ADVICE TO ‘UMAR IBN ‘ABDUL-‘AZIZ FROM AL-HASAN AL-BASRI
When ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul-‘Aziz became Caliph, he wrote to Al-Hasan al-Basri to give him an advice him and to write him the description of a just Imam, and Al-Hasan wrote him:
“Know, Commander of the Believers, that God has made the just Imam the prop of every learner, the straightener of every deviator, the reform of all corrupt, the strength of all weak, the justice of all oppressed, the refuge of all who are pitied. The just Imam, O Commander of Believers, is like a herdsman, solicitous for the camels he tends, desiring the sweetest pasture for them, driving them away from any dangerous grazing place, protecting them from beast of prey, and shielding them from the harms of heat and cold.
And the just Imam, Commander of the Believers, is the guardian of the orphan, and the treasury of the poor, fostering the little ones, and providing for the old ones. The just Imam, Commander of Believers, is as the heart is to the members of the body: all are sound when it is sound, and all corrupt when it is corrupt. The just Imam, Commander of Believers, stands intermediary between God and His servants; hearkening to God’s words, and making them hearken; looking to God, and making them to look; obedient to God and making them obedient.
Therefore, Commander of the Believers, act not in what God the Mighty and Glorious has given you like a slave whose master has trusted him and given into his care his wealth and his children, who then squanders his master’s wealth and drives his children away, and reduces the family to poverty and scatters their fortune.
And know, Commander of the Believers, that God has sent down (His prescription for) the legal punishments to chide (people) away from wickedness and immorality. How shall it be, if he who administers them, deserves them? And He sent down (the law of) retaliation to give life to His servants. How will it be if the man who gives them retaliation puts them to death?
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