except that he would smile at me.” (1)
Such is the ethic of Islam: the highest stations are reserved for those who spend the night in tears and the day in smiles.
He ﷺ also said, “You will never be able to win people over with your wealth; rather, win them over with the openness of your face.” (2)
A final point: whoever is given to loud laughter and constant grinning should curb that habit and reproach himself, lest people find him tiresome. By the same token, whoever is dour and tight-lipped should train himself to smile, refine his manners, and loathe the poor conduct he displays. Any departure from balance is blameworthy, and the soul cannot do without struggle and discipline.
Al-Bukhārī reports from al-Ḥasan ibn Mudrik that Yaḥyā ibn Ḥammād—may Allah grant him mercy—died in the year 215 AH. (3)
Ibn al-Walid narrated through Malik ibn Mirthad, from his father, from Abu Dharr who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Smiling at your brother is an act of charity; enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong is charity; guiding a man who has lost his way is charity; helping a man with poor eyesight to see is charity; removing a stone, thorn, or bone from the road is charity; and pouring water from your bucket into your brother’s bucket is charity.” Al-Tirmidhi graded the hadith as sound (hasan), Ibn Hibban authenticated it (no. 864), and Ahmad related it through another chain (5/168) in a longer but similar form; its chain is authentic.
(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, no. 3035 (Book of Jihad, chapter: “Those who cannot stay firm on horseback”) and no. 6089 (Book of Manners, chapter: “Smiling and laughter”); by Muslim, no. 2475 (135) (Book of the Virtues of the Companions); by Ibn Majah, no. 11 in the Introduction; and by Ahmad, 4/358, 359, 362, 365.
(2) Transmitted by al-Bazzar (no. 1977), al-Hakim 1/124, and Abu Nuaym 10/25 on the authority of Abu Hurayrah. The chain contains Abdullah ibn Saʿid al-Maqburi, who is discarded. Al-Haythami records it in Majmaʿ 8/22, adds its transmission by Abu Yaʿla, and judges it weak because of Abdullah ibn Saʿid. Although al-Hakim declared it authentic, the author refuted him, saying: “Abdullah is feeble.”
(3) Al-Tarikh al-Saghir, 2/334.