Reports on weeping out of fear of Allah

Abu Raja (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The path of the tears on Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) had become like worn-out shoe-straps from the flow of tears.

Al-Mughirah bin Sa'd bin al-Akhram said: Whenever Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by the blacksmiths in the market, his tears would flow on seeing what they drew out of their fire.

Abu Salih said: When the people of Yemen came in the time of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and heard the Qur'an, they began to weep. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr said: We too used to be like this; then the hearts became hard.

It is reported from Abu Sa'id, the mawla of Abu Usayd, that when Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had prayed, he sent the people out of the mosque and set off towards us. When he saw his companions, he put down his whip (durrah) and sat down, and he said: Make supplication. So they all began to make supplication. Then they went on making supplication by turns until my turn came, and I too made supplication, and I was a slave at that time. I saw Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) make supplication and weep so much that not even a woman who has lost her child to death weeps like that. I thought to myself: "Is this the man about whom people say that he is very harsh-tempered?"

It is the saying of Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him): It is obligatory upon you to hold to the Sunnah and the right path. For there is no one who is on the Sunnah and the right path, whose eyes overflow out of the fear of Allah, and whom the fire of Hell then touches. And there is no one who is on the Sunnah and the right path and whose skin trembles out of the fear of Allah except that his likeness is that of a tree that had dried up, and while it was in that state a wind suddenly blew and all its leaves fell from it. In just the same way his sins fall away. Moderation on the Sunnah and the right path is better than striving outside the Sunnah and the right path. So examine your deeds: whether they are moderation or striving, let them be upon the way of the prophets and their Sunnah.

Abdullah bin Shaddad said: I heard the sobbing of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) while I was in the last row and he was reciting the verse of Surah Yusuf: "I only complain of my anguish and my grief to Allah" [Yusuf: 86].

Salim bin Abdullah said: Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) recited the verse of the Holy Qur'an: "And whether you show what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it" [Al-Baqarah: 284], and he began to weep. This act of his reached Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and he said: May Allah Almighty have mercy on Abu Abd al-Rahman. He has done what the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did when this verse was revealed. Then this verse was later abrogated by this verse: "For it is what it has earned, and against it is what it has acquired" [Al-Baqarah: 286].

It is the saying of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): "Weep, and if you cannot weep, then take on the appearance of weeping."

Alqamah bin Waqqas said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to recite Surah Yusuf in the Isha prayer, and I was in the last row. When Yusuf (peace be upon him) was mentioned, I heard the sound of his sobbing.

Shaqiq bin Salamah said: We came to Sayyiduna Khabbab (may Allah be pleased with him) to visit him in his illness, and he said: In this chest are eighty thousand (80000). I have never tied them up with a string, and I have not withheld them from any asker. We asked him: What are you weeping about? He answered: My companions have gone, and this world took nothing away from them, and now we remain, until we see no place for it except the earth.

Abdullah bin Ubaydah said: Sayyidah Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), saw some people recite a verse of prostration and then prostrate. She called out to them: This is merely prostration and supplication, but where has the weeping gone?

Al-Bakhtari bin Zayd bin Kharijah said: A man from among the devout worshippers passed by a blacksmith's uncovered furnace, and he stood and began to look at it. He kept looking for as long as Allah willed, and at last he let out a cry and died.

Ibn Abi Mulaykah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I saw Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) weeping. I looked at him and he said: Are you surprised? Weep out of the fear of Allah. And if you cannot weep, then at least take on the appearance of weeping, until one of you says: Ih, ih. Indeed, this moon weeps out of the fear of Allah.

It is the saying of Ibn Buraydah: If the weeping of all the people of the earth were compared with the weeping of Dawud (peace be upon him), it still could not equal it. And if the weeping of Dawud (peace be upon him) and the weeping of all the people of the earth were compared with the weeping of Adam (peace be upon him) at the time he was sent down to the earth, then the weeping of Adam (peace be upon him) would exceed it.

Al-A'mash (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Abu Salih (may Allah have mercy on him) used to lead us in prayer, and because of the tenderness of his heart he could not get through the recitation.

Ali bin al-Aqmar said: So-and-so told me: I came to Rabi'ah and he was weeping in the prayer.

Abdullah bin Rabah said: Whenever Safwan bin Muhriz recited the verse of the Holy Qur'an: "And those who have done wrong will come to know by what overturning they will be overturned" [Al-Shu'ara: 227], he would weep, until I felt that his chest would be crushed.

Ya'la bin Ata (may Allah have mercy on him) reports from his mother, who used to grind kohl for Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr used to put out the lamp and weep, until his eyes were damaged.

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered me to recite to him. He submitted: Should I recite to you when it was revealed to you? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I wish to hear it from someone else. Sayyiduna Abdullah said: I began Surah al-Nisa, until when I reached "So how will it be when We bring from every nation a witness, and bring you as a witness over these?" [Al-Nisa: 41], I raised my head, or someone nudged me from one side, and I saw his tears flowing.

Something similar is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) as a statement of the Prophet (marfu').

Ibrahim al-Taymi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I found sixty of the companions of Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) in this mosque, the youngest of whom was Al-Harith bin Suwayd, and I heard him reciting "When the earth is shaken" [Al-Zalzalah: 1], until when he reached "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it" [Al-Zalzalah: 7], he wept. Then he said: This is indeed a severe reckoning.

It is narrated from al-Hasan that one of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by another man who was reciting a verse, weeping and repeating it over and over. He said: Have you people not heard the saying of Allah: "And recite the Qur'an with measured recitation (tartil)" [Al-Muzzammil: 4]? This is that tartil.

