MEDICATION CONDUCIVE TO INNER SERENITY
As a believer, one must magnify God, Great and Glorious is He, in fear and in hope and in humble awareness of one’s shortcomings. There can be no relaxation in any of this once faith has been achieved, although one’s intensity will depend on the strength of one’s conviction. Any slackness in prayer is surely caused by mental distraction, divided attention, failure to be whole-hearted in communion and a heedless attitude to worship. Random mental activity is the thing that distracts us from prayer; it must therefore be dispelled so that a feeling of serenity can be acquired. To remove the symptom we must treat the cause, so let us find out where it lies. Stray thoughts may be prompted by something external, or they may arise from within.
As for external causes, our attention is caught by anything that happens to engage our eyes or ears. We begin to take an interest in it. Then one thought leads to another and the process goes on and on. Seeing gives rise to thinking, then one thought becomes the cause of another. Sensory impressions do not divert those whose intention is strong and whose aspiration is lofty, but they inevitably distract the weak. The remedy lies in cutting off these causes by lowering the eyes, praying in a dark room, leaving no distracting objects in front of one, or reducing one’s range of vision by praying close up to a wall. One should avoid performing the Prayer on the street, in places where there is artificial decoration and on coloured carpets.
That is why very devout people used to worship in a small, dark cell, where there was just enough room for prostration, for it is easier to concentrate in such conditions. Those who were strong would attend the Mosques, keeping their eyes downcast and confining their gaze to the place of prostration. They considered their Prayers to be perfect when they were unaware of the people to their right and left. Ibn ‘Umar, may God be pleased with him and with his father, would allow no object to remain in the place of Prayer, not even a copy of the Quran. He would remove any sword he found there and erase any writing.
Internal causes pose a more serious problem. One’s worldly concerns may be many and varied, so that the mind does not dwell on a single subject but keeps flying from one direction to another. To lower the eyes is then of no avail, for plenty of distractions have already got inside. The way to deal with this is to make a deliberate effort to comprehend the meaning of the words one is reciting in the Prayer, concentrating on this to the exclusion of everything else. It is helpful to prepare for this before the initial consecration, by reminding oneself of the Hereafter and that one is standing in communion in the awesome presence of God, Glorified is He, and under His scrutiny. Before consecration for Prayer, one should empty the heart of all its cares, leaving oneself free of potential distractions.
God’s Messenger, on him be peace, once said to ‘Uthmān ibn Abī Shayba: ‘I forgot to tell you to cover up the cooking pots that are in the house, for there should be nothing in the house to distract people from their Prayers.’
57 This is a technique for quietening the mind. If mental agitation is not stilled by this tranquilliser, the only recourse is a purgative that will strike at the deep roots of the malady. That is to say, one must examine the distractions that prevent the attainment of inner serenity. These will undoubtedly be traced to one’s pressing concerns, which have become so important simply because of one’s base desires. One must therefore discipline the lower self by abstaining from those desires and by severing those ties. Anything that distracts us from Prayer is the adversary of our religion; the army of Satan is the foe. To hold it in check is more troublesome than driving it out, so let us drive it out and be rid of it.
The Prophet, upon him be peace, once prayed while wearing a cloak with an ornamented border, a gift from Abū Jahm. He removed it when he had finished his Prayers, saying: ‘Take it back to Abū Jahm, for it distracted me from my Prayer. Bring me Abū Jahm’s cloak of coarse wool.’
58 God’s Messenger, on him be peace, once had new laces put in his sandals. When their newness attracted his attention during his Prayer, he had them removed and the worn laces put back.
59 According to another Tradition, the
blessed Prophet once found himself admiring the beauty of a pair of sandals he was wearing, so he made a prostration and said: ‘I have humbled myself before my Lord, Great and Glorious is He, so that He will not be displeased with me.’ Then he went out and gave the sandals to the first beggar he met. He then told ‘Alī, may God be pleased with him, to buy him a worn pair of tanned leather sandals, which he put on his feet.
60
Before it was declared unlawful for men to wear gold, the Prophet, upon him be peace, used to wear a gold ring on his finger. As he stood in the pulpit one day, he threw this ring away, saying: ‘It distracted me: a glance towards it and a glance towards you.’
61
It is related that Abū Ṭalḥa once prayed in his garden where there were trees. He was attracted by the sight of a honey bird and he spent so long following the movement of the bird, as it flew about seeking an opening in the foliage, that he forgot how many cycles of Prayer he had completed. He told God’s Messenger, on him be peace, about the temptation to which he had succumbed, then said: ‘Messenger of God, I offer my garden as a charity. Dispose of it as you wish.’
62 According to a different source, he was distracted by the pleasant sight of the bees, buzzing around the fruit as he prayed in his garden. He mentioned this to ‘Uthmān, may God be pleased with him, saying ‘I offer it as a charity. Use it for the sake of God, Great and Glorious is He.’ ‘Uthmān then sold the garden for fifty thousand.
Such conduct was intended to eradicate causes of mental distraction and to atone for deficiencies in Prayer. This medicine tackles the root of the disease; it is the only effective remedy. As for the gentler measures we proposed, such as calming oneself and concentrating on understanding the words used in Prayer, they may be useful when passions are feeble and cares are only marginally distracting. But it is useless to try and calm oneself when the pressure of desire is strong, for it will attract you and you will attract it until it gets the better of you. You will be caught up in this process throughout your Prayer.
Consider this analogy: There was a man beneath a tree. He wished to collect his thoughts, but the sparrows disturbed him with their chirping. He would chase them with a stick and then resume his train of thought, but the sparrows would come back and he would have to scare them away with the stick once again. Eventually someone told him: ‘This is like being a slave at the wheel, going round and round forever. If you want to escape the vicious circle, you should fell the tree.’ So it is with the tree of base desires. Thoughts are attracted to its ramifying twigs and branches, just like sparrows to real trees. Flies are attracted by filth and chasing them becomes a fulltime occupation, for they just keep coming back. Random thoughts are like flies.
Our base desires are numerous and human beings are seldom free of them. They all share a common root, namely love of this world. That is the origin of every fault, the basis of every shortcoming, the source of all corruption. Filled with the love of this world, a person becomes so attached to it that he fails to make provision for the Hereafter. He then has no hope of experiencing the pure bliss of communion in Prayer. Those who delight in this world can take no delight in God, Glorified is He, nor in communion with Him. A man aspires to that which gives him joy, so if his pleasure lies in this world he will surely seek it there. Nevertheless, one must continue to strive, turning the heart back towards prayer and reducing the causes of distraction.
This is bitter medicine, so bitter that we instinctively recoil from taking it. The sickness remains chronic and the disease becomes incurable. Great men have endeavoured to perform two cycles of Prayer without having any internal conversation about worldly matters, only to find themselves unequal to the task. No hope, then, for the likes of us! If only we may be safe from temptation during half of the Prayer, or one third, so that our deeds are at least a mixture of good and bad!
In short, the worldly and spiritual aspirations in the human heart are like water poured into a cup full of vinegar; as water goes in, an equal volume of vinegar inevitably goes out and the two can never combine.