2. Adab al Nufoos: The Disciplines of the Souls by Al Muhasibi part 2

آدَابُ النُّفُوسِ

ʾĀdābu al-Nufūsi

The Disciplines of the Souls  (that is, the education by which the lower selves are disciplined and made upright)

الْحَارِثُ بْنُ أَسَدٍ الْمُحَاسِبِيُّ

Al-Ḥārithu bnu ʾAsadin al-Muḥāsibiyyu

Al-Ḥārith ibn Asad al-Muḥāsibī

Source page 54

الْبَلْوَى وَالِاخْتِبَارُ

Al-balwā wa-al-ikhtibāru

Trial and testing

الْقُرْآنُ يُقَرِّرُ الِابْتِلَاءَ بِالدُّنْيَا كُلِّهَا

Al-Qurʾānu yuqarriru al-ibtilāʾa bi-al-dunyā kullihā

The Qurʾān establishes that all of this world is a test

وَاعْلَمْ وَأَيْقِنْ أَنَّ الدُّنْيَا كُلَّهَا، كَثِيرَهَا وَقَلِيلَهَا، حُلْوَهَا وَمُرَّهَا، أَوَّلَهَا وَآخِرَهَا وَكُلَّ شَيْءٍ مِنْ أَمْرِهَا، بَلْوَى مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى لِلْعَبْدِ وَاخْتِبَارٌ.

Wa-iʿlam wa-ʾayqin ʾanna al-dunyā kullahā, kathīrahā wa-qalīlahā, ḥulwahā wa-murrahā, ʾawwalahā wa-ʾākhirahā wa-kulla shayʾin min ʾamrihā, balwā mina Allāhi taʿālā li-al-ʿabdi wa-ikhtibārun.

Know with certainty that all of this world, its abundance and its scarcity, its sweetness and its bitterness, its beginning and its end, and everything pertaining to it, is a trial and a test from God Most High for the servant.

وَبَلْوَاهَا وَإِنْ كَثُرَتْ وَتَشَعَّبَتْ وَاخْتَلَفَتْ فَهُوَ مَجْمُوعٌ كُلُّهُ فِي خَلَّتَيْنِ: فِي الشُّكْرِ وَالصَّبْرِ، فَإِمَّا أَنْ يَشْكُرَ عَلَى نِعْمَةٍ أَوْ يَصْبِرَ عَلَى مُصِيبَةٍ.

Wa-balwāhā wa-ʾin kathurat wa-tashaʿʿabat wa-ikhtalafat fa-huwa majmūʿun kulluhu fī khallatayni: fī al-shukri wa-al-ṣabri, fa-ʾimmā ʾan yashkura ʿalā niʿmatin ʾaw yaṣbira ʿalā muṣībatin.

However numerous, branching, and varied its trials become, they are all gathered into two qualities: gratitude and patience. A person either gives thanks for a blessing or bears an affliction patiently.

قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا مَا عَلَى الْأَرْضِ زِينَةً لَهَا لِنَبْلُوَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا﴾.

Qāla Allāhu taʿālā: ﴿ʾinnā jaʿalnā mā ʿalā al-ʾarḍi zīnatan lahā linabluwahum ʾayyuhum ʾaḥsanu ʿamalan﴾.

God Most High says: “We have made what is on the earth an adornment for it, to test which of them is best in deeds.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَلَوْ يَشَاءُ اللَّهُ لَانْتَصَرَ مِنْهُمْ وَلٰكِنْ لِيَبْلُوَ بَعْضَكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-law yashāʾu Allāhu la-intaṣara minhum wa-lākin liyabluwa baʿḍakum bibaʿḍin﴾.

And He says: “If God willed, He would exact retribution from them, but [He acts thus] to test some of you through others.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَكُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجَاتٍ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِي مَا آتَاكُمْ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-rafaʿa baʿḍakum fawqa baʿḍin darajātin liyabluwakum fī mā ʾātākum﴾.

And He says: “He raised some of you above others in degrees, to test you in what He has given you.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-jaʿalnā baʿḍakum libaʿḍin fitnatan ʾataṣbirūna﴾.

And He says: “We have made some of you a trial for others: will you be patient?”

وَقَالَ: ﴿خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ وَكَانَ عَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿khalaqa al-samāwāti wa-al-ʾarḍa fī sittati ʾayyāmin wa-kāna ʿarshuhu ʿalā al-māʾi liyabluwakum ʾayyukum ʾaḥsanu ʿamalan﴾.

And He says: “He created the heavens and the earth in six days, and His Throne was upon the water, to test which of you is best in deeds.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ حَتَّى نَعْلَمَ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَنَبْلُوَ أَخْبَارَكُمْ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-lanabluwannakum ḥattā naʿlama al-mujāhidīna minkum wa-al-ṣābirīna wa-nabluwa ʾakhbārakum﴾.

And He says: “We will surely test you until We know those among you who strive and those who are patient, and We test your accounts.”

وَأَكْثَرُ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى.

Wa-ʾaktharu min dhālika fī kitābi Allāhi taʿālā.

There is more than this in the Book of God Most High.

وَإِنَّمَا كَانَتْ بَلْوَى آدَمَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ أَقَلَّ مِنْ آيَةٍ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ: ﴿وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ﴾، وَهُوَ كُلُّهُ لَكَ بَلْوَى.

Wa-ʾinnamā kānat balwā ʾĀdama ʿalayhi al-salāmu ʾaqalla min ʾāyatin fī kitābi Allāhi: ﴿wa-lā taqrabā hādhihi al-shajarata﴾, wa-huwa kulluhu laka balwā.

The trial of Adam, peace be upon him, was contained in less than one verse in God's Book: “Do not approach this tree.” For you, the whole Book is a trial.

أَكْثَرُ الْفِتْنَةِ فِي النَّاسِ

ʾAktharu al-fitnati fī al-nāsi

Most trials come through people

وَإِنَّ أَكْثَرَ مَا بُلِيَ بِهِ الْعَبْدُ مِنْ أَهْلِ الدُّنْيَا النَّاسُ، وَأَفْتَنَ النَّاسِ لَكَ وَأَكْثَرَهُمْ لِشُغْلِكَ إِنَّمَا هُوَ بِمَعَارِفِكَ مِنْهُمْ، وَأَشْغَلَ مَعَارِفِكَ لَكَ وَأَكْثَرَهُمْ عَلَيْكَ فِتْنَةً مَنْ أَنْتَ بَيْنَ ظَهْرَانَيْهِمْ، يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ وَتَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِمْ وَيُكَلِّمُونَكَ وَتُكَلِّمُهُمْ.

Wa-ʾinna ʾakthara mā buliya bihi al-ʿabdu min ʾahli al-dunyā al-nāsu, wa-ʾaftana al-nāsi laka wa-ʾaktharahum lishughlika ʾinnamā huwa bimaʿārifika minhum, wa-ʾashghala maʿārifika laka wa-ʾaktharahum ʿalayka fitnatan man ʾanta bayna ẓahrānayhim, yanẓurūna ʾilayka wa-tanẓuru ʾilayhim wa-yukallimūnaka wa-tukallimuhum.

The servant's greatest trial among the inhabitants of this world is other people. The people who most test and preoccupy you are your acquaintances. Among your acquaintances, those who most occupy and test you are the ones in whose midst you live: they look at you and you look at them; they speak to you and you speak to them.

Source page 55

فَإِنَّكَ مَنْ لَمْ يَعْرِفْكَ مِنْ أَهْلِ زَمَانِكَ وَلَمْ تَعْرِفْهُ وَلَمْ تَسْمَعْ بِهِ، كَأَنَّكَ لَمْ تُبْتَلَ بِهِمْ وَكَأَنَّهُمْ لَمْ يُبْتَلَوْا بِكَ وَكَأَنَّهُمْ لَمْ يَكُونُوا مِنْ هٰذِهِ الدُّنْيَا الَّتِي أَنْتَ فِيهَا.

Fa-ʾinnaka man lam yaʿrifka min ʾahli zamānika wa-lam taʿrifhu wa-lam tasmaʿ bihi, kaʾannaka lam tubtala bihim wa-kaʾannahum lam yubtalaw bika wa-kaʾannahum lam yakūnū min hādhihi al-dunyā allatī ʾanta fīhā.

As for those of your contemporaries who do not know you, whom you do not know and have never heard of, it is as though you have not been tested through them, nor they through you, and as though they did not belong to this world in which you live.

فَارْجِعْ فِي صَبْرِكَ إِلَى اللَّهِ، وَاسْتَعِنْ بِهِ، وَانْقَطِعْ إِلَيْهِ، وَاسْتَأْنِسْ بِذِكْرِهِ، وَأَقْلِلْ مِنَ الْخُلَطَاءِ مَا اسْتَطَعْتَ، بَلِ اتْرُكِ الْقَلِيلَ أَيْضًا تَسْلَمْ، لِقَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ بَصِيرًا﴾، فَاهْرَبْ مِنَ الْفِتْنَةِ.

Fa-irjiʿ fī ṣabrika ʾilā Allāhi, wa-istaʿin bihi, wa-inqaṭiʿ ʾilayhi, wa-istaʾnis bidhikrihi, wa-ʾaqlil mina al-khulaṭāʾi mā istaṭaʿta, bali utruki al-qalīla ʾayḍan taslam, liqawli Allāhi taʿālā: ﴿wa-jaʿalnā baʿḍakum libaʿḍin fitnatan ʾataṣbirūna wa-kāna rabbuka baṣīran﴾, fa-ihrab mina al-fitnati.

Turn back to God in your patience, seek His help, devote yourself entirely to Him, and find companionship in remembering Him. Reduce your companions as much as you can; indeed, leave even the few, and you will be safe, in accordance with what God Most High says: “We have made some of you a trial for others: will you be patient? Your Lord is all-seeing.” So flee from trial.

فَرَجِّعْ صَبْرَكَ إِلَى مَعَارِفِكَ وَمَنْ أَنْتَ بَيْنَ ظَهْرَانَيْهِمْ، فَنَظَرُكَ إِلَيْهِمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَنَظَرُهُمْ إِلَيْكَ فِتْنَةٌ، وَكَلَامُكَ مَعَهُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَكَلَامُهُمْ مَعَكَ فِتْنَةٌ، وَجَفَاؤُكَ لَهُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَجَفَاؤُهُمْ لَكَ فِتْنَةٌ، وَكَرَامَتُهُمْ لَكَ فِتْنَةٌ وَكَرَامَتُكَ لَهُمْ فِتْنَةٌ لَكَ.

Fa-rajjiʿ ṣabraka ʾilā maʿārifika wa-man ʾanta bayna ẓahrānayhim, fa-naẓaruka ʾilayhim fitnatun wa-naẓaruhum ʾilayka fitnatun, wa-kalāmuka maʿahum fitnatun wa-kalāmuhum maʿaka fitnatun, wa-jafāʾuka lahum fitnatun wa-jafāʾuhum laka fitnatun, wa-karāmatuhum laka fitnatun wa-karāmatuka lahum fitnatun laka.

Direct your patience back toward your acquaintances and those among whom you live. Your looking at them is a trial, and their looking at you is a trial. Your speaking with them is a trial, and their speaking with you is a trial. Your coldness toward them is a trial, and theirs toward you is a trial. Their honoring you is a trial, and your honoring them is a trial for you.

وَاعْتَبِرْ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ بِمَوْضِعٍ تَمُرُّ فِيهِ فِيهِ مَعَارِفُكَ، وَمَوْضِعٍ تَمُرُّ فِيهِ لَيْسَ فِيهِ أَحَدٌ يَعْرِفُكَ.

Wa-iʿtabir min dhālika bimawḍiʿin tamurru fīhi fīhi maʿārifuka, wa-mawḍiʿin tamurru fīhi laysa fīhi ʾaḥadun yaʿrifuka.

Consider this by comparing a place you pass through where your acquaintances are present with a place you pass through where no one knows you.

وَهٰكَذَا شَهَوَاتُ الْمَطْعَمِ وَالْمَلْبَسِ وَشَهَوَاتُ الْعَيْنِ، مَا يَحِلُّ النَّظَرُ إِلَيْهِ وَمَا لَا يَحِلُّ النَّظَرُ إِلَيْهِ، مِمَّا كَانَ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ فِي غَيْرِ الْبَلْدَةِ الَّتِي أَنْتَ فِيهَا، فَأَنْتَ مِنْهَا سَلِيمٌ وَفِتْنَتُهَا مَصْرُوفَةٌ عَنْكَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى، لِأَنَّ مُؤْنَتَهَا سَاقِطَةٌ، وَهٰكَذَا أَنْتَ فِي جَمِيعِ أُمُورِكَ.

Wa-hākadhā shahawātu al-maṭʿami wa-al-malbasi wa-shahawātu al-ʿayni, mā yaḥillu al-naẓaru ʾilayhi wa-mā lā yaḥillu al-naẓaru ʾilayhi, mimmā kāna min dhālika fī ghayri al-baldati allatī ʾanta fīhā, fa-ʾanta minhā salīmun wa-fitnatuhā maṣrūfatun ʿanka ʾin shāʾa Allāhu taʿālā, li-ʾanna muʾnatahā sāqiṭatun, wa-hākadhā ʾanta fī jamīʿi ʾumūrika.

The same is true of appetites for food and clothing and of what the eye desires, whether it is lawful to look at or not. Of these things that are outside the town where you live, you remain free, and their trial is turned away from you, if God Most High wills, because their burden has fallen away. This is how it is in all your affairs.

الِابْتِلَاءُ فِي الْعَمَلِ

Al-ibtilāʾu fī al-ʿamali

Being tested through action

وَعَمَلُكَ الَّذِي تَعْمَلُ إِنَّمَا هُوَ فِتْنَةٌ أَنْتَ فِيهِ تُرِيدُ أَنْ تُوَقِّيَ أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ، وَأَكْثَرُهُمْ مَنْ يَعْرِفُكَ بِالْخَيْرِ، فَأَعْمَالُكَ لَكَ فِتْنَةٌ.

Wa-ʿamaluka alladhī taʿmalu ʾinnamā huwa fitnatun ʾanta fīhi turīdu ʾan tuwaqqiya ʾaʿyuna al-nāsi, wa-ʾaktharuhum man yaʿrifuka bi-al-khayri, fa-ʾaʿmāluka laka fitnatun.

The work you do is itself a trial: in it you want to guard against people's eyes [reading uncertain], most of them belonging to people who know you for doing good. Your deeds are therefore a trial for you.

إِنْ حَجَجْتَ فَكُنْتَ خَالِيًا لَيْسَ مَعَكَ مَنْ يَعْرِفُكَ بِالْخَيْرِ وَتَعْرِفُهُ، كَانَ أَسْلَمَ لَكَ، وَإِلَّا فَهُوَ فِتْنَةٌ، فَانْظُرْ كَيْفَ تَسْلَمُ مِنْهَا.

ʾIn ḥajajta fa-kunta khāliyan laysa maʿaka man yaʿrifuka bi-al-khayri wa-taʿrifuhu, kāna ʾaslama laka, wa-ʾillā fa-huwa fitnatun, fa-unẓur kayfa taslamu minhā.

If you make the pilgrimage alone, with no one accompanying you who knows you for doing good and whom you know, that is safer for you. Otherwise, it is a trial, so consider how to come through it safely.

وَإِنْ خَرَجْتَ مِنْ بَلْدَةٍ أَنْتَ فِيهَا مَعْرُوفٌ بِالْخَيْرِ، فَخَرَجْتَ مِنْهَا وَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ أَيْنَ تُرِيدُ، فَهُوَ أَسْلَمُ لَكَ، وَإِنْ عَلِمُوا فَهُوَ فِتْنَةٌ، فَانْظُرْ كَيْفَ تَسْلَمُ مِنْهَا.

Wa-ʾin kharajta min baldatin ʾanta fīhā maʿrūfun bi-al-khayri, fa-kharajta minhā wa-hum lā yaʿlamūna ʾayna turīdu, fa-huwa ʾaslamu laka, wa-ʾin ʿalimū fa-huwa fitnatun, fa-unẓur kayfa taslamu minhā.

If you leave a town where you are known for doing good and depart without their knowing where you intend to go, that is safer for you. If they know, it is a trial, so consider how to come through it safely.

وَكَذٰلِكَ الْغَزْوُ، وَبَلْوَى أَهْلِ الْغَزْوِ وَمَا يَنُوبُهُمْ فِي مَغَازِيهِمْ مِنَ الْفِتْنَةِ وَالْبَلِيَّةِ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ بَلِيَّةِ غَيْرِهِمْ مِنَ الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ أَعْمَالَ الْبِرِّ، وَهُمْ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَدْخُلُوا فِي هٰذِهِ الْأَشْيَاءِ فِي عَافِيَةٍ.

Wa-ka-dhālika al-ghazwu, wa-balwā ʾahli al-ghazwi wa-mā yanūbuhum fī maghāzīhim mina al-fitnati wa-al-baliyyati ʾaʿẓamu min baliyyati ghayrihim mina alladhīna yaʿmalūna ʾaʿmāla al-birri, wa-hum qabla ʾan yadkhulū fī hādhihi al-ʾashyāʾi fī ʿāfiyatin.

The same applies to military campaigning. The trial of those who campaign, and the testing and affliction that befall them on their expeditions, are greater than the trial of others who perform good deeds. Before they enter into these matters, they are in a state of well-being.

Source page 56

فَإِذَا دَخَلُوهَا جَاءَتِ الْفِتْنَةُ مِنَ التَّحَاسُدِ بَعْضِهِمْ لِبَعْضٍ، وَطَمَعِهِمْ فِيمَا يَرْجُونَ مِنَ السِّهَامِ، وَطَمَعِهِمْ فِي الْحُمْلَانِ وَمَا يُجْعَلُ لِلنَّاسِ فِي سَبِيلِ الْغَزْوِ.

Fa-ʾidhā dakhalūhā jāʾati al-fitnatu mina al-taḥāsudi baʿḍihim libaʿḍin, wa-ṭamaʿihim fīmā yarjūna mina al-sihāmi, wa-ṭamaʿihim fī al-ḥumlāni wa-mā yujʿalu li-al-nāsi fī sabīli al-ghazwi.

Once they enter into them, trial comes through their envy of one another, their coveting the shares they hope to receive, and their coveting the mounts and other provisions allotted to people for campaigning.

وَلَقَدْ سَمِعْتُ رَجُلًا مِنَ الْمَذْكُورِينَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْغَزْوِ، وَمِمَّنْ لَهُ غَنَاءٌ عِنْدَ لِقَاءِ الْعَدُوِّ وَاسْمٌ عَظِيمٌ فِي الْمُطَّوِّعَةِ، يَقُولُ: الْخَيْلُ قَدْ خَرَجَتْ وَلَمْ يُقْضَ لِيَ الْخُرُوجُ فِيهَا. أَمَّا السَّلَامَةُ فَأُحِبُّ أَنْ يَسْلَمُوا، وَلٰكِنِّي أَكْرَهُ أَنْ يَغْنَمُوا وَلَيْسَ أَنَا فِيهِمْ.

Wa-laqad samiʿtu rajulan mina al-madhkūrīna min ʾahli al-ghazwi, wa-mimman lahu ghanāʾun ʿinda liqāʾi al-ʿaduwwi wa-ismun ʿaẓīmun fī al-muṭṭawwiʿati, yaqūlu: al-khaylu qad kharajat wa-lam yuqḍa liya al-khurūju fīhā. ʾAmmā al-salāmatu fa-ʾuḥibbu ʾan yaslamū, wa-lākinnī ʾakrahu ʾan yaghnamū wa-laysa ʾanā fīhim.

I heard a well-known campaigner, someone effective in meeting the enemy and highly renowned among the volunteers, say: “The cavalry has set out, and it was not decreed for me to go with them. As for their safety, I want them to be safe, but I dislike their taking spoils when I am not among them.”

وَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ مَنْ يَغَارُ عَلَى مَا يُقَوَّى بِهِ بَعْضُ الْغُزَاةِ حَيْثُ لَمْ يُعْطَ هُوَ وَأُعْطِيَ غَيْرُهُ كَمَا يَغَارُ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى بَعْضِ حَرَمِهِ، وَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ مَنْ غَزَا وَلَمْ يَغْنَمْ وَدَّ أَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ غَزَا.

Wa-laqad raʾaytu man yaghāru ʿalā mā yuqawwā bihi baʿḍu al-ghuzāti ḥaythu lam yuʿṭa huwa wa-ʾuʿṭiya ghayruhu kamā yaghāru al-rajulu ʿalā baʿḍi ḥaramihi, wa-laqad raʾaytu man ghazā wa-lam yaghnam wadda ʾan lam yakun ghazā.

I have seen someone jealous of the support given to certain campaigners, because another was given it and he was not, with a jealousy like a man's jealousy over a woman of his household. I have also seen someone who campaigned but gained no spoils wish that he had not campaigned at all.

وَلَا يُؤْمَنُ يَا أَخِي عَلَى كُلِّ مَنْ دَخَلَ فِي عَمَلٍ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ جَمِيعًا، إِذَا لَحِقَتْهُمْ فِي عَمَلِهِمُ الْآفَاتُ الَّتِي تُفْسِدُ الْأَعْمَالَ، أَنْ يَدْخُلَ عَلَيْهِمُ الشَّيْطَانُ فِيهَا مِنَ الْعُيُوبِ وَالْفِتَنِ مِثْلَ هٰذَا وَأَكْثَرَ مِنْ هٰذَا.

Wa-lā yuʾmanu yā ʾakhī ʿalā kulli man dakhala fī ʿamalin min ʾaʿmāli al-dunyā wa-al-ʾākhirati jamīʿan, ʾidhā laḥiqat-hum fī ʿamalihimu al-ʾāfātu allatī tufsidu al-ʾaʿmāla, ʾan yadkhula ʿalayhimu al-shayṭānu fīhā mina al-ʿuyūbi wa-al-fitani mithla hādhā wa-ʾakthara min hādhā.

No one who undertakes any work of this world or the next, my brother, is safe, when defects that corrupt deeds attach themselves to his work, from Satan introducing faults and trials like this, and more than this, into it.

فَلْيَحْذَرِ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى كُلِّ عَمَلٍ يَعْمَلُهُ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ، وَلْيُرَاقِبِ اللَّهَ فِيهِ، وَيَعْمَلْهُ بِضَمِيرٍ خَالِصٍ، وَيَحْذَرْ اطِّلَاعَ اللَّهِ عَلَى فَسَادِ ضَمِيرِهِ، وَيَحْذَرْ اطِّلَاعَ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ عَلَى عَمَلِهِ،

Fa-l-yaḥdhari al-rajulu ʿalā kulli ʿamalin yaʿmaluhu min ʾaʿmāli al-dunyā wa-al-ʾākhirati, wa-l-yurāqibi Allāha fīhi, wa-yaʿmalhu biḍamīrin khāliṣin, wa-yaḥdhar iṭṭilāʿa Allāhi ʿalā fasādi ḍamīrihi, wa-yaḥdhar iṭṭilāʿa al-makhlūqīna ʿalā ʿamalihi,

Let a person be on guard regarding every deed he performs for this world or the next, remain watchfully aware of God in it, and perform it with a pure inward intention. Let him beware of God's seeing corruption within his conscience, and beware of created beings discovering his deed.

