Treatise On Rights

The right of your slave (mamluk) is that you should know that he is the creature of your Lord, the son of your father and mother, and your flesh and blood. You own him, but you did- not make him; God made him. You did not create any one of his limbs, nor do you provide him with his sustenance; on the contrary, God gives you the sufficiency for that. Then He subjugated him to you, entrusted him to you, and deposited him with you so that you may be safeguarded by the good you give to him. So act well toward him, just as God has acted well toward you. If you dislike him, replace him, but do not torment a creature of God. And there is no strength save in God

وأما حق مملوكك فأن تعلم أنه خلق ربك وابن أبيك وأمك ولحمك ودمك تملكه،لا أنت صنعته من دون الله ولا خلقت شيئا من جوارحه، ولا أخرجت له رزقا ولكن الله عز وجل كفاك ذلك ثم سخره لك وائتمنك عليه واستودعك إياه، ليحفظ لك ما تأتيه من خير إليه فأحسن إليه كما أحسن الله إليك، وإن كرهته استبدلت به، ولم تعذب خلق الله عز وجل ولا قوة إلا بالله

The right of your wife (zawja) is that you know that God has made her a repose and a comfort for you; you should know that she is God’s favour toward you, so you should honour her and treat her gently. Though her right toward you is more incumbent, you must treat her with compassion, since she is your prisoner (asir) whom you feed and clothe. If she is ignorant, you should pardon her.

وأما حق الزوجة فأن تعلم أن الله عز وجل جعلها لك سكنا وأنسا فتعلم أن ذلك نعمة من الله عليك فتكرمها وترفق بها، وإن كان حقك عليها أوجب فان لها عليك أن ترحمها لأنها أسيرك وتطعمها وتكسوها وإذا جهلت عفوت عنها

The right of your subjects through knowledge is that you should know that God made you a caretaker over them only through the knowledge He has given you and His storehouses which He has opened up to you. If you do well in teaching the people, not treating them roughly or annoying them, then God will increase His bounty toward you. But if you withhold your knowledge from people or treat them roughly when they seek knowledge from you, then it will be God’s right to deprive you of knowledge and its splendour and to make you fall from your place in people’s hearts

وأمَّا حَقُّ رَعِيَّتِكَ بالعِلْمِ فَأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أن الله عز وجل إنما جعلك قيما لهم فيما آتاك من العلم وفتح لك من خزائنه فان أحسنت في تعليم الناس، ولم تخرق بهم، ولم تضجر عليهم، زادك الله من فضله، وإن أنت منعت الناس علمك أو خرقت بهم عند طلبهم العلم منك كان حقا على الله عز وجل أن يسلبك العلم وبهاءه ويسقط من القلوب محلك

The right of your subjects through authority is that you should know that they have been made subjects through their weakness and your strength. Hence it is incumbent upon you to act with justice toward them and to be like a compassionate father toward them. You should forgive them their ignorance and not hurry them to punishment and you should thank God for the power over them which He has given to you

فأَمَّا حُقُوقُ رَعِيَّتِكَ بالسُّلْطَانِ فَأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أنهم صاروا رعيتك لضعفهم قوتك فيجب أن تعدل فيهم وتكون لهم كالوالد الرحيم، وتغفر لهم جهلهم، ولا تعاجلهم بالعقوبة، وتشكر الله عز وجل على ما آتاك من القوة عليهم

The right of him who trains you through property is that you should obey him and not disobey him, unless obeying him would displease God, for there can be no obedience to a creature when it is disobedience to God.

وأمَّا حَقُّ سَائِسِكَ بالمِلْكِ فأن تطيعه ولا تعصيه إلا فيما يسخط الله عز وجل فانه لا طاعة لمخلوق في معصية الخالق.

