Inner-Self of The Knowledge Seekers (1)
The soldier said to the young wayfarer, "O young man, o seeker of knowledge, these are words and wills, as a reminder and sincere advice for you, in order to fulfill and discharge my responsibility; and I ask Allah to make my message reach you, while you are in the most wholesome blessing, relief, and health.
Some scholars said, “ Knowledge is a secretive prayer and the worship of the heart.” Therefore the condition of worship is, firstly, sincerity of intention for Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. So, if knowledge is devoid of sincere intention then it is transformed from being amongst the most noble acts of worship to being one of the lowest forms of violation, and there is nothing that destroys the blessing of knowledge as much as riyaa' or showing off, be it riyaa' of shirk or riyaa' of ikhlaas and also tasmee’ or showing of with intent of being heard of. Therefore, adhere to freeing yourself from everything that blemishes your intention of seeking knowledge. Secondly, the comprehensive quality that guarantees the goodness of this world and the hereafter is the love of Allaah and the love of His Messenger (ﷺ).
O young man, be adherent to the path of the Pious Predecessors from the Sahaabah, radiallaahu ’anhum and those who followed after them, who pursued their tracks in all aspects of the Religion from tawheed to acts of worship, and so forth. Be distinguished as strictly adhering to the tracks of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and implementing the sunan upon yourself and leaving argumentative or doubtful speech, and not becoming engrossed in ’ilm al-kalaam, and all that attracts sins, and diverts from the Sharee’ah.
O young man, beautify yourself by filling your outer and inner-self with the fear of Allah, by observing the apparent characteristics of Islam, and manifesting the Sunnah and spreading it by implementing it and calling towards it, leading the way to Allah with your knowledge, manners and actions, and adorning yourself with masculinity, lenience, and pious conduct. The basis of all, is the fear of Allah. So, adhere to fearing Allah openly and in secret, for the best of all people are those who are fearful of Allah, and no one truly fears Him except a knowledgeable person, therefore the best of all people is the 'Ulema. Let it not slip your mind that the 'Ulema cannot be considered an "Ulema unless he acts upon his knowledge, and no 'Ulema implements his knowledge unless it earns him the fear of Allah.
O young man, adorn yourself with the continual observance of Allah openly and in secret, journeying to your Rabb between fear and hope, since they are for the Muslim like two wings to the bird. So advance to your Lord with your whole being, and let your heart be filled with the love of Him, and your tongue with His remembrance, and rejoice and be happy with his Rulings and His Wisdoms.
O young man, adorn yourself with personal etiquette such as abstinence, forbearance, patience,
humbleness to the truth, and tranquillity by displaying awe, self possession, lowering ones wing, bearing the humility of learning for the glory of knowledge, and showing humility in the face of the truth. Therefore, beware of all [the evil qualities that oppose these qualities, since they are blameworthy, and if you do not, you are erecting against yourself a witness that there is a defect in your mind, and it is also a sign that you have been prevented from benefiting from your knowledge, and from practising it, so beware of haughtiness, for it is hypocrisy and pride, and the salaf were very wary of it.
Beware of the disease of the tyrants pride, for indeed pride, greed, and jealousy are the first sins that Allah was disobeyed with, so your loftiness above your teacher is from pride, and arrogance towards someone who benefits you from amongst those who are lesser than you in knowledge is pride, and your shortcomings in practising your knowledge is the sludge of pride, and a sign of deprivation from the blessings of knowledge and prosperity.
O young man, adorn yourself with contentment and asceticism. And the reality of zuhd is, “ Zuhd is in the unlawful and to distance yourself from its boundaries by abstaining from the shubuhaat and wishing for what is in people’s possession.”
It was narrated that Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee, rahimahullah said, “If a person sincerely advised the wisest of people; he would encourage him to be amongst the ascetic people.”
Therefore, the seeker of knowledge should be moderate in his lifestyle in a way that does not dishonour him, by maintaining himself and those who are dependant upon him so he does not put himself in a position of humiliation and shame.
O young man, adorn yourself with the splendour of knowledge. To adorn yourself with the splendour of knowledge is to have beautiful manners, pious conduct, such as continuous peacefulness, awe, humility, humbleness, adhesion to the Clear Path; by filling ones outer and inner-self with these qualities, and leaving all the characteristics that oppose them.
Adorn yourself with honour and that which leads to it, such as good manners, a cheerful face, spreading the salaam, showing forbearance, hating haughtiness, having self-esteem which is free from tyranny, and being gallant but not for the sake of zealous partisanship, and being fanatic without being patriotic.
Therefore avoid the affairs that tarnish your honour, whether it be in your nature, speech, or actions; and also indulging in degrading actions, or evil habits such as: being conceited, showing off, boastfulness, arrogance, and looking down upon others, to be seen in doubtful places.
O young man, enjoy masculine qualities; which include bravery, forthrightness, noble manners and giving for the sake of good causes until the ambitions of men die before reaching your level. Equally, beware of the qualities that oppose these qualities, such as being unconfident, impatient and weak in nobility, for indeed they destroy knowledge, and cut off the tongue from speaking the truth, and they lead him headlong to his enemies in such a state where the opposing qualities brush the faces of the pious amongst Allah’s slaves with their poisons.
O young man, do not become carried away in comfort and luxury for asceticism is from eeman. Therefore, do not become inclined towards this false civilisation, for it makes the nature effeminate, and it excessively relaxes the person’s enthusiasm, and ties you down with ropes of false hopes. While the serious people reach their destiny, you are still in your place over-concerned about the elegance of your dress. Although many of these things are not considered unlawful or makrooh, they are not considered of good conduct.
O young man, do not stand on the carpet of those who carry out detestable acts at their places of gatherings, and tear the veil of morality, and pretending to be unaware of your actions, and if you do, then your crime against knowledge and its people is a grave one.
O young man, protect yourself from indulging in riotous and clamorous behaviour; for indeed mistake lies behind clamour, and it opposes the etiquette of seeking knowledge.
O young man, adhere to being gentle in speech, avoiding harsh words, for gentle speech wins over hostile personalities. And the proofs from the Quran and Sunnah on this topic are abundant.
O young man, be contemplative, for whoever does so will reach their goal and it was said: “ contemplate and you will reach,” Therefore, think ahead when you speak, what am I going to say? What will be the results of what I am going to say? Also be careful of how you phrase what you are saying, and convey what you want to say without going to any extremes or fanciness. Carefully consider what words to use when you are thinking about how you are going to say whatever you intend to say. Also think carefully when you are asked a question: that you understand the question in its correct context in a way, so as not to carry two meanings.
O young man, adorn yourself with firmness and confirmation, and especially in calamities and serious situations, and from it is patience and firmness upon acquiring and passing long hours in seeking knowledge from the scholars for whosoever is firm will grow.
O young man, beware of self-admiration, and being deceived by self-pride and conceit, for verily, it is how righteous people are destroyed. Be truthfully sincere with your brothers from amongst the fellow seekers of knowledge. Indeed, those who are around you, look at you as a role model for them, so do not let your relationship with them be a hindrance for them.
Beware of attempting to use excuses which were not even accepted from the Sahaabah, radiallahu 'anhum, and be clear and sincere with your own self - for verily, Allah is watching you, and He knows all the hidden secrets.
[Part 2]
