Chapter on From Where Should the Servant Dislike Muslims Criticizing Him

Chapter: From Where It Is Befitting for the Servant to Dislike the Blame of the Muslims Directed at Him, and From Where He Should Not Dislike It

I said: Is it not befitting for the Muslim to dislike the blame of the Muslims directed at him? He said: Yes, but he may dislike it in several ways:

He may dislike their blame out of fear that it would be an indication of God Almighty's blame of him, because of the saying: «They are God's witnesses on earth» — and that they would not wrong him in their blame, or that they would lie [TN: i.e., that they might not lie], or that they would preoccupy him from God Almighty, so that they would cloud his heart with aversion toward them without just cause, and he would thereby disobey God concerning them with his heart or his limbs.

Or out of compassionate concern for them, lest they disobey God on his account.

And that which is lesser than this — and it is permissible — is that he dislikes hearing what distresses him or what pains him of speech. Even if they blame him and he becomes distressed because of what stirs from his natural disposition, there is no harm in it, so long as his dislike of the blame is not accompanied by resentment that it should be removed from him.

And out of love that they praise him for obedience and commend him for wara' (scrupulous piety) and consider him among the people of wara'.

So that praise for his deeds would fall away from him, and he does not love that they say about him anything other than that, nor that he eats by means of his religion nor through his obedience.

If that is the case, then he has suffered a deficiency in his religion.

And even if he did not show off (riya') through obedience to God, Mighty and Glorious, on account of that, and did not feel distressed by that because people praise him for his obedience to God, Mighty and Glorious, and he grew weary of that, and his preoccupation—along with being safe from riya' (ostentation)—was grief over their blame , if they were truthful in it regarding grief for the sake of God, Mighty and Glorious, then he has indeed suffered deficiency and loss. Rather, many among people are not satisfied except by grief over the loss of praise through religion, until he undertakes other acts that he had not previously performed, so that he might remove that blame from himself, and he resorts to making excuses through lying and fabrication.

The believer does not seek the praise of any creature through obedience to God, Mighty and Glorious, nor does he earn their blame, nor does he love it, because in that is preoccupation of his qalb (heart) and a trial for him, and perhaps it leads him to what is not lawful for him, and to the disobedience of the Muslims against him through his obedience.

So obedience is that by which he intends God, Mighty and Glorious, and does not intend the servants by it. The blame of the servants—he does not love it, nor does he earn it, nor does he seek it. And he loves that they do not disobey God, Mighty and Glorious, regarding him, and that they do not distract him from his Lord, Mighty and Glorious, and that their religion be sound for them .

I said: If he does not love their blame nor their praise for his obedience to his Lord, and there is no rank between them—then if he did not love their blame, he loved their praise, and if he did not love their praise, he loved their blame.

He said: His grief over their blame regarding his obedience to his Lord, Mighty and Glorious, is not distress over the loss of rank, nor love of praise, but rather it is because of the preoccupation of his heart and because of their disobedience regarding him.

And likewise, he does not love their praise for obedience to God.

Looking at the Arabic source, I need to find where footnote should be placed. The Arabic footnote (٤) corresponds to a variant in manuscript Ṭ: "He loves error in the intent of the knot."

Looking at the Arabic source text, footnote 4 appears to relate to the passage about counting something as a blessing from his Lord. The Arabic text near this footnote marker shows: هنع كلذ عفد الكف »هتلفغ لاح يف هبلغي نا هلعلف — "perhaps it overcomes him in a state of heedlessness, and so his repelling of that from himself is nothing other than his counting it as a blessing from his Lord, Mighty and Glorious."

The footnote (٤) in the Arabic notes appears right after the paragraph ending with "blessing from his Lord, Mighty and Glorious." Given that the variant reading concerns "the intent of the knot" (دقع — which could relate to دقتعم "holds/intends"), the footnote marker should be placed near "holds" or the concept of intent/conviction. Looking more carefully at the Arabic: دقتعم هنا corresponds to "he is one who holds that the preoccupation" — and the variant in Ṭ relates to this word about intent/conviction.

However, examining the position in the Arabic notes, footnote 4 appears after the paragraph about "blessing from his Lord." The most natural placement is after "Mighty and Glorious" at the end of that paragraph.

Here is the complete updated translation:

I said: So their striving is beloved to him because of the cessation of preoccupation with them and their obedience to their Lord therein.

He said: If his preoccupation is out of love of praise, and his seeking the settling of preoccupation from his qalb (heart) is out of love for praise and aggrandizement upon obedience to his Lord, then he has hastened the reward of that.

And if his dislike is due to the preoccupation of his heart with blame, and his love that the preoccupation should depart from his heart is a seeking of safety — no, he is one who holds that the preoccupation is not out of love of their praise, but rather out of dislike of striving against his natural disposition. Yet perhaps it overcomes him in a state of heedlessness, and so his repelling of that from himself is nothing other than his counting it as a blessing from his Lord, Mighty and Glorious.

I said: So praise too is, in its entirety, for other than obedience, lest a fault of blame oppose him upon obedience, and he strives against his natural disposition regarding it, and that preoccupies him, and perhaps it passes away.

He said: In the occurrence of blame there is an aversion of natural disposition, and in the repelling of praise, if blame does not follow it, there is nothing but an aversion of natural disposition out of anxiety for love of rank. And his seeking of praise from his heart is only out of hope that they will praise him for goodness and obedience. So when the nafs (soul) calls to praise in its entirety, he has already known that they do not praise him except for goodness and righteousness.

So as for his love of praise for concealment, seeking concealment of his condition upon him:

I said: I do not deem permissible for him anything other than his joy at the blessing of concealment after the deed has passed with ikhlas (sincerity). And between blame and praise there is a rank.

I said: What are they?

He said: That their hearts be empty of anyone among them spurring them on to obedience to God, Almighty and Glorious, and from blame from one who does not know him, nor praises him, nor blames him.

And like the heart of one who knows him but forgets his good conduct, so he neither praises him nor blames him.

Or he remembers his good conduct in that, yet his heart is not emptied for praise or blame.

So he does not love that they blame him out of dislike of occupation, and he loves not to persist in obedience out of dislike of ostentation (riya'), and zuhd (renunciation) regarding status — he loves to be free of all of that.

So there is neither praise nor blame from them. And if they held blame for him after obedience, he would not be troubled by what had been upon him, for trial does not befall him therein except that he does not love them to be harmed thereby — lest they disobey God, Almighty and Glorious, in it — and regarding praise for him, they are disposed by nature [to it].

I said: Are blame and gentleness two stations, one before the other?

He said: There is no [distinction] between action and abandonment as a station, because abandonment of action is a second action. So actions are of various kinds.

Thus the servant performs an act — a third [type] — with neither praise nor blame, and he empties his heart of praise and blame toward some of the servants.

So he loves that this servant live his entire life without anyone praising him for obedience, and without anyone blaming him — so that his heart not be preoccupied away from occupation with the Hereafter, and being secure that there not come from him to them what they would find fault with in him, and out of love that they not disobey God, Almighty and Glorious, regarding him.

And even if the one who blames him were six , he would love the blame from him [to cease], out of fear that it would increase further.

And also out of fear that he might mention them with what is not lawful for him — and the least of that is that they preoccupy his heart from his Lord, Almighty and Glorious.