Al-Fawāʾid - Ibn al-Qayyim - (الكتاب/201)

Al-FawāʾidIbn al-Qayyim

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No one truly benefits from Allah’s favor of faith and knowledge except the one who knows his own soul, confines it to its proper measure, does not reach for what is not his, does not exceed his station, and never says, “This is mine.” He is certain that it belongs to Allah, is from Allah, and is by Allah; for He bestowed it at the outset and sustains it continually without any cause or merit on the servant’s part. Thus Allah’s gifts humble him and break him like one who sees absolutely no good belonging to—or found within—himself, while every good that reaches him he ascribes to Allah, by Allah, and from Allah. Consequently, the blessings engender in him an astounding humility and contrition that defy description; each time Allah renews a blessing for him, his humility, brokenness, reverence, love, fear, and hope only increase.

This is the fruit of two noble kinds of knowledge:

His knowledge of his Lord—of His perfection, beneficence, self-sufficiency, generosity, kindness, and mercy; that every form of good lies in His hands and belongs to Him; He grants it to whom He wills and withholds it from whom He wills, and to Him belongs all praise for that. This is praise in its most complete and perfect form.
His knowledge of himself: recognizing its limits and measure, its deficiency, injustice, and ignorance; that there is absolutely no good in it, nor for it, nor by it, nor from it; that in and of itself it possesses nothing but non-existence, and that as for its qualities and perfections it possesses only that same non-existence—than which nothing is more insignificant or deficient. Any good found in it is merely incidental to its existence, an existence that is neither of its own making nor sustained by it.

When these two kinds of knowledge become the very coloring of the soul—rather than a mere coloring of the tongue—it realizes that all praise belongs to Allah, all affairs are His, and every good is in His hands; that He alone deserves praise, glorification, and commendation, while it is most worthy of blame, fault-finding, and reproach. Whoever fails to realize these two kinds of knowledge will find his words, deeds, and states constantly changing hue, stumbling in confusion, and he will not be guided to the straight path that leads him

فصل لا ينتفع بنعمة الله بالإيمان والعلم إلا من عرفَ نفسه، ووقف بها عند قدرها، ولم يَتجاوزهُ إلى ما ليس له، ولم يَتَعدَّ طورَه، ولم يقل: هذا لي، وتيقَّن أنه لله ومن الله وبالله؛ فهو المانُّ به ابتداءً وإدامةً بلا سبب من العبد ولا استحقاقٍ منه، فتُذِلُّه نِعمُ الله عليه، وتَكْسِره كسرةَ من لا يرى لنفسه ولا فيها خيرًا البتة، وأن الخير الذي وصل إليه فهو لله وبه ومنه، فتُحدِثُ له النعمُ ذلًّا وانكسارًا عجيبًا لا يُعبَّرُ عنه؛ فكلما جدَّد لهُ نعمةً ازداد له ذُلًّا وانكسارًا وخشوعًا ومحبّةً وخوفًا ورجاءً. وهذا نتيجةُ علمين شريفين: علمه بربه وكماله وبِرِّه وغناه وجُودِه وإحسانه ورحمته، وأن الخير كله في يديه، وهو ملكه؛ يُؤتي منه من يشاءُ ويمنع منه من يشاءُ، وله الحمدُ على هذا. وهذا أكملُ حمدٍ وأتمُّهُ. وعلمُه بنفسه، ووقوفه على حدِّها وقدرها ونقصها وظلمها وجهلها، وأنها لا خير فيها البتة، ولا لها ولا بها ولا منها، وأنها ليس لها من ذاتها إلّا العدم؛ فكذلك من صفاتها وكمالها ليس لها إلَّا العدم الذي لا شيء أحقرُ منه ولا أنقص؛ فما فيها من الخير تابعٌ لوجودها الذي ليس إليها ولا بها. فإذا صار هذان العلمان صبغةً لها لا صبغةً على لسانها؛ علمتْ حينئذٍ أن الحمد كلَّه لله، والأمر كلَّه له، والخير كلَّه في يديه، وأنه هو المستحقُّ للحمد والثناء والمدح دونها، وأنها هي أولى بالذمِّ والعيب واللوم. ومن فاته التحقُّقُ بهذين العلمين تلوَّنتْ به أقواله وأعماله وأحواله، وتَخبَّطتْ عليه، ولم يهتد إلى الصراط المستقيم الموصل له