The Prophet said, "The example of a believer is that of a fresh tender plant, which the wind bends lt sometimes and some other time it makes it straight. And the example of a hypocrite is that of a pine tree which keeps straight till once it is uprooted suddenly.

Sa`id bin Jubair reported from Ibn `Abbas (regarding the explanation of the Verse: 'Do not move your tongue concerning (the Qur'an) to make haste therewith) . He said, "The Prophet used to undergo great difficulty in receiving the Divine Inspiration and used to move his lips.' Ibn `Abbas said (to Sa`id), "I move them (my lips) as Allah's Apostle used to move his lips." And Sa`id said (to me), "I move my lips as I saw Ibn `Abbas moving his lips," and then he moved his lips. So Allah revealed:-- '(O Muhammad!) Do not move your tongue concerning (the Qur'an) to make haste therewith. It is for Us to collect it and give you (O Muhammad) the ability to recite it. (i.e., to collect it in your chest and then you recite it).' (75.16-17) But when We have recited it, to you (O Muhammad through Gabriel) then follow you its recital.' (75.18) This means, "You should listen to it and keep quiet and then it is upon Us to make you recite it." The narrator added, "So Allah's Apostle used to listen whenever Gabriel came to him, and when Gabriel left, the Prophet would recite the Qur'an as Gabriel had recited it to him."

`Umar said, "I agreed with Allah in three things," or said, "My Lord agreed with me in three things. I said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Would that you took the station of Abraham as a place of prayer.' I also said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Good and bad persons visit you! Would that you ordered the Mothers of the believers to cover themselves with veils.' So the Divine Verses of Al-Hijab (i.e. veiling of the women) were revealed. I came to know that the Prophet had blamed some of his wives so I entered upon them and said, 'You should either stop (troubling the Prophet ) or else Allah will give His Apostle better wives than you.' When I came to one of his wives, she said to me, 'O `Umar! Does Allah's Apostle haven't what he could advise his wives with, that you try to advise them?' " Thereupon Allah revealed:-- "It may be, if he divorced you (all) his Lord will give him instead of you, wives better than you Muslims (who submit to Allah).." (66.5)

I was a blacksmith in Mecca Once I made a sword for Al-`Asi bin Wail As-Sahmi. When I went to demand its price, he said, "I will not give it to you till you disbelieve in Muhammad." I said, "I shall not disbelieve in Muhammad till Allah make you die and then bring you to life again." He said, "If Allah should make me die and then resurrect me and I would have wealth and children." So Allah revealed:-- 'Have you seen him who disbelieved in Our Signs, and (yet) says I shall certainly be given wealth and children? Has he known the unseen or has he taken a covenant from (Allah) the Beneficent?' (19.77- 78)

My father died and left behind seven or nine daughters, and I married a woman. The Prophet said, "Did you get married, O Jabir?" I replied, "Yes." He asked, "Is she a virgin or a matron?" I replied, "She is a matron." He said, "Why didn't you marry a virgin girl so that you might play with her and she with you (or, you might make her laugh and she make you laugh)?" I said, "My father died, leaving seven or nine girls (orphans) and I did not like to bring a young girl like them, so I married a woman who can look after them." He said, "May Allah bestow His Blessing on you."

Some people from the Ansar asked Allah's Apostle (to give them something) and he gave to everyone of them, who asked him, until all that he had was finished. When everything was finished and he had spent all that was in his hand, he said to them, '"(Know) that if I have any wealth, I will not withhold it from you (to keep for somebody else); And (know) that he who refrains from begging others (or doing prohibited deeds), Allah will make him contented and not in need of others; and he who remains patient, Allah will bestow patience upon him, and he who is satisfied with what he has, Allah will make him self-sufficient. And there is no gift better and vast (you may be given) than patience."

Sahl bin Abi Hathma and some great men of his tribe said, `Abdullah bin 'Sahl and Muhaiyisa went out to Khaibar as they were struck with poverty and difficult living conditions. Then Muhaiyisa was informed that `Abdullah had been killed and thrown in a pit or a spring. Muhaiyisa went to the Jews and said, "By Allah, you have killed my companion." The Jews said, "By Allah, we have not killed him." Muhaiyisa then came back to his people and told them the story. He, his elder brother Huwaiyisa and `Abdur-Rahman bin Sahl came (to the Prophet) and he who had been at Khaibar, proceeded to speak, but the Prophet said to Muhaiyisa, "The eldest! The eldest!" meaning, "Let the eldest of you speak." So Huwaiyisa spoke first and then Muhaiyisa. Allah's Apostle said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." After that Allah's Apostle wrote a letter to the Jews in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him. Then Allah's Apostle said to Huwaiyisa, Muhaiyisa and `Abdur-Rahman, "Can you take an oath by which you will be entitled to take the blood money?" They said, "No." He said (to them), "Shall we ask the Jews to take an oath before you?" They replied, "But the Jews are not Muslims." So Allah's Apostle gave them one-hundred she-camels as blood money from himself. Sahl added: When those she-camels were made to enter the house, one of them kicked me with its leg.

