2. Khalwah: Seclusion by Al Muhasibi Part 2

الْخَلْوَةُ وَالتَّنَقُّلُ فِي الْعِبَادَةِ وَدَرَجَاتُ الْعَابِدِينَ

Al-Khalwatu wa-al-Tanaqqulu fī al-ʿIbādati wa-Darajātu al-ʿĀbidīna

Seclusion, Movement (advancement) within Worship, and the Degrees of the Worshippers

الْحَارِثُ بْنُ أَسَدٍ الْمُحَاسِبِيُّ

Al-Ḥārithu bnu ʾAsadin al-Muḥāsibiyyu

Al-Ḥārith ibn Asad al-Muḥāsibī

Source page 17

بَابُ الصَّمْتِ وَمُخَالَفَةِ الْهَوَى وَغَيْرِ ذٰلِكَ

Bābu al-ṣamti wa-mukhālafati al-hawā wa-ghayri dhālika

Chapter on Silence, Opposing Desire, and Related Matters

قَالَ بَعْضُ الْحُكَمَاءِ: إِنِّي أَعُدُّ كَلَامِي فِيمَا لَا بُدَّ لِي مِنْهُ مُصِيبَةً وَاقِعَةً أَسْتَعِينُ بِاللّٰهِ عَلَى السَّلَامَةِ مِنْهَا، وَإِنِّي لَأَعُدُّ صَمْتِي عَمَّا لَا يَعْنِينِي غُنْمًا وَحَادِثَ نِعْمَةٍ أَلْتَمِسُ الشُّكْرَ عَلَيْهَا إِذْ عَلِمْتُ أَنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ كُلِّ كَلِمَةٍ رَقِيبًا عَتِيدًا.

Qāla baʿḍu al-ḥukamāʾi: ʾinnī ʾaʿuddu kalāmī fīmā lā budda lī minhu muṣībatan wāqiʿatan ʾastaʿīnu bi-Allāhi ʿalā al-salāmati minhā, wa-ʾinnī laʾaʿuddu ṣamtī ʿammā lā yaʿnīnī ghunman wa-ḥāditha niʿmatin ʾaltamisu al-shukra ʿalayhā ʾidh ʿalimtu ʾanna min warāʾi kulli kalimatin raqīban ʿatīdan.

One of the wise said, “I count even the speech I cannot do without as a misfortune that has befallen me, and I seek God's help to emerge from it safely. I count my silence about what does not concern me as a gain and a new blessing for which I seek to give thanks, since I know that behind every word stands an observer ready at hand.

Source pages 17–18

فَأَنْزِلْ مَا اضْطُرِرْتَ إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ مُصِيبَةً نَازِلَةً وَأَنَّ مَا كُفِيتَ مِنَ الْكَلَامِ غَنِيمَةٌ بَارِدَةٌ.

Fa-ʾanzil mā uḍṭurirta ʾilayhi mina al-qawli muṣībatan nāzilatan wa-ʾanna mā kufīta mina al-kalāmi ghanīmatun bāridatun.

Treat the speech you are compelled to utter as a misfortune that has come upon you, and whatever speech you are spared as an effortless gain.”

Source page 18

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّكَ فِي زَمَانٍ غَلَبَةُ الْهَوَى فِيهِ عَلَى الْأَحْمَرِ وَالْأَسْوَدِ، عَلَى الْجَاهِلِ وَالْعَالِمِ بِأُمُورِ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ.

Wa-iʿlam ʾannaka fī zamānin ghalabatu al-hawā fīhi ʿalā al-ʾaḥmari wa-al-ʾaswadi, ʿalā al-jāhili wa-al-ʿālimi bi-ʾumūri al-dunyā wa-al-ʾākhirati.

Know that you live in an age when desire dominates the red-skinned and the black, the ignorant and those learned in the affairs of this world and the next.

فَلَتَعْرِفَنَّ نَفْسُكَ مِنْكَ أَنَّكَ لَا تُثْبِتُ لَهَا عَمَلًا بِسَاعِدَيْكَ عَلَى احْتِمَالِ الْمَؤُونَةِ فِيهِ إِلَّا وَهَوَاهَا فِيهِ ثَابِتٌ.

Fa-lataʿrifanna nafsuka minka ʾannaka lā tuthbitu lahā ʿamalan bisāʿidayka ʿalā iḥtimāli al-maʾūnati fīhi ʾillā wa-hawāhā fīhi thābitun.

Your self must certainly learn from you that you credit it with no deed performed “with your two forearms” to bear its burden without recognizing that its desire is established within that deed [the printed wording is irregular].

وَأَعْرِفْهَا أَنَّهَا مَا احْتَمَلَتْ لَكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ بِعَمَلٍ فِي طَاعَةٍ أَوْ بَصِيرَةٍ بِعُيُوبِ عَمَلٍ فِي طَاعَةٍ أَنَّ ذٰلِكَ احْتِمَالُ فَسَادٍ وَصْهَا تَقَدَّمَتْ فِيهِ مِنْ طَرِيقِ هُدَاهَا أَنَّ ذٰلِكَ مَرْدُودٌ عَلَيْهَا.

Wa-ʾaʿrifhā ʾannahā mā iḥtamalat laka min ʿilmin biʿamalin fī ṭāʿatin ʾaw baṣīratin biʿuyūbi ʿamalin fī ṭāʿatin ʾanna dhālika iḥtimālu fasādin waṣhā taqaddamat fīhi min ṭarīqi hudāhā ʾanna dhālika mardūdun ʿalayhā.

Make it recognize that whatever it has borne for you of knowledge of an act of obedience, or insight into the defects of such an act, is a bearing of corruption: “waṣhā,” in which it has advanced by the path of its guidance, and that it is rejected and returned to it [the printed word and the sentence's connections are unclear].

فَإِذَا عَرَفَتْ ذٰلِكَ مِنْكَ يَئِسَتْ مِنْ أَنْ تُثْبِتَ لَهَا خَيْرًا وَصْهَا احْتَمَلَتْهُ لَكَ فَأَلْزِمْهَا إِيَّاهُ وَسَلِ اللّٰهَ الْعَوْنَ عَلَيْهَا فِي إِصْلَاحِ فَسَادِ أَعْمَالِهَا.

Fa-ʾidhā ʿarafat dhālika minka yaʾisat min ʾan tuthbita lahā khayran waṣhā iḥtamalat-hu laka fa-ʾalzimhā ʾiyyāhu wa-sali Allāha al-ʿawna ʿalayhā fī ʾiṣlāḥi fasādi ʾaʿmālihā.

When it learns this from you, it despairs of your crediting it with good: “waṣhā,” which it has borne for you. Hold it responsible for that, and ask God for help against it in correcting the corruption of its deeds [the same unclear printed word recurs].

وَلْيَصِحَّ عِنْدَكَ أَنَّهَا لَا تُسَاعِدُكَ عَلَى طَلَبِ مَعْرِفَةِ عُيُوبِهَا إِلَّا وَقَدِ احْتَضَنَتْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ ذٰلِكَ دَاءً هُوَ أَضَرُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ عُيُوبِ عَمَلِهَا.

Wa-l-yaṣiḥḥa ʿindaka ʾannahā lā tusāʿiduka ʿalā ṭalabi maʿrifati ʿuyūbihā ʾillā wa-qadi iḥtaḍanat min warāʾi dhālika dāʾan huwa ʾaḍarru ʿalayka min ʿuyūbi ʿamalihā.

Be firmly convinced that it never helps you seek knowledge of its faults without secretly harboring a disease more harmful to you than the faults in its deeds.

فَإِذَا عَمِلْتَ عَمَلًا احْتَمَلَتْ مَؤُونَةً فَارْجِعْ إِلَى اللّٰهِ تَعَالَى بِالشُّكْرِ لِتَسْخِيرِهَا لِاحْتِمَالِ مَا كُنْتَ تَسْتَثْقِلُ مِنْهَا وَاسْتَغْفِرِ اللّٰهَ لَهَا مِنْ سَقَمِ نِيَّتِهَا فِي ذٰلِكَ الْعَمَلِ.

Fa-ʾidhā ʿamilta ʿamalan iḥtamalat maʾūnatan fa-irjiʿ ʾilā Allāhi taʿālā bi-al-shukri litaskhīrihā li-iḥtimāli mā kunta tastathqilu minhā wa-istaghfiri Allāha lahā min saqami niyyatihā fī dhālika al-ʿamali.

When you perform a deed whose burden it has borne, return to God Most High with gratitude for making it submit to bearing what you used to find burdensome from it. Ask God to forgive it for the sickness of its intention in that deed.

وَإِنْ ظَهَرَ لَكَ مِنْهَا بُكَاءٌ مِنْ خَوْفٍ تَدَّعِيهِ فَأَتْبِعْ بُكَاهَا بُكَاءَ مَعْرِفَةٍ مِنْكَ بِقِلَّةِ صِدْقِهَا فِي بُكَايِهَا.

Wa-ʾin ẓahara laka minhā bukāʾun min khawfin taddaʿīhi fa-ʾatbiʿ bukāhā bukāʾa maʿrifatin minka biqillati ṣidqihā fī bukāyihā.

If you see it weeping from a fear it claims to feel, follow its tears with tears born of your knowledge of how little truthfulness there is in its weeping.

فَإِنْ ظَهَرَ ذٰلِكَ مِنْهَا حُزْنٌ عِنْدَ ذِكْرِ الْآخِرَةِ فَأَتْبِعْ حُزْنَهَا حُزْنًا مَعْرِفَةً مِنْكَ بِعَظِيمِ كَذِبِهَا فِي حُزْنِهَا.

Fa-ʾin ẓahara dhālika minhā ḥuznun ʿinda dhikri al-ʾākhirati fa-ʾatbiʿ ḥuznahā ḥuznan maʿrifatan minka biʿaẓīmi kadhibihā fī ḥuznihā.

If sorrow appears from it when the next life is mentioned, follow its sorrow with sorrow born of your knowledge of how great its falsehood is in its sorrow [the printed construction includes an intrusive “that”].

وَلْيَكُنْ ذٰلِكَ بُكَا تَوَجُّعِ الْقَلْبِ لِعَظِيمِ مُصِيبَتِكَ فِي كَذِبِهَا مُصِيبَةً نَازِلَةً بِكَ فِي أَحْوَالِهَا.

Wa-l-yakun dhālika bukā tawajjuʿi al-qalbi liʿaẓīmi muṣībatika fī kadhibihā muṣībatan nāzilatan bika fī ʾaḥwālihā.

Let these be tears from a heart aching at the great calamity its falsehood brings you, a calamity befalling you through its various states.

فَإِنَّكَ عَسَيْتَ إِنْ صَحَّ لَكَ مِنْ عَمَلِكَ شَيْ أَوْ قُبِلَ مِنْكَ شَيْ أَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْكَ اسْتِغْفَارُكَ لَهَا مِنْ سَقَمِ نِيَّتِهَا فِي عَمَلِهَا وَبُكَاءُ مَعْرِفَتِكَ بِقِلَّةِ صِدْقِهَا فِي بُكَايِهَا وَحُزْنُ مَعْرِفَتِكَ بِعَظِيمِ كَذِبِهَا فِي حُزْنِهَا.

Fa-ʾinnaka ʿasayta ʾin ṣaḥḥa laka min ʿamalika shay ʾaw qubila minka shay ʾan yuqbala minka istighfāruka lahā min saqami niyyatihā fī ʿamalihā wa-bukāʾu maʿrifatika biqillati ṣidqihā fī bukāyihā wa-ḥuznu maʿrifatika biʿaẓīmi kadhibihā fī ḥuznihā.

If anything in your deeds proves sound or anything is accepted from you, perhaps what will be accepted is your plea for forgiveness for the sickness of its intention in its deeds, your tears at knowing its scant truthfulness in weeping, and your sorrow at knowing its immense falsehood in sorrow.

فَاعْلَمْ أَنِّي إِنَّمَا طَمِعْتُ لَكَ فِي قَبُولِ ذٰلِكَ لِأَنَّكَ عَرَفْتَ الْحَقَّ عَلَى نَفْسِكَ لِلّٰهِ تَعَالَى فَأَقْرَرْتَ لَهُ عَلَى نَفْسِكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَكَانَ لَكَ فِي الْحَقِّ حَظٌّ وَنَصِيبٌ.

Fa-iʿlam ʾannī ʾinnamā ṭamiʿtu laka fī qabūli dhālika li-ʾannaka ʿarafta al-ḥaqqa ʿalā nafsika li-llāhi taʿālā fa-ʾaqrarta lahu ʿalā nafsika bi-al-ḥaqqi fa-kāna laka fī al-ḥaqqi ḥaẓẓun wa-naṣībun.

Know that I hope this will be accepted from you only because you have recognized the rightful claim of God Most High against your self and acknowledged the truth against yourself before Him. You therefore have a share and portion in the truth.

وَقَدْ قِيلَ: أَفْضَلُهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ مَنْ عَرَفَ الْحَقَّ فِي ذٰلِكَ الزَّمَانِ فَأَقَرَّ بِهِ. وَقِيلَ: عَارِفُ الْحَقِّ كَقَائِلِهِ، وَقَدْ يَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ الْمُقِرُّ فِيهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ بِالْحَقِّ نَاجٍ.

Wa-qad qīla: ʾafḍaluhum yawmaʾidhin man ʿarafa al-ḥaqqa fī dhālika al-zamāni fa-ʾaqarra bihi. wa-qīla: ʿārifu al-ḥaqqi kaqāʾilihi, wa-qad yaʾtī ʿalā al-nāsi zamānun al-muqirru fīhim yawmaʾidhin bi-al-ḥaqqi nājin.

It has been said, “The best of them then will be whoever recognizes the truth in that age and acknowledges it.” It has also been said, “One who recognizes the truth is like one who speaks it.” A time may come upon people when simply acknowledging the truth among them brings deliverance.

وَإِنَّكَ لَمَّا تَبَيَّنْتَ أَعْمَالَهَا وَبُكَايِهَا وَحُزْنَهَا وَمَعْرِفَتَهَا فِي مَوَاطِنِ الصَّبْرِ عَلَى مَا تَصْبِرُ عَلَيْهِ وَالْوَالِدَانِ بَطَلَ ذٰلِكَ كُلُّهُ فَيَعُودُ جَهْلًا.

Wa-ʾinnaka lammā tabayyanta ʾaʿmālahā wa-bukāyihā wa-ḥuznahā wa-maʿrifatahā fī mawāṭini al-ṣabri ʿalā mā taṣbiru ʿalayhi wa-al-wālidāni baṭala dhālika kulluhu fa-yaʿūdu jahlan.

When you discerned its deeds, its weeping, its sorrow, and its knowledge in situations calling for endurance of what it endures, “and the two parents,” all of that came to nothing and became ignorance [the printed phrase and the sentence's connection are unclear].

وَعَلِمْتَ الَّذِي ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا مِنْ يَحْتَمِلُهَا وَبُكَائِهَا وَحُزْنِهَا كَانَ مِنْهَا عَلَى غَيْرِ أَصْلٍ مِنَ الصِّدْقِ إِذْ كَانَتِ اللَّحْظَةُ وَالْكَلِمَةُ وَالشَّيْ الْيَسِيرُ يَهْدِمُ مَا أَظْهَرَتْ وَتَلْدَغُهُ.

Wa-ʿalimta alladhī ẓahara minhā min yaḥtamiluhā wa-bukāʾihā wa-ḥuznihā kāna minhā ʿalā ghayri ʾaṣlin mina al-ṣidqi ʾidh kānati al-laḥẓatu wa-al-kalimatu wa-al-shay al-yasīru yahdimu mā ʾaẓharat wa-taldaghuhu.

You learned that what had appeared from it of “one who bears it,” its tears, and its sorrow had no foundation in truthfulness, since a glance, a word, or a trifling thing could demolish what it displayed and sting it [the quoted expression and the final pronoun are uncertain as printed].

فَشَكَرْتَ اللّٰهَ عَلَى مَعْرِفَتِكَ بِالْحَقِّ وَإِقْرَارِكَ بِهِ عَلَى نَفْسِكَ لِلّٰهِ وَسَأَلْتَهُ الْعَوْنَ عَلَيْهَا وَعَلَى عَدُوِّكَ لِحُسْنِ مُؤَازَرَتِهِ إِيَّاكَ فَإِنَّهُ شَاكِرٌ.

Fa-shakarta Allāha ʿalā maʿrifatika bi-al-ḥaqqi wa-ʾiqrārika bihi ʿalā nafsika li-llāhi wa-saʾaltahu al-ʿawna ʿalayhā wa-ʿalā ʿaduwwika liḥusni muʾāzaratihi ʾiyyāka fa-ʾinnahu shākirun.

So you thanked God for your recognition of the truth and your acknowledgment of it against yourself before Him. You asked Him for help against the self and your enemy because of His gracious support of you, for He rewards gratitude.

Source pages 18–19

وَهَبَ لَكَ الْمَعْرِفَةَ ثُمَّ قَبِلَ مِنْكَ إِقْرَارَكَ بِمَا عَرَّفَكَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ شُكْرًا يُثِيبُكَ عَلَيْهِ فِي الْعَاجِلِ نُورًا لِلْحِكْمَةِ فِي قَلْبِكَ وَجَزِيلَ الثَّوَابِ فِي الْأُخْرَى، إِنَّهُ شَكُورٌ حَلِيمٌ.

Wahaba laka al-maʿrifata thumma qabila minka ʾiqrāraka bimā ʿarrafaka mina al-ḥaqqi shukran yuthībuka ʿalayhi fī al-ʿājili nūran li-al-ḥikmati fī qalbika wa-jazīla al-thawābi fī al-ʾukhrā, ʾinnahu shakūrun ḥalīmun.

He gave you understanding, then accepted your acknowledgment of the truth He had taught you as gratitude. For it He rewards you now with the light of wisdom in your heart, and in the next life with abundant reward. He is appreciative and forbearing.

Source page 19

وَبِالْحَرِيِّ أَيْضًا أَنْ يَنْفِيَ عَنْ قَلْبِكَ الْعُجْبَ بِثَبَاتِ خَوْفِ الْبَلْوَى فِي نِعَمِكَ كَمَا ابْتُلِيَ صَاحِبُ الْعِمَامَةِ وَكَمَا ابْتُلِيَ صِدِّيقُ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَالَّذِي قَالَ لَا يَغْفِرُ اللّٰهُ لَكَ، وَهُوَ أَيْضًا مِنْ طَرِيقِ الِاسْتِدْرَاجِ فِيمَا أَظُنُّ لِأَهْلِ الدِّينِ.

Wa-bi-al-ḥariyyi ʾayḍan ʾan yanfiya ʿan qalbika al-ʿujba bithabāti khawfi al-balwā fī niʿamika kamā ubtuliya ṣāḥibu al-ʿimāmati wa-kamā ubtuliya ṣiddīqu banī ʾIsrāʾīla wa-alladhī qāla lā yaghfiru Allāhu laka, wa-huwa ʾayḍan min ṭarīqi al-istidrāji fīmā ʾaẓunnu li-ʾahli al-dīni.

