Introduction
You were among the eminent Tābiʿīn and among the leaders of the Arabs. The Noble Messenger ﷺ used to say that Uwais, in terms of benevolence and kindness, is among the best of the Tābiʿīn. And when the Master of the Universe ﷺ himself praises someone, who else can adequately describe his excellence? At times, turning his blessed face toward Yemen, the Prophet ﷺ would say that he felt the breeze of mercy coming from the direction of Yemen.
Lineage
Scholars of genealogy have recorded your lineage in two ways:
Uwais ibn ʿĀmir ibn Juzʾ ibn Mālik ibn ʿAmr ibn Masʿad ibn ʿAmr ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAṣwān ibn Qarn ibn Rūmān ibn Nājiya ibn Murād al-Murādī al-Qarnī.
And in another form:
Uwais ibn ʿĀmir ibn Juz ibn Mālik ibn ʿAmr ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAṣwān ibn Qarn ibn Rūmān ibn Nājiya ibn Murād ibn Mālik ibn Madhḥij ibn Zayd.
Birth and Place of Origin
You received the honored title of Khayr al-Tābiʿīn (the best of the Tābiʿīn) from the Prophetic court in absentia. You are also called Sayyid al-Tābiʿīn. Your respected father (ʿĀmir) passed away during your childhood. Your noble mother (Badār) was blind and elderly, and most of your life was spent in serving her. From childhood, you adopted the profession of camel herding and spent its earnings on your mother. Whatever remained, you distributed in the path of God.
Physical Appearance and Description
Details of your birth, upbringing, childhood, youth, and occupations remain largely concealed, and very little information about them is known. Hazrat Uwais al-Qarnī belonged to a village named Qarn, which is located in the land of Yemen. You belonged to the tribe of Murād, and your residence was in Yemen, in the town of Qarn. Therefore, you are known as Uwais al-Qarnī al-Murādī and al-Yamanī.
The meeting of Ḥaram ibn Ḥayyān, a devoted Tābiʿī, with Hazrat Uwais (may Allah be pleased with him) is recorded in Sīrat-e-Ṣaḥābah, volume 3, page 49 (by Shah Muʿīn al-Dīn Nadwī) and in Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd, part six, page 181 (Urdu edition), as follows:
Ibn Ḥayyān (or Ḥabbān) says that in my longing to meet Uwais, I went to Kufa and, after searching, reached the bank of the Euphrates. I saw a man sitting alone at midday on the riverbank performing ablution and washing his clothes. I had already heard descriptions of Uwais, so I immediately recognized him. He was stout in build, wheat-colored in complexion, with abundant body hair, a shaved head, and a thick beard. He wore a woolen lower garment and a woolen cloak. His face was large and awe-inspiring. According to the Prophetic description and Tābiʿī Ibn Ḥabbān, the blessed appearance of Hazrat Uwais was as follows:
- Wheat-colored complexion, according to some narrations slightly reddish
- A considerable distance between both shoulders
- Bluish eyes with darkened eyelids as if lined with kohl
- Medium height
- Chin inclined toward the chest
- Eyes lowered toward the place of prostration
- Right hand placed over the left hand
- Reciting the Qur’an and weeping over himself
- Clothing consisting of two garments: a woolen lower cloth and a woolen cloak
- Unknown in the world
- Famous in the heavens
- If he swore an oath, Allah would make it come true
- A white mark of vitiligo beneath the left shoulder
On the Day of Judgment, the righteous will be commanded to enter Paradise, but Hazrat Uwais (may Allah be pleased with him) will be told to wait and intercede for people. Then Allah will accept his intercession for a number of people equal to the members of the tribes of Rabīʿah and Muḍar.
Food and Sustenance
As long as your noble mother lived, you supported both her and yourself through earnings from camel herding. You lived in poverty and hardship. You disliked worldly life. You would leave home at the time of the morning call to prayer and return at the time of the night prayer. On the way back, you would gather date pits lying along the road and eat them; this constituted your food. Sometimes, if ordinary dates were found, you would break your fast with them. At times, you would sell the pits and buy dates for breaking the fast.
Sometimes you survived by eating dry barley bread with date syrup. You kept nothing beyond what was necessary for food and clothing. You used to pray, “O God, I seek Your pardon for my hungry stomach and naked body; beyond the food in my stomach and the clothes on my body, I possess nothing.” Whatever grain, water, or clothing remained was given away in charity, and you prayed in the Divine court, “O Lord, if someone dies of hunger, do not question me about it.”
In Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd, Ḥaram ibn Ḥabbān states that when he went to Kufa to meet Hazrat Uwais (may Allah be pleased with him), he said, “Uwais, may Allah shower His mercy upon you and forgive you — what is this condition of yours?” Seeing his outwardly distressed state, tears flowed from my eyes, and when he saw me crying, he too began to weep.
Divine Love
You were the perfect embodiment of divine love and devotion, one who attained closeness and presence with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ despite physical distance. Overwhelmed by love, you sometimes wandered barefoot through the streets like one lost in divine ecstasy. Seeing you distressed and disheveled, boys mistook you for a madman and threw stones at you, causing blood to flow. One day you stopped and said to the boys, “Do not throw large stones at me; throw small ones.” One of them said, “Uwais, is this the reality of your claim of love, that you fear the pain of large stones?” Hearing this, you replied, “I do not fear large stones, but when blood flows, my ablution breaks, and I cannot remember God without ablution.”
You would spend one night standing in prayer, the next in bowing, and the third in prostration. Much of your daytime was also spent in worship. You always fasted; when nothing was available for breaking the fast, you would gather date pits, sell them, and arrange a few morsels for sustenance. In Kufa, you attended a circle of remembrance. Asīr ibn Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) states that in that gathering, the remembrance of Hazrat Uwais affected our hearts more than anyone else’s.