فَإِنَّ كَنَّاسَ الْحُشُوشِ أَكْرَمُ مِنْ هٰذَا الصَّائِمِ وَهٰذَا الْمُصَلِّي وَهٰذَا الْقَائِمِ وَهٰذَا الْغَازِي الَّذِي يَكْرَهُ أَنْ يَنَالَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ غَنَائِمِ الرُّومِ، وَالْجَالِسُ فِي بَيْتِهِ بِبَغْدَادَ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يَغْنَمُوا مِنْهُمْ.

fa-ʾinna kannāsa al-ḥushūshi ʾakramu min hādhā al-ṣāʾimi wa-hādhā al-muṣallī wa-hādhā al-qāʾimi wa-hādhā al-ghāzī alladhī yakrahu ʾan yanāla al-muslimūna min ghanāʾimi al-Rūmi, wa-al-jālisu fī baytihi bi-Baghdāda yuḥibbu ʾan yaghnamū minhum.

A latrine cleaner is more honorable than this person who fasts, this person who prays, this person who stands in prayer, and this campaigner who dislikes the Muslims' gaining spoils from the Byzantines, while someone sitting at home in Baghdad wishes them to gain spoils from them.

فَاحْذَرْ رَحِمَكَ اللَّهُ مَنْ قَرُبَ مِنْكَ وَقَرُبْتَ مِنْهُ، فَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ بَعُدُوا مِنْكَ وَبَعُدْتَ مِنْهُمْ سَلِمُوا مِنْكَ وَسَلِمْتَ مِنْهُمْ.

Fa-iḥdhar raḥimaka Allāhu man qaruba minka wa-qarubta minhu, fa-ʾinna alladhīna baʿudū minka wa-baʿudta minhum salimū minka wa-salimta minhum.

Beware, may God have mercy on you, of those near to you and to whom you are near. Those who are far from you and from whom you are far are safe from you, and you are safe from them.

يَوَدُّ أَقْوَامٌ غَدًا أَنَّهُمْ لَمْ يَكُونُوا سَمِعُوا بِآذَانِهِمْ كَثِيرًا مِنْ أَعْمَالِهِمُ الَّتِي هِيَ فِي رَأْيِ الْعَيْنِ يُرْجَى لِصَاحِبِهَا عَلَيْهَا الثَّوَابُ الْجَزِيلُ وَالدَّرَجَاتُ الرَّفِيعَةُ، وَيَغْبِطُونَ مَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ عَمِلَ مِثْلَ مَا عَمِلُوا كَثِيرًا مِنْ حَسَنَاتِهِمْ، وَبَدَا لَهُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يَكُونُوا يَحْسَبُونَ.

Yawaddu ʾaqwāmun ghadan ʾannahum lam yakūnū samiʿū bi-ʾādhānihim kathīran min ʾaʿmālihimu allatī hiya fī raʾyi al-ʿayni yurjā liṣāḥibihā ʿalayhā al-thawābu al-jazīlu wa-al-darajātu al-rafīʿatu, wa-yaghbiṭūna man lam yakun ʿamila mithla mā ʿamilū kathīran min ḥasanātihim, wa-badā lahum mina Allāhi mā lam yakūnū yaḥsabūna.

Tomorrow, some people will wish that their ears had never heard of many of their own deeds, deeds that outwardly seem to promise their doers ample reward and exalted ranks. They will envy those who did not perform many of the good deeds they themselves performed, and there will appear to them from God what they never expected.

Source page 57

كَيْفَ يَهْلِكُ الْعَبْدُ بِأَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ

Kayfa yahliku al-ʿabdu bi-ʾaʿmāli al-birri

How good deeds can bring a servant to ruin

يُقَالُ: إِنَّهَا أَعْمَالٌ مِنَ الْبِرِّ كَانُوا يَرَوْنَ أَنَّهَا مُنْجِيَتُهُمْ، فَكَانَتْ هِيَ مُهْلِكَتَهُمْ، لِمَا مَازَجَهَا مِنَ الرِّيَاءِ وَحُبِّ الْمَحْمَدَةِ مِنَ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ وَاتِّخَاذِ الْمَنَازِلِ بِالطَّاعَاتِ وَإِقَامَةِ الْجَاهِ وَحُبِّ الْقَدْرِ وَالْمَيْلِ إِلَى ثَوَابِ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ.

Yuqālu: ʾinnahā ʾaʿmālun mina al-birri kānū yarawna ʾannahā munjiyatuhum, fa-kānat hiya muhlikatahum, limā māzajahā mina al-riyāʾi wa-ḥubbi al-maḥmadati mina al-makhlūqīna wa-ittikhādhi al-manāzili bi-al-ṭāʿāti wa-ʾiqāmati al-jāhi wa-ḥubbi al-qadri wa-al-mayli ʾilā thawābi al-makhlūqīna.

It is said that these are good deeds they believed would save them, but which instead destroyed them because of what was mixed into them: showing off, love of praise from created beings, gaining status through acts of obedience, establishing prestige, love of esteem, and inclining toward reward from created beings.

فَلَمَّا وَرَدُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَجَدُوهُ قَدْ أَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ، لِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَدْ تَعَجَّلُوا ثَوَابَ أَعْمَالِهِمْ مِنَ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ فِي الدُّنْيَا، فَافْتَضَحُوا، وَفَضِيحَةُ مَا هُنَاكَ بَاقِيَةٌ، وَلَمْ يَجِدُوا مِنْ ثَوَابِ أَعْمَالِهِمْ إِلَّا كَمَا وَجَدَ صَاحِبُ السَّرَابِ وَصَاحِبُ الرَّمَادِ.

Fa-lammā waradū ʿalā Allāhi ʿazza wa-jalla wajadūhu qad ʾaḥbaṭa ʾaʿmālahum wa-hum lā yashʿurūna, li-ʾannahum kānū qad taʿajjalū thawāba ʾaʿmālihim mina al-makhlūqīna fī al-dunyā, fa-iftaḍaḥū, wa-faḍīḥatu mā hunāka bāqiyatun, wa-lam yajidū min thawābi ʾaʿmālihim ʾillā kamā wajada ṣāḥibu al-sarābi wa-ṣāḥibu al-ramādi.

When they came before God, mighty and majestic, they found that He had made their deeds fruitless without their realizing it, because they had already hastened to take their reward for them from created beings in this world. They were exposed to disgrace, and disgrace there endures. They found no reward for their deeds beyond what was found by the one with the mirage and the one with the ashes.

فَلَيْسَ اسْمُ الْأَعْمَالِ يُرَادُ وَلَا تَزْيِينُ ظَاهِرِهَا، وَلٰكِنْ تَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَمَا يُقَرِّبُ إِلَيْهِ زُلْفَى، فَلَيْتَ بَيْنَ الْعَبْدِ وَبَيْنَ كُلِّ عَمَلٍ يُبَاعِدُ مِنْ تَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَمِنَ اللَّهِ بُعْدَ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ.

Fa-laysa ismu al-ʾaʿmāli yurādu wa-lā tazyīnu ẓāhirihā, wa-lākin taqwā Allāhi wa-mā yuqarribu ʾilayhi zulfā, fa-layta bayna al-ʿabdi wa-bayna kulli ʿamalin yubāʿidu min taqwā Allāhi wa-mina Allāhi buʿda al-mashriqayni.

What is sought is neither the name of the deeds nor the adornment of their outward form, but mindfulness of God and what brings one near to Him. If only the distance between east and west separated the servant from every deed that takes him away from mindfulness of God and away from God.

قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى حِكَايَةً عَنْ إِبْلِيسَ الْعَدُوِّ الْخَبِيثِ: ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَنْ شَمَائِلِهِمْ. فَلَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مِنْ صِفَاتِ إِبْلِيسَ إِلَّا هٰذَا، قَدْ كَانَ يَنْبَغِي لِلنَّاسِ أَنْ يَحْذَرُوهُ.

Qāla Allāhu taʿālā ḥikāyatan ʿan ʾIblīsa al-ʿaduwwi al-khabīthi: thumma laʾātiyannahum min bayni ʾaydīhim wa-min khalfihim wa-ʿan ʾaymānihim wa-ʿan shamāʾilihim. Fa-law lam yakun fī al-kitābi min ṣifāti ʾIblīsa ʾillā hādhā, qad kāna yanbaghī li-al-nāsi ʾan yaḥdharūhu.

God Most High relates the words of Iblis, the evil enemy: “Then I will come at them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left.” If the Book contained no description of Iblis except this, it would already be enough to require people to beware of him.

وَلَوْ نَظَرْتَ فِي أَكْثَرِ النَّاسِ لَوَجَدْتَ أَنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ إِنَّمَا يُؤْتَى مِنْ قِبَلِ الْبِرِّ وَقِلَّةِ الْعِنَايَةِ بِتَصْفِيَةِ الْأَعْمَالِ وَمَا قَدِ اسْتَحْلَتِ النَّفْسُ مِنْ حُبِّ الْمَحْمَدَةِ مِنَ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ.

Wa-law naẓarta fī ʾakthari al-nāsi lawajadta ʾanna ʾaktharahum ʾinnamā yuʾtā min qibali al-birri wa-qillati al-ʿināyati bitaṣfiyati al-ʾaʿmāli wa-mā qadi istaḥlati al-nafsu min ḥubbi al-maḥmadati mina al-makhlūqīna.

If you examined most people, you would find that most come to grief through their good deeds, through their lack of care in purifying those deeds, and through the sweetness their selves have found in loving praise from created beings.

وَقَدْ يُؤْتَى قَوْمٌ كَثِيرٌ مِنْ قِبَلِ الْآثَامِ، إِلَّا أَنَّ عَلَامَةَ الْفِتْنَةِ فِي النَّاسِ جَمِيعًا مُخْتَلِفَةٌ، وَأَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ إِنَّمَا يَعْرِفُونَ مَنْ قَدْ فُتِنَ بِالْآثَامِ وَلَا يَعْرِفُونَ مَنْ فُتِنَ بِالْبِرِّ إِلَّا الْقَلِيلُ مِنَ النَّاسِ مِنْ أَهْلِ النُّورِ وَالْفِطَنِ وَالْفِرَاسَةِ وَالتَّوَسُّمِ وَالْكَيَاسَةِ.

Wa-qad yuʾtā qawmun kathīrun min qibali al-ʾāthāmi, ʾillā ʾanna ʿalāmata al-fitnati fī al-nāsi jamīʿan mukhtalifatun, wa-ʾaktharu al-nāsi ʾinnamā yaʿrifūna man qad futina bi-al-ʾāthāmi wa-lā yaʿrifūna man futina bi-al-birri ʾillā al-qalīlu mina al-nāsi min ʾahli al-nūri wa-al-fiṭani wa-al-firāsati wa-al-tawassumi wa-al-kayāsati.

Many people come to grief through sins, but the signs of being tried differ from person to person. Most people recognize those who have been ensnared through sins; those ensnared through good deeds are recognized only by a few, people of light, discernment, perceptiveness, insight into signs, and intelligence.

وَذٰلِكَ أَنَّ الَّذِي يَعْمَلُ بِأَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ وَهُوَ يُحِبُّ فِتْنَتَهَا أَكْثَرُ مِنَ الَّذِي يَخَافُ فِتْنَتَهَا، وَالَّذِي يَجْهَلُ فِتْنَتَهَا أَكْثَرُ مِنَ الَّذِي يَعْلَمُ فِتْنَتَهَا.

Wa-dhālika ʾanna alladhī yaʿmalu bi-ʾaʿmāli al-birri wa-huwa yuḥibbu fitnatahā ʾaktharu mina alladhī yakhāfu fitnatahā, wa-alladhī yajhalu fitnatahā ʾaktharu mina alladhī yaʿlamu fitnatahā.

Those who perform good deeds while loving the temptations attached to them are more numerous than those who fear those temptations; those who do not recognize their dangers are more numerous than those who do.

Source page 58

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَعْلَمُ فِتَنَ الْأَعْمَالِ وَمُبْطِلَاتِهَا ثُمَّ يَغْلِبُهُ الْهَوَى، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَعْلَمُ وَتَقِلُّ عِنَايَتُهُ فَيَغْفُلُ.

Wa-mina al-nāsi man yaʿlamu fitana al-ʾaʿmāli wa-mubṭilātihā thumma yaghlibuhu al-hawā, wa-minhum man yaʿlamu wa-taqillu ʿināyatuhu fa-yaghfulu.

Some people know the trials of deeds and what invalidates them, but desire then overcomes them. Others know, but their care is insufficient, and they become heedless.

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ الَّذِي يَعْمَلُ وَقَدْ عَلِمَ الْآفَاتِ الَّتِي تُفْسِدُ الْأَعْمَالَ، وَمَعَهُ الْعِنَايَةُ بِنَفْسِهِ وَعَمَلِهِ، وَمَعَهُ التَّيَقُّظُ وَإِزَالَةُ الْغَفْلَةِ، وَهُوَ مَعَ ذٰلِكَ مُشْفِقٌ خَائِفٌ مِنَ الْآفَاتِ، مَا يَكَادُ يَسْلَمُ إِلَّا مَنْ عَصَمَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى، فَكَيْفَ الَّذِي يَجْهَلُ وَيَغْفُلُ وَيَغْلِبُهُ الْهَوَى وَيُحِبُّ دُخُولَ الْآفَةِ؟

Wa-iʿlam ʾanna alladhī yaʿmalu wa-qad ʿalima al-ʾāfāti allatī tufsidu al-ʾaʿmāla, wa-maʿahu al-ʿināyatu binafsihi wa-ʿamalihi, wa-maʿahu al-tayaqquẓu wa-ʾizālatu al-ghaflati, wa-huwa maʿa dhālika mushfiqun khāʾifun mina al-ʾāfāti, mā yakādu yaslamu ʾillā man ʿaṣama Allāhu taʿālā, fa-kayfa alladhī yajhalu wa-yaghfulu wa-yaghlibuhu al-hawā wa-yuḥibbu dukhūla al-ʾāfati?

Know that even someone who acts with knowledge of the defects that corrupt deeds, taking care of himself and his work, staying alert and clearing away heedlessness, and remaining apprehensive and afraid of those defects, scarcely escapes, except where God Most High protects him. What, then, of someone who does not know, is heedless, is overcome by desire, and welcomes the defect's entry?

شُمُولُ الْفِتْنَةِ وَخَطَرُهَا

Shumūlu al-fitnati wa-khaṭaruhā

The reach and danger of trial

وَقَدْ طُلِبَتِ الدُّنْيَا فِي زَمَانِنَا خَاصَّةً بِكُلِّ جِهَةٍ، بِالْبِرِّ وَالْإِثْمِ جَمِيعًا افْتِتَانًا، فَاحْذَرْ فِتْنَةَ الْبِرِّ وَالْإِثْمِ جَمِيعًا، لِئَلَّا يَنْزِلَ بِكَ مَا نَزَلَ بِغَيْرِكَ فِي التَّرْكِ وَالطَّلَبِ.

Wa-qad ṭulibati al-dunyā fī zamāninā khāṣṣatan bikulli jihatin, bi-al-birri wa-al-ʾithmi jamīʿan iftitānan, fa-iḥdhar fitnata al-birri wa-al-ʾithmi jamīʿan, liʾallā yanzila bika mā nazala bighayrika fī al-tarki wa-al-ṭalabi.

In our own time especially, this world has been sought by every means, through both goodness and sin, in a state of infatuation. Beware of the trials of both goodness and sin, lest what has befallen others befall you, whether in what you leave or what you seek.

فَلْتَكُنْ هِمَّتُكَ فِي النَّظَرِ فِي مِرْآةِ الْفِكْرِ كَالْهِمَّةِ بِالْعَمَلِ وَأَكْثَرَ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ، فَإِنَّهُ لَيْسَ شَهَوَاتُ الذُّنُوبِ وَالسَّيِّئَاتِ وَشَهَوَاتُ الْمَطَاعِمِ وَالْمَشَارِبِ وَالْمَلَابِسِ وَالْبِنَاءِ وَالْمَرَاكِبِ وَالْمَنَاكِحِ وَالذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ بِأَغْلَبَ عَلَى أَصْحَابِهَا مِنْ شَهَوَاتِ الْجَاهِ وَحُبِّ الرِّئَاسَةِ وَإِقَامَةِ الْقَدْرِ وَاتِّخَاذِ الْمَنْزِلَةِ وَقَبُولِ الْأَمْرِ وَالنَّهْيِ وَقَضَاءِ الْحَوَائِجِ وَحُبِّ الْعَدَالَةِ عِنْدَ الْجِيرَانِ وَالْأَصْحَابِ وَالْإِخْوَانِ وَالْمِدْحَةِ عَلَى أَصْحَابِ الْبِرِّ فِي حَسَنَاتِهِمْ.

Fa-l-takun himmatuka fī al-naẓari fī mirʾāti al-fikri ka-al-himmati bi-al-ʿamali wa-ʾakthara min dhālika, fa-ʾinnahu laysa shahawātu al-dhunūbi wa-al-sayyiʾāti wa-shahawātu al-maṭāʿimi wa-al-mashāribi wa-al-malābisi wa-al-bināʾi wa-al-marākibi wa-al-manākiḥi wa-al-dhahabi wa-al-fiḍḍati bi-ʾaghlaba ʿalā ʾaṣḥābihā min shahawāti al-jāhi wa-ḥubbi al-riʾāsati wa-ʾiqāmati al-qadri wa-ittikhādhi al-manzilati wa-qabūli al-ʾamri wa-al-nahyi wa-qaḍāʾi al-ḥawāʾiji wa-ḥubbi al-ʿadālati ʿinda al-jīrāni wa-al-ʾaṣḥābi wa-al-ʾikhwāni wa-al-midḥati ʿalā ʾaṣḥābi al-birri fī ḥasanātihim.

Let your resolve to look into the mirror of reflection equal, and exceed, your resolve to act. The appetites for sins and wrongdoing, for food, drink, clothing, buildings, mounts, sexual unions, gold, and silver do not overpower their devotees more than the appetites for prestige overpower people engaged in good deeds: love of leadership, establishing one's worth, acquiring status, having one's commands and prohibitions accepted, meeting needs, loving to be regarded as upright by neighbors, companions, and brothers, and loving praise for one's good deeds.

وَقَدْ تَجِدُ الرَّجُلَ يَغْلِبُ شَهْوَةَ الذَّنْبِ فَيَتْرُكُ الذُّنُوبَ وَيَصِيرُ إِلَى أَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ، فَيَضْعُفُ عِنْدَ تَصْفِيَتِهَا وَتَغْلِبُهُ شَهْوَةُ مَا فِيهَا، فَيَعْمَلُ حَسَنَاتٍ كَثِيرَةً بِقُوَّةٍ وَاقْتِدَارٍ عَلَيْهَا وَظَمَإٍ شَدِيدٍ وَسَهَرٍ، فَلَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى أَنْ يَغْلِبَ شَهْوَتَهُ عَلَى تَصْفِيَتِهَا، فَإِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ مِمَّا قَدْ نَزَلَ بِنَا، وَمَا أَعْظَمَ خَطَرَنَا!

Wa-qad tajidu al-rajula yaghlibu shahwata al-dhanbi fa-yatruku al-dhunūba wa-yaṣīru ʾilā ʾaʿmāli al-birri, fa-yaḍʿufu ʿinda taṣfiyatihā wa-taghlibuhu shahwatu mā fīhā, fa-yaʿmalu ḥasanātin kathīratan biquwwatin wa-iqtidārin ʿalayhā wa-ẓamaʾin shadīdin wa-saharin, fa-lā yaqdiru ʿalā ʾan yaghliba shahwatahu ʿalā taṣfiyatihā, fa-ʾinnā li-llāhi wa-ʾinnā ʾilayhi rājiʿūna mimmā qad nazala binā, wa-mā ʾaʿẓama khaṭaranā!

You may find a man who overcomes the appetite for sin, gives up sins, and turns to good deeds, yet grows weak when it comes to purifying them and is overcome by desire for what they contain. He performs many good deeds with strength and ability, enduring intense thirst and sleeplessness, yet cannot overcome his desire so as to purify them. We belong to God, and to Him we return, in the face of what has befallen us. How great is our danger!

وَمَا أَغْفَلَنَا عَنْ عَظِيمِ الْخَطَرِ!

Wa-mā ʾaghfalanā ʿan ʿaẓīmi al-khaṭari!

And how heedless we are of that immense danger!

Source page 59

اِحْذَرْ خِدَاعَ الشَّيْطَانِ وَهَوَى نَفْسِكَ

Iḥdhar khidāʿa al-shayṭāni wa-hawā nafsika

Beware of Satan's deception and your own desire

ثُمَّ اعْلَمْ أَنِّي لَسْتُ أُزَهِّدُكَ فِي طَلَبِ أَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ، لِأَنَّ كُلَّ عَمَلٍ لَا تَعْمَلُهُ الْيَوْمَ لَا تَجِدُ ثَوَابَهُ غَدًا، وَلٰكِنِّي أُحَذِّرُكَ خِدَاعَ الشَّيْطَانِ وَهَوَى نَفْسِكَ الْأَمَّارَةِ بِالسُّوءِ.

Thumma iʿlam ʾannī lastu ʾuzahhiduka fī ṭalabi ʾaʿmāli al-birri, li-ʾanna kulla ʿamalin lā taʿmaluhu al-yawma lā tajidu thawābahu ghadan, wa-lākinnī ʾuḥadhdhiruka khidāʿa al-shayṭāni wa-hawā nafsika al-ʾammārati bi-al-sūʾi.

Then know that I am not discouraging you from seeking good deeds. For every deed you do not perform today, you will find no reward tomorrow. Rather, I am warning you against Satan's deception and the desire of your own self, which persistently commands evil.

وَفَضْلُ الْقُرْآنِ عَلَى سَائِرِ الْكَلَامِ كَفَضْلِ اللَّهِ عَلَى خَلْقِهِ، وَقَدْ قَالَ تَعَالَى: ﴿فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ﴾.

Wa-faḍlu al-Qurʾāni ʿalā sāʾiri al-kalāmi kafaḍli Allāhi ʿalā khalqihi, wa-qad qāla taʿālā: ﴿fa-ʾidhā qaraʾta al-Qurʾāna fa-istaʿidh bi-Allāhi mina al-shayṭāni al-rajīmi﴾.

The superiority of the Qurʾān over all other speech is like God's superiority over His creation. The Most High has said: “When you recite the Qurʾān, seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا إِنَّمَا يَدْعُو حِزْبَهُ لِيَكُونُوا مِنْ أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿ʾinna al-shayṭāna lakum ʿaduwwun fa-ittakhidhūhu ʿaduwwan ʾinnamā yadʿū ḥizbahu liyakūnū min ʾaṣḥābi al-saʿīri﴾.

