Beauty and Knowledge

Ibn Al-Qayyim, rahimahullaah, said:

“When Allah granted Prophet Yoosuf (`alayhis-Salaam) physical beauty it caused him to be locked up in the prison; but when Allah granted him knowledge (when he interpreted the dream of the king) it not only took him out of prison, but elevated his rank in society, clearly showing us the virtue of knowledge and that physical beauty does not mean anything.”

Al-‘Ilm wa Fadhluhu wa Sharafuhu p. 32

You disobey Allah, and yet you still claim to love Him.

Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak recited:
You disobey Allah, and yet you still claim to love Him.
By Allah, such behaviour is disgusting, by any standard!
You would have obeyed Him had your love been true.
For the lover is always obedient to the Beloved!

...more beautiful than the silence

Speak only when your words are more beautiful than the silence. 
(Arabic Proverb)

Occupy yourself with every good deed

“Occupy yourself with every good deed and hasten to do it before something prevents you from doing so.”

— Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal

Give your enemy a thousand chances to become your friend

“Give your enemy a thousand chances to become your friend, but do not give your friend a single chance to become your enemy.

— Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib RA

...and failure comes to them..

Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullaah said: “The degree to which a person is helped and aided by Allaah depends on the degree of his intention, drive, aim and hopes. Help from Allaah comes to people in proportion to their drive, intention, hopes and fears, and failure comes to them in like manner.”

Never make permanent decisions

"Never make permanent decisions based on temporary feelings."

Arabic Proverb

A Contented Life

A Contented Life
Let the days pass as they will
Be content with Allah’s will.
Do not regret what this day’s cast,
For this world’s pains for sure won’t last.

Be a man against fears strong,
Be kind and loyal, all life long.
If in folk’s eyes your faults abound,
And you wish that they be gowned:
Then shelter seek beneath kind acts,
For kindness well all blame retracts.
From enemies hide your weakness
For gloating foes do bring distress.
From misers never seek favor:
In fire there is no water.
Patience won’t reduce income,
Nor fretfulness increase the sum.
Neither pain nor joy shall last,
Nor poverty, nor riches vast.
But if your heart is satisfied
Then you do own the whole world wide.
A man on whom his fate alights
No depths shall save, nor any heights.
Allah’s earth is wide, but know,
That destiny makes it narrow.
Face each day on even keel.
There’s no balm from death can heal.

[Imam al-Shafi`i]

Perhaps one hour of neglect may destroy a years

Ibn Hazm said : 
"Perhaps one hour of neglect may destroy a years worth of pious effort!"

[al-Akhlaaq wa-Siyar p. 14]

Good health is a crown..

Good health is a crown that Only the sick can see. [Imam Shaafi]

“Do you think I have paid her back?”

“Do you think I have paid her back?”

Ibn Al-Jawzi writes:

عن زرعة أن رجلا أتى عمر فقال: إن لي أما بلغ بها الكبر أنها لا تقضي حاجتها إلا وظهري لها مطية أوَضّئها وأصرف وجهي عنها، فهل أديت حقها ؟ قال: لا، قال: أليس قد حملتها على ظهري وحبست ع

ليها نفسي ؟ قال: إنها كانت تصنع ذلك وهي تتمنى بقاءك وأنت تصنع ذلك وأنت تتمنى فراقها


Zur’ah ibn Ibraaheem narrated that a man came to ‘Umar and said to him: “I have an old mother who is unable to go answer the call of nature, so I carry her on my back. I also help her perform ablution while turning my face away from her (out of respect). Have I fulfilled my duty towards her?”
‘Umar said, “No.” The man said, “Even though I carry her on my back and exert myself in her service”
‘Umar said: “She used to do the same for you when you were young, while hoping that you will live. As for you, you await when she will go away (die).”

["Al-Birr was-Silah", 35]

If the heart becomes hardened

“If the heart becomes hardened, the eye becomes dry.” -Ibn Qayyim

Do not respond to anyone until you have understood their words

Yahyaa ibn Khaalid (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

لَا تُرَدَّ عَلَى أَحَدٍ جَوَاباً حَتَى تَفْهَمُ كَلَامَهُ

Do not respond to anyone until you have understood their words,

فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ يَصْرِ فُكَ عَنْ جَوَابِ كَلَامِهِ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ وَ يُؤَكِّدُ اَلجَهْلَ عَلَيْكَ

For that will cause you to respond to what they have not said, and thus confirm your own ignorance.

