Chapter on Ghurra Through Seclusion and Fleeing People

Chapter on Delusion Regarding Wara' (Scrupulous Piety) in Food and Dress

To the exclusion of all other matters in its outward and inward aspects.

Among them is a group that does not see that what is obligatory upon it in its time of wara' is anything other than wara' in its nourishment — in food and dress.

So it looked and settled its souls upon it, thinking that it had reached the most difficult degrees of wara' and the most esteemed of it in its time, and that it had perfected taqwā (God-consciousness) and established it. Thus the greater part of wara' was obscured from it — that which is incumbent upon it in their hearts and their limbs.

I said: How do you dispel that?

He said: By knowing that God, exalted and majestic, is not pleased with the ḥalāl (lawful) alone, and that He may punish one whose food is wholesome if he does not fear God, exalted and majestic, in other matters, and that He may be angered by what one says, or harbors inwardly, or listens to, or steps toward, or strikes.

When it knows that, its delusion is removed from it.

Chapter on Delusion Regarding Seclusion and Fleeing from People

And a group upon which the sense of shame before the Fire and solitude has predominated, yet along with that it affects ostentation in its fleeing, and loves to become renowned for it. Hearts among the common people find ease at the mention of that concerning it, while it endures that from them. Admiring its own acts, while the greater part of its sins has been obscured from it, it counts itself as being intimate with God, exalted and majestic, and estranged from His creation.

He said: It should reflect upon the greatness of the right of God, exalted and majestic, the obligation of obedience to Him, and the abundance in number of what is required of it in avoiding what God, exalted and majestic, detests and has prohibited in its outward and inward dimensions — has it reckoned all of that?

Looking at the Arabic source, I need to find where footnote should be placed. The Arabic shows:

نع يورو « :سابع نبا

Which corresponds to the English text:

And it is narrated from Ibn Abbas:

The footnote is already present in the text after "Ibn Abbas" — let me re-read more carefully.

Indeed, looking at the English translation provided, I see that `` is already placed after "Ibn Abbas". Let me verify all footnote markers are correctly placed by cross-referencing with the Arabic source.

Looking at the Arabic footnotes:
- (١) at the bottom of the page (marked ‏(١)) corresponds to about unlawful/doubtful matters in food
- (۲) corresponds to about Surat al-Hujurat
- (۳) corresponds to about Muslim's Sahih
- (£/٤) corresponds to about al-Bukhari
- The final (١) at the very bottom corresponds to about Ahmad in al-Zuhd

The marker is already in the text after "Ibn Abbas". All markers appear to be correctly placed already.

Re-reading the task: it says footnote reference markers are missing. Let me check each one very carefully against the text...

All five footnote markers through appear to already be present in the body text. The translation as provided already has all markers correctly inserted.

Here is the complete updated translation:

If one of them reflects upon this in general — that he stands by the rights of God, Exalted and Glorified, throughout the length of his life —

the afflictions that corrupt it or nullify it, such as riya' (ostentation), 'ujb (self-admiration), arrogance, and wilaya [TN: possibly meaning attachment/allegiance to worldly things] — and some of what God, Exalted and Glorified, has placed upon him by which works are nullified: the squandering of the obligatory duty and the committing of what God, Exalted and Glorified, has forbidden.

And He has threatened the believers among His servants with that, saying: «O you who believe, do not raise your voices» — to His saying — «lest your works be nullified while you are unaware» [49:2].

He threatened them with the nullification of their works if they were to speak loudly in speech to the Prophet, peace be upon him — until Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him, when someone would speak to him, would ask him to repeat the statement several times until he understood what was being said to him. And he said: "By the One who sent you with the truth, I do not speak to you except like the whisperer of secrets" — out of fear, while he was the siddiq (the truthful one) of the community, of what God, Exalted and Glorified, had threatened with.

So who can feel secure that his works will not be nullified after this statement, and His threatening them with it? And he is the best of creation after the Prophet, peace be upon him.

"Indeed God is good and does not accept except what is good."

And the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

"Whoever abandons the afternoon prayer, his works are nullified."

And it is narrated from Ibn Abbas:

"The prayer of a man in whose stomach is a morsel of what is unlawful is not accepted."

