134 – “When Allah’s Prophet Noah — peace be upon him — felt death approaching, he said to his son, ‘I shall recount a bequest to you: I command you with two things and I forbid you from two things.
-
I command you to hold fast to lā ilāha illallāh (there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah). If the seven heavens and the seven earths were placed on one side of a balance and lā ilāha illallāh were placed on the other, lā ilāha illallāh would outweigh them. And if the seven heavens and the seven earths formed a single closed ring, lā ilāha illallāh would shatter it.
-
And [I command you with] subḥānallāhi wa biḥamdih (Exalted is Allah and to Him belongs all praise), for it is the prayer of every created thing, and by it the creatures are provided sustenance.
I forbid you from associationism (shirk) and from arrogance (kibr).’
Someone said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we already know what associationism is, but what is arrogance?’ He replied, ‘Is it that one of us should possess two fine sandals with fine straps?’ They said, ‘No.’ He asked, ‘Is it that one of us should have companions who sit with him?’ They said, ‘No.’ They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, then what is arrogance?’ He said, ‘It is to reject the truth and to belittle people.’
Al-Bukhārī narrated it in Al-Adab al-Mufrad (no. 548); Aḥmad (2/169–170, 225) and al-Bayhaqī in Al-Asmāʾ (no. 79, Hindiyyah edition) through the chain of al-Ṣaqʿab ibn Zuhayr from Zayd ibn Aslam. Ḥammād — so I think — [transmitted it] from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr who said: ‘We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when a man from the desert came wearing a cloak of sijān fastened with silk brocade. He said, “Indeed, this companion of yours has lowered every horseman, the son of a horseman — meaning that he wishes to abase every horseman, the son of a horseman — and to raise every shepherd, the son of a shepherd.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ seized the front of his cloak and said, “Do I not see on you the dress of one who lacks understanding?” Then he mentioned the narration.’
And I say: this chain is authentic.”