Chapter on Urging the Sinner Toward Ikhlas (Sincerity) in His Works
an enemy in the path of God for His sake, yet it is nullified, and so his good deeds become less than his evil deeds. If his good deeds outweighed his evil deeds in this worldly life, he would have entered Paradise thereby, having sincerely devoted his work .
But if his work is nullified and his evil deeds remain weightier and his good deeds lighter and lesser, then do not ask about the regrets by which his soul is cut to pieces. The intelligent person fears that, and so there prevails upon his mind the wariness of ostentation (riya') and the seeking of reputation among the servants, and the desire for God alone — exalted be His praise — with none other than Him, until his knowledge and his work become sincerely devoted to Him.
Chapter on Urging the Sinner toward Ikhlas (Sincere Devotion) in His Work
I said: Ikhlas (sincere devotion) is the station of the strong and the elect among the worshippers.
He said: The people of strength are indeed the closest of servants to it, yet the sinful, compromised person is in more dire need of sincerity in his voluntary acts than the God-fearing person of wara' (scrupulous piety). For the God-fearing person of wara', if all his voluntary deeds are nullified, is saved by his standing in the obligatory acts. Have you not heard the saying of Mujahid: "The voluntary prayer (nafila) is only for the Prophet — peace be upon him — because he has already been forgiven." Then he recited: «And during part of the night, keep vigil with it as an additional prayer for you» [17:79].
Abu Umama said: The voluntary prayer was only for the Prophet — peace be upon him — exclusively .
Abu Hurayra, Tamim al-Dari, and Anas ibn Malik narrated that the Prophet — peace be upon him — said:
"The servant will be held to account on the Day of Resurrection for his obligatory prayers, and if they are deficient, it will be said: 'Look whether he has any voluntary prayers.' If he has voluntary prayers, his obligatory prayers will be completed thereby." Al-Tirmidhi said in his hadith: "And if he had no voluntary prayers, he would be seized by his extremity."
So the one who mixes [good and evil] comes on the Day of Resurrection with his obligatory duties deficient and with many sins upon him. If his voluntary works are nullified, all of them or some of them are ruined, because he performed them for the completion of the obligatory duties and the expiation of evil deeds.
The one who has taqwā (God-consciousness) works for the elevation of degrees. If his voluntary works are nullified, there remains among his good deeds what outweighs the evil deeds, and so he enters Paradise. The one who mixes [good and evil] balances with them [i.e., barely breaks even]. The enemy desires that no good deed remain for him.
The strong person of waraʿ (scrupulous piety), when his states are rectified and he knows that people commend whoever manifests such states — the enemy finds this a weak point for his stratagems. So he [the enemy] disrupted his plots against him and overcame him, [driving him] to abandon his supplication to his Lord, exalted is He.
He intended to call him to the conviction of riyāʾ (showing off), so as to nullify what used to call him to abandon what he obeys in. So he calls him to claiming religiousness, and magnifies in his eyes the degree of standing among people, until it becomes more overpowering upon his nature than the worth of gold and silver. For the servant may abandon gold and silver, then when he reaches [a position of status] he desires them back, so that it be said: "He has renounced and practiced zuhd (renunciation)." For the nafs (soul) is [driven] by its caprice, and the enemy [likewise] — they both call the servant to acts of disobedience.
As for the soul, it seeks the attainment of its pleasure. As for the enemy, out of envy and enmity he desires the servant's destruction. So when he [the servant] refuses their call to abandon the supererogatory acts, they both say: "Scrupulous piety suffices you." If he disobeys [this suggestion], then they both engage in voluntary worship and call him to showing off through it. And likewise they both call him, even if he does not shift to showing off through his scrupulous piety.
As for the soul, it seeks standing among people and their veneration of him. And the enemy, out of envy and enmity for him — if he refuses, they both show him that this is showing off on his part and that he will not be saved from riyāʾ when it crosses his qalb (heart). If he still refuses and insists upon proceeding with the deed in ikhlāṣ (sincerity) and aversion to showing off, they call him to disputation — since he was refusing it and averse to it — [seeking to show] that what they had claimed against him was false.