In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
رياض الصالحينAbū Zakariyyā Muḥyī al-Dīn Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawīمقدمة المؤلف
مقدمة المؤلف
All praise is due to Allah, the One, the All-Subduing, the Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving, who wraps the night over the day as a reminder to those possessed of hearts and insight, and as an enlightenment to those endowed with understanding and reflection; who awakened from among His creation those whom He chose, making them renounce this world and occupying them with watchful awareness of Him and constant reflection, and with clinging to admonition and remembrance; who granted them success in persevering in His obedience, in preparing for the Abode of Permanence, in being wary of what angers Him and brings about the Abode of Perdition, and in maintaining all that through the changing of states and conditions. I praise Him with the most far-reaching of praise and the purest of it, the most comprehensive and the most abundant. I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah, the Most Kind, the Most Generous, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful; and I bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, His beloved and His intimate friend, the guide to a straight path and the caller to an upright religion. May the blessings of Allah and His peace be upon him, and upon all the prophets, and the family of each, and all the righteous.
To proceed: Allah, the Exalted, has said:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.
وَهَذا تَصْريحٌ بِأَنَّهُمْ خُلِقوا لِلعِبَادَةِ، فَحَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الاعْتِنَاءُ بِمَا خُلِقُوا لَهُ وَالإعْرَاضُ عَنْ حُظُوظِ الدُّنْيَا بالزَّهَادَةِ، فَإِنَّهَا دَارُ نَفَادٍ لاَ مَحَلُّ إخْلاَدٍ، وَمَرْكَبُ عُبُورٍ لاَ مَنْزِلُ حُبُورٍ، ومَشْرَعُ انْفصَامٍ لاَ مَوْطِنُ دَوَامٍ، فلِهذا كَانَ الأَيْقَاظُ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا هُمُ الْعُبَّادُ، وَأعْقَلُ النَّاسِ فيهَا هُمُ الزُّهّادُ. قالَ اللهُ تعالى:
This is an explicit declaration that they were created for worship. It is therefore incumbent upon them to attend to that for which they were created, and to turn away from the fleeting shares of this world through abstinence; for it is an abode of perishing, not a place of everlasting stay; a vessel of passage, not a dwelling of joy; a watering-place of severance, not a homeland of permanence. For this reason, the watchful among its people are the worshippers, and the most sensible of people in it are the abstinent. Allah, the Exalted, has said:
إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا كَمَآءٍ أَنزَلْنَـٰهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَٱخْتَلَطَ بِهِۦ نَبَاتُ ٱلْأَرْضِ مِمَّا يَأْكُلُ ٱلنَّاسُ وَٱلْأَنْعَـٰمُ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَآ أَخَذَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ زُخْرُفَهَا وَٱزَّيَّنَتْ وَظَنَّ أَهْلُهَآ أَنَّهُمْ قَـٰدِرُونَ عَلَيْهَآ أَتَىٰهَآ أَمْرُنَا لَيْلًا أَوْ نَهَارًا فَجَعَلْنَـٰهَا حَصِيدًا كَأَن لَّمْ تَغْنَ بِٱلْأَمْسِ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
The example of [this] worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb - [those] from which men and livestock eat - until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified and its people suppose that they have capability over it, there comes to it Our command by night or by day, and We make it as a harvest,1 as if it had not flourished yesterday. Thus do We explain in detail the signs for a people who give thought.
والآيات في هذا المعنى كثيرةٌ.
The verses bearing this meaning are many.
ولقد أَحْسَنَ القَائِلُ :
How well the poet has spoken:
إِنَّ للهِ عِبَادًا فُطَنَا ... طَلَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا وخَافُوا الفِتَنَا
Indeed, Allah has servants endowed with discernment, who have divorced this world and feared its trials.
نَظَروا فيهَا فَلَمَّا عَلِمُوا ... أَنَّهَا لَيْسَتْ لِحَيٍّ وَطَنَا
They looked into it, and when they realised that it is no homeland for any living being,
جَعَلُوها لُجَّةً واتَّخَذُوا ... صَالِحَ الأَعمالِ فيها سُفُنا
they made it a deep sea, and took righteous deeds upon it as ships.
