Sayings of Ikrimah

Ikrimah is reported to have said, in the explanation of the saying of Allah Almighty, "Those who do evil in ignorance, then repent soon after" [An-Nisa: 17], that the whole of this world is "soon", and the whole of it is ignorance.

Ikrimah said that the saying of Allah Almighty, "Their mark is on their faces" [Al-Fath: 29], means staying awake at night.

Ikrimah said that the saying of Allah Almighty, "And remember your Lord when you forget" [Al-Kahf: 24], means: when you disobey Allah; and some scholars say: when you become angry.

Ikrimah said, in the explanation of the Qur'anic verse, "And the hearts reached the throats" [Al-Ahzab: 10]: If the hearts were to move or be displaced, the breath would leave; it will only be terror.

Ikrimah is reported to have said, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty, "Just as the disbelievers have despaired of those in the graves" [Al-Mumtahanah: 13], that when the disbelievers enter the graves and see the torment that Allah has prepared for them, they despair of the mercy of Allah.

Ikrimah said that the saying of Allah Almighty, "Indeed, with Us are fetters" [Al-Muzzammil: 12], refers to shackles.

Ya'la bin Ubayd said: Once we went to visit Muhammad bin Suqah, and he said: I will tell you something that I hope will benefit you, for it has benefited me. He said: Ata bin Abi Rabah said to us: "O my nephew, those before you used to dislike superfluous speech, except that you recite the Book of Allah Almighty, the Holy Qur'an, or enjoin something good, or forbid something evil, or speak as much as is needed for the livelihood you cannot do without. Can you deny the verses of the Holy Qur'an, 'Over you are guardians, noble scribes' [Al-Infitar: 10] and 'Seated on the right and on the left; he utters no word except that beside him is a watcher, ever ready' [Qaf: 17-18]? Do you not feel ashamed that if your scroll, which you dictated in the early part of your day, were opened, most of what is in it would have no connection either with religion or with the world?"

Yahya bin Ya'mur said: A strong wind blows only with punishment or mercy.

Muqatil bin Hayyan said that in the saying of Allah Almighty, "Or has he taken a covenant with the Most Merciful" [Maryam: 78], the covenant means prayer.

Abu Awn said: When good people met, they would advise one another with three things, and when they were apart, they would also write three things to one another. Whoever works for the Hereafter, Allah suffices him for his worldly life. Whoever sets right what is between himself and Allah, Allah suffices him against people. Whoever sets right his hidden state, Allah also sets right his outward state.

Khalid bin Abi Imran said: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) would go without fasting for only three days in a month. Khalid said: For forty years he did not take the garment off his back.

Muhammad bin Sirin said: We were sitting with Abu Ubaydah in his domed tent when a man came to him and sat with him on his bed. He said something privately to Abu Ubaydah (may Allah have mercy on him) that we could not understand. Abu Ubaydah said to him: Put your finger in this fire. Between us a fire was burning in a brazier. The man said, "Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah)!" Abu Ubaydah said: You are miserly with me over one finger in the fire of this world, yet you ask me to put my entire body in the fire of Hell. The narrator said: We thought that this man had invited Abu Ubaydah to become a judge.

Al-Qasim (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Ubaydullah bin Adi bin al-Khiyar said: "O Allah, keep us safe, and keep the believers safe from us."

Abdullah bin al-Harith said: "Al-Zabaniyah" means angels whose heads are in the sky and whose feet are on the earth.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) is reported to have explained the saying of Allah Almighty, "He utters no word" [Qaf: 18], as meaning that every good and bad word of a person is written down.

It is narrated from Ikrimah that every word, whether of benefit or of harm to him, is written down.

Sa'id bin Abi al-Hasan is reported to have said, in the explanation of the saying of Allah Almighty, "They used to sleep but little of the night" [Adh-Dhariyat: 17], that rarely did a night come in which they slept.

Hassan bin Atiyyah said: Once a man was riding on a donkey when it suddenly stumbled with him, and he said, "May you perish!" The angel on the right side said, "This is no good deed that I should write it," and the angel on the left side said, "What evil deed is this that I should write it?" Then the angel on the left side was called: "Whatever statement the right one leaves, write it down."

A saying of Hassan bin Atiyyah: Whoever shows enmity to the friends of Allah, Allah declares war on him. Whoever's intercession stands in the way of the laws and limits of Allah is obstructing the command of Allah. Whoever assists in a dispute about which he has no knowledge remains under the anger of Allah until he comes out of that dispute. Whoever accuses a Muslim of something about which he has no knowledge, Allah traps him in the mire of ruin until he himself finds a way out of it. Whoever disputes on behalf of a weak person in order to secure his right for him, Allah keeps him firm on the day when feet will slip. And Allah Almighty says: When I will something I do not hesitate, except at the time of taking the soul of My believing servant, for he dislikes death and I dislike hurting him, while there is no escape for him from it.

