Al-Yaqin - Ibn Abi al-Dunya - (39)

18 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; ʿAli ibn Abi Maryam narrated to us, from Musa ibn ʿIsa, who said:

Hudhayfah al-Marʿashī, Sulayman al-Khawwās, and Yusuf ibn Asbat once gathered and began to discuss poverty and wealth while Sulayman kept silent. One of them said, “A man is rich when he has a house to shelter him, a garment to cover him, and sufficient provision that spares him the excesses of this world.” Another said, “The rich man is the one who has no need of people.”

They then turned to Sulayman and asked, “What do you say, Abu Ayyub?” He wept and replied, “I have found every form of wealth summed up in tawakkul (reliance on Allah), and I have found every form of evil summed up in qunūṭ (despair). Truly rich is the one whose heart Allah fills with yaqīn (certainty) deriving from His own abundance, whose knowledge of Him yields reliance, and whose soul is content with what He gives and allots. Such a person is genuinely rich even if he goes to bed hungry and wakes up penniless.”

At his words, everyone present wept.

١٨ - حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ، ثنا عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي مَرْيَمَ , عَنْ مُوسَى بْنِ عِيسَى , قَالَ: اجْتَمَعَ حُذَيْفَةُ الْمَرْعَشِي , وَسُلَيْمَانُ الْخَوَّاصُ , وَيُوسُفُ بْنُ أَسْبَاطٍ , فَتَذَاكَرُوا الْفَقْرَ وَالْغِنَى , وَسُلَيْمَانُ سَاكِتٌ فَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمُ: «الْغَنِيُّ مَنْ كَانَ لَهُ بَيْتٌ يُكِنُّهُ , وَثَوْبٌ يَسْتُرُهُ , وَسَدَادٌ مِنْ عَيْشٍ يَكِفُّهُ عَنْ فُضُولِ الدُّنْيَا» , وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمُ: «الْغَنِيُّ مَنْ لَمْ يَحْتَجْ إِلَى النَّاسِ» , فَقِيلَ لِسُلَيْمَانَ مَا تَقُولُ أَنْتَ يَا أَبَا أَيُّوبَ؟ فَبَكَى ثُمَّ قَالَ: «رَأَيْتُ جَوَامِعَ الْغِنَى فِي التَّوَكُّلِ , وَرَأَيْتُ جَوَامِعَ الشَّرِّ مِنَ الْقُنُوطِ , وَالْغَنِيُّ حَقَّ الْغِنَى , مَنْ أَسْكَنَ اللَّهُ قَلْبَهُ مِنْ غِنَاهُ يَقِينًا , وَمِنْ مَعْرِفَتِهِ تَوَكُّلًا , وَمِنْ عَطَايَاهُ وَقَسْمِهِ رِضًى , فَذَاكَ الْغَنِيُّ حَقَّ الْغِنَى وَإِنْ أَمْسَى طَاوِيًا وَأَصْبَحَ مُعْوِزًا» . فَبَكَى الْقَوْمُ جَمِيعًا مِنْ كَلَامِهِ "