Part 18

106 * AL-FAWA'ID: A Collection of Wise Sayings

e Repentance is like the remedy for the ailing, and maybe an ailment is the reason beyond a good condition.

e Had it not been for committing sins, Adam would have been destroyed by arrogance.

e Asin causing submission is preferable in the Sight of Allah, than a good deed that causes pride.

¢ Submission to Allah is the path to salvation.

e There is no honor for one's soul except with submission (to Allah), no glory except with subservience (to Allah), no comfort except with weariness (for the sake of Allah), no satiation except with hunger (for the sake of Allah i.e. Fasting), no security except with fear (of Allah), no pleasure except with feeling alienated from everything but its Creator, and no life except with death.

e Vain desire brings about pleasure at first then it causes distress.

e Whatever you do to control things, be sure that divine predestination is applicable; therefore, hasten and peacefully submit yourself to Allah.

e To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, yet He asks a loan from you (i.e. giving charity) but you are stingy. He created the seven seas, but He loved a tear from you (out of fear of Him) but your eyes were tearless.

e Abstaining from lowering one's gaze engraves the images (of the one who is seen) in the heart, and the heart is like the Ka'bah, and surely it will not be satisfied with idols.

e Worldly pleasures resemble an ugly woman who has controlled you, on the other hand the hour is (female fair

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ones) wondered about your misdoing, however if vain desires dominate, they would blind your insight, so that righteousness will vanish.

Glorified be Allah! Paradise has been adorned for its suitors; they exerted the utmost effort to attain the dowry. The sincere believers know Allah, the Exalted, by His Names and Attributes, so they prepare themselves for the Day of Resurrection, while you are still obsessed with vain desires.

Knowledge resembles a carpet on which no one treads except the closest one (to Allah). Loving (Allah) resembles a chant, which no one is delighted with except the most loving and the most attached (to Allah).

Loving Allah resembles a brook in a desert with no millstone, and that is why there are few water-drawers. The lover usually wants to be isolated with his lover in privacy in order to find delight, the same as the whale resorts to water, anda child seeks his mother.

The worshipper has no resort except under the shade of Taba (i.e. a tree in paradise), and the sincere servant of Allah has no abode except on the Day of Resurrection. So, do your best during your lifetime and it will suffice you in the Hereafter.

O you who spends his lifetime in disobeying his Lord! No one amongst your enemies is wicked to you more than you are to yourself.

The highest intention is that whose owner has prepared for the meeting with his Lord (i.e. the Day of Resurrection), to whom he offers all good deeds. On his arrival he will rejoice, and this is a situation in which Allah says,

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108 * AL-FAWA'ID: A Collection of Wise Sayings

which means, “and send (good deeds, or ask Allah to bestow upon you pious offspring) before you for your ownselves. And fear Allah, and know that you are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give good tidings to the believers (O Muhammad SAW)." (Al-Baqarah, 2:223)

e Beware of your soul, for no misfortune has befallen you except because of it, so do not ever be reconciled with it. By Allah! Its honor is derived from its submission (to Allah), its dignity is derived from its subservience, its reform is derived from its breakdown, its comfort is derived from its hardship, its security is derived from its fear (of Allah), and its pleasure is derived from its sorrow.

e Glorified be Allah! Your outward self is adorned with the raiment of righteousness while your inward self submits to vain desires, so wherever your raiment is scented, the impact of vain desires emerge, from which the sincere believers divert themselves, and to which the wrong doers are inclined.

e Your own desires usually obsess you in places of worship, so if such desires control you, surely the end would be your departure from the mosque.

e Be sincere in your aim, and you will find the support of Allah surrounding you.

e Once a pious man was asked, "Teach me how to love Allah," to which he said, “Loving Allah is not brought about by teaching."

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e There is a Quranic verse in which Aliah says, "Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him," it is not a wonder that He says, "They will love Him," but it is a wonder they He says, "Whom He will love."

e lt is not a wonder that a poor, needy one loves the one who is charitable to him, but it is a wonder that the charitable one loves the poor.

