Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I entered the mosque and found the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) sitting alone. He said: O Abu Dharr! There is a voluntary prayer for the mosque, and its voluntary prayer is two rak‘ahs. Stand up and perform them. Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I performed those two rak‘ahs, then returned and sat with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: O Messenger of Allah! You commanded me to pray; what is prayer? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is a good deed that has been placed (for you). (Now it is up to you) whether you gain much or little from it. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Which deed is the most virtuous? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: To have faith in Allah and to strive in the path of Allah. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Who among the believers is the most complete in faith? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The one with the best character. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Who among the believers is the safest (from whose harm others are safe)? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The one from whose tongue and hand people are safe. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Which prayer is the most virtuous? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The one in which the standing (qiyam) is long. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Which migration (hijrah) is the most virtuous? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The one who abandons sins. I said: O Messenger of Allah! What is fasting? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is an obligation, which suffices, and with Allah its reward is multiplied many times. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Which jihad is the most virtuous? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The one in which the (horse’s) legs are cut and its blood is shed. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Which charity is the most virtuous? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The one given by a person who has little wealth and fears becoming poor. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Of all that Allah has revealed to you, what is the greatest thing? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Ayat al-Kursi. Then he said: In comparison to Allah’s Kursi, the seven heavens are like a ring placed on a barren land, and the ‘Arsh has the same superiority over the Kursi as that land has over the ring. I said: O Messenger of Allah! How many prophets are there? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: One hundred and twenty thousand. I said: How many of them are messengers? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Three hundred and thirteen. I said: Who was the first among them? He said: Sayyiduna Adam (peace be upon him). I said: O Messenger of Allah! Was he a prophet and a messenger? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes. Allah created him with His own hand of power, breathed into him of His spirit, and spoke to him directly. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Abu Dharr! Four of them were Syriac: Sayyiduna Adam (peace be upon him), Sayyiduna Sheeth (peace be upon him), Sayyiduna Akhnukh (peace be upon him)—that is, Sayyiduna Idris (peace be upon him), and he was the first to write with a pen—and Sayyiduna Nuh (peace be upon him). Four were Arabs: Sayyiduna Hud (peace be upon him), Sayyiduna Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him), Sayyiduna Salih (peace be upon him), and your Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: O Messenger of Allah! How many books has Allah revealed? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: One hundred and four books. Fifty scrolls were revealed to Sayyiduna Sheeth (peace be upon him), thirty scrolls to Sayyiduna Akhnukh (peace be upon him), ten scrolls to Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him), ten scrolls to Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) before the Torah, then the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the Qur’an were revealed. I said: O Messenger of Allah! What was in the scripture of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him)? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It was all parables, but it was written in it:“O king! To whom sovereignty has been given, and who is tested and deceived, I did not send you so that you gather the world against each other. I sent you so that you do not let the supplication of the oppressed reach Me, for I do not reject the supplication of the oppressed, even if he is a disbeliever. And it is incumbent upon the wise person, as long as his intellect is not overcome, to divide his time into portions: some time for supplication to his Lord, some time for self-accounting, some time for reflection on the creation of Allah, and some time for preparing food and drink. It is incumbent upon the wise person to prepare for three things: provision for his end (i.e., the Hereafter), necessities for his life, or a pleasure that is not forbidden. And it is incumbent upon the wise person to have insight into his era, to pay attention to his present, to guard his tongue, and whoever accounts for his speech more than his deeds, his speech will be little, and only that which is necessary.”I said: O Messenger of Allah! What was in the scripture of Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him)? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It was all admonitions. (Some of them are:)“I am amazed at the one who believes in death, yet is happy. I am amazed at the one who believes in Hell, yet laughs. I am amazed at the one who believes in destiny, yet strives (for the world). I am amazed at the one who sees the changing conditions of the world and its people, yet is content with the world. I am amazed at the one who believes in reckoning, yet does not act.”I said: O Messenger of Allah! Advise me. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I advise you to fear Allah, for it is the foundation of all matters. I said: O Messenger of Allah! More. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You must recite the Qur’an and remember Allah, for it will be a light for you on earth and a treasure for you in the Hereafter. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Give me more. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You must avoid excessive laughter, for it deadens the heart and removes the light from the face. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Give me more. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You must observe silence, except in speaking good, for it will drive the devil away from you and help you in your religious matters. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Give me more. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You must strive in jihad, for it is the monasticism of my Ummah. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Give me more. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Look to those below you, not to those above you, for this will prevent you from belittling the blessings of Allah upon you. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Give me more. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Speak the truth, even if it is bitter. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Give me more. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Let that which you know about yourself keep you away from people, and do not harbor feelings against people for what you do yourself. It is enough of a fault for you to recognize in people what you are unaware of in yourself, or to harbor feelings against people for what you do yourself. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) struck his blessed hand on my chest and said:“O Abu Dharr! There is no wisdom like planning, no abstinence like refraining, and no nobility like good character.”

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The narrator Abu Idris al-Khawlani is ‘A’idh Allah ibn ‘Abdullah. He was born in the year of the Battle of Hunayn during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and died in Syria in the year 80 AH. The narrator Yahya ibn Yahya al-Ghassani was from Kindah and lived in Damascus. He was among the experts of fiqh and Qur’an recitation in Syria. He heard hadith from Abu Idris al-Khawlani at the age of fifteen. He was born on the day of Rahat during the caliphate of Mu‘awiyah ibn Yazid in 64 AH. Sulayman ibn ‘Abd al-Malik appointed him as the judge of Mosul. He heard hadith from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib and the people of Hijaz. He remained in the position of judge there until ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz became caliph, then the ruler kept him in office, and he continued in that position throughout his reign. He lived a long life until he died in Damascus in 133 AH.