The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 184
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 184 Meaning, “‘Ubādah bin Walīd ra narrates that on one occasion we met a Companion of the Holy Prophet sa named Abul-Yusr ra. At the time one of his slaves also accompanied him and we noticed that he was clothed in a streaked cloth and Yemeni cloth. Similarly, his slave was also wearing a streaked cloth and Yemeni cloth. I said, ‘O Uncle! Why did you not take his streaked cloth and give him your Yemeni cloth, or take his Yemeni cloth and give him your streaked one, so that both of you could wear a matching pair of clothes?’ Abul- Yusr ra stroked my head, supplicated in my favour and said, ‘O nephew! My eyes have seen, my ears have heard and my heart has given place to the statement of the Holy Prophet sa that, ‘Feed your slaves what you eat and clothe them with what you wear yourselves. ’ Hence, I prefer greatly to give my slave an equal share of the wealth of this world, as opposed to losing my spiritual reward on the day of resurrection. ’” 1 This Ḥadīth is even more emphatic in its wording than the previous Ḥadīth. Furthermore, this also demonstrates that the Companions would act upon this exhortation of the Holy Prophet sa. As a matter of fact, they were so absorbed in the fulfillment of this admonition that they could not even accept there being discrimination in the standard of their own clothing and that of their slaves. Rather, even the slightest difference in apparent form was not left unnoticed. Then, it is narrated: حَدَّثَنَا اَبُو النَّوَار ِ بَیَّاع ِ الْكَرَا بِیْس ِ قَال َ اَتَانِی ْ عَلِی ُّ بْن ُ اَبِی ْ طَالِب ٍ وَمَعَه ٗ غُلَام لَه ٗ فَاشْتَرٰی َ ھُمَا شِئْت َ فَاَخَذ َ اَحَدَھُمَا وَاَخَذ َ عَلِی ٌّ ال�ْآخَر َّ مِنِّی ْ قَمِیْصَی ْ كَرَابِیْس َ فَقَال َ لِغُلَامِه ٖ اخْتَر ْ اَی ٗ فَلَبِسَه Meaning, “Abū Nawār ra , who was a merchant of cotton cloth, narrates that on one occasion Ḥaḍrat ‘Alī ra came to his shop. At the time he was accompanied by one of his slaves. ‘Alī ra purchased two thin shirts and said to his slave, ‘Select the shirt you desire from among these two. ’ Hence, the slave chose a shirt and Ḥaḍrat ‘Alī ra wore the one which was left behind. ” 2 1 Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, Kitābuz-Zuhdi War-Raqā’iq, Bābu Ḥadīthi Jābiriṭ-Ṭawīl, Nos. 7512-7513 (summary) 2 Usdul-Ghābah Fī Ma‘rifatiṣ-Ṣaḥābah, By ‘Izzuddīn Ibnul-Athīr Abul-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin Muḥammad, Volume 3, p. 599, ‘Aliyyubnu Abī Ṭālib, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon (2003)