He was a very pious and learned man. He was not a companion
of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), but a Taabeii (successor of the
Sahaba). He met Abdullah bin Abbas, Imam Maalik and Hasan Basri. His
family was from Sijistan (or Kabul) who later embraced Islam. He lived a
very austere life and earned his livelihood by writing the Holy Qur’an.
He learned Hadith from leading scholar and narrated few Hadith from
Hasan Al Basri. He died in 127 A.H. He was a beacon of light for new
Muslims.
Malik bin Dinar narrates his story in
the following way: “I was a policeman and very fond of drinking. I led a
care-free life. I bought a beautiful slave girl whom I loved dearly. I
had a daughter from her, a lovely child. When my daughter began to walk,
I loved her all the more and she remained with me all the time. The
innocent child had a strange habit. When she saw a glass of wine in my
hands, she would snatch it and spill it on my clothes. Being fond of
her, I never scolded her. As fate would have it, my child died when she
was two years old and I was shocked and sorely grieved.
“One the
night of 15th of Shaaban, I was drunk and went to sleep without
performing Isha prayers. I had a horrible dream. I saw myself among
those bring driven to the assembly of people on the Day of Resurrection.
I heard a noise and felt something following me. When I looked back, I
saw a huge snake chasing me. Ah! It was a horrible sight; the snake had
blue catlike eyes, its mouth was wide open and it was rushing toward me
furiously! I ran faster in terror, desperate for my life, the horrible
snake still running after me and drawing closer.
“I saw an old
man, dressed in elegant clothes with rich perfumes wafting all around
his person, I greeted him saying, “Assallam-o-Alaikum” and he returned
my greetings. I said, “For the sake of Allah, help me in my misery”. He
said “I am too weak to help you against such a mighty foe; it is beyond
my powers. But you must go on running; perhaps you may find some help”.
Running wildly I saw a cliff in front of me and climbed it, but on
reaching its top, I saw, beyond it, the raging fire of hell. Meanwhile, I
heard a voice calling aloud, “Get back, for, you are not one of them
(the dwellers of hell).
“I turned and began to run in the opposite
direction. The snake also turned around and came after me. I saw again
the old man in white robes and said, “Old man, can’t you save me from
this python.” The man began to cry and said, “I am too weak to help you
against such a mighty snake, but I can tell you that there is a hill
nearby where they keep the ‘sacred trusts’ of the Muslims. If you go up
that hill, you might find something of yours, kept in trust, which might
save you from the snake.” I rushed toward the hill, which was round in
shape, with a large number of open curtailed casements. The casements
had golden shutters studded with rich rubies, and most precious jewels;
on each shutter hung a curtain made of the rarest silk.
“When I
was going to climb the hill, the angels called aloud, “Open the windows
and raise the curtains and come out of your closets! Here is an
unfortunate man in misery; may be you have with you some ‘trust’ of his,
that might help him in his distress.” The windows opened at once, the
curtains went up, and there issued forth from the casements a host of
innocent children, with faces bright as the full moon. By this time I
was utterly despondent, for the snake had drawn very close to me. Now
the children called their friends, “Come out quickly, all of you, for
the snake has come very close to him.”
Hearing this, more children
came out of their windows, in large crowds, and among them I saw my own
dear daughter who had died some time ago. She also espied me and began
to weep, exclaiming, “By Allah! He is my own dear father.” She jumped on
a swinging cradle, which seemed to be made from heavenly light (Noor)
and darted across to me. Next moment, she was standing by my side and I
took her to my bosom; she lifted her left hand towards me and with her
right hand motioned the snake away.
The snake went away
immediately. Then she gave me a seat and sat in my lap and began to
stroke my beard with her right hand saying, “My dear father, ‘Has not
the time come for the believers (who indulge in sins) that their hearts
should submit in all humility to the remembrance of Allah and to the
truth which is revealed’ (Al-Hadeed:16)”. I was moved to tears and asked
her, “My daughter, do all of you know the meanings of the Qur’an? She
replied “We understand the Holy Quran even better than you.”
I
asked her “My dear child, what was this snake?” She said “It was your
own evil deeds which had made it so strong that it was about to push you
into Jahannam”. I asked “And who was that white-robed old man?” She
replied “That were your good deeds and you had made them so weak with
your scanty good deeds that he could not help you against the snake
(though he suggested to you a means of escape.)”
I asked “What are
all of you doing on this hill?” She replied “We are children of
Muslims, who died in infancy. We shall live here till the Day of
Resurrection, waiting to be reunited with you when you come to us at
last and we shall intercede for you with our Lord”. And then I awoke
from the dream, with the fright (of the snake) still heavy on my heart. I
turned to Allah in repentance, as soon as I arose; and abandoned all my
evil ways.
arabnews
No comments:
Post a Comment