and you can do without everything besides Him, yet you can never do without Him.
• Whoever abandons personal choosing and self-management—whether in the quest for more wealth or status, out of fear of loss, or in seeking deliverance from an enemy—and instead relies upon Allah, trusting His management of his affairs and His wise choice, casting himself before Him, surrendering the matter to Him, and being content with whatever He decrees, will be relieved of worries, griefs, and sorrows. But whoever insists on directing his own affairs plunges into distress, fatigue, miserable circumstances, and hardship: no life tastes serene, no heart rejoices, no deed grows, no hope stands firm, and no rest endures. Allah, exalted is He, has made the way to Himself easy for His creatures, yet He has veiled them from Him by their own self-management. Thus, whoever is pleased with Allah’s management, rests in His choice, and submits to His judgment removes that veil—the heart then reaches its Lord, finds tranquillity in Him, and settles in peace.
• The one who truly relies upon Allah asks no one but Allah, does not object to Allah, and stores nothing away alongside Allah.
• Whoever is occupied with himself is kept busy from others; whoever is occupied with his Lord is kept busy from himself.
• Sincerity is what no angel knows to record, no enemy can corrupt, and whose doer does not admire himself and thereby nullify it.
• Contentment is the heart’s stillness beneath the flow of decrees.
• People are tormented in this world in proportion to how strongly their ambitions cling to it.
• The heart wanders through six stations—no seventh exists: three are lowly and three are lofty. The lowly are: a world that decked itself out for him, a soul that talks to him, and an enemy that whispers to him—these are the haunts of base spirits in which they continually roam. The lofty are: knowledge that becomes clear to him, an intellect that guides him, and a God whom he worships. Hearts are ever roaming among these stations.
• Following caprice and cherishing long hopes are the raw material of every corruption; for following caprice blinds.