Chapter: On the Companionship of the Righteous

باب فی معیۃ الصلحاء — نیکوں کی ہم نشینی کے بارے میں

بَابٌ فِيْ مَعِيَّةِ الصُّلَحَاءِ — On keeping company (maʿiyya, "being with") with the righteous

قَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: يٰٓأَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ وَكُوْنُوْا مَعَ الصّٰدِقِيْنَ.

(al-Tawba, rukūʿ 15 [9:119])

Vocabulary: yā ayyuhā alladhīna āmanū — O you who believe! O people who have brought faith!; ittaqū Allāh — adopt taqwā (God-consciousness) of Allah, save yourselves from His wrath, fear Him; wa-kūnū maʿa al-ṣādiqīn — and be with the truthful, adopt the company (maʿiyya) of the people of truthfulness and sincerity.

Translation: Allah Most High says: O Muslims! Fear Allah, and stay with the truthful.

Muslims! Just reflect on this verse. Staying with the truthful is an obligation (farḍ) upon us. Maʿiyya ("being with") can be of several kinds. To follow them in practice; to adopt the very creed that is theirs; to remain in their thought, in their mind — this too is included in maʿiyya. To love the truthful is also included in maʿiyya. وَمَا كَانَ اللّٰهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنْتَ فِيْهِمْ — that is, God does not punish them so long as you are among them [(al-Anfāl 8:33), cited on the next page]. The Companions had bodily (jasadī) maʿiyya as well; we can attain maʿiyya of belief (iʿtiqādī), of thought (khayālī), and several other kinds of maʿiyya. The one in whose heart is the thought of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — the image (taṣawwur) — he too is included in wa-anta fīhim ("while you are among them"). The one in whose heart the image of the Messenger of God ﷺ is held will never go to Hell. In this world no one burns the album of his friend; then how would we be burned?

[Urdu verse:] Though there is no cash of deeds at all in my pocket or my collar, / yet in my heart, O Lord, are the pictures of Your beloved ones. — (Ḥaḍrat Ṣiddīqī)

Some unfortunate people say that for the thought of the Messenger of God ﷺ to come [to mind] in ṣalāh is worse than adultery, theft and all other sins. May God keep [us] safe from such ill-thinking! With us, together with ṣirāṭa alladhīna anʿamta ʿalayhim ("the path of those whom You have favoured"), the image of the Messenger of God ﷺ comes [to mind] naturally; we say al-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhā al-nabiyy ("Peace be upon you, O Prophet"), and the form of the Ḥaḍrat [the Prophet ﷺ] comes before us. قُلْ مُوْتُوْا بِغَيْظِكُمْ — say to them: die burning in your rage! You flee from the thought of the Messenger of God ﷺ, and we wish that — [Persian:] "If I say 'I', by 'I' it is You who are my meaning." [reading uncertain]

In every ṣalāh we recite: اِهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيْمَ صِرَاطَ الَّذِيْنَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ ("Guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom You have favoured"). If Allah wills, we shall walk on their straight path, die [on it], and rise [with them].

وَقَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: وَمَا كَانَ اللّٰهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنْتَ فِيْهِمْ.

(al-Anfāl 8:33)

Vocabulary: wa-mā kāna — and it is not; Allāh — Allah; li-yuʿadhdhibahum — that He should punish them; wa-anta fīhim — while you are present among them.

Translation: Allah Most High says: And how would God punish them while you are among them!

Friends! The meaning of wa-anta fīhim is "while you are among them". In the city in which the Messenger of God ﷺ was present, why would Allah — for the sake of His Beloved — send punishment upon them? And its meaning can also be this: those in whose hearts the Beloved of God is settled, upon them too punishment will not come.

اَلْأَرْوَاحُ جُنُوْدٌ مُجَنَّدَةٌ فَمَا تَعَارَفَ مِنْهَا ائْتَلَفَ وَمَا تَنَاكَرَ مِنْهَا اخْتَلَفَ.

(al-Bukhārī from ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her); Aḥmad, Muslim and Abū Dāwūd from Abū Hurayra — Kanz al-ʿUmmāl.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) and from Ḥaḍrat ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her): Souls are armies drawn up in ranks. Those among them who became acquainted with one another there (in the world of souls) remain (on coming here too) united, and those who did not become acquainted with one another there will remain different from one another here too. (Kanz al-ʿUmmāl)

إِذَا رَضِيَ الرَّجُلُ عَمَلَ الرَّجُلِ وَهَدْيَهٗ وَسَمْتَهٗ فَإِنَّهٗ مِثْلُهٗ.

(Ibn al-Najjār and al-Rāfiʿī from Abū Hurayra — Kanz al-ʿUmmāl.)

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: He [the Prophet ﷺ] said: When any person becomes pleased with another person's work, and with his conduct and manner, and his appearance and bearing, then he is like him.

إِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَسْتَحْيِيْ أَنْ يَغْفِرَ لِقَوْمٍ وَفِيْهِمْ رَجُلٌ لَيْسَ مِنْهُمْ إِلَّا غَفَرَ لَهٗ مَعَهُمْ.

