A Piece of Advice
[Abdul Qadir Jilani]
Let me give you a piece of advice: Never complain to anyone about
your luck, whether he be friend or foe, and do not accuse the Lord
(Almighty and Glorious is He) of treating you badly and making you
suffer misfortune. You should rather procaim your blessing and your
gratitude. Better even to tell a lie by expressing gratitude for a benefit
you have not received, then to state the plain fact of your situation
truthfully but as a complaint. Who is totally without the grace of
Allah(Almighty and Glorious is He)? Allah (Exalted is He) has said:
And if you count the favor of Allah, you will never add it up. [16:18]
How many blessings you enjoy without acknowledging them for what they are!
Do not settle for any mere creature as your confidant and intimate companion,
and tell no one about your problems. It is rather with Allah (Almighty and Glorious
is He) that you should be on intimate and confidential terms, and any complaining
you do should be about Him and addressed to Him. Recognize no other party for
none has any power to bring you loss or gain, income or expenditure, honor or
disgrace, promotion or demotion, poverty or affluence, movement or rest.
All things are the creation of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He). They lie in the
hand of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) and the way they function is at His
command and by His leave. Each runs its course until a time appointed, and
everything is regulated by Him. There is no advancing what He has postponed,
and no putting back what He has brought to the fore. Allah (Almighty and
Glorious is He) has said:
If Allah afflicts you with some hurt, none can remove it but He; and
if He desires any good for you none can repel His bounty. He causes
it to reach whomsoever He will of His servants. He is the All-Forgiving,
the All-Compassionate. [10:107]
If you complain about Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) while you are in
good health and already enjoy some blessing, just wanting to get more and
shutting your eyes contemptuously to the benefit and well-being you have
received from Him, He will be angry with you and deprive you of both. He
will give you something real to complain about, doubling your trouble,
intensifying the chastisement and detestation and loathing you must suffer,
and casting you down out of His sight.
You should be very wary of complaining, even if you were being dissected
and having your own flesh clipped away with scissors. Beware, beware and
yet again beware! Allah, Allah, and yet again Allah! Escape, escape!
Take care take care!
Most of the various disasters that afflict a human being are due to his complaints
against his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He). How can one have any grievance
against Him, when He is the most the Most Merciful of the merciful, the Best
of all judges, Wise, Aware, Gracious, Compassionate; when He is Kind to
His servants and not a cruel slave-master; when He is like a wise, sympathetic
and kindly family doctor?
Would you find fault with a tender-hearted mother? The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said:
"Allah is more merciful toward His servant then a mother toward her child."
Be on your best behavior, you poor wretch! Persevere in the face of misfortune,
even if you are incapable of patience. Then be patient even if you are incapable
of conforming with good grace. Then conform with good grace if you are there to
be found. Then cease to exist if you are nowhere to be found. O philosopher's
stone, where are you, where can you be found and seen ? Do you not heed His
words (Almighty and Glorious is He):
Fighting is prescibed for you, though it may be hateful to you. But it may
happen that you hate a thing which is good for you, and may happen that
you love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows, and you know not. [2:216]
Knowledge of the reality of things has been kept from you under wraps, and
you have been kept from it behind a screen. So do not misbehave yourself,
whateve you likes or dislikes. Follow the sacred law in whatever may befall
you, if you are in the state of piety (taqwah) which is the first step. Follow
direct orders, without exceeding them, if you in the state of consecration (wilaya)
and the extinction of desire (kuhmud wujud al-hawa), which is the second step.
Harmonize gladly whith the divine action and become totally absorbed in the state
of Badaliyya, Ghawthiyya, Qutbiyya and Siddiqiyya*, which are the ultimate stages.
Stand clear of destiny's path; get out of its way. Give up self and desire. Keep
your tongue from complaining. Provided you do this, then if what is meant for
you is good, the Lord will grant you extra pleasure, happiness and joy; and
if it is bad, He will keep you safe in His obedient service while it runs its course.
He will absolve you of blame, and keep you unaffected while it lasts, until it is all
over for you and becomes a thing of the past -- as night ends with the dawning
of the day, and as the chill of winter takes its leave when summer comes around.
Here is an example for you, so note the moral well.
There ae so many sins and errors and outrages, so many kinds of offenses
and faults that cause defilement.
To be worthy of the company of the Noble Lord, one must be purged of the
impurities of sins and failings. No one is granted an audience at His court
unless he is unstained by the filth of pretentiousness and selfconceit,
just as no one is fit for the company of kings without being cleansed of
all impurities and every kind of stench and dirt. Misfortunes have an expiatory
and purificatory effect. As the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) so truthfully said: "One day's
fever is atonement for a year (of sin)."
*The abstract qualities of Badal (singular of Abdal), Ghawth (lit.: Help, Succor)
Qutb (lit.: Pole or Axis) and Siddiq (Champion of Truth), respectively.
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