The chapter that follows: "The Chapter on Appointing the Elders."

The Shaykh : The chapter that follows: "The Chapter on Appointing the Elders." Under it, he narrates with his good chain: from Hakim ibn Qays ibn 'Asim that his father, upon his death, left a will for his sons and said: "Fear Allah and appoint your eldest as your leader, for if a people appoint their eldest as their leader, they will succeed their father, and if they appoint their youngest, that will be a cause of disgrace for them among their equals. And hold fast to wealth and its acquisition, for it is a source of nobility for the noble one, and one can be independent of the base one through it. And beware of asking people for things, for it is the last of a man's earnings. And when I die, do not wail over me, for no one wailed over the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And when I die, bury me in a land where Bakr ibn Wail does not know of my burial, for I used to be heedless of them in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance."
This is a will from one of the Companions to his children, containing many instructions that the children usually need to hold onto, keep in mind, and act upon. First, he said to them: "Fear Allah." This is a comprehensive and sufficient will, for the meaning of the fear of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is: "that the servant fears his Lord, so he obeys Him in everything He has commanded him and refrains from everything He has forbidden him." This is the fear of Allah. This is one of the wills of the Messenger (peace be upon him) to his Companions on many occasions, among which is that he left a will for Mu'adh and said to him: This is a famous will from the wills of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The noble Companions followed the guidance of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and his Sunnah after him, among them Qays ibn 'Asim, who left a will for his sons saying: "Fear Allah." He followed this will with his saying: "And appoint your eldest as your leader." What does "appoint your eldest as your leader" mean? Perhaps due to our distance from the Arabic language and its literature, we might understand "appoint" to mean "shave" or "make black," i.e., to make black. But here, "appointing" (taswid) is from "leadership" (siyadah) or "nobility" (sudd). "Appoint your eldest as your leader" means: make him your leader, do not make the small, insignificant, despised one your leader, because for example he has a quick tongue or a bit of courage that he places in the wrong place, so you fear him and make him your leader. No, appoint your eldest in age, wisdom, knowledge, and conduct. "And appoint your eldest as your leader": Why? "For if a people appoint their eldest as their leader, they will succeed their father." If the children conduct themselves with this conduct and order themselves, appointing and making their eldest their leader, they will succeed their father, meaning: they will live as if their father were among them, because they have appointed their eldest as their leader. This eldest is supposed to be the greatest in knowledge, the greatest in intellect, and the greatest in experience, so he will lead his brothers in the manner of their father. Through this brother who was appointed over them, they will not feel the loss of their father as long as their eldest brother has taken his place after him. Therefore, it is common among people that the eldest brother is in the position of a father. This contains wisdom without a doubt, but it is not hidden that this is not absolute. How many an elder in age is small in status and knowledge, and vice versa. But this conduct should be observed, which is appointing the eldest, as long as there is a way to do so, to maintain the order, unity, and life of the family after the death of its leader, who is their father. "For if a people appoint their eldest as their leader, they will succeed their father, and if they appoint their youngest, that will be a cause of disgrace for them among their equals." If they reverse this will and make their youngest their leader, that will be a cause of disgrace for them among their equals, meaning: that will be a cause for the one who is equal among them to be the leader to be subjected to mockery and lowliness.