(Abū al-Shaykh in al-Thawāb, from Abū Saʿīd — Kanz al-ʿUmmāl.)

Vocabulary: inna Allāha yastaḥyī — indeed Allah feels shame; rajulun laysa minhum — such a man who is not one of them.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Abū Saʿīd (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Allah Most High feels shame that He should forgive a group, while among them there is also some person who is not one of them, and yet not forgive him too along with them.

عَنْ أَبِيْ هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ فِيْ حَدِيْثِ فَضِيْلَةِ الذِّكْرِ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَيَقُوْلُ مَلَكٌ مِنْهُمْ فُلَانٌ عَبْدٌ خَطَّاءٌ لَيْسَ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّمَا مَرَّ لِحَاجَةٍ فَجَلَسَ، فَيَقُوْلُ: وَلَهٗ قَدْ غَفَرْتُ هُمْ قَوْمٌ لَا يَشْقٰى جَلِيْسُهُمْ.

(Narrated by the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhārī and Muslim] and al-Tirmidhī.)

Vocabulary: ʿabdun khaṭṭāʾ — a sinful servant; lā yashqā jalīsuhum — the one who sits with them is not unfortunate.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates, in the hadith on the excellence of dhikr (remembrance of Allah), that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: An angel will say: Among them is also so-and-so, who is a great sinner and is not one of them; he only passed by there for some need and sat down. So He [Allah] said: I have forgiven him too; they are such people that the one who sits with them can never remain unfortunate.

مَثَلُ الْجَلِيْسِ الصَّالِحِ وَالْجَلِيْسِ السُّوْءِ كَمَثَلِ الْمِسْكِ وَكِيْرِ الْحَدَّادِ لَا يَعْدَمُكَ مِنْ صَاحِبِ الْمِسْكِ إِمَّا تَشْتَرِيْهِ أَوْ تَجِدُ رِيْحَهٗ وَكِيْرُ الْحَدَّادِ يُحْرِقُ بَيْتَكَ أَوْ ثَوْبَكَ أَوْ تَجِدُ مِنْهُ رِيْحًا خَبِيْثَةً.

(al-Bukhārī from Abū Mūsā — Kanz al-ʿUmmāl.)

Vocabulary: al-misk — musk; kīr al-ḥaddād — the blacksmith's furnace; yuḥriqu — burns.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Abū Mūsā (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The example of the good companion and the bad companion is like musk and the blacksmith's furnace. From the musk-seller no misfortune will come to you: either you will buy it, or you will get its fragrance; and the blacksmith's furnace will either burn your house or your clothes, or else you will get its foul smell. (al-Bukhārī)

عَنِ ابْنِ مَسْعُوْدٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ كَأَنِّيْ أَنْظُرُ إِلٰى رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَحْكِيْ نَبِيًّا مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ ضَرَبَهٗ قَوْمُهٗ فَأَدْمَوْهُ وَهُوَ يَمْسَحُ الدَّمَ عَنْ وَجْهِهٖ وَهُوَ يَقُوْلُ اللّٰهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِقَوْمِيْ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ.

(Agreed upon — al-Bukhārī and Muslim; Mishkāt.)

Vocabulary: yaḥkī — he was relating, portraying; ḍarabahū qawmuhū — his people had struck him; yamsaḥu al-dama — he was wiping the blood; ʿan wajhihī — from his face.

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah Most High be pleased with him) that he [the Prophet ﷺ] was portraying a prophet whom his people had struck and covered in blood, and he was wiping that blood from his face and saying: O Allah, forgive my people, for they do not know.

عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَمَّا مُوْسٰى فَكَأَنِّيْ أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ إِذِ انْحَدَرَ فِي الْوَادِيْ.

(Tajrīd al-Bukhārī.)

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: As for Mūsā (peace be upon him) — it is as though I am seeing him as he descends into the valley.

عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ سَأَلْتُ خَالِيْ هِنْدَ بْنَ أَبِيْ هَالَةَ وَكَانَ وَصَّافًا عَنْ حِلْيَةِ رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَأَنَا أَشْتَهِيْ أَنْ يَصِفَ لِيْ شَيْئًا أَتَعَلَّقُ بِهٖ رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ كَانَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَخْمًا مُفَخَّمًا يَتَلَأْلَأُ وَجْهُهٗ تَلَأْلُؤَ الْقَمَرِ لَيْلَةَ الْبَدْرِ — الخ. [reading uncertain]

(Shamāʾil al-Tirmidhī.)

Vocabulary: waṣṣāfan — one who describes [well]; wa-anā ashtahī — and I wished; yatalaʾlaʾu — it shone; laylat al-badr — the fourteenth night [of the lunar month].

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I asked my maternal uncle Hind ibn Abī Hāla — and he described the features (ḥilya) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ well — and I wished that he would describe something to me so that I might become attached to it. So he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was possessed of grandeur and majesty, and his face shone like the moon of the fourteenth night.