Islamic Studies

Gems from the lips of al-Shafi'


يخاطبني السفيه بكل قبح      فأكره أن أكون له مجيباً

يزيد سفاهةً فأزيد حلماً          كعود زاده الإحراق طيباً

Let’s see who can get it first?

Suhaib

About the author

Suhaib Webb

Suhaib Webb

Suhaib Webb is a contemporary American-Muslim educator, activist, and lecturer. His work bridges classical and contemporary Islamic thought, addressing issues of cultural, social and political relevance to Muslims in the West. After converting to Islam in 1992, Webb left his career in the music industry to pursue his passion in education. He earned a Bachelor’s in Education from the University of Central Oklahoma and received intensive private training in the Islamic Sciences under a renowned Muslim Scholar of Senegalese descent. Webb was hired as the Imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, where he gave khutbas (sermons), taught religious classes, and provided counselling to families and young people; he also served as an Imam and resident scholar in communities across the U.S.

From 2004-2010, Suhaib Webb studied at the world’s preeminent Islamic institution of learning, Al-Azhar University, in the College of Shari`ah. During this time, after several years of studying the Arabic Language and the Islamic legal tradition, he also served as the head of the English Translation Department at Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah.

Outside of his studies at Al-Azhar, Suhaib Webb completed the memorization of the Quran in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. He has been granted numerous traditional teaching licenses (ijazat), adhering to centuries-old Islamic scholarly practice of ensuring the highest standards of scholarship. Webb was named one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in 2010.

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  • The insolent one addresses me with every insult
    And I would hate to give him any answer
    He grows in his insolence and I grow in my patience
    As the candlewick – the more you burn it, the greater its goodness.

    I dont know if virtualmosque.com mods are eligible so you dont have to post this 🙂
    I just thought I’d try

  • It’s funny because I really try to live by this motto:

    The ignorant speaks to me ever so rudely and I hate/refuse to answer him (Or dignify his ignorance with an answer)
    He increases in ignorance and I increase in patience like an incense increase in its beautiful aroma as it burns

    Imam Shafi3i if I remember correctly

  • The fool addresses me with all manner of ugliness,
    And I dislike that I should answer him,
    He increases in foolishness whereas I increase in forbearance,
    Just like the incense that increases in its burning increases in its pleasent scent.

    -MT

  • The fool directed his words at me in all ugliness and I disliked to be replying.

    He intensified in his insolence and I increased in my forbearance.

    Like Oud, as burning it, increases it’s fragrance.

  • the fool addresses me with all foulness,
    while I detest to be a respondent to him

    he increases in foolishness while I increase in forbearance,
    as a thin stick where burning increases it in pleasant fragrance

  • The foolish one addresses me with all ugliness/
    So much so, that I would detest to respond to him/
    as he increases in his foolishness, I increase in my softness(kindness)/
    just like incense; the more it burns the better it becomes/

    …man, there’s the translation, then the actual meaning, then the poetry.
    ‘lost in translation’ is an understatement. 😛

    There’s got to be a better way to capture the elegance, mashallah.

  • The foolish person addresses me with every foul word,
    So I dislike to be one who responds to him,
    He increases in foolishness and I increase in forbearance,
    Like an incense stick whose burning increases it in fragrance.

    (Not word for word, but more along the spirit)

  • يخاطبني السفيه بكل قبح فأكره أن أكون له مجيباً

    يزيد سفاهةً فأزيد حلماً كعود زاده الإحراق طيباً

    The ignorant addresses me with complete insult, so I dislike to respond to him. He increases his ignorance so I increase in forbearance, just like incense its burning increases its fragrance (scent).

  • With obscenity the ignoramus speaks to me

    But I do not want to to answer him

    I increase in fortitude,

    like a Oud which increases in pleasantness as it burns ,

    whilst he increases in utter idiocy

  • يخاطبني السفيه بكل قبح فأكره أن أكون له مجيباً

    يزيد سفاهةً فأزيد حلماً كعود زاده الإحراق طيباً

    The foolish addresses me with complete insult, so I dislike to respond to him. He increases his foolishness so I increase in forbearance, just like incense its burning increases its fragrance (scent).

  • The foolish one speaks to me with all ugliness
    And I hate to respond to him

    He increases in his foolishness while I increase in my forbearance
    Like the ‘oud which intensifies its sweet scent the more it is burnt

    Is there an english word for ‘oud?

  • Check it out, check it out…

    Someone speaks non-sense?
    Silence is my de-fence
    Starts to swear?
    I’ll forebear
    He’s fire burning in-cense!

    🙂
    alhamdulellah,
    Ahmed

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