Admonitions of the Salaf

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• • Admonitions in Two Sentences
  • Admonitions in Three Sentences
  • Admonitions in Four Sentences
  • Admonitions in Five Sentences

Admonitions in Two Sentences

• "He who enters the grave without provisions (good deeds), has, as if, he started swimming across the ocean without a vessel." [Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Worldy honour is derived from riches and the honour of the Hereafter is derived from the performance of good deeds." ['Umar - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Absorption in worldly affairs breeds darkness in the heart, and absorption in the affairs of the next world enkindles light in the heart." ['Uthman - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "He who seeks knowledge of religion (Islam), Paradise seeks him, and he who seeks deeds of vice, Hell seeks him." ['Ali - may Allah be pleased with him]

Admonitions in Three Sentences

• "There are three things that cannot be acquired by means of three other things: riches by means of desire, youth by means of khijab (dye of beard) and health by means of medicine." [Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "To maintain nice relations with the people is half of intelligence, nice questioning is half of knowledge, and nice domestic arrangements is half of the management of livelihood." ['Umar - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Allah, the Exalted, loves him who forgoes worldly life, the angels love him who rejects the vices, and the Muslims love him who gives up greediness in respect of the Muslims." ['Uthman - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Be a good man to Allah and a bad man to yourself (desires); and be one of the commoners among the people." ['Ali - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Give alms to anybody you like and become his master, beg from anybody you wish and become his captive, and you may remain self-dependent if you like so that you may be an equal to others." ['Ali - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "A great many people proceed towards evils on account of receipt of blessings, many people are ruined by praise, and many a man is deceived by Allah's protection (in concealing vices)." [Ibn Mas'ud - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Perform well those (things) that have been made compulsory for you, you will then be amongst the distinguished devotees. Refrain from those (things) that have been prohibited, you will then be amongst the distinguished pious men. Be content with those things that are allotted to you by Allah, you will then be amongst the richest." [Ibn Mas'ud - may Allah be pleased with him]
• He was asked, "Which of the days is the best?" He replied, "The day of congregation (Jumu'ah)." He was again asked, "Which of the months is the best?" He replied, "The month of Ramadhan." He was again asked, "Which of the deeds is the best?" He replied, "To punctually establish the five daily prayers." [Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "He who has no manners has no knowledge; he who has no patience has no Din, and he who has no piety has no nearness to Allah for him." [Al-Hasan al-Basri - may Allah have mercy upon him]
• "Those who were destroyed in the past, were surely destroyed because of three bad habits: Wasting time in useless talks, excessive eating, and excessive sleeping." [Ibrahim an-Nakha'i - may Allah have mercy upon him]
• "Rectify three things by three other things till you become amongst the faithful (mu'min): Pride by modesty, greed by contentment in a little, and envy by listening to advice." [Malik ibn Dinar - may Allah have mercy upon him]

Admonitions in Four Sentences

• "There are four types of oceans. Passions are the ocean of sins, the self (nafs) is the ocean of lust, death is the ocean of life, and the grave is the ocean of distress." ['Umar - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "There are four things with which Allah is pleased - the external side of them is blessing and the inner side of them is compulsion. It is a blessing to associate with the pious servants (salihun) of Allah, but it is a compulsion to follow them (in deeds). It is a blessing to recite the Qur'an, but it is compulsory to act according to it. It is a blessing to visit a grave, but it is a compulsion to make provisions for it. It is a blessing to take care of the sick, but it is a compulsion to take a lesson from it." ['Umar - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "By Allah! Whenever I endure any adversity I gain four blessings of Allah in exchange. The first of them is, when the adversity is not caused by my sin (virtue is earned). The second, when the adversity is not greater than my sin (virtue is earned). The third, when I am not deprived of contentment (virtue is earned). and the fourth, I hope for virtues thereby." ['Umar - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "I have got the taste of worship ('ibadat) in four things - firstly in the discharge of the compulsory duties (fara'id) prescribed by Allah; secondly in abstaining from the things forbidden (haram) by Allah; thirdly in enjoining performance of good deeds in the hope of earning virtues; and fourthly in prohibiting evil deeds in fear of the curse of Allah." ['Uthman - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Whoever desires Paradise, proceeds towards goodness; whoever fears Hell, refrains from the impulses of passions; whoever believes firmly in death, detests wordly life; and whoever recognises the worldly life, the trials and tribulations (of life) become slight for him." ['Ali - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Both religion and the world will exist so long as four things continue to exist - so long as the rich will not be miserly in spending in the path of Allah; so long as the learned will perform deeds in accordance with the knowledge acquired; so long as the ignorant will not display obstinacy and pride in what they do not know; and so long as the poor will not sell their Hereafter in exchange for the worldly life." ['Ali - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Four things are exceedingly difficult - to forgive while angry, to give alms during want, to abstain from sins in solitude, and to speak the truth before the person from whom may come fear or favour." ['Ali - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Four things produce darkness in the heart - to take excess meals recklessly, to bear company with the oppressors, to forget past sins, and to keep lofty desire. and four things produce light in the heart - to keep the stomach hungry for fear of sins, to keep company with the righteous (salihun), to remember the past sins, and to curtail desires." ['Ibn Mas'ud - may Allah be pleased with him]

Admonitions in Five Sentences

• "I looked at all friends and did not find a better friend than safeguarding the tongue. I thought about all the dresses but did not find a better dress than piety. I thought about all sorts of wealth but did not find a better wealth than contentment in a little. I thought of all sorts of good deeds but did not find a better deed than offering good advice. I looked at all types of sustenance but did not find a better sustenance than patience." ['Umar - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Five are the marks of Allah-fearing people. They do not associate with people other than those with whom they can maintain terms on a religious basis; they restrain their private parts and their tongues; when they make any large temporal gain, they take it as a curse, and when they gain even a little piety, they consider it precious; they do not eat to their full even of what is permitted for fear that anything forbidden might be mixed with it, they consider all people pious and pardoned, but consider themselves as sinners." ['Uthman - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Had there not been five bad qualities, all the people would have been righteous. Contentment with ignorance; love for worldly life; miserliness inspite of much wealth; ostentation in (good) deeds; and pride in their own intelligence." ['Ali - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "Whoever does five things is fortunate in this world and in the Hereafter. Reciting La ilaha illallah Muhammad ar-Rasulallah; Inna lillahi wa ina ilayhi raji'un when any mishap befalls them; saying la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi'l-'adhim - alhumdulillahi rabbi'l-alamin when any gift is bestowed upon them; saying bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim when beginning any work; and saying astaghfirullah al-'adhim wa atubu ilayhi when any sin is noticed." ['Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn Al-'As - may Allah be pleased with him]
• "None in this age will amass wealth except those having five traits of character. High hopes; abnormal greediness; excessive miserliness, lack of fearing Allah; and forgetfulness of the coming world." [Sufyan ath-Thawri - may Allah have mercy upon him]