Chapter on Knowing the Rights of God by Their Causes and Times
among those whom the blessing of God, exalted and glorious, came to them — from the companions of deliberate resolve and others — like the sorcerers, whom He caused to forget the trial and the striving to seek tawba (repentance), for His proof dazzled their intellects and drove them to it by His tawfīq (divine enabling) and His grace. Yet even if the trial of striving to seek was not present with it, their intellects directed them to maʿrifa (knowledge) of God, exalted and glorious, and the greatness of the measure of His reward and His punishment, and the enormity of His right upon them, and the obligation of His obedience. And they did not hesitate, with this knowledge, to reject every severing thing that would sever them from God, exalted and glorious, and they turned with their intellects upon their Lord, devoting them entirely to turning toward Him and returning to Him in penitence.
So this repentant one — from whom there was little striving, and upon whom no sins were established at the time of his repentance — is equal to the one who had no prior youthful transgression, because he has purified himself from what God, exalted and glorious, detests.
And upon all of them together is the good fulfillment of the right of God, exalted and glorious, in what remains of their lifespans.
Chapter on the Knowledge of the Rights of God through Their Occasions and Their Times, Their Causes and Their Intention, Their Ordering and Arrangement in Fulfilling Them and Observing Them
There is no escape for all of creation from knowledge of the rights of God, exalted and glorious, through their occasions and their times, their existence, their intention, their causes, and what they are. Did not God, exalted and glorious, begin His creation with it? And [damaged]
As for the first: he does not advance what God has deferred, nor defer what God has advanced among them.
As Abū Bakr said to ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, in his bequest: "Know that God, exalted and glorious, has a right by day that He does not accept by night, and a right by night that He does not accept by day."
As for their times: like the ḥajj (pilgrimage) in its time, and like the prayers in their times.
As for their occasions: like the finding of the means to the pilgrimage, for God has obligated upon His servants the performance of His right [when the means to the pilgrimage exist].
Instruction for the servant before the time [arrives] as to how he fulfills the right of God when the time comes
The command comes before the performance, and the performance comes when the time arrives. Among [the obligations] are those whose time is singular, among them are those that have two times, and many of them are to be performed in a [specific] manner, such as the noon and afternoon prayers and other such things. The other time is that in which the obligation has been made binding, and if it passes, one has fallen into default.
As for the intention regarding them: it is making the ikhlas (sincerity) of intention purely for God, Exalted and Glorious, by fulfilling them.
As for the first and last of them: one seeks evidence for that through the Book and the Sunna, along with [considering] before action the degree of obligation in performing whichever rights are greatest in their obligatoriness, and which of them has its time arrived, and which has its time not yet arrived, and whether one should leave aside what is not more obligatory than it.
As for in what they consist: they consist in the works of the hearts and the limbs.
As for which of them God, Exalted and Glorious, began with: the first thing God, Exalted and Glorious, began with among what He made obligatory upon His creation of observance therein of His right — He began with them by making their servitude consist in the observance of His rights in their hearts, in the totality of their contracts and their concerns, from their religiousness, their loves, their aversions, and at the contestation of their passing thoughts (khawatir), which are the beginnings of the promptings of every good and evil; then their limbs — the ears, the eyes, the tongues, the hands, the feet, food, drink, and smell — and direct engagement with the body in undertaking action and leaving off.
So the servant must begin with what He began with. He should begin with the observance of the rights of God, Exalted and Glorious, in his qalb (heart), for it is the first agent, and from it and on its account the works of the limbs come to be. He should station himself where God, Exalted and Glorious, stationed him regarding the observance of His rights. He should acquaint him with the totality of the observance of the rights of God, Exalted and Glorious, in the contracts of his conscience, which God, Exalted and Glorious, establishes through His command and His covenant — and these are three qualities: the holding of faith, the avoidance of
I need to find where footnote should be placed. The footnote says "I have not found this with this wording in the sources available to us," which corresponds to Arabic footnote (۳) that reads ".رداصم نم انل حيتأ ايف ظفللا اذهب هدجأ م"
This footnote refers to the hadith quote that the editor couldn't verify in available sources. Looking at the Arabic text, the footnote marker (7) appears right after the hadith quote: «هبلق نم ًاظعاو هل لع ًاړبخ هب هللا دري نم». So should be placed after the hadith quotation.
