Bringing Gossip

If someone has gossiped about you in your absence, don’t be grateful to the person who brings this gossip to you.

1- It was said to Wahb bin Munabbih:
قال رجل لوهب بن منبه: إن فلانا شتمك!
قال: “أما وجد الشيطان رسولا غيرك ؟
“Such and such person insulted you.”
Wahb said: “Did the Devil find no other messenger to convey this message to me other than you?”

2- And the same thing was said to another man, who replied:
هو رماني بسهم ولم يصبني فلماذا حملت السهم وغرسته في قلبي؟
“He shot an arrow at me, but he missed. Why did you pick up the arrow and pierce it through my heart?”

3- Good people don’t spread gossip, they hide it … it is said:
صدور الأبرار قبور الأسرار
“The chests of the pious (abraar),
are graveyards of secrets (asraar).”