when silence is better than rebuttal

Discussion in 'Tasawwuf / Adab / Akhlaq' started by Unbeknown, Dec 21, 2014.

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  1. Unbeknown

    Unbeknown Senior Moderator

    Ibn al-Jawzi also relates that Ibn Abu Hatim al-Razi said:

    I entered Damascus to see the transcribers of hadith. I passed by Qasim al-Ju`i's circle and saw a large crowd sitting around him as he spoke. I approached and heard him say:

    Do without others in your life in five matters:
    - If you are present among people, don't be known; - If you are absent, don't be missed; - If you know something, your advice is unsought; - If you say something, your words are rejected; - If you do something, you receive no credit for it.

    I advise you five other things as well:
    - If you are wronged, do not reciprocate it; - If you are praised, don't be glad; - If you are blamed, don't be distraught; - If you are called liar, don't be angry; - If you are betrayed, don't betray in return.

    Ibn Abu Hatim said: 'I made these words all the benefit I got from visiting Damascus.'(2)
    (1) Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifat al-safwa 2(2):200 (#763). (2) Ibid.

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    In his biographical monograph al-Durratu al-Yatîmiyya fî al-Sîrati al-Taymiyya, al-Dhahabî reports that Ibn Daqîq al-`îd said, upon meeting with Ibn Taymiyya:

    "I saw a man with all the sciences [laid open] before his eyes, taking what he wished and leaving what he wished."

    Asked why he did not debate him, Ibn Daqîq al-`îd answered: "Because he loves to speak (yuh.ibbu al-kalâm) and I love silence."

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    source: texts by g.f haddad
     

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