Anything to Everything: Quotations

If the first inward thought is not warded off, it will generate a desire, then the desire will generate a wish, and the wish will generate an intention, and the intention will generate the action, and the action will result in ruin and divine wrath. So evil must be cut off at its root, which is when it is simply a thought that crosses the mind, from which all the other things follow on.

-- Imam Ghazali

The world is three days:
As for yesterday, it has vanished, along with all that was in it.
As for tomorrow, you may never see it.
As for today, it is yours, so work in it.

-- Hassan Basri

Suffering is a gift. In it is hidden mercy.

-- Rumi

A friend cannot be considered a friend until he is tested in three occasions: in time of need, behind your back, and after your death.

-- Hazrat Ali (RA)

When someone criticizes or disagrees with you, a small ant of hatred and antagonism is born in your heart. If you do not squash that ant at once, it might grow into a snake, or even a dragon.

-- Rumi

Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.

-- Ghazali

Reflect on the work of art and you may attain to the artist.

-- Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani

If you see Allah, Mighty and Magnificent, holding back this world from you, frequently trying you with adversity and tribulation, know that you hold a great status with Him. Know that He is dealing with you as He does with His Awliya’ and chosen elite, and is watching over you, have you not heard His saying, “So wait steadfastly for the judgment of your Lord - you are certainly before Our eyes.{At-Tur 52:48}”

-- Ghazali

How long will you keep pounding on an open door Begging for someone to open it?

-- Rabia Basri

Work for your terrestrial life in proportion to your location in it, and work for your afterlife in proportion to your eternity in it.

-- Ghazali

My son, when you pray, do it like a person who is bidding farewell to this world, and don't assume you will have another chance to pray again. My son, know that a believer dies in between two deeds, one he offers for today, where he will get immediate blessings, and the second deed is what he offers towards the day of resurrection, and that is where he will gain the ultimate benefits

-- Muaaz Ibn Jabal (RA)

That which God said to the rose,
and caused it to laugh in full-blown beauty,
he said to my heart,
and made it a hundred times more beautiful.

-- Rumi

In the intricate paths of life,
when difficulties and hardships confront a man,
and the darkness of difficulty and suffering becomes long,
it is patience only that acts like a light for a Muslim,
that keeps him safe from wandering here and there,
and saves him from the muddy marsh of disappointment, desperation and frustration.

-- Ghazali

There are four cardinal virtues of the individual self:

(i) refraining from asking in the state of poverty;
(ii) showing the attitude of being well-fed when feeling hungry;
(iii) maintaining a cheerfulness in the time of sorrow; and
(iv) befriending the enemy.

-- Khawaja Moeen ud Din Hasan Chishti

My son! Do not let the rooster be more intelligent than you are. It shouldn’t happen that he (i.e. the rooster) gets up at the last part of the night to make proclamations [for Tahajjud prayers and remembers his Lord] while you keep sleeping [in a deep sleep of heedlessness, carelessness, and ignorance].

-- Hazrat Luqman (AS)

To discuss about learning in a portion of night is dearer to me than to keep up awake throughout the night in prayer.

-- Ibn Abbas (RA)

Hazrat Dawood (Peace be upon Him) asked Allah, the Almighty:
“What is the least of Your blessings?”
Allah revealed to him:
“O Dawood, take a breath.”
Dawood did so, and Allah told him:
“This is the least of My blessings on you.”

“Become a scholar if you are able. If you are not able, then be a student. If you can not, then show love for them. If you are unable to do that, then (at least) do not hate them.”

— Hazrat Umar (RA)

“Oh my son! This world is like an ocean in which many a creation had drowned. Make, therefore, the fear of God your boat in this ocean; your faith the main hull of the boat; reliance on God as its sails; reason as its rower; knowledge as its captain; and patience as its anchor.”

-- Hazrat Ali (RA)

In generosity and helping others be like a river,
In compassion and grace be like the sun,
In concealing others’ faults be like night,
In anger and fury be like the dead,
In modesty and humility be like the earth,
In tolerance be like the sea,
Either exist as you are or be as you look.

-- Rumi

Where there is pain, cures will come;
where there is poverty, wealth will follow.
Where there are questions, answers will be given;
where there are ships, water will flow.
Spend less time seeking water and acquire thirst!
Then water will gush from above and below.

-- Rumi

None is sincere in his love of God, unless he patiently endures the blows of his lord.

-- Rumi

The Holy Prophet (SAW) said:

Four things that make your body sick:
a) Excessive talking
b) Excessive sleeping
c) Excessive eating
d) Excessive meeting other people

2) Four things that destroys the body:
a) Worrying
b) Sorrow
c) Hunger
d) Sleeping late in the night

3) Four things that dry the face and take away its happiness:
a) Lying
b) Being disrespectful
c) Arguing without adequate knowledge and information.
d) Excessive immorality

4) Four things that increases the wetness of face and its happiness:
a) Piety
b) Loyalty
c) Generosity
d) To be helpful to others without he/she asking for that.

