١٠ - باب في المبادرة إلى الخيرات وحث من توجه لخير على الإقبال عليه بالجد من غير تردد

The first: On the authority of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Hasten to do good deeds before tribulations come like patches of the dark night, [in which] a man wakes in the morning a believer and by evening becomes a disbeliever, or by evening is a believer and wakes a disbeliever, selling his religion for some paltry worldly gain." Narrated by Muslim.

The second: On the authority of Abū Sirwaʿah — [spelt] with a kasrah on the unpointed sīn or with a fatḥah — ʿUqbah ibn al-Ḥārith (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I prayed the ʿAṣr prayer behind the Prophet ﷺ in Medina. He gave the salām, then rose hurriedly and stepped over the necks of the people [making his way] to one of his wives' chambers. The people were alarmed at his haste. He came out to them and, seeing that they were astonished at his speed, he said, "I remembered some gold we had, and I disliked that it should detain me, so I ordered that it be distributed." Narrated by al-Bukhārī. In another narration of his: "I had left behind in the house some gold from the charity, and I disliked keeping it overnight." Al-tibr: pieces of gold or silver.

The third: On the authority of Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: A man said to the Prophet ﷺ on the day of Uḥud, "Tell me, if I am killed, where shall I be?" He said, "In Paradise." So he cast aside some dates that were in his hand, then fought until he was killed. Agreed upon (al-Bukhārī and Muslim).

The fourth: On the authority of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "O Messenger of Allah, which charity is greatest in reward?" He said, "That you give in charity while you are healthy and tight-fisted, fearing poverty and hoping for wealth; and do not delay until, when [the soul] has reached the throat, you say, 'For so-and-so this much, and for so-and-so that much,' when it has already come to belong to so-and-so." Agreed upon (al-Bukhārī and Muslim). Al-ḥulqūm: the passage of breath. And al-marīʾ: the passage of food and drink.

The fifth: On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took up a sword on the day of Uḥud and said, "Who will take this from me?" So they stretched out their hands, each man among them saying, "I will, I will." He said, "Then who will take it with its due right?" At that the people held back. Then Abū Dujānah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I will take it with its due right," so he took it and with it split open the heads of the polytheists. Narrated by Muslim. The name of Abū Dujānah is Simāk ibn Kharashah. His words "aḥjama al-qawm" mean: they held back. And "falaqa bihi" means: he split [it]. "Hāma al-mushrikīn" means: their heads.

The sixth: On the authority of al-Zubayr ibn ʿAdī, who said: We came to Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) and complained to him of what we were suffering at the hands of al-Ḥajjāj. He said, "Be patient; for no time will come but that the one after it is worse than it, until you meet your Lord. I heard this from your Prophet ﷺ." Narrated by al-Bukhārī.

The seventh: On the authority of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Hasten to do good deeds before [the coming of] seven: are you waiting for anything but poverty that makes one forgetful, or wealth that makes one transgress, or sickness that corrupts, or doddering old age, or a sudden death, or the Dajjāl — for he is the worst awaited absentee — or the Hour? — and the Hour is more calamitous and more bitter." Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who said, "A good (ḥasan) hadith."

The eighth: On his authority [Anas]: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said on the day of Khaybar, "I shall certainly give this banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, by whose hands Allah will grant victory." ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I never longed for command except on that day, and I stretched myself up towards it, hoping to be called for it. But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ summoned ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) and gave it to him, and said, "Advance and do not turn aside until Allah grants you victory." ʿAlī advanced a little, then stopped and did not turn, and called out, "O Messenger of Allah, for what shall I fight the people?" He said, "Fight them until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah. If they do that, then they have protected from you their blood and their property, except by its due right, and their reckoning is with Allah." Narrated by Muslim. "Fa-tasāwartu" — it is with the unpointed sīn — means: I sprang up, straining eagerly.