Hilm Mu'awiya - Ibn Abi al-Dunya - (31)

Hilm Mu'awiyaIbn Abi al-Dunya

31 – With his chain of transmission he said: Shaddād ibn Aws was among those who had left Muʿāwiyah and kept apart from him. Muʿāwiyah said to him, “Stand and deliver a sermon.” So he stood, praised and extolled Allah, invoked blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, and then declared:

“Behold, this world is an immediate, passing commodity from which both the righteous and the wicked eat, whereas the Hereafter is a true promise in which a Powerful King will judge. Know that every kind of good, in its entirety, is in Paradise, and every kind of evil, in its entirety, is in the Fire. ‘Whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it.’ May Allah forgive me and you.” ⦗32⦘

In another narration Muʿāwiyah said to Shaddād ibn Aws, “Stand and preach.” Shaddād began:

“All praise belongs to Allah, who has made praise incumbent upon His servants and whose good pleasure with the people of piety is dearer than the pleasure of His creation. Upon that path their first predecessors set out, and upon it their last followers will proceed.

People! The Hereafter is a true promise in which a Mighty King will judge, and this world is a present term from which both the righteous and the wicked partake. The listener who obeys Allah has no plea against Him, whereas the listener who disobeys has no plea in his favour.

When Allah—exalted is He—wants good for a people, He sets their righteous to work among them, makes their jurists decide their disputes, and places authority in the hands of their generous. But when He intends evil for a people, He assigns their affairs to fools, lets the ignorant judge between them, and entrusts wealth to their miserly.

Part of the soundness of rulers is that their companions be upright. Your true adviser, O Muʿāwiyah, is the one who angers you with the truth, while your betrayer is the one who pleases you with falsehood.”

Muʿāwiyah said to him, “Sit down,” and ordered a sum of money for him. Shaddād replied, “If it is from your own wealth, separate from the Muslims’ common funds—wealth you have gathered carefully out of fear for its reckoning, acquired lawfully, and now spend in generosity—then very well. But if it is from that in which the Muslims share, and you have withheld it from them, acquiring it by appropriation and spending it wastefully, then beware; for Allah says: ‘Indeed, the prodigals are brothers of the devils.’”

٣١ - وبإسنادٍ، قال: كان شداد بن أوسٍ فيمن ترك معاوية واعتزله، فقال له معاوية: قم فاخطب؛ فقام، فحمد الله وأثنى عليه، ثم صلى على النبي ﷺ ثم قال: ألا إن الدنيا عرضٌ حاضرٌ، يأكل منه البر والفاجر، وإن الآخرة وعدٌ صادقٌ، يحكم فيه ملكٌ قادرٌ؛ ألا إن الخير كله بحذافيره في الجنة، ألا وإن الشر كله بحذافيره في النار، ﴿من يعمل مثقال ذرةٍ خيراً يره. ومن يعمل مثقال ذرةٍ شراً يره﴾ غفر الله لي ولكم. ⦗٣٢⦘ وفي رواية أخرى: أن معاوية قال لشداد بن أوسٍ: قم فاخطب. فقال شدادٌ: الحمد لله الذي افترض الحمد على عباده، وجعل رضاه عند أهل التقوى آثر من رضا خلقه، على ذلك مضى أولهم، وعليه يمضي آخرهم. أيها الناس: ألا إن الآخرة وعدٌ صادقٌ، يحكم فيه ملكٌ قادرٌ؛ وإن الدنيا أجلٌ حاضرٌ، يأكل منه البر والفاجر؛ وإن السامع المطيع لله لا حجة عليه، وإن السامع العاصي لا حجة له؛ وإن الله ﵎ إذا أراد بالناس صلاحاً عمل فيهم صلحاؤهم، وقضى بينهم فقهاؤهم، وجعل الملك في سمحائهم. وإذا أراد الله بالعباد شراً، عمل عليهم سفهاؤهم، وقضى بينهم جهلاؤهم، وجعل المال عند بخلائهم؛ وإن من صلاح الولاة أن يصلح قرناؤها، ونصحك -يا معاوية- من أسخطك بالحق، وغشك من أرضاك بالباطل. فقال له معاوية: اجلس؛ وأمر له بمال. فقال: إن كان من مالك دون مال المسلمين، تعاهدت جمعه مخافة تبعته، فأصبته حلالاً، وأنفقته إفضالاً، فنعم. وإن كان مما شركك فيه المسلمون فاحتجنته دونهم، أصبته اقترافاً، وأنفقته إسرافاً؛ فإن الله ﷿ يقول: ﴿إن المبذرين كانوا إخوان الشياطين﴾.