Part 10

I wonder at people of hypocrisy! Who do they try to fool and deceive? When

ere Ke ’ 5 cask “your Lord knows what they conceal in their hearts”

As the sincere is overwhelmed by tranquility, the dissimulative arrives showing off with the good deeds he performed but it will be said to him, hold on, the Judge is All-Seeing; when the silkworm began weaving its house, the spider came along to imitate his act [however his web is nowhere as good as the silkworm’s). The state of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab declared that when tears fall on cheeks, it becomes clear who is weeping and who was merely pretending.

Turning Towards Allah, the Most High

tus, for He [Allah] Created the Universe for your sake. Turn towards your Lord, for He is approaching you. Seek Him through the guidepost of

Chek (55 Uk eA JSSa) “My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge.”

() YOU WHOM DESTINY HAS chosen, know your sta-

As one poet said:

He lives and occupies the heart, I never forgot Him so I remember Him He is beyond my eyes and heating abilities, but the eyes of my heart sees Him

2 Soe Be gees “Am I not your Lord? They said, Yes we have testified [that You are our Lord}”

Turning Towards Allah, the Most Fligh

Is established between you and your Lord and its tree is watered with “Is there any supplicant so that I may answer his prayer.” He deposited your affirmation in the black stone and commanded you to perform pilgrimage to remind you of your vow so that you do not break it.

The black stone? is indeed a chest containing undisclosed vows, and only perform what itis assigned for (Le. recotding what vowers deposit within it, protecting and concealing their vows). Thus, reach forward to touch the black stone with your hand and affirm that your oath was not taken under duress against your will; because if you have forgotten Him, surely He did not forget about you.

O you who tainted the vow of

“Yes we have testified [that You are our Lord]”

with what is not part of it, purify yourself from the stains of mistakes, for he whose purity is debased is required to purify himself; for He created you pure and engulfed you with some of His light; thereafter the branches of your affirmation to Him sprang up, while the pigeons of acquaintance [with your Lord] became quiet, and the fruit of your allegiance [to Him] bloomed on these branches. However, when such purity is dirtied by sins, the de-

' Reported by Muslim (758)

2 'The black stone which is part of the corner of the Ka‘bah in Makkah

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

mesne of yout relation [with your Lord] will suffer drought, causing the branches of love to bend down, and the green field of kind treatment [that you used to receive from your Lord] to dry out, and an envoy [from Allah] of gatherers will rove in the garden of strong resolve [to pluck it of its fruits]

Oeshecch “And it became as though reaped” [al-Qalam 68: 20]

So lower now your shamed head in humiliation [i.e. disconnected from Allah] and send the messenget of regret to deliver your grieving in the hope that your heart may weep over the impoverished emptiness and the desolate state of your existence. [Show humility] so that water runs into the inner seed of your soul, in order to revive the branches during the spring of remedy [that you have been given as a second opportunity] because the flora of repentance shall not be irrigated until you water it with the tears of your eyes.

O you, the sins you commit shall never effect your Lord; He only wants to keep you from [your own] harm. You should know that your obedience to Him shall never fetch Him any benefit; your obedience is for your own benefit; so contemplate on your situation.

O people, Allah’s protectiveness and possessiveness of you is the reason for which He forbids you from filthy acts. How many times has He invited you [to His right path] but nonetheless you insisted on staying away from Him; therefore you neither managed to keep your vow, nor agreed to be rectified.

Taking Advantage of Life

Y BROTHERS, he who observes the vagaries and vi- | \ / | cissitudes of time will take heed; for indeed what happen to others serve as lessons for us. The cradle of the child connotes the reality of the grave. The gust of the end of life breaks apart the clouds of hope [to live long]; if youth be the fruit of life then old age is the garment of doom. If the days of youth could be purchased we would have spent the most precious [of wealth] for their sake. Upon the onset of gray hair the stat of the self’s desires declines, and when a person knocks the door to his forties, then he is in reality asking permission to enter the house of the ruins. And he who reaches his sixties exhibits self-denial, and he who teaches the age of seventy will start receiving emissaries of his [approaching] death.

