1.The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
- from Shakespeare's, Julius Caesar
In concealing others’ fault be like night.
- Mevlana Rumi
You do not find fault with others, you find fault with your self. You must look at your self and say, “What is wrong with it?’ Harith al-Muhasibi, may his soul be at rest, went over his day, then went over his hours and then went over his minutes, then went over his breaths until he had verified that it was pleasing to Allah and that it was acceptable to Allah, the Majestic, the Magnificent.
2.
Two great 'ulama (religious scholar) met in Baghdad and they argued and fought with each other. At the end one of them said, “Let us meet tomorrow and discuss this matter further.” and the other one said, “No, let us meet tomorrow and make peace and forget all about it.”
This is the way of the Sufis - to begin again.
3.
As-Salmi, may Allah bless him, said, “The behaviour of the self (nafs, ego) is pride, vanity, boasting, emptiness, hatred, treachery, rancour, greed, false hope, holding a grudge, jealousy, irritation, worry, restlessness, expectation, accumulation, withholding, cowardice, ignorance, laziness, aversions, antipathy, following desires, mockery, demanding, conceit, impetuosity, love of comfort, heedlessness, quarrelsomeness, domination, tyranny, enmity, discord, opposition, contradiction, fighting, rivalry, slander, false accusations, lies, backbiting, foolishness, calling obscenities, bad opinion, blame, insolence, betrayal, swindling, maliciousness, and debauchery.”
It is obligatory on the murıd (seeker) to know these things so that he or she can avoid them and struggle to eliminate them and to exchange them for what is best. The one who does not know them will stray. The murıd must exchange pride for humility and harshness for affection and lies for sincerity, and success is with Allah.
Shaykh Ahmad az-Zarruq said, blessed be his soul,
The roots of blameworthy behavior are three:
one. To be pleased with the self (one's own nafs, ego).
two. To fear creation.
three. To be concerned about provision.
From the first comes desire, forgetfulness and disobedience.
From the second comes anger, rancour and jealousy.
From the third comes greed and expectation and avarice.'
He also said, “To hold onto one thing will eliminate all of these, and that is not to be pleased with the self in any state, and to beware of it at all times.”
We find in the Hikam, “The root of every disobedience and desire and forgetfulness is contentment with the self (ego), and the root of every obedience and wakefulness and abstention is your not being content with your self (ego).”
4.
You must speak well of people and have a good opinion of people. You must be people of chivalry (futuwwa), you must become these people who are spoken of because of the high aspiration, the high himma you have which is on a universal scale..
Beware of the people of dunya (world of appearances / forms / bodies, those who are engrossed with the worldly matters only). Beware of the people of dunya until you are safe, and when you are safe it does not matter where you go. If you are not safe then you must be careful. You must have taqwa (divine consciousness) and you must have wara' (piety, state of scrupulousness). You must take care, take care, watch, until you are on Siratu-l-Mustaqim because when things go wrong you have to remember that all you have got is then to turn to Allah, the Most Bountious.
- Mevlana Rumi
You do not find fault with others, you find fault with your self. You must look at your self and say, “What is wrong with it?’ Harith al-Muhasibi, may his soul be at rest, went over his day, then went over his hours and then went over his minutes, then went over his breaths until he had verified that it was pleasing to Allah and that it was acceptable to Allah, the Majestic, the Magnificent.
2.
Two great 'ulama (religious scholar) met in Baghdad and they argued and fought with each other. At the end one of them said, “Let us meet tomorrow and discuss this matter further.” and the other one said, “No, let us meet tomorrow and make peace and forget all about it.”
This is the way of the Sufis - to begin again.
3.
As-Salmi, may Allah bless him, said, “The behaviour of the self (nafs, ego) is pride, vanity, boasting, emptiness, hatred, treachery, rancour, greed, false hope, holding a grudge, jealousy, irritation, worry, restlessness, expectation, accumulation, withholding, cowardice, ignorance, laziness, aversions, antipathy, following desires, mockery, demanding, conceit, impetuosity, love of comfort, heedlessness, quarrelsomeness, domination, tyranny, enmity, discord, opposition, contradiction, fighting, rivalry, slander, false accusations, lies, backbiting, foolishness, calling obscenities, bad opinion, blame, insolence, betrayal, swindling, maliciousness, and debauchery.”
It is obligatory on the murıd (seeker) to know these things so that he or she can avoid them and struggle to eliminate them and to exchange them for what is best. The one who does not know them will stray. The murıd must exchange pride for humility and harshness for affection and lies for sincerity, and success is with Allah.
Shaykh Ahmad az-Zarruq said, blessed be his soul,
The roots of blameworthy behavior are three:
one. To be pleased with the self (one's own nafs, ego).
two. To fear creation.
three. To be concerned about provision.
From the first comes desire, forgetfulness and disobedience.
From the second comes anger, rancour and jealousy.
From the third comes greed and expectation and avarice.'
He also said, “To hold onto one thing will eliminate all of these, and that is not to be pleased with the self in any state, and to beware of it at all times.”
We find in the Hikam, “The root of every disobedience and desire and forgetfulness is contentment with the self (ego), and the root of every obedience and wakefulness and abstention is your not being content with your self (ego).”
4.
You must speak well of people and have a good opinion of people. You must be people of chivalry (futuwwa), you must become these people who are spoken of because of the high aspiration, the high himma you have which is on a universal scale..
Beware of the people of dunya (world of appearances / forms / bodies, those who are engrossed with the worldly matters only). Beware of the people of dunya until you are safe, and when you are safe it does not matter where you go. If you are not safe then you must be careful. You must have taqwa (divine consciousness) and you must have wara' (piety, state of scrupulousness). You must take care, take care, watch, until you are on Siratu-l-Mustaqim because when things go wrong you have to remember that all you have got is then to turn to Allah, the Most Bountious.
Whoever sits with the perfumer becomes fragrant with his perfume.- Selection from the talk given by Shaykh Nooruddeen Durkee ash-Shadhili, May Allah be pleased with him, on the theme of Oral Tradition on December 6th, 2009 at Green Mountain School, Charlottesville, Virginia as part of the series of 5 Sundays on Tasawwuf
[Download] Click here to download first part and 2nd part of the talk of tasawwuf (sufism) and may it be beneficial to your heart and soul (you may need winamp / itunes to play).
[>] This talk and others can be downloaded from Green Mountain School website
# Related
. The Divine Names : al-Ghafir, al-Ghafur and al-Ghaffar
COMMENTS