THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD

O N RELIGIOUS EXHORTATIONS AND ASCETICISM

Al,imad ibn Mul,iammad ibn 'Abd Rabbih said:

We have spoken on proverbs and their arts in every tongue and in every age.
We shall now begin, with God's help and divinely granted success, to speak on
asceticism and famous men noted for it. We shall record selections from their
words as well as the exhortations that prophets gave, which parents chose for
their sons and which were current among wise men and litterateurs, and in the
meetings of God's worshippers with caliphs.
The most eloquent of all exhortations is the speech of God, Most High and
Powerful, to which falsehood cannot come from before it or from behind it, for
it is revelation coming down from a Wise and Laudable One. God, may He be
blessed and exalted, says, "Call unto the way of your Lord with wisdom and
goodly exhortation ... " [ Q 16: 125] to the end of the chapter. He also says, may
He be majestically praised, "How can you disbelieve in God, seeing you were
dead and He gave you life, then He will cause you to die, then He will give you
life, and then unto Him you shall return." [ Q 2:28] He says, "Does not man see
that We have created him from a sperm-drop. Yet lo, he is a manifest adversary
... "until He says," ... All-knowing." [ Q 36:77-79] These are the most eloquent
arguments and the wisest exhortations.
Then [we shall record] the exhortations of prophets, God's blessings be
on them, the exhortations of fathers to sons, the exhortations of wise men
and litterateurs, and the meetings of God's worshippers with caliphs. Then [we
shall record] what they said on asceticism and the well-known men noted for
it, then the famous ones related to it.
An exhortation is weighty on one's ears, pressing on one's soul, far from
being easily accepted because it opposes ardent wishes and runs counter to
passion which is the springtime of the heart, the resort of the soul, the meadow
of amusement, and the pasture of desires except for the one who has been
edified by his learning, guided by his heart, and rendered wise by his experience.
A poet said:
Souls will not desist from their error
Until they have someone to exhort them.

***
Wise men said, "A happy man is he who is admonished by another," and
they did not mean a man whom another exhorted but rather a man who learned

52 THE UNIQUE ECKLACE
a lesson from seeing another and being warned by what he saw. That is why
al-l:lasan used to say, "Restrain your souls for they are inquisitive, and mention
God to them for they are quickly forgetful; disobey them for if they are obeyed,
they are badly inclined to evil." When ending his session and closing his
exhortation, he used to say, "What an exhortation it is, if only it finds life in
the hearts!" Ibn al-Sammak used to say at the end of his speech, "Tongues that
describe, hearts that know and deeds that differ." Yonus ibn 'Ubayd said, "If
we had been commanded to be afraid, we would have been patient," referring to
the weightiness of an exhortation on one's ears and the inclination of the soul
to disobey it. It is said:
The thing most loved by man is what is forbidden.
It is also said:
When a thing is impossible to attain, it is desired.
An exhortation prevents you from doing what you desire, and makes you do
what you dislike unless you receive it with ears open to warning lessons, a heart
keen on thinking, and a soul whose learning is a deterrent and whose mind is
a restrainer; the door of repentance will then be opened to you and the path of
contrition is made clear. The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace said
,;
"Paradise is surrounded with loathsome things and hellfire by desirable nes.
He means that reaching Paradise necessitates bearing the loathsome things of
the world, and reaching hellfire consists in committing evil desires.
The best exhortation is the one given by a sincere person to a fair listener.
Someone said, "If a word goes out from the heart, it falls into the heart; and
if it goes out from the tongue, it does not go beyond the ears." It is said, "How
beautiful a crown is, and it is more beautiful when it is on a king's head; how
beautiful a pearl is, and it is more beautiful when it is on a young woman's chest·
and how beautiful an exhortation is, and it is more beautiful when it is give
by a virtuous, pious man." Ziyad said, "O people, don't let the evil you know
we have done prevent you from benefiting from the best things you have heard
from us. A poet said:
Do in accordance with what I say, although my action falls short of it.
My words will benefit you and my falling short will not harm you."
***
'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas said, "I have never benefited from the words of anyone
after God's Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, as much as I
benefited from the words that 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him,
wrote to me. He wrote to me, 'After greetings: man is pleased with attaining
what would not have passed him by, but he is displeased with missing what he
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 53
would not have attained. So let your pleasure be with what you have obtained
regarding matters relating to your hereafter, and let your regret be at what you
have missed of them. Don't be happy with matters you obtained relating to
your world, and don't be anguished by what you have missed of them. Let your
concern be with what follows death.'"
***
A wise man at the gate of a king was prevented from entering, so he subtly
wrote a note that he made to reach him. In it he wrote the following verse:
Don't you see that it is hoped that poverty becomes wealth,
And that it is feared that wealth turns into poverty?
When the king read the verse, he quickly put on his sandals, set a cap on his
head, and went out in his home robe. He said to the wise man, "By God, I have
never been admonished by anything after the Qur'an as much as I have been
by this your verse." Then he fulfilled the man's needs.
Exhortations o f prophets, God's blessings be upon them
[Exhortations of] the Prophet [Mul:iammad],
may God bless him and grant him peace
Abu Bakr ibn AbI Shayba related that the Prophet, may God bless him and
grant him peace, said, "It is enough for anyone of you to have of this world the
same amount of provision any rider has." He also said, may God bless him and
grant him peace, "O son of Adam, seize the opportunity of five things before five
others [occur]: your youth before your old age, your good health before your
sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before your becoming
occupied, and your life before your death." 'Abd Allah ibn Sallam said, "When
God's Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, came to us in
Medina, I went to him. On seeing his face, I knew it was not the face of a liar,
and I heard him say, 'O people, give others food to eat (ta'am), spread peace
(salllm), and pray while people are asleep (niyam).'"
[Exhortations of] 'Isa (Jesus), peace be upon him
'Isa ibn Maryam, peace be upon him, said, "Shall I tell you who is the best one
among you to sit with?" They said, "Yes, indeed, 0 Spirit of God." He said,
"The one whose sight reminds you of God, whose speech increases your [good]
work, and whose [good] work makes you eager for Paradise." 'Isa ibn Maryam,
peace be upon both of them, said to the disciples, "Woe to you, slaves of this
world! How inconsistent your branches are with your roots and your passions
54 THE UNIQUE ECKLACE
with your reason! Your words heal sickness but your deeds are an incurable
disease. You are not like the vine whose leaves are beautiful, whose fruits are
good, and whose climbing is easy. You are rather like a samura (acacia) that has
few leaves, many thorns and is difficult to climb. Woe to you, slaves of this
world! You have placed deeds under your feet for anyone who wishes to take
them, and you have placed this world way above your heads so that no one can
reach it. You are neither slaves who give good advice, nor free men who are
generous. Woe to you, hirelings of evil! Wages, you take; and good work, you
corrupt. You shall meet with what you fear, when the master of the work looks
into his work that you have corrupted and into his wages that you have taken."
He also said to the disciples, peace be upon him, "Take up prayer places as
homes, and homes as stopping places [in a journey]; eat the greens of the open
country, drink pure water, and safely escape from this world." He also said to
the disciples, peace be upon him, "Don't look into people's deeds as though you
were lords, and look into your own deeds as though you were slaves; for people
are of two kinds: those who are afflicted [with disease] and those who are healthy.
Have mercy on those afflicted and praise God for good health." Likewise, he
also said to them, peace be upon him, "I wonder at you: you work for this
world where you are given provision without work; but you don't work for the
hereafter where you are given provision only by [good] work!"
***
Ya}:iya Gohn), son of Zakariyya (Zacharias), peace be upon him, said to the
disbelievers among the Israelites, "O progeny of serpents! Who guided you to
embark on acts that anger God and cause you perdition? Woe to you! Come
close [to God] by good deeds, and don't be misled by your closeness to Ibrahim
(Abraham), peace be upon him. For God is capable of making these stones a
progeny oflbrahim. The axe has been [more than once] put to the roots of trees:
how appropriate it is that every bitter-tasting tree be cut down and cast into
the fire!"
***
Sha'ya> (Isaiah) said to the Israelites, when God made his tongue utter
Revelation, "An animal becomes more tractable with more exercise, but your
hearts become only more cruel with more exhortation. If one's body is healthy,
it is content with a little food; and [similarly] if one's heart is sound, it is content
with a little wisdom. How many lamps the wind has extinguished, and how many
worshippers conceit has corrupted! 0 children of Israel, listen to what I say; for
the one who says and the one who hears a wise saying are partners, and the one
more entitled to it is the one who puts it into practice."
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD ))
***
Al-Masib (Christ), peace be upon him, said, "God's friends have nothing to
fear and they are not saddened, for they have looked into the inmost essence
of this world when other people looked into its exterior, and they have looked
into its future when others looked into its immediate temporal existence; so
they have caused to die what they feared would make them die, and they have
abandoned what they knew would abandon them. They are enemies to what
people unquestioningly accept, and are peaceful allies to what people hostilely
reject. They have news, and what they have is Good News. The Bible has
spoken about them, and they have spoken about it. Through them guidance has
been known, and they have been known for it. They do not believe any peace to
be so insignificant they should not hope for it, nor any peril to be so insignificant
they are not cautious of it."
[Exhortations of] Dawud (David), peace be upon him
Wahb ibn Munabbih said:
Dawud, peace be upon him, said, "O Lord, there is not a single hair on a
man that does not have Your benefaction; how will he ever be able to reward
You for what You have given him?" God revealed to him, "O Dawud, I give in
abundance but I am content with little from my servants. To thank me for My
benefaction, I am content with a servant's acknowledgment that any benefit he
has is from Me and not from himself."
[Exhortations of] Ibrahim, peace be upon him
When God, may He be exalted, commanded Ibrahim, peace be upon him, to slay
his son and make him a sacrifice [to God], he confided this to a bosom friend of
his named Ali'azar (Lazarus). The friend said to him, "God does not afflict
someone like you with something like this. He rather wants to try you or to put
you to the test. You know that He would not afflict you with something like this
to tempt you, to lead you into error, to bring hardship to you, nor to diminish
your insight, your faith and your conviction. Therefore, let this not frighten you
and don't ever permit yourself to have a bad opinion of God. He has rather raised
your name high among all afflicted people, and He has considered you the
greatest among them regarding the tribulation endured by you and your son in
order to raise you as much in rank, degree and virtue. Patient people have no
virtue of patience beyond yours, and meritorious people have no virtue of merit
beyond yours. This is not the kind of affliction that God afflicts his friends with,
for God is more honorable than this in Himself, fairer in His judgment, and
more merciful towards His servants than to command the slaying of a good
son by his own father who is a chosen prophet. God forbid that this be [seen as]
an imposition by me on God or a rejection of His command or an expression of
56 THE UNIQUE ECKLACE
anger for his judgment; but this is my hope in Him and my opinion of Him.
However, if your Lord has determined that this should be done, be then as
good as His knowledge of you is; for I know that He has only exposed you to
this formidable affliction and great predicament because He knows you well,
and He is aware of your righteousness and your patience, and wants to make
you a leader. And there is no power or strength but with God, the High and
Great One."
Some of God's revelations to His prophets
God, Most Powerful and Exalted, revealed the following to one of His prophets,
"I am indeed God, the Ruler of kings. The hearts of kings are in My hand. I
will make the kings merciful to those who obey Me, and vengeful to those who
disobey Me."
Christ, peace be upon him
Some of what God revealed to Christ, peace be upon him, in the Gospel is
the following, "We filled you with longing but you did not long. We wailed for
you but you did not weep. 0 man of fifty, what [deeds] have you put forth and
what [deeds] have you delayed? 0 man of sixty, your harvest has drawn nigh.
0 man of seventy, come forth to reckoning."
***
In an ancient revealed book is the following, "On the Day of Resurrection,
God, Most Powerful and Exalted, will say, 'My servants, you have been thirsty
for long, your lips were parched in this world, and your eyes were sunken out
of thirst and hunger. Eat now and drink happily as a reward for what you have
done in the past days.'"
***
God, Most High, revealed the following to one of his prophets, "Give me humility
from your heart, submissiveness from your soul, tears from your eyes and ask me
[to fulfil your needs]; I am close and I will answer." In one of the scriptures, we
read, "My servant, how often I show love to you by favors and you show hatred
by sins! My benefaction to you is going down, and your evil is going up to
Me." God revealed the following to one of His prophets, "If you want to reside
tomorrow in the realm of holiness, be solitary in this world, an anxious and
sorrowful outcast, like a lonely bird that abides in a wasteland, drinks the water
of springs and eats from the edges of trees; and when night falls, it takes shelter
alone, alienated from other birds and happy in the companionship of its Lord."
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 57
Musa (Moses), peace be upon him
Some of what God revealed to Moses in the Torah: "O Musa ibn 'lmran, master
of Mount Lebanon, you are my servant and I am the King and Judge. Don't
disparage the poor man and don't deem the rich man fortunate for any little
thing. When mentioning Me, be humble; and when you recite My revelation, be
obedient and let Me hear the sweetness of the Torah in a sad voice." Wahb ibn
Munabbih said, "God revealed the following to Moses near the tree, "Don't let
the finery of Pharoah please you, nor the enjoyments he has been delighting in.
Don't even cast a look at that, for it is only the flower of the lower life and the
embellishment of the luxurious. If I wished to give you embellishments that
Pharoah would know on seeing them that his power was incapable of having, I
would have done so; but I turned you away from that and I turned him away
from you. This is what I do for my friends. I protect them from the bliss
and pleasure [of such embellishments], just as a kind shepherd protects his
sheep from dangerous pastures, and I shield them from such embellished
living and luxury just as a shepherd shields his flock from the kneeling parks
of scabby camels."
YusufOoseph), peace be upon him
It was related that Wahb ibn Munabbih said, "After Yusuf had spent a few years
in prison, God sent Jibril (Gabriel) to him with the good news of his release,
saying, "Don't you know me, 0 righteous man?" Yusuf said, "I see a pure form
and a good spirit unlike the spirits of sinners." Jibril said, "I am the Faithful
Spirit, the messenger of the Lord of the worlds." Yusuf asked, "What then made
you enter the place of criminals, when you are the master of messengers and
the head of the cherubim?" Jibril answered, "Don't you know, 0 righteous man,
that God cleanses houses with the purity of prophets, that the spot in which you
happen to be is the purest of all earth, and that God has cleansed the prison
and its surroundings with you, 0 son of the pure?" Yusuf said, "How dare
you compare me to the virtuous, name me by the names of the truthful, and
consider me along with my sincere forefathers when I am a prisoner among these
criminals?" Jibril answered, "Apprehension has not injured your heart, affliction
has not changed your character, prison has not alarmed you, you have not
dishonoured your master's bed, this world's distress has not made you forget the
hereafter, your own distress has not made you forget your father, nor has your
father made you forget your Lord. This is the time when God will untie your
neck and free you, show your wisdom to the people and make true your vision,
establish your right in the face of your oppressors and reunite you with your
beloved ones; [this is the time when He will] grant you the kingship of Egypt
to rule its kings, enslave its tyrants, subdue its great ones, make its powerful ones
humble themselves to you, its common people serve you, its vassals belong to
you; [this is the time when He will] have mercy on its poor through you and cast
 58 THE UNIQUE ECKLACE
love and awe for you in their hearts, make you have the upper hand over them,
and your good influence effective among them; [this is the time when He will]
show Pharoah a dream that will frighten him and let him lie awake all night
because of it, and let his sleep go away from him, making him and his magicians
and priests unable to interpret it, and teaching you how to interpret it."
Exhortations o f wise men
'Ali
'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God honor him, said, "I will advise you of five things
which, if you safeguard under the armpits of camels, would be little: Let no
one of you ever hope but from his Lord, and not fear anything but his own sin;
and let him not be ashamed of saying 'I don't know' if asked about anything he
does not know, and of learning it if he does not know it. Know that patience in
relation to faith is like the head in relation to the body; if the head is cut off, the
body will go." He also said, "Whosoever wants to be rich without money and
strong without a tribe, let him change over from being humiliated by sin to
the power of being obedient [to God], for God wills the humiliation of all those
who disobey Him."
Al-l:lasan
Al-1:Iasan said, "He who fears God will find everything afraid of him through
God; and he who fears people will have God make him fear everything."
Another
Someone said, "Whoever works for his afterlife will be spared by God the
problems of his present life, and whoever sets right his relation with God
will have good relations with people through God; and whoever purifies his
conscience in secret will have his public image purified by God."
Four sayings by Arabs and non-Arabs
Al-'Utbi said, "Arabs and non-Arabs agreed on four sayings. They said, 'Don't
burden your heart with what it can't bear; don't do anything in which you have
no benefit; don't have confidence in a woman; and don't be deluded by wealth,
however abundant.'"
Abu Bakr on his deathbed advising 'Umar
Abu Bakr, the righteous, said to 'Umar ibn al-Khanab, God be pleased with
both of them, when he was dying and was appointing him to succeed him, "I
advise you to fear God. God may prescribe a deed to be done at night that He
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 59
will not accept when done in the daytime, and He may prescribe a deed to be
done in the daytime that He will not accept when done at night. He will not
accept a supererogatory deed unless the obligatory ones are performed. On the
Day of Resurrection, the balances of those whose balances will be heavy will be
so because they followed the truth and accepted its weight on them - and it is
right that a balance should be heavy if nothing but the truth were put on it;
the balances of those whose balances will be light will be so, on the Day of
Resurrection, because they followed falsehood in this world and its lightness will
be theirs - and it is right that a balance should be light if nothing but falsehood
were put on it. Indeed, God mentioned the people who would enter Paradise;
He mentioned them for their best deeds, and passed over their evil deeds, so that
if you heard of them, you would say, 'I am afraid I will not be one of these.' He
mentioned the people who would enter hellfire for their worst deeds, and
He refrained from mentioning their good deeds, so that if you heard of them, you
would say, 'I am better than these.' He mentioned His assurance of mercy along
with His assurance of punishment so that a human being would be desirous and
fearful, not wishing for anything from God but the truth. If you keep my advice,
let no absent thing be more preferable to you than death, for it will come to you;
and if you don't keep my advice, let no absent thing be more hateful to you than
death - and you will never render death incapable.''
Al-l:lasan al-Ba ri and Ibn al-Ahtam
Al-1:Iasan ibn Abi al-1:Iasan went to visit 'Abd Allah ibn al-Ahtam who was
sick and saw him staring up and down at a box in his home. Ibn al-Ahtam said,
"O Abu Sa'Id, what would you think about one hundred thousand [dirhams]
in this box, of which I had not paid the prescribed alms (zakat) and had not
given in charity to any blood relative?" Al-1:Iasan replied, "May your mother be
bereft of you! For whom have you been saving them?" lbn al-Ahtam said, "For
vicissitudes of time, estrangement from the ruler and boasting to the tribe."
lbn al-Ahtam died later and al-1:Iasan attended his funeral and said after his
burial, "Look at this poor man. His demon came to him and warned him of the
vicissitudes of his time and estrangement from his ruler, and against boasting to
his tribe with regard to what God had provided him abundantly. Look how he
went out of it all having been robbed and saddened." He then turned to the heir
and said, "O heir, don't be deceived as your little friend was yesterday. This
wealth has come to you legally, so don't let it be of evil consequences to you.
It has come to you purely by coincidence from someone who gathered it and
withheld it. He gathered it in falsehood and withheld it as a right. He crossed the
seas and the deserts to acquire it. You have not worked hard for it and you have
not sweated for it. The Day of Resurrection is indeed a day of sorrows, the most
grievous of which is seeing your wealth tomorrow on the balance of another
person. Oh, what a stumbling that can't be steadied, and what a repentance that
can't be obtained!"
60
THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
***
A wise man exhorted some people, saying, "O people, exchange loans for
gifts and you will praise the consequence. Receive disasters with patience and
you will deserve bliss. Perpetuate generosity by thankfulness and you will merit
increase. Appreciate remaining in favor and being rich and safe, before being
badly deluded and understandably punished, and before being deprived of
action and the coming of the end. You exist in the world only as the aims of death
and the targets of disaster. You will not receive a favor except by losing another.
No long-lived man among you will ever gain a day of his lifetime except by
losing another of it, and no trace of him will survive except by having another
that will die. You are the helpers of fate against yourselves: in your very lifestyles
are the causes of your deaths, and nothing will protect you or distract you from
them. You are successors after predecessors, and will be predecessors after being
successors. In every path of yours, there is a fallen man covered with dust and a
standing man waiting [for the same end] - how in the world do you then seek
permanent existence when you see how day and night [follow one another],
building something up only to quickly destroy it and determining that something
should be only to revoke it."
Abu al-Darda'
Abo al-Darda> said, "O people of Damascus, why are you building edifices
that you do not live in, hoping in things that you do not achieve and harvesting
what you do not eat? Look, the tribes of 'Ad and Thamod filled the cities of
Bu ra and 'Adan with riches and progeny! Who will buy from me what they left
for two dirhams?"
Ibn Shubruma
Ibn Shubruma said, "If the body is sick, no food or drink will be of any benefit
to it; and if the heart is fond of this world, no exhortation will be of any
benefit to it [either]."
Ibn Khuthaym
Al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym said, "Let your speech be brief except in nine cases:
the exclamation of God's greatness (takbir - that is, saying: Allahu akbar),
the declaration of God's unity (tahlil - that is, saying: la ilaha ilia llah), the
glorification of God (tasbih - that is, saying: subbana llah), the praise of God
(tabmid - that is, saying: al-bamdu Ii-I/ah), the invocation of good, the seeking
of God's protection against evil, the commanding of good, the forbidding of
evil, and the reciting of the Qur'an."
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 61
A wise man
Someone said to a wise man, "Preach me an exhortation." The wise man
said, "Let God not see you where He forbade you to be, and let Him not fail
to find you where He commanded you to be." Another wise man was asked to
give an exhortation and he said, "All exhortations combined can be gathered in
one idea." He was asked, "And what is it?" He replied, "That you should resolve
to obey God, for you will find all exhortations contained therein."
AbnJa'far and Sufyan
Abo Ja'far said to Sufyan, "Preach me an exhortation." Sufyan said, "And what
have you done with what you knew so that I may exhort you with regard to
what you don't know?"
(Harun] al-Rashid and Ibn al-Sammak
Haran [al-Rashid] said to Ibn al-Sammak, "Preach me an exhortation." Ibn
al-Sammak said, "The Qur'an is a sufficient exhorter. God, may He be blessed
and exalted, said, 'Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with 'Ad, Iram of
the pillars, the like of which has never been created in the land ... ?' until He
says, 'So your Lord let loose on them a scourge of punishment. Surely, your
Lord is ever on the watch."' [ Q 89:6-14]
Correspondence between wise m e n
Between two wise men
A wise man reproved another and the latter wrote to him, "O brother, one's
lifetime is too short to bear separation [from loved ones]." The reproved man
returned [to good relations] with the one who had reproved him.
Al-lfasan and 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz
Al-1:lasan wrote to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, "It is as if this world has not existed
and the hereafter has always been. And peace be to you." 'Umar wrote back to
him, "It is as if the last one destined to die has died. And peace be to you."
Salman and Abu al-Darda'
Ibn al-Mubarak said, "Salman al-Farisi wrote to Abo al-Darda', 'You will never
obtain what you want unless you abandon what you desire, and you will never
achieve what you hope for unless you bear what you dislike. Let your speech be
remembrance, your silence thoughtfulness and your contemplation admonition.
For the world turns and its resplendence changes; so don't be deluded by them.
 62 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
Let your home be the mosque. And peace be unto you.'" Abo al-Darda' replied,
"Peace be unto you. After this, I advise you to fear God and to take from your
health to give to your sickness, from your youth to your old age, from your
leisure to the time when you are busy, from your life to your death and from
your aversion to your affection. And remember a life in one of two positions in
which there is no death: either in Paradise or in hellfire, for you don't know
in which of them you will end up."
Aba Masa and <Jimir ibn <_Abd al-Qays
Abo Musa al-Ash <ari wrote to <Amir ibn <Abd al-Qlys, "I have known you to
be of a certain trait but have heard that you have changed. If you still are what I
have known you to be, fear God and continue; and if you now are what I have
heard you to be, fear God and return."
Ibn a!-Nacjr and a brother o f his
Mul.iammad ibn al-Naqr wrote to a brother of his, "You are walking on a
path,
and ahead of you are two stopping places, in one of which you must camp;
but
you have neither received an assurance of safety and can thus come to
rest, nor
a declaration of immunity so you can trust [in God]."
Between two wise men
One wise man wrote to another, "Know, may God keep you, that souls have
been
created with a natural disposition to take what they are given and withhold
what
they are asked to give; so make [your soul] ride a mount that is not slow-going
when ridden and not fast-going [leaving the rest behind] when made to lead
the
way. For souls are safe according to the extent of their fear, they seek
according
to the extent of their greed and they aspire according to the extent
of their
motive. I f you are able to have the fear of an apprehensive person and
the
contentment of a satisfied one, do."
From <Umar ibn '-Abd al-'-Aziz to Ibn J f aywa
<Umar ibn <Abd al- <Aziz wrote to Raja' ibn l:-Iaywa, "Whoever remembers death
often will be content with little; and whoever knows that speaking is work will
speak little, except regarding what will be of use to him."
From <Umar ibn al-Kha{!ab to Ibn Ghazwan
<Umar ibn al-Khanab wrote to <U tba ibn Ghazwan, his governor of Basra, "You
have become a commander; you say something and you will be obeyed, you order
so ething and your order will be implemented. What a blessing this is, unless it
raises you above your standing and makes you tyrannical over those below you.
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 63
Therefore, be more on your guard against a blessing than against a disaster; and
beware of a fall and a stumbling from which you cannot rise. Peace be unto you."
Between a l - J fasan and <Umar ibn <A bd a/- <A z iz
Al-l:-Iasan wrote to <Umar, "In what God commands you to do, there is what
should preoccupy you from what He prohibited, and Peace be unto you."
<Umar ibn <Abd al-<Azis wrote to al-l:-Iasan, "Write concisely to me about
the world and describe the hereafter." So al-I:-Iasan wrote back, "This world is
only a dream, the hereafter is merely an awakening, death is in the middle, and
we are really in a muddle of confused nightmares. Whoever holds himself to
account will gain, and whoever does not heed this will lose. Whoever considers
the consequences will be safe, and whoever follows his passion will stray.
Whoever is patient will win, and whoever is guided by fear will be secure.
Whoever is willing to be admonished by a warning will see, and whoever sees
will understand, and whoever understands will know and whoever knows will
act. If you commit an error, correct yourself; if you repent, desist; if you don't
know, ask; if you get angry, restrain yourself; and know that the best acts are
those that one is compelled to do."
Parents' exhortations o f their children
Luqman exhorting his son
Luqman said to his son, "When you come to a people's gathering, greet them
in peace and then sit down. If they speak at length in remembrance of God,
participate in their conversation; but if they speak at length about other topics,
rise and leave them." He also said, "O son, take refuge in God against evil
people and approach good ones cautiously."
Similar to this is the saying of Aktham ibn Sayfi, "Be cautious of a trust-
worthy person and don't trust a treacherous one, for hearts are in the hand of
someone other than you."
Luqman said also to his son, "Don't rely on this world and don't preoccupy
your heart with it, for you have not been created for it and God has not
created any created thing of lesser value to Him than it; and He did not make
its comfort a reward for the obedient or its affliction a punishment for the
disobedient. 0 son, don't laugh without astonishment, don't walk without a goal
and don't ask about what does not concern you. 0 son, don't waste your wealth
and feather the nest of another; for your wealth consists of what you have earned,
and another's wealth is what you have passed over. 0 son, whoever is merciful
will obtain mercy; whoever is silent will be safe; whoever says good things will
win; whoever tells falsehoods will sin; and whoever does not restrain his tongue
will regret. 0 son, associate closely with scholars and listen to them, for one's
 64 THE U !QUE NECKLACE THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 65

