The person of knowledge should be compassionate, sincere in counsel, and free of envy — envy injures and never profits.
تعليم المتعلمal-Zarnūjīفِي الشَّفَقَةِ وَالنُّصْحَةِ
On Compassion and Sincere Counsel
Our master Shaykh al-Islām Burhān al-Dīn, may Allah have mercy on him, would say: They observed a teacher's son often becomes a scholar because the teacher longs for his pupil in Qur'anic studies to excel — through the blessing of his faith and tender concern his own child becomes learned.
Abū l-Ḥasan related that the eminent ṣadr Burhān al-Aʾimma assigned his sons — the martyred ṣadr Ḥusām al-Dīn and the fortunate ṣadr Tāj al-Dīn — their lesson after everyone else's, at late forenoon; they protested that their energy flags then. Their father replied: Foreigners and great men's sons travel from every corner — I must prioritise their sessions. Through that compassion's blessing his two sons surpassed most jurists of the age.
وَيَنْبَغِي أَنْ لَا يُنَازِعَ أَحَدًا وَلَا يُخَاصِمَهُ لِأَنَّهُ يُضِيعُ أَوْقَاتَهُ.
Quarrel and futile contention waste your hours — avoid them.
وَقِيلَ: الْمُحْسِنُ سَيُجْزَى بِإِحْسَانِهِ، وَالْمُسِيءُ سَتَكْفِيهِ مَسَاوِيهِ.
It is said: The doer of good will be repaid with good; the wrongdoer's own wrongs will suffice as his requital.
وَأَنْشَدَنِي الشَّيْخُ الْإِمَامُ الزَّاهِدُ الْعَارِفُ رُكْنُ الْإِسْلَامِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِي بَكْرٍ الْمَعْرُوفُ بِإِمَامِ خَوَاهَرْ زَادَهْ مُفْتِيَ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ رَحِمَهُ اللهُ، قَالَ: أَنْشَدَنِي سُلْطَانُ الشَّرِيعَةِ وَالطَّرِيقَةِ يُوسُفُ الْهَمَذَانِيُّ:
لَا تُجْزَ إنْسَانًا عَلَى سُوءِ فِعْلِهِسَيَكْفِيهِ مَا فِيهِ وَمَا هُوَ فَاعِلُهُThe ascetic imām, pillar of Islam Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr — known as Imām Khāhār Zāda, muftī of both armies — dictated to me; he said Yūsuf al-Hamadhānī, sultan of law and path, recited: / Do not requite a man only for his evil deed / his inward state and what he does will answer for him.
وَقِيلَ: مَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَرْغَمَ أَنْفَ عَدُوِّهِ فَلْيُكَثِّرْ. وَأَنْشَدْتُ هَذَا الشِّعْرَ:
إذَا شِئْتَ أَنْ تَلْقَى عَدُوَّكَ رَاغِمًاوَتَقْتُلَهُ غَمًّا وَتُحْرِقَهُ هَمًّافَارْتَقِ إلَى الْعُلَى وَازْدَدْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إنَّهُمَنِ ازْدَادَ عِلْمًا زَادَ حَاسِدُهُ غَمًّاIt is said: Whoever wishes to humble an enemy should simply increase (in good). I recited: / If you wish to meet your foe broken, / slaying him with grief, burning him with care — / then rise toward the heights and add knowledge; / whoever gains learning heaps grief on his envier.
وَقِيلَ: عَلَيْكَ أَنْ تَشْتَغِلَ بِمَصَالِحِ نَفْسِكَ لَا بِقَهْرِ عَدُوِّكَ، فَإِذَا أَقَمْتَ مَصَالِحَ نَفْسِكَ تَضْمَنُ ذَلِكَ قَهْرَ عَدُوِّكَ. إيَّاكَ وَالْمُعَادَاةَ فَإِنَّهَا تَفْضَحُكَ وَتُضِيعُ أَوْقَاتَكَ، وَعَلَيْكَ بِالتَّحَمُّلِ لَا سِيَّمَا مِنَ السُّفَهَاءِ.
