A Pearl of Wisdom from Shaykh Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī

Shaykh Ṣāliḥ b. ʿUmar al-Bulqīnī (ra) mentioned:

قال أبو بكر محمد بن علي بن محمد بن عمر الخطيب: كان يمشي بعض أصحاب أبي إسحاق الشيرازي معه في الطريق فعرض لهما كلب فقال الفقيه للكلب: اخسأ وزجره فنهاه الشيخ أبو إسحاق عن ذلك وقال له: لم طردته عن الطريق أما عرفت أن الطريق بيني وبينه مشترك؟

“Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī said: ‘One of Shaykh Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī’s colleagues was once walking alongside Shaykh Abū Isḥāq on a pathway. Then, a dog appeared on the road alongside them. The jurist said to the dog ‘Scram!’ as he scolded it. Shaykh Abū Isḥāq told him to stop and said: ‘Why are you chasing the dog off the street? Certainly, you must know that the road, between me and between it, there is one who is sharing in the way.'”

(al-Tadhkirah al-Bulqīnīyah fī al-Fawāʾid wa al-Masāʾil al-Manthūrah 72)