heart lives in the light emanating from scholars just as the dead earth regains life
from heaven's rain."
Ibn Safwan exhorting his son
Khalid !bn Saf an said to his son, "Appear at present in the best condition
you
can be_ m, and m the least you can inwardly be in the future; and
leave alone
deeds m secret that would not be good for you in public."
A bedouin Arab exhorting his son
A bedouin Arab s id to his son, "O son, the invoker of a blessing upon you
has made you hear 1t, the seeker of a gift from you has offered his excuse to you,
and so the whole matter has finally ended with you: I don't know of a more
unfortunate person than the one who loses certainty and fails in hope."
'Ali ibn al-I:Iusayn exhorting his son
'Ali ibn al-1:Iusayn, who was one of the most virtuous of the Bann Hashim said
to his son, "O son, be patient in disasters and don't expose yourself to da gers·
on't help your brother in any matter whose harm to you would be greater tha
its benefit to you."
A wise man exhorting his son
A wise man said to his son, "O son, I am giving you advice; if you don't keep to
the advice I give you, [most likely] you will not keep to that of others. Fear God
as much as you can, and if you can be today better than you were yesterday, and
tomorrow better than you are today, then be so. Beware of greed, for it is present
poverty. Give up hope of things, for you will never give up hope of anything
that God will not make it possible for you to do without. Beware of what one
might have to apologize for, for you will never have to apologize for a good
deed. If someone stumbles, thank God that it has not been you. 0 son, take good
from good people, and leave evil to evil people. When you rise to pray, pray like
someone bidding farewell, believing that you will never pray again after that."
'Ali ibn al-I:Iusayn exhorting his son
'Ali ibn al-I:Iusayn, peace be unto both of them, said to his son, "O son, God
has not been pleased that you be my son, so he advised you to be good to me; and
He has been pleased that I be your father, so he warned me of you. Know
that the best father to a son is he whose love does not make him lax towards him;
and the best son to a father is he who does not let [paternal] neglect lead him
to recalcitrance."

A wise man exhorting his son

A wise man exhorting his sons
A wise man said to his son, "O son, the most regretful person on the Day of
A wise man said to his sons, "O sons, beware of being apprehensive
in disasters Resurrection is a man who unlawfully earned wealth that caused him to enter
for this will bring you w rry, a bad opinion of the Lord, and gloating
by th hellfire, and that he bequeathed to someone who used it in deeds of obedience to
enemy. And beware of bemg lured by worldly events and secure in
them· for God, making him enter Paradise."
by God, I have never laughed at anything that did not later happen
to m . B
therefore cautious of worldly events and expect them, for man in this
world is
b_ut a target for its successive arrows, some of which may miss him and Ibn 'Utba and his father
fall on his
nght and left, and some of which will hit him. And know that there 'Amr ibn 'Utba said, "When I became fifteen years old, my father said to me,
is a reward
to_ ever thing and a recompense to every deed. It was said, 'As you 'O son, the rules of boyhood are now no longer applicable to you; so cling to
judge, you
will be Judged; and whoever does good to others one day, to him decency and you will be one of the decent people, and don't leave it and go
good will be
done by others.' far from it. Don't be deceived by anyone who praises you for what you know is
contrary to what you know of yourself; for if he says something good, when he
A poet said is pleased with you, that he knows is untrue, he will similarly say something
bad when he is angry with you. Accustom yourself to loneliness away from evil
When time afflicts a certain people companions, and you will be safe from bad consequences.'"
With its events, it besets others too.
So tell those who gloat over us, 'Wake up,
'Abd al-Malik exhorting his sons
The gloaters will meet with what we have met.'
'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan said to his sons, "Refrain from harm, do good, and
forgive when you are powerful. Don't stint when asked to give, and don't be
importunate when asking; for whoever restrains will be put under restraint, and
whoever gives will be recompensed by God."
66 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
Al-Ashcath exhorting his sons
Al-Ash cath ibn (ttys said to his sons, "O sons, don't be humiliated in matters
of your honor and be duped in matters of your wealth. Let your pockets be
free of people's money and your consciences of their blood, for everyone has a
responsibility. Beware of what might have to be apologized for or be ashamed of;
for one apologizes for an offense and one is ashamed of a disgrace. Save your
money for a period of estrangement from the ruler and vicissitude of time. When
in need, refrain from begging; being rebuffed should be a sufficient deterrence.
Be polite when asking for a gift so that your providence will coincide with a
capacity to be given to. Interdict [the marriage of your] women to men who
are not matches, for you are members of a house whom noble people consider
models and by whom mean people are honored. Mix with the common people
unless they are in a state of disorder; when they are, return to your tribes."
From cumar ibn al-Khanab to his son CAbd Allah
cumar ibn al-Khanab wrote to his son CAbd Allah, who was away on a trip,
"Whoever fears God will be protected by Him, whoever relies on Him will
be sufficed by Him, whoever thanks Him [for His gifts] will be given to
incrementally by Him, and whoever lends to Him will be rewarded by Him.
Let piety be the prop of your heart and the clarity of your sight; for whoever
forms no intention [of doing] will have no deed, whoever has no fear will have
no good in him, and whoever has no shabby garment will have no new one."
From CAii to his son l:lasan
CAii ibn Abi Talib wrote to his son I:Iasan, peace be unto both of them, "From
CAii, the Commander of the Faithful, the father who shall perish [soon], the one
conceding to time, surrendering to adversities, whose life is slipping away, who
hopes in what can't be achieved, walks on the path of those who have expired,
who is the object of illnesses, the captive of passing days, the slave of the world,
the merchant of deception, the prisoner of fate, the companion of misfortunes,
the victim of desires, the target of plagues, and the successor to the dead. 0
son, as I pondered upon the world going away from me, the hereafter coming
towards me, and time being difficult with me, I have been made to refrain from
remembering others and paying attention to what will follow me. However,
when solicitude singled me out and shut out other people's cares, so that my
anxiety brought me true thinking and pushed away my passion and confronted
me with my own circumstance, leading me to a seriousness that can't be dismissed
and a truth that is not mixed with falsehood, I found that you are part of me
and rather that you are all of me to the extent that if anything happened to you,
it would happen to me and if death afflicted you, it would afflict me. At that
moment, I became concerned about you as much as I was concerned about
myself. So I wrote this letter of mine to you, my son, seeking assistance by it - if
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 67
I remain alive for you or die, I advise you to fear God and fill your heart with His
remembrance and hold fast to His bond. For God Most High says, 'And hold
fast to God's bond, all together, and be not divided; remember God's blessing
upon you when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together so
that, by His blessing, you became brothers.' [ Q 3: 103] 0 my son, what bond is
stronger than the one between you and God Most High, if you hold on to it?
Revive your heart by exhortations, enlighten it by wisdom, make it secure by
asceticism, humble it by [remembrance of] death, strengthen it by dispensing
with people, warn it against the power of time and its vicissitudes; present to it
reports about peoples of the past, walk in their lands and follow their traces to
see what they did and where they settled: you will find that they moved away
from homes of loved ones and lived in foreign lands. It is as if you will shortly
become like one of them, my son. So sell your present world for your hereafter,
but don't sell your hereafter for your present world. Don't speak about what you
don't know, and don't order what you are not responsible for. Use your hand and
your tongue to command what is good and prohibit what is evil, and be contrary
to the one who commits the latter. Fight for truth, not caring about anyone who
blames you when you are on God's side. Keep my advice and let it not pass over
you in disregard, for there is no good in useless knowledge. Know that there is
a long road in front of you with great difficulties, and that you will need wise
reconnoitering and sufficient provision. If you happen upon a poor man who
will carry your provision for you and give it to you at your destination, then seize
the opportunity of having him with you; for there is a difficult steep incline
ahead of you that none but people with the lightest burdens can pass. Be decent
when seeking and nice when earning; for many a seeking can lead to loss of
what is sought, the loser being he whose religion is robbed, and the robbed one
being he whose certainty is stolen. And know that there is no wealth that equals
Paradise, and no poverty that equals hellfire. Peace be unto you, God's mercy,
and His blessings."
From CAii to his son lbn al-I:Ianafiyya
And he wrote to his son MuJ:iammad ibn al-1:Ianafiyya, "Apply yourself to
the study of religion, accustom yourself to be patient in adversity, entrust
yourself in all matters to God, Most Exalted, for you will be entrusting it to
an impregnable cave and a strong defender. Beseech your Lord in sincerity,
for giving and deprivation are in His hand. Seek proper guidance from Him
copiously. Know that he who journeys the day and night is someone who is
being moved forward, although he himself does not walk forward, for God wills
this world's destruction and the eternal subsistence of the hereafter. If you are
capable of renouncing the world fully, then do that; and if you are not capable of
accepting this advice of mine, beware, and then know for certain that you will
not achieve your hope, that you will not go beyond your appointed time, and that
you are like those who came before you. Honor yourself by rising above every
68 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
mean deed, even though it may lead you to desired things; for you will not be
recompensed by anything for what you expend of yourself. Beware of allowing
the mounts of greed to speed away with you by saying, 'When they slow down,
I will desist', for this is what ruined those who were ruined before you. Control
your tongue, for correcting an inadvertent silence is easier than remedying words
you have already said. Preserve what is in a container by tightening its fastening
lace, for good management with economy is more likely to keep your wealth than
having plenty and being a spendthrift, and frugality accompanied by chastity is
better than wealth accompanied by profligacy. A man is more likely to keep his
own secret, [than another] who may attempt to harm him. Beware of depending
on wishes, for they are the materials of the stupid and they bring about the
failure of the here and the hereafter. Among the most fortunate things in the
world is having a good companion; therefore, associate yourself with good
people and you will be one of them, and avoid bad people and you will be far
from them. Don't let a bad opinion of another person ever dominate you, for it
will not let peace last between you and a friend. Kindle your heart with good
manners as fire is kindled with wood. Know that ingratitude is a mean trait, that
the company of a stupid man is a misfortune, that defending women is one of
the noble qualities, and that he who is forbearing dominates and he who tries to
understand achieves an increase [ofknowledge]. Give your friend sincere advice,
be it pleasant or unpleasant. Don't abandon your friend on suspicion and don't
cut off relations with him without reproof. To hurt someone who has given you
joy is not a right reward. Means of livelihood is of two kinds: one that you seek,
and another that seeks you and if you don't go to it, it comes to you. Know, my
son, that what you possess of your world is only that which you use to improve
your life and home with; so spend of your abundance, and don't be a treasurer
for another man; and if you are anxious about whatever slips away from your
hands, be anxious about what has not reached you. A sighted man may miss his
aim and a blind man may see his right way. No man who economized has been
ruined, and no man who lived frugally has become a pauper. Whoever puts his
trust in time will be betrayed by it, and whoever thinks he is greater than it
will be humiliated. The most important thing in religion is certainty, the fullest
expression of sincere piety is avoidance of sins, and the best kind of speech
is what deeds corroborate. Ask about the companion before inquiring about
the road, and about the neighbor before the house. Defend your friend against
yourself and accept the apology of the one who apologizes to you. Delay an
evil act as much as you can, for oftentimes you wish to hasten it. Let not your
friend be readier to abandon you than you to preserve relations with him, and to
hurt you than you to do good to him. Don't ever let a woman possess more
responsibility over anything than she can bear, for a woman is a sweet basil
and not a [mere] housekeeper; this will be more likely to preserve her condition
and keep her mind at peace. And let her sight be lowered modestly by your
protection, restrain her by your guardianship, and honor those by whom she
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 69
becomes powerful and by whom she becomes stronger if you are proud of them.
I ask God to inspire you to be thankful and rightly guided, to strengthen you
and enable you to do all kinds of good deeds, and to turn away from you all evil
by His mercy. And peace be unto you, God's mercy, and His blessings."
Meetings o f hermits with caliphs
The meeting o f alil:i ibn 'Abd al-Jalil
Salih ibn 'Abd al-Jalil stood in front of [Caliph] al-Mahdi and said to him, "As
i is ·easier for us to reach you than it is for others who find it difficult, we have
taken their place to speak on their behalf and on behalfof God's Messenger, °?ay
God bless him and grant him peace, by showing the duty we bear of commandmg
[good] and prohibiting [evil] when there is no excuse for conceali g it. This is
especially so because you are qualified by humility and have promised God and
memorizers of His Book that you will prefer truth to anything else, and so you
and we are united by one of the testimonies of a thorough examination [of the
truth]. In the Tradition we read: 'Whoever does not obtain religious learning
will be punished by God for his ignorance of it; but more severely punished will
be the one to whom religious learning is available but he turns away from it.'
Therefore O Commander of the Faithful, accept what [learning] our tongues
offer you i a way to implement it and put it into practice, and not hypocritically
and in a way to achieve reputation. For [what learning our tongues] will offer
will merely be to draw your attention to what you have neglected and remind you
of what you have overlooked. God, may He be exalted, disposed His Prophet for
it, peace be upon him, when He revealed it, and He said, "And if an incitem nt
from Satan should incite you, seek refuge in God - He is surely the All-heanng
and the All-knowing." [ Q 41:36]
A hermit meeting with al-Man!?Ilr
When [Caliph] al-Man$Ur was circumambulating the Ka'ba by night, he heard
someone saying, "O God, I complain to You about the spread of injustice and
corruption on earth, and about greed that has made fair treatment inaccessible
to people who need it." Al-Man$Ur left, sat down in a corner of the mosque,
and sent for the man. The man performed two prostrations, touched the Black
Stone and came with the messenger and greeted the caliph by the proper
caliph,al greeting. Al-Man$Ur asked, "What is this that I heard you say about the
spread of injustice and corruption on earth? And what greed is it that makes fair
treatment inaccessible to people who need it? By God, you have filled my ears
with what has given me pain." The man said, "O Commander of the Faithful,
if you give me security [from punishment], I will inform you about matters
down to their roots; if not, I will retire from your presence and focus on my soul,
for it preoccupies me." Al-Man$Ur said, "You will be secure. Speak." The man
 70 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
said, "O Commander of the Faithful, he whom greed has entered, preventing
him from dealing with the corruption and injustice that have spread on earth is
you." "Woe to you!" the caliph said. "How is that possible? How can greed enter
me when I possess all that I want?" The man said, "Yet, has greed entered anyone
more than it entered you? God has appointed you to take care of people's affairs
and wealth, but you have neglected their affairs and have been concerned with
taking their wealth. You set up a barrier of bricks and mortar between you and
them, as well as iron doors and armed guards. Then you imprisoned yourself
behind them away from the people; you sent out your employees to collect
taxes and gather money, strengthening them with armed men and horses, and
you commanded that no one should be permitted to enter your presence but
So-and-So and So-and-So among a small group you named; and you did not
order that anyone who was unjustly treated, who was aggrieved, or hungry, or
naked, or who was weak or poor should be permitted to reach you, each of whom
had a right to this wealth. When the small group you selected for yourself,
preferred to all your subjects and ordered that they should not be prevented
from your company, saw you collecting taxes and accumulating wealth, they said,
'This man has betrayed God, so why should we not betray him?' They plotted
that nobody should reach you who knew anything of the people's conditions
but those they wanted, and that no employee of yours who disagreed with them
should come out whom they would not accuse of betraying you and whom they
would not banish so that his standing with you would fall. When all this became
well known about you and them, people respected them, feared them and bribed
them; and the first who did that were your own employees who bribed them with
gifts and money so that they would be able to treat your subjects unjustly; and
they were followed by those among your subjects who had power and wealth so
that they in turn could wrong those under them in rank. God's country came to
be filled with greed, injustice, oppression and corruption. These people became
your partners in your rule while you were unaware. If someone came to complain
and seek justice, they prevented him from reaching you; and if he wanted to raise
the matter to you when you appeared in public, he found that you had forbidden
this, and had appointed a man to look into people's complaints and acts of
injustice. If that man's story reached members of your retinue, they would ask
the one responsible for dealing with people's complaints and acts of injustice not
to raise his case to you, because the person complained of had a special position
of respect with them, and thus the one responsible would do what they wanted
because he would be afraid of them. As a result, the wronged person would
continue to frequent the one responsible for complaints, trying to take refuge
in him and seek his help, but being constantly rebuffed by him. When he got
tired of being hampered, and you happened to appear in public, he would
shout to you; but he would then be severely beaten so that he might be a
warning example to others - meanwhile, you would be looking on and you would
not disapprove! How can Islam continue to exist with all this happening? 0
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 71
Commander of the Faithful, I used to travel often to China. One time, when
I was there, I found that its king had been afflicted with deafness; he wept
bitterly and his companions urged him to bear his affliction with patience. He
said, 'I am not weeping because of the tribulation I am afflicted with. I am rather
weeping for a wronged person who may yell at my gate but I can't hear his voice.'
Then he added, 'Truly, my hearing has gone, but my sight has not. Proclaim
to all people that no one should wear a red robe but a person complaining of an
act of injustice.' Henceforth, the king used to mount an elephant, mornings and
evenings, and go about looking for whether he could see a wronged person. N?w
this [king], O Commander of the Faithful, was a polytheist and his compassion
for polytheists reached that great extent; and you are a believer in God and a
member of His Prophet's family, and yet your compassion for the Muslims does
not overcome the avarice of your soul! If you believe you are gathering wealth for
your son, God has shown you moral lessons in [what happened to] a baby who,
coming out of his mother's womb, had no wealth on earth, all wealth being held
by tight-fisted hands; yet God continued to be kind to that baby until people
came to have a great desire to beseech him. You are not the one who gives; it is
God who gives what He likes to whom He likes. If you say that you gather wealth
only to strengthen your rule, God showed you moral lessons in [what happened
to] the Umayyads: the gold they gathered and the men, weapons and horses
they prepared were of no use to them when God willed for them what He willed
[ - their demise]. If you say that you are gathering wealth to seek a goal greater
than the one you are in, I swear by God that there is no rank above yours except
one and it can only be reached by a condition contrary to the one in which you
now are. O Commander of the Faithful, do you punish anyone who disobeyed
you by a punishment more severe than death?" Al-Man ur said, "No." The
man continued, "What will you do as to the King who has given you power to
rule the world? He does not punish the one who disobeys Him by death, but
by an eternity of painful suffering. He saw what your heart had resolved, what
your limbs had perpetrated, what your eyes had seen, what your hands had
committed, and what your legs had walked to. Will whatever of the world's rule
you are stingily holding be of any use to you when He snatches it away from your
hand and calls you to account?" Al-Man ur began to weep, then said, "I wish
I had not been created. Woe unto you! How can I get myself out of this?" The
man said, "O Commander of the Faithful, people have eminent luminaries to
whom they resort regarding matters of their religion, and they are satisfied by
them in matters of their world. Make these luminaries your retinue and they will
guide you. Consult them in your affairs and they will lead you along the true
path." Al-Man ur said, "I sent for them but they fled away from me." The man
responded, "They were afraid that you would compel them to accept your ways.
However, open your gate to them and facilitate their coming into your presence.
Help the wronged person, curb the oppressor, take taxes and collect charities
from those on whom they are due and divide them fairly among those who
 72 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
deserve them - and I assure you, on their behalf, that they will come to you and
help you in achieving the well-being of this [Islamic] community." The callers
to prayer arrived and greeted [al-Man!;,ur], so he prayed then returned to the
place in which he was sitting. The man was sought but could not be found.
AI-Awza. <1meeting with al-Man ur
Al-Awza'i said, "I entered into his presence and he asked, 'What caused you to
be late to come to me?' I answered, 'What do you want from me, O Commander
of the Faithful?' He said, 'To be enlightened by you.' I said, 'O Commander of
the Faithful, be careful of what you are saying, for MakJ:iul related to me on the
authority of 'Atiyya ibn Busr that God's Messenger, may God bless him and
grant him peace, said, "Whoever receives advice from God relating to his religion
receives mercy from God driven to him [by a human being]. I f he accepts it
from God with thankfulness, [well and good]; otherwise, it will be God's
evidence against him when his sinfulness increases and God's wrath against
him increases. If some truth reaches him and he is pleased with it, he will have
[God's] satisfaction; if he is displeased with it, he will have [God's] displeasure;
and if he hates it, he will have hated God, may He be exalted, for God is the
Manifest Truth." Then I said, "O Commander of the Faithful, you have borne
this [Islamic] community's trusteeship, which had been offered to the heavens
and the earth but they had refused to carry it and were apprehensive about it.
It was related about your grandfather, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas, regarding the
interpretation of God's saying, 'It [this Book] leaves out no small or great thing
that it has not recorded,' [ Q 18:49] that he said, 'The small thing is smiling, and
the great thing is laughing.' So what do you think about [God's recording of
man's] speech and action? 0 Commander of the Faithful, I pray to God that He
guard you against thinking that your relationship to God's Messenger, God bless
him and grant him peace, will be of any use to you if you disobey His command.
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, 'O Safiyya, MuJ:iammad's
paternal aunt, and O Fatima, Mul:iammad's daughter: Seek God's help for
your souls, for I am of no use at all to you before God.' In the same vein, your
grandfather al-'Abbas asked for a commanding office from the Prophet, God
bless him and grant him peace, and the Prophet said to him, 'O my uncle, a soul
to revivify is better for you than a commanding office that you don't control.'
He said this out of high esteem for his uncle and out of fear that, if appointed,
he might deviate from God's path, even as little as a mosquito's wing, and the
Prophet would not be able to be of any use to him and would not be able to
defend him. The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, also said, 'No
shepherd who cheats his flock will escape being forbidden the fragrance of
Paradise by God.' It is worthy of a governor to be attentive to his flock, protective
of their weaknesses as much as he can, and actively executing justice among
them. No beneficent man should fear oppression from him, nor a wrong-doer
injustice. God's Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, had a palm-leaf
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 73
stalk in his hand with which he cleansed his teeth and kept away the hypocrites
from him; Jibril came to him and said, 'O MuJ:iammad, what is this palm-leaf
stalk that you have? Lay it aside, don't fill their hearts with fear.' What then is
one to think of someone who shed their blood, ripped their covers, and robbed
them of their possessions? 0 Commander of the Faithful, a person whose past
and recent sins are forgiven is the one who punishes himself for an unintended
scratch he caused an Arab bedouin. Jibril said, 'O MuJ:iammad, God has not
sent you to be a tyrant and break the horns of your community.' 0 Commander
of the Faithful, know that all that your hand possesses is not equivalent to one
drink from the beverage of Paradise, nor to one of its fruits. If one of the robes
of the people in hellfire were to be suspended between heaven and earth, its stink
would cause people to perish; what is one to think of someone who wore it? If
one bucket of the pus of the people in hellfire were to be poured out on the water
of the world, it would heat it up; what is one to think of someone who gulped it
down? If one ring of hell's chains were to be put on a mountain, it would melt
it down-' what is one to think of someone who would be bound by it, with the
rest of it hanging over his shoulder?"'"
The words o f Abu I:Iazim to [Caliph] Sulayman ibn 'Abd al-Malik
Sulayman ibn <Abd al-Malik went on pilgrimage [to Mecca]. When he arrived at
Medina for a visit [of the Prophet's tomb], he sent for Abu I:Iazim al-A <raj while
Ibn Shihab was with him. When the man entered, Sulayman said, "Speak, Abu
I:Iazim." He said, "What shall I speak about, 0 Commander of the Faithful?"
The caliph replied, "About the way out of this situation." Abu I:Iazim said,
"The way out is easy, if you follow it." The caliph asked, "And what is it?" Abu
I:Iazim said, "Learn things only from an authority on them, and teach them only
to deserving people." "And who has the ability to do that?" the caliph asked. Abu
.
Hazim said ' "He whom God has entrusted with the responsibility for a flock
as much as He has entrusted you with." The caliph then said, "Preach me an
exhortation, Abu I:Iazim." And Abu I:Iazim said, "Know that this responsibility
has only come to you at the death of the person who had it before you, and it
will leave you in the manner it has come to you." The caliph said, "Advise me,
Abu Hazim." "You are like a marketplace," Abu I:Iazim said, "and whatever
merchandise sells well in it will be brought to you, both good and bad. So
buy whichever you like." The caliph asked, "Why don't you come to us?" Abu
I:Iazim replied, "And what would I do when I come to you, 0 Commander of
the Faithful? If you bring me close to you, you will subject me to temptations;
and if you place me far away from you, you will put me to shame. At any rate,
you don't have anything that I might ask you for, and I don't have anything that
I would be afraid of you for." The caliph said, "Submit to us what you need."
Abu I:Iazim said, "I have submitted it to One who is more capable than you to
deliver it. Whatever He gives me of it, I will accept; and whatever He withholds
of it, I will be satisfied."

