Continuation of the chapter: "Encouraging patience, especially for one who is afflicted in his person or his wealth, and the virtue of affliction, illness, and fever, and what has come regarding one who has lost his sight" — Explanation of a hadith

The Shaykh : All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own selves and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide, and whomsoever He misguides, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

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As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). The worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
We are still in the chapter "Encouraging patience in the face of affliction" from the book *Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib* by al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri. In our previous lesson, we reached the forty-sixth hadith in my copy, which is a good hadith, and it is his saying.
And from Abu al-Asht al-San'ani: It was narrated by Ahmad through the route of Isma'il ibn 'Iyash, from Rashid al-San'ani, and by al-Tabarani in al-Kabir and al-Awsat, and it has many corroborating narrations.
Before commenting on this hadith, I wish to mention that there is a strange omission in my copy. So whoever has a copy of *Al-Targhib*, let him look to see if this omission is in it as well, and if so, let him supply it.
This omission begins after his saying in my copy here: The addition now: All of this is missing from the copy of *Al-Targhib* printed by Munir al-Dimashqi, and I do not think the other copies are anything but like it.
We return now to the hadith: The narrator of this hadith is a trustworthy man from the Tabi'un, Abu al-Asht al-San'ani, and he is among the trustworthy men of Muslim. Now, it is good to point out that "al-San'ani" here is not a reference to Sana'a in Yemen, but rather here in the Levant there is a town also known as Sana'a. This Abu al-Asht is a Dimashqi from Sana'a. He said that he went to the mosque of Damascus and missed the evening prayer, meaning he went early to the mosque of Damascus. He met Shaddad ibn Aws and al-Sunabhi with him, and this man is from the Tabi'un, and it is said that he had the status of a Companion, this al-Sunabhi. As for Shaddad, he is a famous Companion. Abu al-Asht al-San'ani said: So I said, "Where are you going, may Allah have mercy on you both?" They said, "We are going here to a brother of ours from Mudar to visit him." He said: "So I went with them until they entered upon that man, and they said to him, 'How are you this morning?'" He said, "I am in a state of well-being." We note that this sick man whom Shaddad ibn Aws and his companion visited did not complain or grumble about his illness, but rather he said, "I am in a state of well-being," and this is the truth, because no matter what calamity a person suffers or what affliction he is tested with, what Allah the Mighty and Majestic has left for him of blessings is more and more, as indicated by the saying of our Lord the Mighty and Majestic: Therefore, because of the saying of this sick man in answer to the one who asked him how he was, he said, "I am in a state of well-being," Shaddad gave him glad tidings with this: "Be glad with the expiation of sins and the removal of errors, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) say: Here is the point of the hadith, meaning that he was patient with his affliction and praised Allah the Mighty and Majestic for what He had left in him of other blessings, which indicates that he was content with the decree of Allah the Mighty and Majestic and His destiny for him.
He says in the hadith, and it is a hadith qudsi as you heard: Meaning that his illness, accompanied by patience and praise of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, will be a cause for the expiation of all his sins, and he will return thereby as if he were born on the day his mother bore him.
This is from the virtue of the illness with which a person is afflicted and upon which he is patient. And it is not only this, but rather Allah the Mighty and Majestic says, as in the completion of the hadith, the Lord the Mighty and Majestic says: "I bound My servant and afflicted him. I imprisoned him and I afflicted him. I bound him, preventing him from moving freely, from managing his religious and worldly affairs. But Allah the Mighty and Majestic, in His boundless grace, says to His angels: Hadiths have passed with us in previous lessons that bear witness to this phrase in particular, meaning that when Allah the Mighty and Majestic afflicts a servant with illness, or a servant of His travels, Allah the Mighty and Majestic bestows upon this servant by writing for him the righteous deeds he used to do in his health and in his state of residence. So His saying the Mighty and Majestic: also confirms this meaning. And this is from the virtues of the affliction with which a person is tested and upon which he is patient. In addition to the fact that he returns forgiven, as if he were born on the day his mother bore him, in addition to that, the rewards of the righteous deeds he used to perform before his illness and in his state of health are written for him.