Valuable Neighbors
From that which has been narrated as coming from ʿAlī, may Allāh be pleased with him:
“[Choose] a neighbor [jār] before a house [dār] and a buddy [rafīq] before a street [ṭarīq].”
They blame me, since I sold a house [of mine] quite cheaply,
Not knowing there’s a neighbor there who bothers [me].So I told them, “Cut out the blaming, for it is [known],
It’s by their neighbors, the price of houses goes high or low.”
See: Al-Ādāb Al-Sharʿiyyah by Ibn Mufliḥ, vol. 2, p. 15.
Translated by Mikail ibn Mahboob Ariff
Source:
مما يُروى عن علي رضي الله عنه:
«الجارُ قَبلَ الدّارِ، والرَّفِيقُ قبل الطريق».
يَلُومُونَنِي إذْ بِعتُ بِالرُّخْصِ مَنزِلًا
ولم يَعْرِفُوا جارًا هناك يُنَغِّصُفقلتُ لهم كُفُّوا المَلامَ فَإنَّها
بجيرانِها تَغْلُو الدِّيارُ وتَرْخُصُ![انظر: «الاداب الشرعية» لابن مفلح (١٥/٢)]
— إبراهيم التميمي (@alsalafy) March 1, 2021