And He says: “Satan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy. He calls his party only so that they may be among the inhabitants of the Blaze.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي إِنَّ رَبِّي غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿ʾinna al-nafsa laʾammāratun bi-al-sūʾi ʾillā mā raḥima rabbī ʾinna rabbī ghafūrun raḥīmun﴾.

And He says: “The self persistently commands evil, except where my Lord has mercy. My Lord is forgiving and merciful.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَكَذٰلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِي نَفْسِي﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-ka-dhālika sawwalat lī nafsī﴾.

And He says: “Thus my self enticed me.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿فَطَوَّعَتْ لَهُ نَفْسُهُ قَتْلَ أَخِيهِ فَقَتَلَهُ فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿fa-ṭawwaʿat lahu nafsuhu qatla ʾakhīhi fa-qatalahu fa-ʾaṣbaḥa mina al-khāsirīna﴾.

And He says: “His self made it easy for him to kill his brother, so he killed him and became one of the losers.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنْفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿qāla bal sawwalat lakum ʾanfusukum ʾamran fa-ṣabrun jamīlun﴾.

And He says: “He said: Rather, your selves have enticed you into something. So, beautiful patience.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-laqad khalaqnā al-ʾinsāna wa-naʿlamu mā tuwaswisu bihi nafsuhu﴾.

And He says: “We created the human being and know what his self whispers to him.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ الْهَوَى فَيُضِلَّكَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-lā tattabiʿi al-hawā fa-yuḍillaka ʿan sabīli Allāhi﴾.

And He says: “Do not follow desire, lest it lead you astray from God's way.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنِ اتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ بِغَيْرِ هُدًى مِنَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-man ʾaḍallu mimmani ittabaʿa hawāhu bighayri hudan mina Allāhi ʾinna Allāha lā yahdī al-qawma al-ẓālimīna﴾.

And He says: “Who is further astray than someone who follows his desire without guidance from God? God does not guide wrongdoing people.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-ittabaʿa hawāhu wa-kāna ʾamruhu furuṭan﴾.

And He says: “He followed his desire, and his conduct became excessive.”

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَكَذَّبُوا وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءَهُمْ﴾.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-kadhdhabū wa-ittabaʿū ʾahwāʾahum﴾.

And He says: “They denied and followed their desires.”

مَعَ أَشْيَاءَ كَثِيرَةٍ فِي ذِكْرِ عَدَاوَةِ إِبْلِيسَ وَذَمِّ النَّفْسِ وَالْهَوَى.

Maʿa ʾashyāʾa kathīratin fī dhikri ʿadāwati ʾIblīsa wa-dhammi al-nafsi wa-al-hawā.

There are many other passages describing Iblis's enmity and condemning the self and desire.

Source page 60

مُرَاجَعَةُ النَّفْسِ

Murājaʿatu al-nafsi

Reexamining the self

كَيْفَ يَعْرِفُ الْإِنْسَانُ سَلَامَتَهُ مِنَ الْآفَاتِ

Kayfa yaʿrifu al-ʾinsānu salāmatahu mina al-ʾāfāti

How a person knows he is free from defects

قُلْتُ: إِنِّي أَرَى مِنَ النَّاسِ أَشْيَاءَ يُعَابُ مِثْلُهَا، وَأُحِبُّ أَنْ أَسْلَمَ مِنَ التَّعْيِيرِ وَالِازْدِرَاءِ وَالْعَيْبِ، فَلَا أَدْرِي أَسَلِمَتْ مِنْهُ نَفْسِي أَمْ لَا.

Qultu: ʾinnī ʾarā mina al-nāsi ʾashyāʾa yuʿābu mithluhā, wa-ʾuḥibbu ʾan ʾaslama mina al-taʿyīri wa-al-izdirāʾi wa-al-ʿaybi, fa-lā ʾadrī ʾasalimat minhu nafsī ʾam lā.

I said: I see things in people of a kind that deserves blame, and I want to remain free of reproaching them, looking down on them, and finding fault. Yet I do not know whether my own self is free of this or not.

فَقَالَ: إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ عِنْدَ مَعْرِفَةِ عَيْبِ نَفْسِهِ أَبْلَهُ، وَعِنْدَ مَعْرِفَةِ عَيْبِ غَيْرِهِ جِهْبِيذٌ، فَيَحْتَقِرُ عَيْبَ أَهْلِ كُلِّ صِنَاعَةٍ وَأَهْلِ كُلِّ عَمَلٍ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ، وَيَحْتَقِرُ عَيْبَ مَنْ هُوَ فِي مِثْلِ مَرْتَبَتِهِ، وَيَسْتَعْظِمُ ذٰلِكَ مِنْ كُلِّ مَنْ رَآهُ مِنْهُ. فَإِذَا أَتَى عَلَى عَيْبِ نَفْسِهِ جَازَهُ إِلَى عُيُوبِهِمْ، كَأَنَّهُ أَعْمَى عَنْهُ لَمْ يَرَهُ.

Fa-qāla: ʾinna al-ʾinsāna ʿinda maʿrifati ʿaybi nafsihi ʾablahu, wa-ʿinda maʿrifati ʿaybi ghayrihi jihbīdhun, fa-yaḥtaqiru ʿayba ʾahli kulli ṣināʿatin wa-ʾahli kulli ʿamalin min ʾaʿmāli al-dunyā wa-al-ʾākhirati, wa-yaḥtaqiru ʿayba man huwa fī mithli martabatihi, wa-yastaʿẓimu dhālika min kulli man raʾāhu minhu. Fa-ʾidhā ʾatā ʿalā ʿaybi nafsihi jāzahu ʾilā ʿuyūbihim, kaʾannahu ʾaʿmā ʿanhu lam yarahu.

He replied: when it comes to recognizing his own fault, a person is a fool; when it comes to recognizing someone else's, he is an expert. He looks with contempt on the faults of people in every craft and every kind of worldly or religious work, and on the fault of someone at his own level. He treats it as something enormous in everyone in whom he sees it. But when he comes to his own fault, he passes over it to theirs, as though blind to it, as though he had not seen it.

وَهُوَ يَطْلُبُ الْعُذْرَ لِنَفْسِهِ وَلَا يَطْلُبُهُ لِغَيْرِهِ، فَهُوَ فِي طَلَبِ عُذْرِهَا جِهْبِيذٌ وَفِي طَلَبِ عُذْرِ غَيْرِهَا أَبْلَهُ، وَهُوَ يُضْمِرُ عِنْدَ ذٰلِكَ لِصَاحِبِهِ مَا يَكْرَهُ أَنْ يُضْمِرَ لَهُ غَيْرُهُ لَوْ رَأَى مِنْهُ مِثْلَ ذٰلِكَ الْعَيْبِ.

Wa-huwa yaṭlubu al-ʿudhra linafsihi wa-lā yaṭlubuhu lighayrihi, fa-huwa fī ṭalabi ʿudhrihā jihbīdhun wa-fī ṭalabi ʿudhri ghayrihā ʾablahu, wa-huwa yuḍmiru ʿinda dhālika liṣāḥibihi mā yakrahu ʾan yuḍmira lahu ghayruhu law raʾā minhu mithla dhālika al-ʿaybi.

He seeks excuses for himself but not for others. In finding an excuse for his own self, he is an expert; in finding one for another, he is a fool. At the same time, he harbors toward his fellow what he would dislike someone else to harbor toward him if that person saw the same fault in him.

فَإِذَا رَأَيْتَ عَيْبًا أَوْ زَلَّةً أَوْ عَثْرَةً مِنْ غَيْرِكَ، فَاجْعَلْ نَفْسَكَ مَكَانَهُ، ثُمَّ انْظُرِ الَّذِي كُنْتَ تُحِبُّ أَنْ يَسْتَقْبِلَكَ بِهِ لَوْ رَأَى مِنْكَ مِثْلَ الَّذِي رَأَيْتَ مِنْهُ، وَأَضْمِرْ ذٰلِكَ لَهُ فِي نَفْسِكَ، فَإِنَّهُ يُحِبُّ مِنْكَ مِثْلَ مَا كُنْتَ تُحِبُّهُ مِنْهُ.

Fa-ʾidhā raʾayta ʿayban ʾaw zallatan ʾaw ʿathratan min ghayrika, fa-ijʿal nafsaka makānahu, thumma unẓuri alladhī kunta tuḥibbu ʾan yastaqbilaka bihi law raʾā minka mithla alladhī raʾayta minhu, wa-ʾaḍmir dhālika lahu fī nafsika, fa-ʾinnahu yuḥibbu minka mithla mā kunta tuḥibbuhu minhu.

When you see a fault, a lapse, or a stumble in someone else, put yourself in his place. Consider how you would want him to respond to you if he saw in you what you saw in him, and hold that disposition toward him within yourself. He wants from you what you would want from him.

وَهٰكَذَا إِذَا رَأَيْتَ مَا يُسْتَحْسَنُ فَأَرَدْتَ أَنْ تَعْرِفَ عِلْمَ السَّلَامَةِ مِنَ الْحَسَدِ لَهُ.

Wa-hākadhā ʾidhā raʾayta mā yustaḥsanu fa-ʾaradta ʾan taʿrifa ʿilma al-salāmati mina al-ḥasadi lahu.

Do the same when you see something praiseworthy and want to know how to remain free of envying its possessor.

وَبِالْحَرِيِّ أَنْ يَكُونَ أَخَفَّ النَّاسِ عَلَيْكَ عِنْدَ الزَّلَّةِ مَنْ يَطْلُبُ لِزَلَّتِكَ عُذْرًا وَمَخْرَجًا، فَإِذَا لَمْ يَجِدْ لِلْعُذْرِ مَوْضِعًا سَاءَهُ ذٰلِكَ وَأَخْفَى مَكَانَهُ، وَعِنْدَ حَسَنَتِكَ يُسَرُّ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يُسَرَّ لَمْ تَسُؤْهُ.

Wa-bi-al-ḥariyyi ʾan yakūna ʾakhaffa al-nāsi ʿalayka ʿinda al-zallati man yaṭlubu lizallatika ʿudhran wa-makhrajan, fa-ʾidhā lam yajid li-al-ʿudhri mawḍiʿan sāʾahu dhālika wa-ʾakhfā makānahu, wa-ʿinda ḥasanatika yusarru, fa-ʾin lam yusarra lam tasuʾhu.

The person you are likely to find easiest to bear when you stumble is someone who seeks an excuse and a way out for your lapse. If he can find no room for an excuse, he is saddened and conceals the matter. When you do something good, he is pleased; if he is not pleased, at least it does not distress him.

Source pages 60–61

فَهٰكَذَا فَكُنْ لَهُمْ عِنْدَ الزَّلَّةِ وَعِنْدَ الْحَسَنَةِ، فَإِذَا كُنْتَ كَذٰلِكَ فَلَا تُحِبَّ إِزَالَةَ نِعْمَةٍ أَنْعَمَهَا اللَّهُ عَلَى أَحَدٍ فِي دِينٍ وَلَا فِي دُنْيَا، وَلَا تُحِبَّ أَنْ يُقِيمَ أَحَدٌ عَلَى مَعْصِيَةِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى، وَلَا تُحِبَّ أَنْ يُهْتَكَ سِتْرُهُ عِنْدَ زَلَّتِهِ، فَإِنَّكَ إِذَا فَعَلْتَ ذٰلِكَ بِقَلْبِكَ زَالَ عَنْ قَلْبِكَ الْحَسَدُ عَنِ الدِّينِ وَالدُّنْيَا جَمِيعًا.

Fa-hākadhā fa-kun lahum ʿinda al-zallati wa-ʿinda al-ḥasanati, fa-ʾidhā kunta ka-dhālika fa-lā tuḥibba ʾizālata niʿmatin ʾanʿamahā Allāhu ʿalā ʾaḥadin fī dīnin wa-lā fī dunyā, wa-lā tuḥibba ʾan yuqīma ʾaḥadun ʿalā maʿṣiyati Allāhi taʿālā, wa-lā tuḥibba ʾan yuhtaka sitruhu ʿinda zallatihi, fa-ʾinnaka ʾidhā faʿalta dhālika biqalbika zāla ʿan qalbika al-ḥasadu ʿani al-dīni wa-al-dunyā jamīʿan.

Be that way toward them when they stumble and when they do good. Once you are like this, do not wish away a blessing God has bestowed on anyone, whether in religion or worldly life. Do not wish anyone to persist in disobeying God Most High, and do not wish his concealment to be torn away when he stumbles. If you do this within your heart, envy concerning both religion and worldly life will depart from your heart.

Source page 61

وَمَتَى غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْكَ الْمُسَابَقَةُ إِلَى ضَمِيرِكَ بِسُوءِ الْمَحْضَرِ، فَلَا تُغْلَبَنَّ عَلَى مُشَاهَدَتِهِ بِحُسْنِ الْمُرَاجَعَةِ مِنْ جَمِيعِ أُمُورِكَ.

Wa-matā ghalabat ʿalayka al-musābaqatu ʾilā ḍamīrika bisūʾi al-maḥḍari, fa-lā tughlabanna ʿalā mushāhadatihi biḥusni al-murājaʿati min jamīʿi ʾumūrika.

Whenever harmful thoughts win the race into your conscience, do not let yourself be defeated in observing them through careful self-examination in all your affairs.

عِلْمُ السَّلَامَةِ بِالْمُرَاجَعَةِ وَالتَّفْتِيشِ

ʿIlmu al-salāmati bi-al-murājaʿati wa-al-taftīshi

Knowing safety through self-examination and scrutiny

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّكَ مَسْبُوقٌ إِلَى ضَمِيرِكَ بِالْحَسَدِ وَسُوءِ الظَّنِّ وَالْحِقْدِ، فَاجْعَلِ الْمُرَاجَعَةَ شُغْلًا لَازِمًا، وَكُنْ وَقَّافًا، كَمَا قَالَ الْأَوَّلُ: الْمُؤْمِنُ وَقَّافٌ وَلَيْسَ كَحَاطِبِ لَيْلٍ.

Wa-iʿlam ʾannaka masbūqun ʾilā ḍamīrika bi-al-ḥasadi wa-sūʾi al-ẓanni wa-al-ḥiqdi, fa-ijʿali al-murājaʿata shughlan lāziman, wa-kun waqqāfan, kamā qāla al-ʾawwalu: al-muʾminu waqqāfun wa-laysa kaḥāṭibi laylin.

Know that envy, suspicion, and rancor can reach your conscience before you do. Make self-examination a constant occupation, and be someone who often pauses, as an earlier authority said: “The believer often pauses; he is not like someone gathering firewood in the dark.”

فَقِفْ وَطَالِعْ زَوَايَا ضَمِيرِكَ بِعَيْنٍ حَدِيدَةِ النَّظَرِ نَافِذَةِ الْبَصَرِ، فَإِذَا رَأَيْتَ أَمْرًا مَحْمُودًا فَاحْمَدِ اللَّهَ وَامْضِ، وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَ مَكْرُوهًا دَارَكْتَهُ بِحُسْنِ الْمُرَاجَعَةِ وَاسْتَقْصَيْتَ فِيهِ،

Fa-qif wa-ṭāliʿ zawāyā ḍamīrika biʿaynin ḥadīdati al-naẓari nāfidhati al-baṣari, fa-ʾidhā raʾayta ʾamran maḥmūdan fa-iḥmadi Allāha wa-imḍi, wa-ʾidhā raʾayta makrūhan dāraktahu biḥusni al-murājaʿati wa-istaqṣayta fīhi,

Pause and inspect the corners of your conscience with a keen, penetrating eye. When you find something praiseworthy, thank God and proceed. When you find something objectionable, remedy it through careful self-examination and investigate it thoroughly.

فَإِنَّ الَّذِي دَخَلَ بَيْتَكَ وَلَمْ يَسْتَأْذِنْكَ سَوْفَ يَخْتَبِئُ فِيهِ، وَإِنْ كَانَ مُظْلِمًا فَأَنْتَ لَا تَشْعُرُ، إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ مَعَكَ سِرَاجٌ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ مُضِيءٌ وَاضِحٌ، وَيَكُونَ مَعَكَ مِنَ الْعِنَايَةِ بِأَخْذِهِ وَالْإِنْكَارِ لِمَا دَخَلَ فِيهِ مَا لَا صَبْرَ لَهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَا طَاقَةَ لَهُ بِهِ.

fa-ʾinna alladhī dakhala baytaka wa-lam yastaʾdhinka sawfa yakhtabiʾu fīhi, wa-ʾin kāna muẓliman fa-ʾanta lā tashʿuru, ʾillā ʾan yakūna maʿaka sirājun mina al-ʿilmi muḍīʾun wāḍiḥun, wa-yakūna maʿaka mina al-ʿināyati bi-ʾakhdhihi wa-al-ʾinkāri limā dakhala fīhi mā lā ṣabra lahu ʿalayhi wa-lā ṭāqata lahu bihi.

Someone who entered your house without asking your permission will hide within it; if it is dark, you will not notice, unless you have a clear, shining lamp of knowledge and such determined care to seize him and reject what he has entered into that he can neither endure nor withstand it.

وَلَوْ قَدْ جَرَّبْتَ لَعَرَفْتَ أَنَّ الَّذِي أَقُولُ لَكَ كَمَا أَقُولُ.

Wa-law qad jarrabta laʿarafta ʾanna alladhī ʾaqūlu laka kamā ʾaqūlu.

If you had tried this, you would know that what I tell you is just as I say.

يَدْخُلُ دَاخِلٌ مَنْزِلَكَ بِغَيْرِ إِذْنِكَ، وَهُوَ دَاخِلٌ لَا يُؤْمَنُ أَنْ يُخَرِّبَ الْمَدْخُولَ عَلَيْهِ، فَإِنْ رَأَى الدَّاخِلُ مِنْكَ تَوَانِيًا وَتَهَاوُنًا كَانَ هُوَ الْمُقِيمَ بِالْمَنْزِلِ الْمُدَبِّرَ لَهُ، فَاسْتَوْلَى عَلَى حُرِّ بَيْتِكَ وَعَلَى حُرْمَتِكَ،

Yadkhulu dākhilun manzilaka bighayri ʾidhnika, wa-huwa dākhilun lā yuʾmanu ʾan yukharriba al-madkhūla ʿalayhi, fa-ʾin raʾā al-dākhilu minka tawāniyan wa-tahāwunan kāna huwa al-muqīma bi-al-manzili al-mudabbira lahu, fa-istawlā ʿalā ḥurri baytika wa-ʿalā ḥurmatika,

An intruder enters your home without permission, an intruder who may well ruin what he has entered. If he sees you delaying and treating him lightly, he becomes the resident and manager of the house, taking possession of your most precious household goods and what you hold inviolate.

وَإِنْ رَأَى مِنْكَ إِنْكَارًا فِيهِ ضَعْفٌ اخْتَفَى لَكَ لِيَمَسَّ سَهْوَتَكَ وَغَفْلَتَكَ، فَإِذَا وَجَدَ فُرْصَةً خَرَّبَ عَلَيْكَ مَا كُنْتَ أَصْلَحْتَ وَهَدَمَ مَا بَنَيْتَ، فَافْهَمْ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَفْهَمُ وَاقْبَلِ النُّصْحَ مِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَقْبَلُ.

wa-ʾin raʾā minka ʾinkāran fīhi ḍaʿfun ikhtafā laka liyamassa sahwataka wa-ghaflataka, fa-ʾidhā wajada furṣatan kharraba ʿalayka mā kunta ʾaṣlaḥta wa-hadama mā banayta, fa-ifham ʾin kunta tafhamu wa-iqbali al-nuṣḥa mina al-nāṣiḥīna ʾin kunta taqbalu.

If he sees only weak resistance, he hides from you, probing for your inattention and heedlessness. When he finds an opening, he ruins what you had put right and demolishes what you had built. Understand, if you are capable of understanding, and accept counsel from those who counsel you, if you are willing to accept it.

فَلَوْ رَحَلْتَ فِيمَا أَخَذَتِ الْمَطَايَا فَبَلَغْتَ حَيْثُ تَبْلُغُ مِنَ الْبُعْدِ، وَأَنْفَقْتَ فِي سَبِيلِ ذٰلِكَ حُرَّ بَيْتِكَ، كَانَ الَّذِي أَخَذْتَ أَكْثَرَ مِنَ الَّذِي أَنْفَقْتَ وَتَعِبْتَ،

Fa-law raḥalta fīmā ʾakhadhati al-maṭāyā fa-balaghta ḥaythu tablughu mina al-buʿdi, wa-ʾanfaqta fī sabīli dhālika ḥurra baytika, kāna alladhī ʾakhadhta ʾakthara mina alladhī ʾanfaqta wa-taʿibta,

If you traveled wherever the mounts could take you, reaching the furthest places they can reach, and spent your most precious household possessions in pursuit of this, what you gained would exceed what you spent and the hardship you endured.

Source pages 61–62

فَإِنَّكَ تَجِدُ الْخَيْرَ الْكَثِيرَ فِي مِيزَانِكَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِصِدْقِ الْمُرَاجَعَةِ وَمُبَادَرَتِهَا قَبْلَ أَنْ تَبْرُدَ عَنْكَ حَلَاوَتُهَا، فَإِنَّهَا مَوْهِبَةٌ عَظِيمَةٌ مِنْ مَوَاهِبِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى، أَكْرَمَ بِهَا أَهْلَ خَاصَّتِهِ وَعَظَّمَ النِّعْمَةَ عَلَيْهِمْ فِيهَا، فَإِنَّ عِظَمَ النِّعْمَةِ عَلَى قَدْرِ الْحَاجَةِ.

fa-ʾinnaka tajidu al-khayra al-kathīra fī mīzānika yawma al-qiyāmati biṣidqi al-murājaʿati wa-mubādaratihā qabla ʾan tabruda ʿanka ḥalāwatuhā, fa-ʾinnahā mawhibatun ʿaẓīmatun min mawāhibi Allāhi taʿālā, ʾakrama bihā ʾahla khāṣṣatihi wa-ʿaẓẓama al-niʿmata ʿalayhim fīhā, fa-ʾinna ʿiẓama al-niʿmati ʿalā qadri al-ḥājati.

Through sincere self-examination and hastening to it before its sweetness grows cold for you, you will find abundant good in your scale on the Day of Resurrection. It is an immense gift among the gifts of God Most High, with which He has honored His chosen servants and greatly blessed them. The greatness of a blessing corresponds to the need for it.

Source page 62

فَانْظُرْ هَلْ رَاجَعْتَ نَفْسَكَ وَأَمْرَكَ إِلَّا وَقَدْ وَجَدْتَ فِيهِ مَوْضِعَ مَرَمَّةٍ وَمَصْلَحَةٍ أَوْ وَجَدْتَ مَفْسُودًا بِعَيْنِهِ، فَلَوْ لَمْ تُلْحِقْهُ بِالْمُرَاجَعَةِ لَكَانَ ذَاهِبًا إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ.

