one from perceiving the truth in both knowledge and intention, and cherishing long hopes makes one forget the Hereafter and keeps him from preparing for it.
• No servant will ever catch the fragrance of truthfulness while he is pandering to his own soul or flattering someone else.
• When Allah intends good for a servant, He makes him acknowledge his own sin, withhold from fault-finding in others, be generous with what he has, indifferent to what others have, and patient with the harm they inflict. If Allah intends ill for him, He turns all of that upside-down.
• A lofty aspiration constantly circles three things: discovering an exalted divine attribute, which—once known—deepens love and longing; observing a favor, whose observation increases gratitude and obedience; and remembering a sin, whose recollection intensifies repentance and fear. When aspiration clings to anything outside these three, it wanders through the valleys of whisperings and fleeting notions.
• Whoever becomes infatuated with the world, the world looks at the value he assigns to it, turns him into one of its servants and slaves, and humiliates him. Whoever turns away from it, it looks at his elevated worth, so it serves him and submits to him.
• A journey is only completed, and a traveler only arrives, by staying on the main road and traveling through the night. If the traveler strays from the path and sleeps the whole night through, when will he ever reach his goal?!

A Valuable Insight
Every scholar who prefers this world and finds delight in it is bound to speak untruth about Allah—whether in the legal opinions he issues, the judgments he hands down, the reports he relates, or the obligations he imposes—because the rulings of the Lord, glorified be He, often run counter to people’s desires, especially those of power-seekers and devotees of lusts. Their aims cannot be achieved except by frequently opposing and repelling the truth; so when the scholar or the judge loves prominence and is a follower of…