5) Four things that stop the Rizq/Sustenance:
a) Sleeping in the morning (from Fajr to sunrise)
b) Not Performing Namaz or Irregularity in Prayers
c) Laziness/Idleness
d) Treachery/Dishonesty

6) Four things that bring/increase the Rizq:
a) Staying up in the night for prayers.
b) Excessive Repentance
c) Regular Charity
d) Zikr (Remembrance of Allah)

Do to me, O Allah, what is worthy of Thee; And not what is worthy of me.

-- Shaikh Saadi

We should think of those who were famous for their good deeds or their bad deeds; did their fame raise them one single degree in the sight of Allah. Did it win them a reward that they had not already won by their actions during their life?

-- Ibn Hazm

To admonish your brother in private is to advise him and improve him. But to admonish him publicly is to disgrace and shame him.

-- Imam Shafi

If a gem falls into mud it is still valuable.
If dust ascends to heaven, it remains valueless.

-- Shaikh Saadi

Like us many have spoken over this spring, but they were gone in the twinkling of an eye. We conquered the world with bravery and might, but we did not take it with us to the grave.

-- Zaheer ud Din Babar

Knowledge is not what is memorized.
Knowledge is what benefits.

-- Imam Shafi

By the mercy of God, Paradise has eight doors; one of those is the door of repentance, child. All the others are sometimes open, sometimes shut, but the door of repentance is never closed. Come seize the opportunity: the door is open; carry your baggage there at once.

-- Rumi

Allah’s Generosity is connected to gratitude, and gratitude is linked to increase in His generosity. The generosity of Allah will not stop increasing unless the gratitude of the servant ceases.

-- Hazrat Ali (RA)

“All your suffering comes from desiring things that cannot be had. Stop desiring and you won’t suffer.”

-- Rumi

Never do I argue with a man with a desire to hear him say
what is wrong, or to expose him and win victory over him.
Whenever I face an opponent in debate I silently pray -
O Lord, help him so that truth may flow from his heart
and on his tongue, and so that if truth is on my side, he may follow me;
and if truth be on his side, I may follow him.

-- Imam Shafi

Your prayers are your light;
Your devotion is your strength;
Sleep is the enemy of both.
Your life is the only opportunity that life can give you.
If you ignore it, if you waste it,
You will only turn to dust.

-- Rabia Basri

If you make dhikr you won't become stressed.
If you are getting stressed you're not doing enough dhikr.

-- Shaikh Hamza Yusuf

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Whoever does not thank people, does not thank Allah.

The happiness of the drop is to die in the river.

-- Ghazali

Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.

-- Buddha

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

-- Buddha

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.

-- Buddha

If faith is lost, there is no security and there is no life for him who does not adhere to religion.

-- Allama Iqbal

I tell you the sign of a believer; When Death comes, there is a smile on his lips.

-- Allama Iqbal

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (RA) said, If anyone has five things then he will not be deprived of five others.

1. He who is enabled to show gratitude will never be deprived of increase of blessings.

“If you give thanks, certainly I will give you more.” (14:7)

2. He who is guided to persevere will not be deprived of reward.

“Truly the persevering will be paid their reward in full without reckoning.” (39:10)

3. One who is inspired to repent will not be deprived of its acceptance.

“And He is (Allah) Who accepts repentance from His servants.” (42:25)

4. One who is enabled to seek forgiveness will not be deprived of receiving pardon.

“Seek forgiveness of your Lord; surely He is Ever-Forgiving.” (71:10)

5. He who is spurred to make supplication is not deprived of an answer.

“Call upon Me, and I shall answer you.” (40:60)

Someone else added a sixth proposition that one who is encouraged to spend will not be deprived of reward thereof.

“And whatsoever you expend (for good) He shall replace it.” (34:39)

The door of success has been closed against creation due to 6 matters:

1. Being preoccupied with grace without being grateful.
2. Their interest in knowledge and neglecting action.
3. Rushing into sin and delaying repentance.
4. Being attracted by the company of the righteous but failing to follow their deeds.
5. This worldly life is turning away from them, while they strongly desire it.
6. The Hereafter is drawing close to them while they are turning away from it.

-- Shafiq bin Ibrahim

According to Abu Daud these four Sayings of The Prophet (PBUH) contain the summary of Islamic law.

1. Actions will be judged according to intentions.
2. The proof of a Muslim’s sincerity is that he payeth no heed to that which is not his business.
3. No man is a true believer unless he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.
4. That which is lawful is clear, and that which is unlawful likewise, but there are certain doubtful things between the two from which it is well to abstain.

Knowledge raises the low, but ignorance brings down the mighty.