Fa-unẓur hal rājaʿta nafsaka wa-ʾamraka ʾillā wa-qad wajadta fīhi mawḍiʿa marammatin wa-maṣlaḥatin ʾaw wajadta mafsūdan biʿaynihi, fa-law lam tulḥiqhu bi-al-murājaʿati lakāna dhāhiban ʾilā yawmi al-qiyāmati.

Consider: have you ever reexamined yourself and your affairs without finding something to repair and improve, or a particular thing that was corrupt? Had you not caught it through self-examination, it would have gone on until the Day of Resurrection.

الْمُرَاجَعَةُ أَسَاسُ السُّلُوكِ الصَّحِيحِ

Al-murājaʿatu ʾasāsu al-sulūki al-ṣaḥīḥi

Self-examination is the foundation of sound spiritual conduct

وَاعْلَمْ أَنِّي إِنَّمَا أُكْثِرُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَى نَفْسِي مِنْ ذِكْرِ الْمُرَاجَعَةِ لِمَا قَدِ اسْتَبَانَ لِي مِنَ الِاضْطِرَارِ وَالْحَاجَةِ إِلَيْهَا، فَلَوْ قَدْ تَعَلَّقْتَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ فِيهَا يَكُونُ وَنِسْبَتُهَا، وَإِلَّا فَلَا. وَمَا تَرْكُكَ لَهَا إِلَّا كَالْمُسْتَأْنِسِ لِعَدُوِّهِ وَالْمُسْلِمِ نَفْسَهُ إِلَيْهِ، فَهَلَكْتَ وَأَنْتَ لَا تَشْعُرُ.

Wa-iʿlam ʾannī ʾinnamā ʾukthiru ʿalayka wa-ʿalā nafsī min dhikri al-murājaʿati limā qadi istabāna lī mina al-iḍṭirāri wa-al-ḥājati ʾilayhā, fa-law qad taʿallaqta bishayʾin mina al-khayri fīhā yakūnu wa-nisbatuhā, wa-ʾillā fa-lā. Wa-mā tarkuka lahā ʾillā ka-al-mustaʾnisi liʿaduwwihi wa-al-muslimi nafsahu ʾilayhi, fa-halakta wa-ʾanta lā tashʿuru.

Know that I speak so often to you and to myself about self-examination only because its necessity and our need for it have become clear to me. If you take hold of any good, it comes about through this examination and in proportion to it; otherwise it does not [the printed construction is uncertain]. To abandon it is like becoming familiar with your enemy and handing yourself over to him: you perish without realizing it.

وَإِنْ كُنْتَ مُتَهَاوِنًا بِمَا أَقُولُ لَكَ، فَإِنَّ أَكْثَرَ حَاجَتِكَ إِلَيْهَا فِي صَلَاةِ الْفَرِيضَةِ، ثُمَّ بَعْدَهَا، وَهَلُمَّ جَرًّا فِي جَمِيعِ أُمُورِكَ.

Wa-ʾin kunta mutahāwinan bimā ʾaqūlu laka, fa-ʾinna ʾakthara ḥājatika ʾilayhā fī ṣalāti al-farīḍati, thumma baʿdahā, wa-halumma jarran fī jamīʿi ʾumūrika.

If you treat what I tell you lightly, your greatest need for it is in the obligatory prayer, then after it, and so on throughout all your affairs.

وَلَوْ كُنْتَ مِمَّنْ يَتَفَقَّدُ أَمْرَهُ لَعَلِمْتَ مَاذَا دَخَلَ عَلَيْكَ مِنَ النَّدَامَةِ وَالْحَسْرَةِ حَيْثُ فَارَقَتْكَ الْمُرَاجَعَةُ فِي صَلَاةِ الْفَرِيضَةِ، فَلَمْ تَدْرِ مَاذَا قَرَأَ إِمَامُكَ، وَلَمْ تَدْرِ أَفِي فَرْضٍ كُنْتَ أَمْ فِي نَافِلَةٍ، فِي صَلَاةٍ كُنْتَ أَمْ فِي غَيْرِهَا، وَأَنْتَ فِي رَأْيِ الْعَيْنِ مِمَّنْ يُنَاجِي رَبَّهُ.

Wa-law kunta mimman yatafaqqadu ʾamrahu laʿalimta mādhā dakhala ʿalayka mina al-nadāmati wa-al-ḥasrati ḥaythu fāraqatka al-murājaʿatu fī ṣalāti al-farīḍati, fa-lam tadri mādhā qaraʾa ʾimāmuka, wa-lam tadri ʾafī farḍin kunta ʾam fī nāfilatin, fī ṣalātin kunta ʾam fī ghayrihā, wa-ʾanta fī raʾyi al-ʿayni mimman yunājī rabbahu.

If you were someone who inspected his own condition, you would know the regret and anguish that came upon you when self-examination left you during the obligatory prayer. You did not know what your imam had recited, whether you were in an obligatory or a voluntary prayer, or whether you were praying at all, even while outwardly appearing to be someone addressing his Lord intimately.

قَدْ أَصْغَيْتَ بِأُذُنَيْكَ إِلَى إِمَامِكَ، وَتَخَشَّعْتَ بِوُقُوفِكَ، وَفَرَّغْتَ قَلْبَكَ لِاسْتِمَاعِ مَا يَقْرَأُ إِمَامُكَ مِنْ كَلَامِ رَبِّكَ فِي صَلَاةِ فَرِيضَتِكَ الَّتِي لَيْسَ شَيْءٌ أَوْجَبَ عَلَيْكَ مِنْهَا، فَرَجَعْتَ مِنْهَا وَقَدْ ظَهَرَ مِنْكَ مَا وَصَفْنَا، وَأَنْتَ كَمَنْ لَمْ يَشْهَدْهَا، لِقِلَّةِ ضَبْطِكَ بِالْمُرَاجَعَةِ لِنَفْسِكَ فِيهَا.

Qad ʾaṣghayta bi-ʾudhunayka ʾilā ʾimāmika, wa-takhashshaʿta biwuqūfika, wa-farraghta qalbaka li-istimāʿi mā yaqraʾu ʾimāmuka min kalāmi rabbika fī ṣalāti farīḍatika allatī laysa shayʾun ʾawjaba ʿalayka minhā, fa-rajaʿta minhā wa-qad ẓahara minka mā waṣafnā, wa-ʾanta kaman lam yash-had-hā, liqillati ḍabṭika bi-al-murājaʿati linafsika fīhā.

You listened with your ears to your imam, stood in an attitude of humility, and cleared your heart to hear what your imam recited of your Lord's speech in your obligatory prayer, than which nothing is more binding upon you. Yet you returned from it, having displayed all we described, as though you had never attended it, because you exercised so little control through self-examination during it.

وَلَعَلَّ الَّذِي حَضَرْتَ مِنْهَا بِقَلْبِكَ أَوْ عَقَلْتَهُ فَلَمْ تَسْهُ عَنْهُ، لَوْ قِيلَ لَكَ: أَتُحِبُّ أَنْ يَكُونَ ذٰلِكَ مِنْكَ كَمَا كُنْتَ سَاهِيًا وَلَكَ مِائَةُ أَلْفِ دِينَارٍ؟ لَقُلْتَ: لَا.

Wa-laʿalla alladhī ḥaḍarta minhā biqalbika ʾaw ʿaqaltahu fa-lam tas-hu ʿanhu, law qīla laka: ʾatuḥibbu ʾan yakūna dhālika minka kamā kunta sāhiyan wa-laka miʾatu ʾalfi dīnārin? Laqulta: lā.

As for the part of it in which your heart was present, or which you understood without becoming inattentive, if you were asked, “Would you like that part too to have been like the part in which you were distracted, in exchange for a hundred thousand dinars?” you would surely answer, “No.”

فَاعْتَنِ الْآنَ بِتَعَاهُدِ هٰذِهِ الْمُرَاجَعَةِ عَلَى قَدْرِ مَا عَرَفْتَ مِنْ حَاجَتِكَ إِلَيْهَا، فَإِنَّمَا لَكَ مِنْ عُمْرِكَ تَيَقُّظُكَ، وَتَيَقُّظُكَ مُرَاجَعَةُ مَا فِيهِ مَنْفَعَتُكَ وَقُرْبَتُكَ وَالْمَصِيرُ إِلَيْهِ بِالْعَقْلِ،

Fa-iʿtani al-ʾāna bitaʿāhudi hādhihi al-murājaʿati ʿalā qadri mā ʿarafta min ḥājatika ʾilayhā, fa-ʾinnamā laka min ʿumrika tayaqquẓuka, wa-tayaqquẓuka murājaʿatu mā fīhi manfaʿatuka wa-qurbatuka wa-al-maṣīru ʾilayhi bi-al-ʿaqli,

Now take care to maintain this self-examination in proportion to what you have recognized of your need for it. The only part of your lifetime truly yours is your alertness. Alertness means reviewing what benefits you and brings you near to God, then moving toward it through reason.

Source pages 62–63

وَمَا سِوَى ذٰلِكَ غَفْلَةٌ وَسَهْوٌ يُؤَدِّيَانِ إِلَى شَهْوَةٍ فِيهَا غَلَيَانُ قَلْبِكَ، وَفِي ذٰلِكَ مُوَافَقَةُ نَفْسِكَ الْأَمَّارَةِ بِالسُّوءِ وَالْهَوَى الْمُضِلِّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ الْعَادِلِ بِأَهْلِهِ عَنْ طَرِيقِ مَحَبَّتِهِ،

wa-mā siwā dhālika ghaflatun wa-sahwun yuʾaddiyāni ʾilā shahwatin fīhā ghalayānu qalbika, wa-fī dhālika muwāfaqatu nafsika al-ʾammārati bi-al-sūʾi wa-al-hawā al-muḍilli ʿan sabīli Allāhi al-ʿādili bi-ʾahlihi ʿan ṭarīqi maḥabbatihi,

Everything else is heedlessness and inattention, leading to desire that makes your heart seethe. In that you comply with your self, which persistently commands evil, and with desire that leads away from God's way and turns its followers aside from the path of His love.

Source page 63

وَفِي ذٰلِكَ تَوَثُّبُ الْعَدُوِّ الْخَبِيثِ الَّذِي لَا يَأْلُوكَ خَبَالًا، الَّذِي يَجْرِي مِنْكَ مَجْرَى الدَّمِ، الَّذِي يَرَاكَ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا تَرَاهُمْ.

wa-fī dhālika tawaththubu al-ʿaduwwi al-khabīthi alladhī lā yaʾlūka khabālan, alladhī yajrī minka majrā al-dami, alladhī yarāka huwa wa-qabīluhu min ḥaythu lā tarāhum.

In that lies the assault of the evil enemy who spares no effort to corrupt you, who flows through you like blood, and who, together with his band, sees you from where you do not see them.

قَالَ مَالِكُ بْنُ دِينَارٍ: قُلُوبُ الْأَبْرَارِ تَغْلِي بِأَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ، وَقُلُوبُ الْفُجَّارِ تَغْلِي بِأَعْمَالِ الْفُجُورِ. فَتَعَاهَدْ أَمْرَكَ بِالْمُرَاجَعَةِ، فَإِنْ ‹دأبت› مَكْرُوهًا أَصْلَحْتَهُ وَتَحَوَّلْتَ عَنْهُ، وَإِنْ رَأَيْتَ غَيْرَ ذٰلِكَ حَمِدْتَ اللَّهَ وَكَانَتْ عِنَايَتُكَ بِذٰلِكَ زِيَادَةً لَكَ أَوْ قُرْبَةً.

Qāla Māliku bnu Dīnārin: qulūbu al-ʾabrāri taghlī bi-ʾaʿmāli al-birri, wa-qulūbu al-fujjāri taghlī bi-ʾaʿmāli al-fujūri. Fa-taʿāhad ʾamraka bi-al-murājaʿati, fa-ʾin ‹dʾbt› makrūhan ʾaṣlaḥtahu wa-taḥawwalta ʿanhu, wa-ʾin raʾayta ghayra dhālika ḥamidta Allāha wa-kānat ʿināyatuka bi-dhālika ziyādatan laka ʾaw qurbatan.

Mālik ibn Dīnār said: “The hearts of the righteous seethe with good deeds, and the hearts of the wicked seethe with wicked deeds.” Tend to your affairs through self-examination. If you [an unclear word, apparently “see”] something objectionable, you put it right and turn away from it. If you see otherwise, you thank God, and your care in doing so becomes an increase in good for you or a means of nearness to Him.

وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَ لَكَ عِنَايَةً بِالْمُرَاجَعَةِ فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهَا نِعْمَةٌ وَقُرْبَةٌ مِنْ أَعْظَمِ نِعَمِ اللَّهِ، وَأَحَقُّ مَنْ أَحْسَنْتَ صُحْبَتَهُ نِعَمُ اللَّهِ الَّتِي مِفْتَاحُ خَزَائِنِهَا رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ، فَاِلْتَمِسِ الزِّيَادَةَ مِنْهَا بِالشُّكْرِ عَلَيْهَا، وَأَحَقُّ مَنْ أَسَأْتَ صُحْبَتَهُ نَفْسُكَ الْأَمَّارَةُ بِالسُّوءِ، وَالْإِسَاءَةُ إِلَيْهَا مُخَالَفَتُهَا، فَإِنَّ فِي مُخَالَفَتِهَا مُوَافَقَةَ مَرْضَاةِ اللَّهِ.

Wa-ʾidhā raʾayta laka ʿināyatan bi-al-murājaʿati fa-iʿlam ʾannahā niʿmatun wa-qurbatun min ʾaʿẓami niʿami Allāhi, wa-ʾaḥaqqu man ʾaḥsanta ṣuḥbatahu niʿamu Allāhi allatī miftāḥu khazāʾinihā raḥmatu Allāhi, fa-iltamisi al-ziyādata minhā bi-al-shukri ʿalayhā, wa-ʾaḥaqqu man ʾasaʾta ṣuḥbatahu nafsuka al-ʾammāratu bi-al-sūʾi, wa-al-ʾisāʾatu ʾilayhā mukhālafatuhā, fa-ʾinna fī mukhālafatihā muwāfaqata marḍāti Allāhi.

When you find yourself taking care to reexamine yourself, know that this is a blessing and a means of nearness among God's greatest blessings. What most deserves your good companionship is God's blessings, whose storehouses are unlocked by His mercy. Seek an increase of them by giving thanks for them. What most deserves to be treated harshly is your own self, which persistently commands evil; treating it harshly means opposing it, for opposing it accords with what pleases God.

التَّهَاوُنُ فِي الْيَسِيرِ يُوقِعُ فِي الْكَبِيرِ

Al-tahāwunu fī al-yasīri yūqiʿu fī al-kabīri

Taking small matters lightly leads to great wrongdoing

قُلْتُ: فَمَنْ أَهْلُ الْإِرَادَةِ؟ قَالَ: مَنْ لَمْ يَتَخَطَّ عَيْبًا وَلَا عَوْرَةً إِلَى نَافِلَةٍ.

Qultu: fa-man ʾahlu al-ʾirādati? Qāla: man lam yatakhaṭṭa ʿayban wa-lā ʿawratan ʾilā nāfilatin.

I asked, “Who are the people of spiritual resolve?” He replied, “Those who do not step over a fault or an exposed failing in order to pursue a voluntary deed.”

قُلْتُ: فَمَا حِفْظُ اللِّسَانِ؟ قَالَ: الصَّمْتُ.

Qultu: fa-mā ḥifẓu al-lisāni? Qāla: al-ṣamtu.

I asked, “What is guarding the tongue?” He replied, “Silence.”

Source pages 63–64

قُلْتُ: فَمَا الِاحْتِيَاطُ فِي التَّحَفُّظِ عِنْدَ الْكَلَامِ؟ قَالَ: تَرْكُ ذِكْرِ عَيْبٍ مِنْ غَيْرِكَ تَرْجُو عَلَى ذِكْرِهِ إِذَا ذُكِرَ بِهِ الثَّوَابَ، لِكَيْلَا يُخْرِجَكَ ذٰلِكَ إِلَى ذِكْرِ عَيْبٍ مِنْ غَيْرِكَ تَخَافُ عَلَى ذِكْرِهِ الْعِقَابَ. وَخُذْ نَفْسَكَ بِهٰذَا الْبَابِ أَشَدَّ الْأَخْذِ، وَاحْمِلْ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَنِ اسْتَرْشَدَكَ وَأَرَادَ مِثْلَ الَّذِي تُرِيدُ.

Qultu: fa-mā al-iḥtiyāṭu fī al-taḥaffuẓi ʿinda al-kalāmi? Qāla: tarku dhikri ʿaybin min ghayrika tarjū ʿalā dhikrihi ʾidhā dhukira bihi al-thawāba, likaylā yukhrijaka dhālika ʾilā dhikri ʿaybin min ghayrika takhāfu ʿalā dhikrihi al-ʿiqāba. Wa-khudh nafsaka bi-hādhā al-bābi ʾashadda al-ʾakhdhi, wa-iḥmil ʿalayhi mina al-nāsi mani istarshadaka wa-ʾarāda mithla alladhī turīdu.

I asked, “What precaution makes one careful when speaking?” He replied, “Leaving off mention of another person's fault even when you hope for a reward for mentioning him in connection with it, lest this lead you to mention another person's fault for which you fear punishment. Hold yourself to this discipline with the greatest firmness, and urge it upon anyone who seeks your guidance and desires what you desire.”

Source page 64

فَإِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِنَّمَا يُؤْتَى مِنْ قِبَلِ التَّهَاوُنِ بِالْيَسِيرِ، وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُوقِعُ فِي الْإِثْمِ الْكَبِيرِ، وَالتَّهَاوُنُ بِالْيَسِيرِ هُوَ الْأَسَاسُ الَّذِي يُبْنَى عَلَيْهِ الْكَثِيرُ،

Fa-ʾinna al-ʿabda ʾinnamā yuʾtā min qibali al-tahāwuni bi-al-yasīri, wa-huwa alladhī yūqiʿu fī al-ʾithmi al-kabīri, wa-al-tahāwunu bi-al-yasīri huwa al-ʾasāsu alladhī yubnā ʿalayhi al-kathīru,

The servant comes to grief through taking small matters lightly, and this is what brings him into grave sin. Taking the small lightly is the foundation on which the great is built.

فَيَكُونُ أَوَّلُهُ كَانَ تَحَفُّظًا ثُمَّ صَارَ انْبِسَاطًا، ثُمَّ صَارَ مِنَ الِانْبِسَاطِ إِلَى ذِكْرِ الْيَسِيرِ، ثُمَّ صَارَ مِنَ الْيَسِيرِ إِلَى مَا هُوَ أَكْثَرُ مِنْهُ، فَلَا تَشْعُرُ حَتَّى تَرَى نَفْسَكَ حَيْثُ كُنْتَ تَكْرَهُ أَنْ تَرَى فِيهِ غَيْرَكَ، فَفِي تَرْكِ الْيَسِيرِ تَرْكُ الْيَسِيرِ وَالْكَثِيرِ.

fa-yakūnu ʾawwaluhu kāna taḥaffuẓan thumma ṣāra inbisāṭan, thumma ṣāra mina al-inbisāṭi ʾilā dhikri al-yasīri, thumma ṣāra mina al-yasīri ʾilā mā huwa ʾaktharu minhu, fa-lā tashʿuru ḥattā tarā nafsaka ḥaythu kunta takrahu ʾan tarā fīhi ghayraka, fa-fī tarki al-yasīri tarku al-yasīri wa-al-kathīri.

At first there was caution; then it became relaxed familiarity; from familiarity it moved to mentioning a small matter, and from the small to something greater. Before you realize it, you find yourself where you would have disliked seeing someone else. By leaving the small, you leave both the small and the great.

وَأَقْوَى النَّاسِ عَلَى ذٰلِكَ وَأَصْدَقُهُمْ عَزْمًا هُوَ الَّذِي إِذَا عَزَمَ أَمْضَى عَزْمَهُ وَلَمْ يَلْوِ، وَأَضْعَفُ النَّاسِ فِي ذٰلِكَ أَضْعَفُهُمْ عَزْمًا، وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَعْزِمُ ثُمَّ يَحُلُّ عَزْمَهُ وَلَا يَكَادُ يُمْضِي عَزْمًا.

Wa-ʾaqwā al-nāsi ʿalā dhālika wa-ʾaṣdaquhum ʿazman huwa alladhī ʾidhā ʿazama ʾamḍā ʿazmahu wa-lam yalwi, wa-ʾaḍʿafu al-nāsi fī dhālika ʾaḍʿafuhum ʿazman, wa-huwa alladhī yaʿzimu thumma yaḥullu ʿazmahu wa-lā yakādu yumḍī ʿazman.

The strongest person in this, and the most sincere in resolve, is someone who carries his resolution through once he has made it, without turning aside. The weakest person is the weakest in resolve: he resolves, then undoes his resolution, and scarcely ever carries one through.

فَهٰذَا الَّذِي يَتَلَاعَبُ بِهِ الشَّيْطَانُ وَالْهَوَى وَالنَّفْسُ، لَيْسَ لَهُ عِنْدَهُمْ قَدْرٌ، لِكَثْرَةِ مَعْرِفَتِهِمْ بِتَنَاقُصِ عَزْمِهِ وَقِلَّةِ اسْتِعْمَالِهِ، وَأُولُو الْعَزْمِ مِنَ النَّاسِ أَفَاضِلُ الْخَلْقِ مِنْ كُلِّ طَبَقَةٍ.

Fa-hādhā alladhī yatalāʿabu bihi al-shayṭānu wa-al-hawā wa-al-nafsu, laysa lahu ʿindahum qadrun, likathrati maʿrifatihim bitanāquṣi ʿazmihi wa-qillati istiʿmālihi, wa-ʾulū al-ʿazmi mina al-nāsi ʾafāḍilu al-khalqi min kulli ṭabaqatin.

This is the person whom Satan, desire, and the self toy with. He has no standing with them, because they know so well how his resolve dwindles and how little he puts it into practice. People of firm resolve are the finest of creation in every class.

Source page 65

الْقَرِيبُ مِنَ التَّوْبَةِ وَالْبَعِيدُ مِنْهَا

Al-qarību mina al-tawbati wa-al-baʿīdu minhā

Those near to repentance and those far from it

صِدْقُ النَّدَمِ وَعَلَامَتُهُ

Ṣidqu al-nadami wa-ʿalāmatuhu

Genuine remorse and its sign

قُلْتُ: فَمَنْ أَرْجَى النَّاسِ لِقَبُولِ التَّوْبَةِ مِنْهُمْ؟ قَالَ: أَشَدُّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَأَصْدَقُهُمْ نَدَامَةً عَلَى مَا كَانَ مِنْهُ وَمَا شَاهَدَهُ اللَّهُ وَاطَّلَعَ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ زَلَلِهِ وَخَطَلِهِ وَطُولِ غَفْلَتِهِ وَدَوَامِ إِعْرَاضِهِ، وَأَحْسَنُهُمْ تَحَفُّظًا فِيمَا يَسْتَقْبِلُ، وَإِنِ اسْتَوَوْا فِي ذٰلِكَ فَأَشَدُّهُمْ اجْتِهَادًا فِي الْعَمَلِ.