74 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
Meeting oflbn al-Sammak with [Caliph] al-Rashid
He entered into the caliph's presence. When he stood in front of him, the caliph
, said to him, "Preach me an exhortation, 0 Ibn al-Sammak, and be brief." Ibn
al-Sammak said, "The Qur>an is a sufficient exhorter, 0 Commander of the
Faithful. God, Most High, said, 'In the name of God, the Compassionate,
the Merciful. Woe to those who give short measure; those who, when they
take by measure from other people, take it in full', until He says, '[stand]
before the Lord of the worlds?' [ Q 83: 1-6] 0 Commander of the Faithful, this
is a threat to those who give short measure. What think you of him who takes
all of the measure?" On another occasion, the caliph said to him, "Preach me
an exhortation," and was brought water to drink. lbn al-Sammak asked, "O
Commander of the Faithful, if this drink were to be withheld from you, would
you offer up your kingdom for it?" "Yes," the caliph said. "And if its coming
out [in urine] were held back from you, would you offer up your kingdom for
it?" "Yes," the caliph said. lbn al-Sammak said, "What good is a kingdom that
is not worth a drink or an act of urination?" "O Ibn al-Sammak," the caliph
replied, "How true are the good things I heard about you!" "O Commander of
the Faithful," Ibn al-Sammak replied, "I have many faults, and if people were
to know one of them, no affection would remain in anyone's heart for me.
When I speak, I am apprehensive of temptation; in secret, I fear a moment of
inadvertence; and I am afraid for my soul because of my lack of fear about it."
The words o f <Amr ibn 'Ubayd to [Caliph] al-Man fir
'Amr ibn 'Ubayd entered into the presence of al-Man Or when his son
al-Mahdi was with him. Abo Ja'far [al-Man Or] said to him, "This is the son of
the Commander of the Faithful and the heir apparent of the Muslims, and I wish
that you would invoke God's favor on him." "O Commander of the Faithfu l" ,
'Amr said, "I see that, while you were distracted from him, you found acceptable
in him qualities he would later acquire." Abo Ja'far's eyes became tearful and
he said, "Preach me an exhortation, Abo. <U thman." 'Amr said, "O Commander
of the Faithful, God has given you the whole world; so buy your soul from
Him for some of it. This [wealth] that has become yours would not have
reached you if it had remained in the hands of your predecessor." The caliph
pleaded, "Abo. 'Uthman, help me with your friends." 'Amr said, "Raise the
banner of truth, and its adepts will follow you." Abo. Ja'far sent out a bundle
[of money] to him with someone as he was leaving, but 'Amr refused to accept
it, saying:
You all walk gently,
You all lie in wait for your prey,
Except 'Amr ibn Zayd.
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 75
The story ofSufyan al-Thawri with AbuJa <far [al-Man ur]
Abu Ja <far met Sufyan al-Thawri during his circumambulation [of the Ka <ba],
and Sufyan did not recognize him. Abu Ja <far hit Sufyan's shoulder with his
hand, saying, "Do you know me?" "No," Sufyan replied, "but you have seized
me with a giant's grip." "Preach me an exhortation, 0 Abo 'Abd Allah," Abo.
Ja <far requested. Sufyan asked, "And what have you done among things you
knew that I should now exhort you about things you did not know?" Abo. Ja <far
asked, "What prevents you from coming to us?" Sufyan answered, "God has
forbidden us to have relations with you. God Most High says, 'And do not
incline towards those who do wrong lest the fire touch you.' [ Q 11: 113] Abu
Ja <far patted Sufyan with his hand, then turned to his companions and said,
"We have thrown seeds to the scholars and they have picked them up, except
Sufyan; he thwarted all our efforts by evasion."
The words o f Shabib ibn Shayba to al-Mah di
Al-'Utbi said , "I asked some members of the clan of Shabib ibn Shayba, 'Do
i,
you know any of his words by heart?' They said, 'Yes. He said to al-Mahd
ned lots in the world, he
"O Commander of the Faithful, when God apportio
gave you the most sublime and the highest. Therefore, don't be satisfied in the
hereafter with anything but what is similar to that which He has been satisfied
to give you in the world. I advise you to be devout before God, for devoutness
was revealed to you, learned from you, and will be restored to you."'"
Those who disliked an exhortation because
o f its harshness or stupidity
Al-Rashid and an exhorter
A man said to al-Rashid, "O Commander of the Faithful, I would like to
preach you an exhortation in which there is some harshness; so do tolerate it."
Al-Rashid said, "By no means! God ordered someone who was better than
you to be gentle in speech to someone who was more evil than me. He said to
His prophet Moses, peace be on him, when He sent him to Pharoah, 'And speak
to him gently; haply he may heed or fear."' [ Q 20:44]
Sulaym an ibn 'Abd al-Mali k and a n Arab bedouin
An Arab bedouin entered into the presence of Sulayman ibn 'Abd al-Malik and
said, "O Commander of the Faithful, I am going to speak to you in words which
you may dislike, so tolerate them; for there is what you will like behind them, if
you accept them." The caliph said, "Speak, 0 Arab bedouin." The bedouin said,
"I will let my tongue say in exhorting you what other tongues have been dumb
in expressing, out of dutiful deference to God, Most High, and to your imamate.
 76 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
Yo u a r e s u r r ou n d e d by me n wh o h a ve cho s e n ba dly fo r t h e m s e lve s , fo r t hey
hav e bo u gh t you r wo r ld with th e ir r e ligion , a n d yo u r s at isfact ion wi t h the wr a t h
of th e ir Lo r d. T h e y ha ve fe a r e d yo u b u t hav e n ot fe a r e d G o d . T h e y offe r wa r
to th e he r e a ft e r a n d p e a ce t o thi s wo r ld . D o n ' t t r u st them wi t h wh a t Go d ha s
e n t r u st e d yo u , fo r t h e y will n ot ce a se co r r u p t in g yo u , wa s t in g wh a t wa s giv e n
in tr u s t, a n d being o pp r e s s ive a n d d is gr a ceful to the [Isl a mic] co mm u n it y.
Yo u a r e r es po n s ible fo r wh a t t h e y hav e d on e, b u t th e y a r e n ot r e s p o n sible
fo r wh a t yo u hav e d o n e . Do n ' t m a k e th e ir wo r ld pr o s p e r ous by m a k in g yo u r
he r e a ft e r d ep r a ved . T h e wo r s t lo s er o n th e D a y of Re s u r r e ct ion an d th e on e
mo s t d e fr a ud e d will be the on e wh o s o ld his h e r e a ft e r fo r t h e worl d of a n ot her
pe r son ." S u la yman s a id , "As fo r yo u, 0 Ar a b be d ou in , yo u h a ve u n s hea thed
yo u r t on gu e - a n d it is th e s h a r p e r of yo u r t wo sw o r d s." T h e be d o uin s a id ,
" T r u e, 0 Comm a n d e r of t h e F a it hfu l, [but it is d e ploye d ] fo r yo u a n d n o t
a ga in st yo u ."
Al-Ma >m un and an exhorter
A m a n p r e a ched a n e xh o r t a t ion to a l-M a >mun a n d t he la t t e r li s t e n ed q u ie t ly.
Wh e n t he ma n fi n is he d t a lk in g, a l-M a >mun sai d , "I hav e lis t e n e d t o yo u r
exh o r t a tion , a n d I a sk Go d to ma k e us be n e fi t from it a n d from wh a t we h a ve
le a r n e d; b u t we a r e mo r e in n e e d of he lp in d e e ds t ha n he lp in wo r d s, fo r
s pea k e r s a r e m a n y a n d doe r s ar e few."
AI- <Utbi 's father and an exhorter from <Abd al-Qays
Al- <U t bI s a id, "A m a n fr o m t h e t r ibe of <Ab d a l- ys ca m e to my fathe r a n d
p r e a che d him a n e xhor t a t ion . Whe n he fi n is h e d t a lk in g, my fa t her s a id t o him,
'If we ha d le a r n e d a mo r a l le s s on from wh a t we k n e w, we wo u ld h a ve be ne fi t e d
from doi n g t his ; bu t we a cqu ir e d k n owled ge which b e ca m e e vid e n ce a ga in s t u s,
a n d we we r e a s b a d ly ig n or a n t a s som e o n e d e s e r vin g a nger from him. So we we r e
e xhor t e d by ou r s e lve s t o mov e fr o m o n e s t a t e to an other , from in s ign ifica n ce
t o p r id e , a n d from [mor a l] h e a lth t o [mo r a l] ill n e s s ; a n d we in s ist e d on a bid in g
by ou r ig n or a n ce , pr e fe r r in g t h e imme d ia t e which d oe s n ot la s t, a n d t ur n in g
a way from t h e fu t u r e which is t h e d e s t ined o utcome.' "
<Utba ibn Abi Sufyan and a group of[Qur>an] readers
S a <d a l- Ir s a id , "A gr ou p of [Qur >an ] r e a d e r s we n t to <Ut ba ib n AbI S u fyan
a n d sa id , 'Yo u h a ve giv e n pow e r to th e swo r d ov e r t h e t r u th an d d id n ot
give pow e r t o th e t r u t h ov e r t he s wor d , an d yo u ma d e thi n gs co n fuse d a n d
in s cr u t a ble .' 'Yo u li e ,' h e s aid , 'I h a ve r a t her give n pow e r t o th e t r u th, a n d by t he
t r u t h I h a ve b e e n giv e n pow e r . K n ow th e t r u t h an d you will k n ow t h e swor d .
Yo u a r e t he on e s who ca r r y th e s wo r d whe n la yin g it d own wo u ld be be t t e r ,
a n d yo u a r e t h e o n es who lay it d own wh e n ca r r yin g it wo u ld b e mo r e ju s t . W e
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 77
a re at th e begin n in g of a n er a wh o s e en d h a s not ye t com e , a n d we_ a r e a t t h e en d
of an a ge who s e b e gin n in g ha s long pas s ed . Goo d ha s be com e e vil fo r yo u , a n d
e vil go od. I sa y to yo u , "Sl o w d own!" b e o r I s ay to m s e lf, "Come o n ' ' T h e y
; ,',
a s k ed, 'May we n o w go in s a fe ty?' He s aid , [Go] u n gu id e d a n d a s t r a y.
A monk and some l o st traveller s
A gr ou p of pe ople d e via t e d fr o m t h e r igh t r oa d a n d ca me u pon a s olit a r y_m n k
in his cell. T h e y call e d ou t to him a n d h e loo k e d d own n t e m [from hi s high
ce ll], s o th e y a s k e d him fo r t h e r igh t r oa d. Poi n t in g with h s n d t o h e a v n ,
h e s a id , " H e r e it is." T h e y k n ew wh a t h e m e an t , so t h e y s a '.d , We a r e a s km g
yo u [fo r r e a l info r ma tion ]." He s a id , "As k b u t d on ' t ov e r do it, fo r t he d ay d oe
n ot re t u r n a n d o n e ' s lifetime d o e s n ot c_ome b a ck , b u t a s e e k e r alw a ys u r_
ge
,,
T h e y a s k ed, "By wh a t will p e ople be [Ju d ge d] on th e D a y of Re s u r r ect ion\ .
H e sa id "By t h e ir in ten tion s a n d d ee d s ." T h e y a s k ed , "Wh e r e may o n e go or
r e fu ge?': H e s a id, "To wh a t yo u h a ve d o n e in th e p s ." They begge d ,_"A d vise
u s ." He sai d , "P r ovid e yo ur s e lf wi t h suffici e n t provi s ion s [to a cco mph s h] o u r
jo u r n e y, fo r t h e be s t pr ovis ion is t h a t whic m a k e s yo u r a ch t e d e t m e d
plac e to ca mp." T h e n h e d ir e ct e d th e m t o th e ngh t wa y an d s hpp e d m t o hi s ce ll.
A monk at Harmala 's monastery
."I
A m a n s a id, ca m e t o Sy r ia a n d , pa s s in g b th e mo n a s t e ry a t _Ba r 2 rnla , I fo u n d
a monk wh o s e ey e s we re like two wa t e r sk m-b a gs . I a s k e him,
Wh t m a k e s
we e pin g fo r t he t im e of my hfe t ha t I
yo u cry.?" H e r e plie d , "O M u s lim ' I a m . .
wa st e d an d fo r a d a y of it t hat pa s s e s m which I hav e n ot d o n e a go o d d ee d ·"
Whe n I la t e r pa s sed by t h e mo n a s t e r y, I a sk e d a bo t him a n d wa s t o ld he ha d
becom e a M u s lim, fo u ght th e Byz a n tin e s, a n d wa s k ille d .
Al-Hiri and Thawban , the monk
Ab Z a yd a l-l:IIr I s a id , "I a s k e d T h a wban , the m n k , 'Why d o m n k s w a r
blac k cl o thin g?' H e r e plie d , 'It is simil a r to th e clo t hin g of p e o? le a ffl_ict e d wi t
, s fo r tu n e .
mi·s 1cor t u n e s. I as k e d , 'A n d hav e yo u all , mo n k s , b e en a fflict e d wi t h a mi .
H e s a id, 'M a y Go d ha ve me r cy on yo u . Is t h e r e a mi s fo r t u n e th a t is gr e a t e r t _o
t hos e a fflict e d wi t h it t han s in s ?' " Abu Zay d a d d e d , "Whe n eve I e
r r m e mb e r his
wo r d s , I cr y."
Azadam ard
R e la tin g on t h e a u t hor it y of Mu s a a l-As war I, 1: bib a l-<Ad a wI s aid , "Wh e n t e
se d ition h a ppe n ed, I wa n t ed to p r ot e ct my r e hg10n ; s o I "".e t ou t t _o al-Ahw a z.
Aza d a m a r d he a r d of my comi n g, s o h e se n t me n e ce s s it ie s o f h e . Wh e n I
wa n t e d to le a ve , I he a r d t h a t h e wa s s e r iou s ly ill, o I we n t o s e e him I o u n d
_.
him lo okin g li k e a b a t , wi t h n o thin g r e main in g of him b u t his h e a d . I s aid , How
 78 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 79

ar e yo ?" He s ai , how would s omeone be who wa s about to go on a far

A hermit wa s eating a pomegranate unpeeled, s o he wa s as ked, "Why do you
_ _"And
tnp without prov1 s 10n s , to enter a de s olate gr ave without a plea s ant companion
do that?" He replied, "It is an enemy; ma s s acr e it as much as you can."
and go to a Ju s t King without having a te s timonial?" Then he gave up the ghost.

Al-'Utbi and some monks 'Ali ibn al-J:Iusayn

Al-'Utbi s aid, "I pa s s ed by a monk who was cr ying. Whenever 'Ali ibn al-1:Iu s ayn, peace be on both of them, ro s e to pray, he wa s
I asked him 'What make s
you r y.' H e rep r1ed , 'S omet h"mg I knew but overtaken by a tremor. He wa s as ked about that and he said, "Woe to you!
wa s unable to s eek' and a day of Do you know for whom I ri s e [to pray] and with whom I will be talking in
my hfe that pas s ed du r ing which my lifetime dec r
eas ed but my hope did not.'" confidence?"

Statements o f ascetics and stories o f hermits Yunus ibn 'Ubayd

A gr oup of he r mit s were asked, "What make s you A man s aid to Yo nu s ibn 'Ubayd, "Do you know anyone who practice s what
live in the s un?" They r eplied
"The pur s uit of s hade ." ' al-1:Ia s an [al-Ba$ri] practice s ?" He s aid, "No, by God, no r do I know anyone
'Alqama s aid to As wad ibn Yazid, "How s everel who believe s what he believe s ."
. . y you to r tu r e thi s weak
body.I" H e qmppe d , "Res t can on ly be obtamed by fatigue."
Anothe r wa s told, "If only you we r e kind to your Mu}:iammad ibn 'Ali
s elf ." He s aid, "All good
come s from what people ar e compelled to do.
The P r ophet God bles s him and It wa s s aid to Mu}:iammad ibn 'Ali ibn al-1:Iu s ayn or to 'Ali ibn al-1:Iusayn, peace
gr ant him peace, s aid, 'Paradi s e is sur r ounde
d by loath s om: thing s .' " be on them, "How few you r father' s s on s are!" He said, "The strange thing is
how I wa s born to him. He u s ed to p r ay one thousand rak'as 3 every day and
Masruq ibn al-Ajda' night, s o I wonder when he had time fo r women; and he went on pilgrimage
s r o i n al-Ajda' twenty-five times on foot."
a s tol , "You have done ha r m to your body." He s aid, "It
1s its d1gmty I wan_t.' Hi_s wife Fay r oz s aid to
him on seeing him not br eaking
a fa s t and not cea s mg to pr ay, "Woe to you,
Masr o q. Is there no one but you lbn al-Musayyab and a woman
who wor s hip s God? Ha s hellfi r e been created
for no one but you?" He s aid to When Sa'id ibn al-Mu s ayyab wa s beaten and later appointed as a leader of the
he r , "Woe to you, Fayruz. Someone s eeking
Paradi s e never get s ti r ed of that people, a woman s aid to him, "O shaykh, you have been appointed to a po s ition
and s omeone fleeing hellfi r e neve r fall s as leep." '
of s hame." He re s ponded, "From a po s ition of shame have I escaped."

Abu al-Darda i and his wife

Ibn Dinar in a drought
Umm al-Dardai complained of being needy
to Ab o al-Dardai . He s aid to People complained of a drought to Malik ibn Dinar and he s aid, "You find
he r , "Be patient. Before us is a s teep mountain
road which only people with rain slow to come, while I find s tones s low to come!" The people of Kufa
the lighte s t burden s can go beyond."
complained of a drought to al-Fuqayl ibn 'lyaq and he s aid, "Do you want
anyone but God as a manager?"
Abu }:Iazim
Pa s s ing by the fruit s market, Ab o I:Iazim
said, "Your appointment is in Abu J:Ianifa on al-Sikhtiyani
Pa r adis e." When he pa s s ed by the butcher s ' ma r
ket he wa s told "Abo Hazim Speaking about Ayyub al-SikhtiyanI, Ab o I:Ianifa s aid, "May God, Most High,
th!s is g od b y some." He aid, "I
eat; s don't ha e the mone; for it.,; T h e ; have mercy on him," three time s then added, "He once came to Medina when I
s aid to him, We will s ell to
you on credit." He s aid, "I would r ather u s e the wa s the r e, and I s aid, 'Let me sit to hear him, perhaps I might catch him making
credit fo r my s oul."