It is also fitting that He remove conceit from your heart by firmly establishing fear of trial within your blessings, as the man with the turban was tested, and the utterly truthful man among the Israelites, and the man who said, “God will not forgive you.” This too, I think, is one of the paths by which religious people are gradually led to ruin.

وَلَعَلَّهُ يُبْتَلَى بِالْهَوَانِ فَتَجِدُ ذٰلِكَ فِي نَفْسِكَ وَتَرَى أَنَّهُ صُنِعَ بِكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ أَهْلَهُ، وَلَعَلَّكَ تُبْلِي الْأَخْيَارَ بِالْكَرَامَةِ مِنَ النَّاسِ فَقَبِلَهُ قَلْبُكَ وَتَرَى فِي نَفْسِكَ أَنَّهُ صُنِعَ بِكَ مَا كُنْتَ لِذٰلِكَ أَهْلًا.

Wa-laʿallahu yubtalā bi-al-hawāni fa-tajidu dhālika fī nafsika wa-tarā ʾannahu ṣuniʿa bika mā lam takun ʾahlahu, wa-laʿallaka tublī al-ʾakhyāra bi-al-karāmati mina al-nāsi fa-qabilahu qalbuka wa-tarā fī nafsika ʾannahu ṣuniʿa bika mā kunta li-dhālika ʾahlan.

Perhaps he is tested with humiliation, and you feel it within yourself and think that you have been treated in a way you did not deserve. Perhaps you “test the good people” with honor from others, and your heart accepts it, while you think you have been treated as you deserve [the printed changes of person and the quoted expression are unclear].

وَلَأَنْ تَكُونَ نَفْسُكَ عِنْدَكَ أَنَّهَا فِي مِثْلِ حَالِهَا الْعَذَابُ أَوْلَى بِهَا. ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: وَإِنْ شَا غَفَرَ لِي فَإِنَّهُ وَاسِعُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ أَوْلَى بِهَا. ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: وَإِنْ سَاعَدَتْنِي بَعْضُ ذُنُوبِي.

Wa-laʾan takūna nafsuka ʿindaka ʾannahā fī mithli ḥālihā al-ʿadhābu ʾawlā bihā. thumma yaqūlu: wa-ʾin shā ghafara lī fa-ʾinnahu wāsiʿu al-maghfirati ʾawlā bihā. thumma yaqūlu: wa-ʾin sāʿadatnī baʿḍu dhunūbī.

Rather, let your view of your self be that, in its present condition, punishment is more fitting for it. Then he says, “If He wills, He will forgive me, for His forgiveness is vast,” more fitting for it. Then he says, “And if some of my sins help me” [the printed passage is incomplete and its connections uncertain].

فَنَسْأَلُ اللّٰهَ أَهْلَنَا وَمَوْلَانَا أَنْ يَهْدِيَنَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ بِالْمَعْرِفَةِ إِلَى مَعْرِفَتِهَا وَالْعَزْمِ عَلَى خِلَافِهَا وَالْعِصْمَةِ مِنْ عَدُوِّهَا وَالتَّوْبَةِ مِنْ ذُنُوبِهَا.

Fa-nasʾalu Allāha ʾahlanā wa-mawlānā ʾan yahdiyanā wa-ʾiyyākum bi-al-maʿrifati ʾilā maʿrifatihā wa-al-ʿazmi ʿalā khilāfihā wa-al-ʿiṣmati min ʿaduwwihā wa-al-tawbati min dhunūbihā.

We ask God, “our kin” and our Protector [the first title is unusual as printed], to guide us and you through understanding to knowledge of the self, resolve to oppose it, protection from its enemy, and repentance for its sins.

وَأَنْ يُدْخِلَنَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ فِي سَعَةِ عَفْوِهِ وَطَاعَتِهِ وَلَا يَكِلَنَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ إِلَيْهَا وَلَا إِلَى أَحَدٍ سِوَاهُ، وَأَنْ يَسْتَنْقِذَنَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ مِنْ عَاجِلِ فِتَنِ الدُّنْيَا وَآجِلِ جَمِيعِ أَهْوَالِ الْآخِرَةِ حَتَّى يُوصِلَنَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ بِمَنِّهِ وَفَضْلِهِ إِلَى رَحْمَتِهِ إِنَّهُ فَعَّالٌ لِمَا يُرِيدُ وَهُوَ الْقَرِيبُ الْمُجِيبُ.

Wa-ʾan yudkhilanā wa-ʾiyyākum fī saʿati ʿafwihi wa-ṭāʿatihi wa-lā yakilanā wa-ʾiyyākum ʾilayhā wa-lā ʾilā ʾaḥadin siwāhu, wa-ʾan yastanqidhanā wa-ʾiyyākum min ʿājili fitani al-dunyā wa-ʾājili jamīʿi ʾahwāli al-ʾākhirati ḥattā yūṣilanā wa-ʾiyyākum bimannihi wa-faḍlihi ʾilā raḥmatihi ʾinnahu faʿʿālun limā yurīdu wa-huwa al-qarību al-mujību.

May He bring us and you into the breadth of His pardon and obedience to Him, and not leave us and you to the self or to anyone besides Him. May He rescue us and you from the world's immediate trials and all the coming terrors of the next life, until by His bounty and grace He brings us and you to His mercy. He does whatever He wills, and He is near and answers prayer.

بَابُ عَلَامَةِ الْمُرَائِي

Bābu ʿalāmati al-murāʾī

Chapter on the Sign of One Who Shows Off

قُلْتُ: فَمَتَى يَكُونُ مُرَائِيًا وَهُوَ لَا يَعْلَمُ؟ قَالَ: إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ لَمْ يَزَلْ مُنْذُ هُوَ نَاشِي إِلَى أَنْ بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ طَالِبًا لِلدُّنْيَا وَالْأَثَرَةِ لَهَا فِي أَعْمَالِ الرِّيَا الْمَحْضِ.

Qultu: fa-matā yakūnu murāʾiyan wa-huwa lā yaʿlamu? qāla: ʾinna al-ʿabda lam yazal mundhu huwa nāshī ʾilā ʾan balagha ʾashuddahu ṭāliban li-al-dunyā wa-al-ʾatharati lahā fī ʾaʿmāli al-riyā al-maḥḍi.

I asked, “When is someone showing off without knowing it?” He replied, “From his youth until he reaches maturity, the servant has continually sought the world and preference for it through deeds of sheer ostentation.

مُلُوكُهَا وَسُوقُهَا عُقَلَاؤُهَا وَجُهَّالُهَا يَتَعَامَلُونَ بِالرِّيَا لَا يَمْتَنِعُونَ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ.

Mulūkuhā wa-sūquhā ʿuqalāʾuhā wa-juhhāluhā yataʿāmalūna bi-al-riyā lā yamtaniʿūna min dhālika.

Its kings and common people, its intelligent and its ignorant, deal with one another through ostentation and do not refrain from it.

الْمُلُوكُ تُعَامِلُ الْمُلُوكَ بِالرِّيَا وَتُظْهِرُ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ الْإِجْلَالَ وَهُوَ فِي الْبَاطِنِ يَعْمَلُ عَلَى أَنْ يَجْمَعَ مَمْلَكَتَهُ إِلَى مُلْكِ نَفْسِهِ.

Al-mulūku tuʿāmilu al-mulūka bi-al-riyā wa-tuẓhiru baʿḍuhum libaʿḍin al-ʾijlāla wa-huwa fī al-bāṭini yaʿmalu ʿalā ʾan yajmaʿa mamlakatahu ʾilā mulki nafsihi.

Kings deal with kings through ostentation, outwardly showing one another reverence while inwardly working to add the other's kingdom to their own dominion.

وَالْأَتْبَاعُ يُظْهِرُ بَعْضُهُمْ لِلْمُلُوكِ الْخُضُوعَ وَالِاسْتِكَانَةَ وَيَوَدُّ السَّايِسُ مِنْهُمْ أَنَّهُ يَقْدِرُ عَلَى أَنْ يَصِيرَ هُوَ الْمَلِكَ وَالْمَلِكُ هُوَ السَّايِسُ.

Wa-al-ʾatbāʿu yuẓhiru baʿḍuhum li-al-mulūki al-khuḍūʿa wa-al-istikānata wa-yawaddu al-sāyisu minhum ʾannahu yaqdiru ʿalā ʾan yaṣīra huwa al-malika wa-al-maliku huwa al-sāyisu.

Some followers display submission and humility toward kings, while a groom among them wishes he could become the king and the king become the groom.

وَكَذٰلِكَ الْعَامَّةُ وَكَذٰلِكَ التُّجَّارُ عَلَى هٰذَا الْمَعْنَى فَكَذٰلِكَ الصُّنَّاعُ، فَجَمِيعُ أَعْمَالِ طَالِبِي الدُّنْيَا لَا تَتِمُّ إِلَّا بِالرِّيَا.

Wa-ka-dhālika al-ʿāmmatu wa-ka-dhālika al-tujjāru ʿalā hādhā al-maʿnā fa-ka-dhālika al-ṣunnāʿu, fa-jamīʿu ʾaʿmāli ṭālibī al-dunyā lā tatimmu ʾillā bi-al-riyā.

The same applies to ordinary people, merchants, and artisans. All the undertakings of those who seek the world are accomplished only through ostentation.

فَإِذَا ارْعَوَى أَحَدُهُمْ وَالرِّيَا فِيهِ طِبَاعٌ فَيَأْتِي يَطْلُبُ التَّزَيُّنَ بِتِلْكَ الطِّبَاعِ، فَإِذَا ارْتَفَعَ إِلَى الْعِبَادَةِ وَتَعَبَّدَ وَذٰلِكَ طِبَاعٌ فِيهِ لَا تَعْرِفُهُ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ لِغَلَبَتِهِ عَلَيْهِ وَمَنْشَاهُ وَفِيهِ.

Fa-ʾidhā irʿawā ʾaḥaduhum wa-al-riyā fīhi ṭibāʿun fa-yaʾtī yaṭlubu al-tazayyuna bitilka al-ṭibāʿi, fa-ʾidhā irtafaʿa ʾilā al-ʿibādati wa-taʿabbada wa-dhālika ṭibāʿun fīhi lā taʿrifuhu min nafsihi lighalabatihi ʿalayhi wa-manshāhu wa-fīhi.

When one of them turns back while ostentation remains ingrained in his nature, he comes seeking to adorn himself through those same traits. When he rises to worship and becomes devout, that nature remains within him; ‘you do not recognize it from his self,’ because it dominates him and because of his upbringing ‘and in him’ [the printed person and final connection are irregular].

وَيَعْرِفُهُ مَنْ نَوَّرَ اللّٰهُ الْحِكْمَةَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ يَرَوْنَ فِعْلَهُ فِعْلَ أَهْلِ الرِّيَا.

Wa-yaʿrifuhu man nawwara Allāhu al-ḥikmata fī qulūbihim fa-hum yarawna fiʿlahu fiʿla ʾahli al-riyā.

Those in whose hearts God has illumined wisdom recognize it. They see his conduct as the conduct of people who show off.

فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يُمْسِكُ عَلَى مَعْرِفَتِهِ بِصَاحِبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ لَوْ أَبْدَى لَهُ عُيُوبَهُ نَفَرَ مِنْهَا وَذَبَّ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ أَوْ أَبْطَلَ مَا نَسَبَهُ إِلَيْهِ فَصَارَ عَدُوًّا مُشَاحِنًا.

Fa-minhum man yumsiku ʿalā maʿrifatihi biṣāḥibihi wa-ʾannahu law ʾabdā lahu ʿuyūbahu nafara minhā wa-dhabba ʿan nafsihi ʾaw ʾabṭala mā nasabahu ʾilayhi fa-ṣāra ʿaduwwan mushāḥinan.

Some of them keep silent, knowing their companion and knowing that, if they exposed his faults to him, he would recoil, defend himself, or reject what they attributed to him, becoming a hostile enemy.

Source pages 19–20

وَقَالَ: يَحْسُدُنِي عَلَى مَا آتَانِيَ اللّٰهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ مِنَ الْقُوَّةِ عَلَى دِينِي، أَوْ مُتَقَوِّلٌ مُتَعَسِّفٌ مُبْتَدِعٌ يَطْعَنُ عَلَى أَهْلِ الْخَيْرِ مِمَّا لَمْ يُحِبَّهُ الْعُلَمَاءُ.

Wa-qāla: yaḥsudunī ʿalā mā ʾātāniya Allāhu min faḍlihi mina al-quwwati ʿalā dīnī, ʾaw mutaqawwilun mutaʿassifun mubtadiʿun yaṭʿanu ʿalā ʾahli al-khayri mimmā lam yuḥibbahu al-ʿulamāʾu.

He would say, ‘He envies me for the strength in my religion that God has given me from His bounty,’ or, ‘He is a fabricator, an unfair accuser, an innovator attacking good people in a way the scholars have not approved.’

Source page 20

فَلَمَّا عَرَفَ الْحَكِيمُ أَهْلَ زَمَانِهِ وَأَنَّ زَمَانَهُ زَمَانُ غَلَبَةِ الْهَوَى وَإِعْجَابِ كُلِّ ذِي رَأْيٍ بِرَأْيِهِ اعْتَزَلَ نَفْسَهُ وَنَفَرَ عَنِ الْعَامَّةِ بِالْمُخَالَطَةِ وَالصُّحْبَةِ.

Fa-lammā ʿarafa al-ḥakīmu ʾahla zamānihi wa-ʾanna zamānahu zamānu ghalabati al-hawā wa-ʾiʿjābi kulli dhī raʾyin biraʾyihi iʿtazala nafsahu wa-nafara ʿani al-ʿāmmati bi-al-mukhālaṭati wa-al-ṣuḥbati.

When the wise person recognizes the people of his age and sees that it is an age dominated by desire, with everyone admiring his own opinion, he withdraws by himself and recoils from mixing and keeping company with the general public.

وَعَرَفَ أَنَّ فِي زَمَانٍ الْمَعْرُوفُ فِيهِ مُنْكَرٌ وَالشَّرُّ فِيهِ قَدْ أَحَاطَ بِالْخَيْرِ فَرَاوَلَ نَفْسَهُ لِيَقْبِضَهَا فَنَكَلَتْ وَاذَّكَرَتْ وَأَبَتِ اللُّزُومَ طِبَاعَهَا الْكِيَانِيَّ.

Wa-ʿarafa ʾanna fī zamānin al-maʿrūfu fīhi munkarun wa-al-sharru fīhi qad ʾaḥāṭa bi-al-khayri fa-rāwala nafsahu liyaqbiḍahā fa-nakalat wa-idhdhakarat wa-ʾabati al-luzūma ṭibāʿahā al-kiyāniyya.

He recognizes that he is in an age when right is treated as wrong and evil has surrounded good. So he ‘rāwala’ his self to restrain it, but it shrank back, remembered, and refused adherence, its innate nature [the verb and the connection at the end are uncertain as printed].

فَفَكَّرَ الْأَدِيبُ وَقَالَ: وَاعَجَبَاهُ مِمَّنْ لَا تُجِيبُهُ نَفْسُهُ إِلَى الِاسْتِقَامَةِ بِمَا قَدْ عَرَفَتْ، يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَحْمِلَ سِوَاهُ عَلَى مَا قَدْ جَهِلَتْ!

Fa-fakkara al-ʾadību wa-qāla: wā-ʿajabāhu mimman lā tujībuhu nafsuhu ʾilā al-istiqāmati bimā qad ʿarafat, yurīdu ʾan yaḥmila siwāhu ʿalā mā qad jahilat!

The discerning person reflects and says, ‘How strange that someone whose own self will not respond to uprightness in what it already knows wants to make someone else follow what it has not known!’

فَوَضَحَ لَهُ الْأَمْرُ وَقَصَدَ قَصْدَ نَفْسِهِ يَأْسًا مِنْ قَبُولِ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُ بَعْدَ رَدِّ نَفْسِهِ عَلَيْهِ مَعَ الْمَعْرِفَةِ بِالْحَقِّ الَّذِي لَا يُنْكِرُهُ وَالْعِلْمِ الَّذِي لَا يَدْفَعُهُ وَعَجْزِ الْعَامِلِ عَنْ مُجَاهَدَتِهَا وَرَدِّهَا عَنْ طِبَاعِهَا إِلَّا مَكْرُوهَةً مَغْلُوبَةً.

Fa-waḍaḥa lahu al-ʾamru wa-qaṣada qaṣda nafsihi yaʾsan min qabūli ʾaḥadin minhu baʿda raddi nafsihi ʿalayhi maʿa al-maʿrifati bi-al-ḥaqqi alladhī lā yunkiruhu wa-al-ʿilmi alladhī lā yadfaʿuhu wa-ʿajzi al-ʿāmili ʿan mujāhadatihā wa-raddihā ʿan ṭibāʿihā ʾillā makrūhatan maghlūbatan.

The matter becomes clear to him. He directs himself toward his own self, despairing of anyone accepting his counsel after his self has rejected it, despite knowing a truth it cannot deny and a knowledge it cannot repel. The person who acts cannot struggle against it and turn it from its nature except by forcing and overcoming it.

فَشُغِلَ بِنَفْسِهِ عَنْ سِوَاهُ إِلَّا طَالِبًا مُلِحًّا أَوْ مُجَامِلًا مُرِيدًا.

Fa-shughila binafsihi ʿan siwāhu ʾillā ṭāliban muliḥḥan ʾaw mujāmilan murīdan.

He becomes occupied with his own self rather than others, except a persistent seeker or a courteous person who sincerely wishes to learn.

وَلَيْسَ كُلُّ الْعُبَّادِ أُوتُوا مَعْرِفَةَ عُيُوبِ النَّفْسِ لِأَنَّهُ أَمْرٌ خَاطِرٌ، فَمَنْ تَنَبَّهَ لِذٰلِكَ فَقَدْ نُبِّهَ لِعَظِيمٍ مِنْ غَيْرِ أَنْ يَعْرِفَ عُيُوبَ نَفْسِهِ، فَكَيْفَ بِهِ لَوْ عَرَفَ مِنْهَا شَيْئًا؟

Wa-laysa kullu al-ʿubbādi ʾūtū maʿrifata ʿuyūbi al-nafsi li-ʾannahu ʾamrun khāṭirun, fa-man tanabbaha li-dhālika fa-qad nubbiha liʿaẓīmin min ghayri ʾan yaʿrifa ʿuyūba nafsihi, fa-kayfa bihi law ʿarafa minhā shayʾan?

Not all worshipers have been given knowledge of the self's faults, for it is a matter of grave consequence. Someone awakened to this has been alerted to something immense even before knowing his own faults. How much more if he came to know something of them?

