The Counsel to Ibn ʿAbbas

Imam ʿAlī (may Allah ennoble his face) speaks of ṣabr in another way again; but before that, there is a naṣīḥah that Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) gave to ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās. It is quite relevant to the matter in hand, and it is especially worth liking because he was a young man — a young man, with Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him). ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās is one of the four ʿAbdullāhs: ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd and ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās — the famous four ʿAbdullāhs among the Companions. When he was a baby, Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) took him and set him on his lap and said: O Allah, give him the understanding of the religion; make him a faqīh. He was a very special person. He was one of the greatest mufassirīn, the commentators of the Qurʾān, and a great muḥaddith; he was such a gifted person. ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to take him along with him — come with me, come with me — a boy of sixteen or seventeen. The elderly Ṣaḥābah would ask: why is this young man coming with you all the time? We are elderly people, we are all of the same age, we want to enjoy our own company; why do you bring this young man with you all the time? He replied that this young man's wisdom was equal to all of their wisdom combined — that he was a ẓāhir; when he spoke, he spoke with ḥikmah, with wisdom.

So one day Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) was with ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās, this young man, and said to him: yā ghulām, O young man, I am going to give you some advice; take it and learn it well. What is this advice? It is given here in translation, as closely as it can be rendered. He says: O young man, shall I teach you something which will benefit you both in this world and in the Hereafter? ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās answers Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) — and of course, what does one say to Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) when he says, I am going to teach you something? Not: no, no, no, it is not the time, I am watching television, Dogemon or Digimon, whatever the case may be. No; one has to listen to what Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) says — none of this nonsense of watching television and listening to the footy.

So Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) says: my son, yā ghulām, O young man, keep the rights of Allah (swt), and you will find Him with you at all times. In other words: practise Islam to the best of your ability, do what is ḥalāl and avoid what is ḥarām, and then you will find the help of Allah (swt) with you at all times. That is one naṣīḥah, to be kept in mind. Do not become heedless of Him; do not forget Him in times of serenity, in times of happiness. If you do not forget Allah (swt), but continually remember Allah (swt) and thank Him in times when there is plenty with you, he says, then in times of difficulty you will find Allah (swt) with you also. If you want Him to come to your aid in times of difficulty, he says, then in your times of goodness and pleasure remember Allah (swt) with much remembrance.

Remember, he says, that all that is to happen to you in your qadar is already written. The pen — the ink has dried, he says; the ink will write no longer; it is finished. If a good thing is written for you, then no matter what, if all the human beings and all the jinn, all the residents of this universe, got together to stop that good coming to you, they would not be able to do so. By the same token, he says, if a harm is about to come to you, a harm that Allah has written for you, then no matter how much of the universe — the residents of the universe, the dwellers of the samāʾ and the arḍ, the heavens and the earth — combine their forces to stop that harm from coming to you, they will not be able to do so. Consider this in terms of ṣabr, which is where it leads. My son, he says, for the sake and pleasure of Allah (swt), practise good deeds, do good deeds; and when difficulties and hardships come to you, show ṣabr. The help of Allah (swt) is with ṣabr. Happiness and serenity come after a period of sorrow, and after every difficulty Allah (swt) will follow with some ease.

This is the law. A person can never go through his whole life continually in hardship — it is impossible; it is impossible for a person to be in hardship all his life; there will always be some relief. It is also impossible for a person to go through good times, happy times, all his life. This is the law of Allah (swt). Allah will test a person from this day to that, from this condition to that condition, continuously: He will test his attitude; He will test his ṣabr toward it.