*** 3 A rak'a is part of the Muslim ritual of prayer ( ahu) consisting of bending the torso from an
upright position, followed by two prostrations. (Translator)
 80 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 81

a mistak e .' He. gave a sp e e ch by th e grave [of th e Proph e t] which, wh e ne ve r I joy of yours for?' H e replied, 'Prais e be to God. I am leaving th e company of the
.
r e me mbe r 1t, gives my skin goos e pimpl e s." wrong-do e rs, th e tyrants, th e e nvie rs, and th e backbit e rs, and am coming to
th e Most Merciful of th e merciful. Why should I not be joyful?'"
Ibn Abi Raba):i
Th ,f e ople of
_Me ca we re a_sk e d, "How good was 'Ata> ibn Abi Rabal:i among Al-Rashid and an anchorite in Mecca
! o u . T h e y said, He was hke good h e alth whos e value is not known until it Haran al-Rashid we nt on pilgrimag e and he ard about an anchorit e in Mecca
IS lost." 'Ata > was flat-nos e d, paralytic and lam e ;
th e n he be cam e blind. His whos e invocation was answered and who liv e d isolat e d in th e mountains of
moth e r was black and sh e was nam e d Baraka.
Tihama. Haran al-Rashid went to him and ask e d him how he was, th e n said to
him, "Advis e m e , and ord e r me to do what you wish. By God, I will not disob e y
Al-Awqa al-Makhzumi you." T h e anchorit e was sil e nt and did not answ e r him, so Haran le ft him.
AI-Aw a al-Makhzumi was a judge in M e cca, and T h e anchorit e 's companions ask e d him, "When he ask e d you to ord e r him to do
th e lik e of him was n e ve r
s e wit? r e ard }o integrity and abst e miousn e ss. what you wished and he swor e he would not disob e y you, what pr e ve nted you
On e day he said to thos e
sittm_g with him, My moth e r said to m e , 'Son, you from ord e ring him to fe ar God and be kind to his subj e cts?" T h e anchorite wrot e
have be e n cr e at e d with a
p_hys1que that is not goo for you in gath e rings on the sand, answering them, "I r e gard God as gre at [and I would not lik e it] if
of young me n and singing
girls._ When e ve r you ar e with any man, e yes will ignor H e should ord e r him to do something and he disob e ys Him, whil e I ord e r him
e you and se t th e mselve s
on him. Th e r e for e adh e r e to r e ligion for, through to do som e thing and he ob e ys m e ."
it, God rais e s th e low and
compl e tes the de fective .' God Most High has mad e me
be ne fit from her words.
I ob e ye d h e r, and I was appoint e d as a judge ."
Sufyan al-Thawri
'Ali ibn I:Iamza, son of Sufyan al-Thawri's sist e r, said, "Wh e n Sufyan cam e
Ibn Wasi' and Ibn Dinar down with the disease from which he di e d, I took his urin e to a monk and
AI-Fu ayl ibn CJyac:I said, "MuJ:iammad ibn Wasi' and showed it to him. H e said, 'This is not th e urin e of a man of tru e faith.' I said,
Malik ibn Dinar m e t in a
gath e rmg at Basra. Malik ibn Dinar said, "Th e r e is 'Of cours e it is, by God. H e is on e of th e ir be st.' H e said, 'I will go with you to
only e ither God's obedi e nce
or he ll r e ." Mul:iammad ibn Wasi' disagr e ed, se e him.' He e ntered and felt Sufyan's vein and said, 'This is a man whos e liv e r
"What you say is not corr e ct.
T h e r e 1s o ly has b e e n cut by sorrow.'"
ith r God's pard?n r he llfire." Malik said, "You ar e right."
T h e n h e said, I hke a man to hve m accordanc e
with th e food that sustains
im.''. "Nor is what you say now correct," said Malik, "I rath e r like a Ibn Sirin
man who
ns e s m the morning and has no lunch to eat, who
ent e rs into th e e ve ning and Mu >arriq al- CJjli said, "I hav e n e ve r seen anyone of gr e ater religious learning in
has no supp e r to e at, and ye t he is satisfi e d with God."
Malik said "How ne e dy his pi e ty or of greate r pi e ty in his r e ligious le arning than MuJ:iammad ibn Sirin.
I am of som e body lik e you to teach m e !" '
On e day he said, 'I hav e ne ver had sexual int e rcourse with any woman, in my
sleep and in my waking hours, oth e r than with my wife Umm 'Abd Allah. Wh e n
Ibn Mahdi on some anchorites
I se e a woman in my sleep, I know sh e is not le gally allowed for m e ; so I turn
Ja'far ibn Sulayman said,_ "I heard 'Abd al-RaJ:iman my e yes away from he r.' "
ibn Mahdi say, 'I have
nev e r se e a gr e at e r asc e tic tha Shu'ba, nor a gr e at
e r worship e r than Sufyan
al-Thawr:, n_or a gr e ate r m e mon ze r [of th e Qur>an] than
Ibn al-Mubarak. And Some anchorite worshipers
I
_wou!dn t hke to me e t God with anyon e e lse 's r e cord of de e ds but that of AI-A ma'i said on th e authority of Ibn 'Awn, "I saw three m e n whos e lik e s I
B1shr 1bn Man ur; h e di e d having le ft n e ith e r littl e nor
much.'" hav e n e ve r se e n: MuJ:iammad ibn Sirin in Iraq, al- sim ibn MuJ:iammad in
I:-lijaz, and Raja> ibn I:Iaywa in Syria."
Bishr ibn Man ur on his deathbed
Al-'Utbi said, "I he ard our t e ache rs say, 'Asc e ticism ultimat e ly got to e ight
'Abd al-A CJaibn I:Iammad follow e rs [of the Proph e t's Companions]: 'Amir ibn 'Abd al-Qtys, al-1:Iasan ibn
aid, "I went to se e Bishr ibn Man ar as h e was dying,
and, lo and be hold, h e was m a paroxysm of joy. I said Abi al-1:Iasan al-Ba ri, Harim ibn I:Iayyan, Abu Muslim al-Khawlani, Uways
to him, 'What is this gr e at
al-Q!irani, al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym, Masraq ibn al-Ajda' and al-As wad ibn Yazid.'"

82 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
What is asceticism?
A saying by the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace
Authenticating a J:iadith as directly originating from the Prophet, al- <Utbi said,
"God's Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was asked, 'What
is asceticism in the world?' and he replied, 'Lo, it is not declaring unlawful
what is lawful, nor is it wasting wealth. Asceticism in the world is rather that
you be richer with what is in God's possession than you are by having what is
in yours.'"
A saying by al-Zuhri
Al-Zuhri was asked, "What is asceticism?" He replied, "Lo, it is not having
dishevelled hair or a shabby unclean appearance; it is rather turning one's
soul away from lust."
A saying by another person
Another person was asked, "What is asceticism?" He replied, "It is that prohibited
unlawful things should not defeat your self-control (fabr), and that permitted
lawful things should not defeat your thankfulness."
Sayings by the Prophet, may God bless him and grant
him peace, and by others
God's Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was asked, "O
Messenger of God, who is the most ascetic of all people in the world?" He
replied, "The one who does not forget graves and decomposition, prefers what
abides to what perishes, and counts himself one of the dead."
MuJ:iammad ibn Wasi < was asked, "Who is the most ascetic of all people in
the world?" He replied, "The one who does not care about who has the upper
hand in the world."
***
Al-Khalil ibn AJ:imad was asked, "Who is the most ascetic of all people in the
world?" He replied, "The one who does not seek what is unavailable until he
loses what is available."
***
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Renouncing the world
(al-zuhd f l al-dunya) is the key to desiring the hereafter, and desiring the
world is the key to renouncing the hereafter."
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 83
***
It was said, "The world and the hereafter are like a man who has two co-wives;
if he pleases one, he angers the other."
***
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever considers the
world his biggest concern will have God take away from his heart the fear
_of
the hereafter, make poverty ever present before his eyes, and preoccupy him
with what he owes and not with what he has."
***
Ibn al-Sammak said, "An ascetic is the one who, if successful in the world, will
not rejoice and, if unsuccessful, will not sorrow; he laughs while among people
and weeps when alone."
***
Al-Fuqayl said, "The origin of renouncing the world is being satisfied with
God, Most High."
Describing the world
A man said to <Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God honor him, "O Commander of
the Faithful, describe the world to us." He said, "What shall I describe of a
world whose beginning is hardship and whose end is extinction; for whose
permitted things one must be accountable and for whose forbidden things
one must be held punishable? Whoever becomes rich in it will be beguiled, and
whoever is impoverished in it will be saddened."
***
Aristotle was asked to describe the world and he said, "What shall I describe
of a world whose beginning is transience and whose end is death?"
***
A wise man was asked to describe the world and he said, "It is a hope in front
of you and a deadline towering above you. It is a seductive devil, and it is wishes
84
THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
dragging you by a bridle. It invites you, so you respond; and you hope [for
things] from it, but you will be disappointed."
***
<Amir ibn <Abd al-Qays was asked to describe the world and he said, "The
world begets death, revokes agreements and recalls gifts; and all those in it
run towards what they do not know."
***
Bakr ibn <Abd Allah al-Muzani was asked to describe the world and he said
"What has lapsed of it is a dream, and what has remained is wishes."
***
<Abd Allah ibn Tha <Jaba was asked to describe the world and he said "Your
yesterday is censured by you, your present day is not praised by you, and
your tomorrow is not safe for you."
***
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "The world is the
believer's prison and the unbeliever's paradise." He also said, "The world is a
present accident of which the righteous and the sinner profit, and the hereafter
is a genuine promise in which a Powerful King governs and separates truth from
falsehood." He also said, "The world is a sweet green garden; whoever takes
it rightfully will be blessed in it, and whoever takes it unrightfully will be like
someone who eats and is never satiated."
***
Ibn Mas <od said, "Every one is but a guest of the world and his wealth is a
loan; a guest will eventually have to leave and a loan will eventually have to be
paid back."
***
Christ, peace be upon him, said, "The world to the devil is a farm, and its
people are ploughmen."
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 85
***
Satan said, "I don't care if people love the world and worship no idol or graven
image: the world [alone] will be more tempting to them than that."
***
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, used to call the world the
mother of dhafar, and dhafar is stench.
***
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, asked al-Oal:il:iak ibn Sufyan,
"What food do you eat?" and he answered, "Meat and milk." The Prophet
asked again, "And what does it become?" AI-Oal:i}:iak replied, "It becomes what
you know." The Prophet said, "God, Most Exalted, gave what comes out of a
human being as an example of what the world is."
***
Christ, peace be upon him, said to his companions, "Use the world as a bridge:
cross it but don't dwell in it."
***
In one of the books, we read, "God inspired the world, saying, 'Whoever serves
,"
Me, serve him; and whoever serves you, ma ke h.1m a servant.
***
Noah, peace be upon him, was asked, "O long-living father of mankind, what
have you found the world to be?" He replied, "Like a house with two doors.
I entered from one of them and left from the other."
***
Luqman said to his son, "The world is like a wide sea in which the ancients and
the moderns perished. If you can, let your ship be piety to God, your equipment
trust in God, and your provision good deeds. If you survive, that will be by
God's mercy; and if you perish, that will be because of your sins."
86 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
***
MuJ:iammad ibn al-1:Ianafiyya said, "He who considers his life valuable to him
attaches no importance to the world." He also said, "Kings have left wisdom to
you, so leave the world to them."
***
MuJ:iammad ibn Wasi' was told, "You are satisfied with little ' " and he said '
"Only someone who is content with the world is satisfied with little."
***
Christ, blessing and peace be upon him, said to his disciples, "I am the one who
has turned the world on its head, for I have no wife who will die and no house
which will go to ruin."
A man complained to Yunus ibn 'Ubayd of a pain he suffered from, and
he said to him, " 0 'Abd Allah, this abode does not agree with you; find yourself
an abode that is agreeable."
***
A man met a monk and asked him to describe the world, and the monk said,
"The world wears out one's body, renews one's hopes, prevents one from
attaining one's wish, and brings death close." The man asked, "What about its
people?" and the monk replied, "He who conquers it will get tired, and he
whom it eludes will be exhausted." The man asked, "How can one dispense
with it?" and the monk answered, "By abandoning all hope of possessing it."
The man asked, "So what is the solution?" and the monk said, "Going on the
path." The man asked, "And what is that?" and the monk replied, "Exerting
effort and being satisfied with what exists."
***
A poet said:
People are ever on the side of the world and the one who owns it·
' Some are satisfied with a situation but it will be changed,
Wherever change of fortune takes him on any day, they will go.
They honor the man of the world, but if it ever turns
Against him with undesirable things, they will turn against him too.
Another poet said:
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 87
0 you who ask for the world's hand in marriage to yourself,
Abandon your engagement to it and you will be safe.
The one you seek to be engaged to is deceptive,
Her wedding is close to the funeral ceremony.
***
Dawud ibn al-Mul:iabbar said, "'Abd al-WaJ:iid ibn al-Khanab related to us,
saying, 'As we were returning from the land of the Byzantines and reached
somewhere between al-Ru afa and I:Iim , we heard a voice in those mountains
which our ears perceived but our eyes did not see. The voice said, "O protected
man, 0 safeguarded man: look under whose protection you are and in
whose safeguarding you subsist. The world is thorny, so be careful where
you step."'"
***
Abu al-'Atahiya said:
You are satisfied with this world, like everyone boasting of its many gifts
With persistence, and like everyone priding himself on them with others.
Don't you see it giving him to drink until he is inebriated,
And then it slits his throat with a butcher's knife?
The world is not worth a mosquito's wing
In God's sight or a gulp of a bird's draught.
That's why He is not satisfied with it as a believer's reward
Nor is He satisfied with it as an unbeliever's punishment.
He also said:
Such is the world that, when it is perfect
And its joy is impeccable, it disappoints
And does to those who remain
What it did to those who are bygone.
Describing the world, a poet said:
The world has deluded men so they have come to be
In situations, after which there is no change:
Some are annoyed at a situation but are not afforded another,
Some reach a [good] situation but they hoped for less,
And some are deceased having achieved less than they hoped for.
***

88 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
Ha.run al-Rashid said, " I f the world could speak and was asked to describe itself
it would not have described itself by anything more that what Abu Nuwas said;
'When an intelligent person examines the world, he will discover
It is an enemy of his in the guise of a friend.
Human beings are nothing but perishing creatures, sons of perishing others
Deeply rooted in the long lineage of perishing others.'"
Another poet said, describing the world:
We left in the evening with those who gloated over us
As if we all carried blocks of rock on our shoulders.
May God curse a world whose people have to enter fire
And which tears apart the veils between relatives.
Abu al-<Atahiya said:
We all blame the world,
Yet we're all charmed by it.
Destinies can't be known by fancy
For they're subtle and aren't visible.
The procession of ruin continues to move
Daily but appears as though standing still.
Some o f what we said describing the world is the following:
The world is only like the blooming of a thicket;
When one side of it is green, the other is dry.
It is our abode and our hopes in it are only sorrows
For it, and our pleasures are only disasters.
How many cold eyes became hot [by crying] yesterday,
And how many today are cold whose tears flowed.
Let not your eyes in the world be smeared by tears
For anyone leaving it, for you're eventually leaving.
***
Abu al-<Atahiya said:
The world has become a temptation for us,
And thank God for that.
People are agreed on blaming it,
But I don't see any of them leaving it.
***
Ibrahim ibn Adham said:
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 89
We patch our world by tearing [pieces from] our religion;
And so, neither our religion remains nor what we patch.
***
I have never heard a description o f the world and the cause o f people's love
for it more eloquent than the saying o f the poet who said:
We are alarmed at the mention of death - when it is mentioned -
Then the world intervenes, and we are distracted and we play.
We are the sons of this world, but we were born for another;
And what you are a part of is something lovable.
H e mentioned that people are sons o f the world, and that what a human being
is a part o f is made dear to him.
Know that a human being does not love a thing unless it is akin to him
in some o f his qualities, and that the world is akin to all o f the human being's
qualities, and so he loved it with all his limbs.
***
One o f the sons o f Ibn Shubruma said, " I was sitting with my father before he
was appointed as a judge. Tariq ibn Abi Ziyad passed by him in an impressive
procession. When my father saw him, he sighed and said:
'Although [the world] is loved like a summer cloud,
I think that it will be dispersed before long.'
" T h e n he said, ' O G o d , I have my religion and they have their world.' When he
was afflicted with the judgeship, I said to him, 'Father, do you remember the
day you saw Tariq?' H e replied, 'Son, they can find a successor to your father,
but your father cannot find successors to them. Your father has made speeches
expressing their wishes and has eaten o f their sweets.'"
***
Al-Sha'bi said, " I think that we and the world are only as Kuthayyir <Azza said:
'Treat us badly or treat us well, you will not be
Blamed by us nor will you be hated, if you hate us."'
***
T h e wisest verse ever said in comparing the world [to anything] is the following:
 90 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
And he who feels safe from the world is like someone who grips
A handful of water but is failed by the gaps between his fingers.
***
Al-<Abbas ibn al-Faraj al-RiyashI related the following, "I heard al-A 1?ma<1recite
the following verse and deem it good in describing the world:
What is the excuse of a wet nurse on seeing the chalice
Of death in [not] weaning the infant she nurses?
***
QttarI ibn al-Fuja>a made an all-inclusive speech describing the world, which is
among the group of orations in "The Book of the Middle Jewel".
Sayings about fear [of God]
Ibn 'Abbas
Ibn 'Abbas was asked about those who feared God and he said, "They are
the ones who are true to God in fearing His threat. Their hearts bleed with fear
their eyes weep for their souls, their tears flow on their cheeks, and they say:
'How can we rejoice when death is [coming] behind us, when the graves are
before us, and when resurrection is our appointment, to hell is our path, and in
front of God is our stance?'"
'Ali, may God honor him, said,
"Behold, God has truly sincere worshipers, who are as though
they have seen
the people of Paradise rejoicing in Paradise and the people
of hell being tortured
in hell. Their evil deeds are safely minor, their hearts are
sorrowful, their souls
are chaste, and their needs are few. They endure difficulty for
a few days [in this
life] in order to achieve a long rest [in the hereafter]. At night,
their feet are lined
together in group prayer as their tears flow on their cheeks, and
they supplicate
their Lord, 'O our Lord, 0 our Lord!' as they seek the
emancipation of their
hearts. In daytime, they are discerning scholars, pious and
righteous men, and
look like arrows (he means they are slender). One looks at
them and thinks they
are sick, but they are not sick people, and one says they are
and have been afflicted with great confusion."
mentally deranged
Ibn 'Ammar
Man1?Ilr ibn 'Ammar said the following about a meeting on
asceticism, "God has
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 91
worshipers who have put death ever before their eyes, knowing they have been
destined to it, and have cut off all relations that connect their hearts to the world.
Lean on account of constantly worshiping Him, they obey Him implicitly. Their
cheeks are wet with their flowing tears, their [prostrating] foreheads are their
resting places in their prayer niches, and they intimately whisper to the Majestic
Great One praying for their redemption."
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz in his sickness
A group of people went to visit <Umar ibn <Abd al-'Aziz when he was sick, and
. .
among them was an emaciate d , s1en d er young man. "Y oung man, " 'U mar sa1 d
to him, "what brought you to the condition I see you in?" "O Commander of
the Faithful, diseases and maladies," the young man replied. CUmar said
"Tell me the whole truth." The young man said, "Yes indeed, 0 Commander
of the Faithful. I tasted the sweetness of the world one day and found that its
consequences were bitter; and so, both its stones and gold nuggets have come
to be equal to me. It is as though I can now see the throne of our Lord clearly
and people being driven to Paradise and hellfire. So I spend my days thirsty
and I stay up awake at night. And all [the inconvenience] I am in is little
compared to God's reward and the fear of His punishment."
Other sayings
Ibn AbI al-I:IawarI said, "I said to Sufyan, 'I heard that the saying of God, Most
Blessed and Exalted, " ... except for him who comes to God with a sound heart,"
[ Q 26:89] means the one who meets his Lord when there is no one else in
his heart.' He cried and said, 'I have not heard for thirty years a more beautiful
interpretation than this.'"
***
Al-I:Iasan said, "It is better for you to be fearful until you meet with security
than to feel secure until you meet with fear."
He also said, "Fear ought to be predominant over hope; for, if hope is
predominant over fear, one's heart becomes corrupt."
And he said, "I wonder at someone who is afraid of punishment and does not
desist, and at someone who hopes for reward and does not do [good]."
***
<Ali ibn AbI Talib, may God honor him, asked a man, "What are you doing?"
and the man said, "I hope and I fear." 'Ali commented, "Whoever hopes for
anything seeks it, and whoever fears anything runs away from it."
 92 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
***
Al-Fuqayl ibn 'lyaq said, "I am ashamed before God to say, 'I trust in God,' for
ifl trust in Him truly, I will have no fear and I will have no hope in anyone else."
He also said, "Whoever fears God will have God make everything frightened
of him; and whoever does not fear God will have God make him frightened of
everything."
And he said, "God promised that He would admit to Paradise the one
who fears Him." And he recited the saying of God, may He be Powerful and
Exalted, "And for him who fears to stand before his Lord, there shall be two
gardens." [ Q 55:46)
***
'Umar ibn Dharr said, "Servants of God, don't be deluded by God's long
patience, and fear His anger; for He said, may He be Powerful and Exalted,
'So, when they had angered Us, We took vengeance on them and drowned them
all. We made them a precedent and an example for others.'" [ Q 43: 55-56)
***
Mu}:iammad ibn Sallam said, "I heard Yunus ibn J:Iabib say, 'Don't wonder that
someone who, for five dirhams, cut off the most crucial of your limbs will be
punished in the hereafter several times as much.'"
***
Al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym said, "I wish I had two souls, so that if one of them was
entangled, the other would run to save it; but I have only one soul and if I tie it
up, who will untie it?"
***
In the l:Iadith we read, "He for whom the world is his concern will have long
distress in the hereafter; and he who ignores [God's] threat will be distracted
from what he wants; and he who fears what is available will be unable to do
anything with what he possesses."
***
Ma}:imud al-Warraq said:
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 93
O you who are inattentive and look with a sleeper's eyes,
And who observe matters without [really] observing:
You commit one sin after another and you hope
Therewi th to enter Paradise and achieve a worshiper's success,
You have forgotten that God expelled Adam
From it [and sent him] into the world for only one sin.
Banu Shayban's Nabigha said:
He who commits abominations in secret
Is not [really] alone when he is alone by himself.
How can he be by himself when he has his two recorders
Who are his two witnesses as well as his Majestic Lord?
Their sayings about hope
Scholars said, "Don't bear witness to entry into Paradise or hellfire for anyone
belonging to the community of the Qibla [that is, Muslims]; a beneficent person
is hoped for and feared for, and an evildoer is [equally] hoped for and feared for."
In a hadith authentically traceable to Prophet Mu}:iammad, we read, "God
forgives nd does not reproach; but human beings reproach and do not forgive."
In another hadith
. we read ' "Don't consider sinners as unbelievers."
A young man who died in the time o f the Messenger,
God bless him and grant him peace
An excessively extravagant man died in the time of God's Messen_ger, God
bless him and grant him peace. As he was breathing his last, he saw his parents
standing at the head of his bed and weeping. He asked them, "What makes
you cry?" "We cry for your excessive extravagance," they replied. "By God," he
said, "What pleases me is that my situation is in God's hands, no in yours."
Then he died. [The angel] Gabriel, blessings and peace be upon him, came to
the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, and informed_ him that a yo ng
man had died that day ' and told him that he had been admitted to Paradise.
'
God's Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, asked the young mans
parents about their son's deeds, and they said, "We don't know that he has
done any good deed, except that when dying he said to us so-and-so." God's
Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "From here he has been
judged, for thinking well of God is one of the best deeds in His eyes."
'Umar ibn Dharr and a man who died
A man in the neighborhood of lbn Dharr died. He was an extravagant man, and
so people avoided going to his funeral. When 'Umar ibn Dharr heard abo t that,
he directed the dead man's relatives, saying, "When you have prepared his body
 94 THE U IQUE NECKLACE
[for the funeral], let me know." So they did, and Ibn Dharr attended the
funeral and the peopl: did too. When the dead man was lowered [into the earth],
Ibn Dharr stood t his grave and said, "May God have mercy upon you Abo
So-and-So. You live? your life believing in the oneness of God, and you d'usted
yo r face by rost at10n to God. If people say you are a guilty sinner, who among
us 1s not a gmlty smner?"
***
Mu <awiya quoted the following verse on dying:
It is death, and there is no escape from it. What
We are wary of after dying is more grievous and more horrible.
en e said, "O God, raise me when I stumble, forgive me my error, and
v1s1t with your clemency the ignorance of him who did not hope for anyone
but You and who did not trust anyone but You, for You are vastly forgiving.
0 Lord, where can a sinner escape but to You?"
***
D wod ib_n _Hind said, "I heard that when Sa <1d ibn al-Musayyab heard
bi
th s he sai?, It is under compulsion that he [Mu <awiya] made his request to
Him who 1s the only One to make requests to, and I hope that God will have
mercy on him.'"
An Arab bedouin's saying in imploration
Al- ma <I sa!d, "I heard an Arab bedouin say the following in his invocation
and 1mplorat10n, 'My God, whenever I imagined the vastness of Your mercy,
I fel as thou h the grace of Your pardon hit my ears with the words, "I have
forgiven ou. Therefore, let my surmise of You come true, O my God, and let
my hope m You be realized."'
***
A poet's saying
One of the best sayings about hope is this verse:
I do hope in God so much that it is as if
I see by good surmise what God will do.
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 95
Their sayings about repentance
Christ, peace be upon him
Christ, the son of Mary, peace be upon him, passed by a group of people
from the children of Israel who were crying. He asked them, "What makes you
cry?" They replied, "We cry for our sins." He said, "Leave them alone, they will
be forgiven you."
<Ali ibn Abi Talib
<Aliibn AbI Talib, may God honor him, said, "I wonder at him who perishes,
when he has the means of salvation." He was asked, "And what is it?" He replied,
"Repentance and seeking pardon."
A young man from the children of Israel
It was related that a young man from the children of Israel worshipped God
devotedly for twenty years and then disobeyed Him for twenty years. When
he was at home looking in his mirror, he noticed the gray hair of his beard and
was upset at that. He said, "My God, I have obeyed You for twenty years
and disobeyed You for twenty years. If I return to You, will You accept me?" He
heard a voice coming from a corner of his home but did not see a person,
and it said, "You loved Us, so We loved you; and you abandoned Us, so We
abandoned you. You have disobeyed Us, so We granted you a respite; if you
return to Us, We will accept you."
Ibn al-<Ala' on a certain hermit
<Abd Allah ibn al-'Ala' said, "We went out as pilgrims from Medina and, when
we reached al-1:Iulayfa, we camped. A man, who had a good appearance and was
in good shape but was wearing tattered clothes, stopped at our camp. He asked,
'Who needs a servant? Who needs a water-carrier? Who needs someone to fill a
waterskin or a vessel?' We said, 'Here, take these waterskins and fill them.' He
took them and went away. Before long he returned, sullied with mud, and placed
the waterskins down looking like a joyful, laughing man; then he asked, 'Do
you need anything else?' We said, 'No.' And we gave him to drink some sour
milk that stung the tongue. He took it, praised God, and thanked Him; then
he withdrew and sat apart eating like a hungry man. I took pity on him and
offered him some good food in abundance, and I said to him, 'I noticed that the
tongue-stinging has not impressed you. Here, take this food and eat it.' He
looked me in the face and smiled, saying, 'O <Abd Allah, it is only a flare-up',
and, beating his belly with his hand, he added, 'I have extinguished this fire.' I
returned, ashamed at his sight. A man next to me asked, 'Do you know him?'
I said, 'No, I don't.' He said, 'He is a man from Bano Hashim, one of the