Chapter: The Manifestation of the Lord

The Qur'an is the words of Allan and He, the Almighty manifested His glory to His creatures through His attributes. When He shows His Greatness and Majesty, His creatures will submit and pride will melt away like salt in water. He manifests His attributes of beauty and perfection, which are the perfection of His names and the beauty of His deeds, which shows the perfection of His self. So the servant wilt love Him and his heart will be empty from any love other than love for Allah. And if the other wanted him to end this love, his heart and body will refuse. This love will remain as his innate nature and it is not artificial.

If Allah manifests His glory in the attributes of mercy, charity, and kindness, then the power of hope will emit from the servant and he will show his wish and resort to Allah and the more his hope increases the more he will work hard. It is exactly like the one who sows. seeds in his land. The more his greed increases in what he will harvest, the more he will sow the seeds, but if his hope is weak, he will become stingy and careless in sowing them.

If Allah shows Himself through His attributes of justice, revenge, anger, wrath, and punishment, the evil soul will be repressed, stooped, and its power will be weakened from imagination, anger, and lust, and it will be afraid.

110 * AL-FAWA'ID: A Collection of Wise Sayings

If He shows Himself through His attributes of commanding, forbidding, sending Messengers, revealing Books, and setting decrees, then the ability to obey, report, and follow these orders will be shown. People will follow His orders and will avoid whatever He has forbidden.

If He manifests Himself through His attributes of listening, seeing, and knowing, then the servant will be shy. He will be ashamed that his Lord sees and listens to him, as he does not want Him to see him doing what He hates, hear what He hates or hide what He hates. His thoughts, words and deeds will remain balanced according to the law of Islam not according to imagination and nature.

If Allah manifested Himself through His attributes of sufficiency, managing His servants’ interests, insuring their subsistence, preventing distress, and supporting, protecting and accompanying His pious people, then the servant will show the ability to put his trust in Allah, be committed to Him, and will be satisfied with that and with all that Allah destined for him.

If He shows His attributes of glory and pride, the good soul will show humility to His power, submission to His pride, and his heart and limbs will submit to Him and all recklessness will vanish.

The essence of this is that Allah, the Exalted knows His servant through His attributes of both divinity and lordship. The attributes of Divinity provoke special love, longing to meet Allah, and pleasing Him by obeying, and remembering Him. And the attributes of the lordship of Allah induce trust in Him, resorting to Him, asking for His support, and showing humility and submission to Him. Perfection is when the servant knows the divinity and the lordship of Allah. It is also to see His power in His forgiveness, His wisdom in His Divine decree, His blessing in affliction, giving in preventing, justice in revenge, generosity in forgiveness, wisdom and blessing in commanding

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and forbidding, glory in anger and pleasure, patience in giving chances, generosity in advancing, and sufficiency in what He has forbidden. If you carefully consider the Qur'an without any distortion or evil opinions you will see a dominating king over the Heavens, who manages His servants' affairs, sends Messengers, Books, and sometimes He is angry, or pleased, sometimes He rewards or punishes, sometimes He gives or prevents, sometimes He humiliates or honors, sometimes He lowers or raises, and sometimes He sees and hears from above the seven Heavens, and knows what is kept secret and what is broadcast. A leaf does not fall, nothing moves, and no one intercedes in His presence without His permission.

Chapter: The Merits of Abu Bakr

When the Messenger (peace be upon him) took the pledge of allegiance from the people of ‘Aqabah, he ordered his Companions to immigrate to Medina. Quraish knew that his Companions had increased in number and that they would protect him, so they began to look for the solution. Some among them supported the idea of prison, others suggested banishment, and at the last they all agreed upon killing him. But Allah inspired His Messenger and ordered him to leave his bed and ‘Aly slept in his place while Abu Bakr accompanied the Prophet (peace be upon him) on his journey. When they left the houses of Mecca, Abu Bakr feared for the Messenger (peace be upon him), so sometimes he walked in front of him and at other times he walked behind him. When he felt that the enemy might come from the sides, he sometimes walked on his right side and then went to his left side. until they reached the cave of Thawr. Abu Bakr insisted to be the first to enter the cave in case there was something harmful in it. And Allah placed a tree there that had not been there before. This tree cast a shadow over the cave and distracted the disbelievers from seeing them. Also, Allah sent a spider that spun its web around door of the cave, which misled the disbelievers and