Leisure reading from the world of Islam is a not-to-be-missed experience! Here are some very enjoyable books, both classic and modern, to feast your mind upon: Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid Muhammad. The Alchemy of Happiness. London: The Octagon Press, 1983. Al-Jahiz, Abu Uthman ibn Bahr. The Book of Misers. Translated by R.B. Serjeant. London: Garnet Publishing Limited, 1997. Asad, Muhammad. The Road to Mecca. Gibralter: Dar Al-Andalus, 1980. Atiyeh, George N. The Book in the Islamic World. Albany: State University of New York, 1995. Attar, Fariduddin. The Conference of Birds. New York: Penguin, 1995. Baig, Reshma. The Memory of Hands. New York: International Books and Tapes Supply, 1999. Burton, Sir Richard. The Arabian Nights. New York: The Modern Library, 1932. Hafiz, Shamsuddin Muhammad. The Gift: Poems by Hafiz. Translated by Daniel Ladinsky. New York: Penguin, 1999. Haley, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine Books, 1978. Helminski, Kabir and ...
He was moderate in his appearance and dress. He would not wear extravagant clothes that attracted attention or made him look special. Rather, his clothing and appearance were just like that of the general people, and he did not wear one particular type of clothing in exclusion to another. He would wear whatever was available, and he would eat whatever was made available to him, and the badhadhah (plain appearance) of faith was evident on him. He was never seen showing off with his turban, his clothing, his manner of walking, or how he stood and sat, and he never dressed up for anyone who he was meeting or was visiting him from another land.
And many people told me that he was never seen or heard asking for food - dinner or supper - no matter how long he remained busy with some matter related to knowledge and deed. Rather, he would sometimes be given food that he would leave for a long time before even turning to it, and if he ate from it, would only eat small bits. He would never mention the delights of this world, and would never speak or ask about them. Rather, all of his concern and conversation was in seeking the Hereafter and what could bring him closer to Allah, the Exalted.
This is exactly how he was in how he dressed. He was never heard asking for a particular type of clothing. Rather, his family would bring him some clothes whenever they knew that he needed to change the clothes he was wearing. He would maybe even keep one set of clothes on for so long that they became dirty, and he would not ask anyone to wash them for him, and it was his family who would ask if he needed them washed. His brother - who was the one looking after his worldly interests - told me: “This was how he was in his food, drink, clothing, and whatever else he needed from the worldly matters.”
And I never saw anyone who respected and revered the Shaykh more than this brother of his. He would sit in his presence as if there was a bird on his head,41 and he would respect him as one would respect a ruler. We were amazed at this, and said to him: “Usually, a man’s family does not treat him in the same way that a stranger would. They usually treat him in a less formal way, and we see you with the Shaykh as if you are his student with all the respect and honor in which you deal with him.” So, he would say: “I see things from him that nobody else sees, and it is therefore a must that I treat him as you see.” When we asked him what it was he would see, he would refuse to answer due to how much he knew the Shaykh would hate that. ¬writes The Imam, the Hafidh Abu Hafs ‘Umar bin ‘Ali al-Bazzar
And many people told me that he was never seen or heard asking for food - dinner or supper - no matter how long he remained busy with some matter related to knowledge and deed. Rather, he would sometimes be given food that he would leave for a long time before even turning to it, and if he ate from it, would only eat small bits. He would never mention the delights of this world, and would never speak or ask about them. Rather, all of his concern and conversation was in seeking the Hereafter and what could bring him closer to Allah, the Exalted.
This is exactly how he was in how he dressed. He was never heard asking for a particular type of clothing. Rather, his family would bring him some clothes whenever they knew that he needed to change the clothes he was wearing. He would maybe even keep one set of clothes on for so long that they became dirty, and he would not ask anyone to wash them for him, and it was his family who would ask if he needed them washed. His brother - who was the one looking after his worldly interests - told me: “This was how he was in his food, drink, clothing, and whatever else he needed from the worldly matters.”
And I never saw anyone who respected and revered the Shaykh more than this brother of his. He would sit in his presence as if there was a bird on his head,41 and he would respect him as one would respect a ruler. We were amazed at this, and said to him: “Usually, a man’s family does not treat him in the same way that a stranger would. They usually treat him in a less formal way, and we see you with the Shaykh as if you are his student with all the respect and honor in which you deal with him.” So, he would say: “I see things from him that nobody else sees, and it is therefore a must that I treat him as you see.” When we asked him what it was he would see, he would refuse to answer due to how much he knew the Shaykh would hate that. ¬writes The Imam, the Hafidh Abu Hafs ‘Umar bin ‘Ali al-Bazzar
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