Al-Karim [The Generous]

Let not the intention of your aspiration shift to what is other than He,
for one's hopes cannot outstrip the Generous [al-Karim].

Ibn Ata Illah -RA

Realize your Weakness

Realize your attributes and He will help you with His Attributes;
realize your lowliness and He will help you with His Sublimity;
realize you impotence and He will help you with His Power;
realize your weakness and He will help you with His Might and Force.

Ibn Ata Illah -RA

Be Thankful

Whoever is not thankful for graces runs the risk of losing them,
and whoever is thankful fetters them with their own cords.

Ibn Ata Illah -RA

He is the Doer

The sword does not cut because of its nature, but it is Allah who cuts with it.
Fire does not burn because of its nature, but Allah is the One who uses it to burn.
Food does not satisfy hunger because of its nature, but it is Allah who uses it to satisfy our hunger.
The water does not quench thirst because of its nature, but Allah is the One who quenches our thirst with it.
Likewise with all material means in the variety of their forms, Allah is the One who controls and applies them,
while they are merely instruments in His hands, with which He does whatever He wills.

Since He is the Doer in reality, why do you not resort to Him in all your affairs, let go of your needs
and make a regular practice of affirming His Oneness under all circumstances?

Shaikh Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani -RA

Give up Fleeting Things

This world and the hereafter cannot be combined.
The Creator and creatures cannot be combined.
Give up fleeting things, so that you may receive something that will never pass away.

Shaikh Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani -RA

Ask of Him

Ask of Him [Allah] in accordance with His Power.
Ask of Him with regard to His Power, not with regard to your wisdom.
Ask of Him in terms of His knowledge, not in terms of your knowledge.
Ask of Him with your hearts and your innermost beings, not with the babbling of the tongue.
Ask of Him beyond the scope of your knowledge and your power.
Stand if His presence in a state of bankruptcy in relation to all things.
Do not try to outmaneuver Him. Do not try to undo Him. Do not try to outwit Him.
Do not make fools of yourselves by rejecting His management in favor of your own management.

Shaikh Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani -RA

Rely on the Lord of Truth

When you rely on the Lord of Truth and observe your duty to Him in private and in public,
He will provide for you from sources you could never imagine.
You do the giving up, and He will do the giving.
You do the abstaining, and He will supply your wishes.
At the outset renunciation, and at the end receiving.


Shaikh Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani -RA

Entertain no doubts about your Lord

He who has sent down the sickness, He is the One who will send down the remedy. He is more Aware than any other of what is beneficial. Entertain no doubts about your Lord where His working is concerned. Your own self deserves to be treated with suspicion and blame, rather than anything else. Say to it: "The carrot is for those who obey, and the stick is for those who disobey."

Shaikh Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani -RA

The Life to Come

Beware, the life of this world is nothing but a pastime, a momentary delight. It is but empty bragging, a pursuit of wealth and children. It is like the vegetation that flourishes after rain and is a source of delight to the farmer; but soon it turns yellow and withers away, crumbling into worthless waste. But in the life to come an eternal contentment or a grievous suffering awaits you. The life of this world is only an illusion.

-Qur'an, Al-Hadid, Surah 57:20