Virtues of the Righteous
Know that he who has acknowledged the absolute baseness of his nafs does not consider any person on earth as being worst or more contemptible than he is himself.
Self-satisfaction
There is nothing more necessary for a son of Adam than his recognition of his innermost essence. Consequently a person should not be satisfied with himself and with his nafs. Indeed, the more a slave knows himself, the more he improves his spiritual condition and his level will ascend towards Almighty Allah.
The disciplining of the nafs, in its turn, occurs through the riddance of qualities which are reproachable and acquiring those which are laudable. And the root of all reproachable qualities is self-satisfaction (ujb [1]). That is to say, first of all it is necessary for one to forego self-satisfaction as this acts as a barrier to the acquisition of virtues. Thus, the main requirement for the presence of praiseworthy qualities is the absence of vanity. He who does not have a high opinion of himself is advancing to possession of a good moral disposition and the cleansing of his nafs. Indeed, man by his very nature has a yearning for perfection and a dislike of flaws. Thus, having rid himself of feelings of self-admiration and having cleansed himself of vices, a person strives to acquire praiseworthy qualities. In recognizing his inadequacies, a person no longer experiences feelings of vanity or pride. On the contrary, if in this condition he is motivated to self-improvement, he will strive for it more sincerely. In this way, influenced by divine reminders and thanks to his natural essence, his moral disposition will be rectified until he achieves the perfection predestined for him.
It is known that one of the evils of the nafs is its predilection for enjoying praise. But if the nafs is deprived of praise, it becomes idle and falls into despondency. Satisfaction with one’s nafs and having a high opinion of oneself are factors which provoke the wrath of Almighty Allah. Ibn Ataillah was asked, “What most rapidly incurs the wrath of Almighty Allah?” He replied, “Admiration for oneself and one’s spiritual qualities. Almighty Allah becomes angry when a slave expects a reward for his own deeds.”
The flaws of one’s nafs can only be detected by constantly monitoring it and calling it to account. Know that the Almighty does not elevate
His slave in a greater way than by revealing to him the baseness of his nafs and does not expose His slave to greater degradation than by hiding from him the baseness of his nafs.
How then can a rational person be content with his ego? Indeed, the Prophet Yusuf said (meaning), “I do not heed my nafs, as it commands evil, except to whom my Lord has shown mercy. Truly my Lord is forgiving and merciful.” (Sura Yusuf, ayat 53).
Commentators on the Quran write: “This means, I do not consider that my nafs is cleansed of evil by itself. That is to say, based on its natural essence, I do not ascribe such a dignity to it, but entirely rely upon the support of Almighty Allah. By the words (‘for the nafs’) is meant all nafs, including the nafs of the Prophet Yusuf himself. It is further stated that the nafs by its nature ‘commands evil’. This means that it foments disobedience and wicked deeds.”
The nafs – above all - takes enjoyment in passions, preferring that which is worthless and vacuous and being constantly drawn to reviled acts. After all, were it otherwise, the nafs of most people would not be subordinated to their desires, concocting all manner of deceits for the satisfaction of their egos and so evil would not arise from them. Therefore, it is said that the more rational a son of Adam is, the higher his level before Almighty Allah and the better he perceives the inadequacies of his nafs. He who continually keeps watch on the shortcomings of his nafs to an even greater degree mistrusts and blames it, so reducing to nothing its high opinion of itself.
In the book “At-Ta’wilat an-Najmiyya” it is said, “The nafs by its nature is created as commanding evil. If it is allowed free rein, nothing but bad will result, because it orders the doing only of evil. But if Allah is gracious and looks on him with His сare, then he will completely change the character of his nafs replacing notorious qualities with good ones. Then the nafs, which commanded the doing of evil, becomes the commander of good. That is to say, wickedness is converted into goodness. And this is why the Prophet beseeched Allah with this prayer, “O Lord, do not entrust me to my nafs even In the book “At-Ta’wilat an-Najmiyya” it is said, “The nafs by its nature is created as commanding evil. If it is allowed free rein, nothing but bad will result, because it orders the doing only of evil. But if Allah is gracious and looks on him with His сare, then he will completely change the character of his nafs replacing notorious qualities with good ones. Then the nafs, which commanded the doing of evil, becomes the commander of good. That is to say, wickedness is converted into goodness. And this is why the Prophet
beseeched Allah with this prayer, “O Lord, do not entrust me to my nafs even
A Great Testament
In the book “Al-Bahya” there are two testamentary texts of our master, imam Bahauddin Muhammad an-Naqshbandi, which he left to his murid. We provide these testaments which are very valuable for thinking and contemplative people.
First: “No matter what level a true murid of the Sufi path has reached, he must see himself merely as a beginner who is taking his first step.»
Second: “Even if a murid is raised to the highest level on the path to self- perfection (suluk), he must consider himself greatly worse than the pharaoh.»
A rational person must always control himself, even if his nafs has ascended to the highest level of tranquility (itmi’nan): even then he cannot be protected from the machinations and intrigues of his nafs - Allah alone is the Bearer of aid. So how can we, ordinary people, susceptible to egoism and love of high status, be safeguarded from our nafs?
In truth, we cannot be extricated from the machinations of our nafs on our own - and then only if the Lord blesses us with the benefit of His care. There is no doubt that it is these imperfections that incite one to dishonesty and disobedience. Bad traits are an illness for which the medicine is the tariqat. Reproachable qualities are as perfume for the impure while the tariqat is like water: to cleanse the impure it is necessary to use the water of Almighty Allah, the All-Knowing. And there is no force for the doing of good or power to reject the reproachable other than through the aid of Glorious and All- Powerful Allah.
Chapter 3
Repentance
The attainment of any spiritual level is initiated through sincere repentance (tawba) without which it is impossible to ascend further. If sincerely repentant, Almighty Allah loves you, as He said (meaning), “Truly, Allah loves those who are penitent and purified.” (Sura Al-Baqarah, ayat 222) This means that Allah rewards and honours those who repent their sins and loves those who cleanse themselves of heedlessness. The Almighty also said (meaning), “He who is unrepentant is an oppressor.” (Sura Al- Hujurat, ayat 11)
Theological scholars say, “They are oppressors, because they persist in disobedience and subject themselves to punishment.” In the book “At-Ta’wilat an-Najmiyya” is written “by the words of the Almighty, ‘He who is unrepentant’ is meant that those who are unrepentant in their words and deeds are like those who stem from Satan (with a high opinion of themselves and contempt for others). And the words ‘They are oppressors’ mean that they are among the damned, deprived of grace and cast out together with Iblis. As Almighty Allah said (meaning), “May the damnation of Allah be upon the oppressors’.” (Sura Hud, ayat 18)
Within these words is undisputable evidence that one who rejects repentance becomes an oppressor. Thus, it is necessary to sincerely repent one’s vileness and sins, especially those that are mentioned above.
When a slave commits sins, he is enveloped in darkness and - just as a sin is like fire - so darkness is like its smoke. If a fire burns in a house for fifty years, will smoke really not blacken it? Thus the heart also is shrouded in darkness because of manifold disobediences and is cleansed only through repentance to Almighty Allah.
Know that disobedience has both obvious and hidden impacts on a person. The effect of the hidden is callousness of the heart, obduracy of his desires [2], obstinacy of the nafs and its blind pursuit of vices, loss of sweetness in the worship of Allah, and also the increase in pursuits impeding closeness to the Creator. Even if in disobedience to Allah there were no other evil than a person’s change of name (from “obedient” to “disobedient”) that should suffice for him. For you see when you are obedient to the Creator they call you “doing good.” However, on the contrary, when you disobey the Almighty, your name changes to “causing evil and spurning Almighty Allah.” Now this is only a change of name but what of the
great debacle of the change from the sweetness of obedience to the Creator to the “sweetness” of disobedience, and of the replacement of the enjoyment of serving Almighty Allah with the “enjoyment” of one’s passions?
Remember, the heart is like a tree whose roots are irrigated by the water of obedience to Allah and its fruit is the positive influence of the heart on other parts of the body. The fruit of the eyes are edifying lessons learnt, the fruit of the ears is listening to the Quran [3] and the fruit of the tongue is the remembrance of Allah (dhikr), while the fruit of the arms and legs is persisting in the doing of good. However, if the heart wilts - that is, if it becomes parched from disobedience to Allah - its fruit will fall.
Therefore, among our most important tasks is the betterment of our nafs and its perfection through sincere repentance. Thus the Messenger of Allah
said, “More than anything I fear for my ummah (community) for two reasons – their pursuit of their desires and long- term insatiable dreams and aspirations. You see, the following of one’s desires closes off the path to truth and the avaricious longings for the worldly force one to be oblivious to the eternal world.”
Therefore, the repentant continually must be vigilant and vexed and dissatisfied with his nafs. Theological scholars have explained that repentance is the sensation of trepidation one should experience until the end of one’s allotted days. After expressing sincere repentance, it is necessary to first begin by atoning for offences one may have caused, by repaying one’s debts and by fulfilling one’s obligations to others. If it is not possible to do this straight away, it is necessary at least to intend performing that which one knows one should do. It is necessary to ask forgiveness of one’s sins from those you have caused evil and forgiveness from creditors whom you are not able to repay until your affairs improve.
- Ujb – having a high opinion of oneself, self-esteem, self-admiration and pride – Ed.
- The heart of the disobedient becomes callous and not softened through the remembrance of Allah; it does not accept guidance or exhortation. His soul resists and does not heed the order to obey the Almighty. The sinner’s heart then overflows with desires which constrain him - in it there remains no place for goodness.
- This implies not only listening to the words of the Quran but also having insight into their meaning and the striving thereby to follow this in life. – Ed.
SHEIKH AHMAD-AFANDI MUFTI DAGESTAN
