The Treatise on Rights

23- THE RIGHT OF THE FATHER

And the right of your father is that you should know that he is your root and you are his branch. And without him, you would not be. Whenever you see anything in yourself which pleases you, you should know that your father is the root of its blessing upon you. So praise God and thank Him in recognition of that. And there is no power but in God.

23. حق الأب

وَأمَّا حَقُّ أَبيكَ فَتَعْلَــــــــــمَ أنَّهُ أَصْلُكَ، وَأنَّكَ فَرْعُــــــهُ، وَأَنَّكَ لَوْلاهُ لَمْ تَكُنْ. فَمَهْمَــــــــــا رَأيْتَ فِي نفْسِكَ مِمَّا يُعْجِبُكَ فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ أَبَاكَ أَصْلُ النِّعْمَةِ عَلَيْكَ فِيهِ وَاحْمَــــــــــــــــــدِ اللَّهَ وَاشْكُرْهُ عَلَى قَدْرِ ذَلِكَ وَلا قُوَّةَ إلاّ باللهِ.

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24- THE RIGHT OF THE CHILD

And the right of your child is that you should know that he is from you and he will be ascribed to you in this world through both his good deeds and his evil deeds. And you are responsible for what has been entrusted to you in teaching him good conduct, and guiding him toward his Lord and helping him to obey Him on your behalf and for himself. Then you will be rewarded for so doing, and you will be punished. ³⁶ Then regarding his affairs, act like one who will be proud of bringing him up in this world, and one who is excused by His Lord for what is between you and him for taking good care of him, and the good results you achieved. And there is no power but in God.

24. حق الولد

وَأمَّا حَقُّ وَلَدِكَ فَتَعْلَمَ أنَّهُ مِنْكَ وَمُضَافٌ إلَيكَ فِي عَاجِلِ الدُنْيَـــــــــا بخَيْرِهِ وَشَرِّهِ، وَأَنَّكَ مَسْئولٌ عَمَّــــــا ولِّيتَهُ مِنْ حُسْنِ الأَدَب وَالدّلالَةِ عَلَى رَبـــــــــهِ وَالْمَعُونةِ لَهُ عَلَى طَاعَتِهِ فِيكَ وَفِي نفْسِهِ، فَمُثابٌ عَلَى ذلِكَ وَمُعَاقَبٌ، فَـــــــــاعْمَلْ فِي أَمْرِهِ عَمَلَ الْمُتَزَيِّنِ بحُسْنِ أَثرِهِ عَلَيْهِ فِي عَاجِلِ الدُّنْيَا، الْمُعْذِرِ إلَى رَبهِ فِيمَـــــــا بَيْنَكَ وبَيْنَهُ بحُسْنِ الْقِيَامِ عَلَيْهِ وَالأَخذُ لَهُ مِنْهُ. وَلا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ.

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25- THE RIGHT OF THE BROTHER

And the right of your brother is that you should know that he is your hand that you extend, and your back to whom you seek refuge, and your power upon whom you rely, and your might with which you compete. Take him not as a weapon with which to disobey God, nor as a means with which to violate God's rights. And do not neglect to help him against his own self and support him against his enemy, and intervene between him and his devils, and give him good counsel, and associate with him for God's sake. Then if he obeys his Lord and is responsible towards Him properly it is fine. Else God should be more preferable and more honorable to you than he is. ³⁷

25. حق الأخ

وَأَمّا حَقُّ أَخِيكَ فَتَعْلَمَ أَنّهُ يَدُكَ الَّتِي تَبسُطُهَــــــا، وَظَهْرُكَ الَّذِي تَلْتَجِئُ إلَيـــــــــــهِ، وَعِزُّكَ الَّذِي تَعْتَمِدُ عَلَيهِ، وَقُوَّتُكَ الَّتِي تَصُولُ بهَـــا، فَلا تَتَّخِذْهُ سِلاحًا عـــَلَى مَــعــْصــِيـةِ اللَّهِ ولا عُدَّةً لِلظُّلْمِ بحَــــــــــقِّ اللَّهِ، ولا تَدَعْ نُصْرتَهُ عَلَى نفْسِــــــــهِ وَمَعُونتِهِ عَلَى عَدُوِّهِ وَالْحَوْلَ بَيْنَهُ وبَيْنَ شَيَاطينهِ وتَأْديَةِ النَّصِيحَةِ إلَيهِ والإقبَالِ عَلَيْهِ فِي اللَّهِ فَــــــــــإنْ انقَادَ لِرَبهِ وَأَحْسَنَ الإجَابَةَ لَهُ وَإلاّ فَلْيَكُنِ اللهُ آثرَ عِنْدَكَ وَأَكْرَمَ عَلَيْكَ مِنْهُ(21)

