ar- Raqâ’iq - The Heart Softening Narrations

"...They were youths, yet mature youths, their eyes fresh and free of evil, their feet refrained from approaching falsehood and futility.

They sacrificed and expended themselves in worship and in withholding themselves from sleep. They sold their souls which were to pass away for souls which would never die.

Allaah saw them in the latter part of the night, bending their backs, reciting the Qur'aan. Whenever one of them came to an Aayah mentioning Paradise, he would weep, longing for it. Whenever he came upon an Aayah mentioning the fire he would groan out of fear, as if the Hell-fire were directly in front of him.

The earth devoured their knees their hands and their foreheads (out of their constant prostration). They joined exhaustion in the night with exhaustion in the day. Their colour becoming yellowed and their bodies emaciated through standing long in prayer and frequent fasting - whilst they regarded their own actions to be negligible before Allaah.

They fulfilled their covenant with Allaah and attained Allaah's promise."

So let us hasten to be like them and to resemble them, since, as it was said: We are not in comparison to those who came before except like small herbs growing beside the trunks of tall palm trees.

And as 'Abdullaah Ibn al-Mubaarak said: Do not mention us whilst mentioning them, the fit and healthy when he walks is not like the crippled.

Abû ad-Dardâ' said:

"Worship Allâh as if you see Him, and count yourselves from amongst the dead, and know that a small amount to suffice you is better than abundance that will destroy you, and know that righteousness does not bring about harm and that sins are not forgotten (by Allâh)."

[Wakee' bin al-Jarraah's 'Kitaab az-Zuhd']

Muhammad bin Ka'b said:

"If Allâh desires good for a servant, he makes him abstain from the worldly pleasures, gives him understanding of the religion, and allows him to see his own mistakes. Whoever is given these qualities is given all the good that is in this World and the next."

[Wakee' bin al-Jarraah's 'Kitaab az-Zuhd']

'Umar wrote to Abû Mûsâ:

"Verily, understanding and wisdom are not attained by old age; rather, they are provisions from Allâh."

[Wakee' bin al-Jarraah's 'Kitaab az-Zuhd']

Abu az-Zahiriyyah narrated:

"I went to Tarsus, so I entered upon Abu Mu'awiyah al-Aswad after he had become blind. In his house, I saw a Mushaf hanging from the wall, so said to him: "May Allah have Mercy upon you! A Mushaf while you cannot even see?"

He replied: "My brother, will you keep a secret for me until the day I die?"

I said: "Yes." Then, he said to me: "Verily, when I want to read from the Qur'an, my eyesight comes back to me."

[Imam Ibn Al Jawzi's Sifat us-Safwah]

al-Fudayl bin 'Iyad narrated:

'Abdul-Wahid bin Zayd said: "I asked Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - for three nights in a row to show me my future companion in Paradise in a dream, so in my dream, I heard a caller saying: "O 'Abdul-Wahid! Your companion in Paradise is Maymunah as-Sawda'." So, I asked: "And where is she now?" The voice replied: "She is among such-and-such a tribe in Kufah."

So, I went out to Kufah and asked about her, so I was told: "She is among us, and she takes care of the livestock." So, I said: "I wish to see her." I was taken to the place where she was, and found her standing in prayer with a walking stick to support her. She was wearing a wool cloak, with a sign written on it that said: "Not to be bought or sold." ِAlso, the sheep that she was supposed to be caring for were surrounded by wolves. However, the wolves were not trying to attack the sheep, and the sheep were not afraid of the wolves.

When she saw me, she ended her prayer and said to me: "Go back, Ibn Zayd. Our meeting place is not here. Rather, it is later on (in the Hereafter)."

I said to her: "May Allah have Mercy upon you! Who told you that I am Ibn Zayd?"

She said: "I know that the souls are like a unified army, so the souls that go together are one, and the souls that differ from each other are divided."

I said to her: "Advise me."

She said: "Strange! An admonisher who wishes to be admonished? O Ibn Zayd, it has been related to me that a servant is not given anything of this worldly life and wished for more of it, except that Allah ceases to allow that servant to love Him and desire Him, and He exchanges the closeness that he had with Him for distance..." Then she recited:

O admonisher! The accounting has begun * To drive the people away from sin

You forbid others while you are the one who is truly ill * This is indeed a strange evil

If you had rectified yourself beforehand * Your mistakes and repented recently

Then - my dear - what you you said * Would have had a position of truth in the heart

You warn against temptation and excess * While you yourself are in a state of doubt"

I then said to her: "I see these wolves with the sheep, but the sheep do not run away from the wolves, and the wolves do not try to eat the sheep! What is this?"

