ON SPIRITUAL EXERCISE AND BASE DESIRES

Allâh inspired to Mûsâ saying: O Mûsâ! If you desire that I be closer to you than your speech is to your tongue, and the whispering of your heart is to your heart, and your soul is to your body, and your sight is to your eyes and your hearing is to your ears, then send excessive salutations to Muhammad . Allâh says: “A soul should see what it has sent forward for tomorrow.” [21] In other words, what deeds it has done for the day of resurrection.

O man! You should know that the soul that has been commanded to evil is a greater enemy to you than Satan and that Satan gets the upper hand over you through the whims and desires of the soul. Your soul should therefore not delude you with false hopes and deception. This is because the nature of the soul is to feel self-satisfied, to be negligent, to enjoy rest, idleness and laziness. Its invitation is therefore baseless and everything from it is a deception. If you are pleased with it and follow its dictates, you will be destroyed. If you are negligent in taking it to account, you will drown. If you are unable to act against it and follow its desires, it will drive you towards the fire. There is no return for the soul towards good. It is the head of trials and tribulations, the mine of disgrace, the treasure house of Satan, and the source of every evil. None but its Creator truly knows it. Fear Allâh for surely Allâh knows all that you do. In other words, be it good or evil. When a servant ponders over his life that has passed in search of his hereafter, this pondering will be a cleansing of the heart.

The Messenger of Allâh said: “Pondering for a little while is better than a year’s worship.” As stated in the Tafsîr of Abû al-Layth. It is therefore the duty of an intelligent person to repent from past sins and to ponder over those things that will take him closer [to Allâh ] and with which he will gain salvation in the hereafter. He should also curtail all his hopes, hasten in repentance, engage in the remembrance of Allâh , abstain from the prohibitions, impose himself to patience, and abstain from following the desires of the soul. This is because the soul is an idol. The one who worships the soul is actually worshipping an idol. And the person who worships Allâh with devotion, he is the one who has subjugated his soul.

It is related that Mâlik ibn Dînâr rahimahullâh was walking in the market-place of Basra. He saw some figs and desired to eat them. He took out his shoes, gave them to the green-grocer and said to him: “Give me the figs.” The green-grocer looked at the shoes and said that they are not worth anything. So Mâlik continued on his way. Someone said to the green-grocer: “Don’t you know who that was?” He replied: “No.” When he was informed that it was Mâlik ibn Dînâr, the green-grocer placed the basket [of figs] onto the head of his slave and said to him: “If he [Mâlik] accepts this from you, I will free you.” The slave ran behind Mâlik ibn Dînâr and said to him: “Accept this from me.” But he refused to accept it. The slave said: “Accept it because your acceptance will buy my freedom.” Mâlik ibn Dînâr replied: “I took an oath that I will not sell my Islam for figs and that I will not eat figs till the day of reckoning.”

It is related that Mâlik ibn Dînâr rahimahullâh fell ill, which eventually caused his death. He desired to have a bowl of honey and milk so that he could dip hot bread into it. His servant went and brought it for him. Mâlik ibn Dînâr took it, looked at it for quite some time and said: “O my soul! You remained patient for 30 years. There is just one hour of your life left now.” He threw the bowl from his hands, exercised patience and passed away. This is the condition of the Prophets, the friends of Allâh, the truthful ones, those who love Allâh , and those who renounce the pleasures of this world.

Sulaymân , the son of Dâ’ûd said: “The one who subjugates his soul is more stronger that the person who conquers a city all by himself.”

‘Alî ibn Abî Tâlib said: “Me and my soul are just like a shepherd. Every time a shepherd herds his flock from one side, they begin spreading out from the other side. The person who kills his soul will be enshrouded with the shroud of mercy and buried in the land of honour. And the one who kills his heart will die in the shroud of curse and buried in the land of chastisement.”

Yahyâ ibn Mu‘âdh ar-Râzî rahimahullâh said: “Endeavour against your soul through obedience and spiritual exercise. Spiritual exercise entails sleeping less, speaking less, bearing the insults of people and eating less. Less sleep creates purity in intentions. Speaking less creates security from hardships. Bearing the insults of people enables you to reach your goals. And eating less causes the death of your desires. This is because excessive eating causes the heart to become hard and to lose its lustre. The light of wisdom is in hunger while eating to one’s fill causes one to go further away from Allâh .”

The Messenger of Allâh said: “Illuminate your hearts through hunger, fight against your souls through hunger and thirst, and constantly knock on the door of Paradise through hunger. This is because the reward for this is equal to the reward of a person striving in the cause of Allâh . There is no deed more beloved to Allâh than hunger and thirst. The person who fills his stomach and loses the sweetness of the different acts of worship will never enter the kingdom of the heavens.”

Abû Bakr as-Siddîq said: “I never ate to my fill from the time I embraced Islam so that I may experience the sweetness of worshipping my Sustainer. And I never quenched by thirst from the time I embraced Islam out of my desire to meet my Sustainer. This is because excessive eating causes decrease in worship. This is because when a person eats excessively, his body feels heavy, sleep overtakes him and his limbs become lazy. He therefore cannot do anything even if he tries hard to do so. The only thing he can do is sleep. He thus becomes like a corpse that has been flung down.” As stated in Minhâj al-‘Âbidîn.

It is stated that Luqmân, the wise, said to his son: “Do not sleep too much nor eat too much. For the person who does both excessively will come on the day of resurrection devoid of good deeds.” As stated in Munyah al-Muftî.

The Messenger of Allâh said: “Do not kill the hearts through excessive eating and drinking. This is because the heart dies like a plant when it is watered excessively.”

Some righteous people have likened this by saying that the stomach is like a pot beneath the heart. When this pot boils, the steam reaches the heart. Too much of steam [and smoke] blackens the heart and makes it filthy. Excessive eating causes less understanding and less knowledge. This is because gluttony removes intelligence.

It is related that Satan appeared before Yahyâ , the son of Zakarîyyâ . Satan had plucks of animals on his body. Yahyâ asked him: “What is this?” He replied: “These are base desires through which I hunt man.” Yahyâ asked him: “Do you find any of these on me?” He replied: “No. However, one night you ate to your fill and so we made it too heavy for you to offer salâh.” Yahyâ said: “I will certainly never eat to my fill again.” Satan said: “I will certainly not advise anyone again.”

This is the condition of a person who never ate to his fill throughout his life except for one night. What can be said of the person who never remained hungry in his life and yet desires to worship Allâh ?!!

It is also related that one night Yahyâ , the son of Zakarîyyâ , ate barley bread to his fill. He therefore missed his worship of that night. Allâh said to him: “O Yahyâ! Did you find a house better for you than My house? Did you find protection better for you than My protection?…I take an oath by My honour and My grandeur, if you were to merely take a peek at Paradise and Hell, you will shed pus instead of tears, and you will wear steel instead of course woollen clothes.”