Some people were asking Allah's Apostle questions mockingly. A man would say, "Who is my father?" Another man whose she-camel had gone astray would say, "Where is my she-camel? "So Allah revealed this Verse in this connection: "O you who believe! Ask not about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble." (5.101)

While Hudhaita was at Mada'in, he asked for water. The chief of the village brought him a silver vessel. Hudhaifa threw it away and said, "I have thrown it away because I told him not to use it, but he has not stopped using it. The Prophet forbade us to wear clothes of silk or Dibaj, and to drink in gold or silver utensils, and said, 'These things are for them (unbelievers) in this world and for you (Muslims) in the Hereafter.' "

Allah's Apostle stood up for the prayer and we too stood up along with him. Then a bedouin shouted while offering prayer. "O Allah! Bestow Your Mercy on me and Muhammad only and do not bestow it on anybody else along with us." When the Prophet had finished his prayer with Taslim, he said to the Bedouin, "You have limited (narrowed) a very vast (thing)," meaning Allah's Mercy.

The Prophet said, "Whoever swears by a religion other than Islam (i.e. if he swears by saying that he is a non-Muslim in case he is telling a lie), then he is as he says if his oath is false and whoever commits suicide with something, will be punished with the same thing in the (Hell) fire, and cursing a believer is like murdering him, and whoever accuses a believer of disbelief, then it is as if he had killed him."

The Prophet said, "I am your predecessor at the Lake-Fount (Kauthar) and some men amongst you will be brought to me, and when I will try to hand them some water, they will be pulled away from me by force whereupon I will say, 'O Lord, my companions!' Then the Almighty will say, 'You do not know what they did after you left, they introduced new things into the religion after you.'"

Once the Prophet entered a lavatory and I placed water for his ablution. He asked, "Who placed it?" He was informed accordingly and so he said, "O Allah! Make him (Ibn `Abbas) a learned scholar in religion (Islam).

When Abu Huraira accompanied by his slave came intending to embrace Islam, they lost each other on the way. (When the slave showed up) Abu Huraira said (to the Prophet), "I make you witness that the slave is free for Allah's Cause."

When the mountain of Uhud came in the sight of Allah's Apostle he said. "This is a mountain that loves us and is loved by us. O Allah! Abraham made Mecca a sanctuary, and I make (the area) in between these two mountains (of Medina) a sanctuary."

Aisha used to recommend at-Talbina for the sick and for such a person as grieved over a dead person. She used to say, "I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'at-Talbina gives rest to the heart of the patient and makes it active and relieves some of his sorrow and grief.'"

I heard the Prophet saying, "The people will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection on reddish white land like a pure loaf of bread (made of pure fine flour)." Sahl added: That land will have no landmarks for anybody (to make use of).

The Mountain of Uhud came in sight of Allah's Apostle who then said, "This is a mountain that loves us and is loved by us. O Allah! Abraham made Mecca a sanctuary and I make the area between its (Medina's) two mountains a sanctuary."

'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) never beat anyone with his hand, neither a woman nor a servant, but only, in the case when he had been fighting in the cause of Allah and he never took revenge for anything unless the things made inviolable by Allah were made violable; he then took revenge for Allah, the Exalted and Glorious.

The Prophet said (that Allah said), "Vowing does not bring to the son of Adam anything I have not already written in his fate, but vowing is imposed on him by way of fore ordainment. Through vowing I make a miser spend of his wealth."

I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surat Al-Furqan during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle and I listened to his recitation and noticed that he recited in several different ways which Allah's Apostle had not taught me. I was about to jump over him during his prayer, but I controlled my temper, and when he had completed his prayer, I put his upper garment around his neck and seized him by it and said, "Who taught you this Sura which I heard you reciting?" He replied, "Allah's Apostle taught it to me." I said, "You have told a lie, for Allah's Apostle has taught it to me in a different way from yours." So I dragged him to Allah's Apostle and said (to Allah's Apostle), "I heard this person reciting Surat Al-Furqan in a way which you haven't taught me!" On that Allah's Apostle said, "Release him, (O `Umar!) Recite, O Hisham!" Then he recited in the same way as I heard him reciting. Then Allah's Apostle said, "It was revealed in this way," and added, "Recite, O `Umar!" I recited it as he had taught me. Allah's Apostle then said, "It was revealed in this way. This Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever (way) is easier for you (or read as much of it as may be easy for you).

I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surat-al-Furqan during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle, I listened to his recitation and noticed that he was reciting in a way that Allah's Apostle had not taught me. I was about to jump over him while He was still in prayer, but I waited patiently and when he finished his prayer, I put my sheet round his neck (and pulled him) and said, "Who has taught you this Sura which I have heard you reciting?" Hisham said, "Allah's Apostle taught it to me." I said, "You are telling a lie, for he taught it to me in a way different from the way you have recited it!" Then I started leading (dragged) him to Allah's Apostle and said (to the Prophet), " I have heard this man reciting Surat-al- Furqan in a way that you have not taught me." The Prophet said: "(O `Umar) release him! Recite, O Hisham." Hisham recited in the way I heard him reciting. Allah's Apostle said, "It was revealed like this." Then Allah's Apostle said, "Recite, O `Umar!" I recited in the way he had taught me, whereupon he said, "It was revealed like this," and added, "The Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever is easy for you ." (See Hadith No. 514, Vol. 6)