Part 26

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stayed not but a little, if you had only known!" (Al-Mu'mindn,

And He, the Almighty says, | BBS of Mab EE U8 3 Ol ds LS pit SB gp as Sy

which means, "The Day when the Trumpet will be blown (the second blowing): that Day, We shall gather the Mujrimdn (criminals, polytheists, sinners, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, etc.) Zurga: (blue or blind eyed with black faces) In whispers will they speak to each other (saying): "You stayed not longer than ten (days)." We know very well what they will say, when the best among them in knowledge and wisdom will say: "You stayed no longer than a day!" (Taha, 20:102-104)

Important Rule: The Basis of Goodness

The origin of goodness is to know that whatever Allah wills, will be and whatever He does not will, will not be. Then you will be sure that good deeds are blessings from Allah and you will praise Allah for them and invoke Him not to prevent you from them. You will know that sins are punishments, so you will invoke Him to protect you from committing sins and not to leave you with your own doings either good or bad. Those who know best agree that the origin of goodness is success from Allah and that the origin of evil is the result of being deserted by Allah. And they agree that success is when one is not abandoned by Allah and left to his own devices. So if every good is success from Allah and has nothing to do with the servant, , then its key is supplication, resorting to Allah, and sincere desire to please Him. Whenever the servant is given

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this key he will be welcomed and if the servant lost this key, the door to goodness will be closed on him.

The Amir of the believers 'Umar bin Al-Khattab said, "! do not care for answering my supplication, | care for the supplication, if you are inspired to supplicate the answer will come with it." According to the intention of the servant, his determination, aim, and desire in this matter, Allah will help and grant him success. Allah grants help to His servants according to their intentions, persistence, desires, and fear and also to extent to which they avoid evil. Allah, the Exalted is the most just of all judges and the best Knower among all those who know. He grants success in the suitable time. He is the All Knowing and the most Wise. Whoever Allah has deserted, it is because he neglected to praise and supplicate to Him and whoever has been granted success by Allah, it is because he praises, supplicates and resorts to Allah. And the base of all that is patience, and its place in faith is like the head in the body; if the head is cut, the body is useless.

Cruelty and Purity of the Heart

There is no harder punishment than when the servant has a cruel heart and moves away from Allah. Hellfire was created to melt such cruel hearts. The most remote heart from Allah is the cruel one. If the heart was cruel, the eye will never shed tears. Cruelty of the heart is caused by increasing four things over and above one's needs: excessive food, sleep, talk, and socializing. When the body is sick, food and drink is no use to it. Likewise when the heart is ill because of desires, advice is useless.

Whoever wants to purify his heart, must prefer Allah over and above his own desires.

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The hearis that are attached to desires are far away from Allah according to the amount of attachment. The hearts are the vessels that hold the knowledge of the truth, and the most beloved to Him is the one that is most tender, firm, and pure.

They busied their hearts with this worldly life, and if they had busied themselves with Allah and the Hereafter, they would think about His words and verses and would have returned to them with the most precious wisdom and benefits.

If the heart was fed by remembering Allah, became satisfied by thinking about Allah, and purified from evil and desires, it would see wonders and be inspired with wisdom.

Not everyone among those who claim to have acquired knowledge and wisdom, is from their people; the people of knowledge and wisdom are those who revive their hearts by overcoming their desires but those who controlled their hearts and revived their desires, knowledge and wisdom are just words on their tongues.

Your heart will be ruined from feeling secure and being careless and will grow by remembering Allah and being pious.

If the hearts neglect the tables (pleasures) of this worldly life they will sit at the tables of the Hereafter among the people of this invitation but if they are satisfied with the tables of this worldly life they will miss the others.

Longing for Allah and the meeting with Him is like a breeze that blows through the heart and removes the blaze of this worldly life.

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The heart will rest and feel relief if it is settled with Allah and it will worry and be anxious if it is settled with people.