Qultu: fa-man ʾarjā al-nāsi liqabūli al-tawbati minhum? Qāla: ʾashadduhum khawfan wa-ʾaṣdaquhum nadāmatan ʿalā mā kāna minhu wa-mā shāhadahu Allāhu wa-iṭṭalaʿa ʿalayhi min zalalihi wa-khaṭalihi wa-ṭūli ghaflatihi wa-dawāmi ʾiʿrāḍihi, wa-ʾaḥsanuhum taḥaffuẓan fīmā yastaqbilu, wa-ʾini istawaw fī dhālika fa-ʾashadduhum ijtihādan fī al-ʿamali.

I asked, “Whose repentance offers the greatest hope of acceptance?” He replied, “The one who fears most and is most genuinely remorseful for what he has done: the lapses, foolishness, prolonged heedlessness, and unceasing turning away that God witnessed and saw within him; and the one most careful in what lies ahead. If they are equal in that, then the one who exerts himself most in action.”

لِأَنَّ عَلَامَةَ صِدْقِ النَّدَمِ عَلَى مَا مَضَى مِنَ الذُّنُوبِ شِدَّةُ التَّحَفُّظِ فِيمَا بَقِيَ مِنَ الْعُمْرِ، وَمُوَاثَبَةُ الطَّاعَةِ بِالْجِدِّ وَالِاجْتِهَادِ، وَاسْتِقْلَالُ كَثِيرِ الطَّاعَةِ وَاسْتِكْثَارُ قَلِيلِ النِّعْمَةِ، مَعَ رِقَّةِ الْقَلْبِ وَصَفَائِهِ وَطَهَارَتِهِ وَدَوَامِ الْحُزْنِ فِيهِ وَكَثْرَةِ الْبُكَاءِ وَالتَّفْوِيضِ إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فِي جَمِيعِ الْأُمُورِ وَالتَّبَرِّي إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الْحَوْلِ وَالْقُوَّةِ،

Li-ʾanna ʿalāmata ṣidqi al-nadami ʿalā mā maḍā mina al-dhunūbi shiddatu al-taḥaffuẓi fīmā baqiya mina al-ʿumri, wa-muwāthabatu al-ṭāʿati bi-al-jiddi wa-al-ijtihādi, wa-istiqlālu kathīri al-ṭāʿati wa-istikthāru qalīli al-niʿmati, maʿa riqqati al-qalbi wa-ṣafāʾihi wa-ṭahāratihi wa-dawāmi al-ḥuzni fīhi wa-kathrati al-bukāʾi wa-al-tafwīḍi ʾilā Allāhi taʿālā fī jamīʿi al-ʾumūri wa-al-tabarrī ʾilayhi mina al-ḥawli wa-al-quwwati,

The sign of genuine remorse for past sins is great care over the remainder of one's life, rushing into obedience with earnest diligence, regarding much obedience as little and a small blessing as abundant, together with a tender, clear, pure heart, lasting sorrow within it, frequent weeping, entrusting every affair to God Most High, and disclaiming before Him any power or strength of one's own.

ثُمَّ الصَّبْرُ بَعْدَ ذٰلِكَ عَلَى أَحْكَامِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَالرِّضَا عَنْهُ فِي جَمِيعِهَا وَالتَّسْلِيمُ لِأُمُورِهِ كُلِّهَا.

thumma al-ṣabru baʿda dhālika ʿalā ʾaḥkāmi Allāhi ʿazza wa-jalla wa-al-riḍā ʿanhu fī jamīʿihā wa-al-taslīmu li-ʾumūrihi kullihā.

Then come patience with the judgments of God, mighty and majestic, contentment with Him in all of them, and surrender to all His dealings.

الْخَطَأُ فِي طَرِيقِ التَّوْبَةِ وَنَتَائِجُهُ

Al-khaṭaʾu fī ṭarīqi al-tawbati wa-natāʾijuhu

Error on the path of repentance and its consequences

وَقَالَ لِي: قَدْ عَلِمْتُ مِنْ أَيْنَ غَلِطْتَ، أَحْسَنْتَ الظَّنَّ بِنَفْسِكَ فَتَاقَتْ إِلَى دَرَجَاتِ الْمُحْسِنِينَ بِخِلَافِ سِيرَتِهِمْ، مِنْ غَيْرِ إِنْكَارٍ مِنْكَ عَلَيْهَا لِمَسَاوِئِ أَعْمَالِهَا وَلَا دَفْعٍ لِمَا ادَّعَتْهُ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الصَّادِقِينَ.

Wa-qāla lī: qad ʿalimtu min ʾayna ghaliṭta, ʾaḥsanta al-ẓanna binafsika fa-tāqat ʾilā darajāti al-muḥsinīna bikhilāfi sīratihim, min ghayri ʾinkārin minka ʿalayhā limasāwiʾi ʾaʿmālihā wa-lā dafʿin limā iddaʿat-hu min ʾaʿmāli al-ṣādiqīna.

He said to me: I know where you went wrong. You thought well of your self, and it longed for the ranks of those who do good while following a way of life contrary to theirs. You neither reproved it for its evil deeds nor rejected its claim to the deeds of the truthful.

وَأَسَأْتَ الظَّنَّ بِغَيْرِكَ فَأَنْزَلْتَهُمْ فِي دَرَجَةِ الْمُسِيئِينَ، إِغْفَالًا مِنْكَ لِشَأْنِكَ، وَتَفَرَّغْتَ لِلنَّظَرِ فِي عُيُوبِ غَيْرِكَ.

Wa-ʾasaʾta al-ẓanna bighayrika fa-ʾanzaltahum fī darajati al-musīʾīna, ʾighfālan minka lishaʾnika, wa-tafarraghta li-al-naẓari fī ʿuyūbi ghayrika.

You thought ill of others and placed them among the wrongdoers, neglecting your own condition and freeing yourself to scrutinize the faults of others.

Source pages 65–66

فَلَمَّا كَانَ ذٰلِكَ مِنْكَ كَذٰلِكَ عُوقِبْتَ بِأَنْ غَارَتْ عُيُونُ الرَّأْفَةِ وَالرَّحْمَةِ مِنْ قَلْبِكَ، وَانْفَجَرَتْ إِلَيْهِ أَنْهَارُ الْغِلْظَةِ وَالْقَسْوَةِ، فَأَحْبَبْتَ أَنْ تَنْظُرَ إِلَى النَّاسِ بِالْإِزْرَاءِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَالِاحْتِقَارِ لَهُمْ وَقِلَّةِ الرَّحْمَةِ، وَأَرَدْتَ أَنْ يَنْظُرُوا إِلَيْكَ بِالتَّعْظِيمِ وَالْمَهَابَةِ وَالرَّحْمَةِ.

Fa-lammā kāna dhālika minka ka-dhālika ʿūqibta bi-ʾan ghārat ʿuyūnu al-raʾfati wa-al-raḥmati min qalbika, wa-infajarat ʾilayhi ʾanhāru al-ghilẓati wa-al-qaswati, fa-ʾaḥbabta ʾan tanẓura ʾilā al-nāsi bi-al-ʾizrāʾi ʿalayhim wa-al-iḥtiqāri lahum wa-qillati al-raḥmati, wa-ʾaradta ʾan yanẓurū ʾilayka bi-al-taʿẓīmi wa-al-mahābati wa-al-raḥmati.

Because you behaved this way, you were punished: the springs of tenderness and mercy in your heart dried up, and rivers of harshness and hardness burst into it. You came to like looking down on people with disparagement, contempt, and little mercy, while wanting them to look upon you with esteem, awe, and mercy.

Source page 66

فَمَنْ وَافَقَكَ مِنْهُمْ عَلَى ذٰلِكَ نَالَ مِنْكَ قُرْبًا وَمَحَبَّةً وَنِلْتَ أَنْتَ مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى بُعْدًا وَسَخَطًا، وَمَنْ خَالَفَكَ فِيهِ ازْدَادَ مِنْكَ بُعْدًا وَبُغْضًا وَازْدَدْتَ أَنْتَ مِنَ اللَّهِ بُعْدًا وَسَخَطًا.

Fa-man wāfaqaka minhum ʿalā dhālika nāla minka qurban wa-maḥabbatan wa-nilta ʾanta mina Allāhi taʿālā buʿdan wa-sakhaṭan, wa-man khālafaka fīhi izdāda minka buʿdan wa-bughḍan wa-izdadta ʾanta mina Allāhi buʿdan wa-sakhaṭan.

Whoever agreed with you in this gained nearness and love from you, while you gained distance and displeasure from God Most High. Whoever opposed you became more distant and hated in your eyes, while you became still more distant from God and subject to His displeasure.

وَأَطَلْتَ فِي ذٰلِكَ كُلِّهِ أَمَلَكَ، فَطَابَ لَكَ الْمَسِيرُ فِي طَرِيقِ التَّسْوِيفِ وَمَدَارِجِ الْحَيْرَاتِ، فَاشْتَدَّتْ رَغْبَةُ نَفْسِكَ وَاسْتَمْكَنَ الْحِرْصُ مِنْ قَلْبِكَ، فَعَظُمَتْ لِذٰلِكَ فِي الدُّنْيَا رَغْبَتُكَ، وَشَحَّتْ فَجَمَحَتْ إِلَى شَهَوَاتِهَا، وَاحْتَوَشَتْ قَلْبَكَ لَذَّاتُهَا، فَحَالَ ذٰلِكَ بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَ أَنْ تَجِدَ حَلَاوَةَ سُلُوكِ طَرِيقِ الْآخِرَةِ.

Wa-ʾaṭalta fī dhālika kullihi ʾamalaka, fa-ṭāba laka al-masīru fī ṭarīqi al-taswīfi wa-madāriji al-ḥayrāti, fa-ishtaddat raghbatu nafsika wa-istamkana al-ḥirṣu min qalbika, fa-ʿaẓumat li-dhālika fī al-dunyā raghbatuka, wa-shaḥḥat fa-jamaḥat ʾilā shahawātihā, wa-iḥtawashat qalbaka ladhdhātuhā, fa-ḥāla dhālika baynaka wa-bayna ʾan tajida ḥalāwata sulūki ṭarīqi al-ʾākhirati.

Throughout all this, you stretched your expectations far into the future. You came to enjoy traveling the road of postponement and the steps of bewilderment. Your self's desire intensified, and greed became firmly established in your heart. Your longing for this world grew great; the self became grasping and bolted toward its appetites, while its pleasures surrounded your heart. This prevented you from tasting the sweetness of traveling the path of the next life.

فَقَلْبُكَ حَيْرَانُ عَلَى سَبِيلِ حَيْرَةٍ، قَدِ اشْتَبَهَتْ عَلَيْكَ سُبُلُ النَّجَاةِ، وَشُقِّقَ حِجَابُ الذُّنُوبِ، فَأَنِسْتَ لِقُرْبِهَا وَطَابَ لَكَ شَمُّ رِيحِهَا، فَوَصَلْتَ بِذٰلِكَ إِلَى مَحْضِ الْمَعْصِيَةِ، فَادَّعَيْتَ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ وَتَنَاوَلْتَ مَا يَبْعُدُ مَرَامُهُ مِنْ مِثْلِكَ.

Fa-qalbuka ḥayrānu ʿalā sabīli ḥayratin, qadi ishtabahat ʿalayka subulu al-najāti, wa-shuqqiqa ḥijābu al-dhunūbi, fa-ʾanista liqurbihā wa-ṭāba laka shammu rīḥihā, fa-waṣalta bi-dhālika ʾilā maḥḍi al-maʿṣiyati, fa-iddaʿayta mā laysa laka wa-tanāwalta mā yabʿudu marāmuhu min mithlika.

Your heart is bewildered on a bewildering road. The paths of salvation have become confused for you, and the veil of sins has been torn open [reading uncertain]. You grew comfortable with their nearness and enjoyed their scent. Through this you reached unalloyed disobedience, claiming what was not yours and reaching for what lies far beyond the reach of someone like you.

ثُمَّ أَخْرَجَكَ ذٰلِكَ إِلَى أَنْ تَكَلَّمْتَ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ وَنَظَرْتَ إِلَى مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ وَعَمِلْتَ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ، فَكُنْتَ مَخْدُوعًا مَسْبُوعًا عِنْدَ حُسْنِ ظَنِّكَ بِنَفْسِكَ وَأَنْتَ لَا تَشْعُرُ، وَمُسْتَدْرَجًا مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا تَعْلَمُ، فَكَانَ مِيرَاثُ عَمَلِكَ الْخُبْثَ وَالْجَرِيرَةَ وَالْغِشَّ وَالْخَدِيعَةَ وَالْخِيَانَةَ وَالْمُدَاهَنَةَ وَالْمَكْرُوهَ وَتَرْكَ النَّصِيحَةِ، وَأَنْتَ فِي ذٰلِكَ كُلِّهِ مُظْهِرٌ لِمُبَايَنَةِ ذٰلِكَ.

Thumma ʾakhrajaka dhālika ʾilā ʾan takallamta lighayri Allāhi wa-naẓarta ʾilā mā laysa laka wa-ʿamilta lighayri Allāhi, fa-kunta makhdūʿan masbūʿan ʿinda ḥusni ẓannika binafsika wa-ʾanta lā tashʿuru, wa-mustadrajan min ḥaythu lā taʿlamu, fa-kāna mīrāthu ʿamalika al-khubtha wa-al-jarīrata wa-al-ghishsha wa-al-khadīʿata wa-al-khiyānata wa-al-mudāhanata wa-al-makrūha wa-tarka al-naṣīḥati, wa-ʾanta fī dhālika kullihi muẓhirun limubāyanati dhālika.

Then this led you to speak for someone other than God, look at what was not yours, and act for someone other than God. While thinking well of yourself, you were deceived and exposed to predation without realizing it, and drawn on step by step from where you did not know. The legacy of your work was wickedness, wrongdoing, fraud, deceit, betrayal, dishonest accommodation, what is objectionable, and abandoning goodwill, while throughout it all you outwardly claimed to be free of these things.

فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هٰذِهِ سِيرَتُهُ فَلَا يُنْكِرْ أَنْ يَبْدُوَ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ يَحْتَسِبُ.

Fa-man kānat hādhihi sīratuhu fa-lā yunkir ʾan yabduwa lahu mina Allāhi mā lam yakun yaḥtasibu.

Someone whose way of life is like this should not be surprised when something appears to him from God that he had never expected.

فَلَوْ كَانَ لَكَ يَا مِسْكِينُ أَدْنَى تَخَوُّفٍ لَبَكَيْتَ عَلَى نَفْسِكَ بُكَاءَ الثَّكْلَى الْمُحِبَّةِ لِمَنْ أُثْكِلَتْ، وَنُحْتَ عَلَيْهَا نِيَاحَةَ الْمَوْتَى حِينَ غَشِيَكَ شُؤْمُ الذُّنُوبِ.

Fa-law kāna laka yā miskīnu ʾadnā takhawwufin labakayta ʿalā nafsika bukāʾa al-thaklā al-muḥibbati liman ʾuthkilat, wa-nuḥta ʿalayhā niyāḥata al-mawtā ḥīna ghashiyaka shuʾmu al-dhunūbi.

If you had the slightest apprehension, poor soul, you would weep over yourself like a bereaved mother who loves the one she has lost. You would lament yourself as people lament the dead, when the ill consequences of sins covered you.

وَلَوْ بَكَى عَلَيْكَ أَهْلُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَأَهْلُ الْأَرْضِ لَكُنْتَ مُسْتَوْجِبًا لِذٰلِكَ لِعِظَمِ مُصِيبَتِكَ.

Wa-law bakā ʿalayka ʾahlu al-samāwāti wa-ʾahlu al-ʾarḍi lakunta mustawjiban li-dhālika liʿiẓami muṣībatika.

If the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth wept over you, you would deserve it, so great is your calamity.

وَلَوْ عَزَّاكَ عَلَيْهَا جَمِيعُ الْخَلْقِ تَعْزِيَةَ الْمَحْرُوبِ الْمَسْلُوبِ لَكُنْتَ مُسْتَحِقًّا لِذٰلِكَ، لِأَنَّكَ قَدْ حُرِمْتَ دِينَكَ وَسُلِبْتَ مَعْرِفَتَكَ بِشُؤْمِ الذُّنُوبِ، فَرَكِبَكَ ذُلُّ الْمَعْصِيَةِ، وَأُثْبِتَ اسْمُكَ فِي دِيوَانِ الْعَاصِينَ، وَاسْتَوْحَشَ مِنْكَ أَهْلُ التَّقْوَى إِلَّا مَنْ كَانَ فِي مِثَالِكَ.

Wa-law ʿazzāka ʿalayhā jamīʿu al-khalqi taʿziyata al-maḥrūbi al-maslūbi lakunta mustaḥiqqan li-dhālika, li-ʾannaka qad ḥurimta dīnaka wa-sulibta maʿrifataka bishuʾmi al-dhunūbi, fa-rakibaka dhullu al-maʿṣiyati, wa-ʾuthbita ismuka fī dīwāni al-ʿāṣīna, wa-istawḥasha minka ʾahlu al-taqwā ʾillā man kāna fī mithālika.

If all creation consoled you for it as one consoles someone plundered and stripped of everything, you would deserve that consolation. Through the ill consequences of sins, you have been deprived of your religion and robbed of your knowledge of God. The humiliation of disobedience has ridden over you, your name has been entered in the register of the disobedient, and people of mindfulness have drawn away from you, except those in the same condition as you.

Source pages 66–67

فَأَخَذَ الَّذِينَ أَرَادُوا اللَّهَ وَحْدَهُ فِي طَرِيقِ الْمَحَبَّةِ لَهُ وَسَلَكُوا سَبِيلَ النَّجَاةِ إِلَيْهِ، وَأَخَذْتَ فِي غَيْرِ طَرِيقِهِمْ، فَمِلْتَ حِينَ خَالَفْتَ طَرِيقَهُمْ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ، فَبَقِيتَ مُتَحَيِّرًا وَعَنْ وَجَعِ الْإِصَابَةِ مُتَبَلِّدًا.

Fa-ʾakhadha alladhīna ʾarādū Allāha waḥdahu fī ṭarīqi al-maḥabbati lahu wa-salakū sabīla al-najāti ʾilayhi, wa-ʾakhadhta fī ghayri ṭarīqihim, fa-milta ḥīna khālafta ṭarīqahum ʾilā ghayrihi, fa-baqīta mutaḥayyiran wa-ʿan wajaʿi al-ʾiṣābati mutaballidan.

Those who desired God alone set out on the path of love for Him and traveled the way of salvation toward Him. You took a different path; in departing from theirs, you turned toward another. You remained bewildered and numb to the pain of the wound.

Source page 67

وَبِمِثْلِ هٰذِهِ الْأَسْبَابِ الَّتِي اشْتَمَلَتْ عَلَيْهَا طَرِيقَتُكَ يُسْتَدَلُّ عَلَى خُسْرَانِ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَبِاللَّهِ نَعُوذُ وَإِيَّاهُ نَسْأَلُ عَفْوًا وَتَقْرِيبًا مَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ، إِنَّهُ لَطِيفٌ خَبِيرٌ.

Wa-bimithli hādhihi al-ʾasbābi allatī ishtamalat ʿalayhā ṭarīqatuka yustadallu ʿalā khusrāni al-qiyāmati, wa-bi-Allāhi naʿūdhu wa-ʾiyyāhu nasʾalu ʿafwan wa-taqrīban maʿa al-muḥsinīna, ʾinnahu laṭīfun khabīrun.

Factors like these, embraced by your way of life, point toward loss at the Resurrection. We seek refuge in God and ask Him alone for pardon and to bring us near along with those who do good. He is All-Subtle, All-Aware.

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الْمَعْرِفَةُ بِلَا عَمَلٍ وَسِيلَةٌ لِلْعَمَلِ

Al-maʿrifatu bilā ʿamalin wasīlatun li-al-ʿamali

Knowledge without action as a means to action

قُلْتُ: أَمَا تَخَافُ أَنْ تَكُونَ هٰذِهِ الْمَعْرِفَةُ حُجَّةً عَلَيْكَ، وَالِاشْتِغَالُ بِوَصْفِهَا خُدْعَةً مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ طَوِيلَةً وَصَدًّا عَنْ نَفْعِهَا؟

Qultu: ʾamā takhāfu ʾan takūna hādhihi al-maʿrifatu ḥujjatan ʿalayka, wa-al-ishtighālu biwaṣfihā khudʿatan mina al-shayṭāni ṭawīlatan wa-ṣaddan ʿan nafʿihā?

I asked: do you not fear that this knowledge will become evidence against you, and that occupying yourself with describing it will be a prolonged deception by Satan that keeps you from its benefit?

فَقَالَ: وَاسَوْأَتَاهْ مِنْ غَفْلَةِ وَاصِفِهَا عَنْ مَحَاسِنِهَا، وَمَنْ رَامَ رَمَى فَلَمْ يُخْطِئْ حَيْثُ أَرَادَ. فَأَمَّا الْأَمْنُ فَمُحَرَّمٌ، وَأَمَّا الْخَوْفُ فَفَرْضٌ عَلَى مَنْ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَبِالْوَعْدِ وَالْوَعِيدِ.

Fa-qāla: wā-sawʾatāh min ghaflati wāṣifihā ʿan maḥāsinihā, wa-man rāma ramā fa-lam yukhṭiʾ ḥaythu ʾarāda. Fa-ʾammā al-ʾamnu fa-muḥarramun, wa-ʾammā al-khawfu fa-farḍun ʿalā man yuʾminu bi-Allāhi wa-al-yawmi al-ʾākhiri wa-bi-al-waʿdi wa-al-waʿīdi.

He replied: ah, the shame of the one who describes it while neglecting its excellences! Whoever takes aim shoots without missing the target he intends [the construction here is uncertain]. As for feeling secure, that is forbidden; fear is obligatory for anyone who believes in God, the Last Day, the promise, and the warning.

وَقَدْ عَلِمْتُ أَنَّ الْقَصْدَ إِلَى نَفْسِ الْمَحَبَّةِ وَالْعِنَايَةَ بِهَا أَبْلَغُ لِصَاحِبِهَا وَأَكْثَرُ لَهُ فِي الْمَنْفَعَةِ مِنْهُ بِوَصْفِ الْمَحَبَّةِ، لِأَنَّ طَلَبَ نَفْسِ الْمَنْفَعَةِ غَيْرُ طَلَبِ وَصْفِ الْمَنْفَعَةِ،

Wa-qad ʿalimtu ʾanna al-qaṣda ʾilā nafsi al-maḥabbati wa-al-ʿināyata bihā ʾablaghu liṣāḥibihā wa-ʾaktharu lahu fī al-manfaʿati minhu biwaṣfi al-maḥabbati, li-ʾanna ṭalaba nafsi al-manfaʿati ghayru ṭalabi waṣfi al-manfaʿati,

I know that aiming at love itself and taking care to attain it carries a person further and benefits him more than describing love. Seeking the benefit itself is different from seeking its description.

