‘consensus of the Ummah’ from? (i.e. what’s your evidence).

Al-Shafi’i pondered for a moment when the old man said:

Old man: I will leave you for 3 days. If you come up with evidence from the Book of Allah, fine. If not, then repent to Allah Ta’ala.

Al-Shafi’i’s face changed colour and then he left. He didn’t come out until the third day, between dhuhr and ‘asr. His face, hands and legs had swollen and he became ill. He sat down but it was only a short while when the old man returned. He greeted him and sat down then he said,

Old man: Do you have what I asked for?
Al-Shafi’i: Yes.

أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the outcast.

Allah, the Most High said:

وَمَن يُشَاقِقِ الرَّسُولَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الْهُدَى وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ نُوَلِّهِ مَا تَوَلَّى وَنُصْلِهِ جَهَنَّمَ وَسَاءتْ مَصِيراً
“And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger after the right path has been shown clearly to him, and follows other than the way of the believers, We shall keep him on the path he has chosen, and burn him in Hell – and what an evil destination.” [al-Nisa: 115]

… And He (Allah `azza wa jall) will not burn him in Hell for opposing the believers in something except that it is something obligatory.’

Old man: You have told the truth.

Then he got up and left.

Al-Shafi’i then said to those around him: I read the Qur’an 3 times every day (in the 3 days he was given), until I came to this verse.’

- Siyar A’lam al-Nubala

It’s the case that sometimes, the Qur’an reveals its gems and answers at different times and on different occasions. Even if we may have read a particular verse many times before, it will suddenly sink in with us differently at another time.

As they say, ‘لا تنقضي عجائبه ‘ – its wonders never cease. May Allah grant us good understanding of His Book.

The Yemeni ‘Abid and Al-Hajjaj

As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

Tawus ibn Kaysan, one of the righteous students of Ibn ‘Abbas and a Muhaddith said, ‘I entered the Haram (Makkah) to perform ‘Umrah and when I completed it, I prayed 2 units of prayer behind the Maqam of Ibrahim and then I sat down. I turned to look at the people in the mosque when behold, I saw a group of people with weapons, swords, spears and shields! I looked and it was al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the Amir of blood-shed, about whom Laila al-Akhiliya said,

حجاج أنت الذي ما فوقه أحد
Hajjaj, you are the one above whom there is none

إلا الخليفة المستغفر الصمد
Except the True Ruler, the Forgiving and Eternal One (Allah)

قتل مائة نفس وقتل سعيد بن جبير
He (Hajjaj) killed a hundred souls and he killed Sa’id ibn Jubayr

Al-Hajjaj once said, ‘I saw in my dream that Allah killed me once for every soul I killed except for Sa’id ibn Jubayr for Allah killed me on the Sirat (path over Hellfire) seventy times because of him.’

Tawus continues: ‘I saw the commotion so I kept seated in my place. Whilst in that state, I saw a poor, ascetic worshipper from Yemen. He went to circumambulate around the Ka’bah, then he came to pray 2 units of prayer when suddenly his garment clung to a spear from the spears of the army of Hajjaj, and so the spear fell on al-Hajjaj! He stopped him and said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Muslim.’ He said, ‘Where are you from?’ He said, ‘From Yemen.’ He said, ‘How is my brother with you people?’ (– He meant his brother Muhammad ibn Yusuf who was also a tyrannical ruler like him). He said, ‘I left him as a fat man with a fat stomach.’ Al-Hajjaj said, ‘I didn’t ask you about his health but I asked you about his justice.’ He said, ‘I left him as a deceiving and oppressive ruler.’

He said, ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ So the man said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘I am al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf!’ So the man said,

أتظن أنه يعز بك أكثر من اعتزازي بالله؟
‘Do you think that he (your brother) is mightier and strengthened by you more than I am by Allah?’

Tawus said, ‘When he said that, all my hair stood on end. But al-Hajjaj let him go and left him.’

فَاللّهُ خَيْرٌ حَافِظاً وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ

“… But Allah is the Best of Protectors and He is the Most Merciful of those who show Mercy.”
[Yusuf: 64]

- Taken from احفظ الله يحفظك by ‘Aidh al-Qarni