It is said: Busy yourself with your own welfare, not crushing enemies — rectifying yourself guarantees their defeat. Shun enmity: it shames you and devours time. Practice forbearance, especially toward fools.
قَالَ عِيسَى بْنُ مَرْيَمَ صَلَوَاتُ اللهِ عَلَيْهِ: احْتَمِلُوا مِنَ السَّفِيهِ وَاحِدَةً كَيْ تَرْبَحُوا عَشْرًا.
ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, blessings upon him, said: Endure one slight from a fool to gain tenfold.
وَأَنْشَدْتُ لِبَعْضِهِمْ شِعْرًا:
بَلَوْتُ النَّاسَ قَرْنًا بَعْدَ قَرْنٍوَلَمْ أَرَ غَيْرَ خُتَّالٍ وَقَلَّالٍوَلَمْ أَرَ فِي الْخُطُوبِ أَشَدَّ وَقْعًاوَأَصْعَبَ مِنْ مُعَادَاةِ الرِّجَالِوَذِقْتُ مَرَارَةَ الْأَشْيَاءِ طَرَفًاوَمَا ذِقْتُ أَمَرَّ مِنَ السُّؤَالِI recited someone's verse: / I tested people century after century / and saw none but swindlers and misers; / I never saw in trials a blow harder / or more bitter than men's hostility; / I tasted the bitterness of things at last — / nothing was bitterer than begging.
وَإِيَّاكَ أَنْ تَظُنَّ بِالْمُؤْمِنِ سُوءًا فَإِنَّهُ مَنْشَأُ الْعَدَاوَةِ وَلَا يَحِلُّ ذَلِكَ، لِقَوْلِهِ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ: ظُنُّوا بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ خَيْرًا. وَإِنَّمَا يَنْشَأُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ خُبْثِ النِّيَّةِ وَسُوءِ السَّرِيرَةِ.
Never suspect ill of a believer — that seeds enmity and is not lawful. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Think well of believers.” Such suspicion grows from foul intention and a corrupted inner self.
كَمَا قَالَ أَبُو الطَّيِّبِ:
إذَا سَاءَ فِعْلُ الْمَرْءِ سَاءَتْ ظُنُونُهُوَصَدَقَ مَا يَعْتَادُهُ مِنْ تَوَهُّمٍوَعَادَى مُحِبَّيهِ بِقَوْلِ عُدَّاتِهِوَأَصْبَحَ فِي لَيْلٍ مِنَ الشَّكِّ مُظْلِمٍAs al-Mutanabbī said: / When a man's deeds turn foul, his suspicions sour / and every vain fancy he repeats rings true; / he drives away lovers with his slanderers' talk / and wakes in a night of doubt pitch-black.
وَأَنْشَدْتُ لِبَعْضِهِمْ:
تَنَحَّ عَنِ الْقَبِيحِ وَلَا تَرُدَّهُوَمَنْ أَوْلَيْتَهُ حُسْنًا فَزِدْهُسَتَكْفِيكَ مِنْ عَدُوِّكَ كُلَّ كَيْدٍإذَا كَادَ الْعَدُوُّ فَلَا تَكِدْهُI recited: / Shun the vile and do not hurl it back; / whoever repays you with good, increase him. / Every scheme of your enemy will fail you / when he plots — if you refuse to plot in return.
وَأَنْشَدْتُ لِلشَّيْخِ الْعَمِيدِ أَبِي الْفَتْحِ الْبُسْتِيِّ:
ذُو الْعَقْلِ لَا يَسْلَمُ مِنْ جَاهِلٍيَسُومُهُ ظُلْمًا وَإِعْنَاتًافَلْيَخْتَرِ السَّلْمَ عَلَى حَرْبِهِوَلْيَلْزَمِ الْإِنْصَاتَ إنْصَاتًاI recited al-Shaykh al-ʿAmīd Abū l-Fatḥ al-Bustī: / The man of sense is never safe from a fool / who drives him with wrong and spite; / let him choose peace over war / and hold fast to listening — deep listening.