اليافعي

A man named Yahya ibn Hammad, one of the teachers of Imam al-Bukhari, was described by someone who knew him in a single line: لم أر أعبد من يحيى بن حماد، وأظنه لم يضحك "I never saw anyone who worshipped Allah more than Yahya ibn Hammad, and I do not think he ever laughed." For most of us that reads as the highest praise: the most devout man was also the most serious. Imam Al-Dhahabi commented on this. A little laughter and a smile, he says, is better. Then he draws a distinction most people miss. When a man of knowledge does not laugh, it is one of two opposite things. Noble: he restrains himself out of adab, fear of Allah, and grief over his own faults. Or ugly: he does it out of foolishness, arrogance, or as a performance. So a grim face is not proof of piety. Sometimes it is ego dressed as devotion. And the other extreme fares no better: the one who laughs at everything ends up taken lightly by everyone. Above both sits something higher, a bright and open face. The Prophet ﷺ said your smile in your brother's face is a charity. Jarir ibn Abdullah said the Messenger ﷺ never once saw him without smiling at him. This, says al-Dhahabi, is the very character of Islam. Then the line worth memorising: فأعلى المقامات من كان بكَّاءً بالليل، بسَّامًا بالنهار "The highest of stations belongs to the one who weeps through the night and smiles through the day." Not the grim worshipper. Not the endless joker. The one who carries awe of Allah in private and lightness towards people in public. And neither temperament is an excuse, which is his last point. If you are gloomy by nature, train yourself to smile and mend your character. If you are all jokes, rein it in before people tire of you. Every drift from the middle is blameworthy, and the nafs is only corrected by struggle. al-Dhahabi, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 10