The right of the one who trains you (sa’is) through knowledge is magnifying him, respecting his sessions, listening well to him, and attending to him with devotion. You should not raise your voice toward him. You should never answer anyone who asks him about something, in order that he may be the one who answers. You should not speak to anyone in his session nor speak ill of anyone with him. If anyone ever speaks ill of him in your presence, you should defend him. You should conceal his faults and make manifest his virtues. You should not sit with him in enmity or show hostility toward him in friendship. If you do all of this, God’s angels will give witness for you that you went straight to him and learned his knowledge for God’s sake, not for the sake of the people.

وأَمَّا حَقُّ سَائِسِكَ بالعِلْمِ التَّعْظِيمُ لَهُ والتَّوْقِيرُ لِمَجْلِسِهِ وَحُسْنُ الاسْتِمَاعِ إليهِ وَالإقْبَالُ عَلَيْه وأن لا ترفع عليه صوتك، ولا تجيب أحدا يسأله عن شئ حتى يكون هو الذي يجيب، ولا تحدث في مجلسه أحدا ولا تغتاب عنده أحدا وأن تدفع عنه إذا ذكر عندك بسوء وأن تستر عيوبه وتظهر مناقبه ولا تجالس له عدوا ولا تعادي له وليا فإذا فعلت ذلك شهدت لك ملائكة الله بأنك قصدته، وتعلمت علمه لله جل اسمه لا للناس.

The right of the possessor of authority (sultan) is that you know that God has made you a trial (fitna) for him. God is testing him through the authority He has given him over you. You should not expose yourself to his displeasure, for thereby you cast yourself by your own hands into destruction1 and become his partner in his sin when he brings evil down upon you.

فأَمَّا حَقُّ السُّلْطَانِ فَأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أنّكَ جُعِلْتَ لَهُ فِتنَةً وأنَّهُ مُبْتَلىً فِيكَ بمَا جَعَلَهُ اللهُ لَهُ عَلَيْكَ مِنَ السُّلْطَانِ وأن عليك أن لا تتعرض لسخطه، فتلقي بيديك إلى التهلكة، وتكون شريكا له فيما يأتي إليك من سوء.

The right of the offering (hady)2 is that through it you desire God and you not desire His creation; through it you desire only the exposure of your soul to God’s mercy and the deliverance of your spirit on the day you encounter Him..

وحق الهدي أن تريد به الله عز وجل ولا تريد به خلقه ولا تريد به إلا التعرض لرحمة الله ونجاة روحك يوم تلقاه.

The right of charity (sadaqa) is that you know it is a storing away with your Lord and a deposit for which you will have no need for witnesses. If you deposit it in secret, you will be more confident of it than if you deposit it in public.1 You should know that it repels afflictions and illnesses from you in this world and it will repel the Fire from you in the next world.

وَأَمَّا حَقُّ الصَّدَقَةِ فَأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أنَّها ذُخرُكَ عِنْدَ رَبكَ وَوَديعَتُكَ الَّتِي لا تَحْتَاجُ إلَى الإشْهَادِ عَليها، و كُنْتَ بمَا تَسْتَودِعُهُ سِرًّا أَوْثقَ مِنْكَ بمَا تَسْتَوْدِعُهُ عَلانِيَةً، و تعلم أنَّها تَدْفَعُ البلايا و الأسقام عنك في الدنيا، وتَدفَعُ عنك النار في الآخرة.

The right of fasting is that you know it is a veil which God has set up over your tongue, your hearing, your sight, your stomach, and your private part to protect you from the Fire. If you abandon the fast, you will have torn God’s protective covering away from yourself.

وَأَمَّا حَقُّ الصَّوْمِ فَأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أَنَّهُ حِجَابٌ ضَرَبَهُ اللهُ عَلَى لِسَانِكَ وَسَمْعِكَ وبَصَرِكَ وَفَرْجِكَ وبَطْنِكَ لِيَسْتركَ بهِ مِن النَّارِ. فان تركتَ الصومَ خرقتَ ستر الله عليك.