Virtues
The Noble Messenger ﷺ said that on the Day of Judgment, seventy thousand angels resembling Uwais Qarni will accompany him. Uwais will be admitted into Paradise so that the creation may not recognize him, except for the one whom Allah wishes to honor with his sight. This is because he adopted seclusion and concealed himself from people solely so that the world would not regard him as distinguished. For this same reason, his concealment will also be maintained on the Day of Judgment.
The Noble Messenger ﷺ also said that within my community there is a person whose intercession will cause sinners equal in number to the hairs of the sheep of the tribes of Rabīʿah and Muḍar to be forgiven. (Rabīʿah and Muḍar were tribes in whose regions sheep were found in great abundance.) When the Companions asked who that person was and where he resided, the Prophet ﷺ replied that he was a servant of Allah. Upon further insistence, he said that he was Uwais Qarni.
Vision through the Inner Eye
When the Companions asked whether he had ever come into the Prophet’s presence, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Never.” However, instead of physical sight, he attained the blessing of seeing me through inner vision. Two reasons prevented him from reaching me:
First: the overwhelming state of spiritual absorption.
Second: reverence for the Sacred Law.
His mother was a believer, but she was elderly and blind, and Uwais earned a livelihood for her through camel herding. When the Companions asked whether they could gain the honor of meeting him, the Prophet ﷺ said no. However, he added that Umar and Ali would meet him. His identifying signs were that his entire body had hair, and on the palm’s left side there was a small white mark equal in size to a small speck, though it was not a mark of leprosy. Therefore, when they met him, they were to convey his greetings and ask him to pray for the Prophet’s community. Then when the Companions asked who would be worthy of his blessed cloak, the Prophet ﷺ said that it would be Uwais Qarni.
During his caliphate, Sayyiduna Umar Farooq the Great, at the time of Hajj, asked a gathering of people coming from outside to stand. He then instructed all to sit except the people of Kufa. Then he allowed the Kufans also to sit except those belonging to the tribe of Murad. Then he said that among them only those from Qarn should remain standing. All sat down except one man named Anis, who was Uwais’s uncle and had come from Qarn. The Commander of the Faithful, Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), asked whether he knew Uwais. Anis asked why he inquired about him and said that he was merely a poor, seemingly mad man. Hazrat Umar began to weep and said that he had heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say that through the intercession of such people, people would enter Paradise on the Day of Judgment.
Ḥurum ibn Ḥayyān (may Allah be pleased with him) says that when this narration reached him, he went to Kufa with the sole intention of meeting Hazrat Uwais Qarni. One afternoon, he suddenly reached the bank of the Euphrates and saw Hazrat Uwais performing ablution. He recognized him because he had already inquired about his appearance. He greeted him and received a reply. When he tried to shake hands, Hazrat Uwais withdrew his hand. He said, “Uwais, may Allah have mercy upon you and forgive you. How are you?” Upon saying this, he began to weep loudly out of love for him, and seeing his condition, Hazrat Uwais also began to cry. After some time, they became calm. Hazrat Uwais then said, “May Allah grant you life, O Hurm ibn Ḥayyān. My brother, how are you? Who guided you to me?” Hurm asked who had informed him of his and his father’s name. Uwais replied that Allah had informed him. After many conversations, in his final advice he said: “The Messenger has passed away. Abu Bakr Siddiq has departed. My brother Umar has also passed away.” Hurm replied that Umar was still alive. Uwais said that he had just received information that Umar had been martyred. After further conversation and prayers, he granted him permission to leave and said, “Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah; after today you may not see me again.” Saying this, he departed. Hurm wished to walk a few steps with him, but Uwais did not allow him and began to run. Hurm ran after him, weeping, until they entered the streets and lanes of Kufa, but despite great effort, he could no longer find him.
Meeting of Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Umar with Hazrat Uwais Qarni
During the period of the Rightly Guided Caliphate, when Hazrat Umar and Hazrat Ali reached Kufa and asked the Yemenis about his whereabouts, someone said that he did not know him well, except that a madman-like person lived far from the settlement in the valley of Arafah herding camels. Dry bread was his food. Seeing people laugh, he would cry, and seeing people cry, he would laugh. When Hazrat Umar and Hazrat Ali reached there, they saw Hazrat Uwais engaged in prayer while angels were herding his camels. After he completed his prayer, Hazrat Umar asked his name, and he replied, “Abdullah,” meaning “servant of Allah.” Hazrat Umar said that they too were servants of Allah and asked him to tell his actual name, to which he replied that it was Uwais. Hazrat Umar then asked him to show his hand. Upon seeing the signs described by the Prophet ﷺ, Hazrat Umar kissed his hands, presented the blessed garment of the Prophet ﷺ, conveyed greetings, and delivered the message requesting prayers for the community of Muhammad. Hearing this, Uwais Qarni said that they should examine carefully, perhaps the Prophet ﷺ had indicated someone else. Hazrat Umar replied that the sign described by the Prophet ﷺ was present in him. Uwais then said, “O Umar, your prayer may be more effective than mine.” Umar replied that he continued to pray, but Uwais should fulfill the Prophet’s instruction. Hazrat Uwais then took the blessed garment some distance away and prayed to Allah:
“O Lord, until You forgive the community of Muhammad through my intercession, I will not wear the garment of the Master of the Universe ﷺ, because Your Prophet entrusted his community to me.”
A voice from the unseen proclaimed that through his intercession some people had been forgiven. But he again pleaded that the entire community be forgiven. The response came that one thousand people had been forgiven. In this manner, while he remained engaged in supplication, Hazrat Umar and Hazrat Ali came before him. When he asked why they had come, he said that until the entire community was forgiven, he would not wear that garment.
