Sayings of the Salaf

Al-Muzanī reports:
I heard Al-Shāfiʿī say:

A man once asked Ubay b. Kaʿb – Allāh be pleased with him, “Exhort me with something I can benefit by and by which I will be rewarded.” He replied, “Be brotherly with brothers according to how righteous they are, do not expend your speech on those who are not interested in it, do not seek anyone to meet your need who does not care if he does not fulfil it, and do not envy the living except for something you would envy the dead.”

Al-Ājurrī, Juz fīhi Ḥikāyāt ʿan Al-Shāfiʿī article 24.

It is reported that Abū Juḥayfah – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

Sit with the seniors, mix with the wise, and enquire with the scholars.

Ibn Ḥibbān, Rawḍatu Al-ʿUqalāʾ p176. See Al-Albānī, Al-Ḍaʿīfah ḥadīth 3462.

It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

The insightful and wise do not trust that they are safe from four things: a past sin about which it is not known what the Lord Almighty will do, the remaining lifespan wherein it is not known what destruction lies, some (apparent) advantage a person is given but which could be a lure (from Allāh) in recompense for his wrongdoing, a misguidance that has been beautified – so that he thinks it is guidance – and a momentary deviation of the heart, for a person can be stripped of his religion without realizing it.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 8:406.

Anas b. Mālik reports:

A young man who had stolen was brought to ʿUmar (for punishment). He said, “By Allāh I have never stolen before this time.” So ʿUmar responded, “You lie, Allāh would not (or does not) surrender a servant of His on the first sin.”

Abū Dāwūd, Al-Zuhd article 56, and others. Graded ṣaḥīh by Ibn Kathīr and others.

Bilāl b. Saʿd – Allāh have mercy him – said:

When a sin is hidden it harms only the perpetrator, but if it is made apparent and not rectified, it harms all the people.

Ibn Waḍḍāḥ, Al-Bidʿah #287.