Hayatus Sahabah - The Lives of the Sahabah - Part 1 of 3

THE LIVES OF THE SAHABAH @%@% (vol-I) 65
limb (people learned something from his every word, action and even when he
did nothing) and wisdom spoke through him from every angle. He kept aloof from
the world and its attraction, taking comfort from the night and its darkness."
lVgy Allaah C%E5G! Hadhrat Ali 3- shed many tears and remained in deep
thought for long periods. He would often turn his hands over and address
himself. He liked simple clothing and coarse (unrefined) food. By Allaah g,@$F!
He was just like one of us and when we met with him, he would make us sit
close to him and ensured that he answered our every question. Despite him
being close to us and us being close to him, we were too overawed to speak to
him. When he smiled, his teeth appeared to be a string of pearls. He showed
enormous respect towards men learned in the matters of Deen and he showed
great love towards the poor. In front of him, a powerful person never expected to
succeed in his false claims and a weak person never lost hope in his justice."
"Allaah 3,%3&? is Witness to the night when I once saw him sitting in his Mihraab
when the night had already drawn its curtains and the stars had vanished. He
was holding his beard and bending over, displaying the distress of a person
bitten by a scorpion. He wept like a bitterly grieved person and I can still hear his
cries echoing in my ears as he repeated the words, 'Yaa Rabbanaa! Yaa Rabbanaa!
(Oh our Rabb! Oh our Rabb!)' In this way, he humbled himself before Allaah
$'@$F. He then address the world saying, '0 world! Are you trying to deceive
me? Are you staring expectantly at me? Get away! Get away and use your charms
on someone else because I have divorced you thrice. Your life is short, your
company is demeaning and people easily get into trouble because of you. Oh
dear! Oh dear! The provision (for the journey to the Aakhirah) is meagre, the
journey is long and the road is frightening."'
(Upon hearing this,) Tears flowed uncontrollably from the eyes of Hadhrat
Mu'aawiya onto his beard and he began wiping them away with his
sleeve. The people present were also choked with their weeping. Hadhrat
Mu'aawiya ~~ then said, "That was indeed an accurate description of Abul
Hasan (Hadhrat Ali ?&lWW). May Allaah 3,%%G have mercy on him. 0 Diraar,
what was your reaction to his death?" Hadhrat Diraar bin Damirah Kinaani
3G&IGj replied, "I felt the anguish of a woman whose only child is slaughtered
in her lap, whose tears neither stop nor does her grief diminish." After saying
this, Hadhrat Diraar bin Damirah Kinaani CJZ&lGj stood up and left. ('I
Hadhrat Qataadah W&lGj reports that someone once asked Hadhrat Abdullaah
bin Umar 3Gw if the Sahabah '@Wj ever laughed. He replied, "Yes. However,
the Imaan in their hearts still remained firmer than mountains." (2)
Seeing the carriages of some Yemeni travellers made out of animal skin, Hadhrat
Umar remarked, "Whoever wishes to see a semblance of the Sahabah
of Rasulullaah k%% should look at these people." (3)
(1) Abu Nu'aym (Vol.1 Pg.84). In his book fsti2ab (Vo1.3 Pg.44), Ibn Abdil Barr has also reported this
narration fromHirmaaziwhohailedfromHamdaan and who reported the same from Diraar Sadaa'i.
(2) Abu Nu'aym in his Hilya (Vol. 1 Pg.31 1)
(3) Kanzul Ummaal Vo1.7 Pg. 163