96 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
descendants of al-'Abbas ibn <Abd al-Munalib. He used to live in Basra, then
he repented and left it; and he was not found anywhere and there was no trace
of him.' I was astonished at his words. Then I caught up with the man, and I
adjured him by God, saying, 'Would you accompany me? I have an additional
mount and I am one of your maternal uncles.' He invoked God's blessings for
me and said, 'If I had wanted anything of this nature, it would have been made
ready for me.' Then he became genial to me and began conversing with me.
He said, 'I am a man from the descendants of al- <Abbas. I used to live in Basra,
and I was a man of great pride, power, and luxury. One day, I ordered a maid
of mine to fill my mattress and my silk pillow with rose petals, so she did.
When sleeping, I was awakened by a stem of a rose that the maid had missed, so
I got up and went to her, and I gave her a sound drubbing. Then I returned to
my bed, the stem of the rose having gone from my pillow. In my sleep, someone
with a horrible image came to me in a dream, chided me and scolded me, saying,
"Wake up from your swoon and see your perplexity." Then he recited the
following verses:
" 'O cheek, if you now lie on a soft pillow,
You will lie on a pillow of hard rock after death.
Prepare for yourself a good deed by which you'll be saved;
For, if you don't, you will surely regret this in the morrow.
I woke up in fear and immediately left [Basra], escaping to my Lord with my
religion.'"
On repentance
It was said, "The sign of repentance is emerging from ignorance, regretting sin,
avoiding lust, abandoning lying, and desisting from bad behavior." It has also
been said: "The one who has repented of sin is like someone who has no sin. The
beginning of repentance is regret."
***
Verse by lbn <Abd Rabbih
Some of what we said on this theme is the following:
Woe to us in a situation which is
More fearful than one with a just ruler.
I fight God by disobeying Him
When there's no one but He to have mercy on me.
0 Lord, Your forgiveness of a sinner
Will be wasted, unless he is repentant.
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 97
***
An exegete explained the words of God, may He be blessed and exalted, "O you
who believe, turn to God in sincere repentance" [ Q 66:8] by saying, "Sincere
(na$i1b) repentance is when a servant [of God] repents of a sin and intends not
to go back to it."
***
Ibn <Abbas explained the words of God, may He be powerful and exalted, "God
accepts the repentance of only those who do evil in ignorance and then
_rep nt
soon," [ Q 4: 17] by saying, "A man commits a sin or perpetrates an abomma 10n
only when he is ignorant," and he explained "and then repent soon" by saymg,
"Everything that occurs before mu <ay ana is 'soon'." Mu <ay ana is when a hu an
being's soul exits [his body at death]. This is according to God's saymg,
" ... when one of them faces death, he says, 'I do repent now,"' [ Q 4: 18] about
which exegetes said, "That is, when he is having his soul exit [his body at death]."
***
Ibn Shubruma said, "I am indeed surprised at a person who protects himself
in fear of harm and does not abandon sins in fear of hellfire."
Hastening to do a good deed
God, may He be powerful and exalted, said, "Vie with one another in hastening
to forgiveness from your Lord and a Paradise ... " [ Q 3:133] and He said, "And
the foremost are the foremost: they are those who are brought nigh." [ Q 56:10--11]
***
Al-Hasan said, "Hasten to do a good deed before the appointed time comes; for
you;s will be what you have done, and not what you have left undone."
***
It was said "There are three things in which there should be no delay:
hastening t ; do a good deed, burying a dead person and marrying an equal [in
social rank]."
***
 98 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "O son of Adam,
seize the opportunity of five things before five other things occur: your youth
before your old age, your good health before your sickness, your free time before
your preoccupation, your life before your death, and your wealth before your
impoverishment."
***
Al-l:lasan said, "Fast before you will be unable to fast one day, when if you
become thirsty you will be as though you have never quenched your thirst, and
if you drink your fill you will be as though you have never been thirsty."
***
Yazid al-Raqashi used to say, "O Yazid, when you die, who will fast or pray or
seek your Lord's contentment for you?"
***
Khalid ibn Ma'dan used to say:
I f you have not sown and happen to see a harvester,
You will regret your negligence in the time of sowing.
***
Ibn al-Mubarak said, "I was with Mu}:iammad ibn al-Naqr on a ship and I
thought, 'How can I make him speak?' So I asked, 'What do you think of
[the obligation of] fasting when one is travelling?' He replied, 'My nephew, it is
only a matter of hastening [and not delaying].' By God, he provided me with a
legal opinion different from that of Ibrahim and al-Sha'bi."
Some of what we said on this theme is the following:
Hasten to sincere repentance early on,
For death will not give you a helping hand.
And await a promise from God that He does not break,
For God will inevitably fulfill what He has promised.
***
'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God honor him, asked his companions, "What are
you doing?" and they said, "We hope and we fear." 'Ali commented, "Whoever
hopes for anything seeks it, and whoever fears anything runs away from it."
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 99
***
A poet [Abu Nuwas] said:
You hope for salvation but have not walked on its paths;
A ship does not run on hard ground.
Another poet said:
Do things while you are cautious of the world,
And know that you'll be resurrected after death.
And know that the deed you have earlier done
Will be counted for you, and what you leave behind will be inherited.
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, and cA>isha
'A'isha, may God be pleased with her, offered the Prophet, may God bless him
and grant him peace, a dish in which there was barley bread and a piece of craw,
and she said, "O God's Messenger, we killed a ewe today and the only portion
that remained for us from it is this." He remarked, "Rather, all of it remained for
you except this."
Inability to do [a good deed]
Mu'arriq and a complainer
A man said to Mu'arriq al-'ljli, "I complain to you about my own soul: it does
not want to pray and is unable to endure fasting." Mu'arriq said, "What a bad
commendation you make of your self1 If you are unable to do good, then keep
yourself from doing evil. A poet said:
Be sad that you cannot be sad
And don't do evil if you can't do good.
Keep yourself from doing evil, just as you claim
T o keep yourself from doing good - this may be possible."
***
Bakr ibn 'Abd Allah said, "Be diligent in doing good. If you are unable, then
desist from sinful disobediences."
***
Al-l:lasan, may God have mercy on him, said, "Let him who is strong rely on his
strength in obeying God; ifhe is weak, let him keep himself from disobeying God."
 100 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
***
ibn Abi Talib, peace be on him, said, "Don't be like someone who is
<Ali
unable to be thankful for what he is given and wants more of what remains, and
who forbids people but does not abstain [from what he forbids]."
***
When al-1:Iasan gave an admonition, he used to say, "What an admonition
[it would be], if only it met with some life in the hearts! I hear a faint noise but
see no live human being. What is the matter with them, have they lost their
minds? Moths around a fire and flies around greed!"
***
When Ibn al-Sammak ended his exhortation, he used to say, "Tongues that
describe, hearts that know, and deeds that disobey!"
And he said, "A charitable act is a light unto the heart and a strengthening
for doing good, and an evil act is darkness in the heart and a weakening for
doing good."
***
A wise man said, "O you, old men, who did not abandon sins until sins
abandoned you and thought that this abandonment was repentance: I wish you
would not desire their return after they had left you."
***
Malik ibn Dinar used to say, "How difficult it is to wean an elderly person!"
And he recited the following:
You [try to] tame your wife after she has grown old;
It is difficult to tame an elderly person.
***
Mubammad ibn Waq<Jab said in a talk, "When a man reaches the age of forty
and has not yet repented, the devil strokes his face saying, 'May I redeem a face
that will never prosper!'"
***
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 101
A poet said:
When the devil sees the brightness of his face, he greets [him]
And says, "May I redeem the one who shall not prosper."
***
A man said to al-1:Iasan, " 0 Abu Sa <id, I wanted to pray yesterday but could
not." Al-1:Iasan said, "Your sins have fettered you."
Their sayings about death
Prophet Mu):iammad, God bless him and grant him peace,
and Ibo al-Khanab
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, asked <U mar ibn al-Khanab,
God be pleased with him, "What thoughts do you have about death, Abu l:Iafi;;?"
He replied, "I enter into the evening and don't think I'll see the morning, and
I wake up in the morning and don't think I'll see the evening." The Prophet
said, "Abu I:Iaf , it is more imminent than that. Verily, when I breathe out, I
don't think I'll breathe in."
***
<Abd Allah ibn Shaddad said, "I think the herald of death does not give up.
He who goes away does not come back and to him who remains behind, death
yearns."
***
Al-1:Iasan said, " O son of Adam, you're only a number. When your day is gone,
part of you has gone."
***
Abu al- <Atahiya said:
People are engrossed in their heedlessness
And the millstone of death continues to grind.
<U mar ibn <Abd al-<Aziz said, "Whoever remembers death often is sufficed
by little, and whoever knows that speaking is action speaks only when speaking
is useful."
 102 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
***
When Abu al-Darda' used to see a funeral procession, he used to say, "Go in the
morning for we are going in the evening" or "Go in the evening for we are
going in the morning".
***
A man said to al-l:lasan, "So-and-So died suddenly." Al-l:lasan remarked, " I f he
had not died suddenly, he would have fallen sick suddenly then died."
***
Jacob, God's blessings be upon him, said to the messenger who brought him
Joseph's shirt, "I don't know with what I should reward you for it, but may God
ease the throes of death for you."
Ibn al- CAla' and Jarir
Abu cAmr ibn al- CAla' said, "I was sitting with Jarir as he dictated to his
secretary:
'Say farewell to Umama, your departure time has come ... ,'
when a funeral procession happened to pass by and he stopped [dictating] and
said, 'These funerals have turned my hair gray.' I asked, 'Why then do you
revile people?' He replied, 'They begin [reviling me] and then I don't forgive. I
attack but I do not begin.' Then he started reciting:
Funerals frighten us as they come forth towards us;
But when they go away from us, we become oblivious:
Like a group of people frightened by a lion's attack
But when the lion goes away, they revel again."
***
It is said, "Whoever places death before his eyes will be distracted from what is
in his hands."
***
It is also said, "Noah made a hut of reeds for himself and he was told, 'Would
that you had built something better than this!' He replied, 'This is [already]
too much for someone who will die.'"
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 103
Umayya ibn Abi aH,alt
T h e wisest verses the Arabs have said describing death are those of Umayya
ibn Abi al-Salt which say:
Whoever escapes from his fated death may,
In moments of his inadvertence, bring it about.
He who does not die young and healthy will die of old age;
Death has a chalice of which a human being has to taste.
Af i bagh's report on a hermit
Af)bagh ibn al-Faraj reported that there was a hermit in Najran who shouted
twice every day as he recited the following verses:
Permanence of existence is precluded by the rise of the sun
In the morning where it did not set in the evening:
It rises with a deep red color
And it sets with a yellow color like saffron.
The day will inform what it will bring with it
And yesterday would have made its decisive judgement.
Another poet said:
In ignorance, you decorate your home and dwell in it;
Perhaps another person will [eventually] be its owner.
Whoever is being led by the passage of days
Is like one who is taking up residence in death [itself].
A human being is mortgaged to "I shall" and "I wish";
Meanwhile his perdition is in "I shall" and "I wish."
How clever is a man who prepares himself carefully,
And so he is ready for death morning and evening.
Saric al-Ghawani [Muslim ibn al-Walid] said:
How many people have we seen who have perished!
They wept for their loved ones, and then were lamented.
They left the world to those who followed them,
Wishing they had given away what they had left.
How often we have seen kings who are common people,
And common people who have reigned.
***
Al-Salatan al-cAbdi said:
The recurrence of mornings and the passage of eves
Have grayed the hair of the young and ruined the old.
If a night brings its day to old age,

104 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
A young day follows in pursuit.
We go after our needs in the evenings and the morns,
Yet the needs of whoever lives never end.
A man's needs die with his death;
But as long as he lives, his needs abide.
Sufyan ibn <Uyayna used to like the following verses of <Adi ibn Zayd:
Where are the people from the tribe of Noah,
And from the tribes of 'Ad and Thamud who followed?
While they sat on thrones and silk cushions,
Cheeks have ended being bedded in the soil,
And healthy persons visiting sick ones have become
Closer to death than the persons they visited.
And this is not the end of the story, for
After all this and that is the threat [of the hereafter].
Abo al- <Atahiya said describing death:
It is as i f the earth were folded over me
And I was dispossessed of what I had.
It is as i f I became secluded and alone,
And mortgaged there with all I had.
It is as i f my female mourners were there, one day,
And mourning did not benefit me anything.
I remembered my death, and so I announced it.
Help your little brother, 0 my little brother.
And he said:
What is new will wear out and conditions will change,
For men are tested in the moment of truth.
The world has things entrusted to their hearts
Over which estrangements occur as well as reunions.
You're afraid o f what you'll perhaps not see happen,
And you're hopeful o f what you'll perhaps not obtain.
The crescent has risen to destroy my lifetime,
And I rejoice whenever the crescent rises.
He said also:
He who lives, grows older; and he who grows older, dies.
Death does not care about whom it visits.
We live in an abode of affliction and harm,
An abode of misery, trouble, and adversity.
It's a home in which one does not remain safe
For long, i f ever one can remain [safe].
0 you who are deceived: What is this youth?
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 105
I f you restrain your self from it, it will be restrained.
May God have mercy on him who is fair with himself,
When he either says something good or remains silent.
***
lbn 'Abd Rabbih
Some of what we said about death is the following:
Who [can help] me when I die among relatives and children,
And my fettered hands can do nothing to [stop] death?
Tears will be flowing abundantly and sighs will be heaved.
Tears will pour down and sighs will rise.
That is destiny and nothing can avert it
Until it separates the soul from the body.
We also said about it:
Do you amuse yourself between a wine jar and a wine jug
When you are on the verge of perdition?
O you who have been deluded by a long-lasting hope
Leading to a shortly due appointment [with death]:
Do you rejoice when death is daily showing you
The place o f your own grave among the graves?
This is the world - i f it pleases you one day,
Sorrow is the end-result of its joy!
You'll be robbed of all you've collected in it
Like a loan to be returned to the lender.
And you'll receive certainty as a substitute for speculation,
And the abode of truth as a substitute for the abode of delusion.
***
Verses by Abu al-'Atahiya
There is no camping site in which a breathing person seeks shelter
And in which death does not raise an unsheathed sword.
He also said:
How close to us death is!
God has passed us by.
It is as i f He has given us to drink
Its chalice wherever we are.
He also said:
 106 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
I hope to be immortalized, but
Death jumps on me from all sides.
And I don't know, when I enter the evening,
That I will live until the [next] morning.
***
Al-Ghazzal said:
By God, I have become exhausted by a hope
For life but it is short and not extended.
When I part with someone on any day
I think my parting is the last contact with him.
Look at me when I am laid in my shroud
And look at me when I am laid in my grave,
And sit down for a moment and watch those with me
Who love me and escort my bier to my final resting place:
What a hoax! They're all playing a role
Scattering dust on me and strewing it on my cheek!
***
Abo ai- <Atahiya said:
Gray hair announces to you the waning of youth
And matters call you by another person's name.
So, be ready for the unpredictable turn of fate,
For what is coming is indeed close.
Long before you, many a physician treated a patient;
And the patient lived but the physician died.
One who repents fears for himself.
I wonder in what state one who doesn't repent will be!
He also said:
My brother: save as much as you can for a day
When you will be miserable and poor;
For you will surely come to a situation
When you will need what you have saved.
***
Abo al-Aswad al-Du'aiI said:
0 you who hopes for what is not his,
[Know that] many a foolish man is deluded by his hope.
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 107
Many a man who continues to indulge in hope
Is prevented by death from realizing his wishes,
And many a young man artfully dealing with what befell him
Is at a loss for more of his stratagems.
Tell him who cites proverbs in his poems,
"A man perishes and his proverb remains."
Vie with a benefactor in his good deed,
For doing good is sufficient exaltedness for you.
***
<Adi ibn Zayd al- <IbadI said:
Where is Chosroes Anushirvan, king of kings?
Or where is Shapur before him?
And where are the noble sons of al-A far, the kings
O f the Byzantines? None of them remains to be mentioned.
The owner of al-1:Iaqr [Castle], which he built when the [lands of]
The Tigris and the Kha.bur [rivers] paid taxes to him,
Constructed it with marble and plastered it with gypsum,
And birds had nests in its lofty heights:
Unpredictable fate did not grant him [his wishes], and so
Kingship perished and the castle's gate is now deserted.
The lord of al-Khawarnaq [Palace] pondered when,
One morning, guidance led him to think.
His condition pleased him, and so did the abundance
Of his possessions, the wide sea, and the Sadir [Palace].
Yet his heart repented and he said, "How can a living man
Be happy when his destination is death?"
There, after prosperity, kingship, and good living,
The graves have concealed them [all],
And they have become like dry leaves
Which the east wind and the west wind twisted.
***
I:Iurayth ibn Jabala aJ- <UdhrI said:
Among the living, you are indeed deluded, 0 my heart.
So remember [God] - but will remembrance be of any use to you today?
Until when will you continue to be passionately in love with [the world],
Unexcited in it by the well-fleshed women with beautiful eyes [in Paradise]?
You have revealed your ignorance and concealed it from no one,
T o the extent that fast horses have run away with you in many rounds.
You want something, but you don't know whether a worldly one
Is better for you or one in which there is delay [into the hereafter].
 THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 109
108 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE

Therefore, ask God to grant you good, and accept it;
For there may be difficulty, but easy things will happen.
And while a person may be happy among the living,
Lo and behold, he will be in the grave with storms wiping him out
As though he never existed except in his own imagination -
For Time is powerful in both its states [good and bad].
Strangers who don't know him weep for him,
And relatives in his tribe are joyful.
This will be the last you know of your friend when
Gravediggers place his corpse in the tomb.
Their sayings about the plague
'Umar ibn al-KhaHab and lbn al-Jarral_i on the plague
Abu <Ubayda ibn al-Jarral_i said to <Umar ibn al-Khattab, God be pleased with
him, when the latter heard that the plague had afflicted Syria and so he left
with the people, "Are you running away from God's fate, 0 Commander of the
Faithful?" <Umar replied, "If only someone else had said this, 0 Abu 'Ubayda!"
Then he added, "Yes, we are running away from God's fate, but only to God's
fate. Don't you see that if you have camels and you take them to a valley having
two sides, one fertile and the other barren, you will be taking them to graze in
the fertile one by God's fate and you will be taking them to graze in the barren
one by God's fate." 'Abd al-Ral_iman ibn 'Awfwas absent and when he came, he
said, "I have some knowledge concerning this matter, which I heard from God's
Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace. He said, 'If you hear that it is in
a certain country, don't go to it; and if it occurs in a country when you are in it,
Al-I:Iusayn in a sweeping plague
When the sweeping plague occurred, the people approached al-I:Iusayn, so
he said to them, "What a good thing your Lord has done for you: the sinner
departed and the closefisted spent!"
A bedouin Arab who fled from the plague
A bedouin Arab fled from the plague and was bitten by a snake on his way, and
so he died. His brother said, lamenting him:
Seeking safety from death, he wandered about and died.
Being at a loss, I wish I knew what killed you.
Was it a flood flowing down from mountains that carried you away?
Fated death is a watcher lying in wait for man wherever he goes.
Everything is a killer when you reach your appointed instant of death.
Ibo Wahb and Ibo al-Zayyat
It was related that, at one time, rain fell continuously and prevented al-I:Iasan
ibn Wahb from meeting with Mul_iammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik al-Zayyat, and so
al-I:Iasan wrote the following to him:
My excuse for the delay of meeting is clarified
By these continuously raging storms.
God's greeting of peace is sent by me
Every day to the chief of all ministers.
I don't know what to blame and I complain
Of a sky that hinders me from a sky,

1
don't leave to escape from it.'" 'Umar praised God and then left with the people. But I wish bereavement for the former
And I invoke permanence for the latter.
Al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik on a similar occasion
When al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik ran away from the plague, someone said Ibo al-Zayyat and Ibo Abi Duwad
to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, God Most High says, 'Say, "Flight shall Ahmad ibn Abi Duwad was told that Mul_iammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik had
not avail you if you flee from death or killing; even then, you will enjoy but
la pooned him with a poem of ninety verses, so he said:
little."' [Q 33: 16] He responded, "It is that little that we seek."
Better than a useless ninety verses
From Shurayl_i to a friend o f his who fled from the plague Is one verse in which you combine their meaning.
How much are people in need of rain
Al-'Utbi said, "When the plague occurred in al-Kufa, a friend of Shurayl_i left That will remove from them the filth of oil!
it for al-Najaf. So Shurayl_i wrote to him, saying, 'After greetings, I say that
the place from which you fled has not brought about the completion of your When Mul_iammad was told about these verses, he said:
appointed lifetime, nor has it deprived it of its [numbered] days. The place that
0 you, of stupid opinion: You have
you have arrived in is indeed under the sight of someone who is not incapacitated
Exposed yourself to death through me.
by any request and who does not fail to notice fleeing. You and I are on a king's You sullied kingship with tar and we didn't purify it
carpet, and al-Najaf is close to someone with power."'

