The Wise Sayings

1- Be an Intelligent by thinking before speaking

It is reported that Al-Hasan Al-Basri - Allah have mercy on him - said:

"The intelligent person's tongue is behind his heart: when he wants to speak, he first thinks. If [his words] will be in his favor, he says them, and if they will be against him, he does not speak. And the ignorant person's heart is behind his tongue: when he merely thinks of saying something, he says it, whether it is for or against him."   

[Abu Bakr Al-Daynuri, Al-Mujalasah wa Jawahir Al-'Ilm article 2049]

2- Four signs of wretchedness

It is reported that Al-Hasan Al-Basri - Allah have mercy on him - said:

Four signs of wretchedness are:

1. [Having] a hard heart,

2. Dry eyes [that never cry],

3. Extended hopes [about this life],

4. And greed and keenness to amass worldly things (the dunya)."

[Ibn Abi Al-Dunya, Kitab Al-Zuhd article 36]

3- Root of Nifaaq is Lying

It is reported from Al-Hasan Al-Basri - Allah have mercy on him - that he said:

"It used to be said: it is part of al-nifaaq (hypocrisy) to be inwardly different from what you are on the outside, to say one thing and do another and to be different in how you enter and how you leave. And the root of al-nifaaq is lying. "

[Abu Bakr Al-Khara s iti, Masawi Al-Akhlaq wa Madhmumiha p62]

4- Do not sit with Ahl ul Bidah

Al-Hasan Al-Basri - Allah have mercy on him - said:

"Do not sit with an adherent of bid'ah for he will cause a disease in your heart."

[Ibn Waddah, Al-Bida' pi 24]

5- Continuous Sin makes heart blind

Explanation of the verse:

“Nay, but their hearts were covered over by what (sins) they earned.” [Surah Al-Mutaffifin: 14]

Al-Hasan (Al-Basri) said,

"It is because of doing one sin after another, until the heart becomes blind and dies."

[Al-Tabari in his Tafsir, Surah Al-Mutaffifin]

6- Learn Arabic before destruction

'Abdullah b. Zayd Al-Numayri reports that Al-Hasan Al-Basri said:

"They (the heretics) were destroyed by their inability in Arabic (al-'ujmah)."

[Al-Bukhari, Al-Tarikh Al-Kabir Vol.5 p99]

7- Faith is firm belief and good actions

Al-Hasan Al-Basri - Allah have mercy on him - said:

Faith (iman) is not by embellishment or wishful thinking, but it is what settles in the heart and is verified through your works. Whoever says good but does not do good, will have his words compared to his deeds by Allah. Whoever says good and does good will have his words raised by his deeds.

This is because Allah 'azza wa jalla said:

“To Him ascends the good word, and the righteous deed raises it.” [Surah Fatir: 10]

 [Ibn Battah in Al-Ibanah Al-Kubra Vol. 3 pl20, and Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi in

Iqtida' Al-'Ilm Al-'Amal no.56]

8- Good is Knowledge and Paradise

Commenting on 2:201 of the Quran which states:

Our Lord! Give us the good of this world and the good of the hereafter. . . Al-Hasan Al-Basri - Allah have mercy on him - said:

 “The good of this world is knowledge and worship, and the good of the Hereafter is Paradise."

 [Al-Ajurri in Akhlaq Al-'Ulama' no. 30 and Ibn Jarir in his Tafsir of this verse]