Who was the first man to say (أما بعد) amma ba’d?

Bismillah, alhamdulillah.

Came across this lovely speech which is attributed to Qis bin Saai’dah ( d. 600 CE) Al-Ayyaadee (قس بن ساعدة الإيادي), known as حكيم العرب (Wisest of the Arabs). He is also the first person to have used the now famous phrase أم بعد (amma ba’d and to proceed) when giving his speech. Hadith attributed to him seem to be weak hence I have avoided quoting this as a hadith. He made this speech in the market of Okaz in Makkah before the Prophet (S) became a prophet. He reportedly died when he fell of his camel on his way to see the Prophet (S) as a prophet. Allah knows best, but the speech reminds people of the inevitability of death and that there is clearly more to life than just being reduced to dust:

أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ : اسْمَعُوا وَعُوا ؛ إنَّهُ مَنْ عَاشَ مَات ، وَمَنْ مَاتَ فَات – وَكُلُّ مَا هُوَ آتٍ آت .

O people listen and understand! He who lived died, he who died lost his opportunity, and everything that death that is approaching will surely come.

لَيْلٌ دَاج ، وَنَهَارٌ سَاْج ، وَسَماءٌ ذَاتُ أبْرَاجٍ ، وَنُجُومٌ تَزْهَر ، وَبِحَارٌ تَزْخَر.

The night is dark, the day bright, the sky full of constellations, the stars twinkle, the seas swell.

إِنَّ فِي السَّمَاءِ لَخَبَرا ، وإِنَّ فِي الأرضِ لَعِبَرا . مَا بَاْلُ النَّاسِ يَذْهبُونَ وَلاَ يَرْجِعُون ؟! ‍ أرَضُوا بِالمُقَامِ فَأَقَامُوا * أمْ تُرِكُوا هُنَاك فَنَامُوا ؟!

Indeed in the sky is news and on the earth a lesson. Do people think they will go and never come back, are they pleased with their graves that they have decided to stay? Or they have been left there (forced to) stay?

يَا مَعْشَرَ إيَاد : أيْنَ الآبَاءُ والأجْدَادُ ؟ وأيْنَ الفَرَاعِنَةُ الشِّدَادُ ؟ أَلَمْ يَكُوْنُوا أكْثَرَ مِنْكُم مَالاً و أطولَ آجالاً .. ؟ طَحَنَهُم الدهْرُ بِكَلْكَلهِ ، ومزَّقَهم بتطاوُلِه .

O People! Where are your fathers? Where are the tyrant Pharoahs of the past? Were they not richer and lived longer than you? Time ground them in her embrace, as her eternity ground them to dust .

Filed under: Arabic, Dawah, History, Wisdom, Arab wisdom, life after death, Okaz market, Qus bin Saa'idah, the first man to say amma ba'd, قس بن ساعدة, اول من قال أم بعد, حكيم العرب

The first boy – son of Ismail

Bismillah, alhamdulillah.

The young boy entered the masjid with his notebook tucked under his arm. Sitting cross legged he looked up at the Shayk giving his lesson. The hadith lessons were being eagerly memorised by other students in the class, most were much older than him, but his mother made sure he came and he felt he wanted to come.

The Shaykh was known as the مؤدب (muaddib or inculcator of manners). He asked the young boy, how many hadith have you written?

The boy answered with a quiet, ‘Two hadith.’

The other boys in the masjid started to laugh at him, ‘Just two!’

The muaddib rebuked them saying, ‘Do not laugh at him. Perhaps one day this boy will laugh at you.’

The boy was Muhammad bin Ismail Al Bukhari, the famous muhaddith. The names of the other boys in the class who had laughed have been lost in the long corridors of history.

[Source: نبيل العوضي]

Filed under: History, cultivator, famous children in the history of Islam, Imam Bukhari, laughing at others, The muaddib