Explanation of the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: (The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew a square line, and drew a line in the middle extending out of it, and drew small lines...
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : He said: And from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: : 'Arid: what befalls a person and what he misses.
Sahih al-Bukhari 6417 .
It was narrated by al-Bukhari, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah:
And this is a picture of what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew.
In reality, this hadith reveals something new and interesting from the Prophet's (peace be upon him) drawing on the ground, the plan contained in this hadith, which also includes what was in the previous hadith regarding diverting the Muslim from attachment to this world and his hopes in it. But stranger than this is that you find the explainers of the hadith in the greatest confusion in depicting this image that the Prophet drew on the ground and the narrator transmitted with complete precision. So walk with me now, and after that we will help and cooperate in whatever image I have drawn -and Professor Ali is preparing to draw, clearing his mind-.
He says:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2454Sahih (Darussalam) : This table -even though it is a bit rectangular-.
As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 67:9 : A line like this extending to the other end, a line longer than the line, from the lines of this square, its head is outside to the outside.
As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 67:9 : From its side that is in the middle, not from the side that is outside, the line that extends in the square has two parts:
A part confined within the square and a part outside of it, so this part confined within the square, he (peace be upon him) surrounded it on one side with short lines.
He said:As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 67:9 : The long line confined within the square, this is the person, and this is his term of life surrounding him, the square surrounding this person is his term of life, he has no escape from it and no flight from it.
Sahih al-Bukhari 6417 : What the person strives to attain and obtain.
: He escapes from this calamity, and a second calamity emerges, which he referred to with the small lines.
Sahih al-Bukhari 6417 :
So his term of life surrounds him; if he escapes from one problem, he falls into another problem; if he escapes from that, then and then until the certainty comes, and there is no escape from it.
In my opinion, this image has clarified to our brothers some of what we illustrated in words. I do not know if you are able to see this image:
This square, and the circle surrounding the square is the term of life, which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly stated.
The student: The square!
The Shaykh : The circle that surrounded the square is the term of life, meaning, then the line in the middle is the person, and then you find on one side of this line short lines, which are the ailments and calamities that befall the person, some of which he escapes from and some of which destroy him.
Then remains this line outside the square, which is the hope by which the person desires things he has no capacity for, so it is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in another hadith: even though this hope is nothing but an illusion within an illusion, because this term of life surrounds the person and is inevitable.
I said: It is strange that the authors, at this hadith, differ greatly in depicting this image that the Prophet (peace be upon him) drew on the ground, and among them, the copies of al-Targhib itself differ. So look at this copy that I brought today, how the ailments are not inside the square, but rather they breached the square which is the term of life, so these short lines of ailments have no relation to the square which is the term of life, but rather they are inside.
Then you do not find the hope referred to by the line coming out of the square; there is no line here coming out of the square, even though the hadith is explicit that the hope is outside the square. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani mentioned three images and printed the book from these three images, then he preferred this image that appears to every person who reflects on this hadith, which is the one I drew for you on this paper.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew a square line, and drew a line in the middle extending out of it, and drew small lines to this one in the middle from its side that is in the middle, then he said: This is the person, and this is his term of life surrounding him, or it has already surrounded him, and this which is outside is his hope, and these small lines are the ailments
خطَّ النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم خطًّا مربعًا ، وخط خطاً في الوسط خارجاً منه ، وخط خطوطاً صغاراً إلى هذا الذي في الوسط من جانبه الذي في الوسط ، فقال : هذا الإنسان وهذا أجله محيط به أو قد أحاط به ، وهذا الذي هو خارج أمله ، وهذه الخطط الصغار الأعراضand if one misses him, an-other will snap (i.e. overtake) him, and if the other misses him, a third will snap (i.e. overtake) him.
فإن أخطأه هذا نهشه هذا وإن أخطأه هذا نهشه هذاIt was narrated by al-Bukhari, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah:
And this is a picture of what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew.
In reality, this hadith reveals something new and interesting from the Prophet's (peace be upon him) drawing on the ground, the plan contained in this hadith, which also includes what was in the previous hadith regarding diverting the Muslim from attachment to this world and his hopes in it. But stranger than this is that you find the explainers of the hadith in the greatest confusion in depicting this image that the Prophet drew on the ground and the narrator transmitted with complete precision. So walk with me now, and after that we will help and cooperate in whatever image I have drawn -and Professor Ali is preparing to draw, clearing his mind-.
He says:
The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) drew a square line
خط الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم خطاً مربعاًAnd drew a line in the middle extending out of it
وخط خطاً في الوسط خارجاً منهAnd drew small lines to this one in the middle
وخط خطوطاً صغاراً إلى هذا الذي في الوسطA part confined within the square and a part outside of it, so this part confined within the square, he (peace be upon him) surrounded it on one side with short lines.
He said:
And drew small lines to this one in the middle from its side that is in the middle, then he said: This is the person
وخط خطوطاً صغاراً إلى هذا الذي في الوسط من جانبه الذي في الوسط ، فقال : هذا الإنسانand said, "This is the human being, and this, (the square) in his lease of life, encircles him from all sides (or has encircled him), and this (line), which is outside (the square), is his hope
فقال : هذا الإنسان وهذا أجله محيط به ، أو قد أحاط به ، وهذا الذي هو خارج أمَلُهAnd these small lines on the side of this line in the middle: the ailments, if this one misses him, it bites him
وهذه الخطط الصغار على جنب هذا الخط الذي في الوسط : الأعراض ، فإن أخطأه هذا نهشه هذاand if one misses him, an-other will snap (i.e. overtake) him, and if the other misses him, a third will snap (i.e. overtake) him.
فإن أخطأه هذا نهشه هذا وإن أخطأه هذا نهشه هذاSo his term of life surrounds him; if he escapes from one problem, he falls into another problem; if he escapes from that, then and then until the certainty comes, and there is no escape from it.
In my opinion, this image has clarified to our brothers some of what we illustrated in words. I do not know if you are able to see this image:
This square, and the circle surrounding the square is the term of life, which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly stated.
The student: The square!
The Shaykh : The circle that surrounded the square is the term of life, meaning, then the line in the middle is the person, and then you find on one side of this line short lines, which are the ailments and calamities that befall the person, some of which he escapes from and some of which destroy him.
Then remains this line outside the square, which is the hope by which the person desires things he has no capacity for, so it is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in another hadith:
A son of Adam grows old, but two things grow young with him: greed and long hope.
يشيبُ ابن آدم ويشبُّ معه خصلتان : الحرص ، وطول الأملI said: It is strange that the authors, at this hadith, differ greatly in depicting this image that the Prophet (peace be upon him) drew on the ground, and among them, the copies of al-Targhib itself differ. So look at this copy that I brought today, how the ailments are not inside the square, but rather they breached the square which is the term of life, so these short lines of ailments have no relation to the square which is the term of life, but rather they are inside.
Then you do not find the hope referred to by the line coming out of the square; there is no line here coming out of the square, even though the hadith is explicit that the hope is outside the square. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani mentioned three images and printed the book from these three images, then he preferred this image that appears to every person who reflects on this hadith, which is the one I drew for you on this paper.