Part 21

Respect the sanctity of promises, for the star of Suhayl does not show up atall times. You have taken life away from your hearts time and again because of your desires, so revive it today with the rainfall of tears. When you leave the assembly of exhortation, do not head back home. Rather rush to the masjids which have been long abandoned, place your foreheads down on the dust and seek the aid [of your Lord] using the tongues of need. Let the words come out of a heart tormented by regret for wasting a life in vain desires and indolence. Because when the sighing breaths of Ya‘qib (‘alayhi as-salam) precipitate due to sorrow, they shall heed not but to the handsomeness of Yusuf (‘alayhi as-salam).

Grey Hair is a Sign of the End

hausted in his assiduity, will you not restrain your soul

with the leash of contentedness? Do you not know that too much of hard work can cause disability, and eating too many mouthfuls can lead to choking, and too much water can result in drowning, Seclude yourself in the house of solitude, overpowet your soul with reproach and address it with an admonishing tongue, saying to it, for how long? Until when?’ Is not it high time that you return to Allah? Woe to you, the thief of grey hair fie. old age] has stolen the capital of your youth.

OQ WHOSE LIFE EXCURSIONS have been ex-

O soul, the throne of Bilis! has vanished, the beauty of Shirin” has perished, the luxury of Biran* has disappeared, and only the

' The queen of the Kingdom of Saba’ whose story is mentioned in the Quran. 2 Tcould not find her information. [Translator]

> Baran bint al-Hasan Ibn Sahl the wife of the Caliph, al-Ma’man whose wedding was extraordinary (Le. he furnished for her the floor with a carpet made of gold and threw pearls and diamonds on it and had 200 kg of candles of Musk)

Grey Hair is a Sign of the End

worship of Rabi‘ah has remained.

The days of your youth are like the season of spring, its hours ate like the days of Tashriq', and living them is like celebrating ‘a. However, as soon as grey hait makes its appearance, it brings with it the promise of death, and informs you of the paucity of your account, thus causing the tight chain holding together yout life to loosen, and the pillars of your strength to crumble.

‘The weakness of old age has swept away youthfulness, its pickaxe starting to work its way into the skin until the comfort of life has become a desolate wasteland, and the meadows of joy to become a desert. Doomed is he who is on a journey that is nearing its end, but has lost the way.and has gone astray just when he was about to reach his final destination! Is there a dwelling for you other than the grave after the onset of grey hair?! As if you know where you will settle eventually!

‘Though old age has put you on the brink of your grave, yet you still seek protection in the fortress of your desires! I really wonder at your wishful hope of yet living a longer life! How is it that you seek month of March even though the month of November has not passed? You should know that gratification is as flavourful as gtape juice but it will put you in a distressed mood. Desire cannot see beyond the immediate; whoever foresees that its outcome is in fact a burning fire will patiently endure abnegating it.

Do you think a petson who fully indulges himself in the pleasures of this worldly life will ever get his fill? Never! Only those who detach themselves from it will feel contentment and sufficiency.

* The first three days of ‘Td

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

Does the one who keeps delaying and postponing his repentance think that his desires will ever abate? No indeed, for what keeps him from repenting today shall accompany him tomorrow and the day after; it is because with the passage of days it only becomes stronger and more deep-rooted within him. This is evident because “As the Son of Adam becomes old, two of his qualities grow old with him; his love of wealth and his hope of living longer.”*

The only way to find comfort in this life is by regarding it as a means to an end, not by intimately befriending it. When the pious and judicious realised the flaws and shortcomings of this life, they did not waste another moment of their life in idle play. And so their self-discipline led them to spacious gardens and in the end they settled in the paradise of affability [with Allah] in the shade of [seeking the Hereafter].

