al-Hasan al-Basri Quotes

“No servant disobeys God except that God, glory to Him, will cause him some form of humiliation and disgrace.

“Reflection is the mirror of the believer, in which he looks at his works, evil and good.

“Whoever speaks evil about you behind your back, do not become angry for they are in reality giving you their good deeds on a golden plate.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“A person may struggle in the way of God, without ever striking a sword once.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“There is no man who sees Allah's favors upon him and says: "All praise is due to Allah with whose favors all good can be accomplished" except that Allah will make him needless of others and will increase His favors upon him.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“Preach to others by your deeds, not by your words.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“Verily, Allah lets [a person] enjoy a blessing for as long as He wills. But when He is no longer thanked for it, He turns it into a punishment.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“‎Whoever loves this dunya and is pleased by it, then he should know that love of the akhira is leaving their heart because the two cannot co-exist in one heart.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“If the shaytaan looks at you and sees that you are consistent in an act of obedience to Allaah, he will try to come to you again and again. If he sees that you are persistent in your actions (despite his efforts) he will tire of you and leave you. But if he sees that you are one day like this and one day like that, he will have high hopes in you.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“Death has exposed the reality of this life and not left a chance for the wise person to delight in it.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“al-Hasan al-Basri was asked: "Who is going to cry more than others on the Day of Resurrection?"

He answered: "A man on whom Allah has bestowed His Grace and who uses that for Allah's disobedience."

al-Hasan al-Basri

“To endure short-lived difficulties that are followed by Long Lasting ease, is better than hurrying for a short-lived ease that is followed by ever-lasting hardship.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“A man said to al-Hasan al-Basri: "O Abu Sa`eed, I am complaining to you of the hardness of my heart."
He said: "Soften it with dhikr. The more forgetful the heart is, the hard it becomes, but if a person remembers Allah, that hardness softens as copper melts in the fire.
Nothing can soften the hardness of the heart like the remembrance of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. Dhikr is healing and medicine for the heart.
Forgetfulness is a disease, the cure for which is remembrance of Allah."

al-Hasan al-Basri

“Treat your illnesses by giving sadaqah (charity).

al-Hasan al-Basri

“To know that I am free from hypocrisy, I hold it dearer to myself than to get the whole world of gold.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“O People! Work for the Hereafter (work towards heaven) . For indeed I have seen in my life, anyone who works for the Hereafter also gets the dunya. The dunya runs after him. But I have not found anyone who works for the dunya ever get any piece of the Hereafter.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“The best attribute a believer can have is forgiveness.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“Iman (faith) is not outer decoration, nor mere hope. Rather it is what settles in the heart and what is affirmed by actions.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“The one who acts without knowledge is like a wayfarer without a way, and such a person ruins more than he fixes. Therefore seek knowledge, in a way that doesn't harm your worship, and seek worship, in a way that doesn't harm your knowledge seeking, for there was a nation that sought worship and neglected knowledge, until they went out with their swords against the ummah (nation) of Muhammad peace be upon him. Had they sought knowledge, it wouldn't have led them to what they did.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“Whoever has complete faith that Allah will replace everything he gives away with something better (in this life or the next), will increase in giving away his wealth.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“The human soul will not leave the dunya except with three regrets: that he didn't satiate himself with enjoyment of what he had gathered (of wealth), that he didn't receive the things he hoped for, and that he didn't prepare well for what he has come upon [i.e. the Hereafter].

al-Hasan al-Basri

“O son of Adam, how is your heart ever going to be softened by recitation of the Qur’an when all you read for is to reach the end of the Surah.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“Don't sit idle, because death is constantly seeking you.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“What is this world but a dream that a sleeper sees—he delights in it for a few moments, and then wakes up to face reality.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“Whoever does not find happiness in the dhikr of Allah, prayer, and reciting the Quran, will not find it anywhere else.

al-Hasan al-Basri

“Of the signs that Allah has turned away from a person is that he becomes occupied with that which does not concern him.

al-Hasan al-Basri