Part 11

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

As the tempest of the divine obligations blew upon humans, neither Hardt nor Marat’ could hold together and so they were punished as the people of ‘Ad? had been punished, therefore the Angels who had inquited

“will You place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood” [a/-Bagarab 2: 30]

came to agree thenceforth that courageous men have been created specifically for this war. And so, after the incident of Hart and Marit, Angels who used to invoke Allah against sinners started to pray for the people of earth [i.e. Only then did they realise the hardship of being obedient whilst having a desirous nature]. Similar to how Prophet Dawid (‘a/ayhi as-salam) used to invoke his Lord not to forgive sinners, until he erred and then came to the realisation [that sinning is an innate characteristic of humans].

When the sea of faithfulness and trust’ began to surge, Angels stopped short on the shore, while the strong will and determination of man provoked him to embark on the road of danger (disregarding the consequences) because a devotee overlooks the consequences of his actions, and the intoxication caused by longing leads to courage.

' The two Angels whose story is mentioned in Surah al-Bagarah (See ayah 102) ? "The people of Prophet Hiid (‘alayhi as-salam).

9 See “Indeed, We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man [undertook to] bear it. Indeed, be was unjust and ignorant.” (al-Abxab 33: 72)

It is a farfetched comparison to liken the struggle and worship of humans [to pleasing their lord] to the worship of Angels! For indeed, the situation of humans is much more astonishing in comparison to Angels, because the exaltation of Angels is inherently a part of their nature [i.e according to which they have been created], and their worship does not involve any kind of struggle, hardship or fatigue; their roses are free of the thorns of love and desire [unlike humans]. Theit predominant characteristic in this regard may be likened to the feminine trait of seeking safety, which is different from the case of humans whose characteristics in this regard are masculine, thus are virile [i.e. inclined towards enduring struggle and hardships]. The beads of their [i.e. Angels} exaltation and extolling have been naturally strung together without any difficulty, the fruit of their trees grow without enduring trouble, and ate irrigated by the watets of infallibility, and all the while they

“ask forgiveness for those who believe.”

The Angels presumed that the power of infallibility was supetior than the praise and exaltation of mankind to the Lord, yet they forgot that the desiccation of trees during winter is what makes them blossom and flower in the spring,

Strong Will and the Determination of Men

TRONG WILL IN THE HEART of its beaters is like a burning fire enticing the body indefatigably.

As Iam overwhelmed with my yearning I prepare myself to endure hardships. For great endeavors, there are men who are of a different cut than you, and who pledged to sacrifice themselves for the sake of Allah, and because of this, they are the ones that truly live. When they encounter horrors upon which the courage of cowards break, they have the urge to repeat it all over again, for their hearts are more firm in the battlefields of Jibdd, than a star in its orbit. Their eyes never close when night arrives and you never have to wait for them to wake up prior to dawn, and why not, because his thirst has yet not been quenched.

All Companions immigrated [from Makkah to Madinah] in secret except ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiyAl/abu ‘anhu) who went out in broad daylight, and not only that, he even challenged the disbelievers saying to them, ‘I am immigrating, therefore whoever wish

Strong Will and the Determination of Men

to stop me let him meet me down the valley.’ “How I wish there were amongst you men who had sworn to spill my blood.” Since the day he divorced himself from his desires he cast away the adornment of this life from his household; his house was like that of a poor Muslim person, even though he was the Chief of the Believers (Khalifah).

He, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say: "If I live long enough I will meet the needs of all the widows of Iraq so that they will need no one after me.’

When ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd ‘Al-Aziz' became the rulet he heard the sounds of crying in his house, so he inquired about the reason for which they were crying, it was said to him: ‘these are the finest women and handmaidens, so he said: whoever wishes to leave, let her leave, for I have been assigned a matter that will keep me busy from you.’

I wonder at that! Where is strong will of men in comparison to all that? Indeed, incapacity is the partner of forbiddance, and opting for laxity bequeaths its owner nothing but exhaustion.

Wash the face of earnestness from the dust of indolence, spend yout wealth in good deeds, because if you ate among the people of strong will and determination then know that the words “maybe” and “petchance” are not to be found in their vocabulary.