ثُمَّ وُهِبَ لَهُ بَعْدَهُ مَعْرِفَةُ سُرُورِهِ بِالْمَعْرِفَةِ، ثُمَّ وُهِبَ لَهُ مِنْ بَعْدِ سُرُورِهِ بِالْمَعْرِفَةِ حُبُّ حَلَاوَةِ الْمَعْرِفَةِ، ثُمَّ وُهِبَ لَهُ مِنْ بَعْدِ حُبِّ وُجُودِ الْمَعْرِفَةِ الْعَمَلُ بِمَا جَاتْ بِهِ الْمَعْرِفَةُ مِنْ إِصْلَاحِ عُيُوبِ النَّفْسِ مَا كَانَ النَّفْسُ يَحْسِبُ بِهِ عَلَى الْعَبْدِ حَسَنَاتٍ.

Thumma wuhiba lahu baʿdahu maʿrifatu surūrihi bi-al-maʿrifati, thumma wuhiba lahu min baʿdi surūrihi bi-al-maʿrifati ḥubbu ḥalāwati al-maʿrifati, thumma wuhiba lahu min baʿdi ḥubbi wujūdi al-maʿrifati al-ʿamalu bimā jāt bihi al-maʿrifatu min ʾiṣlāḥi ʿuyūbi al-nafsi mā kāna al-nafsu yaḥsibu bihi ʿalā al-ʿabdi ḥasanātin.

Then he is given awareness of his joy in this knowledge. After that joy, he is given love for its sweetness. After loving the experience of knowledge, he is given the ability to act on what it brings by correcting faults of the self, things the self used to reckon as good deeds to the servant's credit.

فَلَمَّا خَلَا عَنْ قَلْبِ الْعَبْدِ رَآهَا سَيِّئَاتٍ فَذَابَ فِي إِصْلَاحِهَا فَاضْطَرَبَتْ عَلَيْهِ عِنْدَمَا كَشَفَ اللّٰهُ لِلْعَبْدِ عَنْ غِطَا عُيُوبِهَا وَإِخْفَاءِ زِينَتِهَا.

Fa-lammā khalā ʿan qalbi al-ʿabdi raʾāhā sayyiʾātin fa-dhāba fī ʾiṣlāḥihā fa-iḍṭarabat ʿalayhi ʿindamā kashafa Allāhu li-al-ʿabdi ʿan ghiṭā ʿuyūbihā wa-ʾikhfāʾi zīnatihā.

When this cleared away from the servant's heart, he saw them as bad deeds and poured himself into correcting them. The self became agitated against him when God removed for the servant the covering over its faults and the concealment of its adornment.

فَإِنْ أُتِيَ هٰذَا الْعَبْدُ مِنْ طَرِيقٍ تَقْعُدُ بِهِ عَنِ الزِّيَادَةِ فِي الْأَعْمَالِ فَإِنَّمَا يُؤْتَى مِنَ اسْتِصْغَارِهِ عَظِيمًا، فَيَعْمَلُ عَلَى الشَّكِّ فِي فَضِيلَةِ مَا أُوتِيَ.

Fa-ʾin ʾutiya hādhā al-ʿabdu min ṭarīqin taqʿudu bihi ʿani al-ziyādati fī al-ʾaʿmāli fa-ʾinnamā yuʾtā mina istiṣghārihi ʿaẓīman, fa-yaʿmalu ʿalā al-shakki fī faḍīlati mā ʾūtiya.

If this servant comes to grief in a way that holds him back from increasing his deeds, the attack comes through his making light of something great. He then acts while doubting the excellence of what he has been given.

فَيَقِينُهُ حِينَئِذٍ عَلَى قَدْرِ يَقِينِهِ بِالْآخِرَةِ وَفَضِيلَتِهَا، فَبِقَدْرِ ضَعْفِ يَقِينِهِ وَتَرَدُّدِهِ فِي نَفْسِهِ بِالْآخِرَةِ كَذٰلِكَ يَكُونُ تَرَدُّدُهُ فِي هٰذَا لِأَنَّ هٰذَا فَضِيلَةٌ مِنْ فَضَايِلِ الْآخِرَةِ أُوتِيَهَا.

Fa-yaqīnuhu ḥīnaʾidhin ʿalā qadri yaqīnihi bi-al-ʾākhirati wa-faḍīlatihā, fa-biqadri ḍaʿfi yaqīnihi wa-taraddudihi fī nafsihi bi-al-ʾākhirati ka-dhālika yakūnu taradduduhu fī hādhā li-ʾanna hādhā faḍīlatun min faḍāyili al-ʾākhirati ʾūtiyahā.

His certainty about it corresponds to his certainty in the next life and its excellence. To the extent that his certainty is weak and he inwardly hesitates about the next life, he hesitates about this, because it is one of the excellences of the next life that he has been given.

فَإِنْ كَانَ ثَابِتَ الْيَقِينِ بِالْآخِرَةِ كَانَ ثَابِتَ الْيَقِينِ بِمَا أُوتِيَ مِنْ أَسْبَابِهَا، فَلْيَمْتَحِنِ الْعَاقِلُ إِنْ وَجَدَ عَاقِلًا بِيَقِينِهِ هٰذَا.

Fa-ʾin kāna thābita al-yaqīni bi-al-ʾākhirati kāna thābita al-yaqīni bimā ʾūtiya min ʾasbābihā, fa-l-yamtaḥini al-ʿāqilu ʾin wajada ʿāqilan biyaqīnihi hādhā.

If his certainty in the next life is firm, his certainty in the means to it that he has been given is firm. Let the intelligent person, if he finds an intelligent person, test him by this certainty.

فَإِنْ كَانَ مُسْتَنْبَهَ الْيَقِينِ بِمَا أُوتِيتَ مِنْ نِعَمِ اللّٰهِ تَعَالَى مُحَقَّقَةً لَا يَلْبَأُ عَنْ ذٰلِكَ مِثْلَ أَهْلِ الدُّنْيَا جَمِيعًا عَمَّا امْتَنَّ بِهِ عَلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ لَهَا أَهْلًا وَإِنْ شَكَّ الْخَلَايِقُ فِيهَا فَلْيَعْلَمْ أَنَّ إِثْبَاتَ الْيَقِينِ فِيهَا عَلَى قَدْرِ ذٰلِكَ.

Fa-ʾin kāna mustanbaha al-yaqīni bimā ʾūtīta min niʿami Allāhi taʿālā muḥaqqaqatan lā yalbaʾu ʿan dhālika mithla ʾahli al-dunyā jamīʿan ʿammā imtanna bihi ʿalayhā wa-jaʿala lahā ʾahlan wa-ʾin shakka al-khalāyiqu fīhā fa-l-yaʿlam ʾanna ʾithbāta al-yaqīni fīhā ʿalā qadri dhālika.

If he is awakened in certainty concerning the verified blessings of God Most High that you have been given, and does not ‘yalbaʾ’ from that, like all worldly people concerning what He has graciously bestowed upon it and made it worthy of, even if creatures doubt them, let him know that certainty in them is established to that extent [the printed verb, pronouns, and comparison are unclear].

وَإِنْ تَرَدَّدَ مَعَ الْمُتَرَدِّدِينَ وَمَالَ مَعَ الْمَايِلِينَ عَنْهَا كَانَ يَقِينُهُ بِالْآخِرَةِ عَلَى قَدْرِ ذٰلِكَ.

Wa-ʾin taraddada maʿa al-mutaraddidīna wa-māla maʿa al-māyilīna ʿanhā kāna yaqīnuhu bi-al-ʾākhirati ʿalā qadri dhālika.

If he hesitates with the hesitant and turns aside with those who turn away from them, his certainty in the next life is proportionate to that.

فَإِذَا أَقْبَلَتِ النِّعْمَةُ مِنَ اللّٰهِ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ بِمَعْرِفَتِهِ عُيُوبَ نَفْسِهِ فَأَوَّلُ مَا يَبْدَا بِهِ الِانْتِقَالُ عَنْ طِبَاعَةِ الرِّيَا، وَيَعْلَمُ أَنَّ طِبَاعَهُ الَّتِي لَمْ تَزَلْ فِيهِ وَعَلَيْهَا نَشَا طِبَاعُ رِيبَةٍ وَكَذِبٍ.

Fa-ʾidhā ʾaqbalati al-niʿmatu mina Allāhi ʿalā ʿabdihi bimaʿrifatihi ʿuyūba nafsihi fa-ʾawwalu mā yabdā bihi al-intiqālu ʿan ṭibāʿati al-riyā, wa-yaʿlamu ʾanna ṭibāʿahu allatī lam tazal fīhi wa-ʿalayhā nashā ṭibāʿu rībatin wa-kadhibin.

When God's blessing comes to His servant through his recognition of his own faults, his first step is to move away from an ingrained disposition toward ostentation. He recognizes that the habits always present in him, in which he grew up, are habits of dubiousness and falsehood.

Source pages 20–21

فَجَدَّ فِي الِانْتِقَالِ عَنْهُ وَلَا يَكُونُ لَهُ هِمَّةٌ غَيْرُ قَصْدِ نَفْسِهِ لِأَنَّهَا مَطْبُوعَةٌ عَلَى الْكَذِبِ، وَالْكَذِبُ وَالصِّدْقُ لَا يَتَقَارَبَانِ وَلَا يَسْكُنَانِ فِي وِعَاءٍ وَاحِدٍ إِلَّا أَنْ يَغْلِبَ أَحَدُهُمَا عَلَى الْآخَرِهِ فَيَنْفِيَ ضِدَّهُ.

Fa-jadda fī al-intiqāli ʿanhu wa-lā yakūnu lahu himmatun ghayru qaṣdi nafsihi li-ʾannahā maṭbūʿatun ʿalā al-kadhibi, wa-al-kadhibu wa-al-ṣidqu lā yataqārabāni wa-lā yaskunāni fī wiʿāʾin wāḥidin ʾillā ʾan yaghliba ʾaḥaduhumā ʿalā al-ʾākharihi fa-yanfiya ḍiddahu.

He strives earnestly to move away from it and has no concern except directing himself toward his own self, for it is formed upon falsehood. Falsehood and truthfulness do not draw close or dwell in one vessel without one overcoming the other and driving its opposite away [the edition adds an anomalous final letter to “the other”].

Source page 21

فَإِذَا عَرَفَ الْعَبْدُ رِيَبَ النَّفْسِ فَعَرَفَهَا وَكَانَ طَالِبًا لِلصِّدْقِ فَأَوْلَى الْأَشْيَاءِ بِهِ أَنْ يَنْفِيَ فُنُونَ الْكَذِبِ عَنْ قَلْبِهِ بِالْجِدِّ وَالْحِرْصِ وَهُوَ الشُّكْرُ مِنَ الْعَبْدِ لِحَقِّ هٰذِهِ النِّعْمَةِ.

Fa-ʾidhā ʿarafa al-ʿabdu riyaba al-nafsi fa-ʿarafahā wa-kāna ṭāliban li-al-ṣidqi fa-ʾawlā al-ʾashyāʾi bihi ʾan yanfiya funūna al-kadhibi ʿan qalbihi bi-al-jiddi wa-al-ḥirṣi wa-huwa al-shukru mina al-ʿabdi liḥaqqi hādhihi al-niʿmati.

When the servant recognizes the self's dubious impulses and comes to know them while seeking truthfulness, his most fitting task is to drive every form of falsehood from his heart with earnestness and diligence. This is the gratitude the servant owes for this blessing.

فَإِذَا قَصَدَ قَصْدَهَا بِالْبِغْضَةِ لَهَا نَفَرَتْ عَنْهُ دَوَاعِي الْكَذِبِ وَفُنُونُهُ، وَإِنَّمَا كَانَ إِلْفُهُ ذٰلِكَ مِنَ الْعَبْدِ لِمَا وَجَدَتْهَا عَلَى قَلْبِهِ.

Fa-ʾidhā qaṣada qaṣdahā bi-al-bighḍati lahā nafarat ʿanhu dawāʿī al-kadhibi wa-funūnuhu, wa-ʾinnamā kāna ʾilfuhu dhālika mina al-ʿabdi limā wajadat-hā ʿalā qalbihi.

When he sets himself against them with aversion, the impulses and forms of falsehood flee from him. Its former familiarity with the servant was only because of ‘what it found her upon his heart’ [the printed pronouns and connection are unclear].

فَلَمَّا أَظْهَرَ الْبِغْضَةَ وَالِاسْتِثْقَالَ نَفَرَتْ عَنْهُ غَيْرَ بَيِّنَةٍ مِنْهُ لِطُولِ صُحْبَتِهَا وَنَشِبَتِ النَّفْسُ بِهَا لِقُرْبِهَا مِنْ طِبَاعِهَا وَشَهْوَتِهَا.

Fa-lammā ʾaẓhara al-bighḍata wa-al-istithqāla nafarat ʿanhu ghayra bayyinatin minhu liṭūli ṣuḥbatihā wa-nashibati al-nafsu bihā liqurbihā min ṭibāʿihā wa-shahwatihā.

When he displays aversion and finds them burdensome, they flee from him without becoming clearly separate from him, because of their long companionship; the self clings to them because they are close to its nature and appetite [the printed “not clear” is unusual here].

وَالْعَبْدُ حَرِيصٌ عَلَى التُّقَى وَالنَّفْسُ حَرِيصَةٌ عَلَى الِاسْتِبْقَا طَامِعَةٌ فِي هَلَاكِ صَاحِبِهَا مِنْ طُولِ عِلَاجِهِ لِيَقِيَهَا مِنِ ارْتِجَاعِ النَّفْسِ إِيَّاهَا.

Wa-al-ʿabdu ḥarīṣun ʿalā al-tuqā wa-al-nafsu ḥarīṣatun ʿalā al-istibqā ṭāmiʿatun fī halāki ṣāḥibihā min ṭūli ʿilājihi liyaqiyahā mini irtijāʿi al-nafsi ʾiyyāhā.

The servant is eager for reverence for God, while the self is eager to preserve those habits, hoping that its owner will perish from his prolonged struggle to protect them from the self's reclaiming them [the final pronouns are uncertain in print].

فَلَمَّا تَيَقَّنَ الصِّدْقُ مِنَ الْعَبْدِ وَالْجِدَّ فِي إِنْفَاءِ الْكَذِبِ وَفُنُونِهِ فَشَوَّقَتْ لِلْعَبْدِ حَلَاوَةَ قَبُولِهِ فَازْدَادَ الْعَبْدُ إِلَى الصِّدْقِ شَوْقًا وَازْدَادَ إِلَى الْكَذِبِ مَقْتًا.

Fa-lammā tayaqqana al-ṣidqu mina al-ʿabdi wa-al-jidda fī ʾinfāʾi al-kadhibi wa-funūnihi fa-shawwaqat li-al-ʿabdi ḥalāwata qabūlihi fa-izdāda al-ʿabdu ʾilā al-ṣidqi shawqan wa-izdāda ʾilā al-kadhibi maqtan.

When truthfulness became certain of the servant and his earnestness in driving out falsehood and its forms, ‘it awakened in the servant longing for the sweetness of its acceptance.’ The servant's longing for truthfulness grew, and his hatred of falsehood increased [the printed subject changes irregularly].

وَإِنَّمَا كَانَ نَفَادُ الصِّدْقِ وَفُنُونِهِ مِنْ قَلْبِ الْعَبْدِ لِغَلَبَةِ الْكَذِبِ وَفُنُونِهِ عَلَيْهِ، فَيَتَبَيَّنُ الْعَبْدُ بِتَشَوُّقِ الصِّدْقِ إِلَيْهِ.

Wa-ʾinnamā kāna nafādu al-ṣidqi wa-funūnihi min qalbi al-ʿabdi lighalabati al-kadhibi wa-funūnihi ʿalayhi, fa-yatabayyanu al-ʿabdu bitashawwuqi al-ṣidqi ʾilayhi.

Truthfulness and its forms had been depleted from the servant's heart only because falsehood and its forms had overpowered it. The servant now discerns this through truthfulness's longing toward him.

وَلَمَّا ثَبَتَ فِيهِ وَمِنْهُ أَعْمَالُ الْكَذِبِ فَلَمْ يُفَارِقْهَا بَعْدُ وَازْدَادَ حِرْصًا إِلَى حِرْصِهِ طَمَعًا فِي إِقَامَةِ الصِّدْقِ فِيهِ وَإِنْفَاءِ الْكَذِبِ عَنْهُ.

Wa-lammā thabata fīhi wa-minhu ʾaʿmālu al-kadhibi fa-lam yufāriqhā baʿdu wa-izdāda ḥirṣan ʾilā ḥirṣihi ṭamaʿan fī ʾiqāmati al-ṣidqi fīhi wa-ʾinfāʾi al-kadhibi ʿanhu.

Because deeds of falsehood remained established within him and proceeded from him, and he had not yet left them behind, he added diligence to his diligence, hoping to establish truthfulness within himself and drive falsehood out.

فَالرِّيَا مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الْكَذِبِ وَالْعُجْبُ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الْكَذِبِ وَحُبُّ الرِّيَاسَةِ وَالْمَحْمَدَةِ وَالتَّعْظِيمِ وَالتَّجَبُّرِ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الْكَذِبِ.

Fa-al-riyā min ʾaʿmāli al-kadhibi wa-al-ʿujbu min ʾaʿmāli al-kadhibi wa-ḥubbu al-riyāsati wa-al-maḥmadati wa-al-taʿẓīmi wa-al-tajabburi min ʾaʿmāli al-kadhibi.

Ostentation belongs to the deeds of falsehood, conceit belongs to the deeds of falsehood, and love of leadership, praise, veneration, and domineering power belongs to the deeds of falsehood.

فَمَنْ دَأَبَ فِي نَفْيِ الْكَذِبِ بَرِئَ مِنَ الرِّيَا وَمِنَ الْعُجْبِ وَمِنْ جَمِيعِ دَوَاعِي الْحَسَدِ وَالشَّرِّ، وَإِذَا خَلَا مِنْ ذٰلِكَ ثَبَتَ فِيهِ الصِّدْقُ بِفُنُونِهِ.

Fa-man daʾaba fī nafyi al-kadhibi bariʾa mina al-riyā wa-mina al-ʿujbi wa-min jamīʿi dawāʿī al-ḥasadi wa-al-sharri, wa-ʾidhā khalā min dhālika thabata fīhi al-ṣidqu bifunūnihi.

Whoever perseveres in driving out falsehood becomes free of ostentation, conceit, and all the impulses toward envy and evil. Once he is emptied of these, truthfulness in its many forms becomes established within him.

فَإِنْ أَحْبَبْتَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ الصِّدْقَ فِي هٰذَا الْمَوْضِعِ هُوَ الْيَقِينَ بِالْآخِرَةِ وَتَصْدِيقَكَ بِجَمِيعِ مَا فِيهَا وَصِدْقَكَ فِي جَمِيعِ أَعْمَالِهَا فَعَلْتَ.

