640 — Hārūn ibn Sufyān related to me: ʿAbbād ibn Yazīd, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿĀbid, related to me: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār al-Bahrānī, who said:

Zayd ibn Thābit—may Allah be pleased with him—wrote to Ubayy ibn Kaʿb—may Allah be pleased with him—saying:

“To proceed: Allah made the tongue an interpreter of the heart, and He made the heart a vessel and a directing force. The tongue submits to it in accordance with whatever guidance the heart receives. When the heart is at the tip of the tongue, speech falters and one’s words become inconsistent. But when the tongue remains behind the heart, one’s words are sound and measured, and the tongue neither stumbles nor slips ⦗285⦘. Nor can anyone possess forbearance unless his heart goes before his tongue.

“When a man puts forth words with his tongue while his heart is at odds with them, he thereby deceives himself. But when he measures his words against his deeds, his words prove true in practice. Reflect: have you ever found a miser who was not lavish in words yet miserly in deeds? That is because his tongue goes before his heart.

“Reflect: can the honor of noble character be found in anyone who does not uphold what he says and follow through on it—speaking with the knowledge that, once uttered, his word becomes a binding obligation upon him? Never be keen-sighted regarding the faults of others. One who sees other people’s faults while regarding his own as insignificant is like one who burdens himself with something he was not commanded to do.

“Peace be upon you.”