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It is reported that Mālik b. Dīnār – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Since I have come to know people, I do not rejoice when they praise and I do not dislike it when they blame, for those that praise go to excess in praise and those that blame go to excess in blaming. When the scholar learns knowledge in order to act, it humbles him; but if he learns it for something other than action, it only makes him more boastful.
Al-Dhahbī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 5:362.
It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Fulfil what Allāh has obligated you to do and you will be from the most devout of people, stay away from what Allāh has forbidden you and you will be from the most careful of people, and be satisfied with what Allāh has apportioned for you and you will be from the richest of people.
Hannād b. Al-Sarī, Al-Zuhd, article 1032.
Son of Ādam, you will never find the reality of īmān as long as you fault people for doing what you yourself are guilty of, until you clear yourself of that fault and correct it. Then, you will not correct a fault in yourself except that you will notice another, so your occupation will become correcting yourself, and this is the most beloved thing to Allāh, when you are like this.
Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baġdādī, Al-Muntakhab min Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqāʾiq, article 41.
There were two men who used to visit Al-Aʿmash, one who was concerned with ḥadīth and one who was not. One day Al-Aʿmash became angry with the man who studied ḥadīth, so the other said to him, “If he ever got angry with me like he got angry with you I would never go back to him.” To this Al-Aʿmash said, “In that case he would be a fool like you, leaving what benefits him because of my bad character (behaviour).”
Al-Khaṭīb, Al-Jāmiʿ li Akhlāq Al-Rāwī 1:338.
It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Verily a man continues to be truthful until he is written with Allāh as a true believer (ṣiddīq); and he persists in truthfulness until there is not even the space of a needle for sinfulness left in his heart to settle. And a man lies and persists in lying until there is not even the space of a needle for goodness in his heart to settle.
Wakīʿ b. Al-Jarrāḥ, Al-Zuhd ḥadīth 398.
It is reported that ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
There are three types of men and three types of women. As for the women, then [one] is the chaste, Muslim, gentle, loving and childbearing woman. She helps her family in difficult situations and does not help situations to overcome her family. Rarely will you find such women. Another is a vessel, she does nothing more than bear children. The third type is a shackle, Allāh puts her around the neck of whomever he wills, and when he wills to remove it, he removes it. Men are [also] three kinds. [The first is] a chaste, easy, gentle man who possesses opinion (insight) and is worthy of being consulted; and when a matter befalls him, he follows his insight, and approaches matters as they should be. [The second is] a man who has no opinions of his own, and when a matter befalls him he goes to the one who does have insight and should be consulted, and he adopts his opinion on the matter. The third is a man who is confused, lost and aimless; he neither follows (seeks) guidance, nor obeys any guide.
Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab Al-Īmān 10:39 ḥadīth 7131.
ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn – Allāh have mercy on him – would sometimes ride to Makkah and return without entering it (meeting anyone there), and he used to sit with Aslam the freedman of ʿUmar (himself a scholar), so it was said to him, “You leave Quraysh, and instead sit with the slave of Banī ʿAdī!” So he replied, “A man [should] sit where he benefits.”
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 4:388.
It is reported that Muʿāwiyah b. Qurrah – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Do not sit with the foolish using your knowledge, and do not sit with the knowledgeable (scholars) using your foolishness.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 5:154.
Safety lies in not wanting to be known.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 7:258.
It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
The seeking of knowledge cannot truly be achieved except with four things: time (al-farāgh, being free to study), sufficient wealth (al-māl, to avoid preoccupation with seeking a living), preservation (al-ḥifẓ, memorization) and piety (al-waraʿ, religious cautiousness).
Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab Al-Īmān 3:243, article 1602.