Fa-ʾin ʾaḥbabta ʾan tajʿala al-ṣidqa fī hādhā al-mawḍiʿi huwa al-yaqīna bi-al-ʾākhirati wa-taṣdīqaka bijamīʿi mā fīhā wa-ṣidqaka fī jamīʿi ʾaʿmālihā faʿalta.

If you wish to take truthfulness here as certainty in the next life, your belief in everything it contains, and your truthfulness in all deeds relating to it, you may do so.

وَيَصِيرُ الْكَذِبُ الشَّكَّ وَالتَّكْذِيبَ بِالْآخِرَةِ فَتَكُونُ جَمِيعُ أَعْمَالِكَ الظَّاهِرَةِ مِثْلَ دَعْوَاكَ الظَّاهِرَةِ فَتَكُونُ أَعْمَالًا كَاذِبَةً.

Wa-yaṣīru al-kadhibu al-shakka wa-al-takdhība bi-al-ʾākhirati fa-takūnu jamīʿu ʾaʿmālika al-ẓāhirati mithla daʿwāka al-ẓāhirati fa-takūnu ʾaʿmālan kādhibatan.

Falsehood then becomes doubt and denial of the next life. All your outward deeds become like your outward claim, and so become false deeds.

وَجَمِيعُ تَفْسِيرِ مَا وَرَدَ تَفْسِيرُهُ وَأَجْلٍ فِي هٰذَا الْبَابِ مِنْ طَرِيقِ الصِّدْقِ وَالْكَذِبِ، فَإِنْ عَرَفْتَ هٰذَا الْبَابَ عَرَفْتَ جَمِيعَ الرُّتَبِ وَإِنْ قَوِيتَ عَلَى الْعَمَلِ بِهِ قَوِيتَ عَلَى دَفْعِ جَمِيعِ مَا يُقَالُ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الْكَذِبِ.

Wa-jamīʿu tafsīri mā warada tafsīruhu wa-ʾajlin fī hādhā al-bābi min ṭarīqi al-ṣidqi wa-al-kadhibi, fa-ʾin ʿarafta hādhā al-bāba ʿarafta jamīʿa al-rutabi wa-ʾin qawīta ʿalā al-ʿamali bihi qawīta ʿalā dafʿi jamīʿi mā yuqālu min ʾaʿmāli al-kadhibi.

The entire explanation of what has been explained, ‘and a term,’ in this chapter proceeds through truthfulness and falsehood [the quoted printed word is unclear here]. If you understand this chapter, you understand all the ranks; if you have the strength to act on it, you have the strength to repel everything described as a deed of falsehood.

وَالْمَعُونَةُ مِنَ اللّٰهِ تَعَالَى وَالْعَبْدُ مَحْمُودٌ عَلَى نِعْمَةِ الْإِحْسَانِ وَالْعَوْنُ عَلَيْهَا مِنَ اللّٰهِ وَمَذْمُومٌ عَلَى الْإِسَاةِ، وَالْعَاصِمُ مِنْهَا اللّٰهُ.

Wa-al-maʿūnatu mina Allāhi taʿālā wa-al-ʿabdu maḥmūdun ʿalā niʿmati al-ʾiḥsāni wa-al-ʿawnu ʿalayhā mina Allāhi wa-madhmūmun ʿalā al-ʾisāti, wa-al-ʿāṣimu minhā Allāhu.

Help comes from God Most High. The servant is praised for the blessing of doing good, while help in it comes from God; he is blamed for wrongdoing, while God is the One who protects against it.

فَاللّٰهُ مَشْكُورٌ عَلَى جَمِيعِ أَحْوَالِ بَنِي آدَمَ، لِأَنَّهُ إِنْ أَحْسَنَ مِنْهُمْ مُحْسِنٌ فَنِعْمَةُ الْإِحْسَانِ وَاقِعَةٌ عَلَيْهِ مُلْتَمِسَةٌ مِنْهُ الشُّكْرَ.

Fa-Allāhu mashkūrun ʿalā jamīʿi ʾaḥwāli banī ʾĀdama, li-ʾannahu ʾin ʾaḥsana minhum muḥsinun fa-niʿmatu al-ʾiḥsāni wāqiʿatun ʿalayhi multamisatun minhu al-shukra.

God is therefore to be thanked in every condition of Adam's children. If one of them does good, the blessing of good conduct has come upon him, asking gratitude of him.

وَإِنِ امْتَنَعَ عَنِ الْإِسَاةِ فَنِعْمَةُ الْعِصْمَةِ وَاقِعَةٌ عَلَيْهِ مُلْتَمِسَةٌ مِنْهُ الشُّكْرَ، وَإِنْ تَمَادَى فِي الْإِسَاةِ فَنِعْمَةُ التَّوْبَةِ وَاقِعَةٌ عَلَيْهِ إِذْ كَانَتْ لَهُ مَبْسُوطَةً غَيْرَ مَأْخُوذٍ عِنْدَ إِسَاتِهِ فَعَطَاؤُهُ زَايِدَةٌ وَالتَّوْبَةُ مُلْتَمِسَةٌ مِنْهُ الشُّكْرَ وَهِيَ أَعْظَمُهَا نِعْمَةً.

Wa-ʾini imtanaʿa ʿani al-ʾisāti fa-niʿmatu al-ʿiṣmati wāqiʿatun ʿalayhi multamisatun minhu al-shukra, wa-ʾin tamādā fī al-ʾisāti fa-niʿmatu al-tawbati wāqiʿatun ʿalayhi ʾidh kānat lahu mabsūṭatan ghayra maʾkhūdhin ʿinda ʾisātihi fa-ʿaṭāʾuhu zāyidatun wa-al-tawbatu multamisatun minhu al-shukra wa-hiya ʾaʿẓamuhā niʿmatan.

If he refrains from wrongdoing, the blessing of protection has come upon him, asking gratitude of him. If he persists in wrongdoing, the blessing of repentance remains available to him, held open for him while he is not seized at the moment of wrongdoing. His gift increases, and repentance asks gratitude of him; it is the greatest of these blessings [the printed agreement of “gift” and “increasing” is irregular].”

Source pages 21–22

قُلْتُ: فَمَتَى يَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ يَعْلَمُ؟ قَالَ: إِذَا زِيدَ فِي عِلْمِهِ فَازْدَادَ بِهِ وَجَعًا عَلِمَ أَنَّهُ يَعْلَمُ، لِقَوْلِهِ مَنْ يُرَدَّدْ عِلْمًا يَزْدَدْ وَجَعًا فَسَمَّى مَا يَزْدَادُ بِهِ وَجَعًا عِلْمًا، فَلَمَّا وَصَلَ إِلَى الْقَلْبِ وَجَعُ الْعِلْمِ عَلِمْتَ أَنَّكَ قَدْ عَلِمْتَ.

Qultu: fa-matā yaʿlamu ʾannahu yaʿlamu? qāla: ʾidhā zīda fī ʿilmihi fa-izdāda bihi wajaʿan ʿalima ʾannahu yaʿlamu, liqawlihi man yuraddad ʿilman yazdad wajaʿan fa-sammā mā yazdādu bihi wajaʿan ʿilman, fa-lammā waṣala ʾilā al-qalbi wajaʿu al-ʿilmi ʿalimta ʾannaka qad ʿalimta.

I asked, “When does he know that he knows?” He replied, “When his knowledge increases and his pain increases through it, he knows that he knows, in accordance with the saying, ‘Whoever is repeatedly given knowledge grows in pain’ [the printed verb is unusual]. What increases pain was thus called knowledge. When the pain of knowledge reaches the heart, you know that you have come to know.”

Source page 22

قُلْتُ: فَمَتَى يَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ لَا يَعْلَمُ؟ قَالَ: إِذَا كَثُرَ نِفَاقُهُ وَكَثُرَ كَلَامُهُ فِي فُنُونٍ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ وَانْتَشَرَتْ كُتُبُهُ وَازْدَادَ قَلْبُهُ عَلَى ذٰلِكَ غِلْظًا وَقَسْوَةً حَتَّى يَعْرِفَهَا هُوَ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ فَقَدْ عَلِمَ أَنَّهُ لَا يَعْلَمُ وَإِنْ كَثُرَ ذٰلِكَ مِنْهُ.

Qultu: fa-matā yaʿlamu ʾannahu lā yaʿlamu? qāla: ʾidhā kathura nifāquhu wa-kathura kalāmuhu fī funūnin mina al-ʿilmi wa-intasharat kutubuhu wa-izdāda qalbuhu ʿalā dhālika ghilẓan wa-qaswatan ḥattā yaʿrifahā huwa min nafsihi fa-qad ʿalima ʾannahu lā yaʿlamu wa-ʾin kathura dhālika minhu.

I asked, “When does he know that he does not know?” He replied, “When his hypocrisy increases, his talk about branches of knowledge multiplies, his books circulate widely, and despite all this his heart grows harsher and harder, until he recognizes that in himself, he knows that he does not know, however much of all that he produces.”

قُلْتُ: فَمَتَى يَنْتَفِعُ بِعِلْمِهِ؟ قَالَ: إِذَا كَانَ مُطِيعًا لِعِلْمِهِ مُتَّبِعًا دَلَالَتَهُ.

Qultu: fa-matā yantafiʿu biʿilmihi? qāla: ʾidhā kāna muṭīʿan liʿilmihi muttabiʿan dalālatahu.

I asked, “When does he benefit from his knowledge?” He replied, “When he obeys his knowledge and follows its guidance.”

قُلْتُ: فَمَتَى يَنْفَعُهُ عِلْمُهُ؟ قَالَ: غَدًا إِذَا كَانَ عَلَى مَا وَصَفْنَا وَرَجَحَ بِهِ مِيزَانُهُ انْتَفَعَ بِعِلْمِهِ.

Qultu: fa-matā yanfaʿuhu ʿilmuhu? qāla: ghadan ʾidhā kāna ʿalā mā waṣafnā wa-rajaḥa bihi mīzānuhu intafaʿa biʿilmihi.

I asked, “When will his knowledge benefit him?” He replied, “Tomorrow, if he is as we have described and his balance is made heavy through it, he will benefit from his knowledge.”

قُلْتُ: وَهَلْ يَنْتَفِعُ بِالْعِلْمِ سِوَاهُ؟ قَالَ: إِذَا كَانَ هُوَ عَامِلًا يُعَلِّمُ نَفْسَهُ وَعَلَّمَ سِوَاهُ نَفَعَهُ تَعْلِيمُ غَيْرِهِ.

Qultu: wa-hal yantafiʿu bi-al-ʿilmi siwāhu? qāla: ʾidhā kāna huwa ʿāmilan yuʿallimu nafsahu wa-ʿallama siwāhu nafaʿahu taʿlīmu ghayrihi.

I asked, “Can anyone besides him benefit from the knowledge?” He replied, “If he acts on it, teaches himself, and teaches someone else, his teaching another benefits him.”

قُلْتُ: فَمَتَى يَنْفَعُ غَيْرَهُ عِلْمُهُ؟ قَالَ: إِذَا كَانَ هُوَ عَامِلًا فَأَفَادَ عِلْمَهُ سِوَاهُ فَعَمِلَ بِهِ فَحِينَئِذٍ يَنْفَعُهُ عَمَلُ غَيْرِهِ.

Qultu: fa-matā yanfaʿu ghayrahu ʿilmuhu? qāla: ʾidhā kāna huwa ʿāmilan fa-ʾafāda ʿilmahu siwāhu fa-ʿamila bihi fa-ḥīnaʾidhin yanfaʿuhu ʿamalu ghayrihi.

I asked, “When does his knowledge benefit someone else?” He replied, “When he acts on it, imparts his knowledge to someone else, and that person acts on it, then the other person's action benefits him.”

قُلْتُ: فَمَتَى يَضُرُّ غَيْرَهُ عِلْمُهُ؟ قَالَ: إِذَا ضَيَّعَ هُوَ شُكْرَ اللّٰهِ فِي عِلْمِهِ فَعَمِلَ بِخِلَافِ عِلْمِهِ فَأَيَاسُوا بِهِ فِي عَمَلِهِ وَخَالَفُوا مَا اسْتَفَادُوا مِنْهُ فَكَمَا ضَيَّعَ الْعَالِمُ عِلْمَهُ ضَرَّ غَيْرَهُ عِلْمُهُ.

Qultu: fa-matā yaḍurru ghayrahu ʿilmuhu? qāla: ʾidhā ḍayyaʿa huwa shukra Allāhi fī ʿilmihi fa-ʿamila bikhilāfi ʿilmihi fa-ʾayāsū bihi fī ʿamalihi wa-khālafū mā istafādū minhu fa-kamā ḍayyaʿa al-ʿālimu ʿilmahu ḍarra ghayrahu ʿilmuhu.

I asked, “When does his knowledge harm someone else?” He replied, “When he neglects gratitude to God for his knowledge and acts contrary to it, and they ‘ayāsū’ by him in his conduct [the printed verb is unclear], acting contrary to what they learned from him. Just as the scholar has wasted his knowledge, his knowledge harms others.”

قُلْتُ: فَمَتَى يَضُرُّهُ عِلْمُ غَيْرِهِ؟ قَالَ: إِذَا كَانَ هٰذَا الْمُسْتَفِيدُ مِمَّنْ يُضَيِّعُ الْعَمَلَ بِعِلْمِهِ فَتَأَسَّى بِهِ غَيْرُهُ كَانَ قَدْ ضَرَّهُ عِلْمُ غَيْرِهِ.

Qultu: fa-matā yaḍurruhu ʿilmu ghayrihi? qāla: ʾidhā kāna hādhā al-mustafīdu mimman yuḍayyiʿu al-ʿamala biʿilmihi fa-taʾassā bihi ghayruhu kāna qad ḍarrahu ʿilmu ghayrihi.

I asked, “When does another person's knowledge harm him?” He replied, “When the person receiving knowledge neglects to act on it and someone else follows his example, another person's knowledge has harmed him.”

قُلْتُ: وَكَيْفَ يَضُرُّهُ عِلْمُ غَيْرِهِ وَالْعِلْمُ نَافِعٌ لِكُلِّ مَنِ اسْتَفَادَهُ؟ قَالَ: أَلَا تَفْهَمُ أَنَّكَ تَأَسَّيْتَ بِعَمَلِهِ مِنْ أَجْلِ مَا ظَهَرَ لَكَ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ وَلَوْ كَانَ جَاهِلًا مَا تَأَسَّيْتَ بِعَمَلِهِ أَلَا تَرَى أَنَّهُ ضَرَّكَ عِلْمُهُ؟

Qultu: wa-kayfa yaḍurruhu ʿilmu ghayrihi wa-al-ʿilmu nāfiʿun likulli mani istafādahu? qāla: ʾalā tafhamu ʾannaka taʾassayta biʿamalihi min ʾajli mā ẓahara laka min ʿilmihi wa-law kāna jāhilan mā taʾassayta biʿamalihi ʾalā tarā ʾannahu ḍarraka ʿilmuhu?

I asked, “How can another person's knowledge harm him, when knowledge benefits everyone who acquires it?” He replied, “Do you not understand that you followed his conduct because of the knowledge he appeared to possess? Had he been ignorant, you would not have followed his conduct. Do you not see that his knowledge has harmed you?”

فَإِنْ قَالَ: فَهَلْ يَنْتَفِعُ بِالْمَعْرِفَةِ إِذَا كَانَ مُقَصِّرًا فِي الْعَمَلِ؟ قَالَ: لِمَسْأَلَتِكَ جَوَابَانِ.

Fa-ʾin qāla: fa-hal yantafiʿu bi-al-maʿrifati ʾidhā kāna muqaṣṣiran fī al-ʿamali? qāla: limasʾalatika jawābāni.

If he asks, “Does someone benefit from understanding when he falls short in action?” he replies, “Your question has two answers.”

قَالَ: لِأَنَّ التَّقْصِيرَ فِي الْعَمَلِ وَالْمُضَيِّعَ لِلْعَمَلِ لَا يَعْنِي أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَبْلُغِ الشَّكَّ عَلَى قَدْرِ النِّعْمَةِ وَهُوَ يَعْمَلُ بِالدَّلَالَةِ غَيْرَ أَنَّ عَمَلَهُ قَلِيلٌ.

Qāla: li-ʾanna al-taqṣīra fī al-ʿamali wa-al-muḍayyiʿa li-al-ʿamali lā yaʿnī ʾannahu lam yablughi al-shakka ʿalā qadri al-niʿmati wa-huwa yaʿmalu bi-al-dalālati ghayra ʾanna ʿamalahu qalīlun.

He said, “For falling short in action and the person who neglects action ‘does not mean that he has not reached doubt in proportion to the blessing,’ while he acts according to its guidance, though his action is small [the printed sentence is disordered, and ‘doubt’ is retained rather than conjecturally replaced].

وَالتَّضْيِيعُ لِلْعَمَلِ مَا كَانَ مِنْهُ مِنْ عَمَلٍ وَإِنْ كَثُرَ فَهُوَ ضَايِعٌ لِأَنَّهُ خِلَافُ دَلَالَةِ النِّعْمَةِ، فَذَاكَ وَإِنْ كَثُرَتْ مِنْ صَاحِبِهِ الْأَعْمَالُ فَهِيَ خَفِيفَةُ الْوَزْنِ لَا وَزْنَ لَهَا.

Wa-al-taḍyīʿu li-al-ʿamali mā kāna minhu min ʿamalin wa-ʾin kathura fa-huwa ḍāyiʿun li-ʾannahu khilāfu dalālati al-niʿmati, fa-dhāka wa-ʾin kathurat min ṣāḥibihi al-ʾaʿmālu fa-hiya khafīfatu al-wazni lā wazna lahā.

Neglecting action means that whatever action he performs, however much, is wasted because it runs contrary to the blessing's guidance. Thus, however numerous that person's deeds may be, they are light in weight and carry no weight.

غَيْرَ أَنَّ الْمَعْرِفَةَ نِعْمَةٌ أَقْبَلَتْ لِاجْتِلَابِ الْخَيْرِ إِلَى مَنْ أَقْبَلَتْ إِلَيْهِ مَعَ قِيَامِ مَنْ أَقْبَلَتْ إِلَيْهِ بِالشُّكْرِ إِذَا تَمَادَى فِي الشَّرِّ مَعَ تَضَيُّعِ مَنْ أَقْبَلَتْ إِلَيْهِ بِالشُّكْرِ.

Ghayra ʾanna al-maʿrifata niʿmatun ʾaqbalat li-ijtilābi al-khayri ʾilā man ʾaqbalat ʾilayhi maʿa qiyāmi man ʾaqbalat ʾilayhi bi-al-shukri ʾidhā tamādā fī al-sharri maʿa taḍayyuʿi man ʾaqbalat ʾilayhi bi-al-shukri.