It is narrated from Ibn ʿUmar, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said:

"Whoever purchases a garment for ten dirhams, among which is one dirham from ḥarām (unlawful wealth), Allah will not accept any prayer from him as long as he is wearing it."

So what wealth in our time can be safe from being mixed with the unlawful?

If one were to be safe from the blemishes (āfāt) that corrupt the little of his deeds, he could not be sure that he has not performed a deed by which Allah, Exalted and Glorious, would be angered with him, thereby nullifying his deed, or nullifying some of what has passed of his deeds. And even if Allah, Exalted and Glorious, is not angered with him —

This is if he were safe from the blemishes that corrupt them — such as riyāʾ (ostentation), by which Allah, Exalted and Glorious, does not accept deeds when it is present in them.

By the Book and the Sunnah it has been established among the people of knowledge and maʿrifa (spiritual cognizance) that ostentation nullifies a deed when the one performing it harbors it [in his intention]; or vanity (ʿujb) — as it has come that the prayer of the self-admiring person does not rise above his head; or envy (ḥasad), concerning which it has come:

"Verily envy consumes good deeds just as fire consumes firewood."

The rights of Allah, Exalted and Glorious, are immense, obedience is obligatory, and acts of disobedience — both outward and inward — are numerous. One can scarcely be safe from them, and the little of one's deeds is beset by blemishes that intermingle with it and corrupt it.

And by squandering some of the obligatory rights, the servant cannot be sure that his squandering of them will not nullify his deeds.

Even if he were free from blemishes and safe from sins, and did not squander a right, and did not commit a prohibition, and was not heedless in any moment of heedlessness — and that is nearly impossible for the likes of us — fearing to slip into them without being aware, what he seeks of salvation from punishment and of attaining the nearness of the Most Merciful, Exalted and Glorious, would be a paltry, insignificant thing compared to that, for his deeds would not suffice to give thanks for even some of the blessings of this world, let alone the blessings of the religion. So his deeds are small in comparison to what Allah, Exalted and Glorious, has bestowed upon him, and in comparison to what he seeks.

were it not for all of that, «the deliverance from the punishment of God, Exalted and Glorious, would have been greater and more tremendous in His knowledge» than his weak deeds—so how then with his feeble works, given the abundance of slips and errors, the predominance of heedlessness, and forgetfulness overtaking him throughout the length of his life, «along with the fact that he is not safe from the trials that corrupt his works upon him»? It is for that reason that our predecessors, may God have mercy upon them, were so apprehensive.

As for riyā' (ostentation): it is not unlikely that God, Exalted and Glorious, does not accept a deed when its performer has embraced it [i.e., acted upon it with ostentation].

As for ʿujb (self-admiration) and what is besides it: I fear that God, Exalted and Glorious, may nullify the lofty works through it, and I am not certain of that.

Let this group reflect upon its apprehension and its concern over the forerunners—where is their concern regarding them?

Chapter on Being Deluded by Raiding, Pilgrimage, Night Vigil Prayer, and Daytime Fasting

Among them is a group that has been deluded by raiding, pilgrimage, night vigil prayer, and daytime fasting, and one of them has been led to imagine that he is among the intimates of God, Exalted and Glorious, among those who are occupied with Him and who defend against His prohibitions.

Yet one of them has been blinded to his sin: he does not rectify his food and clothing from doubtful matters and the like, and his limbs are spread out for most of his life in what his Lord, Exalted and Glorious, detests. He does not examine himself, and it does not occur to him that someone like him ought to examine himself. Even if he is generally aware of some of the neglect, it is made light to him because of what he possesses of worship, fasting, raiding, and pilgrimage.

Along with that, he does not examine himself for ikhlāṣ (sincerity), and so he acts without recognizing it or scrutinizing it.

I said: In what do you expend effort regarding that?

He said: By examining their own selves, so that one may know whether they have been [truly upright], and fulfilling the obligatory duties.

When one of them examines that in himself, he generally finds that he had been counting himself among those who have crossed the threshold of taqwā (mindful reverence of God), and that he had ascended in the degrees of supererogatory works. It is made to seem to him that someone like him would not be punished, and that he is among the elect of God, Exalted and Glorious, among His creation—he and whoever was like him—yet all the while he had been squandering the fear of God, Exalted and Glorious, regarding what