The Story of Prophet Idris (peace be upon him): Truthfulness and Patience

Layan was eight years old and loved writing very much. She had a little notebook and coloured pens, and she wrote something new in it every day. One day she was reading Surat Maryam with her grandmother when she came across a verse with a name she hadn't heard much before. She stopped and asked, "Teta, who is Idris?"

Her grandmother smiled, gently closed the Quran, and said, "Idris, peace be upon him, is one of Allah's noble prophets, Layan. He was one of the early prophets who came some time after our father Adam, peace be upon him, and before Nuh, peace be upon him, as many scholars have mentioned." Layan said, "What did he do? Tell me his whole story!"

Her grandmother laughed and said, "I'll tell you, Layan, but first I'll tell you a secret. The Holy Quran doesn't give us a long story about Idris, peace be upon him, like the stories of Yusuf or Musa. It mentions him in only a few verses, in just two places. But those few verses hold great treasures. And we don't add anything of our own to what Allah and His Messenger have told us, because the prophets have a great status, and it isn't right to say things about them that we don't know."

Layan said, "So we won't make up stories about him?" Her grandmother said, "No, my darling. We'll read what Allah said about him, understand it and learn from it. That is more beautiful than any invented tale."

Then her grandmother opened the Quran to Surat Maryam and read in a calm voice: "And mention in the Book, Idris. Indeed, he was a man of truth and a prophet. And We raised him to a high station" [Maryam 19:56-57]. Then she said, "Look, Layan, in these two verses there are three great qualities of Idris, peace be upon him. Who can count them for me?"

Layan looked at the verse and said, "A man of truth... a prophet... and... We raised him to a high station!" Her grandmother clapped and said, "Well done! Let's start with the first: a man of truth, siddiq. A siddiq isn't just someone who tells the truth once or twice, Layan. It's someone for whom truthfulness is a permanent quality: truthful in speech, truthful in actions, truthful with Allah and with people, until truthfulness becomes part of who they are."

Layan thought for a moment, then said, "Teta, yesterday I told Mama I'd tidied my room, but I didn't tidy all of it." Her grandmother smiled and said, "And what will you do now?" Layan said, "I'll tell her the truth and tidy it." Her grandmother said, "That's the road to truthfulness, Layan. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said that truthfulness leads to righteousness, righteousness leads to Paradise, and a person keeps telling the truth until he is recorded with Allah as a siddiq."

Then her grandmother said, "The second quality: a prophet. It means Allah chose him and sent revelation to him, so that he would teach people to worship Allah alone, call them to good and forbid them from evil. The prophets are the best of people; Allah chose them because they had the purest hearts and the best character."

Then she said, "And the third quality: We raised him to a high station. It means Allah raised his rank and honoured him. There's an authentic hadith, Layan, in the story of the Isra' and Mi'raj, when the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ascended through the heavens. He told us that he met Idris, peace be upon him, in the fourth heaven, and Idris welcomed him and said: Welcome to the righteous brother and the righteous prophet."

Layan's eyes widened in amazement. "In the fourth heaven! And the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ saw him!" Her grandmother said, "Yes, and this is in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Look at how Idris described him: the righteous brother. All the prophets are brothers; they love one another, and their religion is one: the worship of Allah alone."

Then her grandmother turned the pages to Surat al-Anbiya and said, "Here is the second place where Idris, peace be upon him, is mentioned." And she read: "And Isma'il and Idris and Dhul-Kifl; all were of the patient. And We admitted them into Our mercy. Indeed, they were of the righteous" [al-Anbiya 21:85-86].

Layan said, "Of the patient! So he was patient?" Her grandmother said, "Yes. And patience comes in kinds, Layan: patience in obeying Allah, like praying on time even when we're tired; patience in staying away from wrongdoing, leaving something wrong even when we want it; and patience with tiredness or sadness that comes to us, so we don't get angry or complain except to Allah. The prophets were the most patient of people."

Layan asked, "And me, Teta? How can I be patient?" Her grandmother said, "When you're learning something hard and you don't give up. When you wait your turn in a game without getting angry. When your little brother annoys you and you talk to him calmly. All of that is patience, and Allah loves those who are patient."

Then Layan asked another question: "Teta, I once heard that Idris, peace be upon him, was the first to write with a pen. Is that true?" Her grandmother thought for a moment and said, "A lovely question. That's a view mentioned by some scholars and historians, including Ibn Kathir in his book Stories of the Prophets, where he reported what earlier people had said. But it isn't a verse of the Quran or an authentic hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. So we say: some scholars mentioned it, and Allah knows best. That is the right manner in knowledge, Layan: to tell the difference between what we know for certain and what some people have said."

Layan said, "So I say: Allah knows best?" Her grandmother said, "Yes, and that's what the great scholars say. Someone who says 'I don't know' or 'Allah knows best' when they don't know is more truthful than someone who speaks without knowledge. And that, too, is part of the truthfulness Idris, peace be upon him, was described with."

Layan looked at her notebook and pens and said, "Teta, whether or not Idris, peace be upon him, was the first to write, I love writing, and I want to write true and useful things." Her grandmother hugged her and said, "That's the most beautiful thing you can do with your pen, Layan. Allah swore by the pen in the Quran: 'Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe' [al-Qalam 68:1]. The pen is a great blessing; with it we write knowledge and goodness."

That night Layan opened her notebook and wrote on a fresh page in her best handwriting: "What I learned from the story of our master Idris, peace be upon him." Underneath she wrote:
First: he was a man of truth, so I will be truthful in my words and actions.
Second: he was a prophet chosen by Allah, so I love all the prophets.
Third: Allah raised him to a high station, and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ met him in the fourth heaven.
Fourth: he was one of the patient, so I will be patient with hard things.
Fifth: if I don't know something, I'll say: Allah knows best.

Layan also remembered what she had heard about the Night Journey and the Ascension: the Prophet ﷺ told us, as in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim, that when he rose to the fourth heaven he found Idris, peace be upon him, there. He greeted him, and Idris said: Welcome to the righteous brother and the righteous prophet. Layan thought: what a beautiful welcome! A prophet welcoming a prophet and calling him righteous. And she understood the meaning of Allah's words about Idris: 'And We raised him to a high station' [Maryam 19:57], and that truthfulness and patience raise a person high in the sight of Allah.

Then beside the words she drew a pen, an inkwell and lots of stars in a blue sky. In the morning, the first thing she did was go to her mother and say, "Mama, yesterday I didn't tidy all of my room like I told you. I'm sorry; I'll tidy it now." Her mother smiled, kissed her and said, "Your honesty means more to me than a tidy room, Layan."

From that day on, whenever Layan read the name of Idris, peace be upon him, in the Quran, she remembered that a few words can carry many lessons, and that the finest thing that can be said of a person is: he was truthful and patient.