Sayings: Contentment -- Duty

• Contentment

  Riches are not from an abundance of wordly goods, but from a contented mind.

  When you see a person, who has been given more than you in money and beauty; then look to those who have been given less.

  Look to those inferior to yourselves, so that you may not hold God's benefits in contempt.

  God loveth those who are content.

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• Control of Self

  The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self.

  The exercise of religious duty will not atone for the fault of an abusive tongue.

  A man cannot be a Muslim till his heart and tongue are so.

  Whoever hath been given gentleness, hath been given a good portion in this world and the next.

  Whoever suppresseth his anger, when he hath in his power to show it, God will give him great reward.

  That person is wise and sensible who subdueth his carnal desires and hopeth for rewards from God; and he is an ignorant man who followeth his lustful appetites, and with all this asketh for God's forgiveness.

  May God fill the heart of that person who suppresseth his anger with safety and faith.

  "Give me advice," said someone. Muhammad said, Be not angry."

  Muaz said, "At the time of my being dispatched to the judgeship of Yemen, the last advice Muhammad gave me was this, 'O Muaz! be of good temper towards people.'"

  He is not strong and powerful who throweth people down; but he is strong who witholdeth himself from anger.

  No person hath drunk a better draught than that of anger which he hath swallowed for God's sake.

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• Courtesy

  Humility and courtesy are acts of piety.

  Verily, a man teaching his child manners is better for him than giving one bushel of grain in alms.

  It is not right for a guest to stay so long as to incommode his host.

  No man hath given his child anything better than good manners.

  "O Apostle of God! Inform, Inform me, if I stop with a man, and he doth not entertain me, and he afterwards stoppeth at my house, am I to entertain him or to act with him as he with did me?" Muhammad said, "Entertain him."

  Respect people according to their eminence.

  Being confined for room, the Apostle of god sat down upon his legs drawn up under his thighs. A desert Arab who was present said, "What is this way of sitting?" Muhammad said, "Verily God hath made me a humble servant, and not a proud king."

  Abuse nobody, and if a man abuse thee, and lay upon a vice which he knoweth in thee; then do not disclose one which thou knowest in him.

  When victuals are placed before you no man must stand up till it be taken away; nor must one man leave off eating before the rest; and if he doeth he must make an apology.

  It is of my ways that a man shall come out with his guest to the door of his house.

  Meekness and modesty are two branches of Iman (Faith); and vain talking and embellishing are two branches of hypocrisy.

  When three persons are together, two of them must not whisper to each other without letting the third hear, until others are present, because it would hurt him.

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• Crimes

  The greatest crimes are to associate another with God, to vex your father and mother, to murder your own species, to commit suicide, and to swear to lie.

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• Cultivation of Land

  There is no Muslim who planteth a tree, or soweth a field, and man birds or beast eat from them, but it is charity for him.

  Whoever bringeth the dead land to life; that is cultivateth waste land, for him is reward therein.

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• Dead

  And behold! a bier passed by Muhammad, and he stood up; and it was said to him, "This is the bier of a Jew." He said, "Was it not the holder of a soul, from which we should take example and fear?"

  Do not speak ill of the dead.

  When the bier of anyone passeth by thee, whether Jew, Christian, or Muslim, rise to thy feet."

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• Death

  Wish not for death any of you; neither the doer of good works, for peradventure he may increase them by an increase of life; nor the offender, for perhaps he may obtain the forgiveness of God by repentance. Wish not, nor supplicate for death before its time cometh; for verily when ye die, hope is out and the ambition for reward: and verily, the increase of a Mumins' (Muslim's) life increaseth his good works.

  Remember often the destroyer and cutter off of delights, which is death.

  Not one of you must wish for death from any wordly affliction; but if there certainly is anyone wishing for death, he must say, "O Lord, keep me alive so long as life may be good for me, and wish me to die when it is better for me so to do."

  The Faithful do not die; perhaps they become translated from this perishable world to the world of eternal existences.

  Death is a blessing to a Muslim. Remember and speak well of your dead, and refrain from speaking ill of them.

  There are two things disliked by the sons of Adam, one of them death; whereas it is better for Muslims than sinning; the second is scarcity of money; whereas its account will be small in futurity.

  The grave is the first stage of the journey into eternity.

  Death is a bridge that uniteth friend with friend.

  Sleep is the brother of death.

  Muhammad said, three days before his death, "Not one of you must die but with resignation to the will of God, and with hope for his beneficence and pardon."

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• Debt

  Whoso desireth that God should redeem him from the sorrows and travail of the last day, must delay in calling on poor debtors, or forgive the debt in part or whole.

  A martyr shall be pardoned every fault but debt.

  Whoso hath a thing wherewith to discharge a debt, and refuseth to do it, it is right to dishonor and punish him.

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• Deliberation

  Deliberation in undertakings is pleasing to God.

  A good disposition, and deliberation in affairs, and a medium in all things, are one part of twenty-four parts of the qualities of the prophets.

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• Disposition to Good

  He is of the most perfect Muslims, whose disposition is most liked by his own family.