فإذا كَانَ حالُها ما وصَفْتُهُ، وحالُنَا وَمَا خُلِقْنَا لَهُ مَا قَدَّمْتُهُ؛ فَحَقٌّ عَلَى الْمُكلَّفِ أَنْ يَذْهَبَ بنفسِهِ مَذْهَبَ الأَخْيارِ، وَيَسلُكَ مَسْلَكَ أُولي النُّهَى وَالأَبْصَارِ، وَيَتَأهَّبَ لِمَا أشَرْتُ إليهِ، وَيَهْتَمَّ لِمَا نَبَّهتُ عليهِ. وأَصْوَبُ طريقٍ لهُ في ذَلِكَ، وَأَرشَدُ مَا يَسْلُكُهُ مِنَ المسَالِكِ، التَّأَدُّبُ بمَا صَحَّ عَنْ نَبِيِّنَا سَيِّدِ الأَوَّلينَ والآخرينَ، وَأَكْرَمِ السَّابقينَ والَّلاحِقينَ، صَلَواتُ اللهِ وسَلامُهُ عَلَيهِ وَعَلى سَائِرِ النَّبيِّينَ. وقدْ قالَ اللهُ تعالى:
Since the state of this world is as I have described, and our own state and that for which we were created is as I have set out earlier, it is incumbent upon the morally responsible person to take himself along the way of the best of people, to follow the path of those possessed of sound minds and insight, to prepare for what I have pointed to, and to give heed to what I have drawn attention to. The soundest road for him in that, and the most rightly guiding of the paths he may follow, is to adopt the conduct authentically established from our Prophet, the master of the first and the last, and the noblest of those who came before and after. May the blessings of Allah and His peace be upon him and upon all the prophets. Allah, the Exalted, has said:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُحِلُّوا۟ شَعَـٰٓئِرَ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا ٱلشَّهْرَ ٱلْحَرَامَ وَلَا ٱلْهَدْىَ وَلَا ٱلْقَلَـٰٓئِدَ وَلَآ ءَآمِّينَ ٱلْبَيْتَ ٱلْحَرَامَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرِضْوَٰنًا ۚ وَإِذَا حَلَلْتُمْ فَٱصْطَادُوا۟ ۚ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَـَٔانُ قَوْمٍ أَن صَدُّوكُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ أَن تَعْتَدُوا۟ ۘ وَتَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْبِرِّ وَٱلتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلْعُدْوَٰنِ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ
O you who have believed, do not violate the rites of Allāh or [the sanctity of] the sacred month or [neglect the marking of] the sacrificial animals and garlanding [them] or [violate the safety of] those coming to the Sacred House seeking bounty from their Lord and [His] approval. But when you come out of iḥrām, then [you may] hunt. And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from al-Masjid al-Ḥarām lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allāh; indeed, Allāh is severe in penalty.
