Muhammad ibn Waas’i, may Allaah have mercy upon him, narrated: “A man from the people of Basrah travelled to Umm Tharr, may Allaah be pleased with her, after the death of Abu Tharr, may Allaah be pleased with him, and asked her about the manner in which Abu Tharr would worship, and so she replied: ‘He would spend most of his day in a corner of the house, contemplating.’”
Al-Hasan, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: "He whose words are not those of wisdom, his silence is not spent in contemplation and his observations are not to take lessons. Such a person is heedless and is squandering his time.” He, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said regarding the one hundred and forty-sixth verse of chapter Al- A’raaf in which Allaah says:
سأصرف عن آياتي الذين يتكبرون في الأرض بغير الحق
which means: “I will turn away from My signs those who are arrogant upon the earth without right…” [Al-A’raaf: 146] that it means "I (i.e., Allaah) will prevent their hearts from contemplating.”
‘Abdullaah ibn Al-Mubaarak, may Allaah have mercy upon him, once saw Sahl ibn ‘Uday, may Allaah have mercy upon him, in silent contemplation, so he asked him: “How far have you reached?” to which he replied: “The Siraat (i.e., the bridge over Hell).”
Bishr, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: “If people contemplate over the greatness of Allaah, they will never disobey Him.”
Abu Shurayh, may Allaah have mercy upon him, once sat down and covered his head with his garment and began weeping. When he was asked why, he replied: “I contemplated, and realised how much of my life has ended, how few my good deeds are, and how close I am to death - so I cried.”
Abu Sulaymaan, may Allaah have mercy upon him, once advised the people saying: "Train your eyes to cry and your hearts to contemplate.”
Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allaah be pleased with him, said: “Contemplating over good deeds causes one to perform them and regretting evil leads to one abandoning it. When the slave’s main concern is to please Allaah, He will make his silence be spent in contemplation and his speech consist of praise and gratitude to Allaah.”
Imaam Shaafi’i, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: “Virtue lies is in four things: Wisdom, the basis of which is contemplation; chastity, the basis of which is controlling one's desires; strength, the basis of which is controlling oneself at the time of anger; and justice, the basis of which is being moderate in ones views”
Once Sufyaan, may Allaah have mercy upon him, was in a gathering, when suddenly, the lamp that was lighting the congregation ran out of oil, and so its flame went out; after someone had added oil and re-ignited the lamp, they found that Sufyaan, may Allaah have mercy upon him, had cried; so they asked him why he did so, and he replied: “This darkness reminded me of the grave.” Due to the hearts of such people being alive, anything around them caused them to contemplate and connect that to the important matters which one ought to contemplate over.
One of the Salaf, may Allaah have mercy upon him, was waiting for bread in a bakery, when he began staring at the fire and crying like a baby. A man asked him why, and he replied: “I remembered the Hellfire."
‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul-‘Azeez, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: “Contemplation is one of the favours of Allaah and one of the best acts of worship that one can perform.”
‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Utbah, may Allaah have mercy upon him, asked Umm Tharr, may Allaah be pleased with her, about the best act of worship that Abu Tharr, may Allaah be pleased with him, would perform, she answered: “Contemplation.”
Al-Hasan, may Allaah have mercy upon him, wrote to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul-‘Azeez, may Allaah have mercy upon him, saying: “Know that contemplation encourages one to do good and encourages one to shun evil and regret it.”
Muhammad ibn Ka’b, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: “To recite only chapter Az- Zalzalah and Al-Qaari’ah all night long with contemplation is dearer to me than reciting the entire Qur’aan without contemplation.”
Source: A series on the Deeds of the Heart /Contemplation / Sheikh Muhammad Salih al-Munajid
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