Chapter on What Eliminates 'Ujb Regarding Acts of Obedience

They measured by a standard other than qiyās (analogical reasoning), and they were impressed with their own measuring, and they supposed that they had attained the truth, while they had measured upon other than the [correct] standard and approached it with other than its [proper method] and contradicted it.

I said: You have made its harm immense and you have enumerated the abundance of afflictions in it, so inform me: what is it?

He said: Istihsān (approval) of [erroneous] opinion arising from the desire of the nafs (the self), along with an intrusion from supposition that it is [correct].

I said: From what did that arise? For it can only have arisen from heedlessness and ignorance.

He said: Indeed.

He said: From abandoning suspicion of the self, and approving of opinion without a general [principle] that has been made clear to it and without evidence upon it from God, Exalted and Glorious. And that is a tremendous affliction, not a blessing.

Rather, he is impressed with an opinion [damaged] and it is not fitting; rather, he should suspect his own self until it becomes clear to him — so he either adopts it as a conviction or rejects it — through knowledge. And when he was impressed with it at the time of counting it, [he should recall] His blessings.

Chapter on That Which Dispels Self-Admiration for Deeds of Obedience

I said: How does the worshipper dispel self-admiration with religion until the servant is safe from it?

He said: As for self-admiration with the truth and obedience — in terms of action, knowledge, and opinion that accords with the truth and correctness — one should remember the blessing therein: that this is the grant of God, Exalted and Glorious, and His bounty, and were it not for His favor in that, one would not have attained it.

reflection, for you were not disciplined, or you were with one who was

the opposite of that, wherein God, Exalted and Majestic, alerted the intellect (ʿaql) so that it overcomes the desire of the nafs (the self) thereby, and resolved firmly for him upon right guidance. So he opposed the love of the nafs and its appetites.

For the servant scarcely comes to any act of righteousness (birr) except that its appetite is in its opposite. If he stood in night prayer, its appetite is in its rest from fatigue, and in its sleep as an escape from wakefulness. Likewise if he fasted, its appetite is in marriage and other such things.

And likewise with all the works of obedience. They would not have been [performed by him] were it not that God, Exalted and Majestic, granted him the work — he should remember this and acknowledge it: "Had I been left alone, I would not have performed them." The work is a blessing (niʿma) that God, Exalted and Majestic, bestowed upon him, not something originating from himself, and that upon him is gratitude (shukr) for that, and that he falls short in his gratitude for it, that he does not deserve what He has favored him with, but rather he deserves to be forsaken, because of his squandering of gratitude for the blessings of God, Exalted and Majestic, upon him.

I say: There may also be from the heart things in which there is no fatigue upon it, such as silence from plunging into falsehood, and like lowering the gaze, and abandoning backbiting (ghība), and leaving off plunging into sins and superfluous matters, and reflection in the qalb (heart) and remembrance (dhikr).

He said: All of that is indeed burdensome upon it, for even if it is not fatigued, it is nonetheless preoccupied away from its love and its desire (hawā). For its comfort lies in conversing with people and its relaxation is to bring out what passes through the heart. Likewise, lowering the gaze from looking at what it craves and desires.

Likewise, reflection and remembrance (dhikr) with the heart for the sake of the Hereafter occupy one from looking into the comforts of this world and reflecting

That weighs heavily upon it, and preoccupies it from its comfort and its ease.

It has been verified for those of understanding that what the self (nafs) attained of tribulation and obedience, when it was contrary to its love of ease, or the weariness that enters upon it, or the deprivation of comfort or pleasure it desires—

This is a clear proof, an evident witness, and a decisive argument against it that the One who entered it into opposition to its desire is its Sovereign who bestowed that favor upon it, and to Him alone belongs praise and shukr (gratitude).

