SPEAK GOOD OR REMAIN SILENT

A poet once said: وَاحفَظ لِسانَكَ أَن تَقولَ فَتُبتَلى * إِنّ البَلاءَ مُوَكّلٌ بِالمَنْطِقِ Guard your tongue in what you say, lest you be afflicted by a trial — Indeed calamites are assigned by what you say. قال السَّخَاوِيُّ: "وَيَشْهَدُ لِمَعْنَاهُ قَوْلُ النبي ﷺ للأعرابي الذي دخل عليه يعوده." As-Sakhāwi raḥimahullāh said [Al-Maqāṣid Al-Hasanah (242)]: “This meaning is supported by the statement of the Prophet ﷺ when he visited the sick Bedouin… عن ابن عباسٍ رضي اللهُ عنهما: أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ دَخَلَ عَلَى رَجُلٍ يَعُودُهُ، فَقَالَ: لاَ بَأْسَ طَهُورٌ إِنْ شَاءَ اللهَ ، فَقَالَ: كَلَّا، بَلْ حُمَّى تَفُورُ، عَلَى شَيْخٍ كَبِيرٍ، كَيْمَا تُزِيرَهُ القُبُورَ ، قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: فَنَعَمْ إِذًا. Ibn ‘Abbās raḍhiyallāhu ’anhu said that the Prophet ﷺ entered to visit a sick Bedouin man and said to him, “No harm will come; it is a purification for your sins, if Allāh wills.” Thereafter the man replied, “Not at all rather it is a fever which is boiling in an old man and will cause him to visit the graves,” the Prophet said ﷺ, “Yes, so be it then.” [Bukhāri] I.e. Had he remained quiet, he would have been purified from his sins Al-Qāḍhi ibn Bahlūl composed the following line of poetry: لا تَنْطِقَنَّ بِمَا كَرِهْتَ فَرُبَّمَا * نَطَقَ اللِّسَانُ بِحَادثٍ فَيَكُونُ. “Do not speak of what you would not like to happen to you; perhaps you may utter something related to an incident and it befalls you”. It was narrated by ibn Abi Ad-Dunyā [Aṣ-Ṣamt wā Ādāb Al-Lisān (169)] from Ibrāhīm An-Nakha’ē that he said: إِنِّي لأَجِدُ نَفْسِي تُحَدِّثُنِي بِالشَّيْءِ، فَمَا يَمْنَعُنِي أَنْ أَتَكَلَّمَ بِهِ؛ إِلاَّ مَخَافَةَ أَنِ أُبْتَلَى بِهِ. “Indeed at times I find my inner self speaking to me about something. However nothing stops me from saying it aloud except fear that Allah will trial me due to my speech”. ADVICE: اِحْفَظْ لِسَانَكَ فَإِنَّ الْبَلَاءَ مُوَكَّلٌ بِالْمَنْطِقِ “Guard your tongue for indeed calamities are determined by what you say.” Forwarded 📲