110 THE U IQUE NECKLACE
Until we washed the tar away with oil.
Oil does not detract from our noble lineage;
For our noble lineage is well-known as to family respect.
Ibo Abi Duwad was asked, "Why don't you ask the caliph for your needs in
the presence of Mul_iammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik?" He replied "I don't like him
' to the children of al-Rabi', saying, 'May your reward be
to know my affairs."
The murder ofZayd ibn I:Iusayn
Abo al- sim Ja'far related that Mul_iammad al-1:lasani said:
Mul_iammad ibn Zakariyya al-Ghalabi informed us that Muhammad ibn
Naji' al-Nobakhu said, "Yal_iya related to us that Sulayman said,° 'My father,
who w_as ?.ne of those who followed the [Prophet's] Companions, related to me
nd a1?, I entered Kufa and saw a man talking to the people, so I asked, 'Who
is this? I was told he was Bakr ibn al-Tirimmal_i, and I heard him say:
" ' " ' I hear d Zay d 1"bn al-1:lusayn say, "When the Commander of the
Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be on him, was killed, Kulthom ibn 'Amr
brought the news of his death to Medina. That moment when he came with this
news was like the moment when God's Messenger, God bless him and grant him
peace, passed a ay, and there were men and women weeping and screaming.
When t_ears subsided, the Companions of God's Messenger, God bless him and
grant h_1m peace, said,_'Come, let us go to 'A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, God
bless him and grant him peace; let us be with her in her sorrow at the death of
the cousin of God's Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace.' So all
the people rose and went to the house of 'A'isha, may God be pleased with her.
They asked p_ermission to enter and found that the news had already reached
her. She was m deep sorrow and tearfully grieved. She had not ceased weeping
and lamenting since the moment she had heard the news of his death. When the
people saw her in this condition, they went away. Early on the next day she went
to the gra:e ofG d's Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace. Every one
of the Emigrants m the mosque rose to receive her and greet her, but she did not
greet anyone or respond, and was unable to speak because of the abundance of
h r tears that she choked on. She tripped on the edges of her robe as she walked,
with the people behind her, until she came to the room [of the Prophet's grave].
She held the door's two posts and said, 'Peace be on you, O Prophet of guidance.
Peace be on_you, 0 Abo al- sim. Peace be on you, 0 God's Messenger, and 00
your two fnends. 0 Messenger of God: I am conveying to you the news of the
death of the dearest of your loved ones, and mentioning to you the noblest of
th_e ones you were_ fond of. By God, your chosen beloved one, your best bosom
fnend,_ has been killed. By God, the one whose wife is the best of all women has
been killed. By God, the one who believed and was faithful has been killed. I am
lamenting in bereavement and shedding warm tears on him. If the earth were to
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 111
to you and the most
be removed from you, you would say that the dearest one
avoided, it would
favored has been killed. If it were destined that this could be
today. But God runs affairs in
not have exposed me to what I am experiencing
the most perfect way.'"'" ' "
condolences
Al-Mubarrad said, "Al_imad ibn Yusuf, the secretary, offered
great, may God have
circumstance that will bring
mercy on the man you lost, and may He give you a
you.'"
you together after your misfortune and will not separate
An Arab bedouin woman, who had lost several sons, was asked, "What have
eaten them."
your sons done?" She said, "Time that can't be sated has
saying, " 0 Commander of the
A man offered condolences to al-Rashid,
may condolence be
Faithful, may reward be yours, not because of you; and
yours, not on account of you."
l b n 'Abbas
One of the things related is that 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas, may God be pleased with
both of them, was told about the death of his daughter while he was travelling.
He said, "We are God's and to Him we return." Then he added, "She is an
imperfection ('awra) that God has veiled, a provision that God has spared, and
a reward that God has brought forth."
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace,
on his daughter
Usama ibn Zayd, may God be pleased with both of them, reported that
when God's Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was offered
condolences at the death of his daughter, Ruqayya, he said, "Praise be to God.
Burying girls is one of the good deeds." In another report, he said, "One of
the good deeds is burying girls."
Kinda's king and an Arab bedouin offering him
condolences a t his daughter's death
Al-Ghazzal said, "A daughter of one of the kings of Kinda died, so he p l aced a
bag of gold coins in front of him and said, 'Whoever offers the most eloquent
condo l ence shall take it.' An Arab bedouin entered into his presence and said,
'May God make the king's reward great! You have been spared provision [for
her], you have been shielded from blemish (al-'awra) [because of her], and the
grave is indeed a good son-in-law.' The king said to him, 'You spoke eloquently
and with concision.' And he gave him the bag."
I
 THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 113
112 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE

Those who loved death and those who hated it

***
In o ne o f the Pr o phet's }:iadiths is the following saying, "Let no o ne wish for
death, for he may be a go od person and his go odness may increase; or he may A poet said o n hatred o f death:
be an evil-d o er and he may desist fro m his evil deeds." Hind rose to encourage me, so I said to her:
In the l:Iadith, there is the following: "God, may He be blessed and exalted, Courage is accompanied by ruin.
says, 'If my servant likes to meet Me, I wo u ld like to meet him; and if he hates By the One who forbade eyes to see Him,
to meet Me, I will hate to meet him."' Whoever has a goal will not desire death, in my view.
This }:iadith does no t mean that death sh o u ld be lo ved or hated. It means
that wh o ever lo ves Go d will be lo ved by Him, and wh o ever hates G o d will be ***
hated by Him.
The wise have said, "Death is detestable."
*** They als o said, "W o rse than death is anything which, when befalling
yo u ,
which,
yo u wish to die beca u se o f it; and mo re pleasant than living is anything
Abu H u rayra said, "Pe o ple hate three things and I like them: they hate sickness if yo u lo se, yo u hate living beca u se of it."
and I like it; they hate po verty and I like it; and they hate death and I like it."

Staying up a t night for prayers

Bishr ibn Man!'.>Ur
Al-Mughira ibn Sh u 'ba said, "The Pr o phet, G o d bless him and grant him peace,
'Abd al-A'la ibn I:Iammad said, "We entered int o the presence o f Bishr
sto o d u p [in night prayers] u ntil his feet were sw o llen."
ibn Man Ur as he was dying, and no ticed that he was rej o icing. We asked
him, 'What is this jo y for?' He said, 'Praise be to G o d! I am go ing away fro m
the transgress o rs, the envi o u s, the backbiters and the tyrants; and I am go ing
***
forth to the M o st Merciful of the merciful - why sh o u ld I no t rej o ice?' "
Al-l:Iasan was asked, "Why do th o se who stay up at night for prayers have the
mo st bea u tiful faces?" He said, "They have been al o ne with the Merciful, and so
Al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik and an old man
their light gl o ws from His light."
Al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik entered the mo squ e, and so all th o se who had been
in it left except an o ld man bent by o ld age. They wanted to make him leave, ***
bu t al-Walid gest u red to them to leave him al o ne. He then went and sto o d by
him and asked, "Old man, wo u ld yo u like to die?" "No, 0 Commander of the
A man used to pray all night lo ng and when he saw dawn rise, he said, "In the
Faithful," he replied, "yo u th and its evil have go ne, o ld age and its go o d have
morning, pe o ple extol night travel."
co me; when I rise, I praise God and when I sit, I mention Him. I wo uld love o n
my o wn behalf that these tw o disp o sitions last."
***
The Prophet, Go d bless him and grant him peace,
It was said, "Winter is the spring o f the faithful: their nights bec o me lo ng for
and 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar
prayer, and their days become sh o rt for fasting."
'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar said, "A man came to G o d's Messenger, G o d bless him
and grant him peace, and said, 'O Messenger o f G o d, what is the matter with ***
me that I don't like death?' The Pr o phet asked, 'Have yo u any wealth?' 'Yes,'
the man replied. The Pr o phet said, 'Then, pu t it in front o f yo u [t o spend].' The
man said, 'I can't bear to do that.' The Pr o phet, peace be u po n him, said, 'Man The Pr o phet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Give o thers fo o d to eat,
is acc o mpanied by his wealth: if he pu ts it forward, he likes to foll o w it; and if spread peace, and pray at night while pe o ple are asleep."
he withdraws it, he likes to tarry behind with it.'"
 114 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
***
God, may He be blessed and exalted, said, "And at dawn, they sought
forgiveness." [ Q 51:18]
This agrees with the }:iadith related by Abu Hurayra about the Prophet, God
bless him and grant him peace, saying, "God, may He be blessed and exalted,
descends to the lowest heaven in the last third of the night and says, 'Is there
anyone asking for anything so that I may give it him, is there anyone invoking
Me so that I may hearken to him, is there anyone seeking forgiveness so that I
may forgive him, is there anyone asking for help so that I may help him?'"
Al-Mughira and al-Nakha'i
Abu <Awana said on the authority of al-Mughira, "I asked Ibrahim al-Nakha'I,
'What do you think of a man who sees light at night?' He replied, 'It is from
Satan; if it were good, it would have been shown to the people of Badr. " '
Weeping in fear o f God, m a y He be exalted
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "God has forbidden
hellfire to punish eyes that weep in fear of God and eyes that are lowered in
order to avoid seeing what God has forbidden."
***
Yazid al-Raqashi used to weep so much that his eyelashes fell off.
***
Ghalib ibn 'Abd Allah was asked, "Are you not afraid your eyes will be blinded
on account of your weeping for so long?" He replied, "It is their healing that
I seek."
***
Yazid ibn Mazyad was asked, "What is the matter with your eyes that they
are never dry?" He replied, "Brother, God threatened me with imprisonment
in hellfire if I disobeyed him. I would be more likely to have dry eyes if He
had threatened me with imprisonment in a bath."
***
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 115
<Umar ibn Dharr asked his father, "Why is it that, when you speak, you make
people weep but, when another person speaks, he does not make them weep?"
He replied, "Son, a bereaved woman who laments a lost child is not like a hired
woman who laments [as a profession]."
***
God said to one of His prophets, "Give Me pious humility from your heart
and tears from your eyes. Then ask Me and I will grant your request."
***
Some of what we said on weeping is the following:
Their tears have made grooves in their cheeks
And their eyes are darkened by staying awake in prayer at night.
They are a group whose Lord has threatened them,
So they hastened to [obey] Him in fear of that threat.
They are therefore bent on prayer in their niches,
And they weep in fear of being punished by the Glorious One.
The earth touching their eyes as they prostrate themselves
Almost grows grass from their flowing tears.
Qtys ibn al-A !; amm said on this theme:
May God bless a group of people I saw who
Sighed whenever they remembered [God] or were reminded [of Him].
Whenever they remembered hellfire, they wept;
And they were thunderstruck when someone recited fearful [Q!ir>anic verses].
Without being goaded by Satan, they were overtaken
By fear and concern on reciting [the Q!ir >an about hell].
Fallen down because of sorrow, covered by their clothes,
The last gasp of their soul was a throb in their jugular veins.
On seeing them, you would think
They had already died out offear and anxiety.
Forbidding frequent laughter
In the I:Iadith directly traceable to the Prophet is the following, "Frequent
laughter kills the heart and takes away the beauty of a faithful person." In it
also is, "If you knew what I know, you would weep a lot and would laugh little."
And in it also is, "God dislikes that you should indulge in frivolous play during
prayer, in sexual pleasure during the fast, and in laughter during funerals."

116 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
Al-l:lasan and people who were laughing
Al-l:lasan passed by a group of people who were laughing in the month of
Ramaqan, so he said, "O people, God has made of Ramaqan a racetrack for His
creatures in which they try to outstrip each other in seeking His mercy. Some
people are ahead of everyone else and are winners; some other people fall behind
and are losers. On the day when winners are ahead and losers are behind one
wonders at the one who has laughed and amused himself. Behold, by God, hen
it comes to what is essential, a doer of good is preoccupied by his good deed, and
an evil-doer by his evil deed."
'Abd Allah and a man who laughed
'Abd Allah ibn Tha'laba saw a man laughing uproariously, so he said to him
"Are you laughing when for all you know your shroud may just have bee
ordered from the undertaker?"
A poet said:
Many a young man enters evening and morning, feeling secure,
When his shroud has already been woven and he is unaware.
Forbidding service o f rulers and visiting kings
AbuJa'far [al-Man ur] and Sufyan
Abu Ja'far came across Sufyan al-Thawri during the circumambulation of
the Ka'ba, so he asked him, "What prevents you from visiting us, O Abu <Abd
Allah?" Sufyan said, "God has forbidden us from dealing with you and said
'And lean not towards those who do wrong lest the Fire touch you.'" [Q 11: 113]
***
Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik came to Medina to visit the [Prophet's] tomb when
Abo I:I_a i al-A 'raj entered the place, so he asked him, "What prevents you
f o v1s1tmg us, 0 Abu I:Iazim?" The latter replied, "And what will I gain by
v1s1tmg you, 0 Commander of the Faithful? If you were to draw me closer to
you, you would tempt me; and if you were to remove me far away from you, you
would put me_ to shame. Besides, I have nothing that I fear for from you, and
you have nothmg that I hope to get from you."
***
'Umar ibn al-Khanab, may God be pleased with him, said, "Whoever enters into
the presence of kings leaves displeased with God."
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 117
***
Abu Ja<far sent for Sufyan and asked him when he entered, "Ask me for your
need, Abu <Abd Allah." Sufyan asked, "And will you fulfil it, 0 Commander
of the Faithful?" "Yes," the caliph said, so Sufyan remarked, "My need of you
is that you don't send for me unless I come [voluntarily] to you, and that
you give me nothing until I ask you for it." Then he left. Abu Ja'far said, "We
have cast seeds to scholars and they have all picked them up, except Sufyan
al-Thawri; he has thwarted all our efforts by eluding us."
***
'Umar ibn al-Khanab, may God be pleased with him, said, "Entering into the
presence of the wealthy is a temptation for the poor."
***
Ziyad asked his companions, "Of all people, whose life is the happiest?" They
said, "The prince's and his companions'." He said, "Certainly not! For him,
the beams of the pulpit inspire fear, and the rattle of the courier's bridle causes
fright. The happiest of all people is rather a man who has a home he lives in
and a good wife he comes back to, who has sufficient means for a living, and who
does not know us and we don't know him; for if he were to know us and we to
know him, we would spoil for him this world of his and his afterlife."
***
A poet said:
Kings are a disaster wherever they go,
So let no shadow of yours ever be in their midst.
What do you want of a group of people who, if angered,
Will wrong you and who, if you try to please, will be bored?
Never have a need for visiting them by being attached to God.
Standing at their doors [waiting for admission] is a humiliation.
Another poet said:
Don't ever be associated with rulers in any work
Lest you be in fear always, mornings and evenings.
Eat soil [for sustenance] but don't do any work for them.
The entirety of evil is in that kind of work.
***
118 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
In Kalila and Dimna, we read, "A ruler's companion is like a man riding a lion:
he does not know when it will become agitated and kill him."
Malik ibn Dinar and a prisoner
Malik ibn Dinar entered a prison to visit a man there and saw a soldier sitting
down to eat whose feet were in shackles that brought his legs close together,
and who had been brought a dining tablet with many kinds of food. The soldier
invited Malik ibn Dinar to eat his food but the latter said to him, "I am afraid if
I ate of your food, shackles like yours would be put on my feet."
***
In the book of the Indians, we read, "A ruler is like fire: if you go far from it, you
will need it; and if you go [too] close to it, it will burn you."
Ayyob and Abo Qilaba
Ayyob al-Sikhtiyani said, "Abo Qilaba was sought for an appointment as a judge
of Basra, so he fled from there to Syria, where he lived for some time and then
returned. I said to him, 'If you had accepted the judgeship and were fair, you
would have had two rewards [from God].' He said, 'O Ayyob, if a swimmer
falls into the sea, for how long can he possibly continue to swim?'"
Ibrahim admonishing Baqiyya
Baqiyya said, "Ibrahim said to me, 'O Baqiyya, be a tail and don't be a head, for
the head perishes and the tail survives.'"
***
Some of what we said on serving the ruler and his companions is the following:
A void wearing silk, if you are a reasonable man,
And don't ever wear a ring with a chrysolite stone.
Don't perfume yourself with expensive perfumes
And drag the tails of your wrap held by a brooch on the upper arm.
Don't strut arrogantly wearing squeaking sandals,
And don't take the pride of place on a soft couch.
Be a man disregarded among people, dusty and unkempt,
Going about in a shawl and a rough robe, mornings and evenings;
Be a man who considers a ram's hide under him
A throne in a magnificent castle, whenever he sits on it.
Let not your eyes look ambitiously at a man
Who has authority, an eloquent tongue and power to wield,
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 119
T o whom the world looms with all its embellishments in life
And to whom it brings what he desires without much difficulty;
So he fattens his waistline and emaciates his religion,
And does not anticipate in his present day the consequences of the next.
One day, you see him naked under the strokes of a whip;
And another day, you see him riding on a beautiful saddle.
He is pitied many times and envied sometimes,
But he is the worst man to be pitied and the worst one envied.
***
Statements about kings
Al-A ma'i said, "I was told that al-I:Iasan said, 'O [man,] son of Adam. You are
a captive of hunger and a victim of satiety. Certain people wear these old-style
silk shawls and fine turbans, they enlarge their houses and narrow their graves,
they fatten their beasts and emaciate their religion; and one of them will lean on
his left arm and sit to eat what is not his own, and when he is surfeited, he will
say: "O maid, bring me your digestive potion!" Woe to you! Are you digesting
anything but your own religion?'"
Malik
YaJ:iya ibn YaJ:iya said, "Malik sat down one day in deep thought and then raised
his head and said, "What a pity for kings! Neither are they left alone in their
worldly bliss nor do they pass away before they die of sorrow for what they will
leave behind them and of fear for what they will receive."
***
Al-l:Iasan said when kings were mentioned in his presence, "Behold, although
mules are driven fast for them, and men surround them, and wealth continually
flows to them - the humiliation of sin abides in their hearts. God wills to
humiliate those who disobey Him."
'Abd Allah ibn al-I:Iasan
Al-A ma'i said, "'Abd Allah ibn al-I:Iasan preached on the pulpit of Basra and
recited the following verse from the pulpit:
Where are the kings who were unmindful of their good luck
Until they were given to drink from the chalice of death?"
120 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
Tribulations o f the faithful in the world
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "A believer is like a tender
plant which the wind bends this way one time and that way another time· and an
unbeliever is like a rigid cedar tree which is uprooted from the ground onl once."
The meaning of this ?adith is that misfortunes afflict the believer repeatedly
and they spare the unbeliever so that he may go deeper in sin.
Wahb ibn Munabbih said, "I read in a book, 'I drive away my faithful
servants from the bliss of this world as a kind shepherd drives away his camels
from sources of danger.'"
Al-Fuqayl ib 'lyaq said, "Don't you see how God turns away the world
f om th one of His creatures He loves: letting it pass by him with hunger at one
time, nakedness at another time and with poverty at yet another time _ just
_with
as a kmdly mother does with her child: she weans him with patience at one time
and with a bitter plant juice at another time. God only wants what is good for
man in all that."
In the I:Iadith, it is reported that the Prophet, God bless him and grant him
peace, said, "Gabriel informed me on the authority of God, may He be blessed
and exalted, that He said, 'Whenever I afflict My servant with a misfortune in
his person or in his wealth or in his offspring, and he bears it with good patience,
I am embarrassed on the Day of Resurrection to set up for him a balance [for his
good and bad deeds] or a court of justice."'
Suppressing tribulation when it befalls one
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace said "Whoever is afflicted
with a misfortune and suppresses it for three days p tien;ly and with resignation
to God's will shall have the reward of a martyr."
Al-Fuqayl ibn 'lyaq heard a man complaining of a misfortune that had
afflicted him, so he said to him, "O man, you are complaining about Him Who
has mercy on you to someone who will have no mercy on you."
He also said, "When a man complains about a misfortune that afflicted him
'
it is as though he is complaining about his Lord."
***
Durayd ibn al-Simma said lamenting his brother 'Abd Allah ibn al-Simma·
. .
Little did he complain of misfortunes, but he remembered
On the morrow the consequences of today's conversations.
***
Ta'abbata Sharran said:
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 121
He complains little of a misfortune that afflicts him.
He travels far and has diverse passions and ways.
Shurayl).
Al-Shaybani said, "A friend of mine informed me, saying, 'ShurayJ:i heard me
as I complained to a friend of something that had distressed me. He took me by
the hand and said, "O son of my brother, beware of complaining to anyone but
God; for the one to whom you complain may possibly be a friend or a foe. As for
the friend, you will sadden him and he will not benefit you; as for the foe, he will
gloat over your misfortune. Look at this eye of mine (and he pointed to one of
his eyes). By God, I have not seen a person or a road with it for fifteen years; but
I have not informed anyone about it until this moment. Have you not heard the
saying of the good servant, 'Only to God do I complain of my grief and sadness'?
So, let Him be the One to Whom you complain and divulge your sorrow at every
misfortune that afflicts you, for He is the most generous to be asked, and the
closest to be called."'"
Between 'Aqil ibn Abi Talib and his brother 'Ali
'Aqil wrote to his brother 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, God's pleasure be upon both of
them, asking about his condition, so 'Ali wrote back, saying:
I f you ask me, "How are you?", I am indeed patient
And firm in facing the unpredictable turns of fortune.
It is hard for me to be seen melancholy
So a slanderer could rejoice or a loved one would be hurt.
***
lbn Shubruma, when afflicted by adversity, used to say, "It is only a summer's
cloud which will soon be dispersed."
***
It used to be said, "Four things are among the treasures of Paradise: suppressing
a misfortune, remaining tight-lipped about a charitable deed, concealing poverty,
and keeping pain to oneself."
Contentment
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever in the
morning and the evening is secure in his living, healthy in his body, and has
his day's food is like someone in possession of the world in all its details."
 122 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
***
ys ibn 'A im said, "O my sons. You have to preserve wealth, for it draws
a generous man's attention [to giving], and it helps one to dispense with the
mean and miserly. And beware of begging, for it should be the last means of
a man's acquisition."
***
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqa said to his son, "Dear son, if you seek wealth, seek it
through contentment which is itself an inexhaustible wealth; and beware of
greed, for it is an impoverishment in the present. You should experience despair,
for you will never despair of obtaining a thing that God will not make it easy
for you to dispense with."
***
It was said, "A rich man is one who has no need of anyone but God, and a
poor man is one who has a need for people." It was also said, "There is no wealth
but the wealth of one's soul."
***
Abu I:Iazim was asked, "What constitutes your wealth?" He replied, "Two kinds
of wealth: being in no need of people on account of what I possess, and being
in despair of obtaining what is in the possession of others."
Another was asked, "What constitutes your wealth?" He replied, "Being
kind outwardly, and having the intention [of being kind] at heart."
***
A poet said:
There is no escape from what is inevitable.
Despair is free and hope is a slave.
And nothing exhausts effort but hard work.
***
It is said, "The fruit of contentment 1s tranquility and the fruit of avidity
is weariness."
123
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD
***
Al-BuJ:ituri said:
l f l have food for a day,
I shake off anxiety, what a happy man [I am]!
Tomorrow's concerns don't cross my mind,
For tomorrow will have some new sustenance.
***
'Urwa ibn Udhayna said:
I surely know - and the best words are the ones most truthful -
That my sustenance will come to me, even if it does not come [soon].
I strive for it and am exhausted by solicitously seeking it;
But if I sit down [doing nothing], it will come to me with no effort.
<Urwa ibn Udhayna came with a group of men from Medina to <Abd al-Malik
ibn Marwan, and the latter asked him, " 0 <Urwa, are you not the one
who said:
'I strive for it and am exhausted by solicitously seeking it'?
"I notice that you have indeed striven for it." <Urwa slunk away from 'Abd
al-Malik's presence and went immediately back to Medina. <Abd al-Malik
missed him and was told he had gone to Medina, so he sent him one thousand
dinars. When <Abd al-Malik's messenger came to him, <Urwa said to him, "Say
to the Commander of the Faithful, 'The matter is exactly what I said: I strove
for it and was exhausted by solicitously seeking it; and I sat down [doing
nothing], and it came to me with no effort.'"
***
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "The Spirit of Holiness
inspired in my heart that no soul would die until it received its full sustenance.
So fear God and behave decently when you make a request [of Him]."
***
God, Most High, said in what He related when quoting Luqman, the wise man,
"O my dear son, even if it be the weight of one grain of mustard seed, and even
if it be in a rock or in the heavens or in the earth, God shall surely bring it out;
verily God is Subtle and All-aware." [ Q 31:16]
 124 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 125

