Hasan Basri, Imam Abu Saeed
born. 21 H/642
died. 11 H/728
A renowned preacher and sufi of the Umayyad era, who belongs to the fold of the
successors of the sahaba RAZIALLAHU A"NHUM. In the days of his youth,
he participated in the jihad of Iran. He is famous not only for his extreme
religiousness and honesty, to which all his successors paid great homage, but
also for his words-of-advice and golden sayings.
He led all his life -as a
practicing sufi: whatever he said, he did it by himself as well. His sayings
stand in the rows of the best classical Arabic literature of the early days of
Islam. Some of his .sayings are quoted even in the classical reference books
and dictionaries. In the preaching-literature, it is hard to find any book that
does not contain his name and his sayings.
His sayings specially carry points
on the contempt of dunya; two in this line are being translated here:
"Human beings have started travelling on the path of death. And those who
have died, are waiting for those who are coming behind them.",
"Consider this world as a bridge over which you pass, and do not encamp on
it."
No books of him are
present. In addition to his sayings which mostly other people have written,
only two small booklets of mystic and preaching nature are present, of which
one is addressed to Caliph Hazrat Umar Bin Abdul Aziz RAHMATULLAH A"LAIHE.