It is as impossible for the love for Allah to enter the heart that is full of love for this worldly life, as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

If Allah loves His servant, He makes him for Himself, chooses him for His love, and selects him to worship Him. Allah will let His servant's tongue be busy in remembering Him and his limbs will be busy serving Him.

The heart gets sick as the body does and its cure is in asking for forgiveness and protection. It also becomes rusty like a mirror does and it is polished by remembering Allah. The heart can also be naked like the body and can lose its dress and decoration, which is piety, and it can feel hungry and thirst like the body does and its nourishment is knowledge, love, trust, and offering service to Allah.

Beware of being careless toward He who grants you life and allows you to breathe as weil as providing you with everything, which you need.

Whoever seeks more and more pleasures and power from this worldly life, and fears a loss in wealth and gains and fails to get rid of an enemy by trusting in Allah, in His arrangements, and good choice for him, has failed to hand all matters over to Allah and be satisfied with His judgments. He will not feel relief from grief and sadness. Whoever refuses to be satisfied with what Allah has decreed and chooses his own arrangements, he will live in distress, pain, and in a bad

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condition. Allah facilitates the way to Him for His creatures and covers it with a curtain of decree. Whoever is pleased with the arrangements and decree of Allah, His choice for him and willingly submits to His judgments, Allah will remove this curtain in order that the heart can be close to Him and the servant can learn to trust in Him.

Whoever puts his trust in Allah, will neither ask other than Allah nor argue with Him, nor slacken his effort in the way of Allah.

Whoever becomes busy with himself, will be distracted by others, and whoever becomes busy with his Lord, will become busy with himself.

Sincerity is what is not known by any angel to write or by any enemy to spoil, and is that which will not spoil its owner by being proud.

Satisfaction is when the heart submits to the judgments of Allah.

People during this worldly life are to be punished according to their intentions. The heart has six places to wander about in: three are low and three are high. The low ones are the worldly life in order to beautify itself to him, a soul to talk to him, and an enemy to seduce him. These are places in which evil and debased souls are wandering. The high ones are knowledge that reveals itself to him, a mind that guides him. and the Lord that he worships.

Following one’s desires and having extended hope is the core of evil. Following one’s desires blinds one from seeing what is right, and having extended hope makes one forget the Hereafter and prevents one from preparing for it.

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¢ The servant of Allah cannot be true as long as he is flattering himself or others.

e If Allah wants good for His servant, He would make him admit his sins and prevent him from committing other sins, spend what he has for His sake and be ascetic in what he has, and endure the abuse of others. If Allah wants evil for His servant, He would do the opposite of all that.

¢ High intentions wander around and get attached to three things: gets to know an attribute that produces and increases love and will, notices a blessing that is the means of increasing praise and obedience, and remembers a sin that is the means of seeking and increasing forgiveness and submission. If one’s intention is attached to something other than these three things it will wander in the valleys of seduction and temptation.

e Whoever loves this worldly life, will estimate its value, and he will make himself a slave to it, and it will humiliate him. And whoever neglects it, will notice his great value, and it will serve him, and it will humiliate itself for him.

e The traveler will reach his destination if he continues on his way, adheres to the right path, and wakes up at night. But he who strays from the right path and sleeps at night, how can he reach his destination?

A Precious and Valuable Gem: The (Religious) Scholar Whose Deeds are Inconsistent with his Knowledge The religious scholars who prefer and love this worldly life

shall surely speak other than the truth concerning their judgments and religious verdicts. Verily, the judgments of Allah

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usually contradict the desires of people especially the rulers and those who follow their whims, as their aims cannot be attained except by opposing the truth.

Accordingly, if the ruler and the religious scholar seek position and power and follow their desires, indeed they will not be able to fulfill their aims except by deviating from the truth, especially if there is a doubtful matter involved. The doubtful matter will agree with the desires of man, and vanity — will prevail. As a result, righteousness will disappear, and truth will vanish.