  Verily the most beloved of you by me, and nearest to me in the next world, are those of good dispositions; and verily the greates enemies to me and farthest from me, are the ill-tempered.

  Verily the most beloved of you by me are those of the best dispositions.

  I have been sent to explain fully good dispositions.

  O Lord! as thou hast made my body good, so make good my disposition.

  Two qualities are not combined in any Muslim, avarice and bad disposition.

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• Disputation

  Mankind will not go astray after having found the right road, unless from disputation.

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• Divorce

  Every woman who asketh to be divorced from her husband without cause, the fragrance of the Garden is forbidden her.

  The thing which is lawful, but disliked by God, is divorce.

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• Duty of Believers

  I have left two things among you, and you will not stray as long as you hold them fast; one is the Book of God, the other the Laws of His Messenger.

  God hath made a straight road, with two walls, one on each side of it, in which are open doors, with curtains drawn across. At the top of the road is an Amonisher who saith, "Go straight on the road, and not crooked;" and above this Admonisher is another who saith to any who pass through these doorways, "Pass not through these doors, or verily ye will fall." Now, the road is Islam; and the open doors are those things which God hath forbidden; and the curtains before the doors the bounds set by God; the Admonisher is the Kuran, and the upper Admonisher God, in the heart of every Mumin (Muslim).

  Verily ye are ordered the divine commandments, then forsake them not; ye are forbidden the unlawful, then do not fall therein; there are fixed boundaries, then pass not beyond them; and there is silence on some things without their being forgotten, then do not debate about them.

  Happy is the Mumin (Muslim) for if good befalleth him, he praiseth and thanketh God; and if misfortune, praiseth God and beareth it patiently; therefore a Mumin is rewarded for every good he doth, even for his raising a morsel of food to the mouth of his wife.

  Whoever hath eaten of pure food and practised my laws, and mankind hath lived in security from him, will enter into the Abode of Bliss.

  Muhammad once said to Anas, "Son, if you are able, keep your heart from morning till night and from night till morning, free from malice towards anyone;" then he said, "Oh! my son, this is one of my laws, and he who loveth my laws verily loveth me."

  I admonish you to fear God, and yield obedience to my successor, although he may be a black slave, for this reason, that those amongst you who live after me will see great schisms. Therefore hold fast to my ways and those of my successors, who may lead you in the straight path, having found it themselves; and ardently seize my laws and be firm thereto.

  There was not any Messenger sent before me by God to mankind but found friends and companions, who embraced his maxims and became his disciples; after which were born those who gave out precepts which they did not practice, and did what they were ordered not to do; therefore those who oppose them with the hand, with the tongue, and with the heart are Mumins, and there is not anything in Iman besides this, even as much as a grain of mustard seed.

  Do not associate any one thing with God, although they kill or burn you; nor affront intentionally your parents, although they should order you to quit your wife, your children, and your property. Do not drink wine; for it is the root of all evil; abstain from vice; and when a pestilence shall pervade mankind, and you shall be amongst them, remain with them; and cherish your children.

  There are three roots to Iman (Faith): not to trouble him who shall say 'there is no diety but God;' not to think him an unbeliever on account of one fault; and not to discard him for one crime.

  He is not a good Mumin who committeth adultery or getteth drunk, who stealeth,or plundereth, or who embezzleth; beware, beware.

  When asked to mention one of the most excellent parts of Iman (Faith) Muhammad said, "To love him who loveth God, and hate him who hateth God, and to keep your tongue employed in repeating the name of God." What else? He said, "To do unto all men as you would wish to have done unto you, and to reject for others what you would reject for yourself."

  He who progresseth daily is yet far off from the Ideal.

  When you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust; commit not fornication; be chaste; have no impure desires; withold your hands from striking, and from taking that which is unlawful or evil. The best of God's servants are those who, when seen, remind of God; and the worst of God's servants are those who carry tales about to do mischief and separate friends, and seek for the defects of the good.

  He who believeth in one God and the Hereafter, let him speak what is good or remain silent.

  He who believeth in one God and the life beyond, let him not injure his neighbors.

  Speak to men according to their mental capacities, for if you speak all things to all men, some cannot understand you, and so fall into errors.

  It is not a sixth or a tenth of a man's devotion which is acceptable to God, but only such portions thereof as he offereth with understanding and true devotional spirit.

  Verily your deeds will be brought back to you, as if you yourself were the creator of your own punishement.

  Adore God as thou wouldst if thou sawest Him; for if thou seest Him not, He seeth thee.

  Feed the hungry and visit the sick, and free the captive, if he be unjustly confined. Assist any person oppressed, whether Muslim or non-Muslim.

  "The duties of Muslims to each other are six." It was asked, "What are they, O Messenger of God?" He said, "When you meet a Muslim, greet him, and when he inviteth you to dinner, accept; and when he asketh you for advice, give it to him; and when he sneezeth and saith, 'Praise be to God,' do you say, 'May God have mercy upon thee;' and when he is sick, visit him; and when he dieth, follow his bier."

  This life is but a tillage for the next, do good that you may reap there; for striving is the ordinance of God and whatever God hath ordained can only be attained by striving.