* He is the pious ruler whose righteousness, justice and asceticism entitled him to be consideted the fifth rightly guided caliph. He is also from the lineage of “Umar ibn al-Khattib (radiyA llahu ‘anhu).

oppression, who is stumbling forward to his destruc-

tion, who is searching for the knife of his death, digging the hole of his own downfall and deepening the chasm towards his own doom, how miserable is the path you have chosen to the one most beloved to your heatt [i.e. yourself].

C) YOU WHO IS WANDERING in the darkness of his

Woe to you! Seek the truth, because while you are in the shades of your wishful hope, you will only see what you love while turning a blind eye towards hardships. If your lifespan is receding and death is approaching, then it is not long before both of them converge; how can you remain in the state you are while time constantly brings you closer to his end? How can this worldly life allure a person who does not, for an instant, feel safe from death, and hence never experiences happiness even for a day? How has the knock of exhortation been heard and yet none have listened to it; indeed this is meant

“To warn whoever is alive.”

The rooster of awakening calls out during the last part of the night of morals but you did not wake up, so be alert when the raucous call of the crew of departure is enticed.

O you who prefers the ephemeral over the everlasting, this [prefetence] is indeed the suggestion of your base nature; better would it be for your sake to consult your intellect, in order to hear the best advice! This is because whoever takes the owl to be his guide, surely his final destination will be a place of ruin.

Woe to you! The lust and desires of this worldly life are nothing but fleeting dreams seen during the slumber of heedlessness, and the sight of the ignorant neither penetrates the wall of his desires nor pierces through the barrier of inadvertency; only he who sights what is beyond the barrier can be regarded as being sagacious. When desires appear before the eyes of the innate nature, only those,

“Who believe in the unseen.” [a/-Bagarah 2: 3]

Turn their eyes away from it; most people have plummeted into the hole of deprivation while others were, “Those ate upon [right] guidance from their Lord.” [al-Bagarah 2: 5]

The pious have already departed proceeding towards their final destination while others still remain afflicted by a state of negli-

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

gence because though they are conscious of the high status of the sought

thus ee pose ene Sate ety

ie Cans “but the distance seemed too far for them.”

What a pity! If they were to truly know whom they had detached themselves ftom, they would prefer to be torn apart [instead]. They wake up to fraternise with the rulers, and when they go to sleep it is on a bed of sins, and recklessly do they spend their merchandise of days [time] for indeed

ate cee cypeee see for <A Sag FLENGA LG MASS “These are they who purchase etror at the price of

The wealth and gift of life has been bestowed upon them, yet they have spent it all in the land of idle neglect and “so their commerce doth not prosper.” [a/-Bagarah 2: 16}

All the while, the examples of the ones before them proclaim loudly

CL ne nee he ete A ebboebe GAM OSES) gp Be VS “What expect they save the like of the days of those who passed away before them?”

But they have turned a deaf eat; woe to them! Have not they pondered over their baseless hope because

wees CLS Goes “that it may be that their own term draw nigh?”

Indeed the one who lives in the present should benefit himself from the lessons of history, for no one can ever be certain of his future. Every moment passes never to come back, and the depth of nights ate yet to be restored while time is marching along for those who are alive at the moment. Therefore buy [the salvation of] your soul while the market is still open and its price is being offered, and pay no heed to the whispers that beguile you towards negligence and indifference, for indeed what may happen tomorrow can never be relied upon.

\ ; 7 HEN THE PIOUS REALISED the great value of life, they killed and buried their self-desires and hence experienced the verity of being truly alive. They rushed to collect what the hands of slackers had dropped, catching it in their palms of hard endeavor. Moreover, as their inner-eye envisioned the Day of Judgment, they belittled the good deeds they had, causing their hearts to become exanimate out of fear (of Allah), and consequentially, the inanimate creatures longed for them, as the trunk of the tree longed for the Messenger of Allah (48), and the heavens longed to have ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (radiyAllabu ‘anhn).

How many are those whose yearning to performing pilgrimage gave them the strength to walk all the way! [Their yearning is strong] ‘To the degree that the house of deposited vows (the black stone) is about to kiss them first before they try to kiss it. And even as the pilgrim completes the rituals then returns home, the arrow of their longing for it remains lodged in the heart of Mina.! Their