One of the things I find most admirable as I read some books about old Islamic scholars is the level of respect they had for each other even if they differed in opinion (I don't believe this to exclusive to "old" or "Islamic" scholars as I believe scholars of all disciplines, who respect their disciplines, show respect and admiration to each other).
This is a line from Imam Shafei talking about imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (2 founders of the 4 major Islamic schools of jurisprudence) قالوا يزوركَ أحمد وتزورهُ قلت الفضائل لا تفارق منزله إن زارني فبفضله أو زرته فلفضله، فالفضل في الحالين له They say Ahmad visits you and you visit him I said, virtue never parts with him If he visits me it's because of his virtue And if I visit him, it's for his virtue So virtue is his in both cases The beauty of this is that imam Shafei shows his own virtue by not only affirming the fact that the two scholars visit but by praising imam Ahmad and showing him the respect a scholar deserves
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I'm reading a book that is a collection of imam Shafei's few lines of poetry. I hope I can capture his wise and potent words with my translation.
Here is one talking about how to treat friends (or as he refers them company on the journey of life: إذا رافقت في الأسفار قوماً فكن لهم كذي الرحم الشفيق بعيب النفس ذَا بصر وعلم وأعمى العين من عيب الرفيق ولا تأخذ بعثرة كل قوم ولكن قل: هلُمّ إلى الطريق فإن تأخذ بعثرتهم يقلّوا وتبقى في الزمان بلا صديق If you accompany people upon a journey then be to them as a caring kin Insightful and aware of your own faults and blind of your company's shortcomings And don't account for every misstep but say, let's keep upon the journey For if you account for every misstep they will become few and you'll remain in this world without any company |
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October 2023
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