O you whose youth has been wrapped up and put aside, whose castle is torn apart, whose sailing ship has reached the shore [of its destination], it is the time for you to stand on the hill of farewell. You have only a few mote moments to enjoy before your grey hair cuts off the necklace of life, so pick up the falling beads and give up on foolish hopes, for it is time to work hard to mend

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

some of these falling beads. Your life melts away like snow melts, and your laziness and indifference is even colder than ice.

You wish to stay but it is not in your hands; for indeed the wish of the rider may differ from the wish of his ride; indeed if the tider were to dismount, his animal would fall asleep. A sensible and wise person is he who prepares for contingencies, so how could a petson neglect what is known to happen with certainty! The time of irresoluteness is brief, so there should be no hesitation or postponement. I wonder at a person whose life may be in tisk of destitution even if he had surplus possession, so how would it be if furthermore he was an idle layabout?! I wonder at a person who publicises his lost possessions [in case somebody finds them] while he himself is lost, and I wonder at a person who is frugal in spending his wealth [fearing wastage], although his whole life he has wasted.

Thallaj’s (literally, the ice seller) only source of income was selling ice, and (someday) he had not sold all his ice, so he started calling out fas he peddled his ware]: have mercy on a person whose capital is melting away!

Your poverty in terms of good deeds is due your laziness, because whenever a poor person is indolent he shall never become tich. If you ever had a distaste for slackness, you would have not have accepted humiliation. You have traded night prayers for an extra mouthful of food, and you have drunk from the cup of drowsiness, due to which you missed the company of those who

Lo efor ester aoe

@ sas nae egies eae Fh

Taking Advantage of Life

“arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend.”

You have filled your belly with food, then as if the creditor of the bed came to collect from you his debt of sleep, so he put a veil over your eats until you slept as deeply as (but not for the end as) the seven sleepers. However, as you have been intoxicated by the wine of sleepiness you drank, the watcher caught you and punished you by preventing you from night prayers. And soon thereafter the story of the night you spent ended with the onset of Fajr, and you were among

“They wete satisfied to be with those who stay behind, and their hearts were sealed over, so they do not

understand.” [a-Taubah 9: 87|

By Allah, if you sold one moment of solitary worship of Allah for the entire lifespan of Nuh (‘alayhi as-salém) with the wealth of Qiriin!, you would have lost in the bargain. No, in reality, even if you got everything in the heavens in return for that moment, it would not be a profitable sale. And those who have experienced this can attest to its truth.

1 He is from the Bani Israel whose wealth was tremendous and he opposed Prophet Masa (‘alayhi as-salami) and hence Allah punished him by commanding the earth to swallow him and all his wealth.

LLAH CREATED ANGELS from a light with no dark-

ness in it, and the Devils from a darkness without light in

it, and constituted humans from the two opposites, light and darkness. The darkness of human desires is accompanied by the light of intellect, and between the two is a delicate barrier. This barrier cannot be discerned except by striving, much as the line separating sunlight and shadow can only be discerned by an architect. Angels extol Allah because of their purity, whereas Devils disobey Allah because of their impureness, therefore it is indeed a soutce of astonishing event when piety comes from one whose nature is made of the two opposites - good and evil.

Humans comprise of intellect and desires, and the barrier of divine providence separates the path of guidance from the following of vain desires; because without the aid of the Merciful, the structure of self-discipline would crumble down and human nature would be unable to resist being slave to their desires; had it not been for the [mercy brought forth of the ayah]

“we will surely guide them” {al-Ankabit 29: 69}

that came as a consequence of Metcy predestinated for them, “Indeed, those for whom the best [reward] has pre-

ceded from Us” [al-Anbiyd’ 21: 101]

O warrior, maintain yout forbearance, and fear not the ambush

D4 byes se oeeSe

VOL ss VG SIG

“And excite any of them whom you can with your voice, and urge your horse and foot against them, and be a partner in their wealth and children, and promise them. Shaytan promises them only to deceive”

so long as you are supported by the aid of

SG wo etye BNI 353 “Allah confirms those who believe by a firm saying in the life of the world and in the Hereafter”. [brahim 14: 27)