-- Hazrat Ali (RA)

If you are not content with Allah, can you expect Him to be content with you?

-- Yahya ibn Muaaz

Someone asked Yahya bin Muaaz:
When do you become a mukhlis?
He replied:
When your attitude becomes like that of an infant, neither caring for praise nor criticism.

Something was causing me a great deal of grief and distress, and I started to think long and hard about how to get out of this situation by any means, but I could not find any way out. Then I came across this verse:
"…And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out [of every difficulty]." (65:2)
I realized that Taqwa (Piety, fearing Allah) is the way out of every kind of grief and distress. As soon as I followed the path of taqwa, I found the way out.

Become a scholar if you are able. If you are not able, then be a student. If you cannot, then show love for them. If you are unable to do that, then (at least) do not hate them.

— Hazrat Umar (RA)

What has he lost who has found you (O Allah), and what has he found who has lost you (O Allah).

-- Ibn At'allah

A calamity that makes you turn to Allah, is better than a blessing which makes you forget the remembrance of Allah.

-- Ibn Taymiyah

When you fear the creation, you feel repelled by it and run away from it, but when you fear the Creator, you feel close to Him and run towards Him.

-- Ibn Qayyim

Salman Farsi (RA) said:

There was a man who was given many of the luxuries of this world, and then they were taken away from him. But he continued to praise and thank Allah until everything had been taken from him, even his bed. And then he still praised and thanked Allah. Another man, who had also been given many of the luxuries of this world asked him, What are you praising and thanking Allah for? The man said, I am praising and thanking Him for blessings which, if others asked me to give them in return for all that they have, I would never give them up. What can they be? Asked the second man. Can’t you see? Asked the first man. I have my eyesight, my tongue, my hands, my feet...

My health is in the hands of Allah,
Who has ways of testing us.
Whatever happens, happens.
I ain't the greatest - It's Allah.
I gave myself a job. I work for God.

-- Muhammad Ali ( The Boxer )

There are four types of people in this world who enter a conversation/discussion:

1. One who knows not, and himself knows he knows not, is a student. Teach that person.
2. One who knows, and others know he knows, is a teacher. Learn from that person.
3. One who knows, and himself knows not that he knows, is humble. Encourage him.
4. One who knows not, and himself knows not that he knows not, is stupid. Avoid that person.
In any dialogue keep these in mind, and you shall be guided to productive discourses.

-- Imam Shafi

“Every day the sun rises it calls upon us, “Oh people! I am a new day; I am an observer of your actions. Take advantage of me for I will not return until the Day of Judgment.” “Oh, son of Adam you are nothing but a few breaths. Once one breath goes out, part of you goes with it. In the same way that part of you has gone, soon all of you will go.”

-- Hassan Basri

"I wish that time could be acquired with money. If so I would buy time from wasteful and ungrateful people so that I could spend it serving Allah (SWT).”

-- Muhasibi

“I never regretted anything except a day that passed by without having increased my deeds.”

-- Ibn Masood

“Every gulp of air that goes out in a cause other than the cause of Allah (SWT) will turn to sorrow and regret on the Day of Judgment.” He also said, “A sign that Allah (SWT) despises you is when you find yourself wasting your time with trivial matters; in this way you miss your chance of going to heaven. And a sign that Allah (SWT) likes you is when you find yourself fulfilling more duties than you have time for.” A saying goes, ‘The devil makes work for idle thumbs.’ If you want to know whether Allah (SWT) is pleased with you, then think: Are you busy or idle?

-- Ibn Al-Qayyim

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:

Love your loved ones moderately, as one day he may become someone you hate!
And hate the one you hate moderately, as one day he may become someone you love!

Yesterday is a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. I never saw anyone as just as the world. As long as you pursue the world it will pursue you, but when you turn away from it and seek God, it will leave you alone and its glamour shall no longer fascinate you.

-- Hajvairi

I saw grief drinking a cup of sorrow and called out,
“It tastes sweet, does it not?”
“You’ve caught me,” grief answered,
“and you’ve ruined my business,
how can I sell sorrow when you know it’s a blessing?

-- Rumi

I have eaten so much from your generous hand
that I am bent over in shame.
How could I refuse even one bitter thing from you?
If I were to complain of bitterness,
I should be engulfed in the dust of a hundred roads!
Your sugar-scattering hand gave that melon its grace —
how could any bitterness be left in it?
By love the bitter is made sweet.

-- Rumi

“Sometimes in order to help He makes us cry.
Happy the eye that sheds tears for His sake.
Fortunate the heart that burns for His sake.
Laughter always follows tears.
Blessed are those who understand.
Life blossoms wherever water flows.
Where tears are shed divine mercy is shown.”

-- Rumi

Ghunaym bin Qays said:

“We would be admonished in the early days of Islam:

‘O son of Adam! Act during your free time before you become busy, and during your youth before your old age, and during your health before your sickness, and during your stay in this world before the Hereafter, and during your life before your death.’”

