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house." `Umar's face brightened as he said, "All praises and thanks be to Allah." Then he urged him to
refute the rest of the allegations. Sa'iid went on, " As for their complaint that I do not meet anyone at
night, by Allah, I hate to say the reason, but you force me to. Anyway, I have devoted the day to them
and consecrated the night for Allah. As for the third complaint that they do not see me two days per
month, well, I do not have a servant to wash my garment and I have no spare one. Therefore, I wash it
and wait for it to dry shortly before sunset, then I go out of my house to meet them. My defense against
the last complaint of the fainting fits is that I saw with my own eyes Khubaib Al-Ansaariy being slain in
Makkah. The Quraish cut his body into small pieces and said, `Do you want to save yourself and see
Muhammad in your place instead? He answered, `By Allah, I will not accept your offer of setting me
free to return to my family safe and sound, even if you gave me all the splendors and ornaments of life in
return for exposing the Prophet (PBUH) to the least annoyance, even if it was a prick of a thorn. Now,
every time this scene of me standing there as a disbeliever, watching Khubaib being tortured to death and
doing nothing to save him flickers in my mind, I find myself shaking with fear of Allah's punishment and
I faint."
These were Sa'iid's words which left his lips that were already wet from the flow of his pure and
pious tears. The overjoyed `Umar could not help but cry Out, "All praises and thanks be to Allah Who
would not make me disappointed in you!" He hugged Sa'iid and kissed his graceful and dignified
forehead.
What a great guidance must have been bestowed on those outstanding men! What an excellent
instructor Allah's Prophet (PBUH) must have been! What a penetrating light must have emanated from
Allah's Book! What an inspiring and instructive school Islam must have been! I wonder if the earth can
take in so much of the piety and righteousness of those fortunate men. I presume that if that happened,
then we would no longer call it the earth but rather Paradise. Indeed the "Promised Paradise."
Since it is not time for Paradise yet, it is only natural that those glorious superior men who pass by
life are but few, very few. Sa'iid lbn `Aamir was definitely one of those superior Muslims.
His position allowed him a considerable salary, yet he took only enough money to buy the
necessities for himself and his wife and gave the rest in voluntary charity in the way of Allah. One day,
he was urged to spend this surplus on his family and relatives, yet he answered, "Why should I give it to
my family and relatives? No, by Allah, I will not sell Allah's pleasure to seek my kinfolks' pleasure."
He was later urged, "Spend more money on yourself and on your family and try to enjoy the lawful
good things." But he always answered, "I will not stay behind the foremost Muslims after I heard the
Prophet (PBUH) say, `When Almighty Allah gathers all people on the Day of Reckoning, the poor
believers will step forward in solemn procession. They will be asked to stop for reckoning but they will
answer confidently: We have nothing to account for. Allah will say: My slaves said the truth. Hence,
they will enter Paradise before all other people."
In A.H. 20, Sa'iid met Allah with a pure record, pious heart, and honorable history. He yearned for
so long to be among the foremost Muslims; in fact, he consecrated his life to fulfill their covenant and
follow in their footsteps. He yearned for so long for his Prophet (PBUH) and instructor and his pure and
repentant comrades. He left all the burdens, troubles, and hardships of life behind. He had nothing but his
pious, ascetic, awesome, and great inner self. These virtues made the balance of good deeds heavy rather
than light. He impressed the world with his qualities rather than with his conceit.
Peace be upon Sa'iid lbn `Aamir. Peace be upon his life and resurrection. Peace be upon the
honorable and obedient Companions of the Prophet and blessings and peace be upon him.