Wise sayings of ‘Abdullah ibn Hassan

Amongst the wise sayings said by him which can be seen as a reflection of the Prophetic wisdom inherited by him:

إياك وعداوة الرجال، فإنك لا تأمن مكر الحليم ولا مبادأة اللئيم

Save yourself from the enmity of men, for you will never be safe from the plot of the patient nor the endeavours of the wicked.[1]

المراء يفسد الصداقة القديمة ويحل العُقَدَ الوثيقة، وأقل ما فيه أن تكون المغالبة، والمغالبة أمتن أسباب القطيعة

Disputes destroy old friendships and unties firm bonds. The most that they result in is defeating the next person, and the desire to defeat is the strongest cause of severing ties.[2]

Also amongst them is his statement when describing one person :

كان كثير الصواب قليل الإحالة، يحدثك بالحديث على مدارجة، يخبرك بالخبر على مطاويه

He was mostly accurate in his speech, and hardly corrupted it. He would converse with you according to the accepted and established ways of speech. And he would inform you of an event with all its finer details.[3]

He said to his son Muhammad:

يا بني، إني مؤد إلى الله حقه عليَّ في نصيحتك فأدّ إلى الله حقه عليك في الاستماع والقبول، يا بني، كف الأذى، وأفض الندى واستعن على السلامة بطول الصمت في المواطن التي تدعوك نفسك إلى الكلام فيها، فإن الصمت حسن على كل حال، وللمرء ساعات يضر فيهن خطؤه ولا ينفع صوابه، واعلم أن من أعظم الخطأ العجلة قبل الإمكان، والأناة بعد الفرصة. يا بني، احذر الجاهل، وإن كان لك ناصحاً، كما تحذر العاقل، وإنْ كان لك عدواً فيوشك أن يورطك بمشورته في بعض اغترارك، فيسبق إليك مكر العاقل، وإياك ومعاداة الرجال، فإنها لا تعدم مكر حلم أو مبادأة جاهل

O my son, I am fulfilling the right of Allah on me in advising you, so you fulfil the right of Allah upon you by listening and accepting it. O my son, do not harm, be generous, and seek integrity by being silent in places where your ego encourages you to speak, for silence is best in all conditions. A man has times wherein his blunders will harm him and his feats will be of no avail. Know well that the gravest of errors is hastiness before capability and passivity after opportunity. O my son, be wary of the ignorant even if he is your well-wisher just as you should be wary of the intelligent when he is your enemy, for he might entangle you [in difficulty] by his advice in your delusion and his plot overwhelm you. Save yourself from the enmity of men, for verily it is not void of the plotting of the patient or the endeavours of the ignorant.[4]

NEXT⇒ Poetry of ‘Abdullah ibn Hassan

[1] Tarikh Dimashq, 29/259; Kashf al Ghummah, 3/189.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Tarikh Dimashq, 29/266.

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