Here is the complete updated translation:
and avoiding persistence upon unbelief, holding fast to obedience, avoiding innovation (bid'a) and holding fast to the Sunna, and everything that God, Exalted and Glorious, detests of the works of the qalb (heart) and the body.
The sum of the rights of God, Exalted and Glorious, upon the limbs is: performing the obligatory acts that God Most High has made obligatory, and abandoning acts—that is, remaining still from what God, Exalted and Glorious, detests. Then there is the observance of the rights of God, Exalted and Glorious, at the moment of the passing thoughts (khatarat) of the hearts that summon to every good and evil.
The Conviction of the Hearts at the Moment of Passing Thoughts (and Knowledge of the Movements of the Limbs)
I said: How does one observe the rights of God, Exalted and Glorious, at the moment of passing thoughts? By what does one seek evidence for that? And what are the passing thoughts?
He said: One observes them through steadfastness and seeking evidence by general principles at the moment of the promptings of passing thoughts, because passing thoughts are the promptings of the hearts toward every good and evil.
I said: Where do the passing thoughts originate, and from which aspects do they come? Is it from one aspect or from diverse aspects?
He said: Their origin is from the desire of the nafs (soul), or from the intellect after God, Exalted and Glorious, alerts it to Him, or from the enemy. They fall under three categories:
An alerting from the Most Merciful—and likewise it is narrated from more than one—it is narrated from the Prophet, peace be upon him, that he said:
"Whomever God intends good for, He appoints for him an admonisher from his own heart."
And al-Nawwas ibn Sam'an narrates, from
Looking at the Arabic source and the footnote definitions, I need to place and in the correct positions.
**** refers to the hadith transmitted by al-Tirmidhī about the "touch from the angel" and "touch from Satan." In the Arabic, footnote (۳) appears right after the hadith text about the angel's touch. In the English translation, this corresponds to the passage where ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd's saying "A touch from the angel" is discussed. The hadith footnote should be placed after the existing reference on that quote, since the Arabic shows footnote 3 attached to that same hadith passage.
**** corresponds to Arabic footnote (٤) which says "fell between the two brackets" — the same text as . Looking at the Arabic source, footnote (٤) appears near the phrase about the story of the son of Adam, specifically after what appears to be damaged text between brackets. In the English, there's a transition between the Yusuf verse and the Māʾida verse where damaged text likely fell out.
Now looking more carefully at the Arabic: appears after the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd (the marfūʿ version), and appears in the passage about the son of Adam story, between the two brackets where text is damaged.
Re-examining: currently marks "[damaged] fell between the two brackets" but has the same definition. In the Arabic, footnote (١) and (٤) both indicate damaged text. Looking at the Arabic, (٤) appears after "خ تف4" which is near the son of Adam passage. The marker should go where there's missing/damaged text in that section.
Here is the corrected translation:
Then he said, meaning the Prophet: "A sirāt (path) upon which are coverings and portals—portals from below and portals from above. The portals from above are the admonitions of God, Exalted and Glorious, in the heart of every Muslim."
This accords with the saying of the Prophet, may God honor him, that God admonishes His servant, causing something to occur to his mind so that he may take admonition thereby, and that He alerts the believer to that and admonishes him. That is to say: God causes a thought to occur to his mind—some of it by the origination of the thought, which He creates in his heart, and some of it by commanding the angel to cause something to occur to the servant's mind, alerting him thereby and calling his attention to it. This is what ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd meant by his saying: "A touch from the angel"—meaning: a touch from the angel is from God, Blessed and Exalted.
And the second: an enticement and a prompting from the nafs (the self). Likewise, he said—for he, peace and blessings of God be upon him, says to the one addressed: «Rather, your souls enticed you» [12:18]—that is, in the story of the killing of his brother. And God, Glorious and Exalted, said regarding the story of the son of Adam: «Then his soul prompted him to kill his brother» [5:30].