She said: "This is a sign to you from me: since I made peace between my Master and I, He made peace between the wolves and the sheep.""

[Ibn Al Jawzi's Sifat us-Safwah]

Qutaybah said,

"If you ever see someone that loves Imam Ahmad, know that they are a follower of the Sunnah."

Ibn Al-Qayyim described Allah's Greatness, saying,

He governs the affairs of the various kingdoms and He commands and forbids, creates, sustains, gives death, gives life, gives power, strips power (to and from whom He wills) and alternates the night and day. He gives varying fortunes to people and alternates governments (and states), destroying some and bringing some into existence. His Command and Power are dominant in the heavens and their zones, the earth and all that which is on and in it, in the seas and in the air. His Knowledge has encompassed everything and He counted everything. He hears all types of voices and they do not confuse Him. Rather, He hears each voice in its distinct language and need, and no voice will make Him busy from fulfilling the need of another, and no need will ever escape His Perfect Knowledge (and His Power to deliver). He does not become bored because of the many needs of those who need. His Sight encompasses all that which there is. He sees the movement of a black ant on a barren rock during a dark night. To Him, the Unseen is uncovered end the secret is secret no more, "Whosoever is in the heavens and on Earth begs of Him (its needs from Him). Every day He has a matter to bring Forth (such as giving honor to some, disgrace to some, life to (some, death to some, etc.)." [55:29] He forgives an evil deed, makes depression vanish and brings reprieve from disasters, relief for whoever needs it, wealth for the poor, guidance for the misguided, light for the lost, help for he who is desperate, fullness for the hungry, cover for the barely clothed, cure for the ill and ease for he who suffers. He accepts he who repents, gives reward for he who does good, gives aid for he who was dealt with injustice, destroys an arrogant person, covers mistakes, gives safety after fear end elevates some people and humiliates others. If those who inhabit His heavens and His earth and all those whom He created, whether mankind or the Jinns, had hearts similar to the most pious heart, His Kingdom will not increase. If all His creation, whether mankind or the Jinns, had hearts similar to the heart of the most wicked heart, this will not decrease from His Kingdom. Also, if all those who inhabit His heavens and His earth, all mankind and all the Jinns, the dead and the living, stand up on one strip of land and each asks Him for his need, and He then fulfils their needs, this will not decrease from what He has a bit. He is the First, nothing is before Him, the Last, nothing is after Him, the Most High, nothing is above Him, and the Most Near, nothing is nearer than Him. He, Exalted and Ever High as He is, is the Best Whom one can and should remember, the only One Who deserves to be worshiped and thanked, the Kindest of all those who own and the Most generous of all those who are asked to give. He is the King Who has no partner, the One Who has no competitor, the Samad (Self-Sufficient) Who has no offspring, and the Ever High, none like unto Him. Everything perishes save His Face and every kingship is bound to perish except His. He will only be obeyed by His Leave, and His Knowledge uncovers all disobedience to Him. When He is obeyed, He thanks for it, and when He is disobeyed, He grants forgiveness (for those who truly repent to Him). Every punishment from Him is just and every bounty is a grace. He is the Closest Witness and the Nearest One with His Perfect Care. He controls the forelocks of everything and has the full records of all deeds end the books of all ages. The hearts are unmasked to Him and the secret is unveiled. His giving and punishing is merely a Command, "Verily, His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, ‘Be, and it is!’" [36:82].

Ibn al-Qayyim wrote in Madarij as-Salikeen:

وفرحك بالذنب أشد عند الله من الذنب

"The happiness one feels with their sin is worse in sight of Allah than the sin itself"

[This is a treatise written by our teacher, the learned Imam Shams al-Din Abu ‘Abd Allah, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Sa’id, better known as Ibn al-Qayyim (may God sanctify his soul, illumine his grave and unite us in the Abode of God’s Generosity). He said:]

There is neither strength nor power save in God Almighty. It is God we implore—and whose answer we await—to watch over you in this world and the next, to shower you with His graces, outwardly and inwardly, and to make you among those who, when blessed, give thanks; when tried, persevere; and when sinful, seek forgiveness. For these three conditions are tokens of the servant’s happiness [sa’adat al-abd], and the signs of his success in this world and the next. No servant is without them, but is always shifting from one to the other.

