Anas used to say, “I served the Messenger of Allah for ten full years, and never once did he so much as say ‘Uff’ to me”—meaning that he never displayed the slightest annoyance. Ten years I waited upon him and he never grew weary of me, whereas any one of us, if someone were to serve or accompany him for a mere week, would inevitably feel irritated. Yet the Messenger of Allah, over an entire decade, never uttered even a single word of displeasure.

Nor did he ever say about something I had done, “Why did you do that?” Even when I acted on my own initiative, the Prophet would not scold, reprimand, or ask, “Why did you do such-and-such?”—despite the fact that I was only his servant. Likewise, concerning something I had failed to do, he never asked, “Why did you not do such-and-such?” In all of this he treated me in accordance with the divine command: “Show forgiveness, enjoin what is right, and turn away from the ignorant” (al-Aʿrāf 7:199).

Al-ʿafw (forgiveness) here means overlooking people’s shortcomings and accepting whatever comes easily from them; do not insist that people conform to your wishes in every matter. Whoever demands that others meet his expectations in everything will miss out on everything. Rather, take what comes readily: treat people so that if something reaches you, you accept it, and if it passes you by, you do not become angry. For this reason Anas said that the Prophet never asked him, about something he had neglected, “Why did you not do such-and-such?”—and this was part of the Prophet’s exquisite character.

Another aspect of his noble conduct was that he never compromised the religion of Allah to curry favor with people, yet he never let an opportunity pass to gladden their hearts. Saʿb ibn Jathāmah—may Allah be pleased with him—once encountered the Prophet while the Prophet was in the state of ihram. Saʿb was known for being both a swift runner and a skilled archer—swift, meaning fleet-footed, and archer, meaning proficient at shooting.