  Commandments are of three kinds; one commands an action, the reward of which is clear, then do it; another forbids an action which leads astray, abstain from it; and in another arise contradictions, resign that to God.

  The world is forbidden to those of the life to come; the life to come is forbidden to those of this world.

  Do a good deed for every bad deed that it may blot out the latter.

  A true Mumin is thankful to God in prosperity, and resigned to His will in adversity.

  That which is lawful is clear, and that which is unlawful likewise: bu there are certain doubtful things between the two from which it is well to abstain.

  Be ye imbued with divine qualities.

  He is true who protecteth his brethren both present and absent.

  All Muslims are as one body. If a man complaineth of a pain in his head, his whole body complaineth; and if his eye complaineth, his whole body complaineth.

  All Muslims are like the components parts of a foundation, each strengthening the others; in such a way they must support each other.

  Assist your brother Muslim, whether he be an oppressor or oppressed. "Bu how shall we do it when he is an oppressor?" enquired a companion. Muhammad replied, "Assisting an oppressor consists in forbidding and witholding him from oppression."

  Muslims are brothers in religion and they must not oppress one another, nor abandon assisting each other, nor hold one another in contempt. The seat of righteousness is the heart; therefore that heart which is righteous, does not hold a Muslim in contempt; and all the things of one Muslim are unlawful to another: his blood, property, and reputation.

  The creation is as God's family; for its sustenance is from Him: therefore the most beloved unto God is the person who doeth good to God's family.

  The proof of a Muslims sincerity is that he payeth no heed to that which is not his business.

  The Faithful are those who perform their trust and fail not in their word, and keep their pledge.

  No man is a true believer unless he desireth for his brother that which he desireth for himself.

  Verily when a Muslim is taken ill, after which God restoreth him to health, his illness hath covered his former faults, and it is an admonition to him of what cometh in future times; and verily, when a hypocrite is taken ill, and afterwards restored to health, he is like a camel which has been tied up, and afterwards set free; for the camel did not know for want of discrimination, why they tied him up and why they turned him loose; such is the hypocrite: on the contrary, a Mumin knoweth, that his indiposition was to atone for his faults.

  Misfortune is always with the Muslim and his wife, either in their persons or their property or their children; either death or sickness; until they die, when there is no fault upon them.

  Abusing a Muslim is disobedience to God; and it is infidelity to fight with one.

  Every Muslim who calls a Muslim infidel will have the epithet returned to him.

  It is unworthy of a Mumin to injure people's reputation; it is unworth to curse anyone; and it is unworth to abuse anyone; and it is unworth of a Mumin to talk vainly.

  It is better to sit alone than in company with the bad; and it is better to sit with the good than alone. And it is better to speak words to a speaker of knowledge than to remain silent; and silence is better than bad words.

  Fear not the obloquy of the detractor in showing God's religion.

  Refrain from seeing and speaking of the vices of mankind, which you know are in yourself.

  Guard yourselves from six things, and I am your security for paradise. When you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust; be chaste in thought and action; and withold your hand from striking, from taking that which is unlawful, and bad.

  That person is not of us who inviteth others to aid him in oppression; and he is not of us who fighteth for his tribe in injustice; and he is not of us who dieth in assisting his tribe in tyranny.

  He is not of us who is not affectinate to his liitle ones, and doth not respect the feelings of the aged; and he is not of us who doth not order that which is good and prohibit that which is evil.

  Ye will not enter Paradise until ye have faith, and ye will not complete your faith until ye love one another.

  No man hath believed perfectly, until he wish for his brother that which he wisheth for himself.

  Verily, each of you is a mirror to his brother: then if he seeth a vice in his brother he must tell him to get rid of it.

  That person is not a perfect Muslim who eatheth his fill, and leaveth his neighbors hungry.

  O ye who have embraced Islam by the tongue, and to whose hearts it hath not reached, distress not Muslims, nor speak ill of them, nor seek for their defects.

  Do not say that if people do good to us, we will do good to them; and if people oppress us, we will oppress them; but determin that if people do you good, you will do good to them; and if they oppress you, you will not oppress them.

  "Teach me a work, such that when I perform it God and men will love me." Muhammad said, "Desire not the world, and God will love you; and desire not what men have, and they will love you.

  In prayers, all thoughts must be laid aside but those of God; in conversation no word is to be uttered which afterwards be repented of; do not covet from others, or have any hopes for them.

  "There is a polish for everything that taketh away rust; and the polish for the heart is th remembrance of God." The companions said, "Is not repelling the infidels also like this?" Muhammad said, "No, although one fights until one's sword be broken!"

  My Lord hath commanded me nine things: To reverence Him, externally, and internally; to speak the truth, and with propriety, in prosperity and adversity; moderation in affluence and poverty; to benefit my relations and kindred, who do not benefit me; to give alms to him who refuseth me; to forgive him who injureth me; that my silence should be in attaining a knowledge of God; that when I speak, I should mention Him; that when I look on God's creatures, it should be as an example for the: and God hath ordered me to direct in that which is lawful.

  A Muslim who mixeth with people and beareth inconveniences, is better than one who doth not mix with them and beareth no inconveniences.

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