The Art of Brief Speech

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Before an army departed, it was the practice of Prophet Muhammad (صَلَّى ٱللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) to bid farewell and give advice to the commanders before their expeditions. Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) followed the way of Prophet Muhammad (صَلَّى ٱللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ).

Advice given at this stage is indeed special for us to take beneficial knowledge. Once, Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) gave Yazeed Ibn Abee Sufiyan (رضي الله عنه) advice that pertained both to war and peace. While walking alongside Yazeed (رضي الله عنه) to bid him farewell, Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) advised him on many matters regarding his dealings with soldiers. Among them was:

“When you advise them, be brief in your speech, for indeed, the nature of speech is that a part of it makes one forget other parts of it.”

[Reference: Page 634, The biography of Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq (رضي الله عنه) by Ali Muhammad Muhammad As-Sailaabee] Edit: After a few days of writing this article, one of the Students of Knowledge pointed out issues in the Manhaj of the author, Muhammad As Sailaabee. He qoutes Syed Qutb and promotes his ikhwani idealogy. So his work must not be utilized.

The advice is profound because it makes you pay attention to a few things whenever dealing with speech. Failing to pay attention to these aspects results in miscommunication. Many escalating situations and cases of conflicts can be handled with ease.

Firstly: What do you want to say?#

You evaluate this based on a few things mentioned below:

• Situation you are speaking in.
• Person or Group of Persons you speak to.
• Nature of their understanding and perception. Are they on the same page as you? Do they have the background knowledge and context you have?
• Mood.
• Situations they are involved in.
• Timing of your speech.
• Order of things.

When considering various aspects, it is very important to give precedence to important/befitting things first.

Secondly: Think about how to articulate that speech#

This involves doing your best to use words that are more beneficial in conveying the message and getting the job done.

I remember hearing from someone that poetry is liked by people due to two reasons: one, you have fewer words to complete your sentence; second, you need to articulate the sentence with words that describe and befit the meaning you want to convey, and it can also be rhyming in order to beautify.

Thus aim to speak good or remain silent. For silence will save you from regrets unlike speech. Because speaking unjustly to someone can sometimes be more painful than a physical pain caused by a sword.