صحيح مسلم
Muslim
كتاب الزكاةThe Book of Zakat
باب لَوْ أَنَّ لاِبْنِ آدَمَ وَادِيَيْنِ لاَبْتَغَى ثَالِثًا:Chapter: If the Son of Adam had two valleys, he would desire a third
حَدَّثَنِي حَدَّثَنِي سُوَيْدُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ ، حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُسْهِرٍ ، عَنْ دَاوُدَ ، عَنْ أَبِي حَرْبِ بْنِ أَبِي الْأَسْوَدِ ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ ، قَالَ : بَعَثَ أَبُو مُوسَى الْأَشْعَرِيُّ إِلَى قُرَّاءِ أَهْلِ الْبَصْرَةِ ، فَدَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ ثَلَاثُ مِائَةِ رَجُلٍ ، قَدْ قَرَءُوا الْقُرْآنَ ، فَقَالَ " أَنْتُمْ خِيَارُ أَهْلِ الْبَصْرَةِ وَقُرَّاؤُهُمْ فَاتْلُوهُ ، وَلَا يَطُولَنَّ عَلَيْكُمُ الْأَمَدُ ، فَتَقْسُوَ قُلُوبُكُمْ كَمَا قَسَتْ قُلُوبُ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ ، وَإِنَّا كُنَّا نَقْرَأُ سُورَةً كُنَّا نُشَبِّهُهَا فِي الطُّولِ وَالشِّدَّةِ بِبَرَاءَةَ فَأُنْسِيتُهَا ، غَيْرَ أَنِّي قَدْ حَفِظْتُ مِنْهَا لَوْ كَانَ لِابْنِ آدَمَ وَادِيَانِ مِنْ مَالٍ لَابْتَغَى وَادِيًا ثَالِثًا ، وَلَا يَمْلَأُ جَوْفَ ابْنِ آدَمَ إِلَّا التُّرَابُ ، وَكُنَّا نَقْرَأُ سُورَةً كُنَّا نُشَبِّهُهَا بِإِحْدَى الْمُسَبِّحَاتِ فَأُنْسِيتُهَا ، غَيْرَ أَنِّي حَفِظْتُ مِنْهَا يَأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لا تَفْعَلُونَ سورة الصف آية 2 فَتُكْتَبُ شَهَادَةً فِي أَعْنَاقِكُمْ فَتُسْأَلُونَ عَنْهَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ " .
Abu Harb bin Abu al-Aswad reported on the authority of his father that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari sent for the reciters of Basrah. They came to him and they were three hundred in number. They recited the Qur'an and he said: You are the best among the inhabitants of Basrah, for you are the reciters among them. So continue to recite it. (But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you. We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara'at. I have, however, forgotten it with the exception of this which I remember out of it: "If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam ؑؑ, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam ؑؑbut dust." And we used so recite a surah which resembled one of the surahs of Musabbihat, and I have forgotten it, but remember (this much) out of it: "Oh people who believe, why do you say that which you do not practise" (lxi 2.) and "that is recorded in your necks as a witness (against you) and you would be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection" (xvii. 13).
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi
Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: (1)
The greed and desire for wealth and property is, as it were, the nature of ordinary human beings. Even if their house is filled with wealth, and forests upon forests and fields upon fields are overflowing with riches, still their hearts are not content, and they only desire more and more increase. This remains the state of their greed until the very last breath of life, and only in the grave do they find deliverance from this hunger and desire for wealth. Nowadays, landlords, capitalists, industrialists, and both civil and military bureaucrats, indeed every trader, shopkeeper, and every employee, has become a living example of this greed and desire. However, those servants who turn their faces away from the world and its wealth and direct themselves towards Allah and establish their connection with Him, upon them Allah’s special favor descends, and Allah grants them tranquility of heart, richness of the soul (ghina al-nafs), and contentment.
(2)
Some chapters of the Noble Qur’an were revealed in the beginning, temporarily, concerning concern for the Hereafter and detachment and lack of interest in the world. However, since it was not intended for them to remain as part of the Qur’an, they were removed from the minds of the Messenger and the Ummah. Therefore, some meaning remained preserved in the minds of certain Companions (radi Allahu anhum ajma‘in), but their exact words and the Qur’anic style and eloquence were not preserved, and now they are not part of the Qur’an. Thus, the conditions for being Qur’an are also absent in them. As for the “Musabbihat,” these are the chapters in which, at the beginning, the word “Subhan” or its derivatives appear, such as: (Sabbih, yusabbihu, Sabbih isma rabbika), etc.
The greed and desire for wealth and property is, as it were, the nature of ordinary human beings. Even if their house is filled with wealth, and forests upon forests and fields upon fields are overflowing with riches, still their hearts are not content, and they only desire more and more increase. This remains the state of their greed until the very last breath of life, and only in the grave do they find deliverance from this hunger and desire for wealth. Nowadays, landlords, capitalists, industrialists, and both civil and military bureaucrats, indeed every trader, shopkeeper, and every employee, has become a living example of this greed and desire. However, those servants who turn their faces away from the world and its wealth and direct themselves towards Allah and establish their connection with Him, upon them Allah’s special favor descends, and Allah grants them tranquility of heart, richness of the soul (ghina al-nafs), and contentment.
(2)
Some chapters of the Noble Qur’an were revealed in the beginning, temporarily, concerning concern for the Hereafter and detachment and lack of interest in the world. However, since it was not intended for them to remain as part of the Qur’an, they were removed from the minds of the Messenger and the Ummah. Therefore, some meaning remained preserved in the minds of certain Companions (radi Allahu anhum ajma‘in), but their exact words and the Qur’anic style and eloquence were not preserved, and now they are not part of the Qur’an. Thus, the conditions for being Qur’an are also absent in them. As for the “Musabbihat,” these are the chapters in which, at the beginning, the word “Subhan” or its derivatives appear, such as: (Sabbih, yusabbihu, Sabbih isma rabbika), etc.
Source: Tuhfat al-Muslim: Commentary on Sahih Muslim, Page: 2419
