Chapter on What Drives the Servant to Tawba and Abandoning Persistence
diverts him after the questioning to reward and punishment, and «what proceeded from him» [TN: likely a Quranic reference], and stations him therein and asks him about it. Then one of the two: he enters therein as one dwelling forever—except as God, the Generous King, wills—after eternal abiding in painful torment.
This, then, is an affirmation of faith (iman) in his qalb (heart) by which denial has been removed, and by which he has affirmed the Lord, Mighty and Glorious. Yet the heart, occupied with appetites, is distracted from fikr (reflection) and contemplation, and nothing prevents him from remembrance except passing thoughts that come from faith in the remembrance of the return, which then find no settled place therein, due to what has overcome his heart of hardness and the succession of ghafla (heedlessness) within him. His heart is wandering in preoccupation with worldly matters, and the remembrance of warning does not adhere to him. He finds no leisure for reflection, nor does he find any sweetness in remembrance.
How can remembrance find a settled place in him when occupations contend with him and states of heedlessness overwhelm him? Such a person is in need of what comes upon him from the bonds of inner resolve—that he repent to his Lord from his sin, and he joins his two companions who preceded him: the one who grew up without youthful indiscretion, and the one who turns back in tawba (repentance) to his Creator, Exalted is He.
Chapter on What Impels the Servant to Repentance and the Abandonment of Persistence in Sin
I said: What is it that impels him to tawba (repentance) and the abandonment of persistence in sin?
He said: That which dissolves the persistence of his heart and by which he turns away from his sin and wrongdoing is khawf (fear) and raja' (hope) toward his Lord. For God forbade his heart what his nafs (soul) desires, and made it agreeable and light to one's nature. Thus it has been narrated from the Chosen One, may God's blessings be upon him, regarding direct engagement with appetites—so be warned: the deed by which one enters the Fire is made alluring to souls.
Ibn Mas'ud said regarding God's recompense in this hadith:
"Whoever peeks beyond the veil will fall into what lies behind it" — meaning, whoever acts upon the forbidden desires will fall into the Fire. And whoever peeks beyond the veil — there was between him and the Fire a barrier and a screen — "he will not [be kept from] entering it," by the mercy of God, Exalted and Glorious, [he will attain] Paradise.
And likewise He says: «But as for he who feared the standing before his Lord and forbade the nafs (the self) from its caprice, then indeed Paradise is the refuge» [al-Nāziʿāt 79:40-41].
And among the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ regarding that:
Indeed God, Blessed and Most High, created the Fire and said to Jibrīl: "Go and look at it." So he went and looked at it and said: "By Your might, no one who hears of it will enter it." Then He surrounded it with desires. He said: "Go and look at it." So he went and looked at it and said: "By Your might, I fear that no one will remain except that they will enter it." Then He created Paradise and said to Jibrīl: "Go and look at it." So he went and looked at it and said: "By Your might, no one who hears of it will fail to enter it." Then He surrounded it with hardships. He said: "Go and look at it." So he went and looked at it and said: "By Your might, I fear that [no one will enter it]."
— and thereby one merits dwelling in the vicinity of God.
The deeds that God has ordained and encouraged — most of them are wearisome for the qalb (the heart), fatiguing for the limbs, or occupying one away from the opposites thereof among pleasures. And that is disagreeable in nature and burdensome upon the nafs (the self).
And likewise God Most High says: «Yet it may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you, and it may be that you love a thing while it is bad for you» [al-Baqarah 2:216].
And He said: «And it may be that you dislike a thing while God has placed in it much good».
And the Truthful One confirmed in his truthfulness said:
"Paradise has been surrounded by hardships."
So he informed that the veil that surrounds Paradise is the act that is detested in the soul. Then he informed that whoever compels his soul to bear that which is detested, until he fulfills the rights of God Most High upon him, shall enter Paradise.
And ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd said: Whoever scales the veil shall reach what lies beyond it — meaning: whoever compels himself to bear hardships in obedience to God shall reach Paradise, meaning: he shall enter it.
And God, the Generous, the All-Knowing, knew His creation and what would set them right. He knew of this servant before creating him that, when He fashioned him upon the love of what accords with him and the hatred of what opposes him, and then He knew what accords with him and what opposes him, his desires would surge toward that, and his soul would contend with him toward it. And there is no person who plunges into the indulgence of desires who will ever abandon what his soul craves unless God creates for him a punishment with which He threatens him. Nor will he bear what he detests unless God creates for him a blissful station, and then gives him hope in that blessing and His promise of it. So He created all of that according to His knowledge of His creation and what He willed of the honoring of His friends and the humiliation of His enemies. And He knew that this weak, ignorant servant, when reward and punishment are hidden from him and they become merely mentioned in reports, not witnessed by direct sight — his qalb (heart) would not freely relinquish desires except by bearing hardships, and he would not bear hardships except through fear — not mere frightening — and hope for what is hoped — not mere wishing. So He frightened His servants and threatened them, and gave them hope and promised them, so that they would frighten their own souls and give them hope, and so that they would fear Him.
And likewise God described those who understood that from Him and feared Him. God, Exalted and Majestic, said: «But as for he who feared the station of his Lord and forbade the soul from hawā (caprice)» — So God, Exalted and Majestic, informed that whoever feared his Lord restrained his soul from caprice.
He said: «those who fulfill the covenant of God and do not break the compact».
And the Exalted said: «those who are patient, seeking the countenance of their Lord».
So the last [of what He mentioned] is that what is hidden from them of the punishment — they are fearful of it, and what they hope for of reward from the unseen — they do not cease hoping for it. [This means] that they feared and hoped, and desired and sought, and that God, Exalted is He, made the recompense of punishment, reward, awe, and desire from God, Exalted is He, so that they would humble themselves before those who recompense them, and worship Him with submission and abasement, so that He may grant them in the Hereafter the blessings and honors. And He informed that they passed through [this life] as ones who feared Him and humbled themselves to Him with abasement.
Likewise among the people of this world: whoever fears someone among them humbles himself to the one he fears until he pardons him, and whoever covets someone among them humbles himself to the one he hopes from until he obtains what he hopes for, and hastens in what pleases him.
Likewise God described His saints, saying: «They used to hasten in good deeds, and they called upon Us in desire (raghba) and awe (rahba), and they were before Us khāshiʿīn (humbly submissive)».
Al-Hasan said: It is constant khawf (fear). And Mujahid said: "Abasement in the heart" — meaning the abasement of khawf (fear) "that is permanent for them." For when they hoped for what was hidden from them of reward, they bore what was detested. So He described them in His Book, and the Exalted said: «Indeed, those who believed and emigrated and strove in the way of God — those hope for the mercy of God». And the Mighty and Majestic said: «So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous deeds and not associate anyone in the worship of his Lord». And the Mighty and Majestic said: «Whoever hopes for the meeting with God — indeed, the term of God is coming». It was said in the exegesis: the reward of God.
So they feared and were in awe, and they avoided what He forbade them from. As He described them, He said — and that is regarding the command of the one who fears: «and feared My station and feared My threat».