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RIGHTS OF OTHERS

26- THE RIGHT OF MASTER ON THE FREED SLAVE

Then the right of your master who has favored you ³⁸is that you should know that he has spent his property for you and has brought you out of the abasement of slavery and its desolation, and has brought you into the honor of freedom and its sociability. And he has freed you from the captivity of his own possession and has released the bonds of his slavery from you. And he has led you to smell the scent of honor, and has brought you out of the prison of subjugation, and has repelled hardship from you, and has extended to you the tongue of fairness, and has liberated you to freely move about in the whole world, and has given you ownership of yourself, and has freed you from captivity, and

حقوق الآخرين

26. حق المنعم على مولاه

وَأَمّــــــــــــا حَقُّ الْمُنْعِمِ عَلَيْكَ بالْولاءِ(22) فَــأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أَنّهُ أَنفَقَ فِيكَ مَالَـــهُ، وَأَخرَجَكَ مِن ذُلِّ الرِّقِ وَوَحْشَــــــــــــــتِهِ إلَى عِزِّ الحُرِّيةِ وأُنسِهـــــا، وَأَطْلَقَكَ مِنْ أَسْرِ الْمِلْكَةِ، وَفَـــــكَّ عَنْكَ حـــــِلَقَ الْعُبُودِيَّةِ(23)، وَأَوْجَدَكَ رَائِحَة الْعِزِّ، وَأَخرَجَكَ مِنْ سِجْنِ القَهْرِ، وَدَفَـــــــــــعَ عَنْكَ الْعُسْرَ، وبَسَطَ لَكَ لِسَـــــــــــانَ الإنْصَافِ، وَأَبَاحَكَ الدُنْيَــــــــا كُلَّهَا فَمَلَّكَكَ نفْسَــــــكَ، وَحَلَّ أَسْرَكَ، وَفَرَّغَكَ لِعِبَادَةِ رَبكَ، وَاحْتَمَلَ بذَلِكَ التَّقْصِيرَ

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has given you the freedom to worship your Lord. And for this he has suffered a decrease in his fortune. Then you should know that he is the closest creature to you after your relations of kin, in your life and after your death, and that he is the most meritorious creature to receive your assistance and support, and your help for God's sake. Therefore do not prefer yourself to him regarding any of his needs.

فِي مَالِهِ، فَتَعْلَـــــــــــمَ أَنّهُ أَوْلَى الخَلْقِ بكَ بَعْـــــدَ أُولي رَحِمِكَ فِي حَيَاتِكَ وَمَوْتِكَ، وَأَحَقَّ الخَــــــــــــــلْقِ بنَصْرِكَ وَمَعُونَتِكَ وَمُكَانفَتِكَ فِي ذَات اللَّهِ، فَلا تُؤثِرْ عَلَيْهِ نفْسَكَ مَا احْتَاجَ إلَيْكَ.

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27- THE RIGHT OF THE FREED SLAVE ON HIS MASTER

And the right of the slave whom you have favored ³⁹is that you should know that God has established you as his supporter, and shelter and assistant, and refuge, and He has established him for you as the means and as a mediator between you and Him. Then by freeing him, he will protect you from the Fire ⁴¹. And this is the reward you get from him in the future. And your immediate reward is to inherit from him if he does not have any relations of kin. There is a compensation for the property you have spent for him, and respecting his rights after you spent your property. Then if you do not respect his rights, there is the fear upon you that his inheritance would not be purified for you. And there is no power but in God.

27. حق المولى الجارية عليه نعمتك

وَأَمَّـــــــــــــــــا حَقُّ مَوْلاكَ(24) الْجَارِيَةِ عَلَيْهِ نِعْمَتُكَ فَأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أَنَّ اللهَ جَعَلَكَ حَــامِيَةً عَلَيْهِ، وَوَاقِيَــــــــــــةً وناصِرًا وَمَعْقِلاً، وَجَعَلَهُ لَكَ وَسِيلَةً وَسَبَباً بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ فَبالْحَرِيِّ أَنْ يَحْجُبَكَ عَنِ النَّــــــــــــــارِ فَيَكُونَ فِي ذَلِكَ ثَوَابٌ مِنْهُ فِي الآجِلِ، ويَحْكُمُ لَكَ بمِيرَاثِهِ فِي الْعَاجِلِ إذَا لم يَكُنْ لَهُ رَحِــــــــــــــــــمٌ، مُكَافَأَةً لِمَـــــــــــا أَنفَقْتَهُ مِنْ مَالِكَ عَلَيْــــــــــهِ وَقُمْتَ بهِ مِنْ حَقِّـــــهِ بَعْدَ إنفَاقِ مَالِكَ، فَإنْ لَمْ تَقُمْ بحَقِّهِ خِيفَ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ لا يَطِيبَ لَكَ مِيرَاثُهُ. وَلا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ.

