“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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Latest Post
Wisdom of a madman
I was reading through some pages from Ibn al-Jawzi’s book ‘Sifat al-Safwah’ when I came across the story of Numayr al-Majnun. Little is known about him (in fact, his story is listed under the ‘Unknown’ figures), but he was afflicted with madness and insanity. He used to spend all his time on the roof of the house, regardless of whether it was rainy, cold, or windy. He couldn’t sleep at night, and instead wandered on the roof in complete darkness.
His cousin came to him one night in Ramadan and ate with him on the roof. When he finished, he was about to go back down to the house when he began to feel sorry for Numayr and felt bad about leaving him, so he cried. Numayr said, “May Allah have mercy on you, why are you crying?” He said, “How can I go back down to a comfy house with light, and leave you here in the cold and darkness?”
Numayr became angry and subhan’Allah, look at what he says next…
He said, “I have a Lord who is more Merciful to me than you, and He knows well what is good for me. Leave Him to do what He wishes with me, for I do not criticize Him with regards to His Decree.”
How incredible. It is the words of a madman which bring us back to reality…