A renowned poet once said:

إنّ الشبابَ و الفـراغَ و الـجِـدَة مَفْسَدَةٌ للمَـرْءِ أَيُّ مَـفْـسَـدَة

“Verily being young and idle and wealthy will surely corrupt any person.”

Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih رحمه الله comments and says:

( إن الشباب والفراغ والجدة) ثلاثة أشياء كلها داء إلا إذا وُفِّق الإنسان واستعملها في النافع، الفراغ يعني عدم العمل، وتعرفون الإنسان إذا لم يكن له عمل ذهب ذهنه كل مذهب وصار يخبط خبط عشواء، الجدة يعني الغنى لأن الفقر يُلْجِئ الإنسان إلى العمل لكنه إذا كان غنياً وكان شاباً وكان فارغاً ما في شغل، هذا الفساد…

“[Verily adolescence, idle time, and abundance of wealth] are three things that are all considered to be harmful, except if the person has been granted success in using them for that which is beneficial. Idle time means here not having any occupation. And you are fully aware how a person is if he doesn’t have anything to do; his state of mind becomes disordered and he begins to become disoriented in his affairs. [The word] wealth here means richness, the reason being is that poverty obliges a person to work. However, if he is rich and young and idle with no work, then this is [absolutely] disastrous …” End quote. [Duroos fil Balaaghah]

Translated by

AbdulFattaah Bin Uthman
Abu Fajr