ofthemagnanimous,”theyallanswered.Hethensaid,“Gooff!Youare
released.”
AnasbinMalikrelated:IwasaccompanyingtheProphet(s),whowas
inacloakofahardmargin,whenaBedouinpulledhimfromthecloak
fiercelyandsaidinharshandiratetone,“OMohammed!Carryonmy
twocamelswithGod’srichesthatyoukeep.Theyareneitheryoursnor
yourfathers.”The Prophetkeptsilenceforawhile,andthensaid,“The
richesareGod’s.IamonlyHisservant.”Afterapauseheasked,“OBe-
douin!Doyounotexpecttoberetaliatedforyoudeed?”“No,Idonot,”
answered the Bedouin. “What for?” wondered the Prophet. “Because
you do not answer the evildoing with evil,” replied the Bedouin. The
Prophet(s)smiledandorderedofgivinghimbarleyanddatesasmuch
as his camels bear.
The Prophet (s) used benevolence, goodness, and condonation with
anywrongdoinghemightencounter.Thisnonesuchmoralitywasstuck
to the tendencies of the Imams by which they preceded the others.
Historiansmentionthatonceamanthrewshowersofinsultsandre-
viling at Imam Zeinul abidin while he was leaving the mosque. The
Imam stopped his slaves who intended to punish that man. “O you
man!” addressed theImam; “Iam morethan yourprevious wordings.
You ignoremorethan whatyouhave knownabout me.”The manfelt
shyandwasembarrassed.Hence,theImam gavehimhis shirtandbe-
stowed with one thousand dirhams. The manthen confessed, “Imust
declare that this is one of the Prophet’s sons.”
A Syrian man went on reviling at Imam al-Hassan. The Imam
answeredhimwithhandsome smiling andsaid, “Oman!Wewillgive
youwhat youneed,andlead youto yourlost,and bestowyouif you
ask,andfeedyouifyouarehungry,andenrichyouifyouaredestitute,
andsuccoryouifyouarefugitive.”TheImamkept gentlenesswiththe
Syrianmanuntiltheevilwasuprootedfromhismind.Hewashighlyas-
tonishedtotheImam’smorality;therefore,hecouldutternosinglelet-
ter. He onlyworded, “Godis the mostknowledgeableof the fittest of
conveying His message.”.
ThesepicturesoftheImams’conductincitetoholdtoself-denialand
freedomfromhostiletendencies.Hence,theywerethebestexamplesof
God’s saying:
And repel evil with good.
ann
(Ann)
#1