The words of Ibrahim al-Taymi

It is narrated from Abu Hayyan that he said: I heard Ibrahim al-Taymi say: Whenever I have held up my words against my deeds, I have feared that I might turn out to be a liar.

It is narrated from Salim bin Abi Hafsah that he said: I heard Ibrahim al-Taymi say: O Allah, we are weak, because of the weakness upon which You created us and because of the weakness to which we are to return. What You will (is what comes to pass), not what we will. So will for us that we remain upright.

Husayn reports about Ibrahim al-Taymi, saying that among his words was this: What greater regret could a man have than to see his slave, whom Allah made his slave in the world, in a higher rank with Allah on the Day of Resurrection? Over what could a man have greater regret than that Allah Almighty gave him wealth in the world, and He makes another the heir of that wealth, and that heir then obeys Allah with it, so that the sin of the wealth falls on the owner and its reward goes to the other? And what greater regret could a man have than to see a servant who was blind in the world, whose sight Allah Almighty has now opened, while he himself has become blind? Then he said: Those who were before you used to flee from the world while it was turning toward them, and they had the standing that they had. But you pursue the world while it has turned its back on you, and you have the new misdeeds that you have. So compare your situation with that of those people.

It is reported from Ibrahim al-Taymi regarding the verse of the Qur'an, "And death will come to him from every place" [Ibrahim: 17], that death will come even from the ends of the hair.

It is narrated from Ibrahim al-Taymi regarding "Indeed, we have returned to You" [Al-A'raf: 156]: Tubna, meaning: we have turned back.

Ibrahim al-Taymi narrates from his father: He used to wear a wrap that reached his buttocks behind and his chest in front. Ibrahim said: I said: O my father, if only you would take a wrap larger than this one of yours! He said: O my son, do not say this. By Allah, there is no good morsel on the earth that I eat without my heart wishing that it would also go into the mouth of the person most hateful to me.

Ibrahim al-Taymi narrates from his father: My father went to Basrah and bought slaves for four thousand. They built his house for him, and then he sold them at a profit of four thousand. I said to him: O my father, if you were to go to Basrah and trade in slaves, you would make a good profit. He said: Do not say such a thing to me. By Allah, I felt no joy on obtaining this profit, nor has any desire arisen in my heart to obtain more profit of this kind.

It is narrated from Yazid bin Shajarah that he said: Every dead person who dies, his companions of assembly appear before him in form. If they were people of idle amusement, then people of idle amusement, and if they were people of remembrance, then people of remembrance.

It is narrated from Ibn Shajarah that he said: The grave says to the disbelieving man or the sinful man: "Do you not remember my darkness? Do you not remember my desolation? Do you not remember my narrowness? Do you not remember my grief?"

It is narrated about Yazid bin Shajarah that he used to tell narratives, and his actions confirmed his words.

It is narrated from Kurdus that he said: He used to tell us narratives morning and evening, and he would say: Indeed, Paradise cannot be attained without the deeds of Paradise. Keep longing mixed with fear. Persist in good deeds. Keep fearing Allah Almighty with sound hearts and righteous deeds. And he would often say: Whoever fears sets out early, while it is still dark.

It is narrated from Abu Dahqanah that he said: A young man was walking with al-Ahnaf, and he said to him: O nephew, when the truth presents itself to you, make it your aim and be heedless of all else besides it.