Al-Fawāʾid - Ibn al-Qayyim - (الكتاب/255)

Al-FawāʾidIbn al-Qayyim

—like the grain that is poured into a mill, and that mill is never left standing idle; it must always be given something to grind. Among people, there are those whose mill grinds wholesome grain that emerges as fine flour from which they and others profit, yet most people feed their mill with sand, pebbles, straw, and the like. When the time comes to knead the dough and bake the bread, the quality of what they have milled is laid bare.

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If you drive away the first passing thought that alights upon you, everything that would have followed it is likewise driven away. But if you entertain it, it turns into a roaming reflection; that reflection then recruits the will, and together will and thought seek to press the limbs into service. If the limbs cannot be enlisted, the pair withdraw to the heart, filling it with wishes, cravings, and a turning toward the desired object.

It is well-known that correcting passing thoughts is easier than correcting reflections; correcting reflections is easier than correcting resolves; correcting resolves is easier than repairing a corrupt deed; and repairing a deed is easier than breaking entrenched habits.

The most beneficial remedy, therefore, is to occupy yourself with thinking about what truly concerns you and to avoid what does not. Reflection on what is of no concern opens the door to every evil. Whoever busies his mind with what does not concern him forfeits what does, and he diverts himself from what will most benefit him to what brings him no benefit at all.

Thoughts, passing notions, will, and aspiration are thus the first parts of yourself that deserve reform, for they are your very essence—through them you either draw near to, or distance yourself from, your Lord and object of worship. All happiness lies in nearness to Him and His good pleasure, and all misery lies in being far from Him and incurring His displeasure.

Whoever is low and contemptible in his secret thoughts and the fields of his reflection will be nothing but low and contemptible in all the rest of his affairs.

بمنزلة الحب الذي يوضع في الرَّحى، ولا تبقى تلك الرحى معطلةً قط، بل لا بد لها من شيءٍ يوضع فيها؛ فمن الناس من تطحن رحاه حَبًّا يخرج دقيقًا ينفع به نفسَه وغيره، وأكثرهم يطحن رملًا وحصىً وتْبِنًا ونحو ذلك، فإذا جاء وقت العَجْن والخَبْز تبيَّن له حقيقةُ طحينه. فصل فإذا دفعتَ الخاطر الوارد عليك اندفعَ عنك ما بعده، وإن قبلتَه صار فكرًا جوالًا، فاستخدَم الإرادةَ، فتساعدتْ هي والفكر على استخدام الجوارح؛ فإن تعذَّر استخدامُها رجعا إلى القلب بالمُنَى والشهوة وتَوجُّهِه إلى جهة المراد. ومن المعلوم أن إصلاح الخواطر أسهلُ من إصلاح الأفكار، وإصلاح الأفكار أسهل من إصلاح الإرادات، وإصلاح الإرادات أسهل من تدارك فساد العمل، وتداركه أسهل من قطع العوائد. فأنفع الدواء أن تَشغلَ نفسَك بالفكر فيما يَعنِيك دون ما لا يَعنِيك؛ فالفكر فيما لا يعني باب كل شر، ومن فكر فيما لا يعنيه فاته ما يعنيه، واشتغل عن أنفع الأشياء له بما لا منفعة له فيه. فالفكر والخواطر والإرادة والهمة أحقُّ شيءٍ بإصلاحه من نفسك؛ فإن هذه خاصتك وحقيقتك التي تبتعدُ بها أو تقرُبُ من إلهك ومعبودك الذي لا سعادةَ لك إلا في قربه ورضاه عنك، وكلُّ الشقاء في بعدك عنه وسخطِه عليك. ومن كان في خواطره ومجالاتِ فكره دنيئًا خسيسًا لم يكن في سائر أمره إلا كذلك.