from Jarīr ibn ʿAbd Allah, who related that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever is denied gentleness is denied all good.” (1)
Next, al-Mutawakkil composed these verses:
Gentleness brings blessing, and deliberation is happiness;
So be deliberate with gentleness and you will attain success.
No good lies in resolve that lacks reflection,
And doubt is weakness when you seek relief.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir states in his History: “He narrated from his father al-Muʿtaṣim and from the judge Yaḥyā ibn Aktham, while the poet ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm and Hishām ibn ʿAmmār of Damascus transmitted from him.”
During his caliphate he came to Damascus and there built a palace on the land of Darayya.
On one occasion he said to some of those present (2): “The caliphs before me used to overawe the subjects (3) so that they would obey them, whereas I deal gently with them (4) so that they will love me and obey me.”
Aḥmad ibn Marwān al-Mālikī relates: “Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Baṣrī told us: Al-Mutawakkil summoned Aḥmad ibn al-Muʿadhdhal together with other scholars and gathered them in his residence. He then appeared before them, and everyone stood up except Aḥmad ibn al-Muʿadhdhal.
Al-Mutawakkil said to ʿUbayd Allah, ‘Does this man not acknowledge our authority?’
ʿUbayd Allah replied, ‘Indeed he does, O Commander of the Believers, but his eyesight is poor.’
Aḥmad ibn al-Muʿadhdhal said, ‘O Commander of the Believers, my eyesight is not poor; rather, I spared you the punishment of Allah.’”
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever likes people to stand up for him, let him reserve for himself a seat in the Fire.” (5)
(1) Narrated by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in his Taʾrīkh (vol. 7, p. 166) from the hadith of Jarīr ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Bajali (may Allah be pleased with him). It was also recorded by Muslim in his Sahīḥ, no. 2592, in “Al-Birr,” chapter “The Virtue of Gentleness,” and by Abū Dāwūd, no. 4809, in “Adab,” section “On Gentleness,” from the same companion, with the wording: “Whoever forbids gentleness forbids good,” or “Whoever prohibits gentleness is deprived of good.” Abū Dāwūd’s version adds: “He forbids all good.”
(2) From Yazīd ibn Muḥammad al-Muhallabī, as recorded in Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’ (vol. 12, p. 32).
(3) In the Ṭ edition: tataghazab; in Fawāt al-Wafayāt (vol. 1, p. 290): taghazab.
(4) In the B and Za editions: wa-ana.
(5) Narrated by al-Tirmidhī (no. 2755) in “Adab,” chapter “On the Dislike of One Man Standing for Another,” and by Abū Dāwūd (no. 5229) in “Adab,” chapter “On One Man Standing for Another,” from Muʿāwiya (may Allah be pleased with him). It is authentic. Abū Dāwūd’s wording: “Whoever wishes people to stand before him should prepare his place in the Fire.” Al-Tirmidhī’s wording: “Whoever is pleased that people stand before him, let him prepare his seat in the Fire.”
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (vol. 1, p. 374): “It was not the practice of the Salaf in the Prophet’s ﷺ time nor during his Rightly Guided Caliphs to stand whenever they saw him, as many do today; Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: ‘No one was more beloved to them than the Prophet ﷺ, yet they did not stand for him because they knew he disliked it. They would stand, however, to greet a traveler arriving from a journey.’ He added: ‘Standing to welcome someone arriving from travel is good. And when it is customary among people to honor an arrival by standing, refusal leads them to think they have been denied their due or humiliated; they do not recognize this custom as a sunnah. Therefore, it is preferable to stand, for it best preserves harmony and removes ill will.’”