O you who prefers the cemetery of sleep over the gardens of the pious, the path of joining ties with your Lord does not entail exhaustion; because exhaustion is only felt by those whose hearts still contain desires. Indeed, the night is not dark for Layla as it is

The deviated one is astray from the right path; fly you instead with the wings of hope and feat, leaving the nest of apathy behind you; stand firmly on the Right Path, work hard and don’t

5 Reported by Bukhari (6421) and Muslim (1049)

Grey Hair is a Sign of the End

become complacent until you are

eth yee ae eee yey lbedle sing “firmly established in the favour of a Mighty King.”

stantly be in the service of his Lord, because he recog-

nises and appreciates the value and importance of time; therefore during the day he observes his duties and fulfills the tights of the King [i.e. Allah], while his night is dedicated to conveying his love and devotion to his Lord; thus he never finds a moment of repose.

A PERSON WHO KNOWS HIS LORD should con-

When the perceptive heart ponders the consequences of actions, just as how Yisuf (‘a/ayhi as-salam) did when he was seduced, it cuts off the hands of the covetous self with the knife of longing to his Lord. For them, a camel entering through the eye of needle would be easier than having to hear reproach or criticism with respect to theit worship. And when the time comes [i.e. Day of Judgment] those who travelled throughout the night [i.e. worshipping] will rejoice for traversing the long miles [towards the Hereafter] and the tongue of their endeavors will rebut the reproach

“This is he on whose account you blamed me.”

Indeed, the more endeavors and aspirations magnify, the less significant the corporeal body becomes.

Yahya ibn Mu‘adh' said: “let solitude be your abode and beseeching your Lord be your speech; either you die from your illness or you procure its remedy eventually. Some people entered upon Abii Bakr al-Nahshali? while he was in the market, and they found him bowing and prostrating [i.e. praying] even there. Some people entered upon al-Junayd while he was on his deathbed, and they found him praying. [After he finished] they greeted him and so he replied to their greeting and said: This is not a time for wasting, after which he commenced the Sa/ah again.

Their hearts quake out of their fear of Allah, just as a bouncing ball wobbles when hit with a stick. Thus, their hearts held in palms of anxiety are carried into the vast lands of love, where you find the passionate being overwhelmed while invoking his Lord, the tranquil supplicating freely and the fearful seeking the refuge with his Lord.

Their bodies, once in their prime, have worn out due to their self-discipline; theit souls have been bejeweled inside the shell of body; and so both take upon the quest of yearning [for their Lord]. Their tongues ate busy in the remembrance of Allah, their inner thoughts are overwhelmed by Allah’s love, their eyes shed tears

' Abu Zakariyya al-Razi, a known pious preacher (d. 285 AH). 2 He is amongst the pious worshippers from the city of Kufah in Iraq, (d. 166 AH).

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

of fear, and their self flees from this life to the house of asceticism.

Whenever people saw al-Hasan al-Basri, they would think as though calamity had just befallen him. Malik ibn Dinar’ had a black line running down his cheek from how much his eyes shed tears. ‘Ata’ al-Salami* used to weep in his room so much that his tears would drain into the gutter of his house; one day his tears splashed on a person who was walking in the street, whereupon the man shouted; O people of the house, is this water pure? ‘Ata’ replied: You should wash it off because these are the tears of a person who disobeyed Allah. And when Dawid (‘a/ayhi as-salam) was brought a half-full vessel he would not drink from it until he filled the remaining part of the vessel with his tears.

“ Famous pious worshipper from the city of Basrah who lived during the lifetime of Anas ibn Malik (radiyAllabu ‘anln).

The Crow and the Spider

comfort using a key other than the key of piety: have

the impudence to complain about the narrowness of the road of your provision, even though you yourself are widening the road of your sins? If you had piety, nothing of what you seek would be difficult to attain, because the key of piety opens evety door, When the pious (who fears Allah) settles himself down with pure piety, he shall never be harmed. On the other hand, when he deviates from piety, then he shall encounter nothing but distress and aggravation.

C pen WHO OPENED THE GATE to wealth and

The moment you turn away from Allah, He shall turn away from you. The oceans of His Grace upon the creation remain munificent.

“That is because Allah would not change a favor which He had bestowed upon a people until they change what

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

Woe to you, if you recognise the fact that this world was created for you, then why do you think that He who created it for you would keep away from you what is yours? In reality, it is just your desirous nature that is being glutted by worldly pleasures while, in fact, moderation is more appropriate and beneficial for you.