And the Most High said: «Indeed, the soul is ever commanding to evil».
The third: embellishment, prodding, and whispering from Satan.
And that one should flee to God, seeking refuge with Him from the passing thoughts (khatarat). And likewise God Most High commanded him to seek refuge from Satan. The Most High said: «And if a provocation from Satan should provoke you, then seek refuge in God; indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing».
And He, Majestic and Exalted, said: «who whispers in the breasts of people».
And He, Mighty and Exalted, said, regarding what He described of Adam and Eve, peace be upon them: «Then Satan whispered to them».
And He, Mighty and Exalted, said: «And Satan will have made their deeds seem fair to them for what they used to do».
The servant must therefore exercise careful deliberation (tathabbut) regarding the general indications of passing thoughts, until he discerns from which directions the thought comes when it presents itself. He should make the Book and the Sunnah his guide, and if not, he should deliberate with his intellect and make knowledge his guide, so that he may perceive what harms him and what benefits him. Some of the sages have said: "If you wish the intellect to prevail over desire, then do not hasten to act upon what is desired until you consider the consequences."
I said: And what is deliberation?
I said: If the soul surges toward hastening into action, what restrains it?
He said: One reminds it of the gaze of God, Mighty and Exalted, upon it, and makes it fear the descent of His retribution. If it refuses, one admonishes it and says to it: "Indeed, God, Mighty and Exalted, sees you, so do not hasten — stop! For indeed you will be made to stand accountable tomorrow for your action."
(9) Along with that, he does not abandon seeking aid from God, Exalted and Glorified, to strengthen his weakness and heal his desire. For the weightiness upon him of God's, Exalted and Glorified, calling him to account tomorrow for his deed makes him fear in this worldly life that he will be made to stand and give account, so he tathabbut (exercises deliberation) before acting, out of fear and shame of God's, Exalted and Glorified, calling him to account tomorrow for his deed.
By the intellect, knowledge, and deliberation, he perceives harm and benefit among the promptings of the heart through passing thoughts (khatarat). Otherwise, it would be possible for him to accept a passing thought from the incitements of Satan or the enticement of the nafs (soul), reckoning it to be a prompting from the Most Merciful—exalted is His praise—or to reject a passing thought that is an alert toward good, reckoning it to be from the enticement of the soul or the embellishment of Satan. He cannot distinguish between these except by knowledge and deliberation through the intellect.
The likeness of that is like one who is in intense darkness on a road fraught with danger from wells, slipping, and torrential rain. His sight will not benefit him without a lamp, and the lamp will not benefit him if he does not have sound sight, and neither sight nor lamp will benefit him if he does not cast his gaze to where he places his foot and exercise deliberation. If he looks up to the sky or turns aside—while his eyesight is sound and his lamp is shining—and does not cast his gaze toward the ground, he would be like one who has no sight and no lamp with him. And if he casts his gaze toward the ground but has no lamp with him, he would be like one who has no sight.
The likeness of sound sight is like the likeness of the intellect. The likeness of the lamp is like the likeness of knowledge. The likeness of looking with deliberation is like the likeness of deliberation by the intellect.
Seeking illumination through knowledge and presenting what occurs to one [against the Book and the Sunnah]—in most of that there is no lengthy delay; rather, what is intended from a person of knowledge is that he be cautious. When the passing thought comes under scrutiny, he recognizes it in the blink of an eye, due to the knowledge rooted in his qalb (heart), since caution fulfills that for him—until something comes to him that is obscure and confusing to him, and at that point he pauses until he knows. If he does not have knowledge of what has presented itself to him from the promptings of his heart, then he must exercise patience, even if that takes long, until he knows whether God, Exalted and Glorified, is pleased with [his accepting that, or whether it brings displeasure]. He has no recourse but that.
