Abu al-Hasan al-Basri

Abu al-Hasan al-Hasan ibn Yasar al-Basri. In one report his father's name was Firuz. ¹

He and his brother Sa'id were taken captive from Maysan and came into the possession of an Ansari woman, al-Rabi' daughter of al-Nadr, the paternal aunt of Anas ibn Malik (may God be pleased with him), or it is said the wife of Anas, Jamila. She set them free, and he said: "Our clientage is to her." He was born in Medina two years before the end of the caliphate of Umar. He left it a year after Siffin, and died in Basra in 110 AH at the age of eighty-nine, though it is said ninety. ¹ See Basra.

One source in the data records his death at the age of eighty-eight, so the disagreement over his age is recorded in the data.

Al-Mas'udi relates that Umar ibn Hubayra sent to him in 103 AH with al-Sha'bi and Ibn Sirin. Al-Hasan said to Ibn Hubayra: "Fear God regarding Yazid, and do not make Yazid fear God." His words imply that there is no obedience to a created being in disobedience to the Creator. ²

Ibn al-Nadim says he wrote for al-Rabi' ibn Ziyad in Khurasan and for Anas ibn Malik in Sabur. He was among those who gave the allegiance to Ibn al-Ash'ath; when that was defeated he went in to al-Hajjaj, who rebuked him and gave him safe conduct, and then he kept out of sight until he died. Among his books is a book on exegesis and a letter to Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan refuting the Qadariyya. ³

The Sheikh relates that al-Hasan wept and said that if God tests them He would expose them and tear away their veils (needs_source). ⁴ He quotes his saying that the people of the world ate and we ate, they feared tomorrow and we are safe (needs_source). ⁵

The Sheikh relates that al-Hasan preferred reading from the mushaf to reciting from memory, because looking into it gives the eye a share of light, and that the mushaf testifies for the reader and pleads on his behalf (needs_source: attribution garbled) ^{6 7}.

He transmits al-Hasan's comparison between the believers and the people of the world in food, clothing and drink; the Sheikh says the grateful rich man is better than the patient poor man, and that the servant awaits what is with God (needs_source: source of the saying not named) ⁸.

He relates that people saw a light on the face of Muhammad ibn Sirin, and that al-Hasan, who was dark-complexioned, also showed a light. Asked about it, al-Hasan answered that his people had been alone with God in the dark of night, so He clothed them in beauty; the Sheikh concludes that what counts is the purity of the heart (needs_source: anecdote unsourced) ^{9 10}.

He relates that al-Hasan saw small cells and said they would one day be inhabited, and he draws from this a warning about the danger of following the ruler (needs_source: anecdote unsourced) ¹¹.

He relates that the household of al-Hasan had only a little egg left, that a girl of the house gave nine eggs in charity to a poor man, and that a rich neighbour then sent a basket of eggs ^{12 13}.

He relates that al-Hasan visited a sad man and asked whether what was happening to him was in God's sight or far from it, and then compared this to a mother watching over her son ^{14 15}.

The Sheikh relays from al-Hasan al-Basri the advice that a person open the mushaf even if he does not read from it and say: I renew my covenant with God, so that his eye falls on a verse; he calls on people to open a page every day before work, and likens this to recording attendance with an eye or hand fingerprint on entering a workplace (needs_source) ¹⁶.

The Sheikh says that happiness is inside the heart and not in what the eye sees, and that a distressed person who feels the whole earth on his head is not relieved of his worry by money, travel or pleasant surroundings ¹⁷. He begins to quote a saying of al-Hasan al-Basri to the effect that they had wronged the people of the world, and the wording breaks off in this passage (needs_source) ¹⁷.

The Sheikh mentions that anyone going to Iraq, Kufa or Basra had to attend al-Hasan's session ¹⁸. He says he was called the nursling of Umm Salama, that Umm Salama was eighty years old when she nursed him as a crying child, that God made milk flow in her breast, and he counts this a miracle; he says al-Hasan spoke only wisdom (needs_source) ¹⁸.

He says al-Hasan lived among the Companions and the Followers and studied from them and under them, among them Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib and Ata ibn Abi Rabah, until the matter reached a great elder such as Abu Dharr in the year 36 AH, and he begins to quote a saying of his about the condition of the people (needs_source) ¹⁹. He relates that al-Hasan was asked: what do you do with Satan, imam? He replied that obeying him brings no benefit and disobeying him does no harm, and the Sheikh remarks that it is only a matter of an hour's patience (needs_source) ²⁰. He calls on people to live their day: yesterday is a cheque already cashed, tomorrow is a postdated cheque whose time has not come, so the believer should not carry tomorrow's worry ²¹.

Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy recounts an anecdote about al-Hasan al-Basri and a governor, in which al-Hasan contrasts a petty thief with one who steals public funds ²².

He quotes al-Hasan al-Basri's saying that the believers possess a blessing which kings would fight over with swords, and he applies it to the blessing of faith ²³.