al-Ayn Haqq - Muhammad ibn Abd al-Mu'ti - (57)

al-Ayn HaqqMuhammad ibn Abd al-Mu'ti

Anas related this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). (1) Al-Hasan said, “I have never seen a wrongdoer who more closely resembles one wronged than an envier: ceaseless sighing, abiding sorrow, and tears that never run dry.”

Abd Allāh ibn Masūd said, “Do not be hostile to Allah’s blessings.” He was asked, “Who would be hostile to Allah’s blessings?” He replied, “Those who envy people for what Allah has granted them of His bounty.” Allah Most High says in one of the scriptures: “The envier is the enemy of My blessing, resentful of My decree and dissatisfied with My apportionment.”

Mansūr al-Faqīh said:

Say to the one who persists in envying me:
Do you know against whom you have shown disrespect?

You have shown disrespect to Allah in His judgment
by resenting what He has bestowed upon me.

It is said that envy was the first sin by which Allah was disobeyed in heaven and the first sin by which He was disobeyed on earth. In heaven, it was Iblīs’s envy of Adam; on earth, it was Cain’s envy of Abel. (2)

Abū al-Atāhiya said regarding people:

O Lord, the people do not treat me fairly;
even if I treat them fairly, they wrong me.

If I possess anything, they move to seize it;
if I seek anything of theirs, they deny me.

If my generosity reaches them, they show no thanks;
but if I give them nothing, they revile me.

If calamity visits me, they rejoice in it;
if a blessing attends me, they envy me.

I shall keep my heart from yearning for them
and shield my gaze and eyes from them.

It is also said: “If you wish to be safe from an envier, conceal your affairs from him.”

A man of Quraysh said:

They envied the blessing when it came to light,
so they assailed it with baseless words.

When Allah bestows a blessing,
the words of its foes can do it no harm.

How well spoke the one who said:

(1) The hadith, “Envy consumes good deeds,” was narrated by Abū Dāwūd, but it is not authentic. (2) The names Cain and Abel for the two sons of Adam (peace be upon him) derive from Israelite reports, which are neither affirmed nor denied. Nothing in the Sunnah establishes these as their names. We therefore withhold judgment regarding them and refer to the two simply as Adam’s sons; what is contained in our revealed law is sufficient for us.

رواه أنس عن النبي ﷺ. (١) وقال الحسن: ما رأيت ظالما أشبه بمظلوم من حاسد؛ نفس دائم، وحزن لازم، وعبرة لا تنفد. وقال عبدالله بن مسعود: لا تعادوا نعم الله. قيل له: ومن يعادي نعم الله؟ قال: الذين يحسدون الناس على ما آتاهم الله من فضله، يقول الله تعالى في بعض الكتب: الحسود عدو نعمتي متسخط لقضائي غير راض بقسمتي. ولمنصور الفقيه: ألا قل لمن ظل لي حاسدا ... أتدري على من أسأت الأدب أسأت على الله في حكمه ... إذا أنت لم ترض لي ما وهب ويقال: الحسد أول ذنب عصي الله به في السماء، وأول ذنب عصي به في الأرض؛ فأما في السماء فحسد إبليس لآدم، وأما في الأرض فحسد قابيل لهابيل. (٢) ولأبى العتاهية في الناس: فيا رب إن الناس لا ينصفونني ... فكيف ولو أنصفتهم ظلموني وإن كان لي شيء تصدوا لأخذه ... وإن شئت أبغي شيئهم منعوني وإن نالهم بذلي فلا شكر عندهم ... وإن أنا لم أبذل لهم شتموني وإن طرقتني نكبة فكهوا بها ... وإن صحبتني نعمة حسدوني سأمنع قلبي أن يحن إليهمو ... وأحجب عنهم ناظري وجفوني وقيل: إذا سرك أن تسلم من الحاسد فغم عليه أمرك. ولرجل من قريش: حسدوا النعمة لما ظهرت ... فرموها بأباطيل الكلم وإذا ما الله أسدى نعمة ... لم يضرها قول أعداء النعم ولقد أحسن من قال:

(١) هذا الحديث: الحسد يأكل الحسنات. رواه أوداود ولا يصح. (٢) تسمية ابنى آدم ﵇ بقابيل وهابيل مأخوذ من أخبار بنى إسرائيل وهى لا تصدق ولا تكذب ولم يرد فى السنة ما يفيد باسميهما فنتوقف فى هذه التسمية فلا نسميهما إلا ابنى آدم ويكفينا ما فى شرعنا.