Inspiration from Past & Present
Life is short, do not shorten it with negligence.
—one of the salaf
(Read on pg 122, Aa’id Abdullah al Qarni, Thirty Lessons For Those Who Fast. Message of Islam. UK:1999.)
Surely, that which is between me and my father’s relatives and between myself and my uncle’s relatives is quite different.
If they violate my honor, I will protect their honor.
If they destroy my reputation, I will build their reputation.
And I will never bear any old grudge for them,
For the patron of a people never bears ill will.
—A wise man
(Read on pg 99, Aa’id Abdullah al Qarni, Thirty Lessons For Those Who Fast. Message of Islam. UK:1999.)
If you had the age of Nuh, the ownership of Suleiman, the faith of Ibrahim, and the wisdom of Luqman, then you would still have to face the agony of death. Behind death there are two abodes: if you miss one of them, you will end up in the second.
—Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī to ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Azīz
(Read on pg 173, Al-Hafiz Jamaludeen Abi Al-Faraj and Abd Ar-Rahman bin Al-Jawzi and Al-Qurashi and Al-Baghdadi, The Biography and virtues of Omar bin Abd Al-Aziz: The Ascetic Caliph. Dar Al-Kotob Al-ilmiyah. Beirut:2001.)
In order to be followed as an example, be a brother to your other Muslims. Be a son to the elders, and a father to the younger ones.
—Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī [d 110H/728CE] to ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Azīz
(Read on pg 172, Al-Hafiz Jamaludeen Abi Al-Faraj and Abd Ar-Rahman bin Al-Jawzi and Al-Qurashi and Al-Baghdadi, The Biography and virtues of Omar bin Abd Al-Aziz: The Ascetic Caliph. Dar Al-Kotob Al-ilmiyah. Beirut:2001.)