Chapter on the Description of Riya' and Its Mention

The Book of Riya' (Ostentation)

Chapter on the Description of Riya' and Its Mention

I said: I have already described for you muraqaba (vigilant awareness of God), Exalted and Majestic, and its mention, and ri'aya (observance) of the rights of God, Exalted and Majestic, and the aspects of seeking them — the first being what is obligatory and what is supererogatory. So what do you fear for me if I undertake that?

He said: I fear for you that it will corrupt it and nullify your reward in your Hereafter, and that His proofs against you will take away its sweetness. Is there anything more grievous in regret than that one «strives» [cf. 92:4] and then it is rendered void and his deeds are nullified?

I said: And what is that meaning?

He said: Indeed, the one who is mindful, the observer of the rights of God, Exalted and Majestic, who upholds them — his states are transformed until they become manifest to creation.

So silence becomes manifest from him after long engagement in what does not concern him and in what is not lawful for him.

And friendliness becomes manifest from him toward those who keep company with him and those who benefit from him in goodness.

And speech becomes manifest from him regarding that which God, Exalted and Majestic, loves and by which one draws near to Him, and his limbs fall still, and his gaze becomes humble, and tranquility and dignity overtake him, and acts of obedience become manifest from him.

So when that is known, the nafs (self) will prevent the servant of God, exalted and glorified, from manifesting what has appeared of it [i.e., good works] — that it will prevent them from praising his action and magnifying him thereby, and ascribing to Him the grace and the decree.

And the self knows that what is from Him, and his secret, if it were to appear, would [have been hidden] because of God's favor and His grace therein.

So the self seeks comfort in adorning itself with religion through what is manifest and what is hidden, being secretly pleased that he should be praised and esteemed — so that he may be praised and esteemed in this world.

This is because what prevented the self from much of its pleasures from worldly things — when it found a place of ikhlas (sincerity) in religion — its longing toward seeking pleasure and comfort drew it back to it, so that it might obtain from the comfort of the world after having been prevented from it — the greater part of its pleasure and its comfort, which is its hidden desire and its concealed pleasure, for it is not among its outward desires.

For it has drawn him toward its desire and its pleasure, and the servant's food — when it draws him toward it — is not from its outward desires, nor from the desires of its food, its drink, its clothing, its marriage that it reaches with its limbs. Rather, it is a desire from its interior within the appearance of good, and it is hidden within souls, for it is not outward evil that can be isolated through isolation from evil that does not partake of good. Rather, it is a hidden desire, since it has become intermixed with good, embedded within it.

So its worker, in outward appearance, is obedient in what is manifest — he considers that he acts for God, exalted and glorified — while the self has concealed the desire inwardly so as to adorn itself thereby and feign the appearance of obedience before people, even if it be an act of devotion. Yet the servant does not suspect his own self, so let him examine it, for the desire conceals its aim from the servant out of his ignorance of it. This is only made clear through the [outward] deed that indicates what its true aim is. So it lies hidden and concealed from the worker, since [it is discerned] only through the deed.

As is narrated from Wahb, that he said: The dormancy of desire (shahwa) in the heart (qalb) is like the dormancy of fire in wood:

[damaged]

Even if its embers are hidden, it is concealed from the heedless, yet it becomes apparent to the one who examines it with knowledge and looks upon it with ma'rifa (spiritual cognition).

Whoever comprehends the severity of his need on the morrow at the Resurrection for the pure portion of good deeds, wariness overcomes his heart, and he strives to rectify sincerity (ikhlas) in his works and guard against ostentation (riya'), so that he meets the Day of Resurrection with accepted, sincere devotion — since he comprehends that nothing reaches God, exalted is His praise, except what is purified of it, and nothing is accepted on the Day of Resurrection except what is purely for His countenance, untainted by the desire for anything other than Him.

Do you not see that servants transact currency among themselves in silver and gold coins? Some of them accept from one another rejected and debased dirhams in the cities and towns. But when one of them intends the road to Mecca or elsewhere, he takes only the fine, pure currency, knowing that on his route there is little kindness from servants, one to another, and little mutual consolation due to the hardship of their travel and the remoteness of their difficulties. So he fears that he might take debased dirhams or rejected dinars and spend them on a water-skin of water, or a waterskin, or provisions, or hire by which to be carried, and they are refused — and he is cut off at the place of need, where kindness and mutual consolation among people, one to another, are scarce. While in the cities, he tolerates the rejected and the refusal in hope that if it is refused he can exchange it and replace it, and if it is refused he finds a substitute for it from his own possessions or a loan from someone else. Likewise is the one who comprehends the humiliation of servants at the Resurrection, and their disavowal of one another — until the mother would wish that a claim were placed against her child, by which she would be seized, due to the severity of her need for something that would weigh heavy in her scale and increase her good deeds, and due to the enormity of what she has witnessed.

So whoever comprehends the severity of that Day and the intensity of his poverty for the pure portion of good deeds fears that the Day of Resurrection may come upon him while he has arrived morning or evening for a year, or prayer, or fasting, or humility (khushu'), or a military expedition, or remembrance (dhikr) upon