Understanding is nevertheless a blessing that comes to bring good to its recipient when the recipient fulfills gratitude, ‘when he persists in evil while its recipient neglects gratitude’ [the two clauses are connected defectively in the printed text].

فَلَيْسَ أَحَدٌ قَوِيًّا إِلَّا مِنْ طَرِيقِ الشُّكْرِ وَلَا ضَعِيفًا إِلَّا مِنْ تَضْيِيعِهِ، لِأَنَّ النِّعَمَ سَابِقَةٌ مِنَ اللّٰهِ تَعَالَى إِلَى خَلْقِهِ.

Fa-laysa ʾaḥadun qawiyyan ʾillā min ṭarīqi al-shukri wa-lā ḍaʿīfan ʾillā min taḍyīʿihi, li-ʾanna al-niʿama sābiqatun mina Allāhi taʿālā ʾilā khalqihi.

No one is strong except through gratitude, and no one weak except through neglecting it, for blessings come first from God Most High to His creatures.

لِأَنَّ اللّٰهَ عَزَّ ذِكْرُهُ أَوْجَبَ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ لِخَلْقِهِ جَمِيعًا الِابْتِدَاءَ بِالنِّعْمَةِ وَهُوَ أَوْلَى بِالْإِحْسَانِ إِلَى بَرِيَّتِهِ، وَفَرَضَ عَلَيْهَا الشُّكْرَ فَرْضًا ثُمَّ أَوْجَبَ لَهُمْ عَلَيْهِ الزِّيَادَةَ مِنْهُ امْتِنَانًا.

Li-ʾanna Allāha ʿazza dhikruhu ʾawjaba ʿalā nafsihi likhalqihi jamīʿan al-ibtidāʾa bi-al-niʿmati wa-huwa ʾawlā bi-al-ʾiḥsāni ʾilā bariyyatihi, wa-faraḍa ʿalayhā al-shukra farḍan thumma ʾawjaba lahum ʿalayhi al-ziyādata minhu imtinānan.

God, exalted in remembrance, has bound Himself to begin with blessing toward all His creatures. He is most fittingly the One to show kindness to His creation. He has made gratitude obligatory upon them, then graciously bound Himself to give them an increase from Him.

وَأَوْجَبَ الْعُقُوبَةَ عَلَى مَنْ ضَيَّعَ مِنْهُمْ شُكْرَهُ امْتِحَانًا فَصَفَحَ عَمَّنْ شَا وَعَاقَبَ مَنْ شَا.

Wa-ʾawjaba al-ʿuqūbata ʿalā man ḍayyaʿa minhum shukrahu imtiḥānan fa-ṣafaḥa ʿamman shā wa-ʿāqaba man shā.

As a test, He has made punishment due for those who neglect gratitude to Him. He pardons whom He wills and punishes whom He wills.”

Source page 23

بَابُ التَّمْيِيزِ بَيْنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالرَّجَا

Bābu al-tamyīzi bayna al-khawfi wa-al-rajā

Chapter on Distinguishing Fear from Hope

وَقَالَ: وَيَنْبَغِي لِلْعَبْدِ أَنْ يَكُونَ أَوَّلُ شَيْ يَأْخُذُ بِهِ لِدِينِهِ بَعْدَ إِقْرَارِهِ لِلّٰهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِالْوَحْدَانِيَّةِ وَأَنَّهُ خَالِقُهُ وَرَازِقُهُ الْعِلْمَ بِمَا أُمِرَ بِهِ وَمَعْرِفَتَهُ بِمَا نَهَاهُ عَنْهُ.

Wa-qāla: wa-yanbaghī li-al-ʿabdi ʾan yakūna ʾawwalu shay yaʾkhudhu bihi lidīnihi baʿda ʾiqrārihi li-llāhi ʿazza wa-jalla bi-al-waḥdāniyyati wa-ʾannahu khāliquhu wa-rāziquhu al-ʿilma bimā ʾumira bihi wa-maʿrifatahu bimā nahāhu ʿanhu.

He said, “After acknowledging the oneness of God, mighty and majestic, and that He is his Creator and Provider, the first thing a servant should undertake for his religion is learning what he has been commanded to do and recognizing what God has forbidden him.

فَإِذَا عَلِمَ مَا يَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ عَرَفَ أَنَّ قِوَامَ مَا عَلِمَ الصِّدْقُ وَهُوَ الْإِيمَانُ بِهِ، فَإِذَا نَظَرَ فِي الَّذِي أُمِرَ بِهِ عَرَفَ أَنَّ قِوَامَ إِيمَانِهِ الْيَقِينُ.

Fa-ʾidhā ʿalima mā yaḥtāju ʾilayhi mina al-ʿilmi ʿarafa ʾanna qiwāma mā ʿalima al-ṣidqu wa-huwa al-ʾīmānu bihi, fa-ʾidhā naẓara fī alladhī ʾumira bihi ʿarafa ʾanna qiwāma ʾīmānihi al-yaqīnu.

When he has learned the knowledge he needs, he recognizes that truthfulness sustains what he knows, and that means believing in it. When he considers what he has been commanded, he recognizes that certainty sustains his faith.

فَإِذَا أَيْقَنَ بِمَا آمَنَ بِهِ وَعَرَفَ أَنَّ تَمَامَ إِيقَانِهِ الرَّجَا وَالْخَوْفُ، فَإِذَا نَظَرَ فِي رَجَايِهِ وَخَوْفِهِ عَلِمَ أَنَّ الرَّجَا لَا يَتِمُّ إِلَّا بِالرَّغْبَةِ وَالْخَوْفَ لَا يَتِمُّ إِلَّا بِالرَّهْبَةِ.

Fa-ʾidhā ʾayqana bimā ʾāmana bihi wa-ʿarafa ʾanna tamāma ʾīqānihi al-rajā wa-al-khawfu, fa-ʾidhā naẓara fī rajāyihi wa-khawfihi ʿalima ʾanna al-rajā lā yatimmu ʾillā bi-al-raghbati wa-al-khawfa lā yatimmu ʾillā bi-al-rahbati.

When he becomes certain of what he believes, he recognizes that hope and fear complete his certainty. When he considers his hope and fear, he knows that hope is fulfilled only through desire, and fear only through dread.

فَإِذَا هُوَ فَكَّرَ فِي الرَّجَا عَلِمَ أَنَّ الرَّجَا لَا يَكُونُ إِلَّا بِالطَّلَبِ وَكَذٰلِكَ الْخَوْفُ لَا يَكُونُ خَوْفًا إِلَّا بِالْهَرَبِ.

Fa-ʾidhā huwa fakkara fī al-rajā ʿalima ʾanna al-rajā lā yakūnu ʾillā bi-al-ṭalabi wa-ka-dhālika al-khawfu lā yakūnu khawfan ʾillā bi-al-harabi.

When he reflects on hope, he knows that hope exists only through seeking. Likewise, fear is not truly fear except through fleeing.”

فَإِنْ قَالَ قَايِلٌ: فَكَيْفَ يَكُونُ حَالُ الرَّاغِبِ الطَّالِبِ؟ قَالَ: يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يَكُونَ مَسْرُورًا شَاكِرًا، وَالرَّاهِبُ الْهَارِبُ يَكُونُ مَهْمُومًا مَحْزُونًا عِنْدَنَا.

Fa-ʾin qāla qāyilun: fa-kayfa yakūnu ḥālu al-rāghibi al-ṭālibi? qāla: yanbaghī ʾan yakūna masrūran shākiran, wa-al-rāhibu al-hāribu yakūnu mahmūman maḥzūnan ʿindanā.

If someone asks, “What should be the state of one who desires and seeks?” he replies, “He should be joyful and grateful. In our view, one who dreads and flees should be troubled and sorrowful.”

قُلْتُ: لِمَ؟ قَالَ: لِأَنَّ الرَّاغِبَ الطَّالِبَ يَرْجُوا الثَّوَابَ وَلِأَنَّ الرَّاهِبَ الْهَارِبَ يَخَافُ الْعِقَابَ.

Qultu: lima? qāla: li-ʾanna al-rāghiba al-ṭāliba yarjū al-thawāba wa-li-ʾanna al-rāhiba al-hāriba yakhāfu al-ʿiqāba.

I asked, “Why?” He replied, “Because one who desires and seeks hopes for reward, while one who dreads and flees fears punishment.”

قُلْتُ: فَبِأَيِّ شَيْ يُنَالُ مَا وَصَفْتَ؟ قَالَ: لَا يُنَالُ مَا وَصَفْتُهُ إِلَّا بِالصَّبْرِ. قُلْتُ: فَمَا خَيْرُ أَدَاةِ الصَّبْرِ؟ قَالَ: الزُّهْدُ.

Qultu: fa-bi-ʾayyi shay yunālu mā waṣafta? qāla: lā yunālu mā waṣaftuhu ʾillā bi-al-ṣabri. qultu: fa-mā khayru ʾadāti al-ṣabri? qāla: al-zuhdu.

I asked, “By what is the state you describe attained?” He replied, “What I have described is attained only through patience.” I asked, “What is the best instrument of patience?” He replied, “Detachment.

وَالزَّاهِدُ فِي الدُّنْيَا فِي حِصْنٍ حَصِينٍ شَامِخٍ، قَدْ جَمَعَ لَهُ الزُّهْدُ خَيْرَ الدُّنْيَا مَعَ رَجَايِهِ خَيْرًا لِآخِرِهِ.

Wa-al-zāhidu fī al-dunyā fī ḥiṣnin ḥaṣīnin shāmikhin, qad jamaʿa lahu al-zuhdu khayra al-dunyā maʿa rajāyihi khayran li-ʾākhirihi.

One who is detached from this world is in a strong, lofty fortress. Detachment has gathered for him the good of this world together with his hope for good at his end.”

قُلْتُ: فَمَا قِوَامُ ذٰلِكَ كُلِّهِ وَالَّذِي انْعَقَدَ لَهُ عُرَاهَا وَإِلَيْهِ مَصِيرُهَا وَمَأْوَاهَا وَبِهِ جَزَاؤُهَا؟ قَالَ: الْعَقْلُ.

Qultu: fa-mā qiwāmu dhālika kullihi wa-alladhī inʿaqada lahu ʿurāhā wa-ʾilayhi maṣīruhā wa-maʾwāhā wa-bihi jazāʾuhā? qāla: al-ʿaqlu.

I asked, “What sustains all of this, that to which its bonds are tied, to which it returns and resorts, and through which it receives its reward?” He replied, “Reason.”

قُلْتُ: لِمَ؟ قَالَ: لِأَنَّ اللّٰهَ لَمْ يَخْلُقْ خَلْقًا هُوَ أَحَبُّ إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الْعَقْلِ.

Qultu: lima? qāla: li-ʾanna Allāha lam yakhluq khalqan huwa ʾaḥabbu ʾilayhi mina al-ʿaqli.

I asked, “Why?” He replied, “Because God has created nothing dearer to Him than reason.”

قُلْتُ: فَالْعَقْلُ الَّذِي أَعْطَاهُ بَنِي آدَمَ أَيُّ شَيْ هُوَ؟ قَالَ: الْعَقْلُ عَقْلَانِ، عَقْلُ الدِّينِ وَعَقْلُ الدُّنْيَا.

Qultu: fa-al-ʿaqlu alladhī ʾaʿṭāhu banī ʾĀdama ʾayyu shay huwa? qāla: al-ʿaqlu ʿaqlāni, ʿaqlu al-dīni wa-ʿaqlu al-dunyā.

I asked, “What is the reason He has given Adam's children?” He replied, “Reason is of two kinds: reason concerning religion and reason concerning this world.”

قُلْتُ: بَيِّنْ لِي عَقْلَ الدُّنْيَا. قَالَ: مَا وَصَفْتُ لَكَ. قُلْتُ: فَعَقْلُ الدُّنْيَا؟ قَالَ: الصِّنَاعَاتُ كُلُّهَا وَالْحِيلَةُ مِنْهَا.

Qultu: bayyin lī ʿaqla al-dunyā. qāla: mā waṣaftu laka. qultu: fa-ʿaqlu al-dunyā? qāla: al-ṣināʿātu kulluhā wa-al-ḥīlatu minhā.

I asked, “Explain worldly reason to me.” He replied, “What I have described to you.” I asked, “And worldly reason?” He replied, “All the crafts and the resourcefulness involved in them [the repeated question is retained as printed].”

Source pages 23–24

قُلْتُ: فَعَقْلُ الدِّينِ؟ قَالَ: فِيهِ مَا لَكَ وَمَا عَلَيْكَ وَالثَّوَابُ الَّذِي لَكَ مِنْهُ وَالْعِقَابُ عَلَى مَا عَلَيْكَ مِنْهُ، فَاعْرِفْ مَا ذَكَرْتُ تَأْخُذْ بِحَظِّكَ إِنْ شَا اللّٰهُ تَعَالَى.

Qultu: fa-ʿaqlu al-dīni? qāla: fīhi mā laka wa-mā ʿalayka wa-al-thawābu alladhī laka minhu wa-al-ʿiqābu ʿalā mā ʿalayka minhu, fa-iʿrif mā dhakartu taʾkhudh biḥaẓẓika ʾin shā Allāhu taʿālā.

I asked, “And religious reason?” He replied, “It concerns what is for you and what is against you, the reward you receive from it and the punishment for what stands against you. Understand what I have mentioned, and you will gain your share, if God Most High wills.

Source page 24

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّكَ مَطْبُوعٌ طِبَاعًا حَسَنَةً وَسَيِّئَةً، فَأَعْدَا عَدُوِّكَ سَيِّئَاتُ طَبَايِعِكَ وَأَوْلَى أَوْلِيَايِكَ حَسَنَاتُهَا فَقَابِلْ بَعْضَ مَا قَابَلَكَ مِنْهَا بِبَعْضٍ.

Wa-iʿlam ʾannaka maṭbūʿun ṭibāʿan ḥasanatan wa-sayyiʾatan, fa-ʾaʿdā ʿaduwwika sayyiʾātu ṭabāyiʿika wa-ʾawlā ʾawliyāyika ḥasanātuhā fa-qābil baʿḍa mā qābalaka minhā bibaʿḍin.

Know that you are formed with good and bad traits. Your fiercest enemies are your bad traits, and your closest allies are your good ones. Meet some of the traits that confront you with others.

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّكَ قَدْ بُلِيتَ مِنْ مُعَالَجَةِ طَبَايِعِكَ وَمُكَايَدَةِ أَهْوَايِكَ وَمُجَاهَدَةِ نَفْسِكَ بِحَرْبٍ لَا حَرْبَ أَنْفَعُ لَكَ مِنْهَا، فَإِنْ رُزِقْتَ الظَّفَرَ مِنْهَا وَإِلَّا أَضْمَرَتْ عَلَيْكَ الْهَزِيمَةَ مِنْهَا.

Wa-iʿlam ʾannaka qad bulīta min muʿālajati ṭabāyiʿika wa-mukāyadati ʾahwāyika wa-mujāhadati nafsika biḥarbin lā ḥarba ʾanfaʿu laka minhā, fa-ʾin ruziqta al-ẓafara minhā wa-ʾillā ʾaḍmarat ʿalayka al-hazīmata minhā.

Know that, in treating your dispositions, countering your desires, and struggling against your self, you have been tested with a war more beneficial to you than any other. If you are granted victory in it, [you prevail]; otherwise it has concealed defeat for you within it [the first conditional clause is unfinished in print].

وَلَا حَرْبَ إِلَّا سَيَحْتَاجُ صَاحِبُهَا إِلَى الْمَادَّةِ، فَاسْتَمِدَّ حِلْمَكَ مِنْ حِلْمِ الْحُلَمَا وَعِلْمَكَ مِنْ عِلْمِ الْعُلَمَا وَلِعَقْلِكَ مِنْ عُقُولِهِمْ، فَإِنَّ الْعَقْلَ الْفَرْدَ لَا يَقْوَى عَلَى أَمْرِ الْعَامَّةِ وَلَا يُكْتَفَا بِهِ فِي أَمْرِ الْخَاصَّةِ.

Wa-lā ḥarba ʾillā sayaḥtāju ṣāḥibuhā ʾilā al-māddati, fa-istamidda ḥilmaka min ḥilmi al-ḥulamā wa-ʿilmaka min ʿilmi al-ʿulamā wa-liʿaqlika min ʿuqūlihim, fa-ʾinna al-ʿaqla al-farda lā yaqwā ʿalā ʾamri al-ʿāmmati wa-lā yuktafā bihi fī ʾamri al-khāṣṣati.

Every warrior needs reinforcements. Reinforce your forbearance with that of the forbearing, your knowledge with that of scholars, and your reason with their minds. A solitary mind is not strong enough for public affairs and is not sufficient even for private affairs.

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ رَأْسَ مَا يُصْلِحُكَ وَيُصْلَحُ بِهِ عَلَى يَدَيْكَ الزُّهْدُ فِي الدُّنْيَا، وَإِنَّمَا الزُّهْدُ بِالْيَقِينِ وَالْيَقِينُ بِالْعِبَرِ وَالْعِبَرُ بِالْفِكْرِ.

Wa-iʿlam ʾanna raʾsa mā yuṣliḥuka wa-yuṣlaḥu bihi ʿalā yadayka al-zuhdu fī al-dunyā, wa-ʾinnamā al-zuhdu bi-al-yaqīni wa-al-yaqīnu bi-al-ʿibari wa-al-ʿibaru bi-al-fikri.

Know that detachment from this world is the foremost thing that sets you right and brings reform through your hands. Detachment comes through certainty, certainty through lessons, and lessons through reflection.

فَإِذَا أَنْتَ تَفَكَّرْتَ فِي الدُّنْيَا لَمْ تَجِدْهَا أَهْلًا أَنْ تَبْدَعَ بِهَا دِينَكَ وَنَفْسَكَ وَوَجَدْتَ نَفْسَكَ أَهْلًا أَنْ تُكْرِمَهَا بِهَوَانِ الدُّنْيَا، فَإِنَّ الدُّنْيَا ذَمِيمَةُ اللّٰهِ تَعَالَى وَذَمِيمَةُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ وَهِيَ دَارُ بَلَاءٍ وَمَنْزِلُ قُلْعَةٍ فَاحْذَرْهَا أَشَدَّ الْحَذَرِ.

Fa-ʾidhā ʾanta tafakkarta fī al-dunyā lam tajid-hā ʾahlan ʾan tabdaʿa bihā dīnaka wa-nafsaka wa-wajadta nafsaka ʾahlan ʾan tukrimahā bihawāni al-dunyā, fa-ʾinna al-dunyā dhamīmatu Allāhi taʿālā wa-dhamīmatu al-mursalīna wa-hiya dāru balāʾin wa-manzilu qulʿatin fa-iḥdharhā ʾashadda al-ḥadhari.

When you reflect on the world, you will not find it worthy of your ‘innovating’ your religion and your self for it [the printed verb is uncertain here]. You will find your self worthy of being honored by treating the world as insignificant. The world is condemned by God Most High and by the messengers. It is an abode of trial and a lodging from which one is uprooted, so beware of it with the utmost care.

إِيَّاكَ وَالشَّهَوَاتِ، وَلْيَكُنْ مَا تَسْتَعِينُ بِهِ عَلَى تَرْكِهَا عِلْمَكَ بِأَنَّهَا مُوهِمَةٌ لِعَقْلِكَ مُشْغِلَةٌ لِقَلْبِكَ مُجِنَّةٌ لِرَأْيِكَ مُشَاغِلَةٌ لَكَ عَنْ مَعَاظِنِ أُمُورِكَ شَدِيدَةُ التَّبِعَةِ عَلَيْكَ فِي الْآخِرَتِكَ.

ʾIyyāka wa-al-shahawāti, wa-l-yakun mā tastaʿīnu bihi ʿalā tarkihā ʿilmaka bi-ʾannahā mūhimatun liʿaqlika mushghilatun liqalbika mujinnatun liraʾyika mushāghilatun laka ʿan maʿāẓini ʾumūrika shadīdatu al-tabiʿati ʿalayka fī al-ʾākhiratika.

Beware of appetites. Let your knowledge help you abandon them: they delude your reason, occupy your heart, cloud your judgment, distract you from the ‘maʿāẓin’ of your affairs, and burden you with severe consequences in ‘the your next life’ [the two printed forms are defective or unclear].

فَأَمَّا الشَّهَوَاتُ لَعِبٌ فَإِذَا حَضَرَ اللَّعِبُ غَابَ الْجِدُّ، وَلَا تَقُومُ الدُّنْيَا وَيَصْلُحُ الدِّينُ إِلَّا بِالْجِدِّ.

Fa-ʾammā al-shahawātu laʿibun fa-ʾidhā ḥaḍara al-laʿibu ghāba al-jiddu, wa-lā taqūmu al-dunyā wa-yaṣluḥu al-dīnu ʾillā bi-al-jiddi.

Appetites are play: when play is present, earnestness is absent. Neither the world can stand nor religion be set right except through earnestness.

فَلَا تَلْقَاهُ وَإِنْ كَانَ نَالَ مِنْهَا إِلَّا مُسْتَشْعِرًا خَوْفًا زَايِلًا مِنْهَا.

Fa-lā talqāhu wa-ʾin kāna nāla minhā ʾillā mustashʿiran khawfan zāyilan minhā.

You will therefore find him, even if he has enjoyed some of them, inwardly fearful and moving away from them [the pronoun's reference is not explicit here].

فَإِنْ نَازَعَتْكَ نَفْسُكَ إِلَى اللَّهْوِ وَاللَّذَّاتِ فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهَا نَازَعَتْ بِكَ إِلَى شَرِّ مُتَعٍ وَرَاوَدَتْ بِكَ أَفْضَحَ الْفُضُوحِ فَغَالِبْهَا مُغَالَبَةَ ذٰلِكَ وَامْتَنِعْ مِنْهَا امْتِنَاعَ ذٰلِكَ.

Fa-ʾin nāzaʿatka nafsuka ʾilā al-lahwi wa-al-ladhdhāti fa-iʿlam ʾannahā nāzaʿat bika ʾilā sharri mutaʿin wa-rāwadat bika ʾafḍaḥa al-fuḍūḥi fa-ghālibhā mughālabata dhālika wa-imtaniʿ minhā imtināʿa dhālika.

If your self pulls you toward diversion and pleasures, know that it is dragging you toward the worst enjoyments and enticing you toward the most disgraceful exposure. Resist it with the strength such a danger calls for, and hold yourself back from it accordingly.

وَلَا تُدَاهِنْ هَوَاكَ فِي الْيَسِيرِ فَتَطْمَعَ نَفْسُكَ مِنْكَ بِالْكَثِيرِ، فَإِنَّ لِكُلِّ عَمَلٍ ضَرَاوَةً وَمَتَى عَوَّدْتَ نَفْسَكَ الْقَلِيلَ دَعَتْكَ إِلَى الْكَثِيرِ.

Wa-lā tudāhin hawāka fī al-yasīri fa-taṭmaʿa nafsuka minka bi-al-kathīri, fa-ʾinna likulli ʿamalin ḍarāwatan wa-matā ʿawwadta nafsaka al-qalīla daʿatka ʾilā al-kathīri.

Do not make concessions to desire in a little matter, so that your self begins to expect much from you. Every action can become a habit, and whenever you accustom the self to a little, it calls you toward much.

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ أَسْعَدَ النَّاسِ أَدْرَكُهُمْ هَوَاهُ، إِنْ كَانَ هَوَاهُ فِي رُشْدٍ فَقَدْ سَعِدَ وَإِنْ كَانَ هَوَاهُ فِي غَيْرِ رُشْدٍ فَقَدْ شَقِيَ بِمَا أَدْرَكَ مِنْهُ.

Wa-iʿlam ʾanna ʾasʿada al-nāsi ʾadrakuhum hawāhu, ʾin kāna hawāhu fī rushdin fa-qad saʿida wa-ʾin kāna hawāhu fī ghayri rushdin fa-qad shaqiya bimā ʾadraka minhu.

Know that the happiest person is the one who most fully attains his desire. If his desire follows right guidance, he is fortunate; if it does not, he is made wretched by what he attains of it.

وَقَدْ يَمْنَعُ الْحَلِيمَ مِنِ اسْتِكْمَالِ لَذَّةِ الشَّهَوَاتِ خَوْفُهُ إِيَّاهَا وَوَجَلُهُ مِنْهَا، فَلَا تَلْقَاهُ وَإِنْ كَانَ نَالَ مِنْهَا إِلَّا مُسْتَشْعِرًا خَوْفًا زَايِلًا مِنْهَا إِلَى النَّدَمِ وَمَخَافَةِ النَّدَمِ مِنْهَا.

Wa-qad yamnaʿu al-ḥalīma mini istikmāli ladhdhati al-shahawāti khawfuhu ʾiyyāhā wa-wajaluhu minhā, fa-lā talqāhu wa-ʾin kāna nāla minhā ʾillā mustashʿiran khawfan zāyilan minhā ʾilā al-nadami wa-makhāfati al-nadami minhā.

The forbearing person's fear and apprehension of appetites may prevent him from taking their pleasure to the full. Even if he has enjoyed some of them, you find him inwardly afraid, moving away from them toward remorse and fear of the remorse they bring.

وَهٰذِهِ صِفَةُ الزَّاهِدِينَ فَاعْقِلْهَا، إِنَّ أَوْلِيَا اللّٰهِ إِنْ أَقْبَلَتْ إِلَيْهِمُ الدُّنْيَا لَمْ يُكَبِّرُوهَا وَإِنْ أَدْبَرَتْ عَنْهُمْ لَمْ يَذْكُرُوهَا.

Wa-hādhihi ṣifatu al-zāhidīna fa-iʿqilhā, ʾinna ʾawliyā Allāhi ʾin ʾaqbalat ʾilayhimu al-dunyā lam yukabbirūhā wa-ʾin ʾadbarat ʿanhum lam yadhkurūhā.

This is the character of the detached, so understand it. When the world comes toward God's friends, they do not magnify it; when it turns away from them, they do not speak of it.

يَرَاهُمُ النَّاسُ وَلَيْسُوا مِنْهُمْ تَحْسَبُهُمْ مِنْهُمْ وَلَيْسُوا مِنْهُمْ، لَيْسَتْ لَهُمْ دِيَارٌ يُعَمِّرُونَهَا يَطْمَئِنُّونَ إِلَيْهَا إِنَّمَا دِيَارُهُمْ وَقُصُورُهُمْ وَعَشَايِرُهُمْ أَمَامَهُمْ.

Yarāhumu al-nāsu wa-laysū minhum taḥsabuhum minhum wa-laysū minhum, laysat lahum diyārun yuʿammirūnahā yaṭmaʾinnūna ʾilayhā ʾinnamā diyāruhum wa-quṣūruhum wa-ʿashāyiruhum ʾamāmahum.

People see them, yet they do not belong to them; you suppose they belong to them, yet they do not. They have no homes they build up and settle into. Their homes, palaces, and kindred lie ahead of them.

قَدْ أَخَذَتِ الدُّنْيَا بِأَنْفَاسِهِمْ فَلَوْلَا مَا يَسْتَرِيحُونَ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ مُنَاجَاةِ سَيِّدِهِمْ لَقَاسَوْا مِنْ مُعَاشَرَةِ الدُّنْيَا وَأَهْلِهَا طَوَالَ الْعَنَاءِ.

Qad ʾakhadhati al-dunyā bi-ʾanfāsihim fa-lawlā mā yastarīḥūna ʾilayhi min munājāti sayyidihim laqāsaw min muʿāsharati al-dunyā wa-ʾahlihā ṭawāla al-ʿanāʾi.

The world has seized them by their breath. Were it not for the rest they find in intimate prayer to their Master, they would endure endless suffering from living with the world and its people.

Source pages 24–25

فَهُمْ طُلَقَا رَبِّهِمْ مِنْ غُمُومِ الدُّنْيَا وَعُتَقَاؤُهُ مِنْ هُمُومِهَا، أَطْيَبْ لِحَيَاتِهِمْ مِنْ حَيَاةٍ وَأَحْسِنْ بِمُقَامِهِمْ مِنْ مُقَامٍ.

Fa-hum ṭulaqā rabbihim min ghumūmi al-dunyā wa-ʿutaqāʾuhu min humūmihā, ʾaṭyab liḥayātihim min ḥayātin wa-ʾaḥsin bimuqāmihim min muqāmin.

They are their Lord's released captives, freed from the world's griefs, and His emancipated servants, freed from its anxieties. How sweet their life, and how beautiful their dwelling [the first exclamation is irregularly formed in print]!

Source page 25

فَهُمُ الَّذِينَ قَاتَلُوا نُفُوسَهُمْ وَجَاهَدُوهَا عَمَّا تَمِيلُ بِهِمْ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ رَاحَةِ الدُّنْيَا وَنَعِيمِهَا حَتَّى رَفَضُوهَا.

Fa-humu alladhīna qātalū nufūsahum wa-jāhadūhā ʿammā tamīlu bihim ʾilayhi min rāḥati al-dunyā wa-naʿīmihā ḥattā rafaḍūhā.

They are those who fought their selves and struggled against the worldly ease and luxury toward which those selves inclined them, until they rejected it.

لَيْسُوا مُشْتَغِلِينَ بِالْأَمْلَاكِ الْمُعْتَقَدَةِ وَلَا بِأَصْحَابِ الْقُصُورِ الْمُشَيَّدَةِ وَلَا الْأَنْهَارِ الْمُطَّرِدَةِ الَّذِينَ عَكَفُوا عَلَى حُبِّ الدُّنْيَا وَحُطَامِهَا.

Laysū mushtaghilīna bi-al-ʾamlāki al-muʿtaqadati wa-lā bi-ʾaṣḥābi al-quṣūri al-mushayyadati wa-lā al-ʾanhāri al-muṭṭaridati alladhīna ʿakafū ʿalā ḥubbi al-dunyā wa-ḥuṭāmihā.

They are not occupied with acquired properties, owners of lofty palaces, or flowing rivers, those who devote themselves to loving the world and its perishing goods [the printed relative clause attaches awkwardly].

يَعْتَدُّونَ بَعْضَهَا وَيَطْعَمُونَ بَعْضَهَا عِلَاجًا بَعْدَ عِلَاجٍ لَا يَسْأَمُونَ مِنْ جَمْعِهَا وَلَا تَنْقَضِي أَمَانِيُّهُمْ مِنْ شَهَوَاتِهَا.

Yaʿtaddūna baʿḍahā wa-yaṭʿamūna baʿḍahā ʿilājan baʿda ʿilājin lā yasʾamūna min jamʿihā wa-lā tanqaḍī ʾamāniyyuhum min shahawātihā.

They count some of it and consume some of it, labor after labor. They never tire of gathering it, and their wishes for its pleasures never end.

يَبِيتُ أَخُو عِشْقِهَا مُتَمَنِّيًا لِلَذَّاتِهَا وَأَلْوَانِهَا، فَلَا يَزَالُ أَخُو الْحِسَابِ مَخْدُوعًا مُعَلَّلًا حَتَّى حَضَرَتْ مَنِيَّتُهُ فَكَثُرَتْ حِينَئِذٍ نَدَامَتُهُ وَحَسْرَتُهُ وَذٰلِكَ هُوَ الْخُسْرَانُ الْمُبِينُ.

Yabītu ʾakhū ʿishqihā mutamanniyan liladhdhātihā wa-ʾalwānihā, fa-lā yazālu ʾakhū al-ḥisābi makhdūʿan muʿallalan ḥattā ḥaḍarat maniyyatuhu fa-kathurat ḥīnaʾidhin nadāmatuhu wa-ḥasratuhu wa-dhālika huwa al-khusrānu al-mubīnu.

Its lover spends the night wishing for its pleasures and varieties. The ‘man of reckoning’ remains deceived and soothed with hopes until his death arrives. Then his remorse and anguish become great: that is the manifest loss [“man of reckoning” preserves the unexpected printed expression].

طُوبَى لِقَلْبٍ صَبَرَ وَتَوَكَّلَ عَلَى رَبِّهِ وَلَمْ يَتَذَكَّرِ الرَّاحَةَ جَزَعًا. طُوبَى لِقَلْبٍ تَقِيٍّ فَرَّغَ قَلْبَهُ مِنْ ذِكْرِ الشَّهَوَاتِ فَاتَّقَا الشَّهْوَةَ عَلَى طَلَبِ الْهُدَى.

Ṭūbā liqalbin ṣabara wa-tawakkala ʿalā rabbihi wa-lam yatadhakkari al-rāḥata jazaʿan. ṭūbā liqalbin taqiyyin farragha qalbahu min dhikri al-shahawāti fa-ittaqā al-shahwata ʿalā ṭalabi al-hudā.

Blessed is a heart that is patient, trusts in its Lord, and does not long for rest in impatience. Blessed is a reverent heart that empties its heart of remembering appetites and guards against desire in seeking guidance [the repetition of “heart” is printed].

لَيْسَ كُلُّ مَنْ يُبْتَلَا يَهْلِكُ وَلٰكِنْ مَنْ لَا يَصْبِرُ لِلْبَلَاءِ يَهْلِكُ، فَلَا تَعْجَبْ مِنَ الْبَلَاءِ الشَّدِيدِ وَلٰكِنِ الْعَجَبُ مِنَ الصَّبْرِ كَيْفَ يَحْتَمِلُهُ الْعَبْدُ.

Laysa kullu man yubtalā yahliku wa-lākin man lā yaṣbiru li-al-balāʾi yahliku, fa-lā taʿjab mina al-balāʾi al-shadīdi wa-lākin al-ʿajabu mina al-ṣabri kayfa yaḥtamiluhu al-ʿabdu.

Not everyone who is tested perishes; the one who fails to endure the trial perishes. Do not marvel at a severe trial. The marvel is patience: how the servant bears it.

الْعِلْمُ دَلِيلٌ عَلَى الْأَعْمَالِ وَالْعُقُولُ مَعَادِنُ لِلرَّأْيِ، فَإِذَا تَكَامَلَ ذٰلِكَ فِي الْعَبْدِ نَبَتَتِ الْحِكْمَةُ فِي الْقُلُوبِ فَتَفَرَّعَتْ عَلَى الْأَلْسُنِ.

Al-ʿilmu dalīlun ʿalā al-ʾaʿmāli wa-al-ʿuqūlu maʿādinu li-al-raʾyi, fa-ʾidhā takāmala dhālika fī al-ʿabdi nabatati al-ḥikmatu fī al-qulūbi fa-tafarraʿat ʿalā al-ʾalsuni.

Knowledge guides deeds, and minds are the sources of judgment. When these are complete in a servant, wisdom grows in hearts and branches out upon tongues.

فَالْعِلْمُ مَفْزَعُ الْعَامِلِينَ وَذَوِي الْعُقُولِ مَفْزَعٌ لِذَوِي الْمُسَاوَاتِ فِي الْمَضَارِّ وَالْمَنَافِعِ وَذَوُو الْمَعْرِفَةِ مَفْزَعٌ عِنْدَ اشْتِبَاهِ الْأُمُورِ.

Fa-al-ʿilmu mafzaʿu al-ʿāmilīna wa-dhawī al-ʿuqūli mafzaʿun lidhawī al-musāwāti fī al-maḍārri wa-al-manāfiʿi wa-dhawū al-maʿrifati mafzaʿun ʿinda ishtibāhi al-ʾumūri.

Knowledge is the refuge of those who act; people of reason are a refuge for those of ‘equal standing’ in matters of harm and benefit; and people of understanding are a refuge when affairs become unclear [the middle printed construction is irregular].

فَجَالِسْ يَا أَخِي الْعُلَمَا وَشَاوِرِ الْعُقَلَا وَافْزَعْ إِلَى ذَوِي الْمَعْرِفَةِ عِنْدَ الْغَفَلَاتِ مِنَ الْأُمُورِ وَسَأَصِفُ لَكَ وَصْفَ الْعُلَمَا وَذَوِي الْأَلْبَابِ مِنَ الْعُقَلَا وَذَوِي الْبَصَايِرِ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْمَعْرِفَةِ.

Fa-jālis yā ʾakhī al-ʿulamā wa-shāwiri al-ʿuqalā wa-ifzaʿ ʾilā dhawī al-maʿrifati ʿinda al-ghafalāti mina al-ʾumūri wa-saʾaṣifu laka waṣfa al-ʿulamā wa-dhawī al-ʾalbābi mina al-ʿuqalā wa-dhawī al-baṣāyiri min ʾahli al-maʿrifati.

My brother, sit with scholars, consult people of reason, and turn to people of understanding when heedlessness affects your affairs. I shall describe for you the scholars, the intelligent people of sound minds, and the discerning among those who possess understanding.

فَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ اللّٰهَ فِي سَرِيرَتِهِ أَعْظَمَ مِنْ خَوْفِهِ فِي عَلَانِيَتِهِ وَظَهَرَتْ خَشْيَتُهُ عَلَيْهِ فِي قَوْلِهِ وَفِعْلِهِ فَذٰلِكَ الْعَالِمُ حَقًّا وَبِذٰلِكَ وَصَفَهُمُ اللّٰهُ عَزَّ ذِكْرُهُ.

Fa-ʾammā man khāfa Allāha fī sarīratihi ʾaʿẓama min khawfihi fī ʿalāniyatihi wa-ẓaharat khashyatuhu ʿalayhi fī qawlihi wa-fiʿlihi fa-dhālika al-ʿālimu ḥaqqan wa-bi-dhālika waṣafahumu Allāhu ʿazza dhikruhu.

The person who fears God more deeply in private than in public, whose reverence appears in what he says and does, is truly the scholar. This is how God, exalted in remembrance, has described them.

فَإِذَا لَقِيتَهُمْ فَحُطَّ عِنْدَ رِحَالِهِمْ وَاخْفِضْ لِفَضِيلَةِ عِلْمِهِمْ جَنَاحَكَ.

Fa-ʾidhā laqītahum fa-ḥuṭṭa ʿinda riḥālihim wa-ikhfiḍ lifaḍīlati ʿilmihim janāḥaka.

When you meet them, set down your baggage beside theirs and lower your wing in humility before the excellence of their knowledge.

فَأَمَّا الْعُقَلَا فَمَنْ عَقَلَ عَنِ اللّٰهِ تَعَالَى مَوَاعِظَهُ وَعَرَفَ مَا يَضُرُّهُ مِمَّا يَنْفَعُهُ فَاتَّبَعَ دَلَالَاتِ عَقْلِهِ لِمَا يَنْفَعُهُ وَاجْتَنَبَ مَا خَالَفَهُ وَكَانَ التَّذَكُّرُ شِعَارَهُ فَذٰلِكَ هُوَ الْعَامِلُ.

Fa-ʾammā al-ʿuqalā fa-man ʿaqala ʿani Allāhi taʿālā mawāʿiẓahu wa-ʿarafa mā yaḍurruhu mimmā yanfaʿuhu fa-ittabaʿa dalālāti ʿaqlihi limā yanfaʿuhu wa-ijtanaba mā khālafahu wa-kāna al-tadhakkuru shiʿārahu fa-dhālika huwa al-ʿāmilu.

As for people of reason, such a person understands the admonitions of God Most High, distinguishes what harms him from what benefits him, follows reason's guidance toward what benefits him, avoids what opposes it, and makes remembrance his inner garment. That is the person who acts.

فَإِذَا لَقِيتَهُمْ فَأَسْكِنْ إِلَيْهِمْ قَلْبَكَ وَشَاوِرْهُمْ فِي أُمُورِكَ وَاصْدُرْ عَنْ رَأْيِهِمْ.

Fa-ʾidhā laqītahum fa-ʾaskin ʾilayhim qalbaka wa-shāwirhum fī ʾumūrika wa-uṣdur ʿan raʾyihim.

When you meet them, let your heart rest with them, consult them in your affairs, and proceed according to their judgment.

وَأَمَّا ذَوُو الْمَعْرِفَةِ فَأَنْ تَرَاهُ قَرِيبًا بَعِيدًا أَصَمَّ سَمِيعًا صَمُوتًا نَطُوقًا سَهْلًا كَزًّا سَمْحًا شَحِيحًا شُجَاعًا جَبَانًا أَبْلَهَ فَطِنًا عَالِمًا جَاهِلًا مُعْتَزِمًا صَابِرًا.

Wa-ʾammā dhawū al-maʿrifati fa-ʾan tarāhu qarīban baʿīdan ʾaṣamma samīʿan ṣamūtan naṭūqan sahlan kazzan samḥan shaḥīḥan shujāʿan jabānan ʾablaha faṭinan ʿāliman jāhilan muʿtaziman ṣābiran.

As for people of understanding, you see such a person as near yet distant, deaf yet hearing, silent yet articulate, easygoing yet firm, generous yet withholding, brave yet fearful, simple yet perceptive, learned yet ignorant, resolute and patient.

ضَحُوكًا بَاكِيًا بَاسِمًا عَبُوسًا مُخْتَلِطًا مُسْتَوْحِشًا أَلُوفًا نَافِرًا حَذِرًا خَائِفًا رَاجِيًا أَحْمَقَ عَاقِلًا مُجْتَمِعًا مَوْجُودًا مَعْرُوفًا خَامِلًا مَهْمُومًا مَسْرُورًا رَاغِبًا زَاهِدًا.

Ḍaḥūkan bākiyan bāsiman ʿabūsan mukhtaliṭan mustawḥishan ʾalūfan nāfiran ḥadhiran khāʾifan rājiyan ʾaḥmaqa ʿāqilan mujtamiʿan mawjūdan maʿrūfan khāmilan mahmūman masrūran rāghiban zāhidan.

Laughing yet weeping, smiling yet frowning, sociable yet solitary, friendly yet recoiling, wary, fearful, hopeful, foolish yet wise, gathered together, present, known yet obscure, troubled yet joyful, desirous yet detached.

صَادِقًا كَاذِبًا خَائِفًا آمِنًا مُوقِنًا مُكَذِّبًا رَاضِيًا سَاخِطًا عَزِيزًا ذَلِيلًا مُتَوَاضِعًا مُتَعَظِّمًا نَائِمًا يَقْظَانَ سَلِسَ لِلْقِيَادِ صَعْبَ الْمَرَامِ حُلْوًا مُرًّا.

Ṣādiqan kādhiban khāʾifan ʾāminan mūqinan mukadhdhiban rāḍiyan sākhiṭan ʿazīzan dhalīlan mutawāḍiʿan mutaʿaẓẓiman nāʾiman yaqẓāna salisa li-al-qiyādi ṣaʿba al-marāmi ḥulwan murran.

Truthful yet lying, fearful yet secure, certain yet denying, content yet displeased, mighty yet lowly, humble yet proud, sleeping yet awake, easy to lead yet difficult to attain, sweet yet bitter.

Source pages 25–26

أُنْسُهُ الْوَحْدَةُ وَفَرَحُهُ الْحُزْنُ وَسُرُورُهُ الْهَمُّ وَضَحِكُهُ الْبُكَا وَكَلَامُهُ الصَّمْتُ وَقَوْلُهُ الْفِعْلُ وَجَوَابُهُ الِاسْتِرْجَاعُ وَمَوْعِظَتُهُ آدَابُهُ وَفِعَالُهُ.

ʾUnsuhu al-waḥdatu wa-faraḥuhu al-ḥuznu wa-surūruhu al-hammu wa-ḍaḥikuhu al-bukā wa-kalāmuhu al-ṣamtu wa-qawluhu al-fiʿlu wa-jawābuhu al-istirjāʿu wa-mawʿiẓatuhu ʾādābuhu wa-fiʿāluhu.

His companionship is solitude, his joy sorrow, his delight concern, his laughter weeping, his speech silence, his words action, his answer the declaration that we belong to God and return to Him, and his admonition his manners and deeds.

Source page 26

إِنْ رَأَيْتَهُ خِلْتَهُ مُخْتَلِطًا وَإِنْ كَلَّمْتَهُ خِلْتَهُ أَبْلَهَ وَإِنِ اخْتَبَرْتَهُ خِلْتَهُ مَلِكًا مُتَوَّجًا عَظِيمًا لَا يَخْلِطُ هَزْلًا بِجِدٍّ وَلَا يُؤْثِرُ دُنْيَاهُ عَلَى آخِرَتِهِ.

ʾIn raʾaytahu khiltahu mukhtaliṭan wa-ʾin kallamtahu khiltahu ʾablaha wa-ʾini ikhtabartahu khiltahu malikan mutawwajan ʿaẓīman lā yakhliṭu hazlan bijiddin wa-lā yuʾthiru dunyāhu ʿalā ʾākhiratihi.

If you see him, you suppose him confused; if you speak with him, you suppose him simple; if you test him, you find him like a great crowned king. He does not mingle frivolity with earnestness or prefer his worldly life to his next life.

مَشْغُولٌ عَنِ الْخَلَايِقِ بِانْشِغَالِهِ بِنَفْسِهِ فَالنَّاسُ مِنْهُ فِي رَاحَةٍ وَنَفْسُهُ مِنْهُ فِي تَعَبٍ.

Mashghūlun ʿani al-khalāyiqi bi-inshighālihi binafsihi fa-al-nāsu minhu fī rāḥatin wa-nafsuhu minhu fī taʿabin.

His occupation with his own self keeps him from attending to other creatures. People are at ease from him, while his own self is made to labor by him.”

وَقَالَ قَايِلٌ: لَا تَفْرَحْ بِكَثْرَةِ الْعَمَلِ مَعَ قِلَّةِ الْحُزْنِ فَإِنَّ قِلَّةَ حُزْنِ الْآخِرَةِ الدَّايِمِ فِي الْقَلْبِ يَنْفِي كُلَّ سُرُورِ الدُّنْيَا فِيهِ وَقَلِيلُ فَرَحٍ وَسُرُورٍ فِيهِ يُدَاوِمُهُ يَنْفِي جَمِيعَ حُزْنِ الْآخِرَةِ.

Wa-qāla qāyilun: lā tafraḥ bikathrati al-ʿamali maʿa qillati al-ḥuzni fa-ʾinna qillata ḥuzni al-ʾākhirati al-dāyimi fī al-qalbi yanfī kulla surūri al-dunyā fīhi wa-qalīlu faraḥin wa-surūrin fīhi yudāwimuhu yanfī jamīʿa ḥuzni al-ʾākhirati.

Someone said, “Do not rejoice in many deeds accompanied by little sorrow. A small amount of lasting sorrow for the next life in the heart drives out all worldly delight within it, while a little joy and delight kept constant there drives out all sorrow for the next life [the printed case construction is irregular].

وَالْفَرَحُ لَا يَصِلُ إِلَى الْقَلْبِ إِلَّا مَعَ غَفْلَتِهِ وَغَفْلَةُ الْقَلْبِ فَهِيَ مَيْتَةٌ، وَالْحُزْنُ يَسْتَنْبِطُهُ التَّيَقُّظُ مِنْ خَالِصِ عَيْنِ النَّفْسِ.

Wa-al-faraḥu lā yaṣilu ʾilā al-qalbi ʾillā maʿa ghaflatihi wa-ghaflatu al-qalbi fa-hiya maytatun, wa-al-ḥuznu yastanbiṭuhu al-tayaqquẓu min khāliṣi ʿayni al-nafsi.

Joy reaches the heart only when it is heedless, and the heart's heedlessness is a death. Wakefulness draws sorrow from the self's purest spring.

وَعَلَامَةُ ثَبَاتِ الْيَقِينِ فِي قَلْبِ الْعَبْدِ اسْتِدَامَةُ الْحُزْنِ فِيهِ وَلَا شَيْ أَبْلَغُ فِي الزُّهْدِ مِنْ ثَبَاتِ حُزْنِ الْآخِرَةِ فِي الْعَبْدِ وَعَلَامَةُ ثَبَاتِ الْحُزْنِ فِي الْقَلْبِ أُنْسُهُ بِالْوَحْدَةِ.

Wa-ʿalāmatu thabāti al-yaqīni fī qalbi al-ʿabdi istidāmatu al-ḥuzni fīhi wa-lā shay ʾablaghu fī al-zuhdi min thabāti ḥuzni al-ʾākhirati fī al-ʿabdi wa-ʿalāmatu thabāti al-ḥuzni fī al-qalbi ʾunsuhu bi-al-waḥdati.

The sign that certainty is firmly established in the servant's heart is the persistence of sorrow within it. Nothing is more effective in detachment than lasting sorrow for the next life within the servant. The sign that sorrow is firmly established in the heart is its ease in solitude.

وَالْحُزْنُ يَهِيجُ بِالتَّيَقُّظِ وَالسُّرُورُ نَتِيجَةُ الْغَفْلَةِ وَعُدِمَ أَنْ يُوجَدَ مَسْرُورًا مَحْزُونًا مِنْ أَهْلِ زَمَانِكَ وَقَدْ كَانَ يُمْكِنُ ذٰلِكَ فِي الصَّادِقِينَ.

Wa-al-ḥuznu yahīju bi-al-tayaqquẓi wa-al-surūru natījatu al-ghaflati wa-ʿudima ʾan yūjada masrūran maḥzūnan min ʾahli zamānika wa-qad kāna yumkinu dhālika fī al-ṣādiqīna.

Sorrow is stirred by wakefulness, while delight results from heedlessness. Among the people of your age, one cannot find someone both joyful and sorrowful, though that was possible among the truthful.

وَقَدْ يُمْكِنُ الْعَبْدَ أَنْ يَكُونَ مَحْزُونًا مُلْتَمِسًا يَتَحَزَّنُ حَلَالَ الدُّنْيَا، وَجِمَاعُ الطَّاعَاتِ يُوجَدُ بِالتَّكَلُّفِ وَالْحُزْنُ لَا يُوجَدُ بِالتَّكَلُّفِ إِلَى أَنْ يَصِلَ إِلَى الْقَلْبِ السَّبَبُ مِنْهُ وَيُوجَدَ.

Wa-qad yumkinu al-ʿabda ʾan yakūna maḥzūnan multamisan yataḥazzanu ḥalāla al-dunyā, wa-jimāʿu al-ṭāʿāti yūjadu bi-al-takallufi wa-al-ḥuznu lā yūjadu bi-al-takallufi ʾilā ʾan yaṣila ʾilā al-qalbi al-sababu minhu wa-yūjada.

It may be possible for a servant to be sorrowful and seeking, ‘saddening himself over the lawful things of this world’ [the printed phrase is unclear]. Acts of obedience as a whole can be achieved by effort, but sorrow cannot be achieved by forcing it, until its cause reaches the heart and it comes into being.

فَإِنْ قِيلَ: وَلِمَ قَدَّمْتَ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ النَّفْسِ شَيْئًا مِنَ الطَّاعَاتِ وَالْيَقِينُ مَعْدِنٌ بِهِ يُسْتَنْبَطُ جِمَاعُ الطَّاعَاتِ وَمِنْهُ يَتَفَرَّعُ الْبِرُّ؟ قَالَ: لِأَنَّ الْيَقِينَ لَا يَثْبُتُ فِي الْقَلْبِ إِلَّا بِسَبَبِهِ وَلِأَنَّ اللّٰهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَمْ يَخْلُقْ شَيْئًا يُدْرَكُ بِغَيْرِ سَبَبٍ.

Fa-ʾin qīla: wa-lima qaddamta bayna yadayi al-nafsi shayʾan mina al-ṭāʿāti wa-al-yaqīnu maʿdinun bihi yustanbaṭu jimāʿu al-ṭāʿāti wa-minhu yatafarraʿu al-birru? qāla: li-ʾanna al-yaqīna lā yathbutu fī al-qalbi ʾillā bisababihi wa-li-ʾanna Allāha ʿazza wa-jalla lam yakhluq shayʾan yudraku bighayri sababin.

If it is asked, ‘Why have you placed some acts of obedience before the self, when certainty is the source from which all obedience is drawn and righteousness branches out?’ he replies, ‘Because certainty becomes established in the heart only through its cause, and because God, mighty and majestic, created nothing that can be attained without a cause.

فَعَلِمْنَا أَنَّ الْيَقِينَ لَا يَثْبُتُ فِي الْقَلْبِ إِلَّا بِسَبَبِهِ لِأَنَّا وَجَدْنَا الْأَشْيَا بَعْضَهَا مَصَالِحُ وَبَعْضَهَا مُفْسِدٌ وَالْقَلْبُ لَا يَخْلُو مِنَ التَّيَقُّظِ وَالْغَفْلَةِ.

Fa-ʿalimnā ʾanna al-yaqīna lā yathbutu fī al-qalbi ʾillā bisababihi li-ʾannā wajadnā al-ʾashyā baʿḍahā maṣāliḥu wa-baʿḍahā mufsidun wa-al-qalbu lā yakhlū mina al-tayaqquẓi wa-al-ghaflati.

We therefore know that certainty becomes established in the heart only through its cause. We have found that some things bring benefit and others corruption, and that the heart is never without either wakefulness or heedlessness.

وَالْغَفْلَةُ أَسْبَقُهَا فِي الْقَلْبِ وَالتَّيَقُّظُ أَعَزُّ مِنَ الْغَفْلَةِ إِذْ كَانَتِ الْغَفْلَةُ مُتَعَرِّضَةً سَابِقَةً إِلَى الْقُلُوبِ وَالتَّيَقُّظُ مَفْقُودٌ مَطْلُوبٌ غَيْرُ مَوْجُودٍ.

Wa-al-ghaflatu ʾasbaquhā fī al-qalbi wa-al-tayaqquẓu ʾaʿazzu mina al-ghaflati ʾidh kānati al-ghaflatu mutaʿarriḍatan sābiqatan ʾilā al-qulūbi wa-al-tayaqquẓu mafqūdun maṭlūbun ghayru mawjūdin.

Heedlessness comes first in the heart, and wakefulness is rarer than heedlessness, because heedlessness presents itself and reaches hearts first, while wakefulness is lacking, sought but not found.

ثُمَّ اسْتَثْنَا أَمْرَ الْآخِرَةِ بِمَا يَثْبُتُ فِي الْقَلْبِ فَإِذَا هِيَ لَا تُوجَدُ إِلَّا بِالْيَقِينِ بِهَا، ثُمَّ نَظَرْنَا هَلْ لِلْيَقِينِ مِنْ ضِدٍّ يَرْفَعُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ الشَّكُّ فِيهَا.

Thumma istathnā ʾamra al-ʾākhirati bimā yathbutu fī al-qalbi fa-ʾidhā hiya lā tūjadu ʾillā bi-al-yaqīni bihā, thumma naẓarnā hal li-al-yaqīni min ḍiddin yarfaʿuhu fa-ʾidhā huwa al-shakku fīhā.

Then ‘he excepted’ the matter of the next life through what becomes established in the heart [the printed verb is uncertain]. It is found there only through certainty in it. We then considered whether certainty has an opposite that removes it, and found that it is doubt about the next life.

وَالشَّكُّ أَسْبَقُهَا إِلَى الْقُلُوبِ وَأَوْجَدُ لِأَنَّ الْيَقِينَ أَعَزُّ مَطْلَبًا وَأَقَلُّ وُجُودًا، فَاسْتَخْرَجْنَا جِمَاعَ أُمُورِ الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْيَقِينِ بِهَا وَمَا فِيهَا.

Wa-al-shakku ʾasbaquhā ʾilā al-qulūbi wa-ʾawjadu li-ʾanna al-yaqīna ʾaʿazzu maṭlaban wa-ʾaqallu wujūdan, fa-istakhrajnā jimāʿa ʾumūri al-ʾākhirati mina al-yaqīni bihā wa-mā fīhā.

Doubt reaches hearts earlier and is more readily found, because certainty is harder to seek and less often present. We thus derived all matters of the next life from certainty in it and in all it contains.

ثُمَّ اضْطَرَّتْنَا الْمَعْرِفَةُ إِلَى مَعْرِفَةِ السَّبَبِ الَّذِي بِهِ يُوجَدُ الْيَقِينُ إِذْ كَانَتِ الْأَشْيَاءُ لَا تُدْرَكُ إِلَّا بِأَسْبَابِهَا.

Thumma iḍṭarratnā al-maʿrifatu ʾilā maʿrifati al-sababi alladhī bihi yūjadu al-yaqīnu ʾidh kānati al-ʾashyāʾu lā tudraku ʾillā bi-ʾasbābihā.

Understanding then compelled us to identify the cause through which certainty is found, since things are attained only through their causes.

فَأَسْبَقُ الْأَشْيَا إِلَى الْقُلُوبِ الْغَفْلَةُ فَالْتَمَسْنَا بِالْغَفْلَةِ وُجُودَ الْيَقِينِ فَاسْتَحَالَ وَدَلَّنَا عَلَى الشَّكِّ فِي الْآخِرَةِ، فَأَوْقَعْنَا ضِدَّهُ وَهُوَ التَّيَقُّظُ عَلَى الْيَقِينِ فَاسْتَنْبَطَهُ وَأَظْهَرَهُ وَأَثْبَتَهُ وَأَلْحَقْنَا الْيَقِينَ بِهِ وَعَلِمْنَا أَنَّهُ سَبَبُهُ.

Fa-ʾasbaqu al-ʾashyā ʾilā al-qulūbi al-ghaflatu fa-iltamasnā bi-al-ghaflati wujūda al-yaqīni fa-istaḥāla wa-dallanā ʿalā al-shakki fī al-ʾākhirati, fa-ʾawqaʿnā ḍiddahu wa-huwa al-tayaqquẓu ʿalā al-yaqīni fa-istanbaṭahu wa-ʾaẓharahu wa-ʾathbatahu wa-ʾalḥaqnā al-yaqīna bihi wa-ʿalimnā ʾannahu sababuhu.

Heedlessness is what reaches hearts first. We sought certainty through heedlessness, but that proved impossible and instead pointed us toward doubt about the next life. We then applied its opposite, wakefulness, to certainty: it drew certainty forth, revealed it, and established it. We joined certainty to wakefulness and knew that wakefulness was its cause.

فَأَلَّفْنَا بَيْنَهُمَا فَاقْتَرَنَا وَامْتَزَجَا وَاتَّفَقَا، وَبَقِيَ ضِدُّ التَّيَقُّظِ وَهُوَ الْغَفْلَةُ وَضِدُّ الْيَقِينِ وَهُوَ الشَّكُّ فَأَلَّفْنَا بَيْنَهُمَا فَاقْتَرَنَا وَامْتَزَجَا.

Fa-ʾallafnā baynahumā fa-iqtaranā wa-imtazajā wa-ittafaqā, wa-baqiya ḍiddu al-tayaqquẓi wa-huwa al-ghaflatu wa-ḍiddu al-yaqīni wa-huwa al-shakku fa-ʾallafnā baynahumā fa-iqtaranā wa-imtazajā.

We brought them together, and they joined, blended, and agreed. There remained the opposite of wakefulness, heedlessness, and the opposite of certainty, doubt. We brought these together, and they too joined and blended.

Source pages 26–27

فَصَحَّ عِنْدَنَا أَنَّ مَخْرَجَ الشَّكِّ مِنَ الْغَفْلَةِ وَأَنَّ جِمَاعَ الشَّرِّ دَاخِلٌ فِيهِ وَثَبَتَ، فَبِالْغَفْلَةِ عُبِدَ الشَّيْطَانُ وَبِالتَّيَقُّظِ عُبِدَ الرَّحْمٰنُ.

Fa-ṣaḥḥa ʿindanā ʾanna makhraja al-shakki mina al-ghaflati wa-ʾanna jimāʿa al-sharri dākhilun fīhi wa-thabata, fa-bi-al-ghaflati ʿubida al-shayṭānu wa-bi-al-tayaqquẓi ʿubida al-raḥmānu.

We became firmly convinced that doubt springs from heedlessness and that all evil enters into it and becomes established. Through heedlessness Satan is worshiped; through wakefulness the All-Merciful is worshiped.’”

Source page 27

فَصْلٌ

Faṣlun

Section

أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَإِنَّ تَقْوَى اللّٰهِ مِنْ خَيْرِ مَا تَحَاضَّ عَلَيْهِ الْأَبْرَارُ وَتَوَاصَلَ بِهِ الْأَخْيَارُ، فَخُذْ بِنَصِيبِكَ مِنَ التَّقْوَى فَإِنَّهُ مِنْ أَحْسَنِ الْحُسْنَى وَخَيْرُ الْإِخْوَانِ مَنْ كَانَ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْأَعْوَانِ.

ʾAmmā baʿdu fa-ʾinna taqwā Allāhi min khayri mā taḥāḍḍa ʿalayhi al-ʾabrāru wa-tawāṣala bihi al-ʾakhyāru, fa-khudh binaṣībika mina al-taqwā fa-ʾinnahu min ʾaḥsani al-ḥusnā wa-khayru al-ʾikhwāni man kāna ʿalayhi mina al-ʾaʿwāni.

To proceed: reverence for God is among the best things in which the righteous encourage one another and through which good people maintain their bonds. Take your share of reverence, for it belongs to the finest good. The best brothers are those who help one another in it.

أُولَيْكَ الَّذِينَ بِالْحَقِّ يَأْمُرُونَ وَعَلَيْهِ يَتَعَاوَنُونَ قَصَدُوا إِلَى اللّٰهِ بِقُلُوبِهِمْ وَوَجَّهُوا إِلَيْهِ أَعْمَالَهُمْ وَنَصَحُوا لِعِبَادِ اللّٰهِ فِي دِينِهِمْ.

ʾŪlayka alladhīna bi-al-ḥaqqi yaʾmurūna wa-ʿalayhi yataʿāwanūna qaṣadū ʾilā Allāhi biqulūbihim wa-wajjahū ʾilayhi ʾaʿmālahum wa-naṣaḥū liʿibādi Allāhi fī dīnihim.

These are the ones who command truth and help one another uphold it. They direct their hearts toward God, turn their deeds toward Him, and sincerely counsel God's servants in their religion.

فَلَمْ تُلْهِهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللّٰهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَا الزَّكَاةِ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَنْقَلِبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُ.

Fa-lam tulhihim tijāratun wa-lā bayʿun ʿan dhikri Allāhi wa-ʾiqāmi al-ṣalāti wa-ʾītā al-zakāti yakhāfūna yawman tanqalibu fīhi al-qulūbu wa-al-ʾabṣāru.

Neither trade nor sale distracts them from remembering God, establishing prayer, and giving the purifying alms. They fear a day when hearts and eyes will be overturned [this Qurʾānic allusion is retained in the wording of the edition].

فَأَحْيَا اللّٰهُ بِالتَّقْوَى قُلُوبَهُمْ وَنَوَّرَ بِالْهُدَى أَبْصَارَهُمْ، نَظَرُوا إِلَى الدُّنْيَا فَأَبْصَرُوهَا وَتَبَيَّنُوهَا فَعَرَفُوهَا فَإِذَا هِيَ وَمَا فِيهَا عَوَارِي تَجْرِي بِهَا الْمَجَارِي إِلَى حَالَاتٍ مُخْتَلِفَاتٍ وَطَبَقَاتٍ مُبْتَدَلَاتٍ.

Fa-ʾaḥyā Allāhu bi-al-taqwā qulūbahum wa-nawwara bi-al-hudā ʾabṣārahum, naẓarū ʾilā al-dunyā fa-ʾabṣarūhā wa-tabayyanūhā fa-ʿarafūhā fa-ʾidhā hiya wa-mā fīhā ʿawārī tajrī bihā al-majārī ʾilā ḥālātin mukhtalifātin wa-ṭabaqātin mubtadalātin.

God revives their hearts through reverence and illumines their sight through guidance. They look at the world, see it clearly, discern it, and recognize it: it and everything within it are things on loan, swept along by changing currents into different states and altered conditions.

فَلَمْ يُقِيمُوا مِنْهَا عَلَى بَاطِلِهَا وَلَا أَمْسَكُوا مِنْهَا بِزَايِلِهَا وَلَا اغْتَرُّوا بِالْغُرُورِ وَلَا رَكَنُوا فِيهَا إِلَى السُّرُورِ وَمَا اعْتَدَّ مِنْهَا بِالْفَانِي وَلَا عَدَلُوا إِلَّا إِلَى الْبَاقِي.

Fa-lam yuqīmū minhā ʿalā bāṭilihā wa-lā ʾamsakū minhā bizāyilihā wa-lā ightarrū bi-al-ghurūri wa-lā rakanū fīhā ʾilā al-surūri wa-mā iʿtadda minhā bi-al-fānī wa-lā ʿadalū ʾillā ʾilā al-bāqī.

They do not remain with its falsehood, cling to what passes away in it, fall for deception, or settle into delight within it. No account is taken of its perishing things, and they turn only toward what endures [the printed verb shifts to the singular].

فَتَرَكُوهَا قَبْلَ أَنْ تَتْرُكَهُمْ وَرَفَضُوهَا قَبْلَ أَنْ تَرْفُضَهُمْ وَسَمِعُوا صَوْتَ الْمُنَادِي يَقُولُ: «سَارِعُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ».

Fa-tarakūhā qabla ʾan tatrukahum wa-rafaḍūhā qabla ʾan tarfuḍahum wa-samiʿū ṣawta al-munādī yaqūlu: «sāriʿū ʾilā maghfiratin min rabbikum wa-jannatin ʿarḍuhā al-samāwātu wa-al-ʾarḍu ʾuʿiddat li-al-muttaqīna».

They leave it before it leaves them and reject it before it rejects them. They hear the caller saying, “Hasten toward forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the reverent” [the quotation omits the conjunction found at the beginning of the standard verse].

فَمَا عَاجُوا وَلَا انْتَظَرُوا وَاسْتَبْطَؤُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ فَشَمَّرُوا، قَصَدُوا إِلَى اللّٰهِ إِيمَانًا وَوَفَاءً بِعَهْدِهِ وَإِيقَانًا.

Fa-mā ʿājū wa-lā intaẓarū wa-istabṭaʾū ʾanfusahum fa-shammarū, qaṣadū ʾilā Allāhi ʾīmānan wa-wafāʾan biʿahdihi wa-ʾīqānan.

They do not turn aside or wait. They deem themselves too slow and prepare for earnest effort, directing themselves toward God in faith, fulfillment of His covenant, and certainty.

كَمَا قَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: «رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللّٰهَ عَلَيْهِ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَضَا نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلًا».

Kamā qāla ʿazza wa-jalla: «rijālun ṣadaqū mā ʿāhadū Allāha ʿalayhi fa-minhum man qaḍā naḥbahu wa-minhum man yantaẓiru wa-mā baddalū tabdīlan».

As He, mighty and majestic, said, “Men who were true to their covenant with God: some have fulfilled their vow, and some still wait, and they have made no change.”

احْتَمَلُوا فِي الدُّنْيَا الْمَصَايِبَ لِمَا يَرْجُونَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الرَّغَايِبِ وَاسْتُخِفَّتْ عِنْدَهُمُ الْحَالَاتُ إِذْ كُنَّ كَدَايِنَ زَايِلَاتٍ فَلَمْ يَجِدُوا أَلَمَ الْبَلَاءِ وَلَمْ يُحِسُّوا بِمَضِيضِ الْأَذَى.

Iḥtamalū fī al-dunyā al-maṣāyiba limā yarjūna fī al-ʾākhirati mina al-raghāyibi wa-ustukhiffat ʿindahumu al-ḥālātu ʾidh kunna kadāyina zāyilātin fa-lam yajidū ʾalama al-balāʾi wa-lam yuḥissū bimaḍīḍi al-ʾadhā.

They bear misfortunes in this world for the desirable things they hope for in the next. Their circumstances seem light to them, since they are ‘kadāyin,’ passing away [the printed word is unclear]. They do not feel the pain of trial or the sting of harm.

وَاسْتَصْغَرُوا عِنْدَ تَحْقِيقِ الْمَعْرِفَةِ بِاللّٰهِ كُلَّ مَا نَالَهُمْ فِي اللّٰهِ تَعَالَى طَيِّبَةً بِذٰلِكَ نُفُوسُهُمْ جِدِّيَّةً عَلَيْهِ قُلُوبُهُمْ صَحِيحَةً لِلّٰهِ نِيَّاتُهُمْ سَلِيمَةً لِأَوْلِيَا اللّٰهِ تَعَالَى صُدُورُهُمْ مُصَدِّقِينَ بِقَوْلِ اللّٰهِ.

Wa-istaṣgharū ʿinda taḥqīqi al-maʿrifati bi-Allāhi kulla mā nālahum fī Allāhi taʿālā ṭayyibatan bi-dhālika nufūsuhum jiddiyyatan ʿalayhi qulūbuhum ṣaḥīḥatan li-llāhi niyyātuhum salīmatan li-ʾawliyā Allāhi taʿālā ṣudūruhum muṣaddiqīna biqawli Allāhi.

With realized knowledge of God, they regard as small everything that befalls them for God Most High. Their souls are content with it, their hearts earnest in it, their intentions sound toward God, and their breasts free of ill will toward the friends of God Most High. They believe God's word.

قَدْ طَمَحَتْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ أَعْيُنُهُمْ وَعَزَفَتْ عَنِ الدُّنْيَا أَنْفُسُهُمْ فَمَا نَظَرُوا إِلَيْهَا نَظْرَةَ وَاغِبٍ وَلَا تَزَوَّدُوا مِنْهَا إِلَّا كَزَادِ الرَّاكِبِ.

Qad ṭamaḥat fī al-ʾākhirati ʾaʿyunuhum wa-ʿazafat ʿani al-dunyā ʾanfusuhum fa-mā naẓarū ʾilayhā naẓrata wāghibin wa-lā tazawwadū minhā ʾillā kazādi al-rākibi.

Their eyes reach toward the next life, and their selves turn away from the world. They do not look at it with the gaze of a ‘wāghib’ [an uncertain printed word], and they take from it only a rider's provisions.

خَافُوا الْهَلَاكَ فَأَسْرَعُوا وَرَجَوُا النَّجَاةَ فَأَزْمَعُوا سَيْرًا إِلَى اللّٰهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ غَيْرَ مُقَصِّرِينَ وَلَا عَنِ الْعَمَلِ لَهُ بِغَافِلِينَ.

Khāfū al-halāka fa-ʾasraʿū wa-rajawu al-najāta fa-ʾazmaʿū sayran ʾilā Allāhi ʿazza wa-jalla ghayra muqaṣṣirīna wa-lā ʿani al-ʿamali lahu bighāfilīna.

They fear destruction and hasten; they hope for deliverance and resolve to journey toward God, mighty and majestic, without falling short or neglecting to act for Him.

بَذَلُوا مُهَجَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ فِي الْتِمَاسِ الرِّضَا مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَمَا رَأَوْا أَنَّهُمْ بَلَغُوا عَنْ عَمَلِهِمْ لِعَظَمَةِ خَالِقِهِمْ مِعْشَارَ مَا اسْتَوْجَبَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ عِبَادَتِهِمْ وَلَا مَا اسْتَحَقَّ فِي نِعْمَتِهِ عَلَيْهِمْ.

Badhalū muhaja ʾanfusihim fī iltimāsi al-riḍā min rabbihim wa-mā raʾaw ʾannahum balaghū ʿan ʿamalihim liʿaẓamati khāliqihim miʿshāra mā istawjaba ʿalayhim min ʿibādatihim wa-lā mā istaḥaqqa fī niʿmatihi ʿalayhim.

They give their very lifeblood in seeking their Lord's pleasure. Yet they do not think their deeds have reached even a tenth of the worship their Creator's greatness makes due from them, or of what His blessings upon them deserve.

وَرَأَوْا أَنَّ ذٰلِكَ مِنْ عَطِيَّتِهِ إِيَّاهُمْ وَمِنَّتِهِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكَانَ عِنْدَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَوْلَى بِإِحْسَانِهِمْ مِنْهُمْ وَكَذٰلِكَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ هُوَ أَوْلَى بِحِسَابِ عِبَادِهِ فَطُوبَى لَهُمْ وَحُسْنُ مَآبٍ.

Wa-raʾaw ʾanna dhālika min ʿaṭiyyatihi ʾiyyāhum wa-minnatihi ʿalayhim wa-kāna ʿinda ʾanfusihim ʾawlā bi-ʾiḥsānihim minhum wa-ka-dhālika ʿazza wa-jalla huwa ʾawlā biḥisābi ʿibādihi fa-ṭūbā lahum wa-ḥusnu maʾābin.

They see that even this is His gift and favor to them. In their own estimation, He has a greater claim to their good conduct than they do. Likewise, He, mighty and majestic, has the greatest claim to reckon with His servants. Blessed are they, and beautiful is their return.

صَحِبُوا الدُّنْيَا بِالِاسْتِجَابِ وَتَنَعَّمُوا فِيهَا بِطُولِ الْأَحْزَانِ نَصَبُوا الْآخِرَةَ بَيْنَ أَعْيُنِهِمْ وَجَعَلُوا كِتَابَ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَيْهَا صِرَاطَهُمْ.

Ṣaḥibū al-dunyā bi-al-istijābi wa-tanaʿʿamū fīhā biṭūli al-ʾaḥzāni naṣabū al-ʾākhirata bayna ʾaʿyunihim wa-jaʿalū kitāba rabbihim ʾilayhā ṣirāṭahum.

They accompany the world with ‘response’ [the printed noun is unusual] and find delight in it through long sorrows. They set the next life before their eyes and make their Lord's Book their path toward it.

Source page 28

فَثَبَّتُوا عَلَيْهِ أَقْدَامَهُمْ وَأَصْغَوْا إِلَيْهِ آذَانَهُمْ وَاسْتَوْعَوْهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ وَتَيَقَّظُوا بِهِ فِي نَوْمِهِمْ فَاسْتَنَارَتْ لَهُ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَأَنَارَتْ بِهِ أَبْصَارُهُمْ وَحَسُنَ عِنْدَ تِلَاوَتِهِ أَتَاهُمْ فَكَانَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ دَاعِيًا وَأُولَيْكَ الَّذِينَ هَدَاهُمُ اللّٰهُ وَأُولَيْكَ هُمْ أُولُوا الْأَلْبَابِ.

Fa-thabbatū ʿalayhi ʾaqdāmahum wa-ʾaṣghaw ʾilayhi ʾādhānahum wa-istawʿawhu qulūbahum wa-tayaqqaẓū bihi fī nawmihim fa-istanārat lahu qulūbuhum wa-ʾanārat bihi ʾabṣāruhum wa-ḥasuna ʿinda tilāwatihi ʾatāhum fa-kāna ʾilā al-khayri dāʿiyan wa-ʾūlayka alladhīna hadāhumu Allāhu wa-ʾūlayka hum ʾūlū al-ʾalbābi.

They plant their feet firmly upon it, incline their ears toward it, receive it into their hearts, and awaken through it in their sleep. Their hearts are illumined by it and their sight shines through it. ‘He came to them’ becomes beautiful at its recitation [the printed expression is unclear], and it calls them toward good. These are the ones God has guided, and these are the people of understanding.