As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah
Piety has its people. Some may be recognised, some may even make a show of it (false piety) but many of the truly righteous often go unseen and unheard of in our Ummah.
This is a beautiful piece I read a few years ago, attributed to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (radhiallahu `anhu) when asked by Ibn Shurayh to describe the people of taqwa (piety). I thought it’d be nice to share it in this month where we are all striving to be better Muslims and attain righteous characteristics:
“When Allah created His creation, He did so while He was completely independent of their obedience towards Him and of their disobedience towards Him. No disobedience can hurt Him and no obedience can benefit Him. Then He distributed amongst them (the creation) their means of sustenance and placed them on earth. The people of Taqwa on earth are those of virtue: their speech is correct (true); their garments are of moderate nature and their walk is one of humility. They lower their gaze when they see something that Allah has forbidden them to see and they give ear to beneficial knowledge. They maintain their integrity in both adversity and prosperity.
Had it not been for the appointed time that Allah has written for them (death), their souls would not remain an extra second in their bodies out of yearning for reward and fear of punishment. The Creator ranks Supreme in their eyes, so everything else becomes immaterial to them. They are with Paradise as if they had already witnessed it and enjoyed its presence. They are with Hell as if they have already seen it and tasted its torment. Their hearts grieve and their evil (if any) is non-contagious. Their bodies are lean, their needs are few and their souls are chaste.
They observe patience for a few days and experience everlasting comfort. This is a profitable exchange that their Lord has made pleasant for them. The world tempts them, but they do not succumb. It imprisons them, but they ransomed themselves in exchange.
During the nights they stand in rows and read portions of the Quran. They recite with proper recitation which grieves their hearts and drink it (the Quran) like medicine. If a verse of yearning comes along, they reach for it and believe it is their destination. If an intimidating verse comes along, they pour their hearts towards it and believe that Hell and its screams are in their ears. They sleep on their foreheads and elbows (i.e. they engage in prayers so much that it is as if they sleep in those postures) and implore Allah to deliver them.
In the day, they are tolerant and learned, kind and God-fearing. Fear has chipped away at their bodies as if they were arrows. Anyone looking at them would think that they were sick. But they are not sick. Some will say that they are confused. A great fear has made them look like that. They are never content to do only a few actions (during the day), nor do they ask for a great deal. They condemn themselves and are apprehensive about their deeds.
If one of them is called ‘pious’, he fears what will be said of him and says: ‘I know myself better than you do. My Lord knows me better than I do. O Allah! Do not take me to task for what they are saying about me and (O Lord) make me better than they think. Forgive my sins which they do not know about.’Their signs are that they are strong in Islam, resolute in their softness; firm in their belief. They crave for knowledge and are knowledgeable with tolerance; moderate in richness; pleasant in hunger; forbearing in distress; seeking Halal; active in (pursuing) guidance and they abhor greed.
They perform good deeds in fear (of rejection). They spend the evening in gratitude and the morning in remembrance. They sleep in alarm and they awake in joy. If their carnal selves make it difficult for them to fulfil that which they dislike they deprive them (their selves) of that which they like. The apple of their eyes is in what does not perish and their abstemiousness in what disappears. They combine knowledge with tolerance and speech with action.
You will find their hopes are realistic, their mistakes few; their hearts humble, their selves content; their diet meagre, their matters simple, their Deen safe-guarded, their desires killed and their anger subdued. Goodness is expected from them and evil is shielded against them. If they are among those who are oblivious, they are counted amongst those who remember (Allah). If they are among those who remember, they are not written among the oblivious. They pardon those who wrong them; they provide for those who deprive them, and meet those who severe ties with them. They are never profane and always lenient. Their wrong doings are almost non-existent and their good deeds are always present. They are resolute when the earth quakes, steadfast in calamities and grateful in prosperity.They are not prejudiced against those they dislike nor do they favour those they love. They acknowledge the truth before it appears and do not lose anything they are entrusted with. They do not call anyone names nor do they hurt their neighbours. They do not curse at the time of difficulties nor do they venture into falsehood.
Silence does not bother them and if they laugh, they do not raise their voices. If they are treated with injustice they remain patient until Allah vindicates them. Their own selves live in toil while others are comfortable around them.
Their abstinence from those who stay away from them is their exoneration (from malice). Their proximity to those who are close to them, is a means of mercy (for those who are close to them). Their remaining aloof is not out of pride and arrogance and their being close is neither a ploy nor a scheme.
