“Don’t worship Allah so He may give you. Rather, worship Him so He may be pleased. For when He is pleased, He will astonish you with His Gifts.”
By the dawn
And the ten nights
And the even and the odd
O you tranquil soul!
Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing
[al-Fajr: 1-3; 27-28]
Loftiness is attained in accordance to one’s struggles,
And whoever seeks nobility, remains vigilant by night.
Whoever wishes to achieve without due effort,
Will waste their life seeking what’s impossible.
You search for glory and yet you sleep at night,
It’s only the seeker of pearls who dives deep into the sea.
– Imam al-Shafi’i, al-Diwan
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“This is you.”
Excerpts translated from Imam Ahmad’s book, ‘Kitab al-Zuhd‘:
Uthman ibn ‘Affan: “No-one does a deed except that Allah clothes him with that deed of his.”
Abu Dharr: “Do you see the people? There is hardly any good in their affairs, except for he who is pious or he who is repentant.”
Sa’id al-Jariri said, “Some of our scholars narrated that Abu al-Darda saw a man at a funeral and he was saying, “Who is this? (i.e. the deceased)” So Abu al-Darda replied, “This is you. This is you. Allah says, “Indeed, you will die, and they will die.” [al-Zumar: 30]”
Mis’ar: Abd al-A’la al-Taymi used to say in his sujud (prostration during prayer), “O Allah, increase us in humility just as Your enemies have increased in aversion, and do not let our faces fall into Hell after they have fallen in prostration to You.”
Al-Hasan al-Basri: “I met people who did not become thrilled with delight when the Dunya (world) came to them, nor did they fall into despair when they lost some of it.”
Haram ibn Hayyan: “I seek refuge in Allah from reaching an era where the elderly have long hopes and the youth rebel, but death comes for both.” And he also said, “I have not seen how the one fleeing from Hell can sleep, nor have I seen how the seeker of Paradise can sleep.”