حياة السلف بين القول والعمل

Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, said: “Three things are calamities: a permanent neighbor who, if he sees something good, conceals it, and if he sees something bad, spreads it; a woman who, if you enter upon her, lashes you with her tongue, and if you are absent from her, you cannot trust her; and a ruler who, if you do good, will not praise you, and if you do evil, will kill you.” [Uyun al-Akhbar 1/49]

A man spoke harshly to Muawiyah, may God be pleased with him, but he was patient with him. He was asked: Are you patient with this man? He replied: I do not interfere between people and their tongues as long as they do not interfere between us and our authority. [Uyun al-Akhbar 1/54].

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: If the ruler is just, the reward is his and gratitude is your duty. If he is unjust, the burden of sin is his and patience is your duty. [Uyun al-Akhbar 1/49].

Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, may God be pleased with him, said: “No people ever went to God’s ruler on earth to humiliate him except that God humiliated them before they died.” [Uyun al-Akhbar 1/66].

On the authority of Usama, that Al-A’mash, may God have mercy on him, was reproached for visiting the brother of Yaqtin the leader. He said: I placed him in the position of a latrine that was needed and was visited. [Al-Hilya (its abridgment) 2/139].