وَإِنَّمَا اشْتَغَلْتُ بِالْوَصْفِ اضْطِرَارًا حَيْثُ رَأَيْتُ نَفْسِي خَارِجًا مِنْهُمَا جَمِيعًا، فَاعْتَنَيْتُ بِمَعْرِفَةِ وَصْفِهَا وَالْهِدَايَةِ إِلَيْهَا، رَجَاءَ أَنْ يُوصِلَنِي ذٰلِكَ إِلَى نَفْسِ الْمَنْفَعَةِ وَالْهِدَايَةِ إِلَيْهَا، وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَى مَا نَقُولُ وَمَا نُضْمِرُ.

wa-ʾinnamā ishtaghaltu bi-al-waṣfi iḍṭirāran ḥaythu raʾaytu nafsī khārijan minhumā jamīʿan, fa-iʿtanaytu bimaʿrifati waṣfihā wa-al-hidāyati ʾilayhā, rajāʾa ʾan yūṣilanī dhālika ʾilā nafsi al-manfaʿati wa-al-hidāyati ʾilayhā, wa-Allāhu al-mustaʿānu ʿalā mā naqūlu wa-mā nuḍmiru.

I have occupied myself with describing it only out of necessity, when I saw myself excluded from both. I therefore took care to learn its description and the guidance leading to it, hoping that this would bring me to the benefit itself and guide me toward it. God's help is sought in what we say and what we hold within.

خُلَاصَةُ الْمَعَارِفِ

Khulāṣatu al-maʿārifi

A summary of the teachings

وَإِنَّ الْعَبْدَ بَيْنَ تِسْعِ مَخَاوِفَ.

Wa-ʾinna al-ʿabda bayna tisʿi makhāwifa.

The servant stands amid nine fears.

فَأُولَاهَا أَنْ يَخَافَ وَيَدْعُوَ اللَّهَ وَيَتَضَرَّعَ إِلَيْهِ أَلَّا يَكِلَهُ إِلَى حَسَنَاتِهِ الَّتِي يَتَعَزَّزُ بِهَا فِي عِبَادِ اللَّهِ ظُلْمًا وَعُدْوَانًا.

Fa-ʾūlāhā ʾan yakhāfa wa-yadʿuwa Allāha wa-yataḍarraʿa ʾilayhi ʾallā yakilahu ʾilā ḥasanātihi allatī yataʿazzazu bihā fī ʿibādi Allāhi ẓulman wa-ʿudwānan.

The first is that he fear, call upon God, and plead with Him not to leave him to the good deeds through which he exalts himself unjustly and aggressively over God's servants.

وَالثَّانِيَةُ أَنْ يَخَافَ مِنْ كُفْرَانِ النِّعَمِ الَّتِي قَدْ غَلَبَ عَلَيْهِ الْبَطَرُ بِهَا فَأَشْغَلَهُ عَنِ الشُّكْرِ عَلَيْهَا.

Wa-al-thāniyatu ʾan yakhāfa min kufrāni al-niʿami allatī qad ghalaba ʿalayhi al-baṭaru bihā fa-ʾashghalahu ʿani al-shukri ʿalayhā.

The second is that he fear ingratitude for blessings whose abundance has made him so heedlessly exultant that it distracts him from thanking God for them.

وَالثَّالِثَةُ خَوْفُ الِاسْتِدْرَاجِ بِالنِّعَمِ وَتَوَاتُرِهَا.

Wa-al-thālithatu khawfu al-istidrāji bi-al-niʿami wa-tawāturihā.

The third is fear of being drawn toward ruin through blessings and their unbroken succession.

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وَالرَّابِعَةُ خَوْفُ اللَّهِ أَنْ يَبْدُوَ لَهُ غَدًا مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ يَحْتَسِبُ فِي طَاعَاتِهِ الَّتِي يَرْجُو ثَوَابَهَا وَلَمْ يَعُدَّهَا مِنْ ذُنُوبِهِ.

Wa-al-rābiʿatu khawfu Allāhi ʾan yabduwa lahu ghadan mina Allāhi mā lam yakun yaḥtasibu fī ṭāʿātihi allatī yarjū thawābahā wa-lam yaʿuddahā min dhunūbihi.

The fourth is fear of God: that tomorrow something he never expected may appear to him from God regarding acts of obedience for which he hopes to be rewarded and which he never counted among his sins.

وَالْخَامِسَةُ الذُّنُوبُ الَّتِي عَمِلَهَا وَاسْتَيْقَنَ بِهَا فِيمَا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى.

Wa-al-khāmisatu al-dhunūbu allatī ʿamilahā wa-istayqana bihā fīmā baynahu wa-bayna Allāhi taʿālā.

The fifth concerns the sins he has committed and knows with certainty to stand between him and God Most High.

وَالسَّادِسَةُ تَبِعَاتُ النَّاسِ قِبَلَهُ.

Wa-al-sādisatu tabiʿātu al-nāsi qibalahu.

The sixth concerns other people's claims against him.

وَالسَّابِعَةُ أَنَّهُ لَا يَدْرِي مَا يَحْدُثُ لَهُ فِي بَقِيَّةِ عُمْرِهِ.

Wa-al-sābiʿatu ʾannahu lā yadrī mā yaḥduthu lahu fī baqiyyati ʿumrihi.

The seventh is that he does not know what will happen to him in the remainder of his life.

وَالثَّامِنَةُ أَنْ يَخَافَ تَعْجِيلَ الْعُقُوبَةِ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالنَّكَالِ فِيهَا قَبْلَ الْفَوْتِ.

Wa-al-thāminatu ʾan yakhāfa taʿjīla al-ʿuqūbati fī al-dunyā wa-al-nakāli fīhā qabla al-fawti.

The eighth is that he fear punishment and exemplary chastisement coming swiftly in this world before his passing.

وَالتَّاسِعَةُ الْخَوْفُ مِنْ عِلْمِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فِيهِ، وَفِي أَيِّ الدَّارَيْنِ أَثْبَتَ اسْمَهُ فِي أُمِّ الْكِتَابِ.

Wa-al-tāsiʿatu al-khawfu min ʿilmi Allāhi taʿālā fīhi, wa-fī ʾayyi al-dārayni ʾathbata ismahu fī ʾummi al-kitābi.

The ninth is fear concerning what God Most High knows about him, and for which of the two abodes He has recorded his name in the Mother of the Book.

فَاحْذَرِ الذُّنُوبَ، فَإِنَّ شُؤْمَهَا قَرِيبٌ وَظُلْمَتَهَا شَدِيدَةٌ، وَاحْذَرِ الْحَسَنَاتِ الَّتِي تُبَاعِدُ بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَ طَرِيقِ الصَّالِحِينَ،

Fa-iḥdhari al-dhunūba, fa-ʾinna shuʾmahā qarībun wa-ẓulmatahā shadīdatun, wa-iḥdhari al-ḥasanāti allatī tubāʿidu baynaka wa-bayna ṭarīqi al-ṣāliḥīna,

Beware of sins, for their ill consequences are near and their darkness severe. Beware also of good deeds that put distance between you and the path of the righteous.

فَمَا أَقْرَبَ الْقَارِئَ الْمُتَعَبِّدَ بِغَيْرِ مَعْرِفَةٍ أَنْ يَتَكَبَّرَ عَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَيَمُنَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى بِالْحَسَنَاتِ الَّتِي لَوْ وَكَلَهُ إِلَيْهَا كَانَ فِيهَا هَلَاكُهُ،

fa-mā ʾaqraba al-qāriʾa al-mutaʿabbida bighayri maʿrifatin ʾan yatakabbara ʿalā ʿibādi Allāhi ʿazza wa-jalla, wa-yamunna ʿalā Allāhi subḥānahu wa-taʿālā bi-al-ḥasanāti allatī law wakalahu ʾilayhā kāna fīhā halākuhu,

How readily a Qurʾān reciter who worships without knowledge becomes arrogant toward the servants of God, mighty and majestic, and treats his good deeds as a favor done to God, glorified and exalted is He, though if God left him to those deeds they would destroy him.

وَمَا أَقْرَبَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَطْلُبَ النَّاسَ بِمَا أَرَادَهُ اللَّهُ مِنْهُمْ مِنَ الطَّاعَةِ لَهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَالْإِجْلَالِ وَالْإِعْظَامِ وَالْقَدْرِ الْعَظِيمِ.

wa-mā ʾaqrabahu min ʾan yaṭluba al-nāsa bimā ʾarādahu Allāhu minhum mina al-ṭāʿati lahu ʿazza wa-jalla wa-al-ʾijlāli wa-al-ʾiʿẓāmi wa-al-qadri al-ʿaẓīmi.

How readily he demands from people what God requires of them for Himself, mighty and majestic: obedience, reverence, exaltation, and the highest esteem.

وَلَا يُؤْمَنُ عَلَى الْقَارِئِ غَيْرِ الْفَقِيهِ أَنْ يُسِيءَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَيَطْلُبَ مِنْهُمُ الْإِقْرَارَ بِالْإِحْسَانِ وَيُعْطِيَهُمْ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ مَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ مِنْهُ.

Wa-lā yuʾmanu ʿalā al-qāriʾi ghayri al-faqīhi ʾan yusīʾa ʾilayhim wa-yaṭluba minhumu al-ʾiqrāra bi-al-ʾiḥsāni wa-yuʿṭiyahum min nafsihi mā ʾarāda Allāhu minhu.

A reciter without religious understanding is not safe from mistreating people while asking them to acknowledge his goodness, and from giving them of himself what God requires from him.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى أَرَادَ مِنْهُ أَنْ يَتَزَيَّنَ لَهُ وَيَتَعَبَّدَ لَهُ وَيُخْلِصَ لَهُ الْعَمَلَ وَحْدَهُ، فَأَعْطَى هُوَ لِلْمَخْلُوقِينَ ذٰلِكَ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ.

ʾInna Allāha taʿālā ʾarāda minhu ʾan yatazayyana lahu wa-yataʿabbada lahu wa-yukhliṣa lahu al-ʿamala waḥdahu, fa-ʾaʿṭā huwa li-al-makhlūqīna dhālika min nafsihi.

God Most High requires him to adorn himself for Him, worship Him, and devote his work sincerely to Him alone; instead, he has given all this of himself to created beings.

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الْمَدْحُ وَالذَّمُّ

Al-madḥu wa-al-dhammu

Praise and blame

الْفَرْقُ بَيْنَ الرِّيَاءِ وَحُبِّ الْمَدْحِ وَكَرَاهَةِ الذَّمِّ

Al-farqu bayna al-riyāʾi wa-ḥubbi al-madḥi wa-karāhati al-dhammi

The difference between showing off and liking praise while disliking blame

قُلْتُ: الرَّجُلُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهُ مِمَّنْ لَا يُرِيدُ بِعَمَلِهِ جَزَاءً وَلَا شُكُورًا، وَهُوَ مَعْرُوفٌ بِأَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ بِالصَّلَاةِ وَالصَّدَقَةِ وَالصِّيَامِ وَغَيْرِ ذٰلِكَ،

Qultu: al-rajulu yaqūlu ʾinnahu mimman lā yurīdu biʿamalihi jazāʾan wa-lā shukūran, wa-huwa maʿrūfun bi-ʾaʿmāli al-birri bi-al-ṣalāti wa-al-ṣadaqati wa-al-ṣiyāmi wa-ghayri dhālika,

I asked: a man says that he wants neither recompense nor thanks for his work. He is known for good deeds, prayer, charity, fasting, and other things.

وَقَدْ مَدَحَهُ قَوْمٌ فَسَرَّهُ ذٰلِكَ جِدًّا وَفَرِحَ بِهِ، وَذَمَّهُ آخَرُونَ فَسَاءَهُ ذٰلِكَ جِدًّا وَكَرِهَهُ حَتَّى عَرَفَ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ التَّغَيُّرَ لِكِلَا الْفَرِيقَيْنِ جَمِيعًا.

wa-qad madaḥahu qawmun fa-sarrahu dhālika jiddan wa-fariḥa bihi, wa-dhammahu ʾākharūna fa-sāʾahu dhālika jiddan wa-karihahu ḥattā ʿarafa min nafsihi al-taghayyura likilā al-farīqayni jamīʿan.

Some people praise him, and he is deeply pleased and delighted. Others blame him, and he is deeply hurt and dislikes it, until he recognizes that his attitude toward both groups has changed.

كَيْفَ يَعْرِفُ هٰذَا نِيَّتَهُ وَحُبُّ الْمَحْمَدَةِ وَكَرَاهِيَةُ الْمَذَمَّةِ ثَابِتٌ فِي قَلْبِهِ، وَالْمُرَائِي يُحِبُّ الثَّنَاءَ وَيَكْرَهُ الْمَذَمَّةَ؟

Kayfa yaʿrifu hādhā niyyatahu wa-ḥubbu al-maḥmadati wa-karāhiyatu al-madhammati thābitun fī qalbihi, wa-al-murāʾī yuḥibbu al-thanāʾa wa-yakrahu al-madhammata?

How can he know his intention when love of praise and dislike of blame are established in his heart, given that someone who shows off also loves praise and dislikes blame?

قَالَ: إِنَّهُ لَا يَجِبُ عَلَى النَّاسِ أَنْ يَكْرَهُوا الثَّنَاءَ الْحَسَنَ وَالْمَحْمَدَةَ، وَلَا يَجِبُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَنْ يُحِبُّوا الْمَذَمَّةَ، عَمِلُوا الْحَسَنَاتِ أَوْ لَمْ يَعْمَلُوا، إِذَا لَمْ يَكُنْ ذٰلِكَ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ مَعْنًى فَاسِدٍ، لِأَنَّ الْمُرَائِيَ وَإِنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ (الْعَمَلَ) عَلَى أَنْ يُحِبَّ الْمَحْمَدَةَ وَيَكْرَهَ الْمَذَمَّةَ، فَإِنَّ الصَّادِقَ لَا يَجِبُ عَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَكْرَهَ الثَّنَاءَ وَيُحِبَّ الْمَذَمَّةَ.

Qāla: ʾinnahu lā yajibu ʿalā al-nāsi ʾan yakrahū al-thanāʾa al-ḥasana wa-al-maḥmadata, wa-lā yajibu ʿalayhim ʾan yuḥibbū al-madhammata, ʿamilū al-ḥasanāti ʾaw lam yaʿmalū, ʾidhā lam yakun dhālika minhum min maʿnan fāsidin, li-ʾanna al-murāʾiya wa-ʾin kāna yurīdu (al-ʿamala) ʿalā ʾan yuḥibba al-maḥmadata wa-yakraha al-madhammata, fa-ʾinna al-ṣādiqa lā yajibu ʿalayhi ʾan yakraha al-thanāʾa wa-yuḥibba al-madhammata.

He replied: people are not required to dislike favorable praise and commendation, nor are they required to love blame, whether they have done good deeds or not, so long as their response does not spring from a corrupt motive. Although the person who shows off intends (the deed) on the basis of loving praise and disliking blame, a sincere person is not therefore required to dislike praise and love blame.

وَإِنَّ أَكْثَرَ الصَّادِقِينَ قَدْ مُدِحُوا وَأُثْنِيَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَمْ يَضُرَّهُمْ ذٰلِكَ شَيْئًا.

Wa-ʾinna ʾakthara al-ṣādiqīna qad mudiḥū wa-ʾuthniya ʿalayhim wa-lam yaḍurrahum dhālika shayʾan.

Most truthful people have been praised and spoken well of, and it has not harmed them at all.

وَإِنَّمَا الْفَرْقُ بَيْنَهُمَا أَنَّ الْمُرَائِيَ إِرَادَتُهُ وَأَمَلُهُ فِي عَمَلِهِ جَاهُ الدُّنْيَا وَالْمَنْزِلَةُ عِنْدَ أَهْلِهَا، فَأَفْسَدَ عَمَلَهُ بِنِيَّتِهِ وَإِرَادَتِهِ، نَالَ الَّذِي أَرَادَ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ أَوْ لَمْ يَنَلْهُ، حَمِدُوهُ عَلَى عَمَلِهِ أَوْ لَمْ يَحْمَدُوهُ، ذَمُّوهُ أَوْ لَمْ يَذُمُّوهُ.

Wa-ʾinnamā al-farqu baynahumā ʾanna al-murāʾiya ʾirādatuhu wa-ʾamaluhu fī ʿamalihi jāhu al-dunyā wa-al-manzilatu ʿinda ʾahlihā, fa-ʾafsada ʿamalahu biniyyatihi wa-ʾirādatihi, nāla alladhī ʾarāda min dhālika ʾaw lam yanalhu, ḥamidūhu ʿalā ʿamalihi ʾaw lam yaḥmadūhu, dhammūhu ʾaw lam yadhummūhu.

The difference between them is that the person who shows off intends and hopes through his work to gain worldly prestige and standing among worldly people. He has corrupted his work by his intention and purpose, whether or not he obtains what he wanted, whether or not they praise his work, and whether or not they blame him.

وَغَيْرُ الْمُرَائِي إِنَّمَا كَرِهَ الْمَذَمَّةَ لِحَالِ مَا فِيهَا مِنَ الْكَرَاهِيَةِ مِثْلِ السُّقُوطِ مِنْ أَعْيُنِ النَّاسِ وَالْبِغْضَةِ وَالْمَقْتِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَشْبَاهِ ذٰلِكَ، وَالثَّنَاءُ الْحَسَنُ وَالْقَوْلُ الْجَمِيلُ أَحَبَّهُ لِمَوْضِعِ سَتْرِ اللَّهِ وَلِمَا جَاءَ مِنَ الرَّجَاءِ فِي الثَّنَاءِ الْحَسَنِ وَالْقَوْلِ الْجَمِيلِ وَالْمَحَبَّةِ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَمَوَدَّتِهِمْ لَهُ،

Wa-ghayru al-murāʾī ʾinnamā kariha al-madhammata liḥāli mā fīhā mina al-karāhiyati mithli al-suqūṭi min ʾaʿyuni al-nāsi wa-al-bighḍati wa-al-maqti mina al-muʾminīna wa-ʾashbāhi dhālika, wa-al-thanāʾu al-ḥasanu wa-al-qawlu al-jamīlu ʾaḥabbahu limawḍiʿi satri Allāhi wa-limā jāʾa mina al-rajāʾi fī al-thanāʾi al-ḥasani wa-al-qawli al-jamīli wa-al-maḥabbati mina al-nāsi wa-mawaddatihim lahu,

Someone who is not showing off dislikes blame only because of what is unpleasant in it, such as falling in people's eyes, being hated and detested by believers, and similar things. He likes favorable praise and kind words because God has concealed his faults, and because of the grounds for hope transmitted concerning favorable praise, kind words, and people's love and affection for him.

وَكَانَ اعْتِقَادُ نِيَّتِهِ وَعَزْمِهِ فِي أَوَّلِ أَمْرِهِ وَآخِرِهِ أَلَّا يُرِيدَ بِذٰلِكَ إِلَّا وَجْهَ اللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ وَالدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ، حَمِدُوهُ أَوْ ذَمُّوهُ، أَحَبُّوهُ أَوْ أَبْغَضُوهُ.

wa-kāna iʿtiqādu niyyatihi wa-ʿazmihi fī ʾawwali ʾamrihi wa-ʾākhirihi ʾallā yurīda bi-dhālika ʾillā wajha Allāhi waḥdahu wa-al-dāra al-ʾākhirata, ḥamidūhu ʾaw dhammūhu, ʾaḥabbūhu ʾaw ʾabghaḍūhu.

Yet his settled intention and resolve, at the beginning of his undertaking and at its end, are to seek through it only the face of God alone and the next life, whether people praise or blame him, love or hate him.

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الْخَوْفُ مِنْ تَحَوُّلِ النِّيَّةِ

Al-khawfu min taḥawwuli al-niyyati

Fear of a change in intention

وَرُبَّمَا كَانَ اعْتِقَادُ الرَّجُلِ عِنْدَ عَمَلِهِ إِرَادَةَ الْآخِرَةِ، ثُمَّ يَنْتَقِلُ قَلِيلًا قَلِيلًا إِلَى إِرَادَةِ الدُّنْيَا، وَذٰلِكَ أَنَّهُ شَيْءٌ خَفِيٌّ، وَالْعَامَّةُ تَقِلُّ مَعْرِفَتُهُمْ بِهِ وَعِنَايَتُهُمْ بِذٰلِكَ وَتَكْثُرُ غَفْلَتُهُمْ وَسَهْوَتُهُمْ عَنْهُ.

Wa-rubbamā kāna iʿtiqādu al-rajuli ʿinda ʿamalihi ʾirādata al-ʾākhirati, thumma yantaqilu qalīlan qalīlan ʾilā ʾirādati al-dunyā, wa-dhālika ʾannahu shayʾun khafiyyun, wa-al-ʿāmmatu taqillu maʿrifatuhum bihi wa-ʿināyatuhum bi-dhālika wa-takthuru ghaflatuhum wa-sahwatuhum ʿanhu.

A man's settled purpose when he acts may be to seek the next life, then little by little shift toward seeking this world. This is something hidden; ordinary people know little about it and pay it little attention, while their heedlessness and inattention are great.

وَقَدْ كَانَ يَنْبَغِي أَنْ تَكُونَ عِنَايَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ بِذٰلِكَ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ عِنَايَتِهِ بِمَا يَعْمَلُ مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ الظَّاهِرَةِ، لِأَنَّ أَعْمَالَ الْجَوَارِحِ لَا يُمْكِنُهُ أَنْ يَقْلِبَهَا وَلَا يُغَيِّرَهَا عَنْ حَالِهَا، وَالنِّيَّةَ لَا يَأْمَنُ عَلَيْهَا الْفَسَادَ، وَإِنْ كَانَتْ صَادِقَةً صَحِيحَةً، أَنْ تَتَحَوَّلَ مِنْ أَحْسَنِ مَا كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِ إِلَى أَقْبَحِ مَا تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَفْسَدِهِ لِعَمَلِ صَاحِبِهَا.

Wa-qad kāna yanbaghī ʾan takūna ʿināyatu al-muʾmini bi-dhālika ʾakthara min ʿināyatihi bimā yaʿmalu mina al-ʾaʿmāli al-ẓāhirati, li-ʾanna ʾaʿmāla al-jawāriḥi lā yumkinuhu ʾan yaqlibahā wa-lā yughayyirahā ʿan ḥālihā, wa-al-niyyata lā yaʾmanu ʿalayhā al-fasāda, wa-ʾin kānat ṣādiqatan ṣaḥīḥatan, ʾan tataḥawwala min ʾaḥsani mā kānat ʿalayhi ʾilā ʾaqbaḥi mā takūnu ʿalayhi wa-ʾafsadihi liʿamali ṣāḥibihā.

The believer should care more about this than about his outward deeds. He cannot reverse the deeds of his limbs or change the state in which they occurred, but he cannot feel safe from corruption entering his intention, even when it was truthful and sound: it can turn from its best condition to its ugliest and most destructive of his work.

وَقَدْ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّةِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِامْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى.

