On the authority of Abu `Abbas `Abdullah ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) who said: One day I was behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) [riding on the same mount] and he said:
"O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]: Be Mindful of Allah and Allah will protect you. Be Mindful of Allah and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, then ask Allah [alone]; and if you seek help, then seek help from Allah [alone]. And know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allah had already prescribed for you. And if they were to gather together to harm you with anything, they would not harm you except with what Allah had already prescribed against you. The Pens have been lifted and the Pages have dried."�(It is related by At-Tirmidhi, who said it is a Good and Sound Hadith)
Another narration, other than that of �t-Tirmidhi, reads:
"Be Mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. Recognize and acknowledge Allah in times of ease and prosperity, and He will remember you in times of adversity. And know that what has passed you by [and you have failed to attain] was not going to befall you, and what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship."�
Explanation of the Hadith
The virtues and outstanding traits of `Abdullah ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) are more than what can be enumerated, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated for him and said: "Oh Allah! Grant him understanding (fiqh) of the religion and teach him the interpretation", and he also supplicated for him that he be given wisdom twice over. It has been narrated that he [ibn `Abbas] said that he "saw Jibril (may Allah's peace be upon him) twice", though this narration is mursal and is not established. Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) is the ocean of knowledge of this Ummah, and its learned scholar. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be with him) considered him to be worthy of carrying a legacy/advice from him despite his small age, and so he said to him: "Be Mindful of Allah and Allah will protect you", and its meaning is "be obedient to your Lord, ordering whatever He has ordered and forbidding whatever He has forbidden".
Also the Prophet's (may Allah's peace and blessings be with him) statement : "Be Mindful of Allah and you will find Him in front of you" means "perform your actions for His sake out of obedience to Him, and let yourself not be seen to oppose or disobey Him, then you will find Allah with you in times of difficulty", as happened to the three men who fled to a cave to seek shelter from torrential rain, whereupon a huge rock descended upon the entrance to the cave and sealed it. So they said to one another: "Look to the pious actions that you have performed [in the past] and ask Allah Almighty by them, for verily He is the only One who can save us from this." So each one of them mentioned a good action that they had performed previously, purely for the sake of their Lord, so Allah removed the rock that was blocking the entrance to the cave, and they were free from their imprisonment, and their story is well known from the Sahih [of Muslim].
As for the Prophet's (may Allah's peace and blessings be with him) statement "If you ask, then ask Allah [alone]; and if you seek help, then seek help from Allah [alone]", it guides us to having trust and reliance upon our Protector, and that we should not take any deity except Him, and that we should not depend upon or be attached to anyone other than Him in all our affairs, no matter how small they may be. Allah Almighty says: {And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him}. (At-Talaaq 65: 3)
So according to the degree by which a person relies upon others than Allah in his desires and by his heart, or in his hopes, then proportionately he has turned away from his Lord to those who cannot hurt nor benefit him. Moreover, one should not fear others than Allah, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) emphasised: "And know that if the nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allah had already prescribed for you". And this is the essence of iman in qadr (divine will and destiny), and having iman in it is obligatory, the good of it and the evil of it. Once a believer has conviction (yaqin) in this then he sees no benefit in asking from others than Allah or seeking help from them. Similar to this is the answer of al-Khalil, prophet Ibrahim (may Allah be pleased with him), to the question of Jibril (peace be on him) when he was in the air having been thrown towards the Great Fire : "Do you have any need?" to which he replied: "As for from you, then no. As for from Allah, then definitely."
As for the Prophet's (may Allah's peace and blessings be with him) statement "the Pens have been lifted and the Pages have dried", it further emphasises what has preceeded, and there is no contradiction with that by way of abrogation or change.
The next statement "and know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship" informs him (Ibn `Abbas) to consider that man in this world will be presented with trials and misfortunes, especially the pious, due to the statement of Allah Almighty:
{And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabireen (the patient ones); who, when afflicted with calamity, say: "Truly! To Allah we belong and truly to Him we shall return". They are those on whom are the salawat (blessings) from their Lord, and (they are those who) receive His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided-ones"�. (Al-Baqarah 2: 155-157)
Allah Almighty also says:
{Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account}. (Az-Zummar 39: 10)
Summary
- It is allowed for two people to be seated on a mount if it does not over-burden the animal.
- If one takes care about Allah's rights, then He takes care of him.
- If one takes care of Allah's rights, then He helps him.
- One must ask of Allah only, and seek His help only.
- We cannot be harmed or benefited by anything or anyone, no matter how large they are in number or strong they appear, except by the will of Allah.
- What Allah has allowed in our destiny will definitely occur.
- One should remember and take care of Allah's rights in times of ease, and Allah will take care of him in times of difficulty.
- Victory comes with patience.
- Relief comes after suffering.
- Ease comes after hardship.