حياة السلف بين القول والعمل

Concealing and keeping good deeds secret: On the authority of Abu Hazim, may God have mercy on him, he said: Conceal your good deeds, just as you conceal your bad deeds. (Ibn al-Qayyim, may God have mercy on him, said: Revealing one's state to people in the view of the sincere is foolishness and weakness, and it is from the desires of the self and Satan. And the people of truth and determination are more discreet and secretive about their deeds than the owners of treasures of wealth are about their wealth. End quote, with some modification. Madarij al-Salikin 3/290) [Siyar (its abridgment) 2/637].

Concealing and keeping good deeds secret: Hassan bin Abi Sinan, may God have mercy on him, had a screen in his shop. He would take out the accounting basket and display his accounts, and send a boy up to the door, saying: If you see a man approaching who you think wants to see me, then tell me. Then he would get up and pray, and if a man came, the boy would tell him, and he would sit as if he were at the accounting. [Ibn Abi Al-Dunya Encyclopedia 1/180].

Concealing and keeping good deeds secret: When Mansur ibn al-Mu’tamir, may God have mercy on him, prayed the morning prayer, he would show his energy to his companions, talking to them and speaking to them at length. Perhaps he spent the night standing on his feet, all to conceal the deed from them. [Ibn Abi al-Dunya Encyclopedia 1/272].

Concealing and keeping good deeds secret: Abu al-Tayyah, may God have mercy on him, said: A man would recite for twenty years without his neighbors being aware of it. [Al-Hilya (its abridgment) 1/459].

Concealing and keeping good deeds secret: On the authority of Ibn Abi Adi, he said: Dawud bin Abi Hind, may God have mercy on him, fasted for forty years without his family knowing about it. He was a leatherworker, and he would take his lunch with him from them, give it away in charity on the way, and return in the evening to break his fast with them. [Al-Hilya (its abridgment) 1/464].