Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (11/486)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

from me?”

He replied, “Six maxims:

I saw that people are plagued with misgivings about their provision, so I placed my trust in Allah (1). Allah—Most High—says, “There is no creature on earth but that its provision rests with Allah” (Hud 6).
I noticed that every man has a friend to whom he confides and with whom he shares his complaints, so I befriended righteousness itself, that it might stand with me at the Reckoning and accompany me across the Bridge.
I realized that everyone has an enemy. The one who backbites me is not my enemy, nor is the one who takes something from me. Rather, my enemy is he who, when I am engaged in obedience, urges me to disobey Allah—namely Iblis and his troops. I therefore took them as foes and waged war against them.
I observed that every person is being pursued by a single seeker—the Angel of Death—so I freed myself to prepare for him.
I looked at creation and found myself loving some and loathing others. The one I loved never gave me anything, and the one I loathed never took anything from me. I asked, ‘Whence came this?’ and discovered it was envy. So I cast it away and came to love everyone; whatever I would not approve for myself, I would not approve for them.
I saw that all people have a house and a shelter, while my shelter is the grave. Therefore, whatever good I was able to do I sent ahead for myself, that I might furnish my grave with it.”

Shaqīq said, “Hold fast to these qualities.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Khawwāṣ related: “I entered Rayy with Hātim al-Aṣamm, accompanied by three hundred and twenty men who intended the pilgrimage. They wore wool and zarbanaqat cloaks, carrying neither satchel nor food.”

(1) Hatim al-Asamm’s words should not be taken to endorse abandoning material means, sitting idle, and living off others, as the complacent imagine. Rather, he is stressing that, together with effort and work, one must place trust in Allah—a trust that produces contentment and satisfaction with whatever has been allotted, thereby making one the richest of people.

مِنِّي؟ قَالَ: سِتَّ كَلِمَاتٍ: رَأَيْتُ النَّاسَ فِي شَكٍّ مِنْ أَمرِ الرِّزْقِ، فَتَوكَّلتُ عَلَى اللهِ (١) ، قَالَ اللهُ -تَعَالَى-: ﴿وَمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ فِي الأَرْضِ إِلاَّ عَلَى اللهِ رِزْقُهَا﴾ [هُوْدٌ: ٦] . ورَأَيْتُ لِكُلِّ رَجُلٍ صَدِيقاً يُفْشِي إِلَيْهِ سِرَّهُ، وَيَشْكُو إِلَيْهِ، فَصَادَقْتُ الخَيْرَ لِيَكُوْنَ مَعِيَ فِي الحِسَابِ، وَيَجُوْزَ مَعِيَ الصِّرَاطَ. وَرَأَيْتُ كُلَّ أَحَدٍ لَهُ عَدُوٌّ، فَمَنِ اغْتَابَنِي لَيْسَ بِعَدُوِّي، وَمَنْ أَخَذَ مِنِّي شَيْئاً، لَيْسَ بِعَدُوِّي، بَلْ عَدُوِّي مَنْ إِذَا كُنْتُ فِي طَاعَةٍ، أَمَرَنِي بِمَعْصِيَةِ اللهِ، وَذَلِكَ إِبْلِيْسُ وَجُنُوْدُهُ، فَاتَّخَذْتُهُم عَدُوّاً، وَحَارَبْتُهُم. وَرَأَيْتُ النَّاسَ كُلُّهُم لَهُم طَالِبٌ، وَهُوَ مَلَكُ المَوْتِ، فَفَرَّغْتُ لَهُ نَفْسِي. وَنَظَرتُ فِي الخَلْقِ، فَأَحْبَبْتُ ذَا، وَأَبغَضتُ ذَا، فَالَّذِي أَحبَبْتُهُ لَمْ يُعْطِنِي، وَالَّذِي أَبغَضتُهُ لَمْ يَأْخُذْ مِنِّي شَيْئاً، فَقُلْتُ: مِنْ أَيْنَ أُتِيتَ؟ فَإِذَا هُوَ مِنَ الحَسَدِ، فَطَرَحْتُهُ، وَأَحْبَبْتُ الكُلَّ، فُكُلُّ شَيْءٍ لَمْ أَرْضَهُ لِنَفْسِي، لَمْ أَرْضَهُ لَهُم. وَرَأيتُ النَّاسَ كُلَّهُم لَهُم بَيْتٌ وَمَأْوَى، وَرَأَيْتُ مَأْوَايَ القَبْرَ، فُكُلُّ شَيْءٍ قَدَرتُ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الخَيْرِ، قَدَّمتُهُ لِنَفْسِي لأُعْمِرَ قَبْرِي. فَقَالَ شَقِيْقٌ: عَلَيْكَ بِهَذِهِ الخِصَالِ. قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ الخَوَّاصُ: دَخَلْتُ مَعَ حَاتِمٍ الأَصَمِّ الرَّيَّ، وَمَعَنَا ثَلاَثُ مائَةٍ وَعِشْرُوْنَ رَجُلاً نُرِيدُ الحَجَّ، عَلَيْهِمُ الصُّوفُ وَالزَّرْبَنَانْقَاتُ، لَيْسَ مَعَهُم جِرَابٌ وَلاَ طَعَامٌ.

(١) لا يفهم من كلام حاتم الأصم ﵀ ترك الاسباب، والقعود عن التماسها، والبقاء عالة على الناس كما يفهمه المتواكلون، وإنما يعني أنه لابد مع السعي والعمل من التوكل على الله الذي يثمر الرضى والقناعة بما قسم له حتى يكون أغنى الناس.