*** Your soul's wealth makes it rich, if you are contented,

But much greed will not make you rich.
Al-1:Iasan said, "O [man,] son of Adam: you can never go beyond your One's belief in being concerned is generally good,
And lack of concern leads to moral deficiency.
appointed time, you can never achieve your hope, you can never be disabled
from obtaining sustenance, or be given what is [not destined to be] yours; so He also said:
why do you kill yourself [trying]?"
He who has a lot of wealth and is not
*** Contented is a rich poor man.
Everyone who is contented, although
He may be destitute, is a man of abundance.
Ibn <Abd Rabbih said, "I borrowed these ideas, composed them in verse, and said: Poverty is a quality of the soul, and so is wealth;
I can never achieve my hope, And in the soul's wealth lies the greatest wealth.
Nor can I exceed my appointed time.
I can never be disabled from obtaining ***
The sustenance destined for me,
Nor will I be given another man's Bakr ibn I:Iammad said:
Sustenance by my effort and hard work.
I wish I knew what has made me Blessed is He Who runs affairs with His knowledge,
So preoccupied by my anxiety." And to Whom denizens of the heavens and earth are subject,
[Blessed is] He Who divides sustenance among His servants,
Another poet said: And Who prefers some people to others in His division.
So, whoever thinks that greed will give him increase,
Whatever has been destined will come to be,
Tell him to increase himself in height and breadth!
Whether man is angered or finds it satisfactory.

***
Mal)mud al-Warraq said:
Is it not strange that people guarantee one another,
And thus a claimant is satisfied with a guarantor?
God, who fulfils His promise, has guaranteed [mankind]
But [the claimant] is not satisfied - man is full of strange things!
He knows that God will fulfil His promise
But, in his heart, there is a constant doubt.
Ignorance surely harms him by this knowledge,
And so his knowledge and experience do not benefit him.
He also said:
Do you seek God's gift from somebody else
And feel secure, not afraid of consequences?
And would you accept a fortune-teller as a guarantor, although
He may be a polytheist, and you won't accept God as a warrantor?
He also said:
***
Ibn AbI I:Iazim said:
Many a man expecting death at every moment
Constantly constructs, builds, and reinforces.
When the certain truth of a believer tests him
And his acts turn out to be those of someone who does not believe,
His seeing becomes like a denial, and his knowledge like ignorance,
And he doubts therewith all that he believes in.
He also said:
Beseech God and don't beseech human beings,
And be content with despair, for there is power in despair.
Have no need for any relative or blood kindred,
A rich man is one who has no need for people.
He also said:
Don't ever be greedy, for the destiny
O f things is in the hand of God.

126 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
What is interdicted [by Him] will never come to you
And what is ordained [by Him] will never miss you.
He also said:
Until when will you continue to be
A slave to greed and to hopes?
Greed will not be of any use to you
Nor will making an effort, unless there is good luck.
There is nothing that can repel
What God has predestined.
With evil comes misfortune,
And with good comes good fortune;
And people in early times and in later ones
Have lived in accordance with the presence of both.
They thought Time would be safe-
But Time and its vicissitudes don' keep their word.
Time took them unawares, and destroyed
Their groupings and annihilated what they had prepared.
This is the world: it is ebb and flow -
So don't concern yourself with it.
***
Al-Aqbat ibn Quray < said:
Be satisfied with what Time brings you.
Whoever is satisfied with his living will be rewarded.
A person may gather wealth but will not live to enjoy it,
And someone may enjoy wealth that he has not gathered.
***
Muslim ibn al-Walid said:
Nothing will be slow as long as you hope for its return
'
I f you are aided by the gentleness of being unhurried.
Time will take away what it gave, it will render turbid
What it bestowed pure, and it will spoil what it imparted.
So, don't let Time ever beguile you by its gift-'
It will never keep for anyone what it gave.
***
Kulthum al-'Attabi said:
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 127
A Bahilite woman whom Time has deprived of new and old gifts
Blames me for giving up the quest for wealth;
She sees women around her, trailing their garments
And wearing necklaces that adorn their necks.
What pleases you is that I receive what Ja'far received
In life and what YaJ:iya ibn Khalid did,
And that the Commander of the Faithful strike me
As he struck them with sharp swords.
Leave me alone, my death will come to me peaceably
Without taking upon myself the dangers of those expedients.
For whoever aspires to reach high places
Will be afflicted with all kinds of disasters.
I have found the pleasures of life to be adulterated,
Stored up - as they are - in the bellies of lions.
And he said:
Until when will I continue to be settling down and then departing,
Being always preoccupied with going and coming?
Someone away from home continues to be estranged
From loved ones who [like mine] don't know in what condition I am.
At one time, I am in the east and then I am in the west;
Death does not occur to my mind, out of fear for safety.
I f I were contented, my subsistence would come to me with ease;
Wealth lies not in the abundance of money but in contentment.
***
'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas said, "Contentment is wealth that is never depleted."
***
'Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him, said, "Subsistence is of two
kinds: one is subsistence that you seek; and another is subsistence which seeks
you and which, if you don't go to it, will come to you."
***
I:Iabib said:
Don't be worried about your subsistence, for
It will come when you have not sent a messenger to it.
***
 128
THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
In a book of the Indians, there is the following, "A seeker of a livelihood ou ht
not to seek _more tha suffici ncy by which to repel being needy; anythfn g
beyo d hat 1s onl_y n mcrease m his fatigue and grief."
Similar to this is the saying of the wise men, "The least things of the
world suffice, but an abundance of them is not enough."
***
Abo Dhu'ayb said:
One:s o I is desirous o f more, i f one lets it desire more;
But i f 1t 1s reduced to little, it will be content.
***
Christ, peace be_upon him, said, "I wonder at you! You work hard for this world
where you are given sustenance without work; and you don't work hard fior th e
hereafter where you will not be given sustenance except by hard work."
***
Al-I:Iasan said, '?'he_Je':s reproached Jesus, peace be upon him, for [commendi n g]
poverty, so_ he said, It 1s by wealth that you have been destroye d.'"
Ma):imud al-Warraq borrowed this idea and said:
0 you who condemn poverty, will you not restrain yourself?
The defects o f wealth are more, i f you reflect.
One o f the honorable qualities o f poverty and its superiority
Over wealth, i f you think clearly about the matter
Is that you have to disobey [God] to obtain wealth
But you don't have to disobey Him to become poo .
***
Ibrahim
S u ? n s::d on the authority of ughi a who had reported the saying from
Ibrahim, People used to hate seekmg a livelihood in far-off parts of the earth."
***
Al-A <ma h_said, "Al-Bunani gave me his big tents to use in my travel to a certain
metro ohs, so I asked Ibrahim and he said, 'People used not to seek the world so
much. An d between that metropolis and Kufa was a travel distance of ten days."
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 129
Yonus ibn l:lahib
Al-A$ma <1 said on the authority of Yunus ibn I:Iab1b, "There can be no wealth
without faith, and there can be no poverty with it."
***
Khalid ibn Safwan was asked, "What made you wear this worn out robe
patiently?" He said, "Many a time, one cannot bear to give up an offensive
thing."
Between two wise men
A wise man wrote to another complaining of his adverse times, "There is no
one treated fairly by his times whose circumstances have disposed of him
according to his merits. You will find that men are of only two kinds: either one
who is progressing and held up by his bad fortune; or one lagging behind who is
set forward by his good luck. Therefore, be willi n gly satisfied with the condition
in which you are, although it may be below your expectation and merit, or else
you will have to accept it unwillingly."
***
Al-A):inaf ibn Qiys was asked, "What made you wear this robe patiently?" He
said, "The thing most worthy of enduring patiently is the thing that there is
no way of being separated from."
Between al-A$ma <1 and a bedouin woman
Al-A$ma <1 said, "I saw a beautiful bedouin woman begging at Mina. I said to
her, 'O handmaid of God, why are you beggi n g when you have such beauty?'
She said, 'This is God's fate; what can I do?' I asked her, 'What is the source
of your livelihood?' She said, 'These pilgrims. We give them to drink and we
wash their clothes.' I asked, 'And when the pilgrims leave, whence comes your
livelihood?' She looked at me and said, 'O man of noble forehead, if we knew
how our living would be, we would not have been able to live.'"
***
A man from Medina was asked, "What has made you patient with eating this
bread and these dates?" He replied, "I wish they were both patient with me!"
 THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 131
130 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE

all that is in it." Al-Rashid asked him, "What is it?" He said, "In the name
Being satisfied with God's destiny
of God, the enlightening and true King. 0 [man,] son of Adam, seize the
Wise men have said, "The basis of asceticism (al-zuhd) is being satisfied opportunity when it is possible, and entrust matters to those in charge of them.
with God."
Don't burden your heart with the worry of a day that has not yet come; for
Al Fuqayl ibn <Iyaq said, "Ask God about what is good for you, and don't if it is your lot on that day, God will provide you with your sustenance in it.
ask Him for what ou would choose as being good for you; for a man may And don't let your effort in seeking wealth be similar to that of the deluded
often choose somethmg that will destroy him." ones, for many a man garners for his wife's [next] husband. Know that a man's
Wise men have also said, "Many a man is envied for a prosperity that is his deprivation of himself is his savings for others. A happy man is the one who
.
ruseryi many a man is pitied for an illness that is his healing; and many a man learns the morale of these words and does not let them go by in vain." Al-Rashid
is considered happy for a blessing that is his bane."
said to him, "Repeat them to me, Basil." So the general repeated them until
A poet said: al-Rashid learned them by heart.
God may bless someone with a calamity, sometimes considerable,
And He may afflict someone else with blessings. ***
So eone said, "A friend of mine blamed me for seeking high ranks, so I recited
world. You have
to him: Al-l:lasan said, "O [man,] son of Adam, you are a captive of the
of its bliss,
been satisfied with what vanishes of its pleasures, what evanesces
don't collect burdens
I've often become poor but I did not give myself up to sadness
and what becomes depleted of its possessions. Therefore,
you will carry the
for yourself and wealth for your relatives; for when you die,
And I've often become rich but I did not become haughty tow rds anyone.
I am a man for whom the world is of little importance, and so
I am not anxious to have wealth in it or offspring."
burdens to your grave and leave your wealth to your relatives."
Abo al-'Atahiya borrowed this idea and said:
I was said, "Whoever seeks more than his sufficiency will have Time return You have left your wealth as an heirloom to its inheritor.
him to the utmost degree of it." I wish I knew what your wealth has left for you!
After you're gone, the people remain in a condition they like.
What will be your condition after they are gone?
One who deprives himself, leaving his wealth to his heir Bored with wailing, no one of them will be lamenting you
And long palaver will persists among them about the inheritance.
A saying by Malik
Reporting from Malik, Ziyad said, "Whoever is not good to himself will not ***
?e go d to others, for his own self is the worthiest of all selves, and if he lets
It he will_ be more likely to let others perish. And whoever loves his soul In a J:iadith authentically traced to Prophet Mubammad, we read, "The most
_pensh,
will tak care f 1t and_ prote t it, and he will avoid everything that brings shame regretful of all people on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who acquired
or lemish to It: he. will avoid theft lest his hand be cut off, adultery lest he be illegal wealth and entered hellfire because of it, but it was inherited by someone
subiect to legal pumshment, and killing for fear of retaliation." who used it in acts of obedience to God and thus entered Paradise because of it."

Al-Rashid and Heraclion's general lbn 'Umar's saying at the death oflbn I:Iaritha
'Ali ib_n Dawud, t e sec:etary, said, "When Ha.run al-Rashid conquered 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar was told, "Zayd ibn l:laritha died and left one hundred
Heracho and per itted his army to loot it for three days, its general who had thousand [dirhams]." He said, "But they did not leave him."
fo ht him was Bas,!. Al-Rashid saw him go to a wall on which there was Greek
w_nti and observed him as he looked intently at it. He called him and asked
him, Why ha e you left watching the looting and the taking of booty, and Al-l:lasan and lbn al-Ahtam in sickness
ha_ve !one to_ this wall to look at it?" "Commander of the Faithful," the general Al-l:lasan went to visit 'Abd Allah ibn al-Ahtam who was sick, and saw him
said, On this wall, I read the writing which is dearer to me than Heraclion and raising his eyes to a box and gazing at it. He then turned to al-l:lasan and said,

. . . . .--- , 1 ' - l . . . · • ·. . ........._.-., - - - ........._ _ _ .., . _ : _ . . . _ _ .. - - - . A . - - . ._ , . , . _ · . r l · - _..:._ _ _ .... ½ - \ . .


132 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
"Abu Sa'id, what would you say about one hundred thousand [dirhams] in this
box, of which I never paid any alms tax and never gave charity to any immediate
blood kin?" "May your mother be bereaved of you!" exclaimed al-I:lasan, "For
whom were you gathering this money?" 'Abd Allah ibn al-Ahtam said, "For
fear of the vicissitudes of time, the ruler's estrangement, and the boasting of
my tribe." He then died and al-I:lasan attended his funeral. When he finished
burying him, al-I:lasan hit his grave with his hand and said, "Look at this man,
whose demon came to him, warned him against the vicissitudes of his time, the
estrangement of his ruler, and the boasting of his tribe, and lured him away from
what God had entrusted him with and bestowed liberally on him. Look at him
going out of it all in disgrace and defeat." Then he added, "O inheritor, don't be
deceived as your little friend here has been yesterday. This wealth has now come
to you lawfully, so let it not be a curse on you. It has come to you incidentally
and with no strings attached, from someone who was a great gatherer of it and a
great withholder of it. He gathered it out of vain intention and withheld it from
rightful giving. In order to do that, he crossed the waves of the seas and the
wastelands of deserts. But you have not worked hard for it and your forehead
has not sweated because of it. The Day of Resurrection is a day of grief and
regret. One of the greatest sorrows in future is to see your wealth in the balance
of another man - what a sorrow that can't be described and what a repentance
that can't be obtained!"
Hisham ibn <Abd al-Malik on his deathbed
When Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik was dying, he looked at his family members
weeping for him. He said, "Hisham has given to you generously in this world,
and you have wept generously for him. He has left to you what he gathered, and
you have left on him what he carried. What an awful end Hisham will have if
God will not forgive him."
Decrease o f good and increase o f evil
<A im ibn I:lamid said on the authority of Mu'adh ibn Jabal, "You will see
nothing in this world but tribulations and temptations, and matters will only
get worse and imams will become increasingly cruder. Anything befalling you
that appals you will only be followed by another that will scorn it."
***
A poet said:
Good and evil increase and decrease:
Good decreases and evil increases.
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 133
I have never asked about any group of people whom
I knew to be virtuous but was told they had perished.[Quote/]
Isolation from people
The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Accustom
yourselves to being lonely rather than sitting with evil people."
He also said, "Islam started as a stranger [in society]; and when the Hour
[of Resurrection] comes, Islam will revert to being a stranger as it started."
Al-'Attabi said, "I found rest only in loneliness and I found company only
in desolation."
The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, "The best
among you are the pious and sincere ones who, when present, are not known
and, when absent, are not missed."
And he said, "Don't abandon your share of loneliness, for it is counted for
you as an act of worship."
Luqman advising his son
Luqman said to his son, "Seek God's protection against evil people, and be wary
of good people."
***
Ibrahim ibn Ad'ham said, "Flee from people as you would from a lion."
Ibrahim ibn Ad'ham was asked, "Why do you avoid people?" And he replied:
Be content with God as a companion
And leave people aside.
Scrutinize people as you wish,
You'll find them to be scorpions.
lbn al-Zayyat
Mul).ammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik al-Zayyat used to like the company of stupid
people and feel an aversion to that of the intelligent. When he was asked about
this, he said, "The burden of being always cautious is difficult."
***
Ibn Mul).ayriz said, "If you can know and not be known, ask and not be asked,
and walk but not be walked to, then do so."
***
 134 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 135

Ayyob al-Sikhtiyani said, "Whenever God loves a servant of His, He loves God, may He be blessed and exalted, said, "Have you not seen those who
that he not be known." hold themselves to be pure? Nay, it is only God who considers pure whomsoever
He pleases." [ Q 4:49]
*** Al-1:Iasan said, "A man disparaging himself openly is praising himself in
secret."
Al-'Attabi was asked, "With whom do you sit these days for company?" He It was said, "Whoever discloses his own defect has just purified himself."
replied, "With one who, if I spit in his face, will not be angry." He was asked, It was said, "God revealed to His servant David, 'O David, deal with people
"And who is it?" He said, "The wall." according to their characters, and restrict the question of belief to you and Me.'"
Thabit al-Bunani said, "I entered into the presence of David and he asked
*** me, 'What brought you to me?' I replied, 'I've come to visit you.' David said,
'And who am I [to deserve] that you come to visit me? Am I one of the fervent
The poet Di'bil was asked, "What is desolation m your view?" He replied, worshipers? No, by God. Or am I one of the ascetics? No, by God.' Then he
"Looking at people." Then he added in verse: began to rebuke himself, saying, 'In my youth, I was a sinner; then in my old age,
I have become a hypocrite. By God, a hypocrite is worse than a sinner.'"
How many people are, or rather how few!
God knows I am not saying an untruth.
When I open my eyes, I see many indeed,
Between two worshipers
But in fact I see nobody. A worshiper met another and said to him, "By God, I love you in God." The
other worshiper said, "By God, if you become cognizant of my heart, you will
*** hate me in God."

lbn Abi I:Iazim said: Mu'awiya and a m a n

Renounce power gladly and willingly
And be content with loneliness as a happy state.
There is no one [on earth] who is worth
A penny when he is deeply known.
I have experienced all manner of people
But I did not find a free man among them.
The sweetest of people when they are seen
Become bitter when they are tasted.
Having a high opinion of one's work
'Umar ibn al-Khanab said, "There are three ruinous qualities: a stinginess
that is obeyed, a passion that is followed, and having a high opinion of
oneself."
In the I:Iadith, we read, "Not performing any act of obedience is better
than priding oneself on one's obedience."
It was said, "Someone who laughs and admits his offense is better than
one who weeps and takes liberties with his Lord."
It was also said, "An evil deed that torments you is better than a good deed
that pleases you."
Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan asked a man, "Who is the chieftain of your people?"
The man replied, "I am." Mu'awiya retorted, "If you were so, you would not
have said it."
***
Mal:imud al-Warraq said:
You disobey God and pretend to love Him.
This is an amazing absurdity in logic.
I f you loved Him in your heart, you would obey Him;
For a lover obeys the one he loves.
He tests you every day by bestowing a blessing
On you, and yet you neglect to thank Him for that.
Ibn Sirin's humility
Abo al-Ash'ath said, "We went to see lbn Sirin and found him praying. He
thought we admired his performance of the prayer. When he finished it and
turned to us, he said, 'It is hypocrisy that I fear."'
 136 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
Hypocrisy
A saying by the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace
Ziyad said on the authority of Malik, "The Prophet, may God bless him and
grant him peace, said, 'Beware of the lesser polytheism.' So he was asked,
'And what is the lesser polytheism?' He said, 'Hypocrisy." '
***
<Abd Allah ibn Mas <ud said, "I heard the Prophet, may God bless him and
grant him peace, say, 'There ought to be no hypocrisy or showing-off [in your
lives]. Whoever shows off, God will show him off."'
And he also said, may God bless him and grant him peace, "Whenever a man
entertains a secret thought, God will clothe him with its relevant attire: if it is
good, his attire will be good; and if it is bad, his attire will be bad."
Luqman advising his son
The wise man Luqman said to his son, "Be mindful of one quality that deserves
being on one's guard against." "What is it?" asked his son. Luqman said, "Be
careful not to pretend to people that you fear God when your heart is sinful."
***
In the l::ladith we read, "Whoever is good in his heart of hearts will have God
render his life in public good too."
***
A poet said:
When you show something good in public,
Let what you keep in secret be better than it.
He who keeps goodness in secret will be marked with it,
And he who keeps evil in secret will be marked with it too.
Al-Ash <ath on unexacting prayer
Al-Ash<ath led others in prayer and was not exacting [in its length]. He
was told, "How light your prayer is!" He said, "It was not adulterated with
any hypocrisy."
***
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 137
A hypocrite led prayers and was told, "How beautiful your prayer is!" He said,
"And yet, I am fasting too."
Tahir and al-Marwazi
Tahir ibn al-l::lusayn asked Abu <Abd Allah al-MarwazI, "How long have you
been in Iraq?" He said, "Twenty years, and I have regularly fasted for thirty
years." Tahir commented, "Abu <Abd Allah, we have asked you one question
and you have answered two."
<Um ar ibn al-Khanab
Al-A ma <I said, "Ibrahim ibn al-Ql <qa< ibn l::lakim informed me, saying, ' <Umar
commanded that a man be given a bag, so the [overly eager] man asked, "Shall
I grab the string?" <Umar replied, "Put down the bag!"'"
Al-1:Iasan and someone
A man said to al-l::lasan after having written a contract with him, "Will you
now make me free of the dust of your wall?" "Yes indeed, son of my brother,"
al-l::lasan replied, "your piety cannot be denied."
***
Ma}:imud al-Warraq said:
They pretended to people they were religious
But [in reality] they revolved around money:
T o it they prayed, and for its sake they fasted,
And to it they went on pilgrimage and made shrine visits.
I f money were to loom over them above the Pleiades
And they had feathers, they would fly to it.
***
Musawir al-Warraq said:
Turn up your garment and get ready for him who extols your goodness
And rub your forehead with garlic to pretend you performed prostrations.
Adhere to al-GhanawI and sit with him
So that you may acquire an orphan's trust in his custody,
And when you enter to greet al-Rabl C,
Specify your request by your greeting.
He also said:
 138 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE THEBOOKOFTHEEMERALD 139

He became a mystic so that he might be said to be honest.

