Part 14

I wonder at the censurers, what they have to do with me, Do not they know that the one killed is content with his death?

7 He is Mahan al-Hanafi; Abi Salim al-A‘war; known as the glorifier because of his excessive exalting of Allah. He was known of his piety and devotion.

NOWLEDGE AND ACTION [based upon that knowledge] are twins whose mother is high aspirations. O youth, the essence of your soul lies in seeking knowl-

edge, and the adornment of your soul is acting upon what you have learnt.

Whoever does not act upon his knowledge will never recognise the value of what he possesses; he will be like a person carrying musk perfume but is unable to smell it because he has the flu. The vast ocean of the learned petson’s knowledge throws onto the shore of utterance words that ate like pearls, which ate picked up by the hands of understanding.

By Allah, the learned [i.e. he who acquired the sacred knowledge and acted upon it] is a ring on the index finger of time. The learned are strangers in this world as they are a few, among the multitude of ignorant people. The written work that a learned person authors and compiles is indeed his immortal child, and his flag of honour.

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

O teacher, hearten and uplift the novice (in his path for seeking knowledge),

“and measure the links (thereof)”

For the learned is firmly planted whereas the learner is in a state of anxiety. O you seeker of knowledge, humble yourself while seeking knowledge, and know that when sand humbly accepted creatures stepping on it with their feet, Allah made it pure enough for a person to wipe his face with [in éayammum'. Do not fall into despair as to whether you would ever be strong so long as you continue doing good, because sands shall turn into stones and rocks over time. Endure the nights of hardship, because if you look through the eye of patience you shall see the dawn of reward. Indeed, the lofty ranks can be attained only by undergoing hardship! Did you not notice the thorns growing beside the roses?

O novice, be gentle on yourself - coping with ignorance is difficult, therefore you should move from the basement of concessions to the toof of noble acts requiring determination and strong will. This demands that you never give up striving to achieve your goal, for rain starts with the pittet-patter of drops before it turns into a torrent.

Persist in attending the assemblies of knowledge, for an infant needs to be breastfed time and time again, so that he is strong enough to be weaned when he grows up. Indeed, even drops of water that drip on a tock should leave a mark on it when such

" Alternative method for performing wad when water is unfound or its amount is insufficient.

drops are continual. O you who is parched with the thirst of desires in the desert of youth, change your course to the road of knowledge, for through knowledge you will come actoss many a water fountain that shall help you in your journey through the desert.

The road to virtues is paved with hardships and trials; those whose resolve is feeble will turn back from it. When the determined suffers a hardship or encounters a calamity whose taste is bitter, he instantly thinks of the sweetness of the final outcome, upon which he brushes away the dirt from the deep-seated [high purpose] in his heart. A judicious person endures hardships patiently, because he is aware of how close at hand ease is, whereas the ignorant is his exact opposite. This is similar to how the wood of the olive plant burns without producing smoke, unlike the wood of licorice that produces smoke as it burns. Indeed, man’s nature is like a small child, wheteas his intellect is like an adult?

The Worldly Life is Unsuitable for Settlement

\ | Y BROTHERS, this life is like a farewell assembly, so be patient over its pleasures, for one day it will cease to exist, and beware of its evil, for it even succeeded in

casting a spell upon the magicians of Babylon. Indeed, the things that people are averse to doing in this life are actually to be found in the branches of the beloved [i.e. the things you dislike are often the ones that draw you near to your beloved]. Everyone who felt secure from its evil, ended up in state of fear regarding its outcome.

You have spent all your life seeking the pleasures of this life, and yet you have not gained ftom it anymore than what the hand of Qais could gain from Layla.'

When you are in the assembly [at which sermons and religious reminders are given] you awake from the intoxication of this

' They never martied or met but their love remained only expressed in words. ‘This example is used to show that a person will not achieve anything out of it as Qais could not marry the one he loved.

The Worldly Life is Unsuitable for Settlement

worldly life briefly, but it is not long before you start to crave again for the heat of its wine. Indeed, there is no joy in sighting the flashes of lightning, if you are walking through the darkness. You rein yourself back in with awakening, but by the time you leave the assembly your nature becomes unleashed again [i.e. back to its previous state of worldly indulgence]. Your nature prevents you from changing yourself; because although you are present in body, your heart is completely absent; though you desire attaining the [the rewatd of the] Hereafter, your endeavors are only focused on obtaining this worldly life.

‘This worldly life is a land unsuitable for settling down; it is only when the harvest has been reaped that it is taken to its place of final settlement.

I wonder at a person standing at the foot of a bridge for so long that he forgets the name of the town actoss it, which he was meaning to get to. Woe to you, though the pleasures of this worldly life are sweet and tempting, know that the questioning over it will be strict and severe. The time at which a woman conceives is one of playfulness, but the actual hardship that awaits her is at the time of her delivery. This life is like a promiscuous woman who does not settle for one man; those who sought after it are shamed and condemned.

The worldly life is a bridge leading over an ocean of doom, so you had better be serious about learning to swim before passing over it, because you can never be certain that you will not slip off it, of encounter a storm that blows you off the bridge into the water. Thus be wary of it despite how safe, you feel in it, and expect its sorrow in spite of your contentment with it.

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

This life is a house of trials and calamities, similar to the palace in Egypt wherein Yasuf (‘a/ayhi as-salam) fled to the door with his forbearance [running from the seduction of the wife of his master] whereas Zalikhah rushed to the door [chasing Yusuf (‘aayhi as-salam)| enflamed by her desires. The garments of deeds shall be presented for intercession; therefore those whose garments were torn from the front will express their woefulness, whereas those whose garments were torn from behind, their intercession shall be saved for their time of need.

O you whose desire cast him into the well of love for this worldly life, you should know that the caravan of fate brings you a message every night saying: “Is there anyone requesting anything so that I may fulfill it for him?”

So, ensure your attentiveness when this message tosses down to you the rope of salvation, and stand up all night on the feet of those

“Their sides part [i.e., they arise] from [their] beds.” [al-Sajdah 32: 16},

stretch out the fingers of etclg pst otc “they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration” [abSajdah 32: 16}, “Throw that which is in thy right hand!”

The Worldly Life is Unsuitable for Settlement

So that you may climb out [of your well of desires] as quickly as possible, and do not grasp at the walls of the well of desires, because it is built of loose dirt that will collapse over you. After you have rescued yourself, by your determination of returning [to Allah], beware of the beasts on the toad; so walk in the light of the lamp of certainty and conviction, and leave behind you the signposts veering you off the right course towards the ways of desire, because only after arriving at your destination in the morn shall you be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

In the Saying of Allah: “The reckoning of mankind draws ever near”:

$ THE WARNING OF Mee LHI

“The reckoning of mankind draws ever neat” [Anbiya’ 21: 1]

was called out in the midst of the companions of the Prophet, the apprehension in their hearts, arising out of their fear of Allah, reflected in their eyes, causing them to cry rivers of sadness

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“so that valleys flow according to their measure”

Abi Bakr? (radiyAllahu ‘anh) gave away all his wealth, not even ‘ Anbiya’ 21:1

2 Aba Bake al-Siddig: ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Uthman ibn Amir al-Queashi. The first Khalifah of the Messenger (¥), his companion in the cave, his closest friend

and one of the ten promised Paradise. He was the fitst man to accept Islam and died in the year 13H.

In the Saying of Allah: “The reckoning of mankind draws ever near”