His Asceticism and Devotion to Learning

Imam al-Nawawi lived one of the most remarkably ascetic scholarly lives in Islamic history — a life so stripped of worldly comfort and distraction that his biographers struggled to describe it without sounding hyperbolic. This asceticism was not a performance of piety but the natural expression of a man who had genuinely subordinated every worldly concern to the single goal of learning and serving Islam.

Al-Nawawi reportedly ate only once a day and drank only once a day throughout much of his adult life, keeping his consumption at the minimum necessary to sustain the intellectual work he considered his life's purpose. He wore a single garment, repaired repeatedly, rather than the comfortable clothing that his scholarly status might have entitled him to expect. He lived in a simple room at the Dar al-Hadith, declining the more comfortable quarters that were available to him, and spent almost nothing on personal comfort. When his father sent him money from Nawa, he typically used it to purchase books rather than to improve his living conditions.

His sleeping arrangements were similarly minimalist. He is reported to have slept for only a few hours each night — sometimes leaning against his books rather than lying down — in order to maximize the time available for study. When sleep overcame him against his will, he would rouse himself by recalling that the only purpose of sleep was to restore the body's capacity for further learning and worship, not to be enjoyed for its own sake. This extreme self-discipline was not asceticism for asceticism's sake but the outward expression of an inner life wholly consumed by love for Allah and dedication to His service.

Al-Nawawi's personal piety was expressed through constant dhikr (remembrance of Allah) — his lips were reportedly always moving in supplication or recitation of Quran, even while he was engaged in the physical activities of eating, walking, or performing household tasks. He maintained a deep commitment to night prayer (tahajjud) despite his exhausting schedule of daytime learning, understanding that the spiritual dimension of his work depended on the nourishment of direct connection with Allah.

Despite his personal austerity, al-Nawawi was generous with others and deeply concerned for their welfare. He was known for his accessibility to students of all levels, his patience with those who were slow to understand, and his compassionate treatment of the poor and needy. He reportedly gave away almost everything he received beyond his bare necessities, keeping nothing in reserve. This combination of personal austerity and generosity to others is characteristic of the ascetic spirituality of the great Islamic scholars and distinguishes genuine zuhd (asceticism) from mere self-deprivation.

The relationship between his asceticism and his scholarly productivity is not coincidental. The extraordinary output of al-Nawawi — typically placed among the most prolific scholars in Islamic history despite his death at age forty-five — was possible only because he had eliminated virtually all of the activities, pleasures, and concerns that typically occupy the time and attention of human beings. Every hour freed from personal comfort was an hour devoted to the books, the students, and the service of knowledge that constituted his life's work.