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that is, from asking people.
He also said:
“True wealth lies not in abundant possessions, but in a self-sufficient soul.”
A self-sufficient soul does not look longingly to created beings. A free man is a slave as long as he covets, and a slave is free as long as he is content.
As it has been said:
“I obeyed my covetous desires, and they enslaved me.”
He therefore disapproved of allowing the soul to pursue whatever it eagerly desired, lest neediness and covetousness toward created beings remain in the heart. For this is contrary to the commanded reliance upon Allah and to self-sufficiency of the soul.
أَيْ عَنْ السُّؤَالِ لِلنَّاسِ.
وَقَالَ:
{لَيْسَ الْغِنَى عَنْ كَثْرَةِ الْعَرَضِ وَإِنَّمَا الْغِنَى غِنَى النَّفْسِ}
فَغِنَى النَّفْسِ الَّذِي لَا يَسْتَشْرِفُ إلَى الْمَخْلُوقِ فَإِنَّ الْحُرَّ عَبْدٌ مَا طَمِعَ وَالْعَبْدُ حُرٌّ مَا قَنِعَ.
وَقَدْ قِيلَ:
أَطَعْت مَطَامِعِي فَاسْتَعْبَدَتْنِي. فَكَرِهَ أَنْ يَتَّبِعَ نَفْسَهُ مَا اسْتَشْرَفَتْ لَهُ لِئَلَّا يَبْقَى فِي الْقَلْبِ فَقْرٌ وَطَمَعٌ إلَى الْمَخْلُوقِ؛ فَإِنَّهُ خِلَافَ التَّوَكُّلِ الْمَأْمُورِ بِهِ وَخِلَافَ غِنَى النَّفْسِ.