Wa-qad qāla al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: al-ʾaʿmālu bi-al-niyyati, wa-ʾinnamā li-imriʾin mā nawā.

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Deeds are by intention, and a person has only what he intended.”

فَالْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّةِ تَكُونُ وَعَنِ النِّيَّةِ تَكُونُ، فَالْعَبْدُ أَحْوَجُ إِلَى مَعْرِفَةِ النِّيَّةِ وَمَعْرِفَةِ فَسَادِهَا، إِذْ كَانَتِ الْأَعْمَالُ إِنَّمَا تَصِحُّ بِتَصْحِيحِهَا وَتَفْسُدُ بِفَسَادِهَا، وَإِنَّ جَمِيعَ مَا نَذْكُرُهُ إِنَّمَا هُوَ وَصْفٌ لِلْعَمَلِ، وَلِلْحَقِيقَةِ وَالصِّحَّةِ عَلَامَاتٌ غَيْرُ هٰذَا.

Fa-al-ʾaʿmālu bi-al-niyyati takūnu wa-ʿani al-niyyati takūnu, fa-al-ʿabdu ʾaḥwaju ʾilā maʿrifati al-niyyati wa-maʿrifati fasādihā, ʾidh kānati al-ʾaʿmālu ʾinnamā taṣiḥḥu bitaṣḥīḥihā wa-tafsudu bifasādihā, wa-ʾinna jamīʿa mā nadhkuruhu ʾinnamā huwa waṣfun li-al-ʿamali, wa-li-al-ḥaqīqati wa-al-ṣiḥḥati ʿalāmātun ghayru hādhā.

Deeds exist through intention and arise from intention. The servant therefore has greater need to know intention and to know its corruption, since deeds are sound only through making it sound and are corrupted through its corruption. Everything we mention is only a description of the work; reality and soundness have signs beyond this description.

وَإِنَّ الْأَعْمَالَ كُلَّهَا عَمَلَانِ: عَمَلٌ تُمْكِنُ فِيهِ النِّيَّةُ وَعَمَلٌ لَا تُمْكِنُ فِيهِ النِّيَّةُ. وَالْعَمَلُ لِغَيْرِ طَاعَةِ اللَّهِ أَوْ عَلَى غَيْرِ سُنَّةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَا تُمْكِنُ فِيهِ النِّيَّةُ، وَالَّذِي تُمْكِنُ فِيهِ النِّيَّةُ عَمَلٌ فِي طَاعَةِ اللَّهِ عَلَى السَّبِيلِ وَالسُّنَّةِ، وَالنَّاسُ فِيهِ صِنْفَانِ.

Wa-ʾinna al-ʾaʿmāla kullahā ʿamalāni: ʿamalun tumkinu fīhi al-niyyatu wa-ʿamalun lā tumkinu fīhi al-niyyatu. Wa-al-ʿamalu lighayri ṭāʿati Allāhi ʾaw ʿalā ghayri sunnati rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama lā tumkinu fīhi al-niyyatu, wa-alladhī tumkinu fīhi al-niyyatu ʿamalun fī ṭāʿati Allāhi ʿalā al-sabīli wa-al-sunnati, wa-al-nāsu fīhi ṣinfāni.

All deeds fall into two kinds: work in which intention can have a place, and work in which it cannot. Work directed toward something other than obedience to God, or performed contrary to the Sunna of God's Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, gives intention no place. Work in which intention has a place is obedience to God according to the path and the Sunna. People engaged in it are of two kinds.

صِنْفٌ يَعْرِفُونَ النِّيَّةَ وَصِنْفٌ لَا يَعْرِفُونَ النِّيَّةَ.

Ṣinfun yaʿrifūna al-niyyata wa-ṣinfun lā yaʿrifūna al-niyyata.

One kind understands intention, and the other does not.

وَالَّذِينَ يَعْرِفُونَهَا صِنْفَانِ.

Wa-alladhīna yaʿrifūnahā ṣinfāni.

Those who understand it are themselves of two kinds.

صِنْفٌ يُقْنِعُهُمُ النَّظَرُ فِيهَا بِالْجُزَافِ وَالْأَمَانِيِّ، وَصِنْفٌ لَا يَأْتَمِنُونَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ عَلَيْهَا وَلَا يُعْنَوْنَ إِلَّا بِمَا يَصِحُّ لَهُمْ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ عِنْدَ الْمِيزَانِ، وَهُوَ الْمِحْنَةُ، مِحْنَةُ نَفْسِكَ.

Ṣinfun yuqniʿuhumu al-naẓaru fīhā bi-al-juzāfi wa-al-ʾamāniyyi, wa-ṣinfun lā yaʾtaminūna ʾanfusahum ʿalayhā wa-lā yuʿnawna ʾillā bimā yaṣiḥḥu lahum min dhālika ʿinda al-mīzāni, wa-huwa al-miḥnatu, miḥnatu nafsika.

One kind is satisfied to examine intention through rough guesses and wishes. The other does not trust the self with it and is concerned only with what proves sound when weighed on the scale, which is the test: the testing of your own self.

وُجُوبُ الدِّقَّةِ فِي مُرَاقَبَةِ الْقَلْبِ

Wujūbu al-diqqati fī murāqabati al-qalbi

The need for precision in watching the heart

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَرَى أَنَّهُ يَكْرَهُ الْمَحْمَدَةَ وَالثَّنَاءَ إِشْفَاقًا عَلَى عَمَلِهِ وَخَوْفًا مِنْ فِتْنَتِهِ، فَلَا يَعْبَأْ بِمَا يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ وَيَظُنُّ، لِأَنَّ كَثْرَةَ مَا يَظُنُّ النَّاسُ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ لَيْسَ كَمَا يَظُنُّونَ حَتَّى يَنْظُرُوا إِلَى تَحْقِيقِ صِدْقِهِ عِنْدَ الْبَيَانِ.

Wa-mina al-nāsi man yarā ʾannahu yakrahu al-maḥmadata wa-al-thanāʾa ʾishfāqan ʿalā ʿamalihi wa-khawfan min fitnatihi, fa-lā yaʿbaʾ bimā yukhayyalu ʾilayhi min dhālika wa-yaẓunnu, li-ʾanna kathrata mā yaẓunnu al-nāsu min dhālika laysa kamā yaẓunnūna ḥattā yanẓurū ʾilā taḥqīqi ṣidqihi ʿinda al-bayāni.

Some people think they dislike commendation and praise out of concern for their work and fear of its temptations. Let such a person give no weight to these impressions and suppositions. Much of what people suppose in this regard is not as they suppose, until they examine whether its truth is established when the matter becomes clear.

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فَلْيُرَاجِعِ (الْعَبْدُ) نَفْسَهُ إِذَا أُثْنِيَ عَلَيْهِ أَوْ مُدِحَ أَوْ ذَمُّوهُ أَوْ نَسَبُوهُ إِلَى مَا يَكْرَهُ، فَإِنْ كَانَ مَا أَعْجَبَهُ مِنَ الثَّنَاءِ وَالْمِدْحَةِ إِنَّمَا أَعْجَبَهُ لِمَعْنَى مَا قُلْنَا مِنَ السَّتْرِ وَالرَّجَاءِ فِي الثَّنَاءِ الْحَسَنِ وَالْقَوْلِ الْجَمِيلِ، لِمِثْلِ قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَأَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِنِّي﴾.

Fa-l-yurājiʿi (al-ʿabdu) nafsahu ʾidhā ʾuthniya ʿalayhi ʾaw mudiḥa ʾaw dhammūhu ʾaw nasabūhu ʾilā mā yakrahu, fa-ʾin kāna mā ʾaʿjabahu mina al-thanāʾi wa-al-midḥati ʾinnamā ʾaʿjabahu limaʿnā mā qulnā mina al-satri wa-al-rajāʾi fī al-thanāʾi al-ḥasani wa-al-qawli al-jamīli, limithli qawlihi taʿālā: ﴿wa-ʾalqaytu ʿalayka maḥabbatan minnī﴾.

Let (the servant) reexamine himself when he is spoken well of or praised, or when people blame him or attribute something he dislikes to him. If what pleased him about praise and commendation pleased him only for the reasons we mentioned, God's concealment and the grounds for hope in favorable praise and kind words, then there are such words of the Most High as: “I cast upon you love from Me.”

﴿وَآتَيْنَاهُ أَجْرَهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا﴾، قَالَ: الثَّنَاءُ.

﴿Wa-ʾātaynāhu ʾajrahu fī al-dunyā﴾, qāla: al-thanāʾu.

“We gave him his reward in this world.” He explained: praise.

وَقَالَ: ﴿وَآتَيْنَاهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً﴾، قَالَ: الثَّنَاءُ الْحَسَنُ.

Wa-qāla: ﴿wa-ʾātaynāhu fī al-dunyā ḥasanatan﴾, qāla: al-thanāʾu al-ḥasanu.

And He said: “We gave him good in this world.” He explained: favorable praise.

وَقَوْلِهِ: ﴿وَاجْعَلْ لِي لِسَانَ صِدْقٍ فِي الْآخِرِينَ﴾، قَالَ: الثَّنَاءُ الْحَسَنُ.

Wa-qawlihi: ﴿wa-ijʿal lī lisāna ṣidqin fī al-ʾākhirīna﴾, qāla: al-thanāʾu al-ḥasanu.

And His words: “Grant me a truthful reputation among later generations.” He explained: favorable praise.

وَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الرَّجُلِ يَعْمَلُ الْعَمَلَ يُرِيدُ بِهِ وَجْهَ اللَّهِ فَيَحْمَدُهُ عَلَيْهِ النَّاسُ وَيُثْنُونَ عَلَيْهِ بِهِ، فَقَالَ: تِلْكَ عَاجِلُ بُشْرَى الْمُؤْمِنِ.

Wa-qāla al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama fī al-rajuli yaʿmalu al-ʿamala yurīdu bihi wajha Allāhi fa-yaḥmaduhu ʿalayhi al-nāsu wa-yuthnūna ʿalayhi bihi, fa-qāla: tilka ʿājilu bushrā al-muʾmini.

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, spoke of a man who does a deed seeking God's face, and whom people then praise and commend for it. He said: “That is the believer's early good news.”

وَقَوْلُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الْعَبْدِ إِذَا أَحَبَّهُ اللَّهُ: لَمْ يُخْرِجْهُ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا حَتَّى يَمْلَأَ مَسَامِعَهُ مِمَّا يُحِبُّ.

Wa-qawluhu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama fī al-ʿabdi ʾidhā ʾaḥabbahu Allāhu: lam yukhrijhu mina al-dunyā ḥattā yamlaʾa masāmiʿahu mimmā yuḥibbu.

And what he, may God bless him and grant him peace, said concerning the servant whom God loves: “He does not take him out of this world until He fills his ears with what he loves.”

وَقَوْلُهُ: أَنْتُمْ شُهَدَاءُ اللَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ، وَأَشْبَاهُ ذٰلِكَ فِي الْكِتَابِ وَالسُّنَّةِ.

Wa-qawluhu: ʾantum shuhadāʾu Allāhi fī al-ʾarḍi, wa-ʾashbāhu dhālika fī al-kitābi wa-al-sunnati.

And his words: “You are God's witnesses on earth.” There are similar statements in the Book and the Sunna.

فَإِنْ كَانَ سُرُورُهُ بِمَا ذُكِرَ بِهِ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ شُكْرًا لِسَتْرِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَحَمْدًا مِنْهُ لِلَّهِ، إِذْ جَعَلَهُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مِمَّنْ يُذْكَرُ بِعَلَامَةِ الْخَيْرِ، فَلَيْسَ ذٰلِكَ بِسُرُورٍ فَاسِدٍ، وَلٰكِنَّهُ شُكْرٌ وَطَلَبُ مَزِيدٍ.

Fa-ʾin kāna surūruhu bimā dhukira bihi mina al-khayri shukran lisatri Allāhi ʿalayhi wa-ḥamdan minhu li-llāhi, ʾidh jaʿalahu Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla mimman yudhkaru biʿalāmati al-khayri, fa-laysa dhālika bisurūrin fāsidin, wa-lākinnahu shukrun wa-ṭalabu mazīdin.

If his delight in the good mentioned about him is gratitude for God's concealment of his faults and praise of God, because God, mighty and majestic, has made him someone mentioned by a sign of goodness, then that delight is not corrupt. It is gratitude and a seeking of further blessing.

وَعَلَامَةُ سَلَامَةِ نِيَّتِهِ فِي ذٰلِكَ أَنْ يَزْدَادَ لِلَّهِ تَوَاضُعًا وَلِآلَائِهِ شُكْرًا وَفِي طَاعَتِهِ اجْتِهَادًا، وَمَعَ ذٰلِكَ يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يَرُدَّ نَفْسَهُ إِلَى طَرِيقِ الْمَخَافَةِ مِنَ الِاسْتِدْرَاجِ، وَيَكُونَ مَا خَفِيَ مِنْ عَمَلِهِ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِمَّا ظَهَرَ، مَخَافَةَ مَا يَلْحَقُ أَهْلَ الصَّلَاحِ مِنَ الْفِتْنَةِ فِيمَا يَسْتَمِعُونَ مِنَ الْمِدْحَةِ وَالثَّنَاءِ.

Wa-ʿalāmatu salāmati niyyatihi fī dhālika ʾan yazdāda li-llāhi tawāḍuʿan wa-li-ʾālāʾihi shukran wa-fī ṭāʿatihi ijtihādan, wa-maʿa dhālika yanbaghī ʾan yarudda nafsahu ʾilā ṭarīqi al-makhāfati mina al-istidrāji, wa-yakūna mā khafiya min ʿamalihi ʾaḥabba ʾilayhi mimmā ẓahara, makhāfata mā yalḥaqu ʾahla al-ṣalāḥi mina al-fitnati fīmā yastamiʿūna mina al-midḥati wa-al-thanāʾi.

The sign that his intention remains sound is that he becomes more humble before God, more grateful for His favors, and more diligent in obeying Him. Alongside this, he should bring his self back to fear of being drawn gradually toward ruin, and love the hidden part of his work more than what becomes visible, fearing the trial that befalls the righteous in the praise and commendation they hear.

وَلِمَا جَاءَ مِنَ النَّهْيِ وَالْكَرَاهَةِ وَالتَّزْكِيَةِ وَالْمِدْحَةِ أَنْ يَسْمَعَ صَاحِبُهُ، وَذٰلِكَ مِثْلُ قَوْلِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَنْ مَدَحَ أَخَاهُ فِي وَجْهِهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا أَمَرَّ عَلَى حَلْقِهِ مُوسًى رَمِيضًا.

Wa-limā jāʾa mina al-nahyi wa-al-karāhati wa-al-tazkiyati wa-al-midḥati ʾan yasmaʿa ṣāḥibuhu, wa-dhālika mithlu qawlihi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: man madaḥa ʾakhāhu fī wajhihi fa-kaʾannamā ʾamarra ʿalā ḥalqihi mūsan ramīḍan.

This is also because of the transmitted prohibition and disapproval concerning commendation and praise in the person's hearing [the printed construction is awkward], such as what he, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Whoever praises his brother to his face is as though he passed a keen razor across his throat.”

وَمِثْلُ قَوْلِهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: لَوْ سَمِعَكَ مَا أَفْلَحَ.

Wa-mithlu qawlihi ʿalayhi al-salāmu: law samiʿaka mā ʾaflaḥa.

And such as what he, peace be upon him, said: “If he heard you, he would not prosper.”

وَمِثْلُ قَوْلِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: عَقَرْتَ الرَّجُلَ، عَقَرَكَ اللَّهُ، وَهٰذَا نَحْوُهُ كَثِيرٌ.

Wa-mithlu qawlihi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: ʿaqarta al-rajula, ʿaqaraka Allāhu, wa-hādhā naḥwuhu kathīrun.

And such as what he, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “You have crippled the man; may God cripple you.” There are many reports of this kind.

Source pages 72–73

فَإِذَا كَانَ مَذْهَبُهُ وَنِيَّتُهُ شُكْرَ اللَّهِ عَلَى سَتْرِهِ وَحَمْدَ اللَّهِ عَلَى نِعْمَتِهِ، وَيَكُونُ مَا سَبَقَ مِنَ السُّرُورِ إِلَى قَلْبِهِ فِي ثَنَاءٍ إِذَا سَمِعْتَهُ رَجَاءَ الْقُدْوَةِ بِهِ، إِذَا كَانَ مِمَّنْ يَصْلُحُ أَنْ يُقْتَدَى بِهِ، لِقَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: ﴿وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا﴾، يَقُولُ: أَئِمَّةً فِي الْخَيْرِ يُقْتَدَى بِنَا.

Fa-ʾidhā kāna madh-habuhu wa-niyyatuhu shukra Allāhi ʿalā satrihi wa-ḥamda Allāhi ʿalā niʿmatihi, wa-yakūnu mā sabaqa mina al-surūri ʾilā qalbihi fī thanāʾin ʾidhā samiʿtahu rajāʾa al-qudwati bihi, ʾidhā kāna mimman yaṣluḥu ʾan yuqtadā bihi, liqawli Allāhi ʿazza wa-jalla: ﴿wa-ijʿalnā li-al-muttaqīna ʾimāman﴾, yaqūlu: ʾaʾimmatan fī al-khayri yuqtadā binā.

If his course and intention are to thank God for His concealment and praise Him for His blessing, and if the joy that first reaches his heart on hearing praise is hope that his example will be followed, provided he is fit to be followed, then this accords with the words of God, mighty and majestic: “Make us an example for the mindful.” This means leaders in good whose example others follow.

Source page 73

فَإِنْ كَانَ كَذٰلِكَ رَجَوْتُ أَلَّا يَضُرَّهُ ذٰلِكَ وَلَا يُفْسِدَ عَلَيْهِ عَمَلَهُ.

Fa-ʾin kāna ka-dhālika rajawtu ʾallā yaḍurrahu dhālika wa-lā yufsida ʿalayhi ʿamalahu.

If that is how he is, I hope this will neither harm him nor spoil his work.

وَقَدْ ذُكِرَ عَنْ مُطَرِّفٍ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: مَا سَمِعْتُ ثَنَاءً أَوْ مِدْحَةً إِلَّا تَصَاغَرَتْ إِلَيَّ نَفْسِي.

Wa-qad dhukira ʿan Muṭarrifin ʾannahu qāla: mā samiʿtu thanāʾan ʾaw midḥatan ʾillā taṣāgharat ʾilayya nafsī.

It is related that Muṭarrif said: “Whenever I heard praise or commendation, my self became smaller in my own eyes.”

وَقَالَ زِيَادُ بْنُ أَبِي مُسْلِمٍ: لَيْسَ أَحَدٌ سَمِعَ ثَنَاءً أَوْ مِدْحَةً إِلَّا تَرَاءَى لَهُ شَيْطَانٌ، وَلٰكِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ يُرَاجِعُ. فَقَالَ ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ: صَدَقَ كِلَاهُمَا.

Wa-qāla Ziyādu bnu ʾAbī Muslimin: laysa ʾaḥadun samiʿa thanāʾan ʾaw midḥatan ʾillā tarāʾā lahu shayṭānun, wa-lākinna al-muʾmina yurājiʿu. Fa-qāla ibnu al-Mubāraki: ṣadaqa kilāhumā.

Ziyād ibn Abī Muslim said: “No one hears praise or commendation without a devil appearing before him, but the believer reexamines himself.” Ibn al-Mubārak said: “Both have spoken truly.”

أَمَّا مَا ذَكَرَ زِيَادٌ فَذٰلِكَ قَلْبُ الْعَوَامِّ، وَأَمَّا مَا ذَكَرَ مُطَرِّفٌ فَذٰلِكَ قَلْبُ الْخَوَاصِّ.

ʾAmmā mā dhakara Ziyādun fa-dhālika qalbu al-ʿawāmmi, wa-ʾammā mā dhakara Muṭarrifun fa-dhālika qalbu al-khawāṣṣi.

What Ziyād described is the heart of ordinary people; what Muṭarrif described is the heart of the elect.

وَإِنْ كَانَ مَذْهَبُهُ وَنِيَّتُهُ إِذَا سَمِعَ ذٰلِكَ وَسُرَّ بِهِ طَلَبَ الرِّفْعَةِ وَالْمَنْزِلَةِ عِنْدَ النَّاسِ، فَمَا أَسْوَأَ حَالَهُ فِي إِحْبَاطِ عَمَلِهِ!

Wa-ʾin kāna madh-habuhu wa-niyyatuhu ʾidhā samiʿa dhālika wa-surra bihi ṭalaba al-rifʿati wa-al-manzilati ʿinda al-nāsi, fa-mā ʾaswaʾa ḥālahu fī ʾiḥbāṭi ʿamalihi!

But if, on hearing this and taking pleasure in it, his course and intention are to seek elevation and standing among people, how wretched his condition in making his work fruitless!

مَذْهَبُ الصَّالِحِينَ وَأَهْلِ الرِّيَاءِ فِي الْمَدْحِ وَالذَّمِّ

Madh-habu al-ṣāliḥīna wa-ʾahli al-riyāʾi fī al-madḥi wa-al-dhammi

The ways of the righteous and of those who show off concerning praise and blame

وَأَمَّا الْمُرَائِي فَهُوَ الَّذِي يَكُونُ مَذْهَبُهُ وَنِيَّتُهُ فِي أَوَّلِ عَمَلِهِ وَآخِرِهِ طَلَبَ الثَّنَاءِ وَالْمَحْمَدَةِ وَالرِّفْعَةِ وَالتَّكْرِمَةِ عِنْدَ النَّاسِ وَإِحْرَازَ الْمَنَافِعِ بِهِ، فَذٰلِكَ الَّذِي جَاءَهُ الْوَيْلُ وَالثُّبُورُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ.

Wa-ʾammā al-murāʾī fa-huwa alladhī yakūnu madh-habuhu wa-niyyatuhu fī ʾawwali ʿamalihi wa-ʾākhirihi ṭalaba al-thanāʾi wa-al-maḥmadati wa-al-rifʿati wa-al-takrimati ʿinda al-nāsi wa-ʾiḥrāza al-manāfiʿi bihi, fa-dhālika alladhī jāʾahu al-waylu wa-al-thubūru fī al-dunyā wa-al-ʾākhirati.

The person who shows off is someone whose course and intention, at the beginning of his work and at its end, are to seek praise, commendation, elevation, and honor among people and to secure benefits through it. That is the one upon whom woe and ruin come in this world and the next.

فَإِنْ كَانَ يَعْرِفُ مَعْرِفَةَ حَقٍّ أَنَّ مَا أَعْجَبَهُ لِهٰذَا الْمَعْنَى، وَلَمْ يُعْجِبْهُ ذٰلِكَ لِمَا نَالَ مِنَ الْجَاهِ عِنْدَهُمْ، فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِ.

Fa-ʾin kāna yaʿrifu maʿrifata ḥaqqin ʾanna mā ʾaʿjabahu li-hādhā al-maʿnā, wa-lam yuʿjibhu dhālika limā nāla mina al-jāhi ʿindahum, fa-lā junāḥa ʿalayhi.

