📿 al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh — Wisdom #47 لَا تَتْرُكِ الذِّكْرَ لِعَدَمِ حُضُورِكَ مَعَ اللهِ فِيهِ، لِأَنَّ غَفْلَتَكَ عَنْ وُجُودِ ذِكْرِهِ أَشَدُّ مِنْ غَفْلَتِكَ فِي وُجُودِ ذِكْرِهِ، فَعَسَى أَنْ يَرْفَعَكَ مِنْ ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ غَفْلَةٍ إِلَى ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ يَقَظَةٍ، وَمِنْ ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ يَقَظَةٍ إِلَى ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ حُضُورٍ، وَمِنْ ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ حُضُورٍ إِلَى ذِكْرٍ مَعَ وُجُودِ غَيْبَةٍ عَمَّا سِوَى الْمَذْكُورِ، ﴿وَمَا ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِعَزِيزٍ﴾. "Do not abandon the remembrance of Allah because of your lack of presence with Him in it. For your heedlessness of His remembrance is worse than your heedlessness within His remembrance. It may be that He raises you from remembrance with heedlessness to remembrance with wakefulness, and from remembrance with wakefulness to remembrance with presence, and from remembrance with presence to remembrance in absence from all besides the Remembered. 'And that is not difficult for Allah.' [Qur'an 14:20]" Reflection: Dhikr is the shortest path to Allah — never abandon it for lack of concentration. To skip remembrance entirely is a graver heedlessness than to remember while distracted. The tongue's remembrance is a ladder: Allah may lift the sincere seeker from mere words, to wakeful attention, to heartful presence, and finally to being absent from all but Him. Begin with what you can; He handles the rest. — Sharḥ al-Ḥikam, commentary by Ibn ʿAbbād al-Rundī #Islam #Hikam #IbnAtaAllah #Tasawwuf #Spirituality