Ibn Muhayriz said: In the mosque all speech is idle talk, except that of one praying, or the remembrance of Allah, or asking for or giving something good.

Ibn Muhayriz once went to a cloth seller and bought something from him. A man said to the cloth seller, "Do you know who this is? This is Ibn Muhayriz." The cloth seller stood up. Ibn Muhayriz said: We have come to buy with our dirhams; we have not come to buy with our religion.

Musa bin Uqbah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We were in al-Ramlah when I heard Ibn Muhayriz (may Allah have mercy on him) saying: "I have seen the people who, when a Muslim died, would say, 'All praise is for Allah who gave so-and-so death upon Islam.' Then that time came to an end, and now no one says this."

Sayyiduna Mujammi' bin Jariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to supplicate: O Allah, I ask You for a gentle and easy death.

Usamah bin Zayd narrates from his father regarding the saying of Allah Almighty, "Bringing down" [Al-Waqi'ah: 3], that whoever is brought low on that Day will never be able to rise, and whoever attains elevation on that Day will never be brought low.

Amr bin Aws (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The humble are those who do not wrong others, and if they are wronged, they do not take revenge.

Abu al-Ala bin al-Shikhkhir said: So-and-so said: You people walk on your graves. I said: Yes. He said: How then can rain come down upon you?

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said regarding the saying of Allah Almighty, "Then the fish swallowed him" [As-Saffat: 142]: When the fish swallowed the prophet, it took him and placed him in the seventh earth. There he heard the earth glorifying Allah. This stirred him to glorify, and he began to say, "There is no god but You; glory be to You; indeed, I have been among the wrongdoers" [Al-Anbiya: 87]. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The fish brought the prophet out and cast him onto the land without hair or nails, like a newborn child. Allah Almighty made a tree grow beside him to give him shade. He used to eat insects beneath that tree. Once he was sleeping in the shade of that tree when its leaves, which had dried up, fell upon him. The prophet (peace be upon him) complained of this to his Lord, and the reply came to him: You grieve so much over one tree, so why do you not grieve over a hundred thousand or more who are being punished?

Abu al-Sahba said: I sought wealth by lawful means and it wore me out, except for a day-to-day provision, so I knew that I had been dealt with well. By Allah, whoever is given a day-to-day provision and does not think that he has been dealt with well is either incapable or deficient in judgement.

Abdullah bin Mutarrif said: You will see two men, one of whom prays and fasts more, while the other is far more honoured in the sight of Allah. People asked: O Aba Jaz', how can this be? He replied: He is the one who most avoids what is forbidden.

It is narrated from al-Dahhak (may Allah have mercy on him), regarding the saying of Allah Almighty, "And give glad tidings to the humble" [Al-Hajj: 34], that it refers to people who show humility.

Al-Dahhak (may Allah have mercy on him) said, in the explanation of the saying of Allah Almighty, "And they were humble before Us" [Al-Anbiya: 90]: It means humility for Allah.

Al-Dahhak explained the Qur'anic verse "By it will be melted what is in their bellies and their skins" [Al-Hajj: 20] as meaning that melting will take place by means of it.

Al-Dahhak said, in the explanation of the saying of Allah, "And when they pass by idle talk, they pass by with dignity" [Al-Furqan: 72]: Idle talk is neither in their hearts nor apparent from their state.

Al-Dahhak said: Were it not for the recitation of the Holy Qur'an, I would prefer to be sick.

Al-Dahhak said, in the explanation of the saying of Allah Almighty, "In a secure place" [Ad-Dukhan: 51]: They will be safe from dying and from old age, and they will neither feel hunger nor be naked.

Al-Dahhak (may Allah have mercy on him) said, in the explanation of the saying of Allah, "Indeed, you are labouring toward your Lord with exertion" [Al-Inshiqaq: 6]: You are working toward your Lord.

Al-Dahhak said, in the explanation of the Qur'anic verse "For them are glad tidings in the life of this world" [Yunus: 64]: It is that he comes to know, before death, where his abode is.

Al-Dahhak bin Muzahim said, in the explanation of the saying of Allah Almighty, "So race to good deeds; to Allah is your return" [Al-Ma'idah: 48]: It refers to every good and bad member of the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Abu al-Fayd (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from al-Dahhak that by the saying of Allah Almighty, "Allah only accepts from the God-fearing" [Al-Ma'idah: 27], are meant those who guard themselves against shirk.

Wahb bin Munabbih said: Harun (peace be upon him) was the one who used to perfume the synagogues with incense.