If you want a glory that does not vanish, then do not glory in a glory that vanishes Ibn Ata Allah More Quotes by Ibn Ata Allah More Quotes From Ibn Ata Allah If you make demands on Him, you doubt Him. Ibn Ata Allah islamic wisdom doubt One of the signs of relying on deeds is loss of hope when a misstep occurs. Ibn Ata Allah islamic wisdom loss God Most High has said, "Is the reward of virtue aught save virtue?" . . . Know, O man, that the covenant of servanthood is incumbent upon you, and that the covenant of Lordship is incumbent upon His magnanimity, as He Most High has said, ". . . and fulfill your covenant, I shall fulfill My covenant." Ibn Ata Allah covenant rewards men I know of nothing more useful to you than four matters: surrender to Allah, to humbly entreat Him, to think the best of Him, and to perpetually renew your repentance to Him, even if you should repeat as in seventy times in a day. Ibn Ata Allah islamic wisdom thinking When the invocation descends into the heart, if there is darkness within, it illuminates it; and if there is already light, the invocation increases the light and intensifies it. Ibn Ata Allah darkness-within light heart The signs of the soundness of the servant's love for his Lord are three: absence of self-willing; pleasure in every event which takes place through divine decree; and seeing the perfection of the Beloved in everything and being content with Him in everything through submission to Him in all things. Ibn Ata Allah perfection self love If you do not think well of Him because His qualities are beautiful then think well of Him because of the way He treats you. Ibn Ata Allah islamic wisdom beautiful Encompass with your mercy and compassion all animals and creatures. Do not say, "this is inanimate and has no awareness." Indeed, it does; it is you yourself who have no awareness! So let existence be as it is, and be merciful towards it with the mercifulness of the Creator in the midst of His creation. Ibn Ata Allah compassion doe animal Invoking removes darkness and brings forth radiant lights. Ibn Ata Allah remove light darkness The covenant of your servanthood is that you be a servant to God, not to someone else, and that you know that everything except God is a servant to God, as He Most High has said, "There is none in the heaven and the earth but cometh unto the Compassionate as a servant." Ibn Ata Allah compassion earth heaven He whose wealth or children distract him from remembering God is lost; but the one who remembers God experiences delights sweeter than the pleasure of food and drink. Ibn Ata Allah remembering-god cooking children Paraphrased: The way of al-Junayd includes among other things abstaining constantly from resisting God Most High in whatever happens to one, whether good or bad. . . . Ibn Ata Allah abstaining als way Let your invocation be the all-embracing Name, which is Allah, Allah, Allah, or if you so wish, Huwa, Huwa, Huwa; and do not violate this remembrance. Be careful lest your tongue pronounce it while other-than-He is in your heart. Let your heart be the one who utters, and your ear the one who is attentive to this invocation until the 'speaker' emanates from your Self (sirr). When you feel the emergence of the Speaker within you through the invocation, do not abandon the spiritual condition wherein you find yourself. Ibn Ata Allah spiritual names heart Allah was when there was nothing else than Him, and His Throne was upon the water, and He wrote in the Reminder (al-dhikr) all things, and He created the heavens and the earth. Ibn Ata Allah dhikr water heaven Invoking brings the heart closer to the hereafter and keeps the world away from the heart, even though the world is around it. Invoking warns the heedless heart to abandon its pleasures and deceptions. Ibn Ata Allah deception heart world It may well be that you are in a bad state, but to keep company with someone worse than you would allow to see good in yourself. Ibn Ata Allah islamic wisdom may I seek refuge in Thee from every hope which would distract me. Ibn Ata Allah refuge thee hope . . . persist in that invocation until the unity of the world is subsumed for you in a single sphere, so that with the eye of your heart you will see naught in the two worlds save the One. Ibn Ata Allah two-worlds eye heart Invoking the letters of God's Name without presence of mind is invocation of the tongue; invoking with presence of mind is invocation of the heart; and invoking with an absence of self-awareness because of absorption in the Invoked is the invocation of the Self - this is the hidden invocation! Ibn Ata Allah presence-of-mind names heart When the heart becomes empty, the mimbar of the Divine Oneness is placed therein and the sultan of gnosis sits upon it. Ibn Ata Allah gnosis oneness heart