If the self then claims that it is the one who performed it and earned it, and praises itself for its sabr (patient endurance) and its strength, then let one return to the self with this knowledge (ma'rifa) that one finds within oneself and one's nature. It suffices that God, Exalted and Glorified, has informed about it that it is «indeed commanding to evil» [12:53], except what the Lord has shown mercy upon, and the Master has bestowed His favor upon. And it suffices as a refutation of it. So let one return to it with this knowledge, and that it is invalidated. For how can it claim the claim of that whose habit was love of disobedience, upon whom His acts weighed heavily, and which was striving against Him? How can it claim that from itself—that it used to refuse and was eager for disobedience, and after entering into it contends toward severing and completely abandoning it? That from it is false accusation, and whoever believes it in that treats it with ignorance and injustice.

I said: The worker for God, Exalted and Glorified, the one of strong resolve, the one who renounces (zahid) the world, the one who perseveres in obedience—may find an eagerness in his self for obedience, and a desire from it that it can scarcely endure being kept from, as though it were from natural disposition. Rather, in some states it may be more than natural disposition. And we may find this in ourselves also, along with our mixing in some of our states in our works.

He said: That was not from it originally, nor is it in conformity with the natural constitution, nor the state of its weakness. It had at first been striving and eager, and that cannot be except that its nature was overcome by the strength of resolve and the light of truth, and it prevailed over it, and it suppressed and subdued it . It despaired of being answered in its desire, and natural disposition was conquered from it .

its sorrows, and the concern for the Hereafter, and the seeking of its guidance, and the awe of it — yet despite all that, upon its natural disposition. Were it to find a respite from Him, it would revert to the worst of its states, and it would abandon the greater part of its obedience to its Lord, Mighty and Glorious.

Have you then considered one who does not yield except through compulsion (from Him), and does not love except through threat and rebuke, and does not submit to compliance unless He subdues it for you through other than yourself and aids you against it — while you, despite that, are not secure that it will not turn back from its compliance, and abandon its obedience to you, and revert to the worst of its states? Do you not know that your love for it does not change, and that its desire does not depart? Rather, it was subdued and so it complied, and it was overpowered and so it obeyed. Yet were it to find a path to what it loves, or were you to be heedless for a moment, it would swiftly incline toward it and turn away in aversion. Would you then be praising it for its obedience, or would you hold that act of obedience from it in high regard out of love from it for your compliance? Or would it be blameworthy to you for what you know of its love and its will being contrary to your obedience? And would you be praising the one who aided you against it, whose subjugation and overpowering of it is rightfully yours, since you employed it?

The likeness of that is like one whose enemy's child is born, and his captive, and he watched over what he shepherded — his children, his land, and his homeland — and he had striven [against you before captivity so that he would be the one to take you captive]. Then the one who aided you against it came to you, and his might sufficed you, and He enabled you [over him]. Yet he never ceased, after you were enabled [over him], pulling you toward returning to his land, and seeking a moment of heedlessness from you so that he might kill you or take you [captive] and return with you to his dwelling and his homeland.

So you never ceased striking him and subduing him until he yielded to you out of fear, and hastened to serve you — yet despite that, you feared that he might find an opportunity (or an opening) and turn back and abandon you, and cast aside what was in his hands of what you had put him in charge of from your work. Would you then be praising him in his affair, or adorning yourself on account of it?

Likewise, your nafs (self) had been eager to incline toward this world as before, preferring it over the Hereafter. It strove to take you captive through its desires, so that you would become a servant to it and to the path of [worldly matters]. But God, exalted and glorified, refused except to grant you success and set you aright. He strengthened your weakness, illuminated your qalb (heart), and aided you against it. You came to know much of what you had been ignorant of, and you abandoned much of what you had been doing, until it submitted to the contrary of that only through compulsion and coercion.

Then He granted you the ability to rebuke and reproach it, and He strengthened your intellect over its desires, and your knowledge over its ignorance, and He granted you steadfastness in refusing to comply with it, until it despaired of obtaining what it loved from you. It broke away from what it had been accustomed to, and it responded quickly — not by a reversal of its nature nor a change from its instinct, but rather out of what you had habituated it to.

And you, even with its compliance, remain ever watchful for its relapse, asking the One who undertook to aid you against it and subdue it, until it submitted to you obediently after its resistance — that He continue to grant you that, and that He not strip it from you. For you fear that He might leave you to yourself, and it would then overpower you and return you to all that you love and desire, and that would be your ruin in this world and your Hereafter.