A hadees states that:

If you cover a believer’s fault in life, Allah (SWT) will cover your faults in akhirah.

Ibn Abbas (RA) said:

“Indeed good actions are a light in the heart,
a strengthening for the body,
a glow on the face,
a cause for extensive provisions and
love in the hearts of the creation.
Indeed bad actions are a darkness in the heart,
a blackness on the face,
a weakness for the body,
a cause for decrease in provisions and
hatred in the hearts of the creation.”

Eemaan is what lodges in the heart and what is shown by action.

-- Hasan Basri

It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“There is no Muslim who does not offer any dua in which there is no sin or severing of family ties but Allah will give him one of three things in return: either He will answer his dua sooner, or he will store it up for him in the Hereafter, or He will divert an equivalent evil away from him because of it.” They said: “We will say a lot of dua.” He said: “Allah is more generous.”

Ibn al Qayyim said in Zaad al Ma’aad:

“As for the weeping of the Prophet (saw) it was in the same degree as his laughter. He wouldn’t sob loudly and raise his voice, just like his laughter wasn’t loud. However his eyes would fill up with tears, until they flowed out, and you would hear the sound like that of a whistling kettle coming from his chest. He would weep out of mercy for the dead, out of fear and compassion for his ummah, out of deep fear of Allah, upon listening to the Qur’an. And it was a weeping of longing, love and exaltation, accompanied by fear and khashyah”.

Ease and hardship are the feathers that give strength to the wings of your faith, so that your heart and your innermost being can use them to fly to the door of your Lord.

-- Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani

Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal was asked about the correct meaning of this hadees:

'When you hear something from or about your brother, ascribe to it the best interpretation until you can no longer do so.'

He replied, Find an excuse for him by saying, "Maybe he said this, or maybe he meant such and such."

I love God, I have no time left in which to hate the devil.

-- Rabia Basri

Yahya ibn Khalid said:

Do not respond to anyone until you have understood his words, For that will cause you to respond to what they have not said, and thus confirm your own ignorance. Rather you must understand his speech properly. So when you understand him, then respond. And do not rush to answer before asking for clarity. And do not be shy to seek clarity when you do not understand. For verily answering before understanding is sheer idiocy! So if you do not know before asking, then ask! Then it will come to you. Your questioning and seeking clarity is more praiseworthy and better for you then being silent and incapable of expressing yourself!

Because names have meanings, these meanings will inevitably have an effect on the person who carries the name. Names have an effect on the things that are named, and the things that are named have an effect on their names, whether they are beautiful or ugly, light or heavy, subtle or crude.

-- Ibn Al-Qayyim

The heart gets sick as the body does and its cure is in asking for forgiveness and protection. It also becomes rusty like a mirror does and it is polished by remembering Allah. The heart can also be naked like the body and can lose its dress and decoration, which is piety, and it can feel hunger and thirst like the body does, and its nourishment is knowledge, love, trust, and offering service to Allah.

-- Ibn Al-Qayyim

What you focus on expands.

-- Buddha

Good actions are a guard against the blows of adversity.

-- Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA)

Run away from greatness and greatness will follow you.

-- Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA)

If you expect the blessings of God, be good to His people.

-- Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA)

Take account of yourselves before your are brought to account.

-- Hazrat Umar (RA)

Trust is that there should be no difference between what you do and say, and what you think.

-- Hazrat Umar (RA)

Sit with those who love God for that enlightens the mind.

-- Hazrat Umar (RA)

He who is fond of delicious food, let him bear in mind that ultimately he is to be food for worms.

-- Hazrat Usman (RA)

A backbiter harms three persons, firstly himself, secondly the person whom he is addressing and thirdly the person whom he is backbiting.

-- Hazrat Usman (RA)

Silence is the best cure of the malady of anger.

-- Hazrat Usman (RA)

That knowledge is of no avail which is not put into practice. There can be no practice without knowledge and knowledge without putting it to practice is useless. That knowledge is blameworthy which is used solely to acquire wealth.

-- Hazrat Usman (RA)

It is painful to realize that while an animal recognizes its master, [some] human beings do not recognize their Lord.

-- Hazrat Usman (RA)

He who is not put to any distress or difficulty for a year at a stretch let him realize that God is displeased with him.

-- Hazrat Usman (RA)

The Word of God is the medicine of the heart.

-- Hazrat Ali (RA)

The days of your life pass away like clouds, so do good while you are alive.

-- Hazrat Ali (RA)

He who knows himself knows God.

-- Hazrat Ali (RA)

Have an earnestness for death and you will have life.

-- Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA)

Be good to others, that will protect you against evil.

-- Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA)

Anything to Everything

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Spiritual Gems

Random Quotes

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Words of Wisdom