'O God, carry us in the ships of Thy deliverance, give us to enjoy the pleasure of whispered prayer to Thee, make us drink at the pools of Thy love, let us taste the sweetness of Thy affection and nearness, allow us to struggle in Thee, preoccupy us with obeying Thee, and purify our intentions in devoting works to Thee, for we exist through Thee and belong to Thee, and we have no one to mediate with Thee but Thee!' Imam Sajjad ('A); Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

Tuesday 24 August 2010

Great descriptions of some Great virtues

“Gabriel came to the Holy Prophet (s) and said: 
O Messenger of Allah! God has sent you a gift which He has not given to anyone before. 
The Holy Prophet said: What is that gift? 
Gabriel said:
It is patience.

“But there is a virtue better than patience.  The Holy Prophet said: What is it? 
Gabriel said: It is contentment.


“There is still a virtue better than contentment. 
The Holy Prophet said: what is it? 
Gabriel said: It is pleasure of God.


“But there is a virtue better than that.  The Holy Prophet said: What is it? 
Gabriel said: It is piety.


“Yet there is a virtue better than that. 
The Holy Prophet said: What is it? 
Gabriel said: It is devotion.


“But there is a virtue better than that. 
The Holy Prophet said: What is it? 
Gabriel said: Sure knowledge.


“Yet there is a virtue better than that. 
The Holy Prophet said: What is it? 
Gabriel said: The way to attain all of them is to put trust in God.


“I said, O Gabriel! What is the meaning of putting trust in God?Gabriel said: Knowing that His creatures neither harm nor benefit anyone.
They neither give nor withhold anything. 
One must stop having hope in creatures.
When a man reaches this position, he will not do anything save for Him, his heart does not go astray, he fears no one save Him and he does not set his hope on anyone but Him. 
This is the meaning of putting trust in God.


“The Holy Prophet said: O Gabriel! What is the meaning of patience? 
Gabriel said: Man must have forbearance and patience in afflictions as in joys. 
He should never complain of His Creator to the people.


I said: What is the meaning of contentment? 
Gabriel said: To be content with whatever in this world and to thank God for the small things he has.”


“The Holy Prophet said: What is the meaning of God’s pleasure? 
Gabriel said: To be pleased with God but not to be pleased with one’s own deeds.


“The Holy Prophet said: O Gabriel!  What is the meaning of piety?
Gabriel said: A pious man loves whatever His creator loves and hates whatever He hates. 
He is careful about what is lawful and leaves of what is unlawful, for what is lawful is counted and what is unlawful will entail punishment. 
He has mercy on every muslim as he has on himself. 
He shuns useless words as he shuns what is unlawful. 
He abstains from overeating as he keeps away from a corpse with bad smell. 
He keeps away from the embellishments of world as he keeps away from Fire. 
His desires are not far-fetched and death is present before his eyes.”


“The Holy Prophet said: O Gabriel! What is the meaning of Devotion? 
Gabriel said: A devoted person is one who does not ask for anything from people until he obtains it and whenever he obtained it, he is pleased with it. 
Also if he has something extra, he will give it away for the ansake of God. 
The fact that he does not ask for something from others is admittance of his being a servant of God. 
He is pleased with God and God is pleased with him. 
He gives away when he needs it more than others.”


“The Holy Prophet (SAW) said: What is sure knowledge? 
Gabriel said:  A man of sure knowledge acts in a way as if he sees God. 
Even if he does not reach the degree of seeing God, he knows that God sees him and is sure that what he has and what he has not is what God wills. 
These were some of signs of putting trust in God and having piety.”


Oddatatol Daee
(The Asset of Supplicant)

No comments:

Post a Comment