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anything unless it is good, don't earn any money unless it is good, don't take anything to your house
unless it is good."
He wrote to his companions, "After that, any temporary thing you possess in life was possessed by
someone else before you, and will be owned by another after you, and you have nothing except what you
offered to yourself.
"Give preference over yourself to him from whom you are collecting money for your sons to inherit,
since you collecting money for one of the two: either a good son who spends the money in obedience to
Allah, thus he will be happy with what you earned and flee from troubles; or a disobedient son who
spends it in sins and disobedience to Allah, and so you will be tortured by what you had collected for
him. Entrust their living to the Bounty of Allah and save yourself"
The whole of life from Abu Ad-Dardaa's point of view is merely a loan. When Cyprus was
conquered and the booty was carried to Al Madiinah, people saw Abu Ad-Dardaa' weep. Astonished,
they approached and Jubair Ibn Nufair said to him, "Why are you weeping on the day that Allah
supported Islam and the Muslims?" Abu Ad Dardaa' replied with wisdom and deep understanding, "Woe
to you, Jubair.' What a trifling thing creatures are if they leave the commands of Allah. It was the best
nation, having dominion, but if left the commands of Allah, and therefore it came to what you see." Yes,
thus he reasoned the quick collapse to the armies of Islam in the conquered countries was caused by the
bankruptcy of true spiritualism that protected them and connected them with Allah. So he feared for the
Muslims in the coming days when the ties of faith would decline and the bonds to Allah, truth, and
goodness would languish. Consequently, the loan would be taken from their hands as easily as it bad
been put in their hands before.
As the whole of life was merely a loan in his view, it was also a bridge to an immortal and more
magnificent life.
Once his companions went to visit him when he was ill and found him sleeping on a piece of
leather. They said to him, "If you wish, you will have better and more comfortable bedding." He replied
pointing with his forefinger and looking with his bright eyes at the far distance, "Our home is there. For
it, we gather and to it we return. We travel to it and we work for it."
This look at life was not only a point of view but also a way of life. Yaziid lbn Mu'aawiyah wanted
to marry his daughter, Ad Dardaa', but he refused him and married her to a poor pious Muslim. People
were greatly astonished by that behavior but Abu Ad Darda'a taught them, saying, "What about Ad-
Dardaa' if she had the servants and splendors and she was dazzled by the decorations and pleasures of the
palace? What then would happen to her religion?" This was a wise man of upright morals and clear heart.
He refused everything that attracted the brain and fascinated the heart and by doing so he did not escape
from happiness but escaped to it. Real happiness, in his belief, was to possess life, not to be possessed by
it. Whenever the needs of people are limited by contentment and uprightness, they will realize the reality
of life as a bridge on which they cross to the home of permanence, return, and immortality. Whenever
they do so, their share of real happiness is greater and plentiful. He also said, "It is not better to have
much money and many sons, but it is better to have much clemency, much knowledge, and to compete
with people in the worship of Allah."
During the caliphate of `Uthmaan (May Allah be pleased with him), Mu'aawiyah was the governor
of Syria and Abu Ad-Dardaa' agreed to occupy the position of the judge according to the caliph's desire.
There in Syria, he stood strictly as an example to all those who were tempted by the pleasures of life. He
began to remind them of the method of the Prophet (PBUH), his asceticism and that of the early
righteous Muslims and martyrs.
Syria at that time was an urbanized region overflowing with the pleasures and amenities of life, and
the inhabitants were greatly annoyed by that person who embittered their lives by his preaching. He
gathered them and stood among them preaching, "O people of Syria, you are brothers in religion,
neighbors at home, and supporters against your enemies. But, why aren't you ashamed? You earn what