Part 22

You are the most precious creature to Allah, so be content with what Allah has decteed for you, because he who loves never questions or accuses the one he loves. The Grace of Allah upon you in all that He has created for your sake is as clear as daylight, so how could you imagine that He would neglect when you are at the root of it all?

Greater than the wonder of a fetus in the womb getting nourishment from the menstrual blood of its mother through its connection to her, is the wonder of an egg that has come out of the mother hen, yet it includes within it both the white from which the chick is created and the yolk from which the chick gets its sustenance. This is indeed a wonder that signifies how a creature is provided with its sustenance before it has even come into existence.

When a crow hatches from its egg, it comes out with a white colour. However, due to the apparent difference between the mother crow and the hatchling, the mother fails to recognise its offspring and abandons it at first. The hatchling however keeps its beak open for food, and the Merciful has destined that the flies in the air fly into its open mouth, giving it sustenance, until it develops and its color changes to black, whereupon which the mother unites with her child.

The Crow and the Spider

Observe the kindness and compassion of Allah; He inspires ants to store food and inspires them to break the seed before storing it, so that it does not grow afterwards; He inspires them to break the seed of coriander into four quarters, because if it was broken into only two halves it would continue to grow.

As the poet said:

‘There is a sign within everything, that proves that the Creator is One

To sce a spider while it builds its house is to witness craftsmanship that would dazzle and confound the architects. It seeks two points that are near each other while at the same time ensuring that there is enough space between them for it to cast its web-sill: from one location to the other. Then it secretes its silk and casts it between the two points, and after it assures that the strings are taut, it begins joining the string segments together. While to the onlooker it may seem that the spider’s actions are haphazard, however in reality, the spider is actually building a net to trap its food. After completing the web it goes to the corner and waits and keeps a watch out for prey to fall into its trap; if an insect manages to get trapped in its net, the spider straightaway begins reaping the harvest of its efforts. But in case it is unable to trap an insect in this manner, it resorts to a different technique; it finds itself another nook and prepares a web thread connecting the ends, and remains suspended, in preparation for a fly that might pass by; and when a fly draws near, it leaps to capture, and utilises the web thread to wrap the flies legs to prevent it from escaping! Do you for a moment imagine that the lowly spider could have learnt this all by itself? Or did it learn it from others of its own kind? Why do you not tealise the wisdom and power of the One

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

who taught it what it knows and Who made it learn? The miraculous creation calls the heedless to observe the signs within themselves, so that they might be guided to the gates of the Creator, but they are unable to hear.

six stages [of life] before we settle down in our final destination:

1 ROM THE START OF OUR CREATION, we go through The first stage. The creation from clay.

The second stage: The semen proceeding to the womb

The third stage: Transference from inside the womb to the outside world.

The fourth stage: Transference from life to the grave The fifth stage: Transference from the grave to the Judgment

The sixth stage: Transference from the Judgment to the final destination (ie. Paradise or Hell)'

' For a detail discussion on each of the stages of life refer to the English trans-

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM

So far, people have crossed half this journey, but what is about to come is indeed more difficult.

O brothers, the years are like phases, the months ate like miles, the days are like yards, and breaths are like footsteps; good deeds are like your capital wealth and sins are like highway robbers; Paradise is like the profit earned from the journey, and Hellfire is the loss. For this reason, the pious make good use of all the time they have, trading good deeds at the marketplace of worship and therefore abandoning worldly pleasures.

Whenever they come across a boat of life sailing in the sea of existence, their dedication to Allah’s worship makes them overlook the wonders of the sea. And as soon as they disembark at their final destination, they become overwhelmed with sense of comfort, and so they are admitted into a land where they are assured a firm bond with their Lord, while at the same time they have assured for themselves a profitable gain for all eternity.

O you whose endeavors and aspirations are low; if you contemplated with an insightful heart upon what these people have gained, your tongue would surely wail deploringly: Oh how I wish I were with them! But in reality, you are as far from them as the sky is from the earth!

Woe to you, the merchandise |i.c. deeds] of the pious have been paid into the safe-deposit of days, and they have sew in the farm of this life the seeds of their love for their Lord. Then when you see them start to reap the harvest of their deeds, the voice of reproach will call you: You are like a person who has wasted a drink of cold water in the sweltering summer!

‘The barrier of heedlessness was removed from in front of their eyes, so they were able to see without having to look and speak without needing to utter words. The eyes [of the heart] see Him, though He is beyond the grasp of the creation’s vision. They exhausted their bodies in the journey of love until they arrived at their final destination; indeed

Saree bee ree ete “etek Faas G KS ECB BIG as “Those are a people who have passed away; theirs is

that which they earned and yours that which you earn.” [a-Bagarah 2: 141]

Once, aman with a pallid face and emaciated body entered upon ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz so he said to him: “why do you look that way (i.e. weak and ill)? He said, I tasted the sweetness of this life, and realised its bitterness; and since then I have been spending the nights in prayer and the days in fasting. And all of that is nothing compared to the reward or punishment of Allah.”

‘Their hearts have melted in the fires of Allah’s fear, the flames burning the very root of their desires; their skin colours turned sallow due to their fear [of Allah’s punishment] and their heads lowered down in shame. If you wish to know their state and circumstances then you ought to listen to the words they utter in between sighs and breaths fie. their remembrance of Allah constantly between each breath].

\ ) 7 HEN THE PIOUS SUPPORTERS of Allah find themselves engulfed in the darkness of this worldly life, they cut off the threads of their desires by striving and

through self-discipline. The paths leading to safety have been lit up for them and they make acquaintance with one another along the way. Whenever the lightning of hope flashes they walk forward, and when the night of fearing Allah arrives, they stand still in order to pray; therefore they are forever shifting between the state of fear and hope, such that when people see them, they think them to be insane.

During the daytime, the devotee is in a state of anguish due to his being conspicuous among the throngs. The bulbul of his thoughts and feelings is as if locked in a cage that keeps him from revealing his true state and condition. It is only upon the arrival of the breezes of late night does his soul transcend to a state of indescribable divine comfort that extends from the palace of wishes to the land of hope, upon which the yearning traveler starts feeling the gentle breeze of ease while being immersed in a feeling of passion.

O brothers, the day of the one grieving is as dark as his night, and the night of one unaccepted [by Allah] is like his day. O you whose sight is too blind to discern the path of the pious, Allah has restored your eyes for you so that you can see the path. However, this is a matter that does not reveal itself to a heart darkened by desires until it is first polished with self-struggle. Your terrain is full of thorns of sin, but had you surrendered it to the One who would cultivate and develop it for you, you would have certainly had different results

ENE EMIS “ft will be] on the Day the earth will be replaced by another earth.” [brahim 14: 48]

Woe to you: your state of bankruptcy [i.c. no account of good deeds] is a result of your dangling between the state of incapacity and slackness.

Whenever the pious used to hear a sermon, it would implant within their hearts a palm tree of strong resolve and lofty endeavor, whereas the effect of a sermon on your heart is only to grow a few grassy shrubs.

I truly wonder at this! I do not know who I ought to describe these people to! Because I feel as if I am reciting the Surah of Yiisuf to Rubel!’ O you who is expelled (from Allah’s Metcy) yet does not realise it, know that the pain of lashes can only be felt by a person with some feeling left in him, because by Allah, if you were really distressed by Allah’s turning away from you, you would

' One of the brothers of Prophet Yusuf (‘a/ayhi as-salam) who participated in the plot against him.

SEEDS OF ADMONISHMENT AND REFORM