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28- THE RIGHT OF HIM WHO TREATS YOU KINDLY

And the right of him who treats you kindly is that you should thank him and acknowledge his kindness; and spread the good word around about him, and sincerely pray for him between you and God the Praised One. Then if you do that, you have thanked him both in private and in public. Then if you are able to practically recompense him, Do recompense him. Otherwise you should be determined to do so later.

28. حق ذي المعروف

وَأمّا حَقُّ ذِي المَعْرُوفِ عَلَيكَ فَـــــــأَنْ تَشْكُرَهُ وتَذْكُرَ مَعْرُوفَهُ وتَنْشُرَ لَهُ الْمَقَــــــــــالَةَ الْحَسَنَةَ، وَتُخلِصَ لَهُ الدُّعَـــــاءَ فِيمَــــا بَينَكَ وبَيْنَ اللَّهِ سُبْحَانَهُ، فَإنّكَ إذَا فَعَلْتَ ذَلِكَ كُنْتَ قَدْ شَكَرْتَهُ سِرًّا وَعَلانِيَـةً. ثُمَّ إنْ أَمْكَنَ مُكَافَأَتَهُ بالْفِعْلِ كَافَأتَهُ وإلاّ كُنْتَ مُرْصِدًا لَهُ مُوطِّنًا نَفْسَكَ عَلَيْهَا.

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29- THE RIGHT OF THE CALLER TO PRAYER

And the right of your caller to prayer is that you should know that he is ⁴² the one reminding you of your Lord, and is calling you to your good fortune, and is your greatest helper in fulfilling an obligation that God has made incumbent upon you. Therefore thank him for that just as you thank one who does some good to you. And if you are upset with him at home due to this, you should not accuse him for this since his act is for God. And you should know that he is one of the Blessings of God to you. There is no doubt about it. Then you should kindly treat God's Blessing, by praising God for him under all circumstances. And there is no power but in God.

29. حق المؤذن

وَأمّا حَقُّ الْمُؤَذِّنِ فَأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أنّهُ مُذَكِّرُكَ برَبكَ وَدَاعِـــــيكَ إلَى حَظِّكَ وَأَفْضَلُ أَعْوَانِكَ عَلَى قَضَـــــــــــاءِ الْفَرِيضَةِ الَّتِي افتَرَضَهَا اللهُ عَلَيْكَ فَتَشْكُرَهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ شُكْرَكَ لِلْمُحْسِنِ إلَيكَ. وَإنْ كُنْتَ فِي بَيْتِكَ مُهْتَمًّا لِذَلِكَ لَمْ تَكُنْ للهِ فِي أَمْرِهِ مُتَّهِمــــــاً وَعَلِمْتَ أنَّهُ نِعْمَةٌ مِن اللَّهِ عَلَيْكَ، لا شَكَّ فِيهَــــا، فَــــــــــــأَحْسِنْ صُحْبَةَ نِعْمَةِ اللَّهِ بحَمْدِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَــــــا عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ. وَلا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ.

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30- THE RIGHT OF THE RITUAL PRAYER LEADER

And the right of your leader in your ritual prayer is that you should know that he has taken on the role of a mediator between you and God and appeared in the presence of your Lord on your behalf. And he speaks for you, but you do not speak for him; and he supplicates for you, but you do not supplicate for him; and he has beseeched for you and you do not beseech for him. And he has spared you the anxiety of standing before God and the question of interrogation for your prayer, but you do not spare him that. Should he perform the prayer imperfectly, he is held responsible for that not you; and if he makes a mistake during the prayer, you will not be his partner in it, and there is no superiority in this for him over you. Then he protected you through himself, And he protected your prayer through his prayer. Therefore thank him for this. And there is no power nor any strength but in God.

30. حق الإمام في الصلاة

وَأمّا حَقُّ إمَامِكَ فِي صَلاتِكَ فَــــــــــــــــــأَنْ تَعلَمَ أنّهُ قَدْ تَقَلَّدَ السِّفَارَةَ فِيمَــــا بَيْنَكَ وبَيْنَ اللَّهِ وَالْوِفَادَةَ إلَى رَبكَ، وتَكَلَّمَ عَنْكَ وَلَمْ تَتَكَلَّـــــمْ عَنْهُ، وَدعَا لَكَ وَلَمْ تَدْعُ لَهُ، وَطَلَبَ فِيكَ وَلَـــــــــــــــــمْ تَطْلُبْ فِيهِ، وَكَفَاكَ هَمَّ الْمَقَــــــــامِ بَينَ يدي اللهِ وَالمُسَـــــــــاءَلَةَ لَهُ فِيكَ وَلَمْ تَكْفِهِ ذَلِكَ، فَــــــــــــإنْ كَانَ فِي شَيْءٍ مِنْ ذَلِكَ تَقْصِيرٌ كَانَ بهِ دُونَكَ، وَإنْ كَانَ آثِمـــــــــــــاً لَمْ تَكُنْ شَرِيكَهُ فِيهِ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ عَلَيكَ فَضلٌ، فَوقَى نَفْسَكَ بنَفْســـــــــــــــِهِ، وَوَقَى صـَلاتَكَ بصَلاتِهِ، فَتَشْكُرَ لَهُ عَلَى ذلِكَ. ولا حَوْلَ ولا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ.