May Allah make us of them, ameen.
Subhan’Allaah, its like a step by step guide for attaining Taqwa. When you read it and see what characteristics you have and what you don’t, it really makes you think about where you might stand in the sight of Allaah. جزاكِ الله خيراً
اللهم اجعلنا من عبـادك المتقين
JKhair. Very nice. Can you please post the Arabic?
Also, can you please post my blog on the side under islamic blogs (http://kalamuallah.wordpress.com/) JKhair.
Assamu’alaikum wr wb, masha Allah, nice read to apply. Jazakillahukhairan kathiran. Amin to the du’a.
Spotted a typo: “meet those who ‘severe’ ties with them.” -> Think it’d be “sever”
A question though,
anyone care to explain the following:
” If their carnal selves make it difficult for them to fulfil that which they dislike they deprive them (their selves) of that which they like.”
Assalamu Alaykum-
Waraz, when I read this line it reminded me immediately of Disciplining the Soul-Breaking the Two Desires by Imam Ghazali, when he talks about the merits of hunger. The Spiritual Master Imam Ghazali says in this book that when the nafs is continually given what it desires, then it never comes under submission of the intellect because it never has to since it is always satisfied. It is not until you starve the nafs of what it wants and it becomes weak that one is able to better control it and also ween it from what it wants over time. One of the examples given is that of the training of a horse (if i remember correctly) that when it is well fed it is strong and stubborn because it has the energy to resist submission with all its might however when the animal is weakened it is much easier to control it because of its weakened state. So if our lower self prevents us from doing that which we don’t like, like prayer 5 times and fasting is at first something that we don’t want to do because of our desire to do something else, we weaken our carnal self by depriving it of what it wants thus enabling us to gain control of it. One of the many blessings of Fasting if done with this idea.
Fajr- Thank you so much for posting this. It is pretty much a checklist. This gives us all, especially and firstly myself something more to strive for. Jazakullah Khayr
Allahu ‘Alam-
Tyler B.
Umm Khawla, yeah it’s a pretty good guideline 🙂 It really makes us reflect on ourselves and our true character subhan’Allah. I remember reading it for the first time and thinking ‘No wonder they say it takes years to truly tame the soul and learn/adopt good adab’. Ameen to your du’a x
Birkah, I received this in the English and haven’t had the chance to explore the Arabic. If anyone comes across it, please post it up.
Waraz, barak’Allahu fik for the typo! Regarding your question, I think it makes sense like this (see words in first brackets):
“If their carnal selves make it difficult for them to fulfil that which they (the carnal selves) dislike they deprive them (their selves) of that which they like.”
SubhanAllah. JazakiAllah Khair for posting.
Mind if I re-post with the link? 🙂
JazakAllah Khair for the enlightening and ispiring article. Makes me feel that I am no where near to the true people of taqwa mentioned above so have a great deal to work on. May Allah give us the guidance and strenght to strive to be among the righteous people of our ummah.
Ameen.
Wa iyyakum. Yes, please feel free to repost.
Jazak’Allahu khayran Tyler for your explanation.
Assalam alaikum,
Unfortunately this does not seem authentic. The Sahabah were eloquent and concise in their answers. This answer, although has some merit to it, does not seem that it would be from Ali (raa) as there are redundancies and repetition without depth. And many sayings are falsely attributed to him given the fitnah.
Wa `alaykumusalam wa rahmatullah
Allahu a’lam about the authenticity but generally with athar and statements from the Salaf, the scholars are more lenient so long as it’s in line with the principles of the Deen. To be honest, the above statement could’ve been written by anyone and it would still be acceptable, i.e. it wouldn’t detract from the truth of it. Wallahu a’lam.
Assalamu’alaikum wr wb, this is taken from nahjul balagha right?
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatu Allaahiba wa barakaatuh,
This statement is similar to a description of “The Characteristics of the bearers of The Qur’an” translated by The Qur’an Society which can be found here:
http://companionofquran.com/2009/09/27/the-character-of-the-bearers-and-people-of-the-quran/
May Allaah make us like the people described in your article and one translated by The Qur’an Society. Ameen.
Jazaaki Allaahu khayr.
Beautiful Indeed.
BaarakaAllaahu Feekum jaazeelan.
Masalaams.