Part 17

his soldiers..” [al-Bagarah 2: 249}

While those who had disciplined their bodies succeeded, and received the spoils of this war.

This life is like your shadow; if you turn your back to it and walk away from it, it will continue following you, but if you try to chase it and catch it, it will always run away from you. For this Allah, Exalted is He, Commanded this worldly life to serve those who serve Him, and to enslave those who setve it.

The pious does not pay attention to his shadow, therefore the shadow always follows him, while the one seeking it diligently all the time keeps looking around for it, and is thus unable to see it.

O the one devoted to this worldly life, for how long will you be lost in the desert of confusion pases of 6 4Y

Ses Ets Ae “{We would then be] like one whom the devils enticed” [al-An‘im 6:71]

The Punishment of being Completely Occupied with the Dunya

Does your assiduity have any limit? Will your hope [to remain in this life] ever end? Woe to you: the ocean never drains out, so be content with your share of the water. Woe to you: walking leisurely making small steps will never get you to your final destination! It is impossible for a person to feel sufficiency when he is not content with what he already has in his hand! Woe to you, all that you rejoice for in this life is actually what you should be sad for, if only you would realise.

This life is like wine; whenever the assiduous drinks from it, his thirst increases. It is sufficient for you to cover your parts with the garment of contentedness, for it casts away the concerns from your heart and replaces them with comfort.

All evil lies in insatiability; how many are those whose thirst does not extinguish because they choke on their drink; indeed the sweetness of honey can he enjoyed in small portions only. The example of a person attached to this life is like a bee that comes actoss a water lily, gets attracted by its scent and decides to settle upon its leaves. However, when night falls, the leaves draw back and get submerged in the water, and thus the bee meets its death.

Your excessive keenness is like a cloud that can block the bright sun of your intellect. This cloud prevents the heart from perceiving the Hereafter, therefore you should send the platoon of your strong-will, to tear apart this hazy cloud into bits. You have what suffices you, nevertheless you seek what would ruin you. Do you not know that continuing to drink water even after your thirst has been extinguished will make you perpetually thirsty. How chained you are to this life! Indeed, fever is the companion of honey, and the one diligently pursuing this life shall never have a life - because what kind of life is it when someone is neither sufficed nor

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

content! Despite all this, such a person is always more bewildered than a bug on the back of a camel, though what he is after is less in worth than the wing of a mosquito.

Allah ordained this life, so that we subsist on what suffices to maintain the health of our bodies, so that we can dedicate these bodies for that which they were created [i.e. worshipping Allah]. Exercising indulgence in acquiring more than what is required, compromises this noble purpose; a person who spends his entire life accumulating wealth is in reality storing it for his heirs as one day he will die leaving all this wealth behind; all he does is burn himself with the fire of his assiduousness, while others get the benefit of what he has painstakingly collected, in the same manner that people benefit from the remains of a burning stick.

How many are those who were doomed by this worldly life! How many are those whose love of this life was the cause of theit ruin!

O you who is as wishful as Kann’, as deceitful as Nimrid*, as miserly as Tha‘labah’, and as prone to error as Nu‘man: When it comes to collecting wealth you are like Hatib [ibn Abi Balta‘ah]’

them an army of mosquitoes.

5 Tha‘labah Ibn Hatib whose greed and miserliness stopped him from paying the Zakah despite of all his wealth.

The Punishment of being Completely Occupied with the Dunya

You have thrown yourself into the deep well of worldly love! When will piety arrive to rescue from you from your condition, so that you would be among those who would hear the chants of joy

at Badr, Uhud and Khandaq, among other battles. He witnessed negations that led to the truce of Hudaybiyah. He died in Madinah in 30 AH at the age of sixty-five. He transmitted some traditions of the Prophet (38).

7 Hatim al-Ta’i: A Christian Arab poet of ancient Arabia, was the epitome of the Arab hospitality and generosity among the nomadic society in pre-Islamic Arabia.

is inclined towards his nature: think of the purpose for

which you were created, and what is it that Allah made incumbent upon you. If you wish to ride the stallion that is your soul, then you must tame it, and counteract the effect of your mercurial nature, so that you can harness it for proper use. Look for the dawn of reward during the nights, and pout out the intoxicant of your desires, so that you do not get caught by the One in authority fie. Allah].

C) YOU WHOSE NATURE is unyielding and whose heart

The water of your nature is brine, whereas the water of your heart is sweet, your intellect standing between the two as a batrier, just as al-Khidt’s firm stance. So be like Miisa (‘a/ayhi as-salam), and do not abandon your self-discipline until you arrive at the meeting point of the two oceans. Stand on the leg of patience [praying all night] even if standing is too wearisome, as it is better than sitting down. O you who has been asleep all night long, the company has already left, and the sun of old-age is upon you and yet your sleep does not end. If you had been awake in the last part of the night, you would have seen how the toad of the pious

slaves is crowded and had you gone to drink from the well of Madiyan', you would have found many people quenching their thirst from it.

How bright is the night of the pious, which is spent by them in worship; they remaining standing, leaning on the pillar of their fear of Allah, as they approach the road of longing to their Lord, as the night covers them under its roof. When they sigh [out of their love to Allah] they are more adoring than a lover, and when they mourn [from fearing Allah and their love towards Him] they are more eloquent than al-Khansa.?

They found the right path, and hence walked on it;

Ao oto hsee de thie Aes, pears (SAIC WEHG “Indeed, those who have said, ‘Our Lord is Allah’ and then remained on a tight course.” [al-Fusslat 41: 30]

But how fat behind ate you from even catching the traces of dust left by their caravan trail! Their hope does not stretch far at all, and their houses are mote austere than a grave, their sleep is rare and their conditions are softer than a breeze. For them, spending the night in prayer is mote joyful, than sleeping at night after waking up. Whenever they recite a Surah from the Qur’an they reflect on it as passionately as Ya‘qub (‘a/ayhi as-salim) when he

“'The tribe of Prophet Shu‘ayb (‘alayhi as-saldm).

? She is Tamadur bint ‘Amr Ibn al-Harith al-Salamiyyah; the famous eloquent female poet whose eloquence was incomparable. She embraced Islim when she was very old and was in constant sadness because of the loss of het father

and two brothers who were killed in battles before Islam.

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

caught a waft the Yisuf’s (‘a/ayhi as-salam) aroma.

Be present during the last part of the night, and join the worshippers long enough to witness the lavishing of the King’s gifts upon them, because even if you were not amongst their party, you might at least receive a portion of what they received [i.e. you will be as those whom Allah said about them],

Cite coh AR Ce wate cece

ASG SANS osithasy5 re DAS aes ote AE prevrbreacdt “And when [other] relatives and orphans and the needy ate present at the [time of] division, then provide for

them [something] out of it [i.e., the estate].” [al-Nisa’ 4: 8]

When you exhale, giving out breaths of regret, they rise and form clouds, to patter upon you drops of forgiveness. And if you shed a tear on the cheek of repentance, you will give life to your barren heart.

O you who appreciates safety after experiencing wreck-

age and ruin: take advantage of yout life, the bricks of which time brings down day after day; for you know that the end of life is death! So admonish yourself by being cognizant that your existence will come to an end.

() YOU, WHO WISH TO STAY in a place other than his;

Woe to you, pursue asceticism in order that it brings you out of this life, stuffed with nothingness, and stations you in the presence of the Divine. Neglect the demands of your vain desites, for if you reach that high position, never again will you experience the loss of a beloved, ot have any of your wishes remain unfulfilled.