If he knows with true knowledge that what pleased him did so for this reason, and that it did not please him because of the prestige he gained with them, there is no blame upon him.

وَعَلَامَتُهُ أَنْ يَزْدَادَ تَوَاضُعًا وَيُحْدِثَ خَوْفًا مِنَ الِاسْتِدْرَاجِ، وَمَا يَخْفَى مِنْ عَمَلِهِ فَهُوَ أَحَبُّ مِمَّا يُظْهِرُهُ، لِأَنَّهُ طَمِعَ فِي طَرِيقَةِ الصَّالِحِينَ، فَعَلَى قَدْرِ ذٰلِكَ يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يَرْغَبَ فِي أَعْمَالِهِمْ وَمَا نَالُوا بِهِ اسْمَ الصَّلَاحِ وَصَارُوا مِنْ أَهْلِهِ،

Wa-ʿalāmatuhu ʾan yazdāda tawāḍuʿan wa-yuḥditha khawfan mina al-istidrāji, wa-mā yakhfā min ʿamalihi fa-huwa ʾaḥabbu mimmā yuẓhiruhu, li-ʾannahu ṭamiʿa fī ṭarīqati al-ṣāliḥīna, fa-ʿalā qadri dhālika yanbaghī ʾan yarghaba fī ʾaʿmālihim wa-mā nālū bihi isma al-ṣalāḥi wa-ṣārū min ʾahlihi,

The sign is that he grows more humble and develops fear of being drawn gradually toward ruin, loving the hidden part of his work more than what he displays. Since he aspires to the way of the righteous, he should correspondingly desire their deeds and the means by which they gained the name of righteousness and became its people.

مَعَ مَا يَلْزَمُهُ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ مِنَ الْفِتْنَةِ مِمَّا يَلْزَمُ أَهْلَ الثَّنَاءِ وَالْمَحْمَدَةِ إِذَا أُثْنِيَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَوْ مُدِحُوا، مِثْلِ قَوْلِهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: عَقَرْتَ الرَّجُلَ.

maʿa mā yalzamuhu mina al-khawfi mina al-fitnati mimmā yalzamu ʾahla al-thanāʾi wa-al-maḥmadati ʾidhā ʾuthniya ʿalayhim ʾaw mudiḥū, mithli qawlihi ʿalayhi al-salāmu: ʿaqarta al-rajula.

Alongside this remains his duty to fear the trial that threatens those who receive praise and commendation, as in what he, peace be upon him, said: “You have crippled the man.”

Source pages 73–74

وَمِثْلِ قَوْلِهِ: لَوْ سَمِعَكَ مَا أَفْلَحَ، وَقَوْلِهِ: قَطَعْتَ عُنُقَ أَخِيكَ، وَقَوْلِهِ: إِيَّاكُمْ وَالْمَدْحَ فَإِنَّهُ الذَّبْحُ، وَقَوْلِهِ: إِذَا رَأَيْتُمُ الْمَدَّاحِينَ فَاحْثُوا فِي وُجُوهِهِمُ التُّرَابَ، وَقَوْلِهِ: لَوْ مَشَى رَجُلٌ إِلَى رَجُلٍ بِسِكِّينٍ مُرْهَفٍ كَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يُثْنِيَ عَلَيْهِ فِي وَجْهِهِ، وَمِثْلُ هٰذَا كَثِيرٌ.

Wa-mithli qawlihi: law samiʿaka mā ʾaflaḥa, wa-qawlihi: qaṭaʿta ʿunuqa ʾakhīka, wa-qawlihi: ʾiyyākum wa-al-madḥa fa-ʾinnahu al-dhabḥu, wa-qawlihi: ʾidhā raʾaytumu al-maddāḥīna fa-uḥthū fī wujūhihimu al-turāba, wa-qawlihi: law mashā rajulun ʾilā rajulin bisikkīnin murhafin kāna khayran lahu min ʾan yuthniya ʿalayhi fī wajhihi, wa-mithlu hādhā kathīrun.

And such words as: “If he heard you, he would not prosper”; “You have cut your brother's neck”; “Beware of praise, for it is slaughter”; “When you see habitual flatterers, throw dust in their faces”; and “If a man walked toward another with a sharpened knife, it would be better for him than praising him to his face.” There is much of this kind.

Source page 74

وَصَاحِبُ الْمِدْحَةِ الْخَوْفُ عَلَيْهِ أَكْثَرُ مِنَ الرَّجَاءِ، لِأَنَّ الْخَوْفَ لَا يَضُرُّهُ وَالرَّجَاءَ لَا تُؤْمَنُ فِتْنَتُهُ.

Wa-ṣāḥibu al-midḥati al-khawfu ʿalayhi ʾaktharu mina al-rajāʾi, li-ʾanna al-khawfa lā yaḍurruhu wa-al-rajāʾa lā tuʾmanu fitnatuhu.

For the recipient of praise, there is more reason for fear than hope, because fear does him no harm, while hope's temptation cannot be trusted.

وَعَلَامَةُ أَصْحَابِ الْجَاهِ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَأَصْحَابِ الرِّيَاءِ الْمُحِبِّينَ لِذٰلِكَ أَنَّهُمْ إِذَا سَمِعُوا الثَّنَاءَ وَالْمَحْمَدَةَ أَحَبُّوا ذٰلِكَ وَازْدَادُوا عِزَّةً وَإِعْجَابًا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ وَغَفْلَةً عَنِ الِاسْتِدْرَاجِ وَتَمَادَوْا وَتَمَنَّوْا وَطَمِعُوا أَنَّ مَا ظَهَرَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ أَعْمَالِهِمْ كَانَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِمْ مِمَّا خَفِيَ، وَلَمْ يَخَافُوا مِنْ فِتْنَةٍ وَلَا مِنْ آفَةٍ.

Wa-ʿalāmatu ʾaṣḥābi al-jāhi fī al-dunyā wa-ʾaṣḥābi al-riyāʾi al-muḥibbīna li-dhālika ʾannahum ʾidhā samiʿū al-thanāʾa wa-al-maḥmadata ʾaḥabbū dhālika wa-izdādū ʿizzatan wa-ʾiʿjāban bi-ʾanfusihim wa-ghaflatan ʿani al-istidrāji wa-tamādaw wa-tamannaw wa-ṭamiʿū ʾanna mā ẓahara ʿalayhim min ʾaʿmālihim kāna ʾaḥabba ʾilayhim mimmā khafiya, wa-lam yakhāfū min fitnatin wa-lā min ʾāfatin.

The sign of those who prize worldly prestige and those who show off and love it is that, when they hear praise and commendation, they love it and grow more self-important, self-admiring, and heedless of being drawn toward ruin. They persist, indulge wishes and hopes, and love the deeds that have become visible more than those that remain hidden, fearing neither temptation nor any defect.

وَكَذٰلِكَ إِذَا كَرِهَ الْمَذَمَّةَ إِنَّمَا كَرِهَهَا لِأَنَّهُ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ مَكَانَهَا مِدْحَةٌ وَثَنَاءٌ لِيَنَالَ بِذٰلِكَ الْجَاهَ وَالْقَدْرَ وَالْمَنْزِلَةَ وَالرِّفْعَةَ عِنْدَ النَّاسِ، فَهِيَ كَرَاهِيَةٌ سَقِيمَةٌ مَذْمُومَةٌ وَصَاحِبُهَا مَغْرُورٌ مَخْدُوعٌ.

Wa-ka-dhālika ʾidhā kariha al-madhammata ʾinnamā karihahā li-ʾannahu ʾaḥabba ʾan yakūna makānahā midḥatun wa-thanāʾun liyanāla bi-dhālika al-jāha wa-al-qadra wa-al-manzilata wa-al-rifʿata ʿinda al-nāsi, fa-hiya karāhiyatun saqīmatun madhmūmatun wa-ṣāḥibuhā maghrūrun makhdūʿun.

Likewise, if he dislikes blame only because he wants praise and commendation in its place, so as to obtain prestige, esteem, standing, and elevation among people, then his dislike is unhealthy and blameworthy, and he is deluded and deceived.

وَإِنْ كَانَ إِنَّمَا هِيَ حُبٌّ مِنْهُ لِسَتْرِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَكَرَاهِيَةُ هَتْكِ السَّتْرِ عَنْهُ، لِأَنَّهُ لَمْ يَمْقُتْهُ النَّاسُ حَتَّى جَاءَهُ الْمَقْتُ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ قَبْلَ مَقْتِ النَّاسِ، فَإِنْ كَانَتِ الْكَرَاهِيَةُ إِنَّمَا هِيَ مِنْ هٰذِهِ الْجِهَةِ فَإِنَّ هٰذَا يَكْرَهُهُ الصَّادِقُ وَغَيْرُ الصَّادِقِ فَلَا يُلَامُ عَلَيْهِ.

Wa-ʾin kāna ʾinnamā hiya ḥubbun minhu lisatri Allāhi ʿalayhi wa-karāhiyatu hatki al-satri ʿanhu, li-ʾannahu lam yamqut-hu al-nāsu ḥattā jāʾahu al-maqtu min ʿindi Allāhi qabla maqti al-nāsi, fa-ʾin kānati al-karāhiyatu ʾinnamā hiya min hādhihi al-jihati fa-ʾinna hādhā yakrahuhu al-ṣādiqu wa-ghayru al-ṣādiqi fa-lā yulāmu ʿalayhi.

But if it is simply his love of God's concealing his faults and his dislike of that concealment being torn away, because people's abhorrence did not come until God's abhorrence had already reached him before theirs, then, if his dislike comes only from this direction, this is something both the truthful and the untruthful dislike, and he is not blamed for it.

وَعَلَامَتُهُ التَّضَرُّعُ وَالِاسْتِكَانَةُ وَالْمُرَاجَعَةُ وَالنَّظَرُ فِي التَّخَلُّصِ إِلَى طَرِيقِ مَحَبَّةِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَسَبِيلِ الِاسْتِقَامَةِ وَمَحَجَّةِ الْإِيمَانِ وَالْجِدُّ فِيهِ.

Wa-ʿalāmatuhu al-taḍarruʿu wa-al-istikānatu wa-al-murājaʿatu wa-al-naẓaru fī al-takhalluṣi ʾilā ṭarīqi maḥabbati Allāhi taʿālā wa-sabīli al-istiqāmati wa-maḥajjati al-ʾīmāni wa-al-jiddu fīhi.

Its sign is pleading, humility, self-examination, and considering how to make one's way out toward the path of love for God Most High, the way of uprightness, and the clear road of faith, while earnestly striving in it.

زِيَادَةُ بَيَانٍ لِعَلَامَاتِ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ

Ziyādatu bayānin liʿalāmāti al-farīqayni

Further clarification of the signs of the two groups

وَأَبْيَنُ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ أَنَّ كُلَّ مَنْ زَعَمَ أَنَّهُ يُرِيدُ بِعَمَلِهِ وَجْهَ اللَّهِ وَلَا يُرِيدُ مِنْ أَحَدٍ عَلَى عَمَلٍ يَعْمَلُهُ مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ الصَّالِحَاتِ جَزَاءً وَلَا شُكُورًا، ثُمَّ عَرَفَهُ النَّاسُ بِعَمَلِهِ وَذُكِرَ بِهِ وَصَارَ مَعْرُوفًا عِنْدَهُمْ وَنَالَ مِنْهُمُ الرِّفْعَةَ،

Wa-ʾabyanu min dhālika ʾanna kulla man zaʿama ʾannahu yurīdu biʿamalihi wajha Allāhi wa-lā yurīdu min ʾaḥadin ʿalā ʿamalin yaʿmaluhu mina al-ʾaʿmāli al-ṣāliḥāti jazāʾan wa-lā shukūran, thumma ʿarafahu al-nāsu biʿamalihi wa-dhukira bihi wa-ṣāra maʿrūfan ʿindahum wa-nāla minhumu al-rifʿata,

A clearer sign is this: someone claims to seek God's face through his work and to want neither recompense nor thanks from anyone for any righteous deed. Then people know him through his work, mention him for it, and elevate him.

Source pages 74–75

فَإِنْ كَانَ يَعْرِفُ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ أَنَّهُ إِذَا عَرَضَ عَلَيْهَا أَنْ يَتَحَوَّلَ اسْمُهُ وَمَا نَالَ بِعَمَلِهِ مِنَ النَّاسِ مِنَ الثَّنَاءِ وَالْمَحْمَدَةِ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ، وَيَبْقَى هُوَ عِنْدَ النَّاسِ كَمَنْ لَا يُعْرَفُ لَهُ عَمَلٌ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ، ذِكْرٌ وَلَا غَيْرُهُ، فَكَانَ هٰذَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ، فَأَمْرُهُ مَرْجُوٌّ.

fa-ʾin kāna yaʿrifu min nafsihi ʾannahu ʾidhā ʿaraḍa ʿalayhā ʾan yataḥawwala ismuhu wa-mā nāla biʿamalihi mina al-nāsi mina al-thanāʾi wa-al-maḥmadati ʾilā ghayrihi, wa-yabqā huwa ʿinda al-nāsi kaman lā yuʿrafu lahu ʿamalun min ʾaʿmāli al-birri, dhikrun wa-lā ghayruhu, fa-kāna hādhā ʾaḥabba ʾilayhi, fa-ʾamruhu marjuwwun.

If he knows of himself that, when he puts to his own self the prospect of his reputation and the praise and commendation his work has gained being transferred to someone else, while he remains among people as someone with no known good deed, remembrance or otherwise, he prefers this, then his condition gives grounds for hope.

Source page 75

وَإِنْ كَرِهَ أَنْ يَتَحَوَّلَ ذِكْرُهُ الَّذِي كَانَ عَلَيْهِ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ وَيَبْقَى هُوَ كَمَنْ لَا يُعْرَفُ لَهُ عَمَلٌ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ، فَدَعْوَاهُ حِينَئِذٍ بَاطِلَةٌ.

Wa-ʾin kariha ʾan yataḥawwala dhikruhu alladhī kāna ʿalayhi ʾilā ghayrihi wa-yabqā huwa kaman lā yuʿrafu lahu ʿamalun min ʾaʿmāli al-birri, fa-daʿwāhu ḥīnaʾidhin bāṭilatun.

But if he dislikes his established reputation being transferred to someone else while he remains as someone with no known good deed, then his claim is false.

لِأَنَّ الَّذِي يَقُولُهُ إِنَّهُ يُرِيدُهُ بِعَمَلِهِ وَلَا يُرِيدُ غَيْرَهُ، فَإِذَا تَحَوَّلَ ذِكْرُهُ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ لَمْ يُحَوِّلِ الَّذِي عَمِلَ لَهُ الْعَمَلَ الثَّوَابَ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ وَلَمْ يَنْقُصْهُ مِنْ ثَوَابِهِ شَيْئًا، وَلَعَلَّهُ أَنْ يَكُونَ أَكْثَرَ لَهُ عِنْدَهُ وَأَقْرَبَ مَثْوًى.

Li-ʾanna alladhī yaqūluhu ʾinnahu yurīduhu biʿamalihi wa-lā yurīdu ghayrahu, fa-ʾidhā taḥawwala dhikruhu ʾilā ghayrihi lam yuḥawwili alladhī ʿamila lahu al-ʿamala al-thawāba ʾilā ghayrihi wa-lam yanquṣhu min thawābihi shayʾan, wa-laʿallahu ʾan yakūna ʾakthara lahu ʿindahu wa-ʾaqraba mathwan.

For the One whom he says he seeks through his work, seeking no one else, will not transfer the reward to someone else when the reputation is transferred. The One for whom he performed the deed will not diminish his reward at all; perhaps his reward with Him will be greater and his dwelling nearer.

وَالَّذِي كَانَ يَزْعُمُ أَنَّهُ لَا يُرِيدُهُمْ بِهِ كَرِهَ أَنْ يَزُولَ عَنْهُ الِاسْمُ الَّذِي ثَبَتَتْ لَهُ عِنْدَهُمْ بِهِ الْمَنْزِلَةُ، وَكَرِهَ أَنْ يَبْقَى عِنْدَ مَنْ زَعَمَ أَنَّهُ لَا يُرِيدُهُمْ بِلَا ذِكْرِ عَمَلٍ يَعْرِفُونَهُ بِهِ.

Wa-alladhī kāna yazʿumu ʾannahu lā yurīduhum bihi kariha ʾan yazūla ʿanhu al-ismu alladhī thabatat lahu ʿindahum bihi al-manzilatu, wa-kariha ʾan yabqā ʿinda man zaʿama ʾannahu lā yurīduhum bilā dhikri ʿamalin yaʿrifūnahu bihi.

Yet he dislikes losing the reputation through which he established standing with the very people he claimed not to seek through his work. He dislikes remaining among those he said he did not seek without mention of a deed by which they know him.

وَمِثْلُ هٰذَا يُنْظَرُ إِنْ كَانَتْ لَهُ خَصْلَةٌ عِنْدَ النَّاسِ مِنْ خِصَالِ الْبِرِّ فَنَسَبُوهُ إِلَيْهَا وَيَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُ صَاحِبُهَا غَلَطًا مِنْهُمْ بِهَا وَجَهَالَةً، فَكَرِهَ أَنْ يَعْرِفُوا ذٰلِكَ أَوْ يَطَّلِعُوا عَلَيْهِ، وَكَرِهَ أَنْ (يَعْرِفُوا) أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِمَّنْ يَعْمَلُ بِتِلْكَ الْخَصْلَةِ،

Wa-mithlu hādhā yunẓaru ʾin kānat lahu khaṣlatun ʿinda al-nāsi min khiṣāli al-birri fa-nasabūhu ʾilayhā wa-yaẓunnūna ʾannahu ṣāḥibuhā ghalaṭan minhum bihā wa-jahālatan, fa-kariha ʾan yaʿrifū dhālika ʾaw yaṭṭaliʿū ʿalayhi, wa-kariha ʾan (yaʿrifū) ʾannahu laysa mimman yaʿmalu bitilka al-khaṣlati,

A similar test applies if people attribute a good quality to him and, through error and ignorance, suppose he possesses it, while he dislikes their discovering the truth or finding him out. He dislikes their (knowing) that he does not practice that quality.

أَوْ لَهُ عَمَلٌ مِنَ الْبِرِّ وَعِنْدَ النَّاسِ أَنَّ مَا يَعْمَلُهُ مِنَ الْبِرِّ أَكْثَرُ، فَيَكْرَهُ أَنْ يَطَّلِعَ النَّاسُ عَلَيْهِ، فَلَا يَعْبَأْ بِمَحَبَّةِ نَفْسِهِ عِنْدَ الَّذِي يَعْمَلُ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ، فَإِنَّهُ مِمَّنْ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يُحْمَدَ بِمَا لَمْ يَفْعَلْ.

ʾaw lahu ʿamalun mina al-birri wa-ʿinda al-nāsi ʾanna mā yaʿmaluhu mina al-birri ʾaktharu, fa-yakrahu ʾan yaṭṭaliʿa al-nāsu ʿalayhi, fa-lā yaʿbaʾ bimaḥabbati nafsihi ʿinda alladhī yaʿmalu min ʾaʿmāli al-birri, fa-ʾinnahu mimman yuḥibbu ʾan yuḥmada bimā lam yafʿal.

Or he performs some good work, but people suppose he performs more, and he dislikes their finding out. He should place no reliance on his self's love when he performs good deeds, for he is among those who love to be praised for what they have not done.

وَلَا يُمْكِنُ أَنْ يَكُونَ وَاحِدٌ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يُحْمَدَ بِمَا لَمْ يَفْعَلْ وَلَا يُحِبُّ أَنْ يُحْمَدَ بِمَا قَدْ فَعَلَ حَتَّى يُحِبَّهُمَا جَمِيعًا.

Wa-lā yumkinu ʾan yakūna wāḥidun yuḥibbu ʾan yuḥmada bimā lam yafʿal wa-lā yuḥibbu ʾan yuḥmada bimā qad faʿala ḥattā yuḥibbahumā jamīʿan.

It is not possible for someone to love being praised for what he has not done while not loving to be praised for what he has done: he must love both.

كَذٰلِكَ إِنْ صَحِبَ رَجُلًا مَعْرُوفًا بِالصَّلَاحِ وَالْعِبَادَةِ عِنْدَ النَّاسِ أَوْ لَهُ سَبَبٌ قَدْ نَالَ بِهِ (ذِكْرًا) مِنْ غَيْرِهِ، فَكَرِهَ أَنْ يَسْقُطَ ذٰلِكَ عِنْدَ النَّاسِ وَلَمْ يَعْبَأْ بِمَحَبَّةِ نَفْسِهِ عِنْدَمَا يَعْمَلُ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الْبِرِّ، فَإِنَّهُ مِمَّنْ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يُحْمَدَ بِانْتِسَابِهِ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ،

Ka-dhālika ʾin ṣaḥiba rajulan maʿrūfan bi-al-ṣalāḥi wa-al-ʿibādati ʿinda al-nāsi ʾaw lahu sababun qad nāla bihi (dhikran) min ghayrihi, fa-kariha ʾan yasquṭa dhālika ʿinda al-nāsi wa-lam yaʿbaʾ bimaḥabbati nafsihi ʿindamā yaʿmalu min ʾaʿmāli al-birri, fa-ʾinnahu mimman yuḥibbu ʾan yuḥmada bi-intisābihi ʾilā ghayrihi,

Likewise, if he accompanies a man known among people for righteousness and worship, or has some connection through which he gains (a reputation) from another, and dislikes losing that standing with people and pays no attention to his self's love when performing good deeds, he is someone who loves to be praised for his association with another.

وَلَا يُمْكِنُ أَنْ يُحِبَّ الذِّكْرَ بِعَمَلِ غَيْرِهِ وَلَا يُحِبَّ أَنْ يُذْكَرَ بِعَمَلِ نَفْسِهِ الَّذِي يَعْمَلُهُ حَتَّى يُحِبَّهُمَا جَمِيعًا.

wa-lā yumkinu ʾan yuḥibba al-dhikra biʿamali ghayrihi wa-lā yuḥibba ʾan yudhkara biʿamali nafsihi alladhī yaʿmaluhu ḥattā yuḥibbahumā jamīʿan.

He cannot love being mentioned for another person's work without loving to be mentioned for the work he does himself: he must love both.

فَإِنْ وَجَدَ نَفْسَهُ فِي هٰذِهِ الْمَوَاضِعِ صَادِقَةً عَلَى مَا يَجِبُ عَلَيْهَا فِيهِ الصِّدْقُ، فَأَرْجُو أَنْ يَكُونَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الصِّدْقِ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى.

Fa-ʾin wajada nafsahu fī hādhihi al-mawāḍiʿi ṣādiqatan ʿalā mā yajibu ʿalayhā fīhi al-ṣidqu, fa-ʾarjū ʾan yakūna min ʾahli al-ṣidqi ʾin shāʾa Allāhu taʿālā.

If he finds his self truthful in these situations, where truthfulness is required of it, I hope he belongs to the truthful, if God Most High wills.