ذكروا التواضع عند الحسن ( البصري )
وهو ساكت حتى إذا أكثروا عليه
They mentioned humility in front of al-Hasan (al-Basrī) and he was silent until they spoke about it at length.
قال لهم : أراكم قد أكثرتم الكلام في التواضع
He said to them, “I see you have spoken abundantly about humility.”
قالوا : أي شيء التواضع يا أبا سعيد ؟
They said, “What is humility, O Abā Sa’īd?”
قال : يخرج من بيته فلا يلقى مسلما إلا ظن أنه خير منه
He said, “That one leaves his house and he doesn’t come across any Muslim except that he thinks that he (the Muslim he came across) is better than himself.”
( أحمد في الزهد ١٦٢١ )
(Ahmad in Az-Zuhd 1621)
Translator: Mustafaa ibn Steven Nicolas