Guidance on Conducting with Others

It is mentioned in the book Tanbīh al-ghāfilīn by al-Samarqandī:

Yaḥyā ibn Muʿādh said:
“Let the portion of a believer from you be three:
If you cannot benefit him, do not harm him;
if you cannot gladden him, do not grieve him;
and if you cannot praise him, do not blame him.”

My companion, refraining from harming people is an act of ʿibādah.
If you are unable to speak the truth, do not clap for falsehood.
If you cannot keep pace with the charitable in their giving, do not belittle them.
If you yourself are among the givers, never mock the poor and the discreetly needy who can find nothing to give.
If you are incapable of competing in noble character, do not disparage its possessors.
If Allāh has honoured you with obedience, then do not grow arrogant or boastful over the drowning sinners, the lost and pitiable ones who ache because they are not among the obedient.

It is ignominy enough for you that you neither do good nor choose what is right, and that you assail the righteous.

And in the noble ḥadīth: “It suffices a man, as evil, that he should despise his Muslim brother.”

Translation note: This article was translated by AI. View the original Telegram post.