Benefits of the Hadith: ( ... The example of the believer who recites the Qur'an is like the citron, its scent is good and its taste is good, and the example of the believer who ... ) .
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The Shaykh : This also contains the virtue of reciting the Qur'an, and it also contains the good classification by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
It also contains the use of parables, which is making the abstract understandable through the tangible. And Allah the Exalted said:[Al-'Ankabut 29:43] The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) divided people into four categories: a believer who recites the Qur'an, so he is like the citron, its taste is good and its scent is good. If you smell the citron, you find that it has a pleasant, fragrant scent, and if you eat it, you find its taste is good. The believer who does not recite the Qur'an is good in himself, but he does not have that attractive, fragrant scent. He is like the date; the date has a good taste, but it does not have an attractive scent. Everything has a scent, but it does not have an attractive scent like that of the citron, though it is good and sweet in itself. The hypocrite who recites the Qur'an is like the mint; if you chew the mint, you find it very bitter, but it has a pleasant, fragrant scent that refreshes a person. So the hypocrite is foul and bitter in himself, but because of what he recites from the Qur'an, he has this scent that emanates from the recitation of the Qur'an. Or the wicked one is likewise; the wicked one is the disbeliever [Al-Mutaffifin 83:7] [Al-Mutaffifin 83:18] So if you find a disbeliever who recites the Qur'an, and perhaps he recites with the best recitation, but he resembles what?
The student: The date.
Another student: The mint.
The Shaykh : No, glory be to Allah, what is the date!
The student: The mint.
The Shaykh : It resembles the mint; its taste is bitter and it has a pleasant scent. Like the hypocrite or the wicked one who does not recite the Qur'an, he is like the bitter gourd. The bitter gourd has a bitter taste and does not have a scent, meaning it does not have a strong, fragrant scent, though it does have a scent, a bitter scent, but it does not have a fragrant scent. And the bitter gourd is known to you, O Hidayat Allah? It is known, yes, to everyone?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : The bitter gourd ... .
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : What?
The student: What is the citron?
The Shaykh : The citron is the tarenj, the tarenj that is found like this.
The student: It is bitter, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : No, it is not bitter. Perhaps the one you ate was not ripe. Perhaps you ate something that was not ripe, or else it is good; its taste is very good.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : And as for the bitter gourd, it is very bitter, and among its properties is that if a person has constipation and then places his foot on it until it is squeezed, his constipation is relieved, because this scent stimulates the intestines until, what is the scent I mean, this intense bitterness stimulates the intestines until they release.
And in this is evidence of the virtue of reciting the Qur'an if it is from the believer, and that the Qur'an has a virtue even if it is from other than the believer, but if it is from other than the believer, then its taste is bitter. Yahya.
It also contains the use of parables, which is making the abstract understandable through the tangible. And Allah the Exalted said:
And these examples We present to the people, but none will understand them except those of knowledge.
وَتِلكَ الأَمثالُ نَضرِبُها لِلنّاسِ وَما يَعقِلُها إِلَّا العالِمونَNo! Indeed, the record of the wicked is in sijjeen.
كَلّا إِنَّ كِتابَ الفُجّارِ لَفي سِجّينٍNo! Indeed, the record of the righteous is in 'illiyyun.
كَلّا إِنَّ كِتابَ الأَبرارِ لَفي عِلِّيّينَThe student: The date.
Another student: The mint.
The Shaykh : No, glory be to Allah, what is the date!
The student: The mint.
The Shaykh : It resembles the mint; its taste is bitter and it has a pleasant scent. Like the hypocrite or the wicked one who does not recite the Qur'an, he is like the bitter gourd. The bitter gourd has a bitter taste and does not have a scent, meaning it does not have a strong, fragrant scent, though it does have a scent, a bitter scent, but it does not have a fragrant scent. And the bitter gourd is known to you, O Hidayat Allah? It is known, yes, to everyone?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : The bitter gourd ... .
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : What?
The student: What is the citron?
The Shaykh : The citron is the tarenj, the tarenj that is found like this.
The student: It is bitter, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : No, it is not bitter. Perhaps the one you ate was not ripe. Perhaps you ate something that was not ripe, or else it is good; its taste is very good.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : And as for the bitter gourd, it is very bitter, and among its properties is that if a person has constipation and then places his foot on it until it is squeezed, his constipation is relieved, because this scent stimulates the intestines until, what is the scent I mean, this intense bitterness stimulates the intestines until they release.
And in this is evidence of the virtue of reciting the Qur'an if it is from the believer, and that the Qur'an has a virtue even if it is from other than the believer, but if it is from other than the believer, then its taste is bitter. Yahya.