VIRTUES OF THE RIGHTEOUS
CHAPTER 30
SILENCE
Know, O Muslims, that silence (at the right time is the proper) attribute for men and it is one of the manners proper in attending a Sufi gathering. If a servant speaks only about what concerns him or is unavoidable, then he is within the bounds of silence. The Prophet ﷺ encouraged silence, “Guard your tongue, for whoever maintains silence will be saved. Be content with your house, and weep for your sins.” If speaking pleases you, be silent. If silence pleases you, speak.
CHAPTER 31
INCONSPICUOUSNESS
All good lies in being inconspicuous (i.e. abandonment of publicity and fame in every matter). Do not hasten to make your affairs public, given the state of contemporary society and the morals of people of our time. It is said:
Popularity is tribulation
But all crave it.
Inconspicuousness is serenity
Yet all eschew it.
Bishr said, «Whoever loves popularity will not find the sweetness of eternal life.» One of the sheikhs gave guidance to his student thus, “Always be in humiliation and defeat, and do not enter into the horrors of the world and places of fame, and leave the worldly and pride for its people, rather be of its hate and taste its bitterness. Draw a positive lesson from friends and acquaintances who have left this mortal world. Know that they do not disappear but remain where they are until we join them and be with them.”
CHAPTER 32
VISITING BROTHERS IN FAITH
In books it is written that two brothers in faith met and one of them asked the other, «Where have you come from?» The second answered, “I made the pilgrimage to the Sacred House (Ka`ba) and visited the tomb of the Prophet ﷺ. And where have you returned from?” The first replied, «I am returning from visiting my brother by faith who I love for the sake of Allah.» The one who had completed the pilgrimage then asked him, “Would you exchange your reward for visiting your brother in faith with the reward of my pilgrimage?” He, bowing his head, remained silent for a long time. Then he heard a secret voice, «A visit to a brother in faith is dearer to Allah than a hundred-fold supererogatory (Sunna) pilgrimage.»
The Prophet ﷺ said, “He who visits his brother in faith is accompanied by seventy thousand angels.”
Imam ash-Sha`rani asked his mentor, Ali al-Khawwas , “Is it worth visiting a brother in faith now or is it better to pass up visiting him because of fears of distracting him from more important matters?” The sheikh responded, “First purify your intention and then visit. Only one who visits for selfish purposes deserves reproach.”
CHAPTER 33
GRATITUDE
THE ESSENCE OF GRATITUDE
Know that thankfulness is recognising one’s inability to be thankful. Junaid said in this regard, “Thankfulness is that you do not regard yourself as worthy of blessings. The essence of gratitude lies in recognizing the blessings of Allah with submissiveness. Thankfulness is awareness of the Giver of blessings, not of the blessing.” It is also said, «Gratitude is the heart’s knowledge of the blessings bestowed by Allah and the utterance of the appropriate words of thanks and praise.»
GRATITUDE – A BLESSING FROM ALLAH
Know that gratitude is in itself a blessing from Almighty Allah. If Allah had not endowed you with the ability to express gratitude to Him, you could not have done this yourself.
One of the pious, turning to Allah, said, “O my Allah, how can I express my gratitude to You, when my very act of thanksgiving is yet another blessing from You!” Allah then heartened him thus, «Now you have shown Me true gratitude.» When the prophet Musa turned to Allah, “O Lord, you created Adam and endowed him with various blessings – how did he express his gratitude for this?” The Almighty answered, «He found that all these blessings were from Me and his knowledge of this was his gratitude to Me.»
ONLY ALMIGHTY ALLAH IS WORTHY OF GRATITUDE AND PRAISE
Vows were taken from pious people to show gratitude to Allah both when He bestowed them with blessings and when He did not. For they are as – subjects of the Almighty - entrusting themselves to the Creator. And Allah is above betraying a servant who trusts in Him. Also a vow was taken from the righteous that they would not reveal their commendable qualities, except as a sign of gratitude to Almighty Allah or so that others would follow them in this. In other cases, pious people conceal all their meritorious qualities and do this for the sake of Allah. They do not participate in gatherings out of embarrassment and fears that people will praise them in this world. For indeed only Almighty Allah deserves praise [1].
Imam al-Ghazali explains that praise brings great harm to the praised. Praise gives rise to pride and a high opinion of oneself. And sometimes one takes joy in praise and this blights one’s deeds. Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ said, «If you see those who overly praise people, throw dust in their faces.» They also say, «When you are praised, remember that you are made of clay: display modesty and do not admire yourself because of praise.»
Our master Abul-Hasan ash-Shadhili noted, “When the Almighty desires good for a servant, He will conceal his perfections from him. The Creator turns him into His sincere servant, in whom none of the divine qualities worthy of Almighty Allah only is manifested.” It is befitting for a servant to relinquish all that his nafs has become used to through knowledge and its attainment - even if this be secret knowledge (kashf) or a special spiritual state (hal). If Almighty Allah chose him and was pleased with him as His servant, what indeed can harm him; he will be immune against awareness of his knowledge and praiseworthy deeds.
THE LOWEST DEGREE OF GRATITUDE
Theological scholars say that the lowermost degree of gratitude to the Almighty is the thankfulness of the tongue. There is no person feebler than one who does not express verbal gratitude. Such gratitude should be all-encompassing. The highest degree of verbal gratitude is the recitation by a servant of the Sura al-Fatiha in response to the blessings bestowed on him. While reciting it, may the believer intend to express utmost gratitude thanking all that God’s knowledge encompasses of his blessings: the outward and the inward, the tangible and the intangible, the known to the servant and the unknown to him, of the immediate world and the hereafter, the prior and the delayed, the permanent and the temporary. With such an intention, may the person read this Sura as many times as possible from one to a hundred. The Almighty will record him among those who manifested gratitude. Or, as a reward, this servant will receive still greater blessings in conformity with his intention and in accordance with the promise of Allah.
There are many forms of all-encompassing verbal gratitude and we will not prolong mentioning them. The following words of the Prophet ﷺ provide an example of such gratitude, “I cannot praise You enough, You are as You have praised Yourself.”
The prophet Adam said, «O Lord, You occupied me with earning by my own hands [2], so instruct me as to what constitutes all praise and glorification.» Then Almighty Allah sent him the revelation, ‘O Adam, three times every morning and evening say, ‘Al-hamdu lillahi rabbil `alamin, hamdan yuwafi ni`amahu wayukafi’u mazidah’ (‘Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, such praise that replenishes His blessings and is equivalent to His augmentation.’).’” These words incorporate all kinds of praise and glorification.
The difference between a thankful servant (shakir) and a very thankful servant (shakur) is that the shakir is thankful for that which the Almighty granted him and the shakur for anything Allah deprived him of. Truly, for every blessing there is a corresponding gratitude. Gratitude for the eyes – is in lowering one’s gaze at the sight of the forbidden and of people’s flaws. Gratitude for the ears - is that you conceal a fault you hear about your companion and for the hands – is in not reaching out to other’s property. Gratitude for the legs is in restraining them so that they do not step where the commandments of the Almighty are violated. And this applies also in relation to other parts of the body.
The essence of gratitude is that you use all that God has bestowed upon you for what they were created for, and that includes money, the body, and the external and internal organs. Therefore, when you use any of it for something other than what it was created for, that constitutes ingratitude for that blessing.
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[1] Not wanting people to praise them similarly to their praise of Almighty Allah.
[2] That is, engaged in work through which you earn yourself a living. - Ed.