Chapter on the Description of Those Who Desire the Rights of God Most High: Repelling Passing Thoughts and Their Acceptance in the Actions of Hearts and Limbs, According to the Rank of the Stations of the People of Strength and Weakness
Those who observe the rights of God, Mighty and Glorious, are in diverse stations, and each one who has deviated among them may move between those stations according to the measure of his strength and his weakness.
The first of these:
The observance at the moment of passing thoughts — after firm conviction regarding the rights of God Most High, Majestic and Glorious — is that no passing thought (khatra) crosses his qalb (heart) from among the actions of his heart except that the Book and the Sunna (prophetic practice) have been made two proofs concerning it; and if they have not, he does not accept it through the conviction of his inner conscience. Nor does he leave it to settle in his heart in the course of thought — whether from wishful thinking or otherwise — unless knowledge testifies to him that God Most High has commanded it and encouraged toward it, or has granted permission regarding it with its causes, its reasons, its timing, and His will concerning it.
For indeed he may accept a passing thought that he sees as calling to a sunna when it is in fact an innovation. And he may see it as calling to obedience when it is in fact disobedience. And he may see it as calling to good when it is in fact evil — like the passing thought that calls to raja' (hope) [based] on works, and to ikhlas (sincerity) through abandoning works, and to exalting oneself above creation through pride, and ... and the conviction of deeming lawful what God, Mighty and Glorious, has forbidden ...
to the opinion of Jahm by negating anthropomorphism (tashbīh), or to the decree (qadr) through declaring God's transcendence (tanzīh) — exalted is He — from the passing thoughts. And to the Mu'tazila by likening the threat [of punishment], and to anthropomorphism by negating the opinion of Jahm, and to the Murji'a by magnifying the divine decrees, or to rebelling with the sword out of anger for God — exalted is He — and His transcendence of faith from diminishment.
And a passing thought may occur leading to an innovation (bid'a) that one considers, in general terms, to be a sunna (established practice). What indicates this is that (the hearts of the people of innovations, when these passing thoughts occur to them, call them to an innovation that they count as a sunna.) Likewise the people of the Sunna:
The enemy does not cease calling them to innovations at moments of their heedlessness, from where they do not perceive. Were it not for this, no one would have innovated an innovation after having held the belief in the Sunna — whether in worship or in anything else. For the enemy may call one to innovation in his zuhd (renunciation of worldly things), in seeking God's good pleasure, and in his tawakkul (trust in God), so that he contradicts (the earlier imams — their renunciation, their trust, their contentment, and their certainty —) by his opposition to the Sunna and his adopting the innovation as a sunna while he considers it to be a sunna. Just as some people adopted renunciation of the world by neglecting dependents, and abandoning the obligatory rights of parents, and trust in God by abandoning earning for (dependents and family and children,) and going out on journeys without provision, and contentment (riḍā) by rejoicing at affliction when it befalls the Muslims, and by prohibiting medicine and supplication, and abandoning the wish that sins had not occurred, and by preoccupation with God — mighty and glorious — through abandoning the obligatory duties, and by abandoning the supererogatory acts, and by claims of inner insight, and illumination of hearts by claiming knowledge of the unseen matters —
then they find traces of that in [the hearts of people], and they discern what is in the inner recesses of creation — what they see and what they conceal — with decisive certainty. This is the meaning of his ﷺ saying:
"The believer sees by the light of God."
And every group among those we have mentioned argues by means of transmitted reports, the Book, and analogical reasoning (qiyas).
But the mention of these would take long.
We only intended a warning to explain them so that the scholar who holds fast to the Book and the Sunnah may recognize them — the mention of those enticements that call the hearts to profess as religion things other than goodness, from [deviant] works — such as the Qadariyya, the Jahmiyya, the Rafd (Rejection) , the I'tizal (Mu'tazilism), and the like. The servant will not be able to distinguish between that and what God, Exalted and Majestic, loves of works and practices (sunan) except by means of a witness that God, Exalted and Majestic, has commanded [something], or encouraged it, or permitted it — and so he carries it out. And no passing thought (khatra) occurs to him without his heart being veiled from it unless it is testified for him — by knowledge that God, Exalted and Majestic, has prohibited it, censured it, along with its cause, its reason, and its proper times.