وَ لَكِنِ اَفْهَمْ عَنْهُ، فَإِذَا فَهِمْتَهُ فَأَجِبْهُ، وَ لَا تَتَعَجَّلْ بِالجَوَابِ قَبْل َالِاسْتِفْهَامِ

Rather you must understand his speech properly. So when you understand him, then respond. And do not rush to answer before asking for clarity.

وَ لَا تَسْتَحْيِ أَنْ تَسْتَفْهِمَ إِذَا لَمْ تَفْهَمْ، فَإِنَّ اَلجَوَابَ قَبْلَ اَلْفَهْمِ حُمْقٌ

And do not be shy to seek clarity when you do not understand. For verily answering before understanding is sheer idiocy!

وَ إِذَا جَهِلْتَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَسْأَلَ، فَيَبْدُو لَكَ

So if you do not know before asking, then ask! Then it will come to you.

فَسُؤَالُكَ وَاسْتِفْهَامُكَ أَحْمَدُ بِكَ وَ خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنَ السُّكُوتِ عَلَى الْعَيِّ.

Your questioning and seeking clarity is more praiseworthy and better for you then being silent and incapable of expressing yourself!

 

If you are unable to perform Qiyaam al-Layl

Al-Fudayl (r.a) said:

If you are unable to perform Qiyaam al-Layl (pray during the night), and fast during the day, then know that you are deprived, shackled by your sin(s).

Someone who turns away in prayer

“Someone who turns away in prayer, either with his eyes or his heart, is like a man whom the king summons and seats before him: just when the king starts to call out his name and addresses him, the man turns from him right and left, and his

 heart turns away. And since his heart is not present, he understands nothing of what the king says to him. What should this man expect from the king in return? At the very least, should he not expect to leave the palace – rejected, cast out and beneath consideration?

This worshipper is in no wise equal to the one whose heart is present, turned in prayer towards God and so aware of the Grandeur of the One before whom he stands that his heart is filled with awe, his head inclines and he would be ashamed before his Lord to face anyone else, or turn away.

About these two prayers, as Hassan bin ‘Atiya said: ‘Two men may offer prayer shoulder to shoulder, and yet between their two prayers lies a gulf as [vast] as that separating Heaven from earth. This is because one of them has his heart turned towards God, while the other is forgetful and heedless.’

Extract: The Invocation of God; Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya; page 26

love of Allah is the power of the heart

Love of Allah is the power of the heart, the sustenance of the heart, the light of the heart' - 
Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyah

Whoever insults his brother for a sin

"Whoever insults his brother for a sin will not die until he falls into it (himself)." - Ibn al-Qayyim

Sinning is a disease

'Sinning is a disease , repentance is it's medicine and abstinent from it is a sure cure' - 

Ali (r.a)

The prayer is heavy

“The prayer is heavy, because one’s legs and hands are not what get up for the prayer. What gets up for the prayer are the heart and the soul.”

[Sheikh Abdullah Azzam]

What is destined will reach you

What is destined will reach you, even if it be underneath two mountains and what is not destined, will not reach you, even if it be between your two lips! [Arabic Proverb]

“Eid is not for the one who wears new clothes.."

Ibn Rajab: 

“Eid is not for the one who wears new clothes. Eid is for the one whose obedience rises. Eid is not for the one with beautiful clothes and fine means of transport, Eid is for the one whose sins are forgiven.” 

(al-Lata'if, p. 371)

No sadness lasts forever

"No sadness lasts forever, nor any felicity – Nor any state of poverty or one of luxury. 
If you are the owner of a heart that is content – Then you and the owner of the world are equivalent."
 [Imam ash-Shafi’ee]

Зачем тебе вино?

Зачем тебе вино? Ведь твоя жизнь и без того представляет собой путь по обледенелой дороге с хрупкой стеклянной поклажей и с хромым ослом. (аль Газали)

“Patience is that the heart does not feel anger

“Patience is that the heart does not feel anger towards that which is destined and that the mouth does not complain.”
— Ibn-ul-Qayyim (rahimullaah) [al-‘Uddah, p. 156]

I never argued with anyone with the intention to win

"I never argued with anyone with the intention to win; rather, my intention was to seek the truth" - 
Imam al-Shafi`i

Four things strengthen the intellect..

ash-Shaafi'ee:

"Four things strengthen the intellect: To avoid superfluous speech, to use Siwaak, to sit with righteous people and to sit with the scholars."

(al-Aadaab ash-Shar'iyyah (3/30))

'If two issues confound you..'

'If two issues confound you
And you are unsure of which is wrong or right
Then go against your passions for verily desires
Lead the soul to that which is not upright.” — Imam Shafi’i

And there is nothing more harmful...

"And there is nothing more harmful to the servant than to become bored of the blessings of Allah, because he doesn't see it as a blessing, and he doesn't thank Allah for it, and doesn't become happy of it. Rather, he belittles it, complains about it and considers it to be disaster- all this while it can well be from the greatest of Allah's blessings upon him' - Ibn Al- Qayyim rahimahullah

A lie can travel halfway around the world

A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth even puts on its boots...

Man taught his dog..

Ibn Qayyim:

"Man taught his dog how to catch prey for him and the dog overcame his desire to eat the prey out of respect for his owner and fear of his power, and Allah taught you and you do not accept His teaching."

(al-Fawaa'id, p.120)

Acquaint yourself with fewer people

Acquaint yourself with fewer people, and as a result, you will backbite less (frequently)."

 (Sufyan ath-Thawri).

"Keep yourselves away from..

Imâm Sufyân ath-Thawrî:

"Keep yourselves away from the one who loves that his opinion is followed, who loves that his opinion is spread and heard"

(Akhbâr-ush-Shuyûkh wa Akhlâqihim, 337, by Imâm Abû Bakr al-Marwazî)

'If you were to know my sins..

'If you were to know my sins, you would not walk behind me and you would throw dust on my head. '

Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood [d.32H]

'…You stand in your prayers with your body...'

“…You stand in your prayers with your body, directing your face to the Qiblah, while your heart is directed to a different territory?! Woe to you! That prayer [of yours] is not worthy of being a Mahr (dowry) for Paradise, how then can it be befitting for [attaining] the Love [of Allaah]..."

[Ibn-ul-Qayyim]

Every person has an inner fir'awn inside them

"Every person has an inner fir'awn inside them who wants to be recognised, famous and worshipped - we have to destroy this inner fir'awn before it destroys us."

Ibnul-Qayyim

I do not know a single man who loves fame except that he loses his religion

"I do not know a single man who loves fame except that he loses his religion and becomes disgraced. No-one who has fear of Allah, loves to be known amongst the people."

- Bishr ibn al-Harith

As long as the tongue is occupied in zikr

“As long as the tongue is occupied in zikr, it will be safe from unbecoming speech and lies, because it never keeps quiet. Alike it is with the heart, if it is not occupied in love of Allah then it will love the creation.”

— Ibn al-Qayyim

Do not use the sharpness of your speech

'Do not use the sharpness of your speech on the mother who taught you how to speak' - (Ali.ra )

he would have destroyed himself through pride

" if the actions of the son of Aadam were good he would have destroyed himself through pride, but Allaah tires him by showing him his deficiencies" - Hasan Al Basri

'Enlighten the heart with prayers.'

'Enlighten the heart with prayers.' -Ali RA

Эй, ты, который не в силах познать себя

'Эй, ты, который не в силах познать себя, как ты можешь познать Бога?' - Аль-Газали

if one’s reason is stronger than his desires

"Allah has created Angels with reason but having no desires; animals with desires but no reason, & man with both reason and desires. Therefore, if one’s reason is stronger than his desires, he is like an Angel… while if his desires are stronger than his reason, he is like an animal.” -Ibn al Qayyim

but idle men tempt the devil

“The devil tempts all men, but idle men tempt the devil.”

{Arabian Proverb}

..for he calls to nothing except evil.

"Do not socialize with a person who has bad morals, for he calls to nothing except evil." 

[Al-Fudhayl ibn 'Iyaadh]

The reward of every deed is known

'The reward of every deed is known, except for the reward of patience, which will be like heavy rain.' - 
Sulayman ibn Qaasim. 

[Uddat as-Sâbireen wa Dhâkirat ash-Shâkireen]

A person's tongue

'A person's tongue can give you the taste of his heart'
- Ibn Qayyim (ra)