The Commentary of Al-Qasidah — Page 79
The commentary of al-Qa si dah 79 COUPLET 17 They thoroughly cleansed their souls of all impurities , And moved forward to gain the wealth of unflinching fait. In this couplet another virtue of the companions of the Holy Prophet sa is described. They were well aware that the wealth of faith and certainty could not be attained without the cleansing of the inner self. In accordance with this, they cleansed and purified their hearts. One event illustrates the extent to which they would purify themselves. It involves a man who committed fornication. Although he knew the punishment for the act was stoning, he presented himself before the Holy Prophet sa and confessed his sin. He told the Holy Prophet sa that he had become unclean by committing the sin and did not want a blemish upon him. He then requested the application of the law against him for cleansing. The Holy Prophet sa asked him if he was in his senses to which he replied affirmatively. After having repeated his confession four times, the Holy Prophet sa declared the punishment of fornication upon him. 6 This incident provides us an idea of how conscious the companions 6 Kit a bu Sunanil-Kubr a Lin-Nasa’ i , Kit a bur-Rajm, B a bu Kaifal-I‘tir a fu Biz-Zin a ’i, vol. 4, p. 276, H ad i th no. 7163, D a rul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2001