Every day we
encounter various situations that test our patience and our faith [iman]. When we do so, we seek proper ways to
respond to such situations. One way to find
the right and proper behaviour would be by asking ourselves, “how would our
prophet or imams behave in this situation?” Although we are not like them in
faith or patience, by doing so, we could at least envision the correct
behaviour and in turn we could strive to adhere to it.
It is clear that the more we learn
about the traditions and sayings of our prophet and imams, peace be up on them
all, the more accurate our answers would be to the aforementioned question. The more we know about how they behaved and
responded to various questions and situations, the easier we would find right
action to take or the right words to say.
One of the main purposes of this
blog and other blogs that are dedicated to the teachings of Ahlul bayt (peace
be upon them) is precisely to fulfill this objective, and to make it simpler
for the lovers of Ahlul bayt to emulate their behaviour.
In this post, I present a situation,
in which our beloved imam taught many important lessons to his followers mostly
by what he did and not necessarily by what he said. One of the greatest lessons in this tradition
is that teaching by example is preferred over teaching by words. The imam spoke
very little, in this tradition, yet his actions were very effective in
indicating the right course to take. His
actions loudly show us the benefits of being patient and forbearing.
If we put this tradition under a magnifying
glass, the Imam’s actions, and the little words that he spoke, show and teach
us so many moral lessons. Nonetheless, I cannot go over each one of them in
this post. I am certain that if you
examine this tradition closely, you’d be able to see many of them yourself.
Before you read this tradition, ask
yourself, “What would I do if I saw a beloved friend of mine unjustifiably disrespected
by an individual?” What if, in this
situation, there were many of your friends and only one opposing disrespectful individual?
Would you start a fight? Would you rudely respond to the rudeness of that
opponent, and by doing so succumb to his ways? Would you lose control of your emotions
and behave irrationally without considering the consequences? Would your ego block
your rationality? Would you let your pride bring out the worst in you?
We can never know what we would
actually do until we are in that situation.
However, we can start training ourselves today and prepare ourselves for
when and if that situation occurs. We can see and learn our imam’s behaviour
and teaching today, contemplate upon it, and put it to practice in daily, less
significant, similar situations. Remember,
practice makes perfect. It takes time to
internalize the correct behaviour and to build the proper character. Thus, the
sooner we start practicing the sooner we change.
Without any further ado, I present to you the
following Authentic tradition.
Arabic
Text:
محمد بن يحيى [ضمير] عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ
بْنِ مُرَازِمٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ خَرَجْنَا مَعَ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع حَيْثُ خَرَجَ
مِنْ عِنْدِ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ الْمَنْصُورِ مِنَ الْحِيرَةِ فَخَرَجَ سَاعَةَ أُذِنَ
لَهُ وَ انْتَهَى إِلَى السَّالِحِينَ فِي أَوَّلِ اللَّيْلِ فَعَرَضَ لَهُ عَاشِرٌ
كَانَ يَكُونُ فِي السَّالِحِينَ فِي أَوَّلِ اللَّيْلِ فَقَالَ لَهُ لَا أَدَعُكَ أَنْ تَجُوزَ فَأَلَحَّ عَلَيْهِ وَ طَلَبَ
إِلَيْهِ فَأَبَى إِبَاءً وَ أَنَا وَ مُصَادِفٌ مَعَهُ فَقَالَ لَهُ مُصَادِفٌ جُعِلْتُ
فِدَاكَ إِنَّمَا هَذَا كَلْبٌ قَدْ آذَاكَ وَ أَخَافُ
أَنْ يَرُدَّكَ وَ مَا أَدْرِي مَا يَكُونُ مِنْ أَمْرِ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ وَ أَنَا وَ
مُرَازِمٌ أَ تَأْذَنُ لَنَا أَنْ نَضْرِبَ عُنُقَهُ ثُمَّ نَطْرَحَهُ فِي النَّهَرِ
فَقَالَ كُفَّ يَا مُصَادِفُ فَلَمْ يَزَلْ يَطْلُبُ
إِلَيْهِ حَتَّى ذَهَبَ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ أَكْثَرُهُ فَأَذِنَ لَهُ فَمَضَى فَقَالَ يَا مُرَازِمُ هَذَا خَيْرٌ أَمِ الَّذِي قُلْتُمَاهُ
قُلْتُ هَذَا
جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ فَقَالَ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ يَخْرُجُ
مِنَ الذُّلِّ الصَّغِيرِ فَيُدْخِلُهُ ذَلِكَ فِي الذُّلِّ الْكَبِيرِ
Farsi
Translation:
محمّد بن مرازم به نقل
از پدرش مىگويد: در خدمت امام صادق عليه السّلام بوديم كه در حيره از نزد ابو جعفر
منصور دوانيقى، رخصت خروج دريافت كرد و آزاد شد و در همان ساعت اجازه، بىدرنگ حركت
كرد و سر شب به پاسبانان گشتى برخورد و يك گمركچى كه در ميان پاسبانهاى گشتى بود همان
وقت، به حضرت درآويخت و گفت: نخواهم گذاشت تو از اينجا بگذرى. حضرت به او اصرار
كرد و از او خواهش كرد ولى او به سختى سرباز زد و جلو حضرت را گرفت. من و مصادف
در خدمت حضرت بوديم، مصادف به امام عليه السّلام عرض كرد: قربانت گردم اين پاسبان سگى است كه تو را مىآزارد و مىترسم تو را نزد منصور
برگرداند و نمىدانم منصور اين بار با شما چه خواهد كرد، من با مرازم هر دو حاضريم
كه اگر اجازه دهى گردن او را بزنيم و جسد او را به رودخانه بيفكنيم. امام عليه
السّلام در پاسخ فرمود: اى مصادف! خويشتن دار باش،
و امام عليه
السّلام پيوسته از پاسبان طلب رفع مزاحمت مىكرد تا وقتى كه بيشتر شب گذشت و
آنگاه او به حضرت اجازه گذر داد و حضرت به راه خود رفت و پس از آن فرمود:
اى مرازم! اين بهتر است يا آنچه تو گفتى؟ عرض كردم:
قربانت گردم
اين بهتر است. امام عليه السّلام فرمود: اى بسا
كه آدمى از ذلّت كوچكى برآيد و به ذلّت بزرگترى گرفتار آيد.
English
Translation:
Narrated by Ahmed Ibn Mohamed from Mohamed Ibn Morazem from his
father who said:
We accompanied Abu Abdullah (pbuh) when we were set free from the
home of Abu Ja’far Al-Mansour in Al-Heira. We arrived at Al-Saleheen by
nightfall. A sentinel from Al-Saleheen barred the way and said to him [the
Imam], “I shall not let you enter.” He [the Imam]
pleaded with the man and persisted [in doing so] but the man firmly
refused.
Musadaf and I [Morazem] were in his [The Imam’s] company.
Musadaf said to him [the Imam], “Upon
my honor, this dog insults you; I fear you may have to turn back. I know not
what Abu Ja’far [Al-Mansour] will do to you this [second] time around.”
[Musadaf continued:] “Permit Morazem
and I to smite his neck and throw him into the river.”
He [the Imam] said, “Be silent, O Musadaf.”
He [the
Imam] continued to persist until the night was half spent and
finally he [the man] left.
[Abu Abdullah] said, “O Morazem, is this
better or what you said?”
I [Morazem] said, “What you have done, may I be your sacrifice.”
He [the Imam] said, “Verily, man walks
away from a small humiliation and brings upon himself a bigger one.”
Source:
Al-Kafi,
Volume 8, Page 87, Tradition #49
