Al-Fawāʾid - Ibn al-Qayyim - (الكتاب/166)

Al-FawāʾidIbn al-Qayyim

—by One who neither finds them heavy, nor is burdened by them, nor is bothered in the least. He shoulders them on the servant’s behalf and, in so doing, reveals to him His gentleness, benevolence, mercy, and kindness—without the servant’s having to toil, labor, or worry, for the servant has turned all of his concern toward Him, making Him his sole preoccupation. Thus Allah diverts the servant’s mind from his worldly needs and interests and clears his heart of them. How pleasant is such a life! How serene his heart, how great his joy and delight!

But if the servant insists on managing his affairs himself—choosing for his own sake and pursuing his personal share while neglecting his Lord’s right—Allah leaves him to what he has chosen and entrusts him to what he has turned to. Then worry, grief, sorrow, misery, fear, fatigue, troubled thoughts, and wretched circumstances close in on him: his heart finds no clarity, his deeds gain no purity, his hopes are never realized, he attains no rest, nor does he enjoy any true pleasure. Indeed, all gladness, joy, and comfort of the eye are barred from him. He toils in this world like a wild beast, yet he achieves none of his hopes and takes no provision from it for the Hereafter.

Allah, exalted be He, has imposed upon the servant a command and has given him a guarantee. If the servant fulfills that command with sincerity, truthfulness, devotion, and earnest effort, Allah will fulfill for him what He guaranteed: provision, sufficiency, victory, and the accomplishment of needs. He, exalted, has guaranteed provision to whoever worships Him, victory to whoever relies on Him and seeks His aid, sufficiency to whoever makes Him his sole concern and aim, forgiveness to whoever seeks His pardon, and the fulfillment of needs to whoever approaches Him truthfully, trusts Him, and pins strong hope and desire on His bounty and generosity.

The intelligent and discerning person therefore concerns himself with executing Allah’s command, perfecting it, and seeking His enabling grace, not with the guarantee itself—for He is the Faithful, the True, and who is more faithful to His covenant than Allah? A sign of felicity is that one’s concern is directed to Allah’s command rather than to His guarantee, whereas a sign of deprivation is an empty heart devoid of concern for His command, love, and fear, yet occupied with His guarantee.

Allah alone is the One whose help is sought.

من لا يبالي بحملها ولا تُثقِله ولا يَكترِثُ بها، فتولَّاها دونه، وأراه لطفَه وبِرَّهُ ورحمته وإحسانه فيها؛ من غير تعب من العبد ولا نَصَبٍ ولا اهتمام منه؛ لأنَّه قد صرف اهتمامه كله إليه، وجعله وحده همه، فصرف عنه اهتمامه بحوائجه ومصالح دنياه، وفرَّغ قلبه منها؛ فما أطيبَ عيشَه! وما أنعمَ قلبَه وأعظمَ سرورَه وفرحَه!. وإن أبى إلا تدبيرَه لنفسه، واختيارَه لها، واهتمامَه بحظِّه، دون حقِّ ربه؛ خلَّاه وما اختاره، وولَّاه ما تولى، فحضره الهمُّ والغمُّ والحزن والنكَدُ والخوف والتعب وكسفُ البال وسوءُ الحال؛ فلا قلبَ يصفو، ولا عملَ يزكو، ولا أملَ يحصل، ولا راحةَ يفوزُ بها، ولا لذةَ يتهنَّأُ بها، بل قد حِيْلَ بينه وبين مسرَّته وفرحه وقرَّة عينه؛ فهو يَكدَحُ في الدنيا كَدْحَ الوحشِ، ولا يظفر منها بأمل، ولا يَتزوَّدُ منها لمعادٍ. والله سبحانه قد أمر العبد بأمر، وضَمِنَ له ضمانًا؛ فإن قام بأمره بالنُّصح والصدق والإخلاص والاجتهاد؛ قام الله سبحانه له بما ضمنه له من الرزق والكفاية والنصر وقضاء الحوائج؛ فإنه سبحانه ضَمِنَ الرزقَ لمن عبده، والنصرَ لمن توكل عليه واستنصر به، والكفايةَ لمن كان هو همَّه ومرادَه، والمغفرةَ لمن استغفرهُ، وقضاءَ الحوائج لمن صدقه في طلبها ووَثِقَ به وقوي رجاؤهُ وطمعُه في فضله وجودِهِ؛ فالفَطِنُ الكيِّسُ إنما يَهتمُّ بأمره وإقامته وتوفيقه لا بضمانه؛ فإنه الوفيُّ الصادقُ، ومن أوفى بعهده من الله؟! فمن علامات السعادة صرفُ اهتمامه إلى أمر الله دون ضمانه، ومن علامات الحرمان فراغُ قلبه من الاهتمام بأمره وحبه وخشيته والاهتمام بضمانه. والله المستعانُ.