Gardens of the Righteous — Page 8
8. GARDENS OF THE RIGHTEOUS. I would attend upon the Holy Prophet when he sat in the mosque after Prayer and would salute him and wonder whether he had moved his lips in returning my salutation. I would stand in Prayer near him and I noticed that he would look in my direction when I was occupied with the Prayer and would look away when I looked in his direction. Being oppressed by the hardness of the Muslims towards me I went one day and vaulted over the garden wall of my cousin Abu. Qatadah of whom I was very fond, and saluted him, but he did not return my salutation. I said to him: Abu Qatadah, I adjure you in the name of Allah, do you not know that I love Allah and His Messenger? But he said nothing. I repeated my adjuration. Still no reply. I asked a third time and he said: Allah and His Messenger know best; on which I could not restrain my tears and beat a retreat the way I had come. . One day I was sauntering in the market-place of Medina when I heard a peasant from Syria, who had brought a quantity of corn for sale, say: Would someone direct me to Ka'ab ibn Malik? People pointed in my direction. He came to me and handed me a letter from the King of Ghassan. Being literate myself I read it. Its purport was: We have heard that your master has treated you harshly. God has not made you to be humiliated and maltreated. Come over to us and we shall receive you graciously. Having read it, I said to myself: This is another trial; and I committed it to the oven. . When forty days had elapsed without any indication in the revelation concerning us, a messenger of the Holy Prophet came to me and said: The. Messenger of Allah directs you to keep away from your wife. I inquired: Shall I divorce her or what? He said: No. Only do not associate with her. I understood that my two companions had been directed likewise. So I told my wife: Go to your parents and remain with them till Allah determines this matter. Hilal ibn. Umayyah's wife went to the Holy Prophet and said: Messenger of Allah, Hilal ibn Umayyah is old and is not able to look after himself, nor has he a servant. . Would it displease you if I were to serve him? He said: No. But he should not associate with you. She said: He has no desire for me; since this incident he is occupied only with weeping. Some of my people said to me: You should also seek the permission of the Holy Prophet that your wife should look after you as the wife of Hilal ibn Umayyah looks after him. I told them: I shall not ask the. Holy Prophet for permission for I do not know what he might say. Besides, I am young. . Ten more days passed like this and on the fifty-first morning, after communication with us had been interdicted, when, after the dawn Prayer at home, I was sitting in a melancholy state and the wide world, as Allah, the. Exalted, has described it, seemed closing in on me, I suddenly heard someone shout at the top of his voice from the crest of Mount Sala'ah: O Ka'ab ibn Malik, good news! I immediately fell into prostration and realized that relief had come. . It seems that the Holy Prophet had informed the people at the time of the dawn. Prayer that Allah, the Lord of honour and glory, had turned to us in mercy, and several people had set out to convey the good news to us. Some went to my two