No Safety from the Tongue

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi’i (r.a.) wrote, in his Diwan: 

“Nobody is safe from the tongues of people,

Even if he were to be the Prophet so pure.

If one is silent, they say he is voiceless,

And if he speaks, they say he talks much.

Were he to fast and stand to pray at night,

They say he is blind, he shows off, he deceives.”