Reports from Ibrahim al-Nakhai

Ibrahim said: If a servant were to conceal his worship the way he conceals his sin, Allah Almighty would still make it manifest.

Ibrahim said: The early generations considered increase in worship recommended and declared decrease disliked, and they used to say: "Let it be something done constantly."

Ibrahim said: When we attended a funeral or heard about someone's death, its effects would remain on us for many days, because we knew that a matter had now befallen him that could take him to Paradise or Hell. And you talk about worldly matters at your funerals!

Ibrahim said: A devout man was with a woman. An evil thought came into his heart and he placed his hand on the woman's thigh. Then he came to his senses and put that hand into fire until his hand was scorched.

Ibrahim said: Whenever I recite this verse, I remember cold water: "And a barrier will be placed between them and what they desire" [Saba: 54].

Ibrahim al-Nakha'i wept in his final illness, and people asked him: "O Abu Imran, what has made you weep?" He said: "How should I not weep when I am waiting for a messenger from my Lord to give me glad tidings of either this (Paradise) or this (Hell)!"

Wasil said: Ibrahim al-Nakha'i saw the governor of Hulwan passing with his riding animals through a field. He said: Committing injustice on the road is better than committing injustice in the religion.

Ibrahim, explaining the verse of the Qur'an "Boiling water and ghassaq (foul discharge)" [Al-Naba: 25], said: Ghassaq is that which will flow from their severed skins over their skin.

Ibrahim and Mujahid, explaining the verse of the Qur'an "On that Day man will be informed of what he sent forward and what he left behind" [Al-Qiyamah: 13], said: A person will be questioned about his first and last deeds.

Ibrahim, explaining the verse of the Qur'an "And We will surely make them taste the lesser punishment before the greater punishment" [Al-Sajdah: 21], said: These are the things that will befall them in this world.

Al-A'mash said: When Ibrahim al-Nakha'i was reading the Qur'an and someone came to him, he would cover it and say: "I do not want him to see me reading from it all the time."

Ibn Awn said: Ibrahim was told that al-Mukhtar bin Abi Ubayd had summoned him. He smeared an ointment on his face, drank some medicine, and did not go to him. So they too left him alone.

Ibrahim said: Whoever acquires knowledge for the pleasure of Allah, Allah Almighty will give him what suffices him.

Ibrahim said: Humility (khushu') is in the heart.

Ibrahim said: Those before you wore older clothes and had softer hearts.

Ibrahim said: Whoever recites these words ten times in the morning, Allah Almighty will protect him from Satan until the evening, and whoever recites them in the evening, Allah Almighty will protect him from Satan until the morning: "I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from the evil of Satan, the rejected."

Mughirah said: The shirt of Ibrahim reached the top of his foot.

Ibrahim, explaining the verse of the Qur'an "So that they may return" [Al Imran: 72], said: They repent.