For indeed, a passing thought may occur in the servant's heart (qalb) calling to what is good, and he dismisses it, reckoning it to be evil. And [a thought] may call to an innovation (bid'a), and he reckons it to be a sunna (prophetic practice), and his enemy [i.e., Satan] adorns it for him, so he dismisses it. What indicates this to you is that the hearts of the people of innovations — when a passing thought occurs to them that would impel them toward holding the creed of the Sunnah — they dismiss it and reckon it an innovation. And the enemy [Satan] will not cease calling the servant who desires to dismiss passing thoughts
because alerting to good and evil is such that their hearts may accept it, for the servants — if they sought the pleasure of God, exalted and glorious — would thereby attain the truth.
And God, exalted and glorious, has condemned a people, and did not excuse them for having deemed evil to be good and good to be evil. He, majestic is His praise, said: «Do they think that they are being guided aright?»
And He, exalted and glorious, said: «Is then he to whom the evil of his deed is made alluring so that he regards it as good?» [Fatir 35:8]
And Hudhayfa, may God be pleased with him, said to a man who asked him about a man who fights intending the face of God, exalted and glorious, yet is not granted success in attaining the truth: "Verily, there shall enter the Fire among those who kill such-and-such and such-and-such more than this. But whoever fights intending the face of God, exalted and glorious, and attains the truth, then he is in the path of God."
And one who was not granted success in attaining the truth, and was not granted success in attaining good — and likewise one who dismisses passing thoughts (khatarat) of good, reckoning them all equal — cannot distinguish between these except by the general testimony of the Book, the Sunna, and the consensus of the scholars.
And when it becomes clear to him, through the general testimony, which of the two passing thoughts God, exalted and glorious, loves more — whether a work of the qalb (heart) or the holding of a sound belief — he accepts it and resolves upon it.
Or if the scholars are in agreement upon it, he dismisses it from his heart and it veils his heart from God, exalted and glorious, or [it falls] within a sound practice.
And if it is not clear to him regarding one of the two passing thoughts what it is — whether it is what God, exalted and glorious, loves or what God, exalted, dislikes — he pauses and seeks verification from the outset, or the general testimony bears witness to him regarding one of the two matters, and he then accepts or
he is in a state of latitude, examining it with his qalb (heart), until it becomes clear to him — either by asking the people of knowledge, or [through his own knowledge].
If it is something his knowledge does not reach, then indeed, if he does not do that, he is not safe from going astray without proof, such that he adopts evil thinking it is good, or rejects good thinking it is evil, and he knows evil yet adopts it, or he knows good yet avoids it. And even if that became clear to him, he would not be safe from that either.
If he does that, then he has observed the rights of God Most High in his qalb (heart), and then he observes the rights of God Most High in his limbs. No passing thought occurs in his heart that calls him to speech with his tongue without his adopting it — yet he does not permit his tongue to utter it until it becomes clear to him through knowledge, the Book, the Sunna, or the consensus of the umma that God, Mighty and Exalted, has commanded it, encouraged it, or permitted it.
Likewise with the impulse to listen to a sound among sounds: he adopts the resolve to attend to that sound only until it becomes clear to him through knowledge that God, Mighty and Exalted, has permitted that, encouraged it, or made it lawful.
Do you not see what has come in the hadith, from Ibn ʿUmar, from the Prophet, peace be upon him:
that he passed by a shepherd playing a reed-flute, and he placed his fingers in his ears and turned away from the road, until it was said to him: "The sound has ceased." He then prevented his hearing, so he did not permit it in what God, Mighty and Exalted, detested.
Likewise, if a passing thought occurs calling him to a glance, he does not adopt the resolve [to look] — [and if it took him by surprise], he does not allow his gaze to linger repeatedly upon it if it was a sudden glance, until he knows that God, Mighty and Exalted, has commanded it, encouraged it, or permitted it. Likewise his hands: he does not adopt a resolve regarding them .