"'An Israelite set a trap, and a female bird came and alighted by it. She asked
But what is the meaning of this mysticism and this honesty
When he did not want God by them but
[the man], "Why do I see you with a hunched back?" He replied, "Because I pray
Rather wanted them to be a means for deception? frequently." She asked, "Why do I see your bones protruding?" He replied,
"Because of my many fasts." She asked, "Why do I see you wearing woollen
*** clothes?" He replied, "Because of my ascetic abstention from the world." She
asked, "And what for is this stick you hold?" He replied, "I lean on it and use
it for other needs." She asked, "And what for is this grain in your hand?" He
Al-Ghazzal said:
replied, "It is an offering. If a poor creature passes by me, I give it to him." She
After he had appointed a man he thought to be just, said, "I am a poor creature." He said, "Then, take it." She gripped the grain and
Judge M u <adh asked me in consultation lo, the trap snapped on her neck; so she began crying, "Caw, caw!" Al-Khushani
"Pray tell, what do you think the man ; i l l do?" said, 'The interpretation of the cry is: No hypocritical ascetic will ever deceive
I said, "What do wasps do to bees? me after you.'"
They destroy their hives and eat their honey,
And leave to the flies what remains."
Invocation [o f God]
*** The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Invocation [of God]
is the Believer's weapon."
Abu 'Uthman al-MazinI said to someone who had behaved hypocritically and He also said, "Invocation [of God] repels fate, and charity (al-birr) prolongs
whom God Almighty disgraced: lifetime."
While I was tearful in my repentance He also said, "Invocation [of God] between the call to prayer [from the
And being compared to Abo Duwad minaret] and the second call [in the mosque indicating the imminent beginning
Having acquired learning by heart of the ritual] is not be declined."
And having been used as a source by attesters, The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Meet a tribulation
Satan came to my mind of a sudden with an invocation [of God]."
And I was reverted to a beginner's learning. God, Most High, said, "Call unto Me and I will answer you." [ Q 40:60]
And He also said, "If only, when Our might came upon them, they had
Abo al- <Atahiya and a mystic beseeched Me! But their hearts were hard." [ Q 6:43]
The son of Abu a_I- <Arahiya said, "My father sent me to <Abd Allah ibn <Abbas said, "When you invoke God, let there be in your
_ a mystic who had invocation a blessing on the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace; for a
smea ed one of his eyes with pitch; he wanted me to
ask him about the blessing on the Prophet is accepted [by God], and He is too generous to accept
meanmg of that, and the mystic said, 'Seeing the world
with my two eyes is part of your invocation and decline another part."
an extrava?ance.' That is what he thought. When my
father heard the story ' he Sa'Id ibn al-Musayyib said, "I was sitting between the [Prophet's] tomb
wrote to him:
and the pulpit and I heard someone say, 'O God, I ask You to provide me with
0 you, wh_o - out of piety - smeared your eye with pitch, righteous work, abundant subsistence and a settled life.' I turned around but
You have intended by that to create an innovation. saw no one."
You are depraved, and the most vicious of men and jinn
Is a mystic when he is depraved.
<A>isha on the Prophet, God bless h i m and grant h i m peace
Hisham ibn 'Urwa related on the authority of his father that he had heard 'A'isha
The Israelite's trap and the bird
say, "In the night of the middle of Sha'ban, I was lying next to God's Messenger,
YaJ:iya
_ibn Abd al- Aziz said, "Na'Im related the following story to me on the
< <
may God bless him and grant him peace, and my skin was touching his when
authonty flsma'Il (a m n descended from the offspring of I fell asleep. Then I woke up and became aware that God's Messenger, may
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq),
who took 1t from Wahb tbn Munabbih: God bless him and grant him peace, was no longer next to me. I was overtaken
 THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 141
140 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE

by the jealousy that women usually have, so I wrapped myself with my shawl conceited by Your protection shielding me, despite my overwhelming misery
- and by God, it was neither of silk, nor of cotton, nor of linen." She was and prior destiny. Who will save me now from your retribution? Whose rope
asked, "What kind of fabric was it then, 0 Mother of the Faithful?" She replied, will I cling to, if You cut off Your rope to me? How sorry I will be to stand in
"Its warp was of [goat] hair and its woof of camel fur." Then she continued, "So front of You tomorrow when those with light baggage will be told to pass and
I looked for him, bending low, and found him prostrated like a fallen garment those with [heavy] offenses will be told to halt!"
with his face to the ground and saying in his prostration, 'My mind and my bod;
are prostrate to You, and my heart believes in You. Here is my hand, with which CUrwa ibn al-Zuba yr and his confide ntial invocat ion
I have not committed a sin to ruin my soul. 0 You, who are the hope for Abo al-1:Iasan said, "After his leg was amputated and his son died, <Urwa ibn
every great act, forgive my great offense.' I said to him, '[I redeem you] by my al-Zubayr used to say in his confidential invocation, 'They were four', meaning
father and mother, 0 Messenger of God. You are occupied with one thing his sons, 'and You have taken one and left me three; and they were four', meaning
and I am with another.' He raised his head, then went back to his prostration his hands and legs, 'and You have taken one and left me three. Even though You
and said, 'With Your face, for which the seven heavens and the seven earths afflicted me, You have often given me health and well-being, and even though
have become bright, I take refuge from the suddenness of Your retribution You punished me, You have often bestowed blessings on me.'"
from the transformation of Your goodwill, and from the harm of a writ that ha
been predetermined. I seek protection from Your anger by resorting to Your ***
atisfaction, I solicit Your pardon to circumvent Your punishment, I take refuge
m You from You, and I cannot praise You as comprehensively as You have
When David used to pray in the middle of the night, he used to say, "Eyes
praised Yourself.' When he finished his prayer, I walked in front of him and
have slept and stars have set, but You are alive and everlasting. Forgive me my
entered the room as I was breathing audibly. He said, 'What is the matter with
great offense, for only the great One forgives a great offense. To you I have
you, 'A'isha?' So I told him the story, and he said, rubbing his knees, 'Woe to
raised my head like a humble slave looking up to his majestic master."
these knees for what they have experienced tonight.' Then he added, 'Do
you know what night this is, 0 'A'isha?' I said, 'God and His Apostle know best.'
He said, may God bless him and grant him peace, 'Tonigh t is the night of the
***
middle of Sha'ban, and in it the appointed times of death are determined and
the values of deeds are fixed.'" Part of Joseph's prayer was the following, "O my aid in my distress, 0 my
friend in my exile away from home, 0 my help in my difficulty, 0 my hope when
my effort fails: grant me relief and give me an exit."
An invocat ion o f l b n Dharr
Al-'Utbi said on the authority of his father, "I went [on pilgrimage] to Mecca ***
with <Umar ibn Dharr. When he recited his talbiya (obedient response to God
to perform the pilgrimage), no one reciting it had a more beautiful voice. When
'Abd Allah ibn Tha <Jaba al-Ba ri used to say, "In Your forbearance, You are
he arrived at the Holy Sanctuary, he said, 'O Lord, we continued to go down
disobeyed but appear as though You do not see; and in Your generosity and
valleys and up hills, to rise to plateaus and see mountains ahead until we came to
abundant grace, You give as if You are not giving. Has there been a time when
You [on our camels] with their paws worn out, their backs sorely wounded and
the inhabitants of Your earth have not disobeyed You? And yet, You turned to
their humps withered. Our greatest trouble is not the exhaustion of our bodies
them with forgiveness and with generous grace."
but the fear that you may send us back disappointed for not having received
Your mercy, 0 You who are the best of those who are visited." ' ***
***
Part of the invocation of <Ali ibn al-I:Iusayn, may God be pleased with both
of them, is the following, "I take refuge in You lest my public life be seen as
Another person recited the following invocation at <Arafat: "O Lord, I have not
good, and my secret life be considered evil in the hidden feelings of the hearts.
disobeyed You, when I did, out of ignorance on my part of Your right, nor out
0 God, inasmuch as I have offended You and You treated me well, do likewise
of disdain for your punishment. But I had confidence in Your pardon, and I was
 142 THE U IQUE NECKLACE
return to me when I return to You, and grant me the consolation of him upon
whom You have been strict inasmuch as You have been lenient to me."
An invocation o f someone
Al-Shaybani said, "People in Baghdad were afflicted by a dark wind and I
heard a man _in t?e mosque saying as he prostrated himself, 'O God, p eserve
Mubammad in his community and don't let our enemies in other communities
gloat_over ou misfortun . If You have punished the common people because of
my sin, here 1s my head in Your hands [seize it instead]."'
***
Al-Fuqayl ibn 'lyaq used to say, "O my God, even if You torture me in hell
my love for You will not leave my heart and I will never forget Your good
deeds to me in the world."
***
Abd Allah ibn Mas ud said, "O God, give to me abundantly in the world and
<
induce me to abstain from it; and do not take it away from me and make me
desire it."
Abu al-Darda' and a prostrating m a n
Abu al-Darda> passed by a prostrating man who was saying, "O God, I am a
poor b ggar, so _enric me with the abundance of Your giving; I am a seeker of
protection who 1s afraid, so protect me from Your chastisement."
***
Al-A ma <i said, " <Ata' ibn Abi Rabab used to say in his invocation, 'O God
have on my estrangement in the world, my fall at the time of death, m ;
_mere
loneliness in the grave and my standing in front of you tomorrow."'
Ibn Ziyad and Abu Bakr ibn <Abd Allah
Al- <U tbi said, " <Abd al-Rabman ibn Ziyad said, 'My father fell sick and
wrote to Abu Bakr ibn <Abd Allah asking him to pray for him. So Abu Bakr
wrote back to him, saying, "It is right for someone to be afraid if he committed
an inexcusable sin and was afraid he would face inevitable dea h. I will pray for
you but I o ot hope my prayer will be strongly answered regarding an act
or concerning innocence from sin."'"
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 143
<Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan's invocation
Al-<Utbi said, "<Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan used to recite the following invocation
from the pulpit, 'O Lord, my sins are numerous and are beyond description, but
they are small compared with Your forgiveness; so forgive me."'
How invocation ought to b e
lbn <Abbas
Sufyan ibn <U yayna said on the authority of Abu Ma <bad who heard it from
CJkrima on the authority of lbn <Abbas, "Sincere devotion is like this" (and
he opened his left hand and pointed with the finger of his right hand); "and
invocation is like this" (and he gestured with his palms towards heaven);
"and supplication is like this" (and he raised both hands above his head with
their backs towards his face).
Ja<far ibn Mu ammad and Sufyan al-Thawri
Sufyan al-Thawri said, "I entered the presence of Ja <far ibn Mubammad, may
God be pleased with both of them, and he said to me, 'O Sufyan, whenever your
worries are many, say often, "There is no power and no strength save in God."
And whenever blessings come to you in great numbers, say often, "Praise be to
God." And whenever subsistence is slow to come to you, seek forgiveness often."'
***
<Abd Allah ibn <Abbas said, "No great sin coexists with forgiveness, and no small
sin coexists with persistence."
***
<Ah ibn Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him, said, "I wonder at someone
who perishes when salvation is at his disposal." He was asked, "And what is it?"
He said, "Seeking forgiveness."
The invocation o f the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace,
and o f Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and CUmar, m a y God be pleased with them
The invocation o f the Prophet, God bless h i m and grant h i m peace
Umm Salama said, "The invocation of God's Messenger, God bless him and
grant him peace, was mostly, ' 0 Transformer of hearts, let my heart be firm in
keeping Your religion.'"
 144 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
Al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba said, "God's Messenger, God bless him and grant
him peace, used to say on ending his ritual prayer, 'There is no god but God
alone, and He has no partner. His is the Kingship, and to Him is praise. And
He is powerful to do everything."
Abu Bakr's invocation
At the end of his sermons, Abo Bakr al-Siddiq, God be pleased with him, used
to say, "O God, let the best part of my time be its last, the best of my deeds
their conclusions, and the best of my days the day I meet You."
'l..Jmar's invocation
At the end of his sermons, <U mar, God be pleased with him, used to say,
"O God, don't leave me flooded by adversities, don't take me in a moment of
inadvertence, and don't count me among the neglectful."
Invocation in times o f distress
Invocation by the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace
<Abd Allah ibn Mas <od said, "God's Messenger used to say, 'There is no human
being afflicted by a worry and saying the following who will not be relieved by
God from his worry and given joy in place of his grief:
0 God, I am Your servant, the son of Your servant and Your maid. M y head is
in Your hand, Your judgment is effective on me, and Your sentence is just. I ask
You by every name that You have called Yourself, that you have mentioned in
Your Book, taught to anyone of Your creatures, or exclusively appropriated
in the unknown knowledge which You have - make the r >an the light of my
heart, the springtime of my soul, the clearance of my sorrow, and the reprieve
ofmy worry.'"
And it was said, "The words of relief from every distress are, 'There is no
god save the generous and clement God. Praise be to God, Lord of the great
throne; and thanks be to God, Lord of the worlds.'"
Words that Adam uttered to his Lord
"O God, there is no god but You. Praise and thanks be to You. I have done a
bad deed and wronged myself, so pardon me. You are truly the merciful
forgiving One."
- - -
- - - - . . . . -· ---
- - -· -
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 145
The greatest name o f God
<Abd Allah ibn Yazid said on the authority of his father, "The Prophet, God
bless him and grant him peace, heard a man saying, 'O God, I beseech You by
[the fact] that You are the One, the Everlasting Resort, Who begets not and is
not begotten, and to Whom there is no equal.' The Prophet, God bless him and
grant him peace, said, 'You have beseeched God by His greatest name which, if
He is called by it, He will answer; and if He is beseeched by it, He will give.'"
Asma> bint Yazid said on the authority of the Prophet, God bless him and
grant him peace, "The greatest name of God is between the two verses: 'And
your God is One God; there is no god but He, the Compassionate, the Merciful'
[ Q 2: 163] and the beginning [of the sura] of The House of <Jmran, <Alif Lam
Mim. God, there is no god but He, the Living, the Everlasting.' [ Q 3:2-3]
Seeking forgivene ss
The Prophet's, God bless him and grant him peace
Shaddad ibn Aws said on the authority of the Prophet, God bless him and
grant him peace, "The most supreme way of seeking forgiveness is that you
say, 'O God, You are my Lord, there is no god but You. You created me and
I am Your servant and, as far as I can, I will keep my pledge to You and my
promise. I take refuge in You from the evil I committed, I acknowledge Your
benefaction to me, and I admit my offense; so forgive me, for no one but You
forgives offenses.'"
lbn Mas <ud's
Al-Aswad and <Alqama said, " <Abd Allah ibn Mas <od said, 'In God's Book,
there are two verses by which, if anybody commits an offense and recites, and
then seeks God's forgiveness, he will be forgiven by God. They are: "Those
who, when they commit an indecent offense or wrong themselves, remember
God and seek forgiveness for their offenses (and who but God forgives offenses?)
and do not persist knowingly in the things they did" [ Q 3:135] and "And
whoever does evil or wrongs himself, and then seeks God's forgiveness will
find God most forgiving and merciful." [ Q 4: 110]"'
***
Abo Sa <Id al-KhudrI said, "Whoever says five times, 'I seek the forgiveness
of God, other than whom there is no god, He is the living everlasting, and I turn
to Him penitently' will be forgiven even if he has run away from [his duty in]
a marching army."
- - - \
- .
 146 THE UNIQUE NECKLACE
A traveller's invocatio n
The Prophet's, God bless him and grant him peace
<Jkrima said on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, "When he wanted to travel, God's
Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to say, 'O God, You
are the companion in travel and the guardian in sedentary life. 0 God, I take
refuge in You from the difficulties of travel and the dejection of the return, from
falling into a bad state of affairs after a good one, and from bad supervision of
family and wealth.'"
Umm Salama's
Al-Sha'bi reported that Umm Salama said, "The Prophet, God bless him and
grant him peace, used to say when he went on a trip, 'O God, I take refuge in
You from erring or making others err, from straying or making others stray,
from wronging others or being wronged by others, and from being foolish or
making others behave foolishly with me.' And she said, 'Whoever went out [on
a trip] obeying God and said, "O God, I have gone out neither arrogantly nor
proudly, and neither hypocritically nor to seek reputation, but I have gone out
seeking your pleasure and fearing your wrath. I therefore beseech you by your
right over all your creatures to provide me with more good than I hope for and
to take away from me more evil than I fear," his invocation will be answered,
by God's permissio n."'
Invocatio n upon entering into a ruler's presence
Ibn 'Abbas
Sa'id ibn Jubayr said on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, "When you enter into
the presence of an awe-inspiring ruler and you fear that he may assail you, say,
'God is great, God is great, and He is mightier than what I fear and am wary
of. 0 God, Lord of the seven heavens and of the great throne, protect me from
your servant So-and-So, his soldiers, his adherents, and his followers. May Your
name be blessed, may Your praise be sung, may Your protege be strengthened
- there is no god but You.'"
Al-Man!jur andja <far ibn Mu}:lammad
Abu al-1:Iasan al-Mada'ini said, "When Abu Ja'far al-Man ur went on pilgrimage,
he passed by Medina and said to al-Rabi', 'Bring me Ja <far ibn MuJ:iammad. May
God kill me if I don't kill him.' Al-Rabi' temporized with him and al-Man ur
insisted, so Ja <far ibn MuJ:iammad came. When the curtain between them was
raised and Ja <far was in front of al-Man ur, the former whispered [something],
drew near and greeted [the caliph]. The latter said, 'May God not greet you, 0
THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 147
enemy of God. You dare create havoc in my realm? May God kill me i f don't
kill you!' Ja <far said, ' 0 Commander of the Faithful, Solomon, God bless him and
grant him peace, was received and he was thankful; Job was put to th test and
he endured; and Joseph was wronged and he forgave. You are their heir nd the
most worthy of following their example.' Abu Ja'far al-Man ur bowed his head
for a long time, then raised it and said to him, 'Come to me, 0 Abu 'Abd Allah.
You are close among those who are close [to me], you are strongly related to
me by blood, you are safe to deal with, and you are of no t ouble.' The he shook
his right hand and embraced him with his left, seated ht ne t to him_ on the
couch and made room for him on part of it, and turned to him with attention and
interest, asking him questions and conversing with him. Then he said, 'Hurry up
and bring to Abu <Abd Allah his permit, his suit, and his award.'" [Abu al-1:Iasan
al-Mada'ini continued the story, saying,] "Al-Rabi' said, 'When Abu 'Abd
Allah left and the curtain was drawn, I held him by his robe. He was afraid
and said, "I think, O Rabi', that we are both to be imprisoned!" I said, "This
[request] is from me and not from him." He said, "That is easier. Say, what_do
you need?" I said, "For three [nights], I have been defen ing ou and coaxmg
him concerning you. Then I saw that, when you entered mto his presence, you
whispered something; and then I saw that the crisis was dispelled you. Now
_from
I am the ruler's servant and I cannot be without him; therefore I hke you to teach
me it." He said, "Yes. Say: O God, guard me with your eyes that don't sleep,
and enclose me in your fold which cannot be desired [sufficiently]. I will not
perish when You are my hope. How many a blessing you favored me with and
I did not thank you enough for it, but You did not deprive me; and how many
an affliction you tested me with and I was not patient enough regarding it, but
you did not forsake me. O God, in You I take shelter from his killing, and in
Your goodness I take refuge from his evil."'"
Invocatio n before and after eating
Whoever says when starting to eat, "In the name of God, the best of names on
earth and in heaven: no disease can be harmful when His name is mentioned
_ O God, let there be remedy and healing in it" shall not be harmed by that
food, whatever it is.
When the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, finished eating, he
used to say, "Praise be to God who has graciously bestowed upon us and has
guided us, fed us, and given us to drink, and who has permitted us to have every
creditable performance."
Invocation on hearing the call to prayer
Whoever says on hearing the call to prayer, "I have accepted God as Lord,
Islam as religion, and MuJ:iammad as prophet" shall have his sins forgiven.
148 THE U IQUE NECKLACE THE BOOK OF THE EMERALD 149

The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whenever you hear
the call to prayer, say what the muezzin says."
Invocation at an evil omen
The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever sees anything
[ominous] he dislikes in a flying bird and says, 'O God, there is no bird but
Your bird, no good but Your good, and no god but You' shall not be harmed."
The hour when an invocation is answered
Al-Fuqayl said on the authority of Abo l:Iazim who heard the saying from Abu
On this theme, we said:
Salama ibn 'Abd al-Ra):iman who had heard it from some of the Companions of
God's Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, that they agreed that the
hour when an invocation is answered is the last hour of Friday.
Incantations
Anas ibn Malik said, "The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, used to
say, 'O God, I take refuge in You from a learning that is not beneficial, from a
heart that does not have humility, from an invocation that is not heard, and from
a soul that is not satisfied: 0 God, I take refuge in You from these four."'
He also said, may God bless him and grant him peace, "Whoever says in the
evening and the morning, 'I take refuge in the perfect and blessed words of God
that no righteous or sinful man can transcend, from the evil that may descend
from the sky, the evil that may ascend in it, and the evil that may be sown in the
earth and grow out of it', shall not be harmed by any demon or vermin."
Travelling by night, it did not journey on earth seeking
A location, and its leader did not cross deserts with it.
It travelled by night where caravans did not, it did not halt
At a watering place, and its rein was not shortened by any restrainer.
It continued to follow the night as its darkness
Fell, in which some slept and others stayed up to chat.
The gates of Heaven opened up at its arrival
When a knocker knocked on them.
When it asked, God did not decline its request
For its people - for God sees and hears.
Indeed, I have hope in God so much that
It is as if I see in imagination what God will do.
O my son, if your sickness and emaciation have thwarted the efforts
Of the physician lbn Muslim and the eloquence of an articulate man,
I will surely offer in the darkness an invocation which,
Whenever a man invokes God with it, will be heard.
Its sobbing words have shaken my ribs,
And my tears and supplication have interceded with them.
I flee to Him who dispels grief and answers prayers -
He is the best resort to take refuge in.
0 You, who are the best to be invoked, listen and hear:
I have no intercessor but Your grace; pray intercede.

An incantation with which the Prophet, God bless him and grant
him peace, sought protection for al-l:lasan and al-l:lusayn
Masruq reported on the authority of 'A'isha, may God be pleased with her,
that she said, "God's Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, used
the following words as an incantation for al-1:Iasan and al-1:Iusayn, may God be
pleased with both of them, 'I seek protection for you both by the perfect words
of God from every evil eye and from every demon and vermin.'"

***
Abraham, God bless him and grant him peace, used to seek protection by
incantations for Isma'il and Is-}:iaq.
An Arab bedouin said, describing an invocation: