O young man! You have been
wasting your life on the study of books and memorizing the knowledge in them
without putting it into practice. What good will it do you? As the Prophet
(ALLAH bless him and give him peace) has said:
ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) will say to the Prophets and the scholars on
the Day of Resurrection: "You were the shepherds of the people, so how did you
care for your flocks?" And He will say to the kings and the rich folk: "You were
the custodians of my treasures. Did you reach out to the poor? Did you educate
the orphans? Did you refund My due, which I prescribed to you?"
O my people! Take warning from the admonitions of the Messenger (ALLAH bless him
and give him peace) and accept what he tells you. Your hearts are so hard! Glory
be to the One who has made me capable of putting up with creatures! Whenever I
yearn to fly away, along come the scissors of destiny to clip my wings, and yet
I find consolation, of course, in the fact that I am residing in the parklands [barah]
of the King.
Woe unto you, O hypocrite, you wish I would leave this town. If I did move on,
the situation would be altered, the members would split up, and it would be a
different story. But I fear the punishment of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is
He) on account of the undue haste. I do not chart my own course; no, I cannot
match the skill of destiny, so I comply with His wishes and submit to Him. O
ALLAH, [grant] peace and salvation [salaman wa-tasliman]!"
Woe unto you! You scoff at me while I am standing by the door of the Lord of
Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He). Summon the people to Him; you will see your
response. I build one cubit upward and thousands downward. O hypocrites, you
will see the torment of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) and His punishment
in this world and the hereafter. The time is pregnant [hubla]; you will see what
comes of it. I am subject to the transformative power [taqlib] of the Lord of
Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He). Now He makes me become a mountain, then He
turns me into a speck of dust. Now He makes me become an ocean, then He turns me
into a drop of water. Now He makes me become a sun, then He turns me into a
spark and a flash of lightning. He switches me around, as He switches night and
day.
Every day He is about some awesome business. (55:29)
At every moment, indeed. You have all day, while others have this moment.
O young man! If you wish to breathe easy and feel good at heart [in aradta
sa'ata's-sadri wa-tiba'l-qalb: lit., if you wish for expansiveness of the breast
and goodness of the heart], do not listen to what people say, and pay no
attention to their talk. Surely you know that many of them are neither
intelligent nor perceptive, and that they have no faith [la yu'minun], but
actually disbelieve and do not accept the truth? Follow the group [qawm] who
understand none but the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), who listen
to none but Him, and who see none but Him. Suffer with patience the harm done by
people, as you seek the good pleasure [rida] of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and
Glorious is He). Patiently endure the various trials by which He puts you to the
test.
This is the normal practice [da'b] of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) in
dealing with His humble chosen servants [ma'a 'ibadihi'l-mustafaina'l-mukhbitin].
He cuts them off from everything, and tests them with various misfortunes,
disasters and ordeals. He makes things cramped for them in this world and the
hereafter, and everywhere from the heavenly throne [al-'arsh] to the earth
below. Thus He annihilates their existence. Then, when He has annihilated their
present existence, He brings them into being for Him and for no other. He makes
them reside with Him and not with any other. He produces them as another
creation. In His own words (Almighty and Glorious is He):
Then We produced it as another creation. So blessed be ALLAH, the Best of
Creators! (23:14)
The first creation was generic [mushtarak], but this creation is uniquely
individual [mufrad]. He makes him distinct from his brethren and all other
members of the human race. He changes his former character [ma'na] and replaces
it. He makes what was his high point become his low point. He makes him a holy [rabbani:
lit., belonging entirely to the Lord], spiritual [ruhani] being, whose heart has
no room for contemplating creation, and the door of whose innermost being [sirr]
is barred to creatures. He makes this world and the hereafter, the Garden [of
Paradise] and the Fire [of Hell], and all created things and entities, appear to
him as one single thing. Then He hands this thing over to his innermost being,
and he swallows it whole, although there is no sign of his having done so.
Thus He manifests His power, as He manifested it in the staff of Moses (peace be
upon him). Glory be to the One who manifests His power in whatever He wishes to
whomever He wishes! The staff of Moses swallowed many bulky objects, such as
ropes and other things, without any change in its shape and size. The Lord of
Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) wished to teach them that this was divine
power [qudra] at work, not philosophical wisdom [hikma], because what the
magicians [sahara] did on that day was philosophy and mechanical engineering [handasa],
whereas what was manifested in the staff of Moses (peace be upon him) was power
from the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), a preter-natural
phenomenon [kharq 'ada] and a miracle [mu'jiza]. This is why the leader of the
magicians said to one of his companions: "Take a look at Moses. What condition
is he in?" and the man replied: "His complexion seems to have altered, and the
staff is doing its work." Then he said: "This is through the action of ALLAH
(Almighty and Glorious is He), not of his own doing, because a magician is not
afraid of his own magic [sihr] and the craftsman does not fear his own work."
Then he believed in Him, and his companions followed his lead.
O young man! When will you move up from wisdom to power? When will your putting
wisdom into practice lead you to the power of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is
He)? When will your sincerity [ikhlas] in your actions lead you to the door of
nearness to your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He)? When will the sun of direct
knowledge [ma'rifa] let you see the faces of the hearts of the common folk [al-'awamm]
and the elite [al-khawass]?
Do not flee from the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) on account of
His trials. He is only testing you to find out whether or not you will go back
to material concerns [as-sabab] and leave His door. Will you revert to the outer
or to the inner? To the perceptible or to the imperceptible? To the visible or
to the invisible?
O ALLAH, do not put us to the test! O ALLAH, bless us with nearness to You
without a trial! O ALLAH, [grant us] nearness and kindness! O ALLAH, [grant]
nearness with no remoteness! We lack the strength to bear remoteness from You,
and to suffer tribulation, so bless us with nearness to You, as well as not
having to go through the fire of misfortunes. But if there is to be no escape
from the fire of misfortunes, let us experience it like the salamander, which is
born and bred in the fire, and is neither harmed nor burned by it. Let it be for
us like the fire of Abraham, Your special friend [khalil]. Cause herbs to grow
all around us, as You caused them to grow around him. Enable us to need nothing
at all, as You enabled him. Befriend us and take care of us, as You took care of
him, and protect us as You protected him. Amin.
Abraham (peace be upon him) found the companion [rafiq] before the road [Tariq],
the neighbor [jar] before the house [dar], the close friend [anis] before the
loneliness, the healthy diet [himya] before the sickness, patience before the
affliction, and cheerful acceptance before the verdict. Learn from your father
Abraham (peace be upon him). Take him as your model in his words and his deeds.
Glory be to the One who treated him kindly in the sea of his misfortune; the One
who set him the task of swimming in the sea of affliction and helped him through
it; the One who set him the task of charging against the enemy, while He was by
the horse's head; the One who set him the task of climbing to a lofty spot,
while His hand was at his back; the One who set him the task of inviting the
people to his meal, while He took care of the expense! This is the inner, hidden
kindness.
O young man! Be with ALLAH in silence at the advent of His decree and His
action, so that you may experience many kindnesses from Him. Have you not heard
of young Galen the philosopher [Jalinus al-hakim], and how he pretended to be
dumb and stupid and speechless, until he became the store of all knowledge? The
wisdom of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) will not come toward your heart
because of your frequent raving, your quarreling and finding fault with Him.
O ALLAH, bless us with harmony and the abandonment of discord, and:
Give us in this world good, and good in the hereafter, and guard us against the
torment of the fire! (2:201)
Eleventh Discourse
It was in the schoolhouse, in the early morning of Friday, the 29th of Shawwal,
A.H. 545, that the Shaikh (may ALLAH be well pleased with him) said:
O my people! Be aware of ALLAH and do not be ignorant of Him. Obey ALLAH and do
not rebel against Him. Comply with His wishes and do not oppose Him. Accept His
decision gladly and do not quarrel with Him. Recognize the Lord of Truth
(Almighty and Glorious is He) by His handiwork. He is the Creator [al-Khaliq],
the Sustainer [ar-Razzaq], the First [al-Awwal], the Last [al-Akhir], and the
Outer [az-Zahir] and the Inner [al-Batin]. He is the First from All Eternity
[al-Qadim al-Awwal], the Endlessly Everlasting [ad-Da'im al-Abadi], the Doer
[al-Fa''al] of whatever He will.
He shall not be questioned as to what He does, but they shall be questioned.
(21:23)He is the Enricher [al-Mughni]. He is the Impoverisher [al-Mufqir]. He is
the Benefactor [an-Nafi'], the Giver of Life [al-Muhyi], the Giver of Death [al-Mumit],
the Punisher [al-Mu'aqib], the Feared [al-Makhuf] and the Hoped [al-Marjuw].
Fear Him and fear none other than Him. Look to Him in hope, and have no hope of
any but Him. Move in the orbit of His power and His wisdom, until the power and
the wisdom prevail. Make it your practice to stay with the black-on-white [i.e.,
the letter of the sacred law] until something arises to prevent you from doing
so, then you will be preserved from infringing the sacred law [shar'].
We are speaking here in terms of spiritual significance [ma'na], not of outer
form [sura]. Only a few righteous individuals [ahad as-salihin] get to this
point. There is nothing we need that goes outside the sphere of the sacred law.
This subject is familiar only to those who have experience of it, so it is not
something you can recognize from the bare description. In all your affairs you
should be in the presence of the Messenger (ALLAH bless him and give him peace),
ready with girded loins to obey his commands and prohibitions and to follow him,
until the King summons you to Himself. Then take your leave of the Messenger
(ALLAH bless him and give him peace) and enter His presence.
The Abd’al [spiritual deputies] are so called only because they exert no
willpower [la yuriduna irada] beside the Will of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is
He), and exercise no preference [la yakhtaruna ikhtiyaran] beside His preference
They apply the external regulations and perform the proper external deeds. Then
they attend to the special tasks assigned to them individually. As they progress
to higher degrees [darajat] and stages [manazil], they come under more and more
commands and prohibitions, until they reach a stage [manzil] at which there is
neither command nor prohibition, but where the orders of the sacred law are
carried out spontaneously on their behalf and are credited to them, while they
are personally in a state of detachment [ma'zil]. Their normal condition is that
of absence [ghaiba] with the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), and
they are present only when the moment comes for a commandment or prohibition to
be observed. Thus they are careful not to violate any of the rules of the sacred
law, because nonobservance of obligatory acts of worship ['ibadat mafrudat]
constitutes heresy [zandaqa], while the perpetration of things forbidden [mahzurat]
is a sin of disobedience [ma'siya]. The obligatory religious duties [fara'id]
never cease to be incumbent upon anyone under any circumstances.
O young man! Act in conformity with His ordinance [hukm] and His knowledge, and
do not go beyond what is prudent. Do not forget the covenant ['ahd]. Struggle
with your lower self, your passions, your devils, your natural impulses and your
[attachment to] this world. Never despair of the helpful support [nusra] of
ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He), because it will come to you with your
steady perseverance. ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) has said:
Surely ALLAH is with those who are patient. (2:153)
The party [hizb] of ALLAH, surely they will be the victors. (5:56)
As for those who strive in Our cause, surely We shall guide them to Our paths.
(29:69)
Restrain the tongue of your lower self from its tendency to complain to fellow
creatures. Be an adversary for the sake of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He)
against it and against all creatures. You must command them to obey Him and
forbid them to sin against Him. You should prevent them from going astray,
introducing heretical innovations [ibtida'], following the passions and
indulging the lower self. You should instruct them to follow the Book of ALLAH
(Almighty and Glorious is He) and the Sunnah of ALLAH's Messenger (ALLAH bless
him and give him peace).
O my people! Respect the Book of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) and take it
as the guide to your behavior. It is the link between you and ALLAH (Almighty
and Glorious is He). Do not consider it to be a thing created [makhluq]. ALLAH
(Almighty and Glorious is He) says: "This is My speech [kalam]," and you are
saying "No!" Anyone who contradicts ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He), and
maintains that the Qur'an is a created object, is guilty of unbelief [kufr] in
ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He), and this Qur'an is quit of him. This Qur'an
which is recited, which is read, which is heard, which is seen, which is written
down in copied texts [masahif], this is His speech (Almighty and Glorious is
He). Imam ash-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad [ibn Hanbal] (may ALLAH be well pleased
with them both) maintain that the pen [al-qalam] is created, but what is written
with it is uncreated, and that the heart [qalb] is created, but what is learned
by heart is uncreated [Ghair makhluq].
O my people! Prove the sincerity of your respect for the Qur'an by putting its
teachings into practice, not by arguing about it. Firm belief [i'tiqad] is a
matter of few words and many deeds. You must have faith in it. Accept its truth
in your hearts, and act upon it with your physical limbs and organs. Concentrate
on what is beneficial to you. Pay no attention to defective and inferior
intellects.
O my people! That which is handed down by tradition [manqul] cannot be arrived
at by mental deduction, and the received text [nass] cannot be superseded by
analogical reasoning [qiyas]. Do not pass over the clear evidence [bayyina] and
settle for the unsubstantiated claim. People's property is not confiscated on
the strength of a claim for which there is no proof. As the Prophet (ALLAH bless
him and give him peace) has said:
If people had only to make their claims to have them accepted, one group would
claim the blood and property of another. But the burden of proof rests on the
plaintiff, and the oath on the one who denies [the claim].
It is useless to have a learned tongue but an ignorant heart. The Prophet (ALLAH
bless him and give him peace) is reported as having said:
There is nothing I am more afraid of for my Community [umma] than a hypocrite
with a learned tongue.
O learned ones! O ignoramuses! O you who are present and you who are absent!
Feel a sense of shame before ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He). Pay attention
to Him with your hearts. Humbly submit to Him. Let yourselves be forged beneath
the hammers of His decree. Be constantly thankful for His blessings. Shed light
on the darkness in obedience to Him. Then, when this has become real as far as
you are concerned, you will receive the grace [karama] of ALLAH (Almighty and
Glorious is He), His honor and His Paradise in this world and the hereafter.
O young man! Try hard to make sure that nothing remains in this world that you
still love. When this is fully accomplished as far as you are concerned, you
will not be left to your own devices for the twinkling of an eye. If you become
forgetful, you will be reminded, and if you become careless you will be brought
to your senses. He will not allow you to take notice of anything whatsoever
apart from Himself. Those who have tasted this will know all about it from
experience. Members of this category are a few unique individuals who do not
accept reliance upon creatures.
O hypocrites! Misfortunes and afflictions are uppermost in your hearts. Whenever
the [Lord's] people look with the eyes of their hearts at anything other than
the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), they are being hypocritical.
Their salvation [salama] lies in placing their trust in Him, throwing themselves
down before Him, blinding themselves to His creation, and preventing their
tongues from raising objections against Him. Then the days and nights may roll
by them, and the months turn into years, but their condition will be one and the
same, as they remain unchanging with the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is
He). They are the most intelligent of all the creatures of ALLAH (Almighty and
Glorious is He). If you were to see them, you would call them lunatics [majanin],
and if they saw you they would say: "These folk do not believe in the Day of
Judgment [yawm ad-din]." They are sad and broken-hearted in the presence of the
Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), and they are always fearful and
apprehensive. Whenever the veil is lifted to reveal His Majesty and His Splendor
to their hearts, their fear grows all the greater. Their hearts almost stop
beating and their joints nearly come apart. Then, when He sees them in this
condition, He opens up to them the gates of His Mercy [rahma], His Beauty [jamal]
and His Grace [lutf], giving them hope, so that their feelings are reassured.
The only people I like to look after are seekers of the hereafter and seekers of
the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He). As for the seeker of this
world, of creatures and self and desire, what can I do with him? Of course I
would like to give him treatment, because he is sick, but only a physician has
the patience to treat the sick.
Woe unto you! You are trying to keep your condition hidden from me, but it will
not be concealed. You represent yourself to me as a seeker of the hereafter,
although you are actually a seeker of this world. This delusion in your heart is
written on your forehead. Your secret is public knowledge. That dinar [gold
coin] in your hand is a fake; it has a tiny fraction of gold, but the rest is
silver. You cannot palm it off on me, because I have seen a lot just like it.
Hand it over and let me keep it, so that I can melt it down, extract the gold it
contains, and throw the rest away. A little bit of good stuff is better than a
load of rubbish. Let me take charge of your dinar, because I am a coin-minter
and I have the right tools for the job.Repent your showy pretense [riya'] and
hypocrisy [nifaq], and do not hesitate to confess yourself guilty of it. The
majority of sincere people [mukhlisun] have been hypocrites in their time. This
is why a certain wise man (may ALLAH's mercy be upon him) said: "Only the
hypocrite [mura'i] really knows the meaning of sincerity [ikhlas]." Rarest of
the rare is one who is sincere from the first stage of his career through to the
last. Youngsters at an early stage are given to telling lies and playing with
mud and dirt. They get themselves into dangerous predicaments, steal from their
fathers and their mothers, and spread scandalous rumors around. Gradually, as
their intelligence develops, they give up one thing and then another, learning
correct behavior from their parents and their teachers.
If ALLAH wishes a person well, he will learn to behave properly and give up his
bad habits, but if ALLAH wishes him ill, he will go on living in the old same
way, and so be a loser in this world and the hereafter. ALLAH (Almighty and
Glorious is He) has created the remedy [dawa'] as well as the disease [da'].
Disobedience is a disease, and obedience is a remedy. Tyranny [zulm] is a
disease, and justice ['adl] is a remedy. Going wrong [khata'] is a disease, and
going straight [sawab] is a remedy. Opposing the Lord of Truth (Almighty and
Glorious is He) is a disease, and repenting the intoxication of sins is a
remedy.
Your cure will be completely effected only when you detach your heart from
creatures, connect it to your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), and raise it
toward Him, to dwell in heaven while your spirit and your physical frame are
still here on earth. As far as your heart is concerned, you will be secluded
with the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) because of what it knows.
But you will participate with fellow creatures in acting according to the rule
of law [al-hukm], not differing from them in any detail of this, so that neither
He nor they will have any case against you. You will be alone with your Lord
(Almighty and Glorious is He) in your inner being, while outwardly you will be
in the company of fellow creatures.
Do not allow your lower self [nafs] to rear its head. Either you ride it, or it
will ride you. Either you pin it down, or it will pin you down. If it does not
obey you when you wish to obey ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He), chastise it
with the whips of hunger, thirst, humiliation, nakedness, and seclusion in a
place devoid of any human companion. Do not lay these whips aside from it until
it becomes tame, and obeys ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) under all
circumstances. Even when it is tame, you must not stop chiding it: "Have you not
done such and such, and such and such?" Apply the appropriate punishment to keep
it permanently subdued.
For help in all of this, you must seek the will of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious
is He), comply with His wishes and refrain from disobeying Him. Your outer and
your inner should be as one. There should be compliance with no resistance,
obedience with no rebellion, thankfulness with no ingratitude, mindfulness with
no forgetfulness, and goodness with no evil. Your heart will have no salvation [falah]
as long as it contains anyone other than ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He). If
you were to bow down in prostration before Him for a thousand years, on hot
coals, but turning in your heart toward someone other than Him, this would not
benefit you at all. Nothing will come to the heart while it loves any other than
its Master (Almighty and Glorious is He). You will not be blessed with His love
until you blot out everything else. What good can it do you to abstain from
things while you are attached to them in your heart? Do you not know that ALLAH
(Almighty and Glorious is He) knows what is contained within the breasts of all
mankind? Are you not ashamed to say with your tongue: "I have placed all my
trust in ALLAH [tawakkaltu 'ala'llah]," when others apart from Him are within
your heart?
O young man! Do not be deceived by the gentle forbearance [hilm] with which
ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) is treating you, for the force of His wrath
[batsh] is terrible. Do not be deceived by these learned men who are ignorant of
ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He). All their learning counts against them, not
in their favor. They are learned in the laws [hukm] of ALLAH (Almighty and
Glorious is He), but ignorant of ALLAH Himself (Almighty and Glorious is He).
They give people orders which they themselves do not carry out, and forbid them
to do things from which they themselves do not abstain. They summon others to
the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), but they flee from Him. They
rebel and sin against Him flagrantly. I have their names recorded, written down
and listed.
O ALLAH, relent toward me and toward them. Present us all to your Prophet
Muhammad (ALLAH bless him and give him peace) and to our father Abraham (peace
be upon him). O ALLAH, do not make us tyrants to one another. Make us
benefactors to one another, and include us all in Your mercy. Amin.
Twelfth Discourse
It was in the guesthouse, in the early morning of Sunday, the 2nd of Dhu'l-Qa'da,
A.H. 545, that the Shaikh (may ALLAH be well pleased with him) said:
O young man! Your wish [irada] for the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is
He) is not genuine. You are not really wishing for Him, because when someone
claims to wish for the Lord of Truth (Glorious and Exalted is He) while he is
actually seeking something other than Him, his claim is null and void. Seekers
of this world are very numerous. Seekers of the hereafter are comparatively few.
Seekers of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), who are honest about
their wish for Him, are the fewest of the few. In paucity and scarcity they are
like the philosopher's stone [al-kibrit al-ahmar]. They are unique individuals
of such extraordinariness and rarity that even one of them is seldom to be
found. They are the strangers among the tribes. They are mines in the earth, in
which they are monarchs. They are the prefects of cities and men [shihan al-bilad
wa'l-'ibad]. Because of them the people are shielded from disaster. Because of
them they receive rain. Because of them ALLAH sends rain down from the sky, and
because of them the earth puts forth vegetation.
In the first stage of their career they flee from mountain height to mountain
height, from land to land, from ruin to ruin. As soon as they are recognized in
a place they move on elsewhere. They cast everything behind their backs, and
surrender the keys of this world to its people. They continue in this manner
until fortresses are built around them, rivers flow into their hearts, and they
are surrounded by troops in the service of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and
Glorious is He), each assigned to specific guard duty. Thus they are honored and
protected, and are put in charge of the people. All of this is beyond their
conscious minds.
At this point it becomes their obligatory duty [farida] to make themselves
available to the people. They come to be like physicians when the rest of the
people are sick.
Woe unto you! You claim to be one of them, so what characteristic mark ['alama]
of theirs do you possess? What is the mark of nearness to the Lord of Truth
(Almighty and Glorious is He) and of His grace? In what rank [manzila] are you
in the sight of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), and in what
station [maqam]? What is your name [ism] and surname [laqab] in the Sovereignty
Most High [al-malakut al-a'la]? Why is your door locked every night? What of
your food and drink, are they barely permissible [mubah] or entirely lawful [halal
talq]? What do you take as your bedfellow: this world, the hereafter, or the
close presence of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He)? Who is your
friend [anis] in privacy? Who is your boon companion [jalis] in public? Liar!
Your friend in private is your lower self [nafs], your devil [shaitan], your
passion [hawa], and contemplation of your worldly interests [at-tafakkur fi
dunyaka]. In public your companions are those human devils who are your wicked
mates and fellow gossip-mongers.
This is not something that comes about through idle chatter and unsubstantiated
claims. What you have to say on this subject is nonsense that will do you no
good. You must be calm and unobtrusive in the presence of the Lord of Truth
(Almighty and Glorious is He), and give up bad behavior. If talking about this
cannot be avoided altogether, your words should be devoted to the invocation of
His blessings and speaking well of His people, not to making claims with your
outer being when they have no substance in your heart. Everything external that
is not matched by the inner is mere nonsense. Surely you have heard the saying
of the Prophet (ALLAH bless him and give him peace):
No fast is kept by one who goes on eating human flesh.
The Prophet (ALLAH bless him and give him peace) has made it clear that fasting
[siyam] is not just a matter of giving up food, drink and other things that
technically break the fast [muftirat], but also of giving up sins. Beware of
backbiting [ghiba], because it devours good deeds as fire devours wood.
Successful people never make a habit of it, and those who are known for it enjoy
little respect. You must also beware of the lustful gaze [an-nazar bi'sh-shahwa],
because it plants the seeds of sin in your hearts, and its outcome is unworthy
in this world and the next. Beware of the false oath [al-yamin al-kadhiba],
because it leaves houses in ruins and takes away blessings both material and
religious.
Woe unto you! You squander your material assets by swearing false oaths, and
lose your religion as well. If you had any sense, you would realize that this is
the very essence of loss. You say: "By ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He),
there is nothing in this city to compare with this piece of property, and no one
else has anything like it! By ALLAH, it is worth so-and-so much, and it cost me
so-and-so much!" Everything you say is a lie, but then you bear false witness
and swear by ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) that you are telling the truth.
Blindness and age will soon come upon you. Correct your behavior–may ALLAH the
Exalted have mercy upon you!–in the presence of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and
Glorious is He). Those who do not discipline themselves to follow the rules of
conduct [adab] prescribed by the sacred law [shar'], will be disciplined by the
Fire [an-nar] on the Day of Resurrection [yawm al-qiyama].
(Someone spoke up with the question: "If a person is guilty of these five bad
habits, or some of them, do you declare his fast [Sawm] and his ritual ablution
[wudhu'] invalid?" He said in reply: "His fast and his ritual ablution are not
invalidated. These remarks are intended rather as an admonition, to give warning
and alarm.")
O young man! Perhaps when tomorrow comes you will be missing from the face of
the earth, nowhere to be found. Or maybe at some other hour this will be so.
What is this negligence? Your hearts are so hard! You are all rocks! I tell you,
and others tell you too, but you are always the same way. The Qur'an is recited
to you. The traditions [akhbar] of the Messenger and the life stories [siyar] of
our forebears [al-awwalun] are read to you, but you pay no attention. You
neither change course nor mend your ways. If someone is present in a place where
warning is given, but he does not heed that warning, he is in the best of places
but he is the worst of men