137 / 255
More info and Downloads at
gawaher.comPage 137 of 255
you don't eat, and build what you don't dwell in, and hope for what you can't achieve. The peoples before
you collected cautiously, and hoped confidently, and built firmly, but their gatherings became perdition,
their hope became delusion, and their homes became graves.
Those were the people of `Aad who filled the region from Adan to Oman with wealth and sons.
Then a wide sarcastic smile would be drawn on his two lips, and be would wave his arm to the
astonished multitude and cry sarcastically, "Who will buy the inheritance of `Aad people from me for
two dirhams?"
He was a brilliant, magnificent, and luminous man. His wisdom was faithful, his feelings were
pious, and his logic was perfect and cautious. In his point of view, worship was neither vanity nor pride
but a request for good and exposure to the mercy of Allah and continuous supplication that reminded
man of his weakness and the favor of his Lord upon him.
He said, "Request the good all your life, and expose yourselves to the mercy of Allah. Allah has
fragrance in His mercy which He ushers upon those whom He pleases among His servants. Ask Allah to
hide your defects and make your hearts steady and firm in times of trouble."
This wise man was always open-eyed to vanity in worship, of which he warned people. That vanity
makes those who have weak faith worship proudly and boast of their worship to others. Listen to him
saying, "An atom's weight of benevolence from a pious man is much better than a mountain's weight of
worship from the boaster." He also said, "Don't charge people with unwanted affairs and don't call them
to account as if you are their Lord. Guard your own souls. He who follows up the deeds of people will
have his grief increased."
Abu Ad-Dardaa' did not want the worshipper, whatever rank he reaches in worship, to call people to
account as if he were the Lord. He should praise Allah for His reconciliation and help by prayer, noble
feelings, and good intentions for those who cannot achieve such success. Do you know any better and
brighter wisdom than that of this wise man?
His companion Abu Qalaabah, tells us about him: One day Abu Ad-Dardaa' passed by a man who
had committed a sin, and people were insulting him. He prohibited them and said, "If you found him in a
ditch, would you not take him out of it?" They said, "Yes." He said to them, "Don't insult him. Praise
Allah that He protected you from such an evil." They said to him, "Don't you hate him?" He said, "No, I
hate his deed, and if he leaves it, he will be my brother."
Yes, knowledge, in his opinion, was understanding, behavior, learning, method, idea, and life.
Because this sanctification is of the wise, we find him claiming that the teacher is like the student in
favor, recompense, and position. He saw that the greatness of life was dependent on goodness before
anything else. He said, "Why do I see your scholars going away and your ignorant people learning
nothing? The teacher and the student of goodness are equal in recompense and there is goodness in the
other people besides the two." He also said, "People are of three types a scholar, an educated person, and
a savage."
As we have seen before, knowledge was not separate from following the wisdom of Abu Ad-
Dardaa' (May Allah be pleased with him). He said, "The greatest fear of my soul is that it should say to
me on the Day of Resurrection, in front of all the creatures, O owner, did you know? and I would reply,
Yes . It will say to me, What did you do with what you knew?
He used to respect scholars and honor them very much. Moreover, he used to pray to Allah saying,
"O Lord Almighty, I take refuge in You against the curse of the scholars' hearts.
It was said to him, "How could you be cursed by their hearts?" He said, "Their hearts hate me." Do
you see, he believed that the scholars hate is an unbearable curse; therefore he implored Allah to grant
him refuge.