20 / 194
20
of Alla>h’s Book has for it, a merit and ten more like
it, not to say that alif, la>m, mi>m are one letter but
rather alif is a letter, la>m is a letter and mi>m is a
letter.’
10
‘Uqbah Ibn ‘Amir, may Alla>h be pleased with him,
relates that Alla>h’s Messenger
came out when we
were in aJ-Iuffah and said: ‘Are there any of you
who would wish to go every day to Butha>n or al-
‘Aqi>
q [i.e., the name of two ditches in al-Madi>nah]
in the early morning and return from it with two
she-camels without incurring any sin or severing
relations?’ We [the companions] said: ‘We would
indeed love that, O Messenger of Alla>h.’ He
said:
‘then you should go to the Masjid and acquire some
knowledge, or recite two A<
ya>
t from the Book of
Alla>h, that would be better for you than two she-
camels, and three A<ya>t are better than three she-
camels, and four A<
ya>
t are better than four she-
camels, and the same for a like number of male
camels.’
11
The Prophet
also said: ‘Whoever takes a seat and
fails to remember Alla>h, has incurred upon himself a
loss from Alla>h, and whoever lies down [relaxes]
_________________
10 At-Tirmiz}i> 5/175, see: S{ah}i>h}
At-Tirmiz}i> 3/9 and S{ah}i>h}
Al-Ja>mi‘ As}-S{aghi>r
5/340.
11 Muslim 1/553.