Abdullah bin Shaqiq al-Uqayli said: I heard Ka'b say: That I should weep out of the fear of Allah until tears flow on my cheeks is dearer to me than that I should give my weight in gold in charity. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Ka'b, any Muslim who weeps out of the fear of Allah and whose tears fall to the earth, the fire of Hell cannot touch him until the drop of water that fell from the sky to the earth goes back to its place, and it will never go back.

Mahdi bin Maymun (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I heard Muhammad say: A Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would go three days at a time without finding anything to eat. So he would take a piece of skin, roast it and make do with it, and when he found nothing at all, he would bind a stone to his belly.

Wahb bin Munabbih said: There were among the Children of Israel some young men who were obscure among them. They read the Book and acquired knowledge, and they began to seek wealth and honour through their reading of it. And it was they who began this innovation. In return for it they sought honour and wealth in this world. So they themselves went astray and led others astray.

It is the saying of Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him): The heart too rusts as iron does. He was asked: Then what is its remedy? He answered: That a person remembers Allah.

Abdullah bin Ubayd bin Umayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Ayyub (peace be upon him) had two brothers. The two of them came together but could not draw near him because of the smell coming from Ayyub. One of them said: If Allah Almighty had seen any good in Ayyub (peace be upon him), He would not have brought him to this. Ayyub (peace be upon him) was so severely distressed by these words of theirs as he had never been before. Then Ayyub (peace be upon him) said: "O Allah, if You know that I never slept with a full stomach on any night while I knew the place of a hungry person, then confirm my truthfulness." So he was confirmed, while the two of them were listening. Then he made supplication: "O Allah, if You know that I never wore a shirt while I knew the place of a naked person, then confirm my truthfulness." So he was confirmed, while the two of them were listening. Then Ayyub (peace be upon him) fell down in prostration and made supplication: "O Allah, I will not raise my head until You remove my affliction." And he did not raise his head until Allah had removed his affliction.

Hilal bin Yasaf said: It is reported from Isa (peace be upon him): When one of you gives charity, let him give with his right hand and conceal it even from his left hand. And when it is a day of fasting for one of you, let him apply oil and wipe his lips with oil, so that the one who sees him does not suppose that he is fasting. And when one of you prays in his house, let him be sure to set up a screen (sutrah), for praise is apportioned just as sustenance is apportioned.

Bakr bin Ma'iz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Whenever Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) saw al-Rabi' bin Khuthaym coming, he would say: "Give glad tidings to the humble" [Al-Hajj: 34]. By Allah, if the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had seen you, he would have loved you.

Bakr bin Ma'iz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The daughter of al-Rabi' bin Khuthaym came while his companions were sitting with him, and she asked: O father, may I go out to play? He said: No. His companions said to him: O Abu Yazid, let her go. He answered: It shall not be found in my record that I told her: Go and play. Rather: Go, and say what is good, and do what is good.

Al-Rabi' used to say: O Bakr bin Ma'iz, use your tongue for beneficial things and keep away from harmful speech. I hold people suspect in the matter of my religion. Obey Allah in the things you know, and whatever has been kept back from you, leave it to the one who knows it. For deliberately doing wrong is more dangerous than making a mistake. The best of you today is not truly good, but he is better than another who is worse than him. Not everything given to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has reached you, and you do not understand all that you read. As for the secret things that are hidden from people while they are plain to Allah, seek their cure. Then, addressing himself, he would say: Its remedy is that you repent in the court of Allah and then do not sin again.

Bakr said: When al-Rabi' bin Khuthaym went to the mosque of his people, they said to him: O Rabi', sit with us today and talk to us. Bakr said: Al-Rabi' sat with them, and a stone came from somewhere and wounded his head. He said: "So whoever receives an admonition from his Lord and desists, he will have what is past" [Al-Baqarah: 275].

Al-Rabi' bin Khuthaym used to say: There is no good in any speech except in nine things: declaring the oneness of Allah (tahlil), glorifying Allah (tasbih), magnifying Allah (takbir), praising Allah (tahmid), your asking for what is good, your seeking refuge from evil, your enjoining what is right, your forbidding what is wrong, and your recitation of the Holy Qur'an.

Bakr said that when al-Rabi' was asked, "How did you reach the morning, O Abu Yazid?" he would reply: "We reached the morning as the weak and the sinful do. We eat our provision and await our death."

Bakr said that Ibn al-Kawwa' (may Allah have mercy on him) said to al-Rabi' bin Khuthaym: "We see that you neither speak ill of anyone nor find fault with anyone." He replied: "Woe to you, O Ibn al-Kawwa'! I am not pleased even with my own self, that I should finish with blaming myself and turn to blaming people. People fear Allah on account of the sins of others, yet feel safe regarding their own sins."

Al-Rabi' said: People are of two kinds, the believer and the ignorant. Do not hurt the believer, and do not act ignorantly with the ignorant.

It is narrated from Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) that when al-Rabi' was asked, "Why do you not use medicine?" he replied: "At first I intended to. Then I remembered the people of Ad, the people of Thamud, the Companions of al-Rass and many peoples between them, and I came to know that they too had ailments and they had physicians. Yet the one who treated and the one who was treated have both passed away."

Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) said that al-Rabi' bin Khuthaym used to say in the morning: Do good deeds and speak good words. Persist in what is righteous. When you commit a sin, repent; and when you do a good deed, go on to do more. Whatever you know, stand firm upon it; and whatever you are in doubt about, entrust it to Allah. Do not hurt the believer, and do not act ignorantly with the ignorant. Do not let your hopes grow long, or your hearts will harden. "And do not be like those who said, 'We have heard,' while they do not hear" [Al-Anfal: 21].

Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) said that al-Rabi' (may Allah have mercy on him) used to say: Remember death often, for before it you will not taste any pain like it.

Umayr bin Ishaq said: I have met more of the noble Companions than those who passed away before me, and I have not seen any people more forbearing and gentle than them.