“I have found the origin of what is inimical to the spiritual life to come, the most
far-reaching of the stratagems of Satan in corrupting the faithful and destroying the
sanctions of religion, to be the love of this world and exaltation and glory therein.
It is the root of evil and the chief of sins, and because of it God’s creatures are remiss in what is due to Him, and go astray from His law, and neglect prayer and fasting and the rest of the ordinances and, through love of wealth and reputation, they are enticed by the seductions of what is unlawful and sinful, and despise much of what is in accordance with the Divine command and purpose.
For the sake of this world, they disobey God and fall into mortal sin, and bring themselves to perdition unawares.
The Prophet of God ﷺ warned them of the seductions of this world, for he said: “After my time worldliness shall come upon you, and it shall consume your faith, as fire consumes the fuel.” He ﷺ also had said: “There is nothing more abhorrent to God, after polytheism, than the love of this world.”
“He who loves this world and its pleasures casts out the fear of the next from his
heart. While you rejoice in what you gain from this world, you have lost the fear of God
Most High. Yes, and perhaps you are so satisfied with your life of worldliness that your
care for spiritual things has grown weak, and it may be that the burden of your sins is
lighter upon you than your affliction from worldly loss. Yes, and your fear of the
diminution of your wealth is twice as great as your fear of committing sin. It may be that
you give away to others what you have amassed by unlawful means, in order to obtain
exaltation and reputation in this world, and perhaps you are satisfied with the creatures,
when God is dissatisfied with them, in order that you may be reckoned good and gain
position and advantage.”
“Know, O my brother that sins produce heedlessness (ghafla)- that is, the sinner is
forgetful of God and his law- and heedlessness produces hardness of heart, and hardness
of hearts leads to alienation from God, and alienation from God leads to Hell.”
“There is hardly a day in a man’s life, he feels, in which he is not guilty of some sin of commission, of the ‘members’ or the heart, and outward piety is no proof of freedom from sin. Most of the devout men of our time are heedless, self-deluded. We reckon ourselves among those who lead an austere and pious life, and it may be that in the sight of God we are among the wicked and sinners.
How can we believe that we are righteous, when not a day comes upon us but we purpose fresh sins, which we have not committed before, and we add them to our past sins, sins of the members and sins of the heart, pride and envy and malevolence and evil supposition and other sins beside?
Every day of our lives we add new sins to the sins of yesterday, and increase our liability to
judgment. The very first sin which we commit, consciously and deliberately, renders us
guilty in the sight of God, and every sin committed thereafter increases our guilt.
judgment. The very first sin which we commit, consciously and deliberately, renders us
guilty in the sight of God, and every sin committed thereafter increases our guilt.
Then, O my brother, let godliness (taqwa) be your chief concern, for it is your capital stock, and works of supererogation (nafil) beyond that represent your profit. There is no merchant so heedless, nor any man wise and sound in judgment, who reckons that he has made a profit, without having secured his capital.”
“You will not attain (to the conquest of sin) except by a sound purpose and a firm Intention to combat desire, and by controlling your inward self, for if the servant controls his inward self, he dominates his members and has knowledge of his own heart, and self examination and other means of opposing the self in what she desires become easy to him, by the leave of God Most High; but if you lose control of your inward self, God’s command will seem hard to you, and your members will go astray and your heart will be lost, and you will not be aware of it, and will find yourself unfit for self-examination.
“You will not attain (to the conquest of sin) except by a sound purpose and a firm Intention to combat desire, and by controlling your inward self, for if the servant controls his inward self, he dominates his members and has knowledge of his own heart, and self examination and other means of opposing the self in what she desires become easy to him, by the leave of God Most High; but if you lose control of your inward self, God’s command will seem hard to you, and your members will go astray and your heart will be lost, and you will not be aware of it, and will find yourself unfit for self-examination.
Then keep to what is lawful, control your tongue except in what will aid you in
approaching God Most High, guard also your hearing and your sight and consider in what you sin and for what you sin.
Fear the sins of the heart, and search out its hidden faults and the basic principles
of its sins, and the evil of its inmost parts and subtilties of its sensual desires and the
secrets of its lusts, then strive to expel what is opposed to the good pleasure of God Most
High from your hearts, for when you delivered from the sins of the heart, then you are
saved from the punishment of God Most High.