So do you find between yourself and captivity any difference? Rather, it is more severe in affliction than the captive, and greater in tribulation and more perilous!

I said:

I do find a difference between myself and the captive, because the captive does not see any good in what is desired of him, whereas the self already knows that what is desired of it is its own good (in the immediate life and the life to come). It is not that it refused and disobeyed out of ignorance — rather, it disobeyed out of knowledge and clear evidence, not out of ignorance and blindness.

the abode of war, and the distinction between it and disbelief, and what is intended by it regarding Islam in general — and perhaps it recites [scripture] while its people wage war against God, Almighty and Glorious, and against His religion. "He would have answered you willingly," yet it most detested returning to his homeland.

It is more evil still, and I am more amazed at its defiance and refusal than at the captive, since when it disobeyed after general knowledge, it is as though you are only calling it to its salvation and avoiding that which would destroy it.

We may find some captives resembling the two of them in all their affairs, for the captive may know faith and its merit, just as God, Almighty and Glorious, described some of the People of the Book — that they recognize the truth yet avoid it after general knowledge. He said:

«If you are in doubt about what We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Book before you. The truth has indeed come to you from your Lord, so do not be among the doubters.» [Yunus:94]

And the description of Iblis is that he acknowledged His Lordship and then stubbornly opposed after general knowledge.

And the Almighty said, as one who declares: «And indeed a group among the believers would dispute with you about the truth after it had become manifest.» [Al-Anfal:6]

Likewise, it refuses after general knowledge, clear evidence, and recognition. So it equals the worst of captives, and corresponds to every ignorant or generally-knowing captive. There is no difference between them in resemblance on account of refusal and disobedience.

So praise belongs to God alone, and censure belongs to it, and wariness and fear of it, and abandoning reliance upon it — your knowledge of what…

Whoever knows his nafs (self), wonderment departs from him, and gratitude to the Lord, Almighty and Glorious, grows immense, and his wariness of it intensifies — along with trust and tranquility toward the Master, Almighty and Glorious, and loathing of it, and love for the Gracious Benefactor.

Consider: if two companions accompanied you, and one of them intended to smash your head with a rock while you were sleeping, and the other woke you — and he had seized the hand [of the first] upon the rock as he was raising it to hurl it at you, and showed you what the other had intended and what he sought to assassinate you with —

Or if someone prepared poison in your food to kill you with it, and another showed you through testing it on some animals that what he intended to kill you with was poison, until you knew that had you eaten what was prepared for you of the food, that poison would have killed you as it killed the animal upon which it was tested — would you not increase in loathing and hatred for the one who intended you evil? And for the one who rescued you from his plotting, would you not increase in love, affection, intimacy, and gratitude? And for the one who intended evil toward you, would you not increase in wariness? And for the one who intervened between you and that, would you not increase in trust and tranquility, in hope that he would rescue you from the likes of that?

And if the one who intended evil for you claimed that he was the one who rescued you from it — were you forgetful of the one who watched over you, while the one who intended you evil [intended your destruction]? Never. You would never have done that as long as your intellect was sound.

How many a tribulation has your nafs (the self) desired for you, yet Allah — exalted and glorified — resolved for you to abandon it, awakened you from heedlessness, and protected you from it, when in it lay your destruction — greater than death by poison and stone.

And how many a right belonging to Allah — exalted and glorified — you were determined to squander, yet Allah — exalted and glorified — refused except to grant you success toward working for it, with praise and righteousness toward your Lord — exalted and glorified — and tranquility toward Him, and trust in Him. And to Him belongs all praise, exclusively to Him alone, and gratitude to Him for His grace in all that you have attained of righteousness and obedience.

— I said — and this had already been my understanding in general terms — If only my soul could see clearly through your description of this: that had it been left to itself, it would have perished, and that He is the One who undertook that, and to Him belongs the favor therein, until I attained what I attained of righteousness and obedience. He alone, no partner has He.