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31- THE RIGHT OF YOUR SITTING COMPANION

And the right of your sitting companion is that you should treat him gently, and warmly welcome him, and be fair while talking with him, and do not take your eyes off of him when you are looking at him, and pronounce your words clearly to help him understand what you say. And if you are the first one to go and sit with him, you can leave him when you wish. However, if he is the first one to come and sit with you, he can leave you when he wishes to. And you should not leave him without his permission. ⁴³ And there is no power but in God.

31. حق الجليس

وَأمّــــا حَقُّ الجَلِيسِ فَأَنْ تُلِينَ لَهُ كَنَفَكَ(25)، وَتُطِيبَ لَهُ جَانِبَكَ، وَتُنْصِفَهُ فِي مُجَارَاةِ اللَّفْظِ(26) ولا تُغْرِق(27) فِي نَزْعِ اللَّحْــظِ إذَا لَحَظْتَ وتَقْصُدَ فِي اللَّفْظِ إلَى إفْهَــــــــامِهِ إذَا لَفَظْتَ. وَإنْ كُنْتَ الْجَلِيــــــــــــــــــسَ إلَيْهِ كُنْتَ فِي الْقِيَـــــــــــــــامِ عَنْهُ بالْخِيَارِ وَإنْ كَانَ الجَالِسَ إلَيكَ كَانَ بالخِيَـــــــــارِ. ولا تَقُومُ إلا بــإذْنِهِ.(28) وَلا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ.

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32- THE RIGHT OF THE NEIGHBOR

And the right of your neighbor is that you should be as a guardian for him when he is absent, and you should honor him when he is present, and you should assist and support him in both situations. You should not pursue any of his imperfections, and you should not seek any of his faults. But if you should discover any of his faults unintentionally, you should take the role of -regarding what you know- a fortified stronghold and a veiling screen. ⁴⁴ You should guard them in such a way that none of his defects can be discovered even if they are thoroughly inspected through spears. And you should not eavesdrop on him, and you should not forsake him during times of hardship. And you should not envy him when he receives a blessing.

32. حق الجار

وَأمّــا حَقُّ الجَارِ فَحِفْظُهُ غَائِبًا وَكَرَامَتُهُ شَاهِدًا ونُصْرَتُهُ وَمَعُونتُهُ فِي الحَـالَينِ جَمِيعــاً.(29) لا تَتَّبعْ لَهُ عَوْرَةً ولا تَبحَثْ لَهُ عَنْ سَوْءَ[ةٍ] لِتَعْرِفَهَــــــــــا، فَإنْ عَرَفْتَهَــــــا مِنْهُ عَنْ غَيْرِ إرَادَةٍ مِنْكَ وَلا تَكَلُّفٍ كُنْتَ لِمَــــا عَلِمْتَ حِصْنـــاً حَصِينـــاً وَسِتْرًا سَــــــــــــتِيرًا، لَوْ بَحَثتِ الأَسِنَّةُ عَنْهُ ضَمِيرًا لَمْ تَتَّصِلْ إلَيْه لانطِوَائِهِ عَلَيهِ. لا تَسْــتَمِعْ عَلَيهِ مِنْ حَيْثُ لا يَعْلَـــمُ. لا تُسَلِّمْهُ عِنْدَ شَـــــــــــديدَةٍ، ولا تَحْسُدْهُ عِنْـــــــــــدَ نِعْمَةٍ. تُقِيلُ

( 56 )

Pardon his deviation and forgive his mistakes. And do not lose your temper when he behaves out of ignorance with you. And do not stop to be his supporter, and answer those who scold him. And divulge for him the deception of those who counsel him, and associate with him in an honorable manner. And there is no power nor any strength but in God.

عَثْرَتهُ وتَغْفِرْ زَلَّتَـــــــــهُ. ولا تَدَّخِرْ حِلْمَكَ عَنْهُ إذَا جَهِلَ عَلَيْــــــــــــــــــكَ، ولا تَخرُجْ أَنْ تَكُونَ سُلَّمًا لَهُ. تَرُدُّ عَنهُ لِسَانَ الشَّتِيمَةِ، وَتُبْطِلُ فِيهِ كَيْدَ حَـــــــــــامِلِ النَّصِيحَةِ، وَتُعَــــــاشِرَهُ مُعَاشَرَةً كَرِيمَةً. وَلا حَوْلَ وَلا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ.