'It is Ahmed, stunning on 'one chord to two bows' (qasida 19:10)

This is the motto of this section, which is for talking about our beloved prophet Mohammad [PPBUH].

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His patience and education of companions

Allah says in His Holy Book [Or think you that you will enter paradise while yet there has not come unto you the like of those who passed away before you? Affliction and adversity befell them; they were shaken as with earthquake, till the Messenger, and those who believed along with him, said: When comes Allah’s help? Now surely Allah’s help is nigh] al-Baqarah 2:214.

This is the second verse of Qur'an that mentions the word [the Messenger], meaning sayydi Mohammad [PPBUH], where Allah, Almighty, coupled him [PPBUH] to [the believers], not just as comforting for them, but also as honoring and dignifying for the companions. Not just for them but also for all those how were ascertained with the belief. He made them all partners with the Prophet [PPBUH] and brothers to him in that deed, which is the patience on the hardship of the call to Allah. One of the fine meanings that should be mention is that the rank of the message requires the infallibility of the Messenger [PPBUH] from shaking. As the Prophet [PPBUH] is greatest believer of Allah, His destiny, and His fate, not just of all believers, but of all creation. Then, how come that the Messenger says [When comes Allah’s help?] This must have been for the sake of the believers, as he [PPBUH] has too much kindness and care for them, so he is hurrying the help of Allah, which he is the most one certain of it and believing in it and its soon coming.

The one fact is that the complain of the believers was not for themselves, but for their keenness for the religion of Allah, their fear of nonfeasance in serving Him, Almighty, and their feeling of weakness, inability, and need for Allah. This is what made their convulsing most affecting because they love Allah, His Messenger, and His religion more than their own selves.that is why their hearts were inflamed with the fire of keenness for the religion of Allah, until it was cleared and purified. So this hurrying only came after there was waiting until the Prophet [PPBUH], the teacher and the educator, knew that the hearts of the believers were cleared and purified and had nothing but Allah in it. That is why Allah did not criticize or blame them, instead Allah comforted them and insured them of the imminent victory. Allah, Almighty, obviously loves His Messenger, which is clear in all Qur'anic verses, and loves his nation for him. That is why; as soon as the Prophet [PPBUH] asks Him for anything and even before asking Him, Allah would answer him and be kind to him.

One of the greatest examples, that the beloved Prophet made for his companions to urge them to be patient on the vicissitudes of time, is what was narrated by Imam al-Bukhary in his Sahih from Khabbab ibn al-Artt, that he said "We complained to the Prophet [PPBUH] while he was laying down on his cloak in the shadow of the Ka'ba. We said to him: Would not you ask Allah for victory for us? Would not you pray for us? He said (In the nations before you a man would have been taken and put in a hole in the ground the cut in halves with a saw starting with his head, and that would not repulse him from his religion. And they would comb his flesh and nerves from his bones with iron combs, and that would not repel him from his religion. I swear by Allah that this religion will be completed until a traveler will walk from Sana'a to Hadramout with no fear except from Allah or maybe a wolf for his sheep, but you are in a hurry)". So look how the Prophet [PPBUH] assured them that the matter, they were afraid for, will be completed by Allah, but they were in a hurry.

Consideration in this Hadith:

1-    What a patient and tolerant man this Generous Messenger is! He has what has with his Lord, yet he refuses to ask Him for victory out of politeness and waiting for Him judgment. He was also being patient and tolerant for his people, the polytheists, and hoping that there will come from their descendants some people who would believe in Allah. This was perfectly clear when the angel of the mountain came to him and told him that Allah gave him permission to bear down the two mountains upon his people, who do not believe. He [PPBUH] then said to him (No, I hope that there will come from their descendants some people who would worship Allah, alone with no associations). In al-Bukhary, Muslim and an-Nisa'i.

2-    His bringing up of his companions on the patience and tolerance, like the teacher and students or say like the sheikh with his seekers. As bad manners are associated with seekers in the beginnings, while good manners are virtues of the sheikhs in the beginnings and ends as, they are the purified kinship and the people of the heritage. A seeker is characterized with changing while a sheikh is characterized with settling. A seeker is marked by lightheadedness, while a sheikh is marked by tranquility. A seeker is accustomed to impatience, while a sheikh is molded to patience to the end and winning and giving up to the decrees of fate and destiny. So no wonder that this companion would break the rules of silence and holding off, to ask the Beloved Prophet [PPBUH], when his impatience went to its end. And no wonder that the Prophet [PPBUH] would set him back to the track of the calm patience with nice calm words. He then stores that in the memory of his student as the state of true manhood when he tells him [PPBUH] (In the nations before you a man would have been). So what a kind father he was! And what a good educator! Sayydi Omar ibn al-Fared [AAH] said:

[O, heart, you promised me, in their love, to be                                   

                       patient, so be cautious of being restless or impatient]

3-    His full trust [PPBUH] in Allah when he expressed it with the swearing and it meant the full realization that Allah will complete the matter of Islam with victory. This is one of the branches of faith and a condition for it, as it is clear from the Hadith of the Prophet [PPBUH] (… and he who would want to be the richest of all people, should trust what in the hands of Allah more than what is in his own hands …).

4-    His education [PPBUH] for his companions for the firmness of the belief in spite of being subjected to harm. This was clear in his saying [PPBUH] (and that would not repel him from his religion).

5-    His warning for his companions of the hurrying and hasting in the matters which is an obstacle in the way of getting close to Allah and purification, as is clear from his saying [PPBUH] (but you are in a hurry).

Back to the honored verse:

Ibn Kathir said in the book of "the great Qur'anic explanation": Allah, Almighty said [Or think you that you will enter paradise] before you being tested, examined and afflicted, as with the nations before you. That is why He said [while yet there has not come unto you the like of those who passed away before you? Affliction and adversity befell them] and that is the illness, diseases, pains, ordeals, and trials. Ibn Mas'oud, Ibn Abbas, Abo-al-Aliya, Megahed, Sa'id ibn Jobayr, Morrah al-Hamadany, al-Hasan, Qatada, ad-Dahhak, ar-Rabie', as-Sadeyy, and Moqatel ibn Hayyan said that [Affliction] is for poverty. Ibn Abbas said that [adversity] is illness and [they were shaken as with earthquake] is the fear of the enemy and they were tested a very hard test.

I say: that is what we said about the fear for Allah’s religion and from being delinquent with it in front of the enemies. This is part of the Prophet’s words [PPBUH] (Paradise is surrounded with hateful things while Hell is surrounded with desires). So no other way or escape from being patient. One of the sheikhs said: You can use no sleight with the trials of the time except patience. Imam Fakhreddin said about that:

[You, who wants to reach the door of the protectress,                            

                                           Would not you be patient to my easy tests]

Between patience and paradise, there are many fields, which we summarize in just one phrase “upbringing the seekers” which is, in Sufism, built on troubling the evil-inclined self until it comes back to Allah’s command and until its subjectivity follows what was brought by sayyduna the Messenger of Allah [PPBUH]. In this context, Imam ibn Ageiba said, in his book “Raising the Determinations in Explaining the Aphorisms”:

“Allah, Almighty, wanted to disturb you from everything of this world, so that you do not reckon to anything that may keep you busy from His witnessing. As it is impossible to witness anything while witnessing Him, or to love Him and love anything else with Him. The Loving denies to see anyone but its beloved. But when the loving is settled and the witnessing is completed, Allah may, if He wills, return them to His servants as guiders to guide to Him”.

Sheikh Abo-el-Hasan ash-Shadhuly said "To run from the goodness of the people is better than to run from their badness. As their goodness will hit affect you in the heart, but their badness will affect you in the body. It is better to be hit in the body than in the heart. An enemy who drives you to Allah is better than a lover who hinders you from Allah". He also said "Empowering creatures over the saints of Allah, in the beginning of their seeking, is His tradition with His beloveds and bosom ones". He also said in his Awrad "O, Allah, these people You judged to be humiliated until they became esteemed, and You judged them to be lost until they were found"… then he said "What shows you that this is the tradition of Allah with His beloveds and bosom ones, is His saying [they were shaken as with earthquake, till the Messenger said…] the verse, and the other verses which shows this meaning". End of his words.

Some knowledgeable people said "You should know that it is of the selves' innate to like staying in the place of esteem and highness. So if Allah leaves it, it will be ruined. That is why He disturbs it with the enabling the harm from the harmful people and the objection from the ungrateful ones". In this context, Imam ash-Shafie'y said:

[My enemies have a good hand and a great favor over me,                       

                                          so Allah forbid their being separated from me]

[They looked for my faults, so I avoided it                                                

                                   and they competed with me, so I gain the highness]

I say that this verse describes both the bitter patience and the sweet paradise. Or you can say 'the loftiness and the beauty'. This is for intimidation and persuasion. What a nice saying was the saying of sayydi Abo-Bakr, when he said "Allah has coupled His good promises with His intimidation so that the servant would be loving and fearing at the same time". From the saints, the realized ones, and the knowledgeable scholars are those who interpret the Qur'an this very same way, like Imam Mohyeddin ibn Arabi, who said about this verse [Or think you that you will enter] the paradise of the revealing of beauty [while yet there has not come unto you] the state of [those who] has [passed away before you?] they were touched with the affliction of abandonment, divestment, poverty, and lacking, and the diversity of strive, exercise, and break of the self with the worship. And they were [shaken as with earthquake] with the longing and loving from the bases of their selves to forcibly show what they have within their preparedness [till the Messenger, and those who believed along with him, said: When comes Allah’s help?] i.e. until they were despaired from the long period of veiling and the much strive against separation, and until they ran out of patience from being kept away of the witnessing of beauty and the tasting of the communion. Then they asked for Allah's revealing to help them suppress their selves, increase their persistence, and increase their endurance for what the lover does of testing by abandonment and tasting of separation to increase their love. And if this is what the lover does, so how about the others? Then they were answered, when they reached the end of their effort and exhausted their power, and they were told [Now surely Allah’s help is nigh] i.e. the veil was raised and the traces of beauty were shown. End of Imam Mohyeddin's words.

In conclusion; this verse praises the Prophet [PPBUH] with some of his morals that he was sent to complete. This was the patience, the tolerance, and the politeness with Allah. The verse also describes the tests that Allah gave him and his companions, the believers, until they deserved the victory from Allah. The verse also describes the love and care of Allah for them, and how it is the tradition of Allah in His creatures, to have easiness after the hardship and relief after the distress. Until Allah knows who is truthful and who is lying. As the Prophet [PPBUH] said (do not be tired of the trails, as it is the harvesting of the hypocrites).

May Allah make the time for our victory, over our selves and our enemies, nigh. He is the All-Empowering, All-Powerful, All-Supporter, All-Forceful, and All-Strong.

Written by Dr. Ibrahim ad-Desouqi.

Translated by Sayed

Whoever wants to get more about this subject, can seek it in the website of Al-Nabi [PPBUH]

the Editorial Team