وقد صَحَّ عَنْ رسولِ الله - ﷺ - أَنَّهُ قالَ: «واللهُ في عَوْنِ العَبْدِ مَا كَانَ العَبْدُ في عَوْنِ أَخِيهِ» ، وَأَنَّهُ قالَ: «مَنْ دَلَّ عَلَى خَيْرٍ فَلَهُ مِثْلُ أجْرِ فَاعِلِهِ» وأَنَّهُ قالَ: «مَنْ دَعَا إِلى هُدىً كَانَ لَهُ مِنَ الأَجرِ مِثْلُ أُجُورِ مَنْ تَبِعَهُ لاَ يَنْقُصُ ذلِكَ مِنْ أُجُورِهِمْ شَيئًا» وأَنَّهُ قالَ لِعَليٍّ - ﵁: «فَوَاللهِ لأَنْ يَهْدِي اللهُ بِكَ رَجُلًا وَاحِدًا خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنْ حُمْرِ النَّعَمِ» فَرَأَيتُ أَنْ أَجْمَعَ مُخْتَصَرًا منَ الأحاديثِ الصَّحيحَةِ، مشْتَمِلًا عَلَى مَا يكُونُ طَرِيقًا لِصَاحبهِ إِلى الآخِرَةِ، ومُحَصِّلًا لآدَابِهِ البَاطِنَةِ وَالظَاهِرَةِ. جَامِعًا للترغيب والترهيب وسائر أنواع آداب السالكين: من أحاديث الزهد ورياضات النُّفُوسِ، وتَهْذِيبِ الأَخْلاقِ، وطَهَارَاتِ القُلوبِ وَعِلاجِهَا، وصِيانَةِ الجَوَارحِ وَإِزَالَةِ
It is authentically established from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said: "Allah is in the aid of the servant so long as the servant is in the aid of his brother"; and that he said: "Whoever points the way to something good has the like of the reward of the one who acts upon it"; and that he said: "Whoever calls to guidance has a reward like the rewards of those who follow him, without that diminishing anything from their own rewards"; and that he said to ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him): "By Allah, that Allah should guide a single man through you is better for you than red camels." So I resolved to compile an abridgement of the sound hadiths, comprising what may be a path for its keeper to the Hereafter, and a means of securing its inward and outward refinements; gathering encouragement and warning and all the other kinds of etiquette of the wayfarers: from hadiths on renunciation, the disciplining of souls, the refinement of character, the purification of hearts and their treatment, the safeguarding of the limbs and the removal of
اعْوِجَاجِهَا، وغَيرِ ذلِكَ مِنْ مَقَاصِدِ الْعارفِينَ.
their crookedness, and other such aims of those who possess true knowledge of Allah.
وَأَلتَزِمُ فيهِ أَنْ لا أَذْكُرَ إلاّ حَدِيثًا صَحِيحًا مِنَ الْوَاضِحَاتِ، مُضَافًا إِلى الْكُتُبِ الصَّحِيحَةِ الْمَشْهُوراتِ. وأُصَدِّر الأَبْوَابَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ الْعَزِيزِ بِآياتٍ كَرِيماتٍ، وَأَوشِّحَ مَا يَحْتَاجُ إِلى ضَبْطٍ أَوْ شَرْحِ مَعْنىً خَفِيٍّ بِنَفَائِسَ مِنَ التَّنْبِيهاتِ. وإِذا قُلْتُ في آخِرِ حَدِيث: مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيهِ فمعناه: رواه البخاريُّ ومسلمٌ.
And in it I undertake to mention only a sound hadith from the clear [authentic] ones, in addition to the well-known authentic books. I open the chapters from the Noble Qur'an with noble verses, and I adorn what requires precision or explanation of a subtle meaning with choice reminders. When I say at the end of a hadith: *muttafaq ʿalayhi*, its meaning is: narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
وَأَرجُو إنْ تَمَّ هذَا الْكِتَابُ أَنْ يَكُونَ سَائِقًا للمُعْتَنِي بِهِ إِلى الْخَيْرَاتِ حَاجزًا لَهُ عَنْ أنْواعِ الْقَبَائِحِ والْمُهْلِكَاتِ. وأَنَا سَائِلٌ أخًا انْتَفعَ بِشيءٍ مِنْهُ أَنْ يَدْعُوَ لِي ، وَلِوَالِدَيَّ، وَمَشَايخي، وَسَائِرِ أَحْبَابِنَا، وَالمُسْلِمِينَ أجْمَعِينَ. وعَلَى اللهِ الكَريمِ اعْتِمادي، وَإِلَيْهِ تَفْويضي وَاسْتِنَادي، وَحَسبِيَ اللهُ وَنِعْمَ الوَكِيلُ، وَلاَ حَوْلَ وَلاَ قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِاللهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ.
I hope that when this book is completed it will be a guide for whoever devotes himself to it towards good deeds, and a barrier for him against kinds of foul acts and destructive sins. I ask any brother who benefits from anything in it to supplicate for me, for my parents, for my teachers, for all our loved ones, and for all Muslims altogether. Upon Allah the Generous is my reliance; to Him is my entrustment and my recourse. Allah is sufficient for me, and what an excellent Trustee; there is no power and no strength except through Allah, the Mighty, the Wise.