📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #8 إِذَا فَتَحَ لَكَ وِجْهَةً مِنَ التَّعَرُّفِ فَلَا تُبَالِ مَعَهَا إِنْ قَلَّ عَمَلُكَ، فَإِنَّهُ مَا فَتَحَهَا لَكَ إِلَّا وَهُوَ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَتَعَرَّفَ إِلَيْكَ. أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ التَّعَرُّفَ هُوَ مُورِدُهُ عَلَيْكَ، وَالْأَعْمَالَ أَنْتَ مُهْدِيهَا إِلَيْهِ، وَأَيْنَ مَا تُهْدِيهِ إِلَيْهِ مِمَّا هُوَ مُورِدُهُ عَلَيْكَ؟ "When He opens for you a way of getting to know Him, do not mind if the quantity of your actions lessen in its presence. He only opened this way for you so that He may make Himself known to you. Do you not see that His making Himself known to you is something that issues from Him to you, while actions come from you to Him? And where is what you are sending to Him in relation to what He is sending to you?" Ibn ʿAbbād explains that knowledge of Allah is the ultimate goal — the culmination of all hopes. When trials or circumstances reduce a servant's outward worship, this may be Allah's way of drawing him closer through a higher gift: direct experiential knowledge (maʿrifa). Our deeds, however plentiful, are fragile offerings that may be tainted by hidden flaws — but what He sends to us is pure bestowal. The servant who grasps this stops mourning lost actions and receives affliction as a vehicle of divine intimacy. — Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī #Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #6 لَا يُيْئِسَنَّكَ مِنَ الْإِجَابَةِ تَأَخُّرُ أَمَدِ الْعَطَاءِ مَعَ الْإِلْحَاحِ فِي الدُّعَاءِ، فَقَدْ ضَمِنَ لَكَ الْإِجَابَةَ فِيمَا يَخْتَارُهُ لَكَ لَا فِيمَا تَخْتَارُهُ لِنَفْسِكَ، وَفِي الْوَقْتِ الَّذِي يُرِيدُ لَا فِي الْوَقْتِ الَّذِي تُرِيدُ. "Don't let the keeping back of something you are fervently asking for make you despair. He has guaranteed an answer to your prayers in those things He chooses for you, not in those things that you choose for yourself, and at the time He wants, not at the time you want." The commentary reminds the servant that he is ignorant of what truly benefits him — he may love what harms him and hate what is good for him (cf. Qurʾān 2:216). Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī, when ill and wished relief, cautioned that even the greatest — the Prophet ﷺ and the Rightly Guided Caliphs — endured hardship despite their prayers. The key is surrender: every duʿāʾ is answered, but sometimes the answer is the withholding itself, or a delay stored as reward for the Hereafter, when the servant will wish none of his prayers had been granted in this world. — Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī #Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #5 اجْتِهَادُكَ فِيمَا ضُمِنَ لَكَ، وَتَقْصِيرُكَ فِيمَا طُلِبَ مِنْكَ، دَلِيلٌ عَلَى انْطِمَاسِ الْبَصِيرَةِ مِنْكَ "Your striving for what has already been guaranteed to you, and your negligence of what is demanded of you, are signs of the loss of your insight." The commentators explain that what is "guaranteed" is our worldly provision — Allah has taken charge of it and freed us from anxious pursuit. What is "demanded" are the works of obedience and worship by which we draw near to Him. When a servant exhausts himself chasing what was already decreed while neglecting the duties actually placed upon him, it reveals a blindness of the heart — the inner eye that should be fixed on ultimate consequences has been veiled by inversion of priorities. — Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī #Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #4 أَرِحْ نَفْسَكَ مِنَ التَّدْبِيرِ، فَمَا قَامَ بِهِ غَيْرُكَ عَنْكَ لَا تَقُمْ بِهِ لِنَفْسِكَ "Relieve yourself of planning. What Someone Else has undertaken for you, do not try to do for yourself." The ego's compulsion to plan and control worldly outcomes is a drudgery we impose upon ourselves, when Allah has already taken charge of these affairs. Ibn ʿAbbād notes that most of what we decree for ourselves never materializes — leaving us with ruined expectations and wasted effort. Sīdī Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī said: "If you must plan, then plan not to engage in planning." This hikma strikes at the very foundation of the spiritual path: surrendering the illusion of control. — Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī #Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #2 إِرَادَتُكَ التَّجْرِيدَ مَعَ إِقَامَةِ اللهِ إِيَّاكَ فِي الأَسْبَابِ مِنَ الشَّهْوَةِ الخَفِيَّةِ، وَإِرَادَتُكَ الأَسْبَابَ مَعَ إِقَامَةِ اللهِ إِيَّاكَ فِي التَّجْرِيدِ انْحِطَاطٌ عَنِ الهِمَّةِ العَلِيَّةِ "Your wanting to leave worldly means while Allah is keeping you in them is due to a non-obvious lust. And your wanting to engage in worldly means while Allah is keeping you from them is a fall from high spiritual ambition." Ibn ʿAbbād explains that if Allah has placed you in earning a livelihood, desiring to abandon it is a hidden lust — it opposes Allah's will and reflects a claim to a station you are not yet fit for. Conversely, if Allah has placed you in abstinence, wanting worldly means is a decline in spiritual ambition. The Shaykh counsels: remain where Allah has placed you until He Himself draws you out, as "the voraciously truthful do not come out of anything until the Truth takes charge of drawing them out." — Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī #Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #2 إِرَادَتُكَ التَّجْرِيدَ مَعَ إِقَامَةِ اللهِ إِيَّاكَ فِي الأَسْبَابِ مِنَ الشَّهْوَةِ الخَفِيَّةِ، وَإِرَادَتُكَ الأَسْبَابَ مَعَ إِقَامَةِ اللهِ إِيَّاكَ فِي التَّجْرِيدِ انْحِطَاطٌ عَنِ الهِمَّةِ العَلِيَّةِ "Your wanting to leave worldly means while Allah is keeping you in them is due to a non-obvious lust. And your wanting to engage in worldly means while Allah is keeping you from them is a fall from high spiritual ambition." Ibn ʿAbbād explains that if Allah has placed you in earning a livelihood, desiring to abandon it is a hidden lust — it opposes Allahs

📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #1 مِنْ عَلَامَاتِ الاعْتِمَادِ عَلَى الْعَمَلِ نُقْصَانُ الرَّجَاءِ عِنْدَ وُجُودِ الزَّلَلِ "Among the signs of depending on actions is losing hope in the presence of a slip." When you sin and feel crushed — when despair floods in because you fell short — that despair itself is the deeper problem. It means you were leaning on your own deeds rather than on Allah's mercy. The one who truly knows Allah doesn't swing between elation at obedience and collapse at sin. Your hope was never supposed to rest on your performance. It was supposed to rest on Him. — Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī #Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality