Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Description of the Righteous- Reflections Ramadan 22

One of the signs [of such a person] is that you observe strength in his religion. His gentleness is accompanied by sobriety. His faith is coupled with certainty. He longs for knowledge. He acts with forbearance. He lives moderately, even when blessed with wealth. He is humble in his worship. He endures poverty with dignified grace.

He patiently endures trying circumstances.
He seeks his sustenance from the lawful. He hastens to right guidance. He is agitated if he perceives greed in himself. He works righteousness all the while trembling, fearing that his deeds won’t be accepted]. His greatest concern is gratitude. He arises in the morn preoccupied with the Remembrance of God. He goes to bed at night overwhelmed, apprehensive. He rises in the morning overjoyed. His apprehension arises from the awareness of his heedlessness. His joy is caused by the bounties and mercy Allah has showered upon him. If his soul presses him with something he despises, he does not concede [to it] and withholds from it what it desires.

The comfort of his eye is that which cannot be eradicated [the reward of his righteous deeds]. His abstinence is from temporal things. He mixes clemency with knowledge, and speech with action. He expects death at any moment. His slips are few [because of his cautiousness and deliberateness in speech and actions]. His heart is content. He is easy-going. He is constantly on guard against assaults upon his religion.

His lusts are dead.

It is related that a devout worshipper by the name of Humam came to Imam Ali (May Allah Ennoble his countenance) and asked him to describe the pious people so vividly that he could almost see them.
Read the complete Description of the Righteous

1 comment:

Ahmad Barnard said...

My dear sister. What a blessing it was to read some of your posts. Isn't it amazing that, still, so many people in the "west" only know Islam by the caricatured versions that they are exposed to in the media? Your writing demonstrates to me all that is beautiful about Islam.