The first condition is the blessings which come to the servant from God (Most High), one after another. What secures them is gratitude [shukr], based on three supports: inward recognition of the blessing; outward mention and thanks for it; and its use in a way that pleases the One to whom it truly belongs and who truly bestows it. Acting thus, the servant shows his gratitude for the blessing—however brief.

The second is the trials from God (Most High) which test the Servant, whose duty therein is patience [sabr]and forbearance: to restrain himself from anger with what is decreed; to restrain his tongue from complaint; to restrain his limbs from offences, such as striking one’s face in grief, rending one’s clothes, tearing one’s hair and like acts. Patience, then, rests on these three supports, and if the servant maintains them as he should, affliction will become benefaction, trial will change to bounty and what he disliked will become what he loves. For God (Exalted and Sublime) does not try the servant in order to destroy him. Rather, He tries him to put his patience and devotion [al-ubudiyya] to the test. For the servant owes devotion to God in affliction as in ease. He must have as much devotion in what he hates as in what he loves. And while most people offer devotion in what they love, it is important to do so in the things they hate. It is by this that servants’ ranks are distinguished and their stations determined.

Ablution with cold water in searing heat is devotion. Sexual relations with one’s beautiful and beloved spouse is devotion. Spending money for her, for one’s children and for oneself is devotion. It is devotion no less than ablution with cold water in the bitter cold; giving up vice to which one’s soul is driven without fear of people; and giving charity in hardship. But there is a great difference between the [two kinds] of devotion.

He who is God’s servant in both states, maintaining his duty in both comfort and adversity, is the one to whom His words refer, ‘Is not God sufficient for His servant?’ With complete devotion comes complete sufficiency, and with less comes what is less. Let him who discerns some good give praise to God, but let whoever finds something other than this blame no one but himself.

These are the servants over whom God’s Foe has no control. God said [to the Devil], ‘Lo! As for My servants, you have no power over them.” And when His Foe Iblis learned that He would not let His devoted servants yield to him or give him control over them, he proclaimed, ‘Then by Your Might, I will surely beguile them all save for Your sincere servants among them. And God (Most High) said, ‘And Iblis found his calculation true, for they [all] followed him save a group of true believers. And he had no warrant whatsoever over [any of] them save that We might know the ones who believe in the hereafter from those who doubt it.’ God will not yield to His Foe control over His faithful servants. They are in His protection and His care. If the Devil robs any of them, as the thief robs the heedless man, this cannot be avoided, because by heedlessness, passion and anger is the servant tried. It is by these same three doors that the Devil comes to him. Try as he may to protect himself, the servant is bound to be heedless and given to passion and anger.

Adam, the father of all humanity, was the most discerning of creatures, their superior in wisdom, and the most steadfast. Yet the Foe kept after him until he made him fall into that which he fell. What then of someone with the reason of a moth, whose intelligence compared to that of his father [Adam] is like a spittle in the ocean? Still, the Foe of God obtains nothing from a faithful person except by robbing him in [a moment on inattention and carelessness. And when he causes him to fall, the servant may think that he can never again face his Lord, that this fall has carried him away and destroyed him. Yet behind it all is God’s grace, mercy, clemency and forgiveness.

For if God intends what is good for His servant, He will then open for him the doors of repentance [al-tawba]and remorse, abasement and humility, dependence and need; the doors of the request for God’s help and protection; the doors of perpetual humility, supplication and the approach towards Him by means of whatever good works he can manage—so that his wrong may become a means to God’s mercy. For the Foe says, ‘Alas, I left him without causing him to fall!’

This is what one of the early believers [salaf]meant when he said, ‘A person may commit a sin by which he goes to heaven and a good deed by which he goes to hell.’ ‘How?’ someone asked. He replied, ‘Having committed the sin, he is ever watchful in fear, regretful, timorous, lamenting, shamed before his Lord, his head in his hands and his heart rent. The sin that brings him all that we have mentioned, wherein lie his happiness and salvation, is more beneficial to him than numerous devotional acts. Indeed, it becomes the means by which he enters Heaven.

[On the other hand], he may perform a goodly deed and constantly laud it before his Lord, wax proud, boast, become vain and haughty with it, as he says, ‘I did this, I did that.’ His self-importance, pride and arrogance provide him only with the means to his own ruin. If God intends then what is good for this miserable person, He will try him through something that breaks [his pride], abases him and reduces his self-importance. But if He intends otherwise, He will leave him to his self-importance and pride, and this misfortune is what leads to his ruin.’

[From: The Invocation of God]

Ibn Qayyim's Description of a Migrator to the Messenger :

Migration to the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam is a knowledge that has been [mostly] lost [from among people]; only its name continues to exist. It is a practice that has been abandoned; only its outline remains. It is a road whose milestones have been obliterated by wild animals, and whose water sources have been dried up by the enemies.

Thus the person who takes this road is a stranger among people, unique in his surroundings, distant [from others] despite his physical closeness, lonely despite numerous neighbours. He is unhappy with what pleases [the common] people, and [often] satisfied with what depresses them. He resides when they travel, and travels when they reside. He is alone in the Way that he chose for seeking his goal, feeling no satisfaction until he achieves it. He is with the people in his body, but away from them by virtue of his goal. Their eyes sleep indifferently, neglecting to seek the Guidance; but he spends his nights awake. They are too lazy for migration to the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, while he is totally engrossed in its pursuit. They scorn his indifference to their ideas; and they blame him for criticizing their ignorance and inconsistencies. They cast their doubts on him, and they keep close watch over him.

They wait hopefully for death to rid them of him. He responds to them with what Allah says:

"Say [Muhammad]: "Do you await for us anything except one of the two best things (martyrdom or victory), while we await for you that Allah will afflict you with a punishment from Himself or at our hands. So wait, we too are waiting with you." [at-Tawba 9:52]

And

"He (Muhammad) said: "My Lord! Judge You in truth! Our Lord is ar-Rahman (the Most Merciful), whose help is to be sought against that which you attribute unto Him [of falsehoods]." [al-Anbiya 21:112]

He further reminds them [with what an Arab poet once said]:
"Both we and you will die, And the true loser at the time of reckoning is he who will then feel sorry."

One of the salaf said:

"A just person is one whose anger does not cause him to do wrong, and whose pleasure does not prevent him from doing right."

Ash-Shafi'ee (r) reported a consensus among the scholars of the Sahaabah, the Tabi'een, and their followers, that:

"If a sunnah of Allah's Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam becomes manifest to a person, he does not have any choice but to follow it, regardless of what other people say."

Thus the human excellence is confined to four matters:

First, knowing the Message of Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.

Second, acting in accordance with this knowledge.

Third, spreading this knowledge among people and inviting them to it.

Fourth, persevering and striving in accomplishing all this.

One who seeks to learn how the Sahaabah (R) lived and who want to follow them should know that this was indeed their way [so let him follow it). A poet once said:

"If you want to reach those folk, follow their way: It is quite manifest for those who aspire to it."

[Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyah]

Attributed to Imam Ash-Shafiee:

“Let the days bring what they may, and be contented when a decree has come to pass, when the execution of it comes in a land of some nation, neither earth nor sky can prevent it.”

Ibn Abu Talib said to Ammar, when he found him deeply sighing,

"Oh Ammar, why do you sigh? Do you sigh for the hereafter or for this world? By Allah I swear that this world is not worth sighing for, because its pleasures are of five kinds, food, drink, sexual intercourse, clothes and perfumes. The best of all foods is honey and it comes from a bee, an insect. The best of all drinks is water, and it is the most freely available. The best of all clothing is silk, and it comes from the mouth of a worm. And the best of all perfumes of is musk, which comes from a rat. And the best experience of sexual intercourse is the union of two urine-making areas."

"We used to say that those amongst us with the most sins, are those who spend their time talking about the sins of others."

- Muhammad ibn Sireen

“I have known people and kept company with groups who neither rejoiced when the things of this world came to them, nor grieved when they lost anything in this world. The life of this world was more insignificant to them than dust. One of them might live for a year or for sixty years without ever having a garment that would entirely cover him, and without ever having anything that would come between him and the ground, and without ever having any food that he could ask to be prepared for him in his own home. When night came, they would be on their feet, with their foreheads flat against the earth, tears rolling down their cheeks, secretly calling on Allah to save them on the Day of Judgement. If they did something good, they never stopped being grateful for it, and they were always asking Allah to forgive them for it. By Allah, they were not safe from wrong actions, and were saved only by their constant turning in repentance. May Allah be pleased with them and grant them His mercy...”

[al-Hasan al-Basree]

Al-Hasan said:

“أدركت سبعين من أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كلهم يريد درأ الفتوى عن نفسه”

“I witnessed 70 of the companions of the Messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam and they all liked if someone else gave the fatwa.”