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But real self-knowledge consists in knowing the following things: What art thou in thyself, and from whence hast thou come? Whither art thou going, and for what purpose hast thou come to tarry here awhile, and in what does thy real happiness and misery consist? Some of thy attributes are those of animals, some of devils, and some of angels, and thou hast to find out which of these attributes are accidental and which essential.
"Those who strive in Our way, verily We will guide them to the right paths."
the body may be figured as a kingdom, the soul as its king, and the different senses and faculties as constituting an army.
rational soul in man abounds in, marvels, both of knowledge and power.
Prophet hinted when he said, "Every child is born with a predisposition towards Islam; then his parents make a Jew, or a, Christian, or a star-worshipper of him."
Besides mere incapacity, there are other hindrances to the attainment of spiritual truth. One of these is externally acquired knowledge.
He who has a mere smattering of Sufism is not superior to a learned main, any more than he who has tried a few experiments in alchemy has ground for despising a rich man.
happiness is necessarily linked with the knowledge of God.
lust delights in accomplishing desire, anger in taking vengeance, the eye in seeing beautiful objects, and the ear in hearing harmonious sounds.
Seeing, then, that nothing is higher than God, how great must be the delight which springs from the true knowledge of Him!
An important part of our knowledge of God arises from the study and contemplation of our own bodies, which reveal to us the power, wisdom, and love of the Creator.
Those things he takes most delight in are often the most injurious to him,
It is necessary for him, at the same time that he is conscious of his superiority as the climax of created things, to learn to know also his helplessness, as that too is one of the keys to the knowledge of God.
When a man considers himself he knows that there was a time when he was non-existent, as it is written in the Koran: "Does it not occur to man that there was a time when he was nothing?" Further, he know that he was made out of a drop of water in which there was neither intellect, nor hearing, sight, head, hands, feet, etc. From this it is obvious that, whatever degree of perfection he may have arrived at, he did not make himself, nor can he now make a single hair.
he finds in his own being reflected in miniature, so to speak, the power, wisdom and love of the Creator.
When a man further considers how his various wants of food, lodging, etc., are amply supplied from the storehouse of creation, he becomes aware that God's mercy is as great as His power and wisdom,
Thus from his own creation man comes to know God's existence, from the wonders of his bodily frame God's power and wisdom, and from the ample provision made for his various needs God's love.
Just as the ear cannot take cognisance of colour, nor the eye of sound, so, in conceiving of the ultimate realities, God and the soul, we find ourselves in a region in which sense-concepts can bear no part.
Abraham in the Koran, where it is related that he turned successively to stars, moon, and sun as the objects of his worship, till grown aware of Him who made all these,
the Almighty has a concern for the welfare of that man, and has therefore commanded His servants, the planets or the elements, to produce such a condition in him that he may turn away from the world to his Maker.
He says by the mouth of His Prophet, "Sicknesses themselves are My servants, and are attached, to My chosen."
God's greatness immeasurably transcends our cognitive faculties, and that we can only form a very dim and imperfect idea of it.
Love is the seed of happiness, and love to God is fostered and developed by worship.
Even the Prophet of God said, "I am a man like you, and get angry like others"; and in the Koran it is written, "God loves those who swallow down their anger," not those who have no anger at all.
While man is in this world, two things are necessary for him: first, the protection and nurture of his soul;
to be absorbed in the love of anything but God is the ruin of the soul.
the world presents itself under the guise of a radiant but immoral sorceress, pretends to be in love with you, fondles you, and then goes off to your enemies, leaving you to die of chagrin and despair.
"I marvel", he said, "at the fools who see, what you have done to others, and still desire you."
The Prophet has said that in the Judgment Day the world will appear in the form of a hideous witch with green eyes and projecting teeth. Men, beholding her, will say, "Mercy on us! who is this?" The angels will answer, "This is the world for whose sake you quarrelled and fought and embittered one another's lives."
What words, then, can picture the folly of the man who endeavours to make it his permanent abode, and forms plans ten years ahead regarding things he may never need, seeing that very possibly he may be under the ground in ten days!
This is a bitterness which will outlast death, for the soul which has contracted covetousness as a fixed habit will necessarily in the next world suffer from the pangs of unsatisfied desire.
man carries what knowledge he possesses with him into the next world, and, though his good deeds, have passed, yet the effect of them remains in his character.
Prophet said, "Death is a welcome gift of God to the believer."
if he has as far as possible turned his back on all earthly objects and fixed his supreme affection upon God, he will welcome death as a means of escape from worldly entanglements, and of union with Him whom he loves.
"Death is a bridge which unites friend to friend," and "The world is a paradise for infidels, but a prison for the faithful."
Koran says truly, "Verily you shall see hell; you shall see it with the eye of certainty," and "hell surrounds the unbelievers." It does not say "will surround them," for it is round them even now.
Many profess to love God, but a man may easily test himself by watching which way the balance of his affection inclines when the commands of God come into collision with some of his desires.
The profession of love to God which is insufficient to restrain from disobedience to God is a lie.
People take perilous voyages in ships for the sake of merely probable profit, and will you not suffer a little pain of abstinence now for the sake of eternal joy hereafter?"
Therefore if a man has in his heart that love to God which the Law enjoins, it is perfectly lawful, nay, laudable in him to take part in exercises which promote it. On the other hand, if his heart is full of sensual desires, music and dancing will only increase them, and are therefore unlawful for him.
God is like the sun, which is always shining, but sometimes for us His light is eclipsed by some object which intervenes between us and Him.
Till a man is thoroughly convinced of the fact that be is always under God's observation it is impossible for him to act rightly.
When Zuleikha tempted Joseph she cast a cloth over the face of the idol she used to worship. Joseph said to her, "O Zuleikha, thou art ashamed before a block of stone, and should I not be ashamed before Him who created the seven heavens and the earth?"
God has said, "Paradise is for those who intend to commit some sin and then remember that My eye is upon them and forbear."
People count on their rosaries with self-satisfaction the numbers of times they have recited the name of God, but they keep no rosary for reckoning the numberless idle words they speak.
"Children crowd together at the gate of heaven and cry out for their fathers and mothers, till those of the latter who are outside are told to enter in and join their children."
Omar asked the Prophet what were the things specially to be sought in the world. He answered, "A tongue occupied in the remembrance of God, a grateful heart, and a believing wife."
In the Traditions it has been recorded that some sins can only be atoned for by enduring trouble for the sake of one's family.
The Prophet said: "He who deserts his wife and children is like a runaway slave; till he returns to them none of his fasts or prayers will be accepted by God."
He who thinks he can concentrate himself better on his religious duties by not marrying had better remain single, and he who fears falling
