Al-Fawāʾid - Ibn al-Qayyim - (الكتاب/263)

Al-FawāʾidIbn al-Qayyim

and has chosen for him, yet the servant grows weary of it and asks to exchange it for something that, in his ignorance, he imagines to be better. Out of mercy, his Lord does not remove him from that favor; He excuses his ignorance and his poor choice. Only when the servant can no longer bear the blessing—when he becomes resentful, irritated, and his boredom reaches its peak—does Allah take it from him. Then, once the servant attains what he had demanded and notices the gulf between his former state and his new one, his anxiety and remorse intensify, and he yearns to return to what he once possessed.

If Allah intends good and right guidance for a servant, He makes him recognize that his present condition is a blessing from among His favors, inspires him with contentment, and enables him to give thanks for it. Should his soul whisper to him to leave it behind, he performs istikhara—the prayer of one who is ignorant of his true welfare, powerless to obtain it, who entrusts the matter to Allah and asks his Lord to choose what is best for him.

Nothing harms a servant more than growing bored with Allah’s blessings. He no longer sees them as favors, does not thank Allah for them, and takes no joy in them; instead he resents them, complains of them, and counts them as misfortunes—though they are among Allah’s greatest gifts to him.

Thus most people are enemies of Allah’s favors upon them. They do not sense the doors through which Allah pours His blessings, and they strive—out of ignorance and injustice—to repel and reject them. How often does a blessing hurry toward one of them while he is busy driving it away with all his effort! How often does a blessing reach him while he is striving, through wrongdoing and ignorance, to cast it off and make it disappear!

Allah, the Exalted, says: “That is because Allah would never change a favor He had bestowed on a people until they change what is within themselves” (Al-Anfal 8:53).

He also says: “Indeed, Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves” (Ar-Raʿd 13:11).

No one, then, is more hostile to a blessing than the servant’s own self; together with his enemy, he becomes a helper against himself.

واختارها له، فَيمَلُّها العبدُ ويطلب الانتقال منها إلى ما يزعم لجهله أنه خيرٌ له منها، وربُّه برحمته لا يُخرِجه من تلك النعمة ويَعذره بجهله وسوء اختياره لنفسه، حتى إذا ضاق ذرعًا بتلك النعمة وسَخِطَها وتبرَّمَ بها واستحكم مَللُه لها سَلَبه الله إياها؛ فإذا انتقل إلى ما طلبه، ورأى التفاوت بين ما كان فيه وما صار إليه؛ اشتدَّ قلقُه وندمه وطلبَ العودة إلى ما كان فيه. فإذا أراد الله بعبده خيرًا ورشدًا أشهدَه أن ما هو فيه نعمة من نعمه عليه ورَضَّاهُ به وأوزعَه شكره عليه؛ فإذا حدَّثتْه نفسُه بالانتقال عنه استخار ربَّه استخارةَ جاهلٍ بمصلحته عاجزٍ عنها مُفوِّضٍ إلى الله طالبٍ منه حسنَ اختياره له. وليس على العبد أضرُّ من مَلَلِه لنعم الله؛ فإنه لا يراها نعمة ولا يشكره عليها ولا يفرح بها، بل يَسخَطها ويشكوها ويعدُّها مصيبةً، هذا وهي من أعظم نعم الله عليه. فأكثر الناس أعداءُ نِعَمِ الله عليهم، ولا يَشعُرون بفتح الله عليهم نِعمَه، وهم مجتهدون في دفعها وردَّها جهلًا وظلمًا؛ فكم سَعَتْ إلى أحدهم من نعمةٍ وهو ساعٍ في ردِّها بجهده! وكم وصلتْ إليه وهو ساعٍ في دفعها وزوالها بظلمه وجهله! قال تعالى: ﴿ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَمْ يَكُ مُغَيِّرًا نِعْمَةً أَنْعَمَهَا عَلَى قَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ﴾ [الأنفال: ٥٣]. وقال تعالى: ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ﴾ [الرعد: ١١]. فليس للنعم